rob D2

46 minutes ago, James Makin said:

Time to conquer Ben Lui..!

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

Gently picking off the '60's one by one, it was only a matter of time before a former Trainload Metals machine would get added to the fleet, and here we can now welcome 60031 Ben Lui, modelled in early 1998 condition.

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

I've a soft spot for all the Trainload sectors, and though my favourite one still alternates on a regular basis, it's hard not to like the bold yellow and blue chevrons that still look so fresh, even some 37 years since first being unveiled.

 

Where to start? Much as I'd love a nice Cavalex '60' when it drops, for now we'll make do with a bargain used Hornby one, and picked up for £70, couldn't say fairer than that!

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

The donor model was once a Mainline Grey 'Canisp' example, with the old branding removed back to the base colours and gloss varnished, ready for the new decals to be applied. Railtec's excellent Trainload decals were added, alongside numbers and electrification flashes where needed.

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

At this stage of the project, a couple of the unique details could be added - the bodyside doors on one side was a slightly lighter grey than the rest of the loco, and interestingly, a little bit of the blue triangle was missing from the sector logo, so this was carefully cut away before the model was finally sealed with a coat of Railmatch matt varnish.

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

The bodyshell was then left for around a month for the varnish layer to harden, after which the invasive paint-on & wipe-off layers of weathering could commence - the dangers of not waiting could be that the varnish layer is accidentally stripped off when enamel thinners is used for the washes, so it's worth waiting! I know many modellers have moved over to acrylics these days but I'm a bit basic and just stick to my old fashioned techniques, I may do some experimenting one day with the new generation of acrylics that seem to have moved on a whole load since first fettling with them in the late 90s!

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

Time for the weathering stage, and accompanied by a lovely bit of Röyksopp, the layers of browns were added onto the luscious triple grey body - starting with shades of Humbrol 113 and Humbrol 251.

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

I tend to vary the application of the paints depending upon the final look being sought, in this case going for nearly-neat paint, but other times I'll mix a large amount of thinners - you get a feel over time fo the effect you're looking for and how much to thin the paint, it is ideal for a bit of trial and error! 

 

Next, a kitchen towel is used to wipe vertically downward and remove most of the paint in one go: 

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

Thanks to the layer of matt varnish applied previously, the paint will then cling to the bodyside, leaving you the option to remove as much as you like, using cotton buds dipped in enamel thinners - letting you  create streaks dirt patches as you wish.

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

One feature of 60031 noted from photographs of the time, was an ingrained dirt build up on the bodyside around one end of the bodyshell, and this was recreated by rolling a cotton bud around in some thinned paint on the body, with lots of fettling before getting the effect being sought!

 

As well as this, Ben Lui also had a long scrape on the side too - possibly some sort of shunting yard mishap maybe?

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

Regardless of how it happened, it was recreated by running a strip of Tamiya masking tape down the side, and touching in the relevant areas with a fine 5/0 brush and three different shades of brown and grey paint to replicate the damages. 

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

60031 in all its glory! The bold blue and yellow of the Trainload Metals markings really set off the triple grey, it is a shame that more of the Metals machines didn't make it far into the privatisation period, '031 was one of the very last!

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

The machine would lose one of its Ben Lui nameplates around 1996 - leaving just bolt holes and a few marks where it used to be - presumably liberated 'unofficially' and perhaps still out there on someone's wall, all these years later...

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

After reassembly of the bodyshell, the chassis had the full-depth bufferbeams added at both ends, and the tension-lock coupler and self-catering swing function entirely removed, to be replaced with a 0.33mm brass wire loop, drilled into the chassis and superglued in place, to allow the usual bufferbeam pipe detailing to be fitted, yet still haul tension-lock-fitted stock. 

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

A view here showing the somewhat forlorn bodyside on 60031! The scrapes and damaged sector logo add to the character of the machine, whilst it would've been lovely to model the loco in peak ex-works condition, it's fun to do something that portrays the hard life and bad luck they often experienced!

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

Up on the roof, the exhaust silencer was painted in several rusty shades, along with a bit of talcum powder mixed in for texture, before being coated with shades of roof dirt, dirty black and my custom black/blue exhaust fume mix too.

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

A driver was added in the cab - one of the cheap eBay Chinese 1:75 figures was chopped up and painted up, and homemade blinds added in each windscreen too.

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

60031 was a hard working beast! New to BR's Trainload Metals sector in 1990, the locomotive was allocated to Thornaby and wore the iconic Kingfisher depot plaques, with the legacy of its time there being the scars left on the cabside where the plaques were removed in 1997.

