The Fatadder

Visited the L&B yesterday with Helen, both really enjoyed it, fantastic views (and I manage to get something rail releated into our weekend away. Would definitely recommend the 1st class upgrade with it's comfatable seats and curved observation window Looking forward to visiting again in the future (hopefully it wont take too long to extend it further Best thing to come out of it is that ive been told I have to make a model of the station....

Just been catching up on the thread, looking more and more useful a medium as the quality improves Now starting to have thoughts about firing up solidworks and having a crack at a few parts. Looks like it might be a good way to do a large number of class 73 chassis details....

Initially disappointed to see that this topic is not about Colin making a modern version of sp Still it's a nice reminder of a fantastic layout. Can't wait to see what you come up with next

Need to check, want to be but I may be away on a mates stagg that weekend. If I do make it will prob have a Helen in tow, which should be interesting. Not sure if she is ready to be exposed to DEMU... Now if I could get a decent 59 and some stone wagons my current layout plan would be rather tasty in 2mm scale...

Dam you for making me start thinking about 2mm scale again This time I may well end up doing it.... Though I think Helen will kill me if I bring any more models into the house What layout are the minerals for?

A bit more thinking on layout plans... Back in 2010 I came up with a track plan for a station layout based on Botley, I have now revisited it as part of the planning for my next project. The actual templot plan at the base of the attached track plan needs work (I am in the process of fully redrawing it using a planning portal drawing as a basis). The objective of this exercise is to see if the compression that is required to model Botley within the available space is acceptable. As such there has been considerable realignment of the stone works, along with some selective compression of a couple of buildings on the works (along with using the over tracks section of the unloader as a secinic break at south end of the layout. Further compression may be needed at the station end (although given that at home it will need to be ran with one fiddleyard missing I am concerned about reducing platforms length as I want to use it as a terminus when playing trains at home. There are still two other areas that require significant thought, first the road down from the main road into the works. Given that I have moved the works closer to the bridge to fit it into the available space, there isnt enough space for the weighbridge and prototypical slope down to it. The other issue is with operating interest, the layout room can only take 12ft, whereas the complete layout would need to be 8ft scenic with 2 4 ft fiddleyards. This could seriously limit the interest for running at home (tempting me towards looking at other plans.) There may yet be potential for looking at a more fictional concept based on my ideas. The next step is going to be finishing off the new Templot plan to see how a more accurate trackplan around the station / pointwork between main line and the loader. This should give a better indication as to how everything fits..... The trackplan:

Looks amazing, really have got to see this in the flesh! Makes me rather annoyed not to be living in Devon any more, would have loved to see this progress up close! That said, if you need another P4 'Bell I was looking for an excuse to buy one....... Will certainly have to see it running with some modern stock at some point! Was showing Helen the photos of the viaduct last night (she was suitably impressed) which should aid in getting a pass to go and have a look at the bridge some time! She did start making comments along the lines of this period being much more interesting, Starting to get a feeling that my next layout will have to be a similar period in order to get permission to build in the garage in our next house.....

Brynn, that is ingenious Must give that a try once I get the new layout up to Bristol later in the year!

Missed that, hopefully the depot plaques and arrows are not painted on either...

I am getting a Dutch loco which will be re numbered as 33030 or 33025 and will have the names removed

Thanks to Tom for sorting me out with a Dutch loco, Only thing now is that my blue 33/1 is going to look a bit poor next to it. Need some sort of extreme etching company to produce some replacement grills that I can use to upgrade it...

Going to be doing both types of deep buffer beam as well Sadly I'm working away from home for the next 6months so not much time to work on them

Agreeing with those commenting on the twin packs, A dutch 33 would fit my plans very nicely, however I have no need for a pair of them. Will be keeping an eye on the classfieds to go halves I guess.....

Going to be a long old while for that... Though once they are primed it's a simple coat of yellow and black (keeping the primer grey) and job done. The grey I have used before gives a good faided base Still to add: Air pipe runs, will be brass wire with soldered brackets Air tanks Distributers (some above chassis some below) Deflector plates on a couple of wagons Brackets/remains of plates on more Buffers air pipes and couplings New w irons and wheels Ribs - inner, end and side where required need to source some triangular section plastic strip for this which is thenext major job. Not found anything suitable yet Think that's the lot...

A quick update to follow my previous blog post on Gunnels, finally got five minutes internet access so can upload the photos from my laptop. I have now started the next couple of wagons, so should end up finishing a couple more soon...

