Swissrail

This is my first attempt at weathering a continental coach, in this case a 1962 DB Rheingold corridor first, officially an Av4üm. I thought I'd show it here since you don't often see continental stock weathered at all, for some reason most people seem to prefer to run their European stock straight out of the box. I used contemporary photos as a guide and read George Dent's excellent book on the subject from cover to cover before I lifted my airbrush. I'm very pleased with the result. I just have a couple of hundred others left to do!

Update: I wrote to Bob about this and he sent me the guides free of charge. The man's a gentleman and I thank him for his kindness.

Yes, who is it that decides a new livery colour should be as lurid and unpleasant as possible? There are some gorgeous greens in existence but the BLS's choice isn't one of them. The TPC who runs the former AOMC, ASD and AL lines have also gone for a livery that includes this god-awful colour. What wrong with Swiss railway company executives these days? Are they all colour blind?

I've had one of these pens since 1985 although I haven't used it for a long time. I have need of it now and I discovered to my horror that I've managed to lose the little guides that are use to help you lines edges etc. Does anyone know if these can obtained as spares as I can't see any mention of them as such on the Phoenix website?

I've recently received two sheets of custom lettering from Steve, one of SBB and BLS coach numbering panels amongst other things and a sheet of 3D window frames for my Liliput Swiss Express stock. I did the artwork then Steve tweaked and printed it. He has done a magnificant job of both. The best transfers I've seen and that includes the Methfix ones I used to use in my BR days. Pictures to follow of how they look on my Liliput RIC 85 footers sent back in time from the present day SBB logos to the old ones using these transfers.

'Fraid not. I haven't enough years left on the planet!

Yes, my layout will be based on the period between 1960 and 1980. I love green rod-coupled electrics, red and cream TEE trains and international stock from all over Europe that was found in Switzerland at the time...and all of it covered in grime...running through stations that had very low platforms and their track infilled with wood. The modern era is not for me with its squeaky-clean appearance and garish, vulgar liveries that look like sticks of rock you'd find at the beach.

Hi Jeremy It's HO, 1:87 Alan

Not happy with the Sommerfeldt stuff, (I think it looks coarse) I've started on my own etches for my upcoming layout. Drawings done in CorelDraw, a test etch recently came back from the etchers and I assembled it at the weekend. I'm pleased with the results!

I recently bought a Roco DB E40 with the intention of modifying it to match one of those that was loaned to the SBB in the early 60s. The replacement pantograph was delivered today and here it is, fitted to the loco. The mounting spigot had to be reduced in height, the original insulators removed and the corresponding holes filled with the correct diameter plastic rod and new mountings for the pantograph legs created. I’ve yet to weather this beast and the new number plates are still to be fitted to make this engine into E40 244 (shown below, copyright unknown) but so far I think it’s gone rather well.

Thanks for all the ideas people! In the end I built a box out of plasticard that is just the right height, width and depth to house an SBB 85' saloon which at the same time doesn't swallow a ton of (very expensive) Precision Superstrip, although I am going to make my own from now on at a fraction of the cost.

On the subject of stripping paint, does anyone know if what's in Superstrip can be obtained from other sources at less than the exorbitant price Precision charges for it? I have a fifteen year old bottle of the original formula and on the label it says: "Contains butoxyethanol, dimethylcarbonate and isopropylalcohol". I don't really believe Precision have this stuff mixed to order, so they must get it from somewhere...so what is it they ask for that has the above chemical composition which they then bottle, call "Superstrip" and sell at £79 a litre?!

Thanks all. Lock n Lock do a 375mm box but it appears only to be available in the Far East. Since I made this post I have found one via Ryman office supplies but it's not airtight. I reckon I can make it airtight by applying some silicone sealant to act as a gasket. I'm stripping Swiss 85' stock so the Lock n Lock bacon box just isn't long enough.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a sealable container that can be used as a stripping bath for rolling stock. My only stipulation being that it would need to be at least 305mm long

How are they different?

Not necessarily. If you buy a cheap airbrush (and cheap usually means not very good, particularly if it's a Chinese knockoff) you'll probably find the results are so poor you give up on it. The failure has then become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Buy a decent one and you'll be far more likely to "get on with it". There's nothing inherently difficult about using one. Buy a book on airbrushing and read it thoroughly; I recommend George Dent's "Airbrushing for Railway Modellers" and after that it's simply a case of proficiency coming with practice.

I thank you good sir!

Lest you think I'm an intolerable, arrogant sociopath, I don't have an Audi...I just think they're nice cars. Mine's a Mini Cooper S

The Harder & Steenbeck is a wonderful bit of kit. I've gone from a Humbrol external mix splatter gun when I was a teenager, through an Aerograph Sprite and a Badger 155. The H&S is the best airbrush I've ever owned and by quite a margin too. It produces a finish second to none. It just oozes quality and class...it also looks and feels beautiful.

I understand what you mean but in my view I don't just want it to do the job, I want it to do a great job. I'm an obsessive perfectionist so buying a lesser tool would simply not give me the results I crave and it would end in my being hacked off at myself for not spending more in the first place. To use the car analogy, a cheaper car like a Daihatsu will do the job of getting you from A to B, but an Audi A6 will do a better job of it.

I've always lived by the maxim my granny gave me when I was very young: "Always buy the best you can afford". It has never failed me. To that end I bought a Harder & Steenbeck Infinity CRPlus airbrush. Haven't regretted it for a second.

Thanks Nick.

I approached Railtec to get some transfers made up from artwork I created but I never received any kind of acknowledgement of the enquiry, positive or negative, after two emails two weeks apart. I really wanted the high tech Railtec approach to my transfers but some things are just not meant to be it appears. I think I'll have to try Fox.

I've been on the Railtec webpage recently and its contact page is down, apparently for redesign. The problem is, when I first found Railtec before Christmas, it was down then too. Are they still in business and accepting orders, and if so, how do you get in touch with them?

Hi all My name's Alan and I'm planning a layout that I will build in a new garden room my wife and I are going to build after our old garage has been demolished. She's given me permission to have a two foot wide baseboard along one wall. There will be a fiddle yard below it and the two will be connected via spirals that are in weatherproofed cabinets outside the main building. Total length including those cabinets..about thirty feet, eighteen of which will be the layout proper inside the building with trains appearing from a tunnel as they pass through the wall from outside and disappearing into other tunnels at the opposite end as they leave to negotiate the spirals, one for the main line and one for the branch. It's going to be built in HO-SF, 16.25 gauge to reduce wheel slop and improve the appearance of the pointwork, all of which will be handbuilt and wired for DCC. All the overhead will be scratchbuilt using etches created from a large library of artwork I have built up in CorelDraw over the years (this project has been a long time in the planning and it's been waiting for me to retire before it gets properly started...that's in six weeks time!) My interest is in Era III & IV so nearly everything will be in filthy green with a few concessions to modernity in rakes of SBB and BLS EWIVs, the BLS one having a 465 at the front. The pride of the line will be a Hui Modellbau rebuild and repaint of a Lima RAe six car Gottardo EMU which I bought about fifteen years ago. It bears about as much resemblance to the original Lima model as a kit built Cortina-based E-type Jag does to a real one. It's magnificent.