Phil Mc

Cheers, I'll do some research..... And, yes, unfortunately it can be......🤣

As suggested by @newbryford, I think 977868 may end up in a rest rake soon, although I do fancy doing one of the 'windowless' mk2's !! But first I'm going to clear a few locos from under the workbench, that are just waiting for detail parts adding and weathering..... Cheers, Phil.

So, @Jack Mc sent me this photo he took at Doncaster..... And I thought a cheeky little 4-wheeler on the back of our rake of autoballasters could be cool. So a suitable candidate was found in an abandoned stock-box.... As the wagon was going to be 'loaded', I could have hidden a circuit board for the flashing tail-light under ballast, but with such a small wheelbase, I wanted to use a circuit board incorporating a capacitor. The blister packs are to protect the circuit board.... The obvious place for the board is under the ballast pile, but I thought it might still be a bit too high above the wagon sides, so I cut a hole in the wagon floor, so it would sit lower. I couldn't cut the hole wide enough for the board to be face down, without interfering with the chassis, so it was glued in place face up.... ( Crude 😆 ) pick-ups were fashioned from wire, and glued in place, pressing on the back of each wheel..... The lamp-bracket was removed from the end of the wagon, and a hole drilled to accept the clear plastic stub on the back of the lamp pinched from a Bachmann mk2 aircon coach. The inside of the bodywork was scratched out with a tiny screwdriver, so the hole was square enough to accept a red SMD, which was glued in place. The LED wires were coiled around the capacitor and soldered to the circuit board. Wires were cut and soldered to each of the pick-ups, and fed up to through the chassis and body, before being soldered to the board. I forgot to take any picks of this stage !!! 🤣 The blister packs were cut to form a cover, glued in place, making sure to seal all around the bodywork, and painted Grey ( to hide under the ballast ! ) Weathering powders/washes were applied next, followed by matt varnish.... A bit of airbrush weathering next, before the ballast was added, and glued in place.... Another little fun project done.... Cheers, Phil.

Or very fine grade Wet&Dry sandpaper, to remove all the printed detail before the respraying starts.... Either way, the sprayed layer is so thin, that any detail ( numbers, nameplates, etc, even the split line between the original livery's shades of Grey ) will show through. If you're not happy, now is the time to rectify it ! You'll only see the imperfections when you look at the finished project otherwise. 🙄 You'll find that actually putting paint on, is one of the less time consuming processes. Preparing the surface, and masking up, are usually far more time consuming ! But please don't let any of this put you off....the satisfaction of producing the end result is worth it !! Cheers, Phil.

A unique class member in our fleet.....D1015. I fancied doing this in its 'railtour' condition, of orange stripe, new style electric flashes, and headlight ....... Detailing parts added, and I do like the sound of the real thing, so.... Inside.... Outside.... Cheers, Phil.

Get the proper game.....🤣 It's a Widnes R L FC sticker.... Cheers, Phil.

In between waiting for paint to dry, etc, on the coach, I added a flashing light to another wagon. It took some getting apart, but brute force and ignorance won eventually 😅.... Hole drilled for pick-up wires to feed through.... Bachmann mk2 lamp added, and a groove filed in the base of the weight for the LED wires.... Worlds most simple pick-ups.... Everything wired up. False load base cut and fitted.... Hey Presto.... Cheers, Phil.

All back together ( unfortunately without TV screens !! ) Might have to do something about the view inside the guards section ! Cheers, Phil.

If I figure out how to do that, I'll fit some in !! 😃 Cheers, Phil.

Orange cantrail stripe, White door furniture, and transfers added, and a coat of varnish applied.... There seems to be a discussion taking place.... Re-assembly next.... Cheers, Phil.

That's an image of Mick I could do without....🤣🤣 Cheers, Phil.

I'll not be going that far.....😅 Cheers, Phil.

I know it's all downhill from here !! 😅 Got a feeling this 'generic' test train rake is going to be the start of something bigger.....🤣 Cheers, Phil.

Ends painted.... Both slightly different. Cheers, Phil.

Hi, I have 3x 8 coach + dummy PC, and 1x 9 coach + dummy PC HST rakes, all of which have Elite couplings and none of them give any problems with coming apart. The track is far from perfectly level ! I'm sure they will solve your issue. ( no connection to the company, just a satisfied customer. ) Also just converted a full length mk4 rake, and that runs well too. Cheers, Phil.

Happy New Year to everyone !! Next step complete.... Cheers, Phil.

And here she is.... Cheers, Phil.

Yellow on.... Cheers, Phil.

Couple more rounds of fill/sand/prime, and I've got to this.... Going with 'Sunshine' Yellow, although prototype pics suggest that any shade will do ! 😅 Cheers, Phil.

Hi Steve, I used SuperStrip. It isn't cheap, but it does a fine job ! Cheers, Phil.

Bit of progress..... Had a dunk in paint stripper- Before and after pics of the footstep shortening under the missing doors- Box also removed from the chassis. Also showing the gap left by cutting the stepped section off the chassis, behind the missing door. Which leaves room to glue a piece of plasticard in, which forms the base of the for filling in the tumblehome. Windows also had blanks glued in. First round of filling and sanding- I found that gentle fettling of the recess's in the body for the other footsteps, allows the chassis to hopefully sit far enough up into the body, that the bottom of the chassis is level with the bottom of the body, instead of showing below it. Spray of primer next, before fill/sand/prime, repeat until happy !! 😅 Cheers, Phil.

They don't all have to go in this rake, whatever's left might go in a Blue/Grey railtour set. Or I might even do a generic 'test' rake now, with the intention of adding extra stock later, to split it into 2 separate rakes, 1 TnT, 1 with the RTOV. Cheers, Phil.

I had seen that one, and noted the filled/resized windows ! I've also already got another BSO, a RMB and 2x TSO, all late mk2's, that may be used in this rake..... Anything else I'll have to go shopping for. 😅 When I decide what to put in it ! Any ideas ? Cheers, Phil.

That looks gloriously bodged !!!😅 Hadn't seen that one.... Cheers, Phil.

Found this in a box under my bench.... Wondered if it could be used as part of a test train to go with 9703.... I'm not too bothered about modelling an exact formation ( I can feel @newbryford rolling his eyes at me !!! 🙄 ), but I would model each coach as close as possible to prototype. This may turn into 9523, just needs a door on each side filling in. Cheers, Phil.