Ragtag

I wouldn't like to say now but they were an H0 scale item as was the panto

I've somehow missed this up until this point, but looking good - do love the badger.

Looking good - only stumbled across the blog now but following as I ordered a few of these recently.

Hi James,

yes numbers, overheard warnings etc. are all from Fox. The NR logos came from 'Hurst Trainsfers'.

Hi alcazar - yes it is sitting high at the moment as this was just the first pass at the chassis. It's a snug push-fit at the mo. There'll be another mm or so to take off the chassis so the body will drop further, and some plasticard to fix inside the bodyshell to get it sitting at the right height. The photos seem to exaggerate the problem though, having checked with a ruler and spirit level, it seems to be about 1-2mm higher than it should be.

That's what I'm after - something that captures the feel of the real loco. That front view shows that I still have quite a bit to do with those front grooves, one of them is quite far out of line - might even fill it and start from scratch. The windscreen is actually slightly too high - despite looking right when I moved it.

That'd be great forest, please do.

Sounds like a good idea to me...but beware! I started out with exactly the same idea, and decided that the amount of things I wanted to 'practice' require a small 4 x 1 second layout instead.

Hi Andy, planning to use this technique soon on Scotswood.

Just wondering - did you mask the track somehow, or just fill/paint around it and clean any residue after?

Well, the pantograph well is cut and the floor in place, though a little work on the sides is still to be done. No photos unfortunately as no camera access atm.

Not yet, but Fox have suitable ones in their range.

Truth be told, so did I, but it's starting to come together. The only major surgery left is to make the pantograph well, everything else is detailing like light recesses, bodyside grills and so on.

The article suggests a Hornby 58, though looking at the dimensions it'll take a bit of work to make it fit. Again - Rolling Stock at North Shields. Told the owner I just wanted the chassis and bogies, he let me have the lot for a tenner - body included (now up in the classifieds section).

Great, the recent arrival of custom parts means I'm clearing some space on my workbench and might actually be able to start my pacer soon. Is yours one of the newer ones with 1 powered car, or the older twin-powered ones?

Using your article in Model Rail, I'm having stab at weathering an old Hornby 37 I have in Mainline livery - hopefully the faded paint will come out OK.

Thanks Bob,

the window frames were just painted on freehand using Humbrol enamels. They're on the thick side, but that's to be expected with the base models. 2 Bachmann BSKs would make the best donors for this project, but I don't have that kind of cash lying around

By the way, when you say you ordered paint did you manage to find a suitable shade of purple? What are you using for the blue? I matched the Northern colour to one of those from Revell's range but it looks a little dark on the model to my eye, especially when compared to Hornby and Bachmann's efforts.

Looking good!

Sounds good,

any chance of some pictures to illustrate the process?

Thought that would probably be the case with the paint, would be great if you could do that.

This really is starting to look the part, what a difference those seat backs make! I've apparently 'misplaced' one car of my pacer unit over the years, time to check Ebay.

Hi James,

looking good. I've had a similar project on the drawing board for a while so it's nice to see one in progress. Where are you planning to source the purple for the Northern livery? I haven't managed to turn up a manufacturer yet.

Watching this one with interest. Where are you planning to source the purple for the Northern livery?

Thanks for the comments folks. I'm currently working out the best way to construct the roof. I think at the minute it might be a case of paint, varnish and glaze the body before adding the roof (I think it's going to need to be glued down unless I can come up with some sort of clip system). I'm also having an issue sourcing suitable Hornby spares for the pantographs (I'm reluctant to tackle the Hurst kit as it's quite expensive and apparently a pain to put together.

The windows are now in the ends of the coaches and, as usual, despite careful measuring and use of a template one end still manages to look better than the other

Personally I prefer grey primer as I find it gives a better depth to the final colour. A white base tends to alter the shade too much for my tastes, especially with just one coat of colour.

I'll probably start using an airbrush to weather, and graduate to repainting from there.

I don't have anywhere near enough room for the NMT sadly. I have 2 locos in NR livery now (I have the MR 97303 ltd ed) and while some DRS traction would be nice, there are other priorities (the DB Schenker 66 amongst others) in the short term. The MENTOR coach project should keep me busy for a while.

I know a lot of people like airbrushes and I'm sure that once I eventually take the plunge I will too, but I didn't fancy starting with a colour that would need so many coats.

Looks great. Be careful though, once you get the bug those Ikea drawers in the background will make awfully tempting conversion projects too...