Will do my best, but sadly only have the Internet on my phone at the moment I am off to Chester on secondment for 6 months from Sunday so hopefully will end up finding a room to rent that is ok to model in else will only be able to work on stuff when I am home in Bristol at the weekends With the salt hoppers I broke the ends on two PGAs when removing body and chassis so these were used as donors I cut the damaged end off the first wagon then cut the chassis in half and glued one half to the good end. I then used a broken 2nd chassis to cut a centre section to the missing length and glued that on so it overlaps the body Finally cut the new end to size and glued to the other chassis half before gluing the lot together (after which it's the usual detailing etc For the other one I will take a good PGA and add a new centre section, the chassis will be from 4 parts to make it up from my available components As for the 59s The first two are both awaiting chassis painting, but lack of suitable paint facilities in Bristol have that on hold

Having spent a couple of days modelling for a change, my gunnel conversions have seen more progress In each case the work involves Removal of all moulded detail Fitting new hopper top from plasticard Gluing body to chassis Filling resulting gaps and holes from end detail Cutting 1 and a bit PGAs to make an ex salt hopper (leaving extra to build a second) Adding deep headstocks to 390520 Correcting procord boards (either romoval or relocating one side) There is a long way to go adding all the pipe runs, ribs and headstock detail + p4 conversion but first I want to convert the other 5 wagons I have awaiting work on the hoppers Unfortunately can't seem to upload photos from my phone

Its been a rather long time since I have touched any modelling, Not since Scaleforum in fact. The move to my own place coupled with a few other bits has just left no time for it. However I have to move away from home for the next few months (6 months working in Broughton and driving back to Bristol at the weekends) The whole arrangement has left me rather cross, but on the plus side assuming I manage to find somewhere suitable to live it is going to mean I have more modelling time. The thought of more modelling has been resting on my mind for the past week, needless to say the first effect has been spending more time on forums... Unfortunately lack of funds prevents any meaningful construction on my planned new project, as it really needs to have some track laying before I can start making progress. The cost of buying all the trackwork just makes it untenable at the moment, given the extra expense of commuting back to Bristol coupled with increased saving meaning there is just not enough free funds to cover it. That said, the project is very much still going to be ongoing where ever possible. The funds situation has also made me seriously re-evaluate my stock levels, everything that is not suitable for Blackcombe or the new layout will be sold over the summer! Speaking of Blackcombe, this has been the focus of my thinking over the past few working days. Over the past year I have thought a couple of times about rebuilding the layout and trying to fix some of its (many) problems. To that end I have started coming up with a new plan based around it. There are two main options, Start again reusing as much of the layout as possible on new baseboards, or try to fix what is there insitue My current thinking is to try and fix it and take things from there, needless to say should the main problem (track reliability) prove impossible to get to a satisfactory standard I will have to rethink things, though I suspect should that happen the new project would take priority for funding. The above diagram gives a breakdown of some ideas, The first thing to resolve is fitting a proper set of alignment dowels to resolve the alignment issues, followed by sorting out the trackwork in the yard, in particular I would like to try and fit a B7 point as the yard entrance in the place of the current A6. This is the most important factor as without sorting the running there really is no point in doing the rest Fiddleyards, it needs a new fiddleyard on the right hand side (which hopefully can be shared with the other planned layout), the existing left hand fiddleyard will be scrapped. The mainline will be removed covered with an enlarged bank. the other major modification is removing the branchline, and converting it into disused track and a headshunt. The idea being that the original branch has been closed past the clay works, wagons will then be taken into the works by an 060 (thinking an etched sentinal kit is something ive always wanted a crack at) Another major modification is with the bridge, the current structure I was quite pleased with the design however its just not west country enough. This will be ripped out (with the spans reused on the new layout). It will probably be replaced with a devon stone structure on the RH side as a scenic extension/part of fiddleyard. The final major area of work is a general improvement to the detailing, along with a backdating of all details to 1980s condition. The big problem, while I plan to move the baseboards to Bristol. I wont have much time at weekends to work on it, (though that might improve a tad once May's exams are out the way.) Also not too sure how my girlfriends cats are going to take to the layout once they move in in September... Still, it feels good to be thinking about modelling again.

