The Fatadder

Certainly good news, I am pretty certain I have no way of justifying a 517 through Brent (it was hard enough justifying Newton Abbot’s 1470). But assuming they get it right I will be very tempted to get a wartime black example to upgrade my DJM 1470 to something that actually works

Right now it would be a better bet from Hornby seeing as they have a chassis with the right suspension for it at least. As for brake gear etc TTAs are a nightmare. no doubt when I finally finish printing my version one or other will release them…

still can’t decide on the large building at the rear, it still feels a little over dominating of the scene. I wonder if it’s just a case of needing to see it along side the other board to even it out. the ply sheet in the foreground has been marked out for cutting for the platform top to shape. The back rear corner is intended to have the bottom of a wooded hill, while the river is marked to ready to start adding the terrain. At the front right there are two options, the original intention was a house built over part of the track bed for the lifted second track. The alternative a bridge along the lines of Bugle. Once the template is glued in place a mockup of the house should help test the sight lines to aid with a decision the other bit I’m trying to make a decision on is the headshunt. Again there are two choices between a bufferstop next to the 66 or extending off scene. I’m erring toward the former as it helps minimise the hole in the backscene and keeps all movement on the scenic section. Now to take down the Wheal Imogen board so I can get the templates glued in place….

progress on the board… the river bed is 6mm below the top of the baseboard as per the wheal Imogen board. While the front extends upward by 20mm for the rest of the bank.

And he has done an Aberdare as well (though like the Saint it is held up around the chassis)

Hopefully more new versions are going to appear soon, will be good to be able to put together a full charter rake with the window frames present

Last nights work weathering the Bachmann Seacow now that it’s had its paint corrected and the missing details added next up was some work on the limpet rake, converting a Loadhaul and another Yeoman POA into limpets. Along with reviewing the rest of the rake to ensure I’ve got everything covered. This afternoon I’ve been working on the Rosevean baseboard. Building a plywood extension to the baseboard which will include the river. There were a few issues (not least me mixing parts to resulting in the top 5mm too wide). The timber isn’t great quality, but as this area is not going to have any track it’s not so critical. Now it’s all assembled it needs a little filler in a couple of places, and will be ready for painting to seal the timber. Then I need to get both scenic boards set up together so I can sort out the track alignments

There are numerous things that are much more pressing, yet my finger keeps hovering over the buy button..... I have a Hornby Grange that I have weathered but never got round to fitting a decoder, quite tempted to see what I can get for it on ebay to cover part of the cost of one of these.....

With the test build complete, last night attention moved onto the other 4 wagons in the set following the same process. I think I am right in saying that a single Stingray could power itself plus 4 Seacow which is a stroke of luck! There is still a fair bit more work to do until these are fully complete, given 4 of the 5 still need tops panels adding and they all need to be weathered. But they are getting there... The Stingray still needs to be fitted with a generator behind the protective plate at one end. this could either be in a cage or fully visible. I have no photo of that area on the wagon I am modelling, so I am torn between which will be more difficult. I will probably have a go at drawing a part to print (though once its in situ on the model you wont get a particularly clear look at it. Here is the complete set posed on the layout I took a delivery last night of the plywood to build the open frame section on the front of the Rosevean baseboard, (along with the backscene which probably wont be fitted until the scenics have progressed further. Hopefully will get a chance to put it together over the weekend (although the weather looks to be against me.)

If you are interested in one I would suggest dropping them a line, they do them in house so I am sure there will be a potential for an additional run now theyve done the artwork.

A little more Seacow work this evening, with a start adding the electrical bits. 5 cabinets were glued together from off cuts of plasticard. I think it has come out too big so it will get removed and replaced with a 3d print just as soon as I confirm the actual size! For the wires on the end I made up a simple jig with drawing pins to aid forming the bends / alignment of the third wire. I had planed to do the junction boxes properly, but with the number I need and the number of drills I’d brake doing it I’ve settled for an overlay the actual wires up to the lights were bent up following the model as a guide, I’ve done one more than I needed so I have a template for the next wagon. They were a real pig to glue in place! Graffiti on the wagon is copied from the prototype, as is the enlarged slot on the left hand side. Once again one of Tim Horn’s photos was used as a guide

Having decided that the YGH is too much of a pain to not only remove the yellow but also add the missing vacuum bits (including the removal of the etched infill plate) I’ve changed my mind on the prototype and switched to an alternative wagon to model 982518. this is another electrical fitted Seacow with the grey stripe, so the yellow has been repainted before masking and painting the stripe. The solebar on this (and the other remaining wagon) were also painted weathered black and it joins the queue for the electrical bits. This gives a 12 wagon plus shark set of non light fitted wagons and a set of 5 plus shark which will be fitted with the boxes / lights. again it still needs weathering and new numbers (which I still need to draw). It was the Intercity logos remaining on the side that drew me to this specific wagon

A lot easier than doing the same sort of conversion on a 158/159. I said I’d never do it again after doing the 158, now getting silly thoughts about upgrading a 159 to match now…

I’ve yet to play fallout (I think the upgraded fallout 4 is due on Gamepass next week, so will be trying it soon). But I’ve enjoyed the series so far, which is a first for a game inspired tv show

