The Fatadder

At Ally Pally yesterday I painted and fitted the ModelU crew, (after a quick wander over to Revolution to make sure Mr Hale was painted correctly). So just waiting on the sound upgrade kit now to finish it off. Took a few attempts to refit the interior before Cav mentioned getting the bulkhead in front of the screw and then pushing in.

Thanks Phil, would. Completely agree on the helpfulness of the stewards this year.

I think it’s far too soon to be talking about scrapping the Blitz defence, look at how long it took SA to perfect it before it really started delivering results. England just need to get rid of the lapses of concentration which seem to always result in an opposition try. Those two mistakes today (particularly that no armed tackle at the end) were inexcusable. (As were many of the stupid errors in the Scotland game that England really should have won).

Question to the Warners team, I was told today when I arrived (as an exhibitor) to park in the exhibitors marked carpark section and parking would be free. when leaving we noticed the ticket machines (and the ANPR mast), and checked the reg which showed as owing payment for parking. Several other exhibitors saw the same same thing and went and paid (not wanting for fall foul of the dodgy parking company) and I did the same. would be good to know from anyone in the organising team what should have happened. other than that slightly sour end to the day I had an enjoyable day out with DEMU. I didn’t get much of a chance to see any layouts unfortunately, (I’m not a fan of the separation of trade into one room and layouts in the other.) We had a few people at the stand who hadn’t realised there was another hall hiding all the layouts

Yesterday evening saw the next step on the MEA rake is the weathering, starting off with the coal sector liveried wagons. The first application was to add lots of rust spots and streaks to the sides of the wagon with a random vallejo mix. The same mix was then used to do the same to the ends, before adding a little more dark brown/black and adding heavier build up of dirt along the top / bottom edge of the end. Once all of this was dry the next step was a wash of streaking grime for dark vehicles, before finishing off with powders. For the most part the EWS wagons were left as is, although one factory weathered model required blending in where printed tops panels had been removed. On one wagon I tried AK Dust & Dirt deposits, and was alarmed when it dried a lot lighter than I was expecting. However further rework with thinners got the desired effect, it also gave a good colour match for weathering other wagons and looks like it will be great for polybulks! The final wagon is in the process of a repaint into what I assume is unbranded Loadhaul black (although oddly on the MEA they didnt paint the ends orange, presumably they were painted right at the end of Loadhaul before EWS had decided on a livery. This was sprayed with a quick coat of Halfords satin black, followed by EWS gold for the top edge of the wagon. While the gold was drying the transfers were applied, Ive taken a bit of a shortcut here and just used one of the wagon numbers on the Railtec sheet that are in the appropriate style for this wagon but I couldnt find a photo online to confirm the livery. Once dry it will need weathering (probably at Ally Pally tomorrow). This was followed by a little more transfer work, adding CAIB logos along with a couple of more recent details to my Traffic Services Ltd polybulk. Although it still needs Channel Tunnel logos adding before I can start weathering (with the grey one still needing number panels along with the tunnel logos and other details). I also found a set of custom Railtec tops panels I had previously ordered for a Transrail Sea Urchin but never fitted, so this was also finished off. Finally, while working on the MEAs I had a bit of weathering mix left over, so I have had ago at the sides of a Bachmann Seacow. I have yet to order the new tops panels for this one (and need to repaint the solbar black) but its coming together. I do find weathering the ends of these a real pain with all the detail in the way! At the moment my intention is to take the MEA box with me to Ally Pally tomorrow, with the intention of completing the chassis weathering and getting them fitted with couplings. This will take the form of hook & bar in the bufferbeam for the intermediate wagons and dinghams on the ends (which also need fitting to the 59)

I should caveat that statement by saying I am using Railtec's premade TOPS panels, so I have not had to make up individual number sets. If I was having to make them up one number at a time like the old days, it would be a very different story!

For me I ended up going down the route of adding wooden batons / insulation / plasterboard along with a ceiling and insulation in the roof. What I still havent got round to after 10 years is changing the garage door. At the moment I have fitted better seals around the edge and glued sheets of 1.5inch insulation to the inside of the door. but its far from ideal. My aim has always been to fit a pair of insulated side opening doors eventually, only issue being they are quite expensive and other priorities keep getting in the way. My logic is with a side opening door you can get into the garage easier when the weather isnt great without exposing the layout to the weather. It also gives you an extra foot or so of layout space as you can build right up to the door.