Having spent the weekend demonstrating modern modelling at Scaleforum, I have actually made some progress on a few projects this weekend. First was 47813 in Great Western Trains, finally fitted with etched marker lights at one end and full GWT transfers (it does still need the yellow warning panels spraying which will be completed at Christmas.) Unfortunately didnt get a photo, but it was looking rather nice on Mike's mini Western Road test track. So much that it got me thinking how good Western Road would look with a set of GWT mk3s along the backscene, along with my GWT 47s & HSTs (though will have to get on and spray a Hornby powercar into GWT!) At some point in the future it will hopefully happen for the last hour of a show..... Also with transfers I managed to get one side of my DRS 37612 finished, now really starting to look the part. The main project for the weekend was a start on my Gunnel Project, more specifically the first two wagons 390607 and 390516 (a hg001b ex 1st batch pg006b and a hg001a ex pg006a respectively) both wagons initial preparation was the same, first the cleats on the sides along with the air pipes were removed. on the ends the gap between the end supports and the hopper body was opened up, and the body was chopped down to leave approximately 2mm of body remaining. 390516 was a bit more work, the angled side of the hopper was approx 1mm longer than the other types, with the flat part of the side starting level with the bottom of the platform (whereas the normal gunnel/pga had the flat part of the side start about 1mm below the platform.) This was modelled by carefully cutting the bottom mm or so of the flat side to an angle which matches the lower side. Chassis wise, the main work was removing the gears that are moulded on the door leaver panel, removing the coupling mounts, buffers and where necessary the Procor boards. It was then time to start work on the new tops, these were fabricated from 20thou plasticard cut to match drawings (I think it was 8.5mm hight for 607 and 7.5mm for 516), each needed to be cut with an angle, which starts about 2mm (or 1mm for 516) above the bottom edge. These were glued into position, followed by the ends. There is still a fair bit to go, it needs the internal ribs adding, some external rib details where required along with spill plates on the end. Still have 5 more different designs to build (along with a few repetitions), will make sure I get on and take some photos when I build the next one!

Pretty certain that its a different shade, With Lima they modelled everything in Virgin in a very light shade of grey (much too light), looks like Vi have definitely gone much too dark while phoenix appears to be darker than Lima but still lighter than the prototype (and a lot lighter than Vi). The worry is that the red on the model is probably also too dark (so as to not look so wrong with the extra dark grey) so I am thinking a full respray is going to be needed. The plan now is going to be to get the Railmatch Virgin grey, and respray the whole roof with that to see if its a closer match (tbh I really dont want to have to spray the red having previously found Virgin red a complete pig to spray). The other option post spraying would be a coat of satin varnish, as the Phoenix grey is very matt in comparison with the rest of the finish. In fact the cab sides in the dark hardly show up at all..... If I do have to fully respray I will be even more annoyed, given that the virgin model had the ends that I needed for 47813. With 813 I am now stuck unable to finish the loco in time for Scaleforum because I need to get new surrounds for the marker lights to convert to the correct type (and of course cant spray up the ends until I have finished fixing the lights...)

A small amount of further progress today, I have started to reassemble 37612, unfortunately the doors/side grills are elsewhere so I cant finish the job yet. it will also still require minor touchups to the blue paint and a coat of varnish to get a constant finish over the repairs (most annoyingly the can I have here has a blocked nozzle despite having only used it on 2 locos earlier in the year...) The other work which is still outstanding is all minor, with the lights needing black paint, buffer beam detailing, glazing and transfers still outstanding. The Great Western Trains Class 47 has also hit a hold up, given that the Vi Trains base model did not have the required end detail I cant respray the ends until I get etches from Shawplan (which I suspect will not be until Scaleforum). What I will probably end up doing is adding the transfers when I am next home, and then spraying the yellow ends over the Christmas break. The model has now been refitted with side glazing (needed to fit the roof fan units which support body on chassis), I believe that all 4 of my Vi 47s still need to be lowered on their chassis as well... Given that Vi Trains have not modelled the kick plate under the doors, I am debating if I will paint it silver (which is how Vi have dealt with it RTR) or have a crack at an etch. I suspect it will have to be the latter! Last night I ended up fitting the etched plates (SS Great Britain) and refitted body to chassis (the buffer beam in the below photo is missing some details which will be refitted once I fit the screw coupling. The below photo shows the current state, with 47813 alongside my earlier resprayed Heljan 47830 (still got to decide what I will do with that, 2 GWT 47s seems rather overkill, and having seen a photo showing Thor in GWT working on Virgin Trains services for 2 days in 1998 I am really tempted to do another Vi Trains respray to model that one. At this rate I can see myself having the whole fleet....... Speaking of screw couplings, I have also finally got on and fitted couplings to the Fraggonset 47. My method for dealing with these on Vi Trains 47s is pretty simple, the hole is expanded to fit the shank size and the shank is then superglued into position. Once it has dried I make a cut with the Xurons about 1mm back from the back of the buffer beam and then fold over to the side (securing with more glue.) This prevents it from fouling the chassis when you put the body back onto the chassis. The final step (having glued on all the necessary pipe work) was to glue on the buffers, and then glue the buffer beam to the loco body (applying glue to the clips on the back of the buffers and to the top edge of the beam) Finally more glue is applied from the back to further reinforce the joint (need to make sure that once you have 7mk2s hanging off the back of it the joint wont fail!) Having pretty much ran out of modelling to do now, (particularly as its all now been packed prior to tomorrows move to Bristol) I have cracked on with a bit of research as to the formation of the rake the GWT locos will be used on. The most useful will be the Pad - PZ sleeper, however I have not had much luck finding photos (all I have found is one rake with a BG and a sleeper visible, and another with a BG and 2 sleepers.) I have managed to find a full formation in FGW days, which has 4 sleepers, mk2e FO, mk2d TSO and mk2d BSO so I am planning to use that as my basic plan with a BG to substitute with the BSO. I also plan on modelling the early 1999 loco hauled daytime services, which will be based around a formation comprising 2 mk2e FO, 4 mk2d TSO and a mk2d BSO (with an additional mk1 RMB that can be added to the rake along with a mk1 bg that can be substituted for the BSO. The problem here are the mk2s, I have most of a rake (I am short by 2 TSOs) all of which require painting, given its not a paint job I will particularity enjoy (I hate masking long straight lines, and will not use transfers for stripes) I am living in hope that either Bachmann or Hornby will announce a new mk2 aircon next year..... That will just leave painting the 2 mk1s which is a lot more manageable! If anyone has any recollections/photos of Great Western Trains loco hauled services from 98/99 please get in touch, would definitely like to find more accurate info on the sleeper formations in particular