More Seacow work…. I am now up to 4.5 out of 6 Bachmann models with the underframe repainted. The yellow stripe on the 6th is proving a pain to remove. However the wagon I’m modelling is in such a state hopefully it won’t matter too much. im working from a 1998 Tim Horn photo of 982684 on flickr I can’t decide if the top is very faded yellow or grey and would welcome feedback. Of course as a YGH I need to add the vacuum bits…. this was originally kept as the Bachmann number and weathered, now it’s awaiting new number as 982808. I only had the red triangle logo so I’ve repainted to black, the prototype photo (another of Tims from 2006) had a black rectangle where the Transrail logo is of about the same size and typical of where EWS painted out the old logos so I’ve assumed it still present in 99 for interest. Transrail Stingray repainted from the Hornby welded seacow based on a Tim Rodger’s 1999 photo on Flickr. Steps have been removed for refitting in a more prototypical location. Still needs the lights/cabinet/cables along with its new number and other transfers Bachmann 982473 based on an undated Tom Smith photo on Flickr, also still needs the lights/cabinet/cables. Hopefully planning to get on with making them this evening to complete it so I can get on with the rest of the weathering. edit: just checked some photos again, now realised it’s 3 seacow with lights and one stingray…. Which is actually pretty handy for splitting the available wagons into two sets, one fully fitted with lights and the other without

Looking at that I think you are right. Looks like one of my Kings is getting a permanent make over…. i do have a half finished GWR Dyno that I need to finish off (from the estate of the late bgman), although I’d love to see Rapido come out with something to the same standard as their LNER dyno!

Looks like a few extra details as well like the phone. Assume by the mention of an official GWR photographer this is pre nationalisation. gives me more to think about now, do I ‘ruin’ a complete king to model this properly….

This evening I’ve been looking at the remaining (lots) of Seacows that are awaiting work. The Hornby ones are pretty straight forward, a case of remove the old numbers, add new ones and in a few cases add Mainline logos then weather. It’s just the plain grey Transrail that needs more work. I tried sanding back the edge of the yellow to blend in before spraying grey, but the old stripe is still visible. Now trying to strip just the side….. Once painted this needs the electric lighting bits adding. On the Bachmann model I haven’t found any photos matching the Bachmann release of 982483. All those I’ve found with the deep yellow band have a black solbar so this needs repainting. 1 and a half of which are now done, with 3 yet to be started. 2 of these will need the sides and repainting to get a narrow yellow band (for this my plan is to try @James Makin‘s approach of removing the excess yellow with a knife. one will need the lighting bits adding Most of the models also need the cut out on one side enlarging, and of course they all need new identities and weathering edit: finally found a photo of 982473(the Bachman base model) which shows they got it wrong! It should have a grey stripe on the yellow, and lights / box / end wiring another job to do…

Have a look at Rainbow Railways if you are after a Wessex 150. They’ve just released one.

I assume you need to drill out all the marker lights on the 166? have fun with that!

New arrival today, the NIU models part for the testing shed for a King. its one of those parts that I had been intending to draw and print myself, but didn’t have a good drawing to work from (and it was deep down the list of stuff to draw from photos) disappointing to see they printed the lamp irons solid, there is no good reason for this with it being well within the capabilities of printing. These will need to be very carefully removed and replaced with etches (hopefully without damaging it.) It arrived still fitted to its supports, no doubt to keep it safe, and has been printed on a solid base (I do the same on prints to keep edges square). On the whole aside from the lamp irons I’m happy with the part One slight issue was that the model felt slightly tacky to the touch, usually indicating it wasn’t quite fully cured. So before priming ive put in my curing unit for an extra 5 mins of uv treatment after removing all of the supports. I would have removed those lamp irons as well if I’d had a proper look first! I haven’t done any tidying to the model yet, so the top edge is as it was when cut off its support. This will get a tidy up with a file tomorrow before priming and painting. I’m assuming they would be bare wood? it fits the King nicely, fitting in front of the lamps that had already been fitted to this loco. I think ideally it needs gluing in place so I will need to decide which of my Kings will get this permanently attached

Love the twin rail car!

The next seacow has now reached the workbench, this one had been partially graffitied (I can’t tell if they didn’t finish the job or it was partially cleaned off). It also has a white on clear tops panel (yet to be added) and a grey solbar (I used Phoenix Silver Grey which was a pretty close match for the RTR grey) the printed tops panel and the dodgy H&S logos were removed before painting the solbar and graffiti, along with back dating the ohle flashes to match the photo and adding Mainline logos. It now goes back in the box until I get on with the transfers. the Seacow branding on the prototype was pretty faded out, so I’ve removed the top coat of the black which seems to have done the job. looking again at the prototype all of the wagons need some rework on the chutes to add more white to the mix. the next wagon in the list needs the yellow removing completely which is going to be a bit more involved. Given the make up of the ends I’m reluctant to just dunk in ipa…

A little bit of Seacow weathering this evening, finally sorting one of the last few unweathered rakes on the layout. This uses the Bachmann and Hornby models with their original numbers (there are another ten awaiting renumbering before weathering). Of the others several need partial repainting, either adding a black solbar or narrowing the yellow stripe on the Bachmann examples, along with a Hornby that will be converted to a stingray and finished in transrail all over grey. the set of 5 also has a choice of Shark (again with the EWS example awaiting transfers). Eventually the plan once the whole rake is finished there will be two outer wagons and pick a random 3 inners from the rest of the box. Come to think of it, looking at the above I think I really need to extend the Newquay fiddleyard to match the length of the Par one allowing a 4ft train.

I see Finn Russell is out for the rest of the season, Thats Bath's season over I suspect, just as I was starting to believe.....