21A Desperado

So following on from my first O gauge thread in the 7mm section where I was building up a small fleet of locos and wagons of both kit built and RTR, I have now had a framework and baseboards built in what had become my 'spare' room. The room is approximately 9' x 6' and I have boards on four sides (minus the radius of the door into the room), constructed from softwood framing, legs, and a ply base. I paid a local carpenter to carry out the work, because a) I wanted a proper job doing, and b) I don't have the time due to a very busy work life and looking after my elderly mum at weekends cuts down on available time. Anyhoo, the total cost for my carpenter to supply and install everything was equivalent to what I have recently paid for a class 31, so it was a no brainer really. I have also asked for shelving for storage and 12" high backboards for backscenes/scenery. The aim in the next week or so is to come up with a simple design that will allow shunting and general messing about with a small fiddle yard to allow a minor mount of storage of vehicles being used. I think I will be using Peco track and points, as I dont think making track is quite my thing yet. The layout will be DCC in operation, but I will be opting for manually controlled points and signals. Basic sketch:

Hi Ian, I have really enjoyed reading your thread and seeing your hard work. Cheers Trev

Very nice indeed Nick, the colours are bob on.👍

Finally got round to finding a pic of my flamecut from 37010 for @37114:

No modelling today, but I managed to nip over to Kingsbury to record 66056 bringing a hotch potch of redundant engineers wagons from Bescot to EMR for scrapping, running as 6Z85.

Fishing and plane photography have been at the fore this week. Fishing not so good, plane photting better. Im waiting for wheel sets from Model Railway Parts, and as soon as they come, I can finish a couple of bits. Since i last posted, Ive made a start on two SKOG Zander. One is further along than the other, and has been assembled and primed. Ill finish off the other one this week, and they will be ready for painting, and then ill fit the couplings and weather...... The last pic shows the vehicles Im currently working on.

Hi Nick Thats an awesome photo. The figure is in a perfect position. Realism 101. Trev

Hi Paul, I would definitely recommend them, for a newbie to O as I am, they are great, the kits require just about the right amount of fettling to match my skill set, and Robs service is second to none. - receiving them usually the next day. If you message him via his FB page, he usually responds within a short time. Cheers Trev

I've tried to add a few more bits of detail to the Barbel. Brakes to follow, need to find them! I have also run out of wheels so I've ordered some more. I've also ordered a couple of Zander kits this afternoon from Rob at SKOG. Next on the list is the TUA, which I've got some 16" buffers from Invertrain to fit, however the buffer holes in the chassis are gigantic and I've had to fill them with a view to re-drill holes of a diameter to accept the Invertrains items. I've glued a piece of Plastic to the rear of the hole in the bufferbeam and have filled the holes with Tamiya filler. It seems a bit odd to the touch, sort of flexible, so I'm not sure how successful this will be. I think I will need to find a better plastic filler. Once thats sorted, I will paint it, then its onto masking the 3 x Rudd for painting. That will be fun.

After @Hal Nail's post above, it got me thinking about rust replication. I have the majority of the paints etc on the bench, so I thought I would try another method, not too dissimilar to the chap in the Youtube video, but instead of removing paint, I would just apply it then stipple it with a chunk of washing up sponge. It didnt go too badly, so did both Barbel. I had a brainwave and decided to paint some patches that would be a good base for the application of the tops panel. Using Mike Cubberleys photos again for reference, I added a few bits of detail, which I will try and finish tomorrow. I added the tops panels. (Railtec) I also had a bash at changing the colours of the insides of the wagon using hairspray and Carrs weathering powders.

That is certainly really interesting and food for thought. I've ordered myself some of the Typhus stuff and I will report back once I've given it a go. I've got a few more Heljan Doggies and Kitties to mess with and I think they will be ideal candidates for this treatment. Thank you for showing me this! Trev

I dragged out the spray booth and made a start on painting the two remaining Barbel I finished last week. Having looked through Flickr, I decided that I want these two to look similar to DB388456 as captured by Mike Cubberley: Tonights starter for 10:

Good point! I suppose its due to being 3D printed as opposed to plastic injection moulded. I'm not sure to be honest, I'd not thought about it! To be honest, I did toy with the idea of trying to score the bodyside panels to replicate scrapes and indentations which would probably make transfer application impossible, so i think I would have to paint the scrapes instead.. I'm looking for this kind of effect:

Further on with the Rudd. Three nearly done. Hopefully tomorrow I can paint them and finally add air pipes. Need to find someone who does transfers next.

Spent an hour on the three Rudd tonight, and got a bit further with one. I did the brake gear, and have a few bits to finish - instanters, grab rails, brake pipes ( already painted) and the two longitudinal bars that link the wheel assemblies. Then painting, transfers and making dirty.