The Fatadder

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

In preparation for the extension I am getting on with fitting working CDL lights to the passenger stock. I had a delivery today with 1.5mm orange LEDs, so a pair were soldered to some wire and glued inside the 153 body after carving off the moulded light and drilling the hole. Of course Hornby wire everything the wrong way, so it took a bit of a look struggling to find the common positive before I remembered it’s the wrong way round. Testing the unit there are a couple of issues, it suffers from what is becoming a frequent issue on my old Lenz chips with F1 outputting voltage even when the function is off. Eventually a replacement decoder is going to be needed (with this chip ending up in a steam loco where the lighting won’t be an issue.). In the mean time I will try a factory reset to check it’s not a cv issue. I also want to reduce the brightness of the LEDs

I have an alternative supply, I cant decide which I prefer..... 3d printed in translucent red resin, then painted with a Vallejo translucent orange paint. I had lost my pack of Hurst parts so drew up and printed my own for my mk2s.

I did wonder what the reason for the bay platform was, makes sense that it originally had another platform that has been removed (though it was gone by 1930 when the below was taken) https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW033139 my main reason for being drawn to this is simply down to it helping to justify the slightly odd curve of the branch which just didn’t look right when it was straight (given the similar curve on original board) but if it had originally looked like this I don’t think it’s quite so implausible

A little more research over lunch today shows that Luxulyan was originally a single bay platform (accessed as far as I can see by walking across the track). Which pretty much settles it from a design point of view, although by the late 90s the second track on the lower side of the platform is long gone. The main area of potential refinement to the plan will be on the right hand side, ideally I'd like to keep it at 4 ft as it will make transport (and storage) a lot easier. which leaves a question as to whether there will be enough room to end the headshunt on scene or if it will have to continue off board. Ideally if ending on scene it will need some bushes or something to help brake up the joint between baseboard and backscene. The next step will be printing off a full Templot plan to do some mock ups with buildings / rolling stock and get a better idea how its looking. At this rate I am seriously thinking about getting the baseboard ordered and getting started (though I probably ought to get a bit more done on Brent first)... A question to exhibition managers, Would the extension to the layout make any difference to the desirability for bookings having 8ft scenic + 8ft of fiddleyards vs the current situation of 4ft scenic + 8ft of fiddleyard? While the layout was well received at its two shows last year, and I was given something like 4 verbal invites for 24/25 nothing has materialised, which has me wondering if the relative scenic - storage ratio is counting against it. (With the thought that extending the layout so it is 50:50 scenic to fiddleyard might make it more appealing).

I still cant decide over the potential extension for the layout, on one hand I think it will add a lot more interest when operating, on the other its current length makes exhibiting it very easy, and I just cant get to a track plan I am entirely happy with. The problem comes from the curve of the branchline, if I had been building it as an 8ft layout from the outset Id have continued that curve along the whole layout. However with the 4ft length I wanted to keep the track exits parallel to simplify the fiddleyard. The first iteration of the extension plan really didnt look right with all the track running parallel with the baseboard edges. So instead I have been working this evening on a potential alternative, adding a similar curve the other side or the bridge narrowing the gap between the branch and the yard. My thinking is that it would originally have been a bay platform that has been downgraded. I have also tried to design the extension so it could be operated as a standalone layout. The rear could make use of the other building that was left over from Blackcomb, or a simpler arrangement of trees etc. Buildings / trees would be used to obscure the right hand fiddleyard exit. The board could be 4ft or 5ft, the extra ft on the right hand side would give the buffers at the end of the headshunt and the rest of the platform. If I do go through with this I think I would also need to add a 12 inch extension to the left hand fiddleyard so that both are the same length, as with the extra space on the branch it would be good to add a couple of extra wagons to a through train.

Did this ever hit the market? I seem to recall it was one of those kits that sat in perpetual development, but all that materialised was the runner wagon. Once the Oxford model finally appears I am going to have to build the runner (all be it my current thinking is erring toward 3d printing rather than the kit (assuming its even still available). Will no doubt end up taking that route for the crane's cab assuming the Oxford version doesnt have it.

That was pretty much my intention originally, all be it that I was planning to keep it running on the cheaper decoder while a couple of other locos that were further ahead in the list got sound. Now I am planning to get the sound upgrade kit once it comes out to get the loco running. Of course if I do somewhat regret not just buying a sound loco in the first place given that would no doubt have been a cheaper way to have done it, but by the time I ordered there were none left of the loco I needed with sound. Will learn from my mistake with the 60!

Not to mention there is still the possibility once it has finished its time in Japan the loco will be repatriated back to the UK in (cosmetically at least) a decent condition, whereas if it had stayed here it would likely have completely rusted away by then.

Next step on the 37 looks like a case of dismantle everything (for a third time) and try lubrication (worm bearing and drive draft ends being the key areas I think). For now I will live with it, probably until the run up to its next show. this evening instead I’ve moved into my 158. Which has sat awaiting wiring for far too long. This unit was previously rebuilt with wipac clusters behind the window as per the prototype rather than Bachmanns twin led. But they’ve never been wired up (not helped by a lack of fine wire.) the plan is to use the Bachmann 2 pin connectors between the coaches to give a wire for the headlight/marker (day), rail lights and cdl lights. I can’t recall if the cdl lights on both sides light up on a 158 on the prototype, but from a model perspective I think it’s useful to have both sides lit at once as the public will only see the live side and I can see the other side to show I’ve got them on!) For the CDL lights I’ve used the Hurst lenses glued over a hole drilled in the side. I have no idea as to the source of the small LED (they are from a 20 year old loco lighting kit I’ve never used), soldered to a resistor and wires. now to repeat the process on the other coach before wiring it all up! Initially it will get one of my old Lenz golds, although in time it needs something with 6 functions in order to give independent control of tail lights in the event that working couplings are fitted. It won’t be a regular performer on the layout. given the success of this trial, I will now need to source more of the small LED and perform the same upgrade on my 150/153. Annoyingly I don’t think Bachmann included a spare pin on the electric coupling so will need to find a way of getting power across to the second coach on the 150.