Enfys_Rainbow

Very nice work. I've done a couple of these myself and they scrub up really well with a bit of effort.

I dilute it with acrylic thinner. I've had no issues with it, however I apply it after the rest of the weathering has been completed.

I use W&N Matt Varnish all the time (I assume you mean the acrylic one?). I've also used the Ammo one and do not rate it, although that's only my opinion of course. Matt

Nice to see this back Caz! Still a favourite prototype, and I always enjoy looking at the line from the Dingle/path.

Hello all, The ferry wagon is paused, awaiting parts, so I thought I'd press on with another randomer on my to-do list. I picked up this Hornby OAA cheaply from eBay, with a view to upgrading it and it's important to note that none of the following steps are new, they've all been done before. The wagon came in this rather fetching novelty blue livery, quite apt as I live close by. After stripping down the printed lettering (I assumed it was moulded in blue plastic, but quite a lot of blue paint came off too), I removed the underframe, which is the weakness of this wagon. I filled in the triangular shaped cutouts below the buffers - these enable the original underframe to clip in place. I simply used offcuts of plastic sheet sanded to shape. I'm using Cambrian solebars, so added chunks of plastic under the floor to attach these to, plus to enable me to fix the w-irons in place at the correct height. I also decided to reuse the weight. Finally, here's where we are after a few hours work. Matt

Yes, I looked at that after a few searches online. Rather too pricey for me though, although it does look very good. Think I'll stick to the budget version - bodged together!

Hi Steve, Cambrian C96 for the ends/doors and C75 for the other panels. The C75 bits need reducing in height by one plank, and need a representation of internal planking added. These bits aren't totally accurate - the diagonal strapping isn't right, and is even more wrong when you remove the plank, but it's good enough for me and a lot less work than sanding the strapping off and re-adding as others have done. I'm sure there are lots of other errors too, but again, it's good enough for me and I simply lack the time, motivation and skills to do it any other way! Matt

Some Sunday Ferry Open wagon progress. Matt

Bill Bedford w-irons, axle boxes from Stenson Models - note these are designed for their own w-irons and not the BB ones (or the Cambrian kit for that matter) so a lot of fettling was required.

Hi Martyn, I know Hornby make an OAA and I have one to rebuild myself. The body is decent, everything below is a bit rubbish! They can be improved by replacing the underframe entirely, something I'll be starting in the near-ish future. As to OBA's, the Bachmann model is far superior, however the Cambrian kit still holds up well as I hope mine shows. Matt

Another side step while I'm in a wagon building mood. I like the look of the Ferry Open wagons, and building one has been on my radar for a while, but it's taken a while to get going. A bit like the HEA's, it'll be a slow-ish project fitted around other things. Work has started by chopping up some bits to produce a representation of the wagon...long way to go yet! Matt

Hi all, Following on from the Bachmann OBA, I've started work on another, although this time it's by Cambrian. It'll be an interesting comparison when finished! There are still a few "underneath bits" to add, along with lamp irons and couplings. Matt

Thanks for the suggestion! I seem to remember it was a few years ago, certainly pre-pandemic, because I had all the bits in my "one day" pile for ages. I've sold GUV and replacement bogies now in any case!

Hi Roy, no - and the only reason I can say that is because I've never purchased Rail Express! Academic now anyway because I've disposed of both GUV and bogies! Me either.

A scratchbuilt small, rusty corrugated metal hut. Matt

Hi all, Hot on the heels of the OBA is another project that's been on the sidelines for a while. I bought a couple of Bachmann HEA's about two years ago on a whim but quickly realised I had little use for them. They had been heavily weathered by the previous owner and were both in orange/black Loadhaul livery, which obviously had to change! First job was to remove the weathering and then separate the hopper body from the chassis to make repainting easier. I then give the upper parts of the body a coat of primer to make repainting into red easier. Looking at photos, I noticed rust patches on the lower body, just above the solebar which I've represented on one wagon so far. These are not going to be for the layout, so progress may be slow as they'll be a side project! Matt

Thanks! Not sure YouTube is ready for this level of excitement yet!

Thanks Steve! I've since corrected the replacement plank length (incorrectly painted above!) and done some minor weathering within (just visible if you look carefully at the photo below). I also repainted the "pink" plank as I really didn't like it! Matt

This one has been on the to-do list for well over 12 months. Bachmann OBA originally in EWS colours, repainted into faded RF livery. Still a few bits to do, I want to weather the interior and I've just noticed I've missed the lamp iron on the end. Incidentally the mismatched planks are necessity rather than for effect. I had issues applying the Railfreight branding and a few spots where the paint lifted so factored them into the final paintwork. Hope you like it! Matt

Hello all, The photo I posted of the layout on 19th December shows a white structure in the background. It was always my intention to use this building on the layout - as I've said previously, I try to reuse/repurpose things where I can and it was built for a now stalled layout. However, even though it's actually a really small building, it was too big for the available space. I wanted something there, otherwise the backscene is very obvious, but finding a suitably small building that isn't a cliché is actually quite difficult! I stumbled across a photo online of what can only be described as a shed, made out of corrugated metal, and I knew I had to use it as inspiration. I really like rusty corrugated metal, but it's a challenge to make it look convincing. Other than the painting, the challenge for me is creating the effect of individual panels. Obviously you can use embossed corrugated sheet, but you either have a continuous wall, which isn't right, or you end up butt-jointing sections together which can look clunky if not done well. Alternatively you can buy metal corrugated sections, but I'd prefer to avoid the added cost if I can (gas and electric ain't getting any cheaper!). A while ago I made a building and attempted to represent the sheeting using tinfoil glued to the embossed plastic. It looked ok, but attaching the tinfoil to the plastic was difficult, messy and it wasn't robust enough to withstand much handling. This time around I've used far simpler methods - the building's shell is 1mm plastic sheet laminated with embossed plastic then good old regular tape stuck to it to represent the individual sheets. It's sticky enough to stay attached to the plastic, and thin enough to look convincing (in my opinion). Obviously you have to take care to position the tape accurately and burnish it down over the ridges. The photo I used as inspiration only showed the end, so the rest had to be guessed at. Everything is scratchbuilt, including the window. The door is from a now demolished building [reuse, reuse, reuse!] Painting was fun, if time consuming, and is entirely acrylic paint. Main colours were applied by airbrush, and the "rust" by brush and sponge. I'm pleased with it and it fits the space nicely - plus it was an enjoyable little project. Matt

Are you looking to sell as a package or separately?

Here's the other buffer stop for the layout - same concept, pre-ballasted and painted as I'll not be able to do it after installation. This one was built a few years ago, so is a bit wobbly in places! Matt

Spot the difference! No? Well I'll tell you - I've painted the fuel stain. Lots of 08's have really filthy fuel stains, to the point the sides are almost black. The photos I've found of 08945 show far less staining which I've tried to represent. I've also added further weathering to the cab roof. Cruel close up: Matt

XF-21 mixed with white I'd say. Matt

Hi all, I recently had a clear out of magazines. Typically, I'm now trying to find one of those that went! The issue in question had an article, by Tim Shackleton I believe, which included steps to replace Lima LMS GUV bogies with those by Bachmann. I bought all the bits to copy the process, but forgot to keep this article as reference! Any ideas? Matt