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

The geographical names on the '60's were most magical - namesake Ben Lui being one of the Scottish 'Munro's in the Grampian mountains of northeast Argyll, and measuring in at 3,710 feet tall. 

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

One of the fun little oddities seen on 60031 was the damaged No.2 end - a big punt in on the yellow just inboard of the buffer on the secondman's side - after some head scratching, this was achieved using a soldering iron, and touching in the damage with some spare yellow paint!

 

Completing the story, the real 60031 would go on to lose its remaining Ben Lui plate later in 1998, and then swapped the 'Metals' colours for a shiny coat of EWS red in 2002, along with a new name - ABP Connect. The mighty beast would continue in service until storage by DBS in 2009, after which it would see out the remainder of its years to date in the confines of Toton yard, alongside its many classmates all awaiting their final fate.

 

60031 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr

 

It's been great fun bringing this one to life, part of the special club of '60's to retain the original sector colours into privatisation and into the history books, and what a looker it was back then!

 

Cheers,

James

 

Nicely done as ever ! I’m looking forward to your Transrail 56 - my money is 007 or 086 :)

I used an orange paint pen for one cantrail, very slightly over thick , but better staying power than decals 

9 hours ago, Metr0Land said:

 

As a passenger I loved it as it was ordinary and uneventful for flights up to 90 mins.  Reminded me of 'bus stop jets' like DC-9-30 in early 70's before they started ramming in seats too tightly.  

Of course though, it’s the operator that specifies the seating arrangement . I’ve flown mostly 233 seat 75s , but also one VIP one with 60 seats - you’d have liked that one !

RR RB211 was a good engine, I don’t recall having any problems ( edit : tell a lie, once had to divert with one leaking oil , but that was an installation error by the line engineers ) Unlike the crappy Trent 1000 on the 787 that was riddled with them 

It’s interesting that most of the sound version are sold out . Thats £300 worth of toys …cost of living crisis ?….nah people will always find a way to get the GOODIES ….;)

I loved flying the 757, lots of performance, good stopping power. Did ten years on it .

3 minutes ago, Southwich said:

 

The new 4mm Class 60 

Wrong red entirely….etc etc…;)

That looks nice , I’d love to compare with my Hornby ones side by side to see if it’s a quantum leap or a gentle change for the better 

7 minutes ago, James Makin said:

Beautiful model guys!

 

I’ve had my first pair for just 24hrs now, so it seemed wrong not to, er, start ruining them..!

 

Here’s how easy the branding comes off with Humbrol enamel thinners - 

 

Nice big plop of thinners on the area, and leave for a good 30 secs or so, 

 

 

Then you can start to rub away, the printing takes a little bit of effort to get started but soon obliges…

 

Then just keep going, slowly and surely but with not too much pressure and here we go, a lovely blank canvas!

 

Maybe now time for a cup of ‘Big T’ 😛

 

Cheers

James

Ooohh, yes that’s what I’m talking about. And the thinners didn’t wobble the grey divide !

The problem is you can try and attract younger people , but when your organisers and the folk doing the donkey work are adults , they  are the ones that have had enough . And I’d wager that the folk mainly arranging warley are not adults in the 18-60 age range generally but retirees who may simply have had enough with the demands placed upon them .

Well, it all looks very promising . If they should do a transrail one , I’ll give it a look. Sadly the days of buying everything I like cos it’s shiny and then bending rule 1 to fit are over as these are not cheap like the old Lima buy 2 a month , but then things have very much moved on from plastic toys !

1 minute ago, Southernman46 said:

Yes, apologies I was just using the issue to illustrate a ridiculous point to another contributor on my part.

44 minutes ago, Southernman46 said:

and it could equally be said why are are Cavalex version's body grills blue when they're quite clearly black in your photo - both versions are good - one is just 20 years older 🙄

Looking forward to 2nd batch which will hopefully include 56036 in LLB.

Colour of grills isn’t nearly the same as a completely wrong fan design on the Hornby one . I’m not sure what you are trying to say ?

1 hour ago, Southernman46 said:

Possibly the worst quality photo I've ever taken but just for comparison ...........................

The Cavalex 56 is superlative but dear old R2645 (£74, Hattons, 16 years ago - I have an Excel file - sad or what !) stands up very well - no issues running these side by side at all. 👍

 

Hornby model was quite reasonable - but what the fudge did Hornby do with the roof grills ? Why are they recessed ?

