Revolution Ben

Hi David Your Royal Train looks excellent, and timely! cheers Ben A.

Hello Simon, The headlights and indicators were just painted onto the body once the whole thing was sprayed black. I chose the black diamond livery partly because I saw it as an easy hit, and I am a great believer in making things easy for yourself! Because the whole thing is black, I simply painted the body black and then produced "panels" with the lettering that could be fixed in position. A black Rotring was used to hide any white edges. The attached photo shows the various panels - I did quite a few duplicates and experimented with line thicknesses etc - the red lettering for example had to be thicker than scale to show up, as did the orange lettering for the destination indicator. Of course your chosen livery may be harder! cheers Ben A.

Hi Simon The Black Diamond is based on one I saw in Wolverhampton in February, and is simply the unpainted Tomytec body reliveried. This was done by removing the glazing, spraying the body black, and then adding printed artwork. If you fancy doing the same project let me know and I'll see if I have any leftover prints, or send you the artwork. cheers Ben A.

Hello again, Sorry, I can't seem to edit my post above. Just to add, there is a photo of the bus stationary on p4 or the Horseley Fields thread, and one of it working at yesterday;'s NGS AGM on p6. Faller also make working vehicles, but their models are to 1:160 scale (Tomytec, like other Japanese models, are to 1:150) and also the Faller ones have batteries that need to be recharged, which I find to be a pain! Swapping out disposables is a lot easier, though when I couldn't get one of our buses to work yesterday it had to be gently pointed out to me by another group member that I't put in the batteries upside down!! cheers Ben A.

Hi RobRail, Apologies for "hi-jacking" the thread but in answer to your question about buses... The ones we use are those made by Tomytec and purchased from Osborne's models - see here: http://www.osbornsmodels.com/tomytec-moving-bus-basic-set-a2-18149-p.asp In the set you get a painted and unpainted bus body, a chassis, an oval of "road" track, and a bus stop module. The chassis has a magnet fixed to the front axle that follows a wire embedded in the road. It is powered from two standard watch batteries via the rear axle. The chassis also has some electronic circuitry such that if it detects a magnet in the road surface it will stop for a short period, then continue. While it stops a small red brake light comes on too. This enables you to replicate a bus stop - which we have done on Horseley Fields. There is a photo of our bus on our layout thread, and earlier in the thread a photo showing the bus repainted to represent one of those seen in the Wolverhampton area. Additional chassis can be purchased as spares, and another member of our group has fitted one in a National Express Plaxton coach, using the Oxford models' body as a starting point. cheers Ben A.

Hi Simon The buses work reasonably well but occasionally they stop and need to be given a little time before restarting. Also, I think that a pair of batteries, at almost non-stop running, will last about 5-6 hours, so more than half but not quite a full day's exhibiting. Having said that, the buses certainly were an attention getter. I think they got more of a response than everything on the rest of the layout combined!!! Perhaps you need one on Gresby?? cheers Ben A.

Hello Simon, Thanks for exhibiting Gresby - it was good to see it "on the road" and as I said to you, it's bigger than I expected! The scenic work is really coming together well too. How did it run over a full exhibition day? cheers Ben A.

Hi Tom Wow! This is superb work, and I think the overall finish and look you are getting is nothing short of exceptional. Thanks for posting! I struggle to navigate the blogs and I have only just discovered this! cheers Ben A.

Hello David, That 42' brake is lovely. Very nice work indeed! Does anyone know, in later years did those short brakes last as long as the 50' ones? cheers Ben A.

Hi Matt The headcode discs should have very small holes to allow the lights to shine through. Your options are to leave as they are, attempt to drill holes in the Dapol discs, use any spare Farish discs, or use TPM etched discs, which will give a finer appearance too but would need to be painted white. cheers Ben A.

Hi Dave No probs - the wiring is a major undertaking and needs doing properly. I hope you enjoy the Ospreys, Salmons and Mullets! I have a few to do too... really must pull my own finger out! I look forward to your next posting whenever it comes! cheers Ben A.

Hi Dave How's it going? NESCOT was being discussed on another thread, and it reminded me that I saw this layout at the same show last year and was very impressed as you know! Any more updates? cheers Ben A.

Hi Ian, You're right but I went last year - managed to combine it with a family trip to see my sister in Kingston! cheers Ben A.

Hi Ian Doesn't matter! The joy of NEM couplers is that they just snap in an out, so you can experiment to your heart's content! Have fun at NESCOT. When I lived in Surrey (Motspur Park) I was a regular visitor, but unfortunately I am working this weekend so probably won't be able to make it! cheers Ben A.