Best way to finally relax after a very stressful day, sit down for an hour with a couple of packs of Railtec transfers and a set of Bachmann MEA to renumber. This focused on the wagons with duplicate numbers including 3 in EWS and 4 in Coal Sector, (with 2 more EWS and 1 Coal with unique numbers.). For the most part I’ve stuck with the numbers on the sheet, the exception being 608 and 140. The latter is on the sheet as an MFA so needed the top splicing together with an MEA. This wagon was photographed in period with EWS sides (with the red higher than normal) and Mainline blue ends. 608 still needs the 6 modifying into a 0 with a rust spot to get 391008 which is photographed on WotW with coloured Transrail branding Other small changes included some without the coal sector logos or Barry logos, and changes to OHLE flashes. Im now thinking about a quick respray of the last coal sector wagon into the all over black (Loadhaul?) livery. Eventually I could do with adding at least one in Mainline blue as well. Eventually an MAA will also get added (once I’ve built it…) Half the rake so far was made up of old bodies fitted to the latest chassis from MFAs, while the rest followed the same approach with a batch of EWS bodies bought in a sorry state last year.

Speaking of slips, would I be right in assuming that a B7 double slip drawn in Templot will match the finetrax double slip? If not what will it need to be drawn as to match? About to order the board for the layout extension so will be needing to get the track sorted soon. But before I do I wanted to ensure that my Templot plan is actually going to match the track that I am going to be building.

The clay wagons are looking rather nice, Are they going to stay as empties or are you eventually fitting sheets on them?

A little more work with the replacement Pensa Models silencer now painted and fitted to the model. It still needs a lot more black adding to the paint. lashing eyes now added to the front I have also made a start on weathering my seacow rake,

Finally got round to buying Baulders Gate 3 at the weekend, just about through Act 2 now and absolutely loving it. Well worth the wait, though I fear it’s going to leave me wanting a lot more when I’ve finished (with any sequel many years down the line and afaik no expansion planned)

As an initial check I have touched up the areas that have been worked on with a quick brushed coat of NSE grey which is remarkably similar to ARC grey (or at least Dapols version of it) to the point where I’m debating just blending in with a quick airbrush coat (with any slight difference more than obscured by the weathering.) another coat of filler in the holes for the fictional second set of air pipes. I should have just filled with plastic, but I am trying to avoid damaging the paint with solvents (whereas the water based filler won’t damage it). Some work on the lighting, the Dapol LEDs are all a bright blue white light, having seen mention in a few places of using transparent orange paint to rectify this I thought it worth a go. I think it makes for a big improvement, so took the cabs apart for the same treatment. (My Hornby 153 will be getting the same treatment sometime soon!) While the cabs were out I’ve applied a couple of washes of AK streaking grime and fitted a driver. I had leftover streaking grime on the pallet, which I’ve used on the bodyside grills to try and add a bit more depth to the missing mesh. Finally the doors were removed and glued solid, and the roof grill refitted. God knows why they fitted opening doors to a model on which you can only open them by a mm or two without hitting the chassis block.

Something I never want to see make a return!

I have had 59103 on the workbench today. so far, I have modified the 59/2 lower fairing to 59/1 condition and fitted to the model. Relocated the radio roof pod, cutting and filing to the required size before adding the base plate and reusing the Dapol pod. A pretty stupid error by Dapol there! Once the filler is all dry the plan is to paint with NSE grey (which appears to be about the closest I have) so I can check for finish, before spraying with ARC grey sometime after Ally Pally once I’ve sourced a tin. the final area of major work was the roof grill, I hate visible slots for the sound version so this had to go! I’ve cut and fitted lengths of 30 by 20 strip along with a backing piece to stop them falling through. this was then covered with filler and will be painted with a weathering mix before refitting the grill. The exhaust silencer has been removed as i am going to order one of the correct sized replacement parts from eBay to finish off the roof. while the filler was out the two extra air pipe holes were both filled. Finally I’ve taken the Dapol decoder out of 56078 and fitted it to the 59. Just need to dig out the Sprog and reprogram the cvs to match Dapols list. next on my list are the doors, the fit of the pointless opening mechanism is rubbish so my thinking is to remove it and glue them in position.

