Squirrel Rail

Bogie Problems (Still!) my brand new 90 arrived today - my brand new 90 has gone back today- both bogie attachments broken - thought they may have resolved it by now....

Cheers Ben, back to weathering this week so luckily no grey! Good luck with your one, Cheers Jerry

Looks like I will be getting some S-Stock to do in the near future then Look great with the passengers in, Cheers Jerry

Very mixed week on the Squirrel rail workbench this week - These will be part of the #Richmond Park fleet, some light weathering, identity changes and general tinkering and will be joined by these three for naming and some heavier weathering. This is the first Hattons 66 I've done and must admit to being very impressed with what I've seen of it so far. In my recent workbench build of 66597 I mentioned the variations in exhaust finish across the Bachmann 66s but it looks like they have settled on a similar finish to Hattons - apart from 66727 where they have gone for all silver This has been sorted this morning - name plates now on Powerhaul and Poppy and details on one end of each. A rough wash has been applied to nooks and crannies. and will be toned down before starting the frame dirt - 66593 being first up.. Right - time for my lunchtime acorns and back on these later!

Fancied a lazy day after finishing Tug 74 so thought I would create a small stabling point to use as a backdrop for pictures. With a budget of zero and armed only with what was at hand in the workshop I have started to create the following based extremely roughly on the sidings at the end of Ipswich station. The idea is (was) to have three tracks with two having OHLE. The bank at Ipswich has end posts behind the buffer stops which would be fairly easy to replicate. Rough idea of where everything should go - base made for buffers stops which will be concrete as are the ramps. To make the bank at the back of these I found some aluminium mesh which has been secured with the hot glue gun On the shelves was some seriously old two pack wood filler so with a judicious amount of hardener the bank has been roughly sculptured leaving the following horrible looking brown mess Good thing is it is as hard as bullets so I will rub it down next time I'm at a loose end...

Cheers Ben - sure you'll agree its a horrible colour to paint

60074 Puma Energy is now finished and appearing on a certain auction site. Here's the finished article. and the other side Lastly with detail on one end and a bit of buffer grease to finish off.

Thanks for the kind words Will. Not particularly my scene either but did it as an example of what I can do as I get Squirrel Rail ready for launch. It will be going on a well known auction site when it’s finished!

Cheers Rob, - got ripped off for Esso 97 RON to the tune of £1.39 a litre in Sudbury the other day so as that supermarket says every little helps

60074 has now had it's Puma Energy branding added ( one side so far. Another side view and lastly a close up of the decals and plate. Few stray bits of fluff from the decalling but will all be tidied up.

Here's my take on it - I used flint grey as the base but with a couple of other greys and a hint of blue

Looks great- I know what you mean about photos though- I look at my pics and think what the heck(or similar) then look at the model and can’t even see it!

Hi Jo, I think in just about there with the colours and envious you got to see it in the flesh - I haven’t seen a loco close up since before lockdown cheers Jerry

As promised here's a pic of it with the start of the weathering -more pics on my workbench thread if anyone's interested.

Made a start on the weathering on 90048 - all basic airbrush work on so next up will be all the little details - Front end needs the windscreen cleaning, bit of buffer grease and a few scuffs and dings. The replacement buffers have fitted a treat Added the wear to the windscreen pillars where the yellow has worn through And to finish off another general view of it:-

Thanks Will- I finally found a pic that clearly shows it is dark grey/black on top so had to sort it- hopefully get some more done tomorrow! Cheers Jerry

Decision made thanks to Steadfast and Jack374 - roof has been painted this morning as it was going to bug me all day!

Hi Jo, Just looked on Jack374s thread again - there is a pic on Toton where it clearly is a very dark grey /black so thank you and I will be redoing that roof tonight

The dreaded chameleon 60074 has had its side grills painted black this morning - first up a bit of a masking session : bit of patience here and the result nice crisp lines, no overspray - happy squirrel

Hi Jo, I've looked at the same pics and it does look black yet in others its looks to be the grey: - Jack374 has a pic on his thread where it looks as grey as these look black They should have named this chameleon instead!

Thanks Will, I’ve weathered one in the TCT livery and the light blue looked great, same with the original steel pair when they were blue. They’re such a nice loco to work on - there will be a couple more on the workbench soon 054 and 068 so keep an eye out for them! Cheers Jerry

I look forward to seeing it I will be doing a RES one in the near future as at present the workbench has a bit of a queue!

It will be weathered in the next few days- too clean and shiny at the mo! it will be on my Squirrel Rail workbench thread if you’re interested which also has how I’ve changed it from 037, cheers Jerry

on the subject of 90037 the rfd version I have has now become 048 in freightliner

60074 has progressed alongside the 90 and is resting on its chassis with the newly blinged bogies: The colour has been a real pain to match but I'm happy with it, in daylight it takes on a different grey so looking forward to finishing it and seeing what it looks like!