BenHenry

Following with Great Interest! Cant wait to see what you do  

On 25/10/2020 at 21:55, AlexClass4F said:

I love the scenery and the details . Less is more indeed that´s for sure.

Thanks very much! Exactly what I want to prove. Although my next current build will be much more busy!

On 25/10/2020 at 16:14, Kevin Johnson said:

BenHenry this is a beautiful model and I enjoy the article.

Thanks Very Much Kevin!

Cheers Ben

A Sneak Peak to the November 2020 Edition of Railway Modeller Featuring Benry TMD!

Welcome to Benry TMD!
 

After making its first official appearance to the public in the November 2020 Edition of Railway Modeller Magazine - I thought it was only fitting to create a thread on here!

Benry TMD is a 2ft x 1ft Mirco Layout - a Modern Image Traction Maintenance Scene set in 1965-2000 with DCC and Sound fitted Locomotives.

Since the Article in the magazine i wrote just over 6 months ago massive changes are ahead ready to when circumstances permit I will be displaying it on the exhibition circuit!

Stay Tuned - changes start this following week! Bye Bye EWS!!!

3 hours ago, big jim said:

Very nice 37099, only ever managed to drive it once in blue before it was repainted

 

I picked it up a short while later and took to Old Dalby rest track to calibrate the UTU coaches hence the unusual length of the train! 

Than you and these photos are very useful... more to come in coming days.....

cheers, Ben

Hi All, Another Update from Me! Showing of the recently resurrected Modern Image Rolling Stock! Showing the Recently repainted Rail Operations Group Class 47s and BR Blue Class 37 099 Complete as when it first joined Colas Rail for Test Trains!! Stay Tuned for More!! 

Cheers for Now! 

Ben

Hello All! 

Quick Update from Me Today! Finished respraying both my Heljan Class 47s into the Rail Operations Group Class 47 813 / 15 Innovation Liveried Locos using the Very Good Transfers from Precision Labels, few more finishing touches such as adding the later Styled Grills on 47 813. 

Next up We Have a Super Detailed former EWS Class 56 Getting Stripped of its livery to go into the DC Rail Scheme!!

New Purchase i'm waiting for is I managed to pick up a Class 47 in Colas at a Good Price!!

Let Me Know what everyone thinks!

On 28/03/2020 at 20:47, Jack374 said:

Evening one and all, and if you still follow this I thank you kindly...

 

First of all I shall get the apologies done with. In between the last post (nearly 2 years!) I’ve got a job and as such had to move to Derby. The layout unfortunately couldn’t follow me due to space and (as it happens) time constraints. However, with the current global situation, a special delivery from the parental courier service means I now have the whole thing down here with me. My plan was to resurrect the layout and hopefully get to a good stage by summer end, which may now be possible thanks to my parents.

 

Since the last post, nothing has happened to the layout, so from now I can report afresh. It’s worth noting I’ve since changed my modelling era from up to ~2014 to up to present day. I’ve also had a slight change of scenery, with the station building being based upon Croston station in Lancashire, which is now a private residence and seems a good building setup to model. A couple of updated Paint sketchings are below:

I'm still undecided on the backscene behind the platform, as I’m tempted by a factory stone building (drawn above), or terraces, or a country scene.

 

The first thing I did was to crack on with adding some ballast 'catchers' at each board end - a simple piece of card recovered from a document envelope and cut to match the ballast profile and give a solid support for the ballast at the end of the board:

Now I can finish ballasting the first board before adding some greenery hopefully.

 

On to the second board, and I’ve removed the siding for the wagon repair works as it had a tight kink in the track (it was originally to be a loco siding) and didn’t look right. It was replaced with some Peco code 75 bullhead track, which wasn’t available 5 years ago () when I started, otherwise it would’ve been used a lot more! Here’s the new siding layout before gluing, with track pins added to hold the piece in position:

 

And finally to whet the appetite, a shot of my DRS class 20 pair which I finished yesterday. The lights on 303 are independently controllable and the loco featured in this February's BRM, so I’m chuffed with the pair. No doubt they’ll find use on Fordley:

 

And it is with confidence I can now say more updates will follow!

 

Stay safe and keep modelling!

