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Wow , the bogie detail and underside detail is just to die for...I love the transmission.

 

Im not familiar with continental models? Does Brawa go that far on detail with all their models?

Fascinating stuff , really enjoying these little reviews.

 

Jon

 

Never spotted this one in the A1 range before - what a charming little loco!

Morning , Lemsip is amazing!

Thanks for your comments Jon I've had a break from all things 'trains' since Scaleforum - as I was working non stop on everything a few weeks prior to the show to get it ready. This 47 has been a nice one to do - mainly because most of the painting was already done - i've wanted to model 706 for a long time , but always thought I'd end up having to spray it myself. Bachmann have done a fine job of Scotrail livery that's made this project fairly hassle-free. I wouldn't say this loco had got me back into the swing of things though. Apart from the Dapol western , a lot of stuff is leaving me a bit cold - there's some lovely new models about , but nothing that grabs me for a second look after the initial 'that's nice'. There's a lot of american models that do hold my attention - Dash9s and SD70s in Norfolk Southerns menacing black livery is pretty much perfection to my eye:

http://www.detailswest.com/NS%20Models%20Page.htm

Diesels don't get much bigger or meaner

- and there's some lovely detailing parts out there too.

 

James - I need to ballast one more baseboard - I've completed two board already using Kleer (sp?) but I've almost run out . I wouldn't want to go back to using PVA in a million years. Finding a bottle of the original formula kleer , at a sensible price is tricky , but I'm not in so much of a rush now.

 

I was fascinated by the Blautrum kit on your blog - it looks a superbly well made kit and must have been a real joy to build judging by the results. Everything in the larger scale looks that much more chunky and purposeful and solid - I can see the attraction. You cant really go wrong with a tiny diesel with outside frames and con rods - they'll always be charming!

 

regards

 

Jon

That has got to be the worst looking 47 I have ever seen

Best comment ever - Love it

Morning - James - thanks . the Bachmann tdm cables are a bit of a smack in the face! I have a pack of Heljan ones, although they're not much of an improvement on bachmanns fittings , still chunky! Then there's the Hurst etched ones, - nice , when you can get them ?? I've used them before but have now run out...Its just dawned on me to so what Shawplan do - I've never noticed TDM bits in their range , but then again i've never looked for them.

To remove the Bachmann grease, I just use lots of cotton buds, and kitchen paper to mop it all up. The bogie sideframes get a good scrub In the sink and i scrape out as much excess grease as I can from the gear tower with a small screwdriver. Its a right pain!

 

This topic came up at scaleforum a few times when I was asked about converting the Hornby 50 to P4 - I strip the Hornby bogies right down to individual components - gears and all , and degrease everything. Once re assembled I never put any oil back on the moving parts (other than a smear of grease on the brass worms - all my 50s run 'dry' , and I think they run better for it - there's much less resistance in the gear train when you get rid of the sticky grease. It works for kato !

Lovely stuff jon - those Peco buffers have turned out nice - makes a change from seeing them just used 'out of the packet' . Ive used both the new and old 'Klear' on ballast - with the new version i found the ballast flaked off a little , but a second coat after the first had fully dried did the trick . Wont ever go back to PVA!

looks a bit like the Mutley side of North Road in that bottom shot.

I was thinking that too! - Napier Terrace ?

 

jon

This is a lovely collection of stock youve got coming together - I think N gauge is by far the best way to model modern 'Clay' . The all important CDA hopper is far better represented in N than in 4mm The little peco CDA is still one of my fave wagon models. Look forward to seeing your PRAs - im very jealous!

 

tfn

jon

Licensee "R Gypsum-Fantastic"

 

(the R being for Richard of course)

Hi Jon -After your 47 I think you need to buy one of those Heljan Deltics and show us what you can do...

Id be interested so see how you got on with an Italian 47 , as its a very different bit of kit to the Bachmann model in many respects.

