Squirrel Rail

Have to agree in that I’m sure they varnish over which is also one of the reasons they are a pain to renumber as you have to get through the varnish. Nice job on the CoBo!

Just saw your Chevanne! My Dad had a chevette estate which I learned to drive in - happy memories!!

Back on 47207 and 66597 tonight. The 47 is turning into a bit of a saga, the nose tops were black whereas they should be yellow so that was followed by the cab front handrails, yellow not silver, the aerial supports needed to be picked out in light blue, yellow axle box covers, front numbers and OHLE flashes. I think it is nearly ready for weathering. Couple of pics of the two..

Thanks Rob, it’s going to be weathered again so enjoy it while it’s clean! I think of all the liveries to paint RFD is one of the nicest to do, cheers Jerry

Had chance to get the numbers on 47207 tonight and the beloved cant rail. Really pleased with the numbers but not happy with the crackle finish cab roof, left over from previous owners paint job so should have flattened it off more Not a major problem more a niggle, likewise not overly happy with the black round the windows so may respray that too - funny how a little tidy up becomes almost a full respray!

Bit more progress on 47207 tonight. The roof has had a coat of Executive Dark Grey and the cant rail will be sorted later on. Most of the work tonight has been refitting the nameplates, cab rails, BR arrows and the Tinsley plaques. Checked reference pics and it carried both styles so the originals were recycled. Earlier on in this thread I posted a pic of the body on top of a pristine Heljan duff shell - here is the revised paint job in comparison. Numbers have arrived from Fox so will get those over the next few days together with cant rails and OHLE flashes, data panels etc.

following on from the Hoover, time for a tractor...

Nice trip today to stock up with supplies at Model Junction in Bury St Edmunds, good to see the chaps again and they said business has really picked up since they reopened in June. Tonight's efforts were getting the flint grey upper body sides on 47207. Here it is masked ready for paint and with the replacement grey The masking has taken a bit of the cant rail off but not bothered as on pics of 207 this was under the body side gutter and not the gutter itself as on the model so it has to go and I will repaint that after I sort the roof. All looks a bit lumpy on a 27" monitor and the light on my bench doesn't help as it makes everything look worse than it is but trust me (he says confidently) I know what I'm doing

Whilst 66597 dries off for a bit next up is 47207. A mate (who shall remain nameless) bought this off e-bay and at first glance it doesn't look too bad... However the glazing has had it so the task was to replace the glazing and add buffer beams with detail at one end and match /improve the weathering. Apart from this the biggest bugbear to me was the colour of the lower body side- compared to a pristine shell it looked more duck egg blue (Hornby 60 anyone?!) it looks worse in the flesh.. The culprit on the colour change is varnish, not only is it thick but very patchy too:- Decided therefore its got to go, loco to be stripped of plates,glazing and handrails for body side respray - saying that the roof isn't exactly doing it for me either, at least all the etch is salvageable A rub down of the affected areas and I have masked out the RFD logos as I wanted to keep them and the doors and warning panels for a coat of BR grey and then the grey That can sit for a day or two - haven't taken the masks off as yet. Will need to source some numbers for it as they aren't a standard size. Railtec haven't got anything off the shelf so will have a hunt through the Fox RFD sheets. That's it for today.

After the hydraulics time for 50, Hood again a bit worse for wear...

Hi Rob, I agree with you on that one, they do look a bit like tumble dryer hose! However it’s for a friend who has quite a few so for consistency they all have the Bachmann hoses- now he’s seen the post I could end up with loads to change!! Cheers Jerry

Airbrush base on 66597 tonight. Underframes and roof to give the starting point for more detail work over the next few days. The weathering is based on photos of the original and it was actually this dirty! First up is a general shot of the underframe dirt on and fading and detail highlights on the roof. Remember the original exhaust from earlier in the thread?, well getting there now and that characteristic exhaust pattern down the side has come out just as I wanted it... To close off for the night a couple of pics from either side to get an overall idea of where its heading. Cheers Jerry

If a Hymek has crept in it's only fair to add a hydraulic counterpart in 1041, not quite so tired but on it's way out.....

Quick 1/2 hour on shed 597 this morning. Starting with the cab fronts here's a before and after and the look I am going for: That's better:- rust streaks and grime around the lifting eyes and general muck build up Hopefully tonight begin the airbrush work?

That’s a right sod when it happens- even with low tack tape it can still occur. Good luck with the rest of it!

A very tired Hymek takes a break......

The refinished nameplates now look like this: So next up naming (without ceremony)... Last job for the day was repaint the handrails into white ready for weathering over the next few days

Little bit of progress on 66597 tonight with all the numbers now on. Bit of a nameplate conundrum regarding colours and also the handrail on the front of the loco should be white. Thank you Trevor for pointing me in the right direction; Here's the numbers, these are from the Replica Railways sheet spliced and diced to get the right combination. Not yet sealed in but gives the idea! Next up the name plates. ModelMaster supply them in blue an after much web searching I could only find Green or faded green until ... yep I finally found a blue pic. As this is to represent early on in its career green was the original colour so goodbye blue and a coat of freightliner green has gone on. Hopefully the finished plate will appear on my next post, Cheers Jerry

Really good looking rat, love the weathering!

See what you mean - I was coming at it from the clogged up nozzle angle! Hopefully it doesn’t disintegrate on you so hope you get on ok! Cheers Jerry

Have you tried using the varnish through the airbrush? I use a colour cup and spray a bout 1/2 a cup full at a time- wrap a cloth round the cup though cos the aerosol blows it everywhere!!

IMHO it doesn’t matter if you use a mix of acrylic on the bogies and enamel on the roof as the finish is satin or Matt either way. I personally avoid varnish and it isn’t a necessity but personal choice. I would say maskol out all the glass before varnish as there’s nothing worse than a loco that looks like it’s got toilet windows in it good luck and look forward to seeing it!

and like BBC here's a repeat of the two I posted yesterday on Pugsley's thread, A whacked western and a very sorry looking de-branded and de-named Thunderbird

and a gronk - would have been better without the blooming coupling