Jack.

cannot wait to see this progress....

cheers Ben

Hi All,

Progress Update on The BR Blue Class 37 099 when first Acquired by Colas Rail. Painted with Airbrush using my own mix of Tamiya Lacquer Based Paints, awaiting transfers from Precision Labels. 
 

More to follow tomorrow...

Cheers,

Ben

On 26/03/2020 at 21:26, Departmental203 said:

Never thought it would take me so long to post, other things such as tying up loose ends of school coursework got into the way.

 

With the lockdown in full swing, I turned to the Class 156 has been progressing nicely.

 

 

I realised that on the Realtrack Class 156, there was a small air tank between the suspension units and the fuel tank, it was made from 5mm plastic rod with plasticard glued on the open ends and sanded to make a dished end, the suspension units were made in the same way, but the dish was on one end only!

 

 

 

The boxes in the 2 pictures above were made in the same way  as the motorised unit, with a mixture of 40 thou plastic and the Hornby mouldings.

 

 

The horn boxes and the autocoupler junction box behind it were made by laminating plasticard together and sanding smooth.

 

I was pretty chuffed at my (simplified!) take on the Cummins Engine, which was simpler than it looked: more lamanations of plasticard, with various bits of plastic rod and strip for the surface details, and the flywheel at the end was made by screwing a lamanation of 2 40 thou plasticard onto the end of my rotary tool and spinning it like a lathe, worked a treat!

 

 

 

An invaluable aid for me was an old Railway Modeller article (November 1994) on detailing a Lima Class 156, the author went well more 'whole hog' than me! Worth a read if you're thinking of hacking up an old Lima 156, if interested, please DM me.

 

More updates soon

 

Jules

You’re scratch building in plastic, is excellent. Nice One!

Cheers!

Evening All,

Hope everyone is well! Lots of Updates here tonight - firstly like to thank everyone who alphas reacted, commented or followed this topic so far! Massive welcome to you all!

Firstly - new addition to the fleet today - Colas rail class 37 421 (photo attached) few issues but have been mostly resolved .

Projects on the Go! Been Paint stripping lots of rolling stock today! 

2 Heljan Class 47s to be repainted into the Innovation Rail Operations Group Scheme, using the excellent precision Transfers and changing the grills to the correct variant (purchased from Rainbow Railways)

Bachmann Class 37/0 being repainted into BR Blue [Not Large Logo] as 37099 when Colas Rail First acquired her for Mainline Test Trains for Network Rail.

Managed to finish My First Network Rail Mk1 Generator today and Relatively pleased considering my first Coach Conversion - Photos tomorrow.

2 Mk2 Coaches have now been converted awaiting painting etc...

Thats it for today! 
 

Cheers Ben 

4 hours ago, luke the train spotter said:

So today I have ballasted a lot of the new track with a layer of beach sand sieved to remove any possible pebles. I have also added in a piece of plastic painted grey in the inspection pit to keep the rails in gauge. This should keep everything nice and smooth when operating the layout. 

Really Looking Nice there mate! Sand looks spot on For Sizing, cannot wait to see more Progress Updates

Cheers Ben

Hi All,

Progress Update No1 on Here - Photo as of Today (April 1st).

Today a Milestone Was reached with 3 / 4 Scenic Boards Track laid and running with no problems in anyway so a Happy Bonus!

The photo shows the Yard area where the test trains and locos will be stored..

Just going to add a few more dropper wires to entirely satisfy myself to ensure excellent performance.

 Tomorrow will see the track weathering and beginning of the Ballasting. 

Cheers For Now!

Ben

Hello & Welcome to my Topic, I’m Ben.

This topic will be about my currently under construction Exhibition Layout 18ft x 14inches Depicting a Model Image Yard storing departmental Rolling Stock and limited servicing facilities, the scene will highlight my ever growing fleet of Network Rail Testing Vehicles and The mix of Modern Freight Locomotive seen in Real-Life at Derby RTC.

The layout in no means will relate / symbolise Derby RTC except for the Rolling Stock.

3 / 6 Board have currently been constructed with Track Laid.

Layout Consist of 4 scenic boards (3 Built with track laid) and 2 Fiddle Yard Sections Yet to be Built. Lots of Photos coming in coming Days, stay Tuned!