Making good use of a warm bank holiday Monday I have got on with some painting, First up, my DRS Class 37 (Which will be 37612). Black roof was sprayed, masking removed (thankfully with no damage) all looking good. This just needs the light clusters painting black along with detail painting the grills (and cantrail stripes) + transfers & Shawplan windows and it will be finished. Most annoyingly I have now found out that its completely out of period for the layout. While '612 was in DRS in 1998, I have modelled it in 2004 condition (ie Wipacs, reinforced windscreen and centre headlight) along with a Shawplan roof grill. In 1998 it should have standard ends (with the DRS recessed nose mounted multiple working socket), and should have standard windscreen frames. This is rather annoying given that I havent seen many (any?) DRS 37s finished with the correct windscreens, and if I hadnt bothered to do them on mine it would be a simple case now of just finding new noses..... I guess another DRS respray will be needed at some point in the future then... Next was a Great Western Trains Class 47, (which will be 47813 "SS Great Britain") This has been resprayed from a Vi Trains Intercity liveried model, the end was modified to fill the holes from the body mounted ETH (moved to the chassis) and it has been fitted with Shawplan roof grills. The aim was just to strip the sides and keep the factory finish on the roof/ends however as paint stripper got onto the yellow ends they will also need a respray (I am undecided if I will spray this on Wednesday or wait and use an aerosol (that I find gives better coverage) when I can get some. The green has come out really well (I have found before when I sprayed my Heljan model of 47830 in the same livery). I did find that the masking tape lifted slightly over the no2 end roof and some primer has got through which will need tidying up. Hopefully Brian will have some of the new 47 glazing available at Scaleforum to finish it off... Given I move to Bristol on Friday SS Great Britain seems a rather appropriate name... Finally another Vi 47, this time it is 47817 "IMechE" in Virgin, Again this been prepared for the Shawplan roof grills and has been fitted with Shawplan boiler port detail to convert to the prototype's boiler variant. This, along with the renumbering (Vi Trains use Lima style printing thats next to impossible to shift) has left a fair bit to be resprayed. The Shawplan grills were deliberately left off to protect them through the paint process (they will be hand painted after fitting.) The plan was to respray the roof panel containing the boiler detail, along with the two cab sides, given that on a lot of previous Vi releases people had commented that the colour pretty much matched the available paint offerings I was expecting an easy job. However as can be seen in the photo below, either Vi Trains have got the grey much too dark or Phoenix have got it much too light. Either way, the model is a complete mess and will either require respraying those areas a second time with a better colour match to the Vi paint, or respraying all the grey with the phoenix colour. Either way, my plan to have this loco completed for Scaleforum to complement the other two 47s that I am bringing is over (that was pretty much the last of my Virgin Grey paint, and by the time I receive any more it will be time to move to Bristol.)

Normally when I mask for spraying I run a line of 6mm Tamiya on the edge, then block in with paper and low tack duck inch & a half. Looking at it this evening planning where masking will be required when I spray it tomorrow, I think that the problem might have been that the paint ran on one side rather than masking damage. My repair has worked very well, while you can still see the marks where work was carried out (I haven't been able to varnish it yet due to yet another full can of Railmatch aerosol having the nozzle block up despite being almost full and practically new!) Brush painting would not help, as you would still require masking to get the straight lines on the edges. My current plan is to mask and spray the black tomorrow (assuming that the black aerosol hasnt blocked up as well...) then repair any masking damage before spraying a light dusting of DRS blue on Thursday. I was hoping to have the finished loco ready to have something a bit different at Scaleforum, but I wont have a chance to do the transfers in time.