Has anyone who has renumbered their ARC 59 got a set of the Dapol plates for 59103 going spare please? Edit: all sorted now thanks. my 59 arrived yesterday (2nd hand) but it’s missing its nameplates. Normally I wouldn’t mind as I very rarely keep locos with their original numbers (and have a box with several Bachmann plates that were left over after renumbers). But in this case 59103 is the only 59 to have been used on the working I’m modelling.

im in much the same boat, I won’t order one until I see it in the flesh. Really not keen on these lift out sections, and will make a decision between buying a second hand Hattons model or a new Accurascale.

Pretty sure I’ve only ever seen one 262 body listed on eBay, so I’m assuming I was the buyer (with the body now mounted on an older Bachmann chassis)

59103 has arrived, there’s a little work to do (it was sold with a detail pack from a 59/2 so the fairing needs repainting and I need a new set of etched plates.) If anyone has renumbered their 59103 and has a spare set of the Dapol plates they don’t need please let me know. looks like the work will include: -Rebuilding the 59/2 end to remove the linkages and repainting in ARC grey -fill the gap between fairing and end / repaint in grey -source / fit etched plates -reduce silencer height -dinghams / decoder fitting -weather (particularly the bodyside grills, which vs the Hattons 66 are by far the biggest disappointment) Also had a delivery from @railtec-models(amazingly fast as usual). This has the numbers for the MEA rake (along with more ohle stripes for when I respray the roof on 50031).

Good to see the method, makes me think I need to get on with adding them to my models that use the old chassis

With just over a week left until Ally Pally I will be on DEMU duties on the Saturday, along with bringing along a couple of my more recent projects (probably the latest couple of 37 resprays, the 56 and some wagons) I have been sorting out a few projects to work on. As ever if there is anything people particularly want to see please let me know. Orders have been placed for a class 56 crew, and transfers from Railtec for the MEA rake. Lunch today was spent looking at photos trying to match up the Railtec transfers (pack A) to specific wagons in order to verify the livery. The EWS ones are pretty obvious which will cover two wagons (with 3 of the other EWS wagons retaining their original identities). 391140 is included on the sheet as an MFA, this was a more interesting wagon with EWS red sides but Mainline blue ends so my plan is to chop up two sets of transfers to use the MFA number with the top half of an MEA. 003/004/033 were all confirmed to be in coal sector livery which are perfect for my needs, while 155 was confirmed in Mainline blue for which I havent got a model. The rest I was unable to find photos (or only found in EWS livery). While searching for photos I also found 391008 in Transrail branded coal sector which again is going to need a couple of sheets chopped up. The MEA rake is a little bit of a flight of fancy for Wheal Imogen, being more intended for a Plymouth or South Devon based layout. It is based around the Eurobell/Telewest cable work in South Devon in the late 90s which saw deliveries of stone in MEA wagons from the Mendips (I think also from Meldon) delivered to locations between Exeter and Plymouth. This included on one occasion a working by 59103 (in ARC livery) which I just happen to have found at a bargain price on ebay... So that should be appearing on the workbench soon, after all the issues with my temporary chip trying to get a Dapol chip to work in other locos Ive pre ordered the sound kit for the Cavalex 56 and will put the Dapol chip in a Dapol loco where it in theory should actually work properly... For exhibition use it just adds something a little different to run as a through service on the branch that is semi plausible (in the same sense as the engineering sets and the sea defence train)

Hi Steve, On these wagon transfer packs that contain lots of different numbers for the same type of wagon, would it be possible to include a couple of notes on the website as to which livery wagon the number matches? I have been trying to work through the MEA packs trying to match the numbers to prototype liveries and its proving quite tricky, for the dogfish I have done previously I resorted to rough assumptions. Thanks

Will put me on to it, for things like Hornby HST powercars where it was so difficult to remove the glazing without damaging the curved cab side windows. Ive also found it useful for things like removing printing from the inside of glazing. So far I have used the approach on Hornby and Bachmann models successfully.

They do look very nice, all be it not enough to get me to upgrade all of the Coopercraft wagons ive built over the years (or those that still sit in the to do pile.

Just need to strip with IPA, that way you don’t need to remove the glazing as it doesn’t touch it