Cheers Ben

On 29/12/2019 at 22:40, James Makin said:

Last, but hopefully not least in the Class 37 run is a pair of 'Heavyweights'!

 

37799 and 37890 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

37799 and 37890 join the fleet in Transrail and Mainline liveries respectively, not especially glamorous but no-nonsense workhorses captured in their final glory days before being usurped by more modern traction.

 

The starting point in both cases was the Bachmann 'Conidae' release in Petroleum...

 

37799 and 37890 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Most notably for me, these were among the first Bachmann 37s I bought new that were breaking the magic £100 barrier - chunky money, but cheap in comparison now! 

 

The branding was stripped off, and satisfyingly the newer Bachmann printing literally peels away with a splash of enamel thinners, a real treat to watch!

 

37799 and 37890 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Next, the locos were modified and detail changes made where needed - 37890 needed new ends, new roof and roof horns installed, while 37799 was a simple renumber...

 

37799 and 37890 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Both locos were painted up and then gloss varnished, ready for transfer application.

 

37799 and 37890 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Classic Alphabeat is very much the recommended go-to soundtrack for Heavyweight 37s.

 

After transfer application, the bodies were given a coat of Railmatch matt varnish and left to harden for a month before weathering began. This included my usual trick of paint-on/wipe-off coatings of various light browns and darker greys, matching to prototype photos of the late 1990s.

 

37799 and 37890 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

After this, the fun could be had then in starting to pick out the tiny rust patches and bolt-hole marks from previous depot plaques for example.

 

37799 and 37890 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

Finally, the models were reassembled and subjected to an airbrush weathering, Phoenix Paint's track dirt, brake dust, roof dirt, dirty black and lastly a coating of my dark navy blue for the roof exhaust weathering. 

 

37799 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

37799 Sir Dyfed / County of Dyfed has long been a favourite - it starred in a number of RAIL Magazine pictures in the late 90s and so then finally seeing the loco sealed the deal, and it's place in the collection at long last!

 

37799 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

37799 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

There's something that just looks very 'right' about the splitbox refurbished ends, really appealing, to me at least! 

 

37799 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

37799 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

And along comes 37890!

 

37799 and 37890 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

37890 The Railway Observer was among several other Heavyweights that are among my 'to-model' listing, looking a little worse for wear than 37799, with a number of bodyside rust patches and about to lose its RCTS plaques that accompanied the Railway Observer nameplate.

 

37890 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

I bought the nameplates from Fox Transfers, but they don't supply the RCTS plaques with it, so I ended up making them from the spare plaques that came unwanted with previous loco 47348 (St. Christopher's Railway Home) and repainting a few letters to replicate 37890's plaques...the golden rule being never to throw something away!

 

37890 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

I love modelling the weathering marks left behind after the depot plaques are removed..!

 

37799 and 37890 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

As always, it's great to bring back some past loves that are now gone...37890 eeked out a good career as part of EWS' Sandite fleet into the 2000s, before finally meeting it's maker in 2010. 37799, meanwhile, lead an even more interesting life after EWS usage, being shipped out to Spain as part of the GIF contract and gaining a bright blue livery for it's holiday in the sun. However like all good holidays, they soon come to an end...sadly 37799 was never to return to the UK and was scrapped in Spain in 2011.

 

37799 and 37890 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr

 

It's been huge fun modelling all these Class 37s, and there are plenty more on the workbench right now to follow later in 2020 - watch this space!

 

Cheers,

James

Thanks James for showing us how you achieve such beautiful weathered models and project, these 37s are just my. favourite you’ve ever done- been following for awhile but only recently created an account on here.. Cant wait to see your next projects.

All the best,

Ben

34 minutes ago, newbryford said:

Obviously, due to reasons way beyond a mere mortal's control, DL did not attend Ally Pally for 2020.

 

Although there is a rescheduled show in August, DL cannot be there.

 

But worry ye not those of southern climes - it has been booked for Ally Pally in March 2021.

 

Next planned show is NEC 2020.

 

See you there - Covid-19 permitting.

 

Cheers,

Mick

 Hi Mick,

Such a shame the show has been cancelled due to unfortunate circumstances - health first!

Really do look to hopefully seeing it at the NEC if not ally pally next year.

Any project on the go at the time of self isolation?

All the Very Best..

Ben