18000 is a good number , estimates used to be there an active 100k in the hobby - I’ve no idea if that’s true but that’s a reasonable proportion .

I’ve just reread the thread . The layout remains inspirational - a good example of what a skilled model maker can do in a small space . Mine always end up half arsed and half finished and lack coherence .

im almost tempted to get some NSE and I wasn’t into railways in that hiatus period for me !

8 hours ago, NickL2008 said:

 

Bit further west, so Marlow / Bourne End / Henley-On-Thames, most likely would of been on an engineers?

 

NL

Never seen any evidence of it ever happening . The engineers of the time to small branches were normally 31/37/47 ….I doubt a 56 could cross some of the structures en route and of course the nearest based ones were Westbury I think .

Does Brentford count ? Thorny mill ? Must have got up there with stone trains maybe 

Bracing myself for the YouTube reviews .

” packaging is really nice and it has great detail”.

Great excuse to throw it away !

seriously though  layout looking good !

It’s interesting that in that case people are being more aggressive on FB as they appear to be using  real names and profiles . It may be due to the fact a lot of pages are not really moderated as such , set up and left …whereas on here we use user names but the long suffering mods are normally keeping a close eye . I much prefer it this way .

The topic to which he relates is a FB thread on Accurascales new life warranty .

Theres a few strong opinions but nothing making me fear for my safety TBH !

1 hour ago, Morgenergy said:

Something I realised earlier is certainly leaving a horrid mark on the hobby that stinks to high heaven: brand loyalty. blind brand loyalty.

 

With this hobby being such a web of smaller interests and preferences, can we really tolerate punters being so militant towards each other in the name of *insert toy train maker here*?

 

A visit to a Facebook group or similar will find you downed with accusations of lying if you even dare share your rightful disdain towards quality or customer service of a particular manufacturer, the reports of quality issues, breakages or lackluster customer service being viewed as trends not worthy of notice. I became entangled in this sort of attitude earlier and thought it shocking that genuine complaints and a gag lead to abuse within minutes, with passive aggressive suggestions and remarks received from more influential users from publishing and manufacturing. It wasn't a good look, only making me feel terribly uneasy even if the whole saga was initially hilarious.
 

It hurts the hobby at least in the retail part, very well playing into the changing of buying habits from retailer to direct. Not to mention, the perhaps jaded admiration means that issues some companies would get crucified for (Hornby, Bachmann and Heljan are still blasted about mazak rot on 20+YO locos) end up dismissed and forgotten due to favoritism.

 

A growing demographic that no longer wishes to hold our suppliers accountable should be discussed more and discouraged. Fixing brand new items has become commonplace with returning seen as too much hassle, even when pre-paid postage slips are supplied. I may be exaggerating, but considering the risks? I dunno about yourselves, I find it terrifying.

Blimey, I think you need to put it in perspective , I don’t find anything terrifying about toy trains - they are toy trains .

I’m a bit confused by the 56 . Was it a preorder max quantity job ? I was thinking I might get one if the reviews are good , but collets don’t list the EWS one and trains 4u have the 60 preorder but no longer any list of cavalex in the diesel list ?

2 hours ago, Barry Ten said:

 

Here's a Revell one I made:

 

The droopy slats is a nice addition 

2 hours ago, Southernman46 said:

At the risk of being controversial, when these start to get received, can this thread not be ruined like several other threads with the whole "my motor doesn't work", etc stuff please ........................ 

tricky one that . I’d be interested in hearing people’s reviews , good and bad inc anything that goes wrong . Whilst the caveat being , people tend to only write when stuff is wrong rather than praise . I’m not sure if Cavalex will want to do the intensive customer engagement and response that Accura do on their threads here , or have the time or resources ?

5 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

Quite agree, but with one caveat. 

 

Generations are not numerically equal, and the proportions of them drawn to particular activities can be expected to fluctuate, too.

 

It is therefore advisable to anticipate that the size of our hobby (and most others) will decline somewhat along with the baby boom generation that was responsible for much of its past growth. Quite simply, the pool from which newcomers are to be drawn is smaller and unless something happens to increase the percentage recruited, overall participation will lessen.

 

Railway Modelling is not in danger of dying, but its equally certain that, along with every other human activity, participation will wax and wane.

 

I understand that even sex isn't as popular as it used to be! 🤣

 

John

I think you are right . I surveyed 100 married men and their answer was …