Hello Mark, Fantastic update! Your modelling is superb, and shows wonderful attention to detail and precision. I think your painting is excellent too - and really brings out the best in the brick-built items. But what I really like most is that this is sooo much more than a model railway - it's a story stylishly and brilliantly told. There is plenty of good modelling on RM Web, but what sets your thread head and shoulders above pretty much anything else I can think of is the presentation - this is a totally different kind of thread to anything else (example - who else would introduce an update with a listing from the Radio Times?) Your graphic design work is really inspirational too. What program do you use, and what is the font in the "Southern Electric - Trains to the City etc" sign on the bridge faces? This update was well worth waiting for, and I am already looking forward to the next one!! cheers Ben A.

Hi Simon That's looking very neat - well done. I wouldn't say I hate wiring, but I certainly don't enjoy it. But it needs to be done, and once trains are moving on all the tracks it will be worthwhile! Look forward to seeing your layout at the NGS AGM. cheers Ben A.

Hello Jerry, I agree that the coupler pocket looks unsightly but there is a significant body of enthusiasts who like to keep their models in such a condition that, if they wish, they can revert them to their as-bought condition. Or who may wish to use them on different layouts, with different standards. The joy of the NEM system is that it easily allows such flexibility and inter-operability. Out of interest, do you know why they abandoned plastic in favour of metal? Was it for engineering/appearance reasons, or down to cost/convenience? But even if sticking with metal, I feel that there has been a lack of any kind of product development. For example, you mention that they are designed to be screwed to the underside of the wagons - which seems a good way of fixing them - so why is there not a hole etched in the baseplate suitable for, say, a 12BA bolt or similar? I know the hole can be drilled but having it pre-etched would be a whole (groan!) lot easier and save potentially distorting the plate when drilling. Also, with regard to Missy's etch, since she is not offering it for sale, and has generated the artwork herself, I do not see any patent violations or copyright issues at this stage. cheers Ben A.

Hello Jerry, Thanks for the background - very interesting. And suggesting that the original pioneer of these couplers favoured them moulded in plastic. cheers Ben A.

Hello Missy, Yes - those designs are the kind of thing I had at the back of my mind when I posted. I'd be interested to see how you get on with them! Also, in reply to an earlier post, I take the point that DG couplers can be made to work with very little soldering (or none at all) but the perception is that soldering is involved, however misguided it may be! cheers Ben A.

Hello all, Been following this thread. Who actually makes DG couplings? The reason I ask is that while these couplers appear to offer the best combination of reliability v appearance for small scale modelling, there appears to have been no product development or attempt to update and upgrade in the 30 years that they have been available. For example, I am surprised that the maker does not offer DG etches with an alernative "base plate" that can be simply fitted into NEM sockets that nearly all modern stock has? Or what about producing a plastic component for the main "body" of the coupler, with clip in wire loops and delayed action tabs? This could be a simply clip fit, and far less daunting to those who are not comfortable with soldering etc. Am I missing something? Perhaps the market is just too small to justify such a development, or the engineering challenges are too great? cheers Ben A.

Hi Jo Very nice job, but as you asked about what does and doesn't work.... when I look at the depot end on I feel that it looks a little "unfinished." Trying to put my finger on it, I think it's a combination of the very even, unweathered colouring, and the lack of any window bars in the glazing - I am not familiar with the prototype but having a single pane of glass that large *looks* unrealistic, even if it is authentic. Having said that, it's only the very very high standard of everything else that highlights those points! Also, I am especially impressed with the weathering on the underframes of your units and coaching stock - care to share the technique? cheers Ben A.

Hello Stephen, This is coming along really well, and your scenic techniques are inspirational! cheers Ben A.

Ian That is looking really good. When it comes to couplers, we have had intermittent problems too with height issues. The solution is often simply rotating individual wagons by 180 degrees until a successful combination is chanced on! I look forward to seeing your layout soon! cheers Ben A.

Hi Ian, Great job with the GSM-R unit! What colour did you use for the box? I left mine in primer grey but I think your cream colour looks better.. Cheers Ben A.

Hi Ian Those lineside cabins are really looking the part! How do you weather them? I recently built a GSM-R tower for our club layout. I scratched my head a bit thinking how do to the distinctive tapered tower with its angled "faces." In the end I found a cheapo paintbrush that looked about the right size, cut it to length (tower is a scale 15m high) and simply used a fine sanding block to create the flattened faces all around. The radio antennae parts are from the scrap box, while the building is just plasticard. I estimated the size of the various bits from photographs and I think the proportions of the cabin may not be quite right - perhaps it is a little "tall" - but TBH it looks acceptable to me and I don't fancy building another! I'm also not convinced about the fencing but that can be removed easily enough when we position it on the layout... cheers Ben A.