In P4 the vitrains model is a lot more sure footed than Bachmanns , as it has a floating (but lightly sprung) centre axle - so for that reason I've standardised on vitrains 47s. I've had a couple of Bachmann versions and all have rocked on the centre wheelsets and took a dive off my trackwork. For the post 1998 shade of warning yellow Vitrains is ok - but its a bit too light for earlier warning yellow. If your doing a full respray the vitrains model is interesting - as its the only loco (I can think of) that uses a pure white bodyshell, and doesn't go soft or develop a frosty surface when you dunk it in superstrip like bachmanns plastic sometimes does. The Vitrains paint strips off very easily and leaves a really shiny hard white plastic shell - so lighter colours come out much better and need less paint to cover - warning panels for example. The only down side is putting white primer on a white shell - its really difficult to tell if you've hit the target!

Goodevening

Nick - if you unlclip a bogie you'll see two little raised 'arcs' in the chassis casting - those are the bits to remove and then the loco drops by just the right amount. Some people achieve the same thing by bending the pins that stick out of the sides of bogie tower, but im not sure I like that idea. Once you have a nice lowered vitrains 47 you'll never go Bach(mann)

 

Pete - thanks - I'm not sure it'll look good weathered as the factory paint finish is quite 'matt' - any weathering on to matt paintwork always looks a bit too much like dust to me. I think a dose of gloss varnish would be needed first as the weathering is just as much about the mix of textures between the paintwork and the dirt. If anything I'll at least paint the bogies and underframe black to get rid of the bare plastic.

 

Mike , your friends very lucky - the Series 1 boat tail version is much more valuable than my series 2 Kammtail , although I prefer the look of the series 2. Yes mine has the terrifying cruise control - In the cars manual its called the Hand throttle - and is indeed linked directly to the throttle but with no return spring! Its supposed to be for cold starting (according to the manual) and confusingly has the recognised choke symbol on the lever - although its not actually connected to the chokes. Next to it is another lever that is connected to the chokes on the carbs - and that's got a completely different symbol on it - and the manual doesn't say what thats for at all! - and before you ask - no , the levers haven't been swapped round The car will start from cold without using either of them... My favorite 'features' include the handbrake warning lamp - that also doubles as the brake fluid warning lamp, just to put you at ease every time you park - and the gearstick thats perfectly positioned to hit the column stalks and turns on the headlights when you put it into 5th - I love my car!

Goodevening - I know what you mean James -

I was going photo it alongside my Hornby 50007 but difference in the yellow ends is huuge - So bad that I daren't take a photo. I think Other manufacturers shades of yellow can be much worse than vitrains - sometimes being nearer to orange. I don't think my dodgy photography does the yellow any favours, but its definately yellow paint they are using and not yellow plastic Vitrains use white plastic that might have something to do with it. I have a Bachmann 37 and the noses are moulded in black plastic - the yellow paint on them is so thick (in order to cover the black) all the detail is flooded and looks blobby, like it was moulded in the wine gums factory . I suppose at least with vitrains locos everything looks a bit crisper as they aren't needing such a heavy application of paint. If only they did a 50 !

Hi Jon - I would definately agree you shoudl strip it - pureply because you've mentioned stripping it and typed such a long entry about it, its obvious It will always bug you if you leave it! Plus of course you know then that the next time will be better. Even if everyone else thinks its fine, you are doing the model for yourself - so why not be a little selfish

I'd try some modelstrip - it needs to be the consistancy of butter - so if its not add a few drops of water and mix very thoroughly - then apply it with a stiff-ish brush (something just softer than the softest of toothbrushes) into all the nooks and crannies and all over.Leave in an air tight box for approx 45 minutes (the instructions say up to 10 hours , if your paint was only done a few days ago it'll work much quicker) This should strip everything but the primer on plastic - although ive always found it takes the primer off metal parts. As modelstrip is caustic itll discolor brass - hence I use it for the shortest time possible, then gently wash off with warm water and a nice soft brush. Based on my experiences with modelstrip its a bit hit and miss if your glue will survive.

 

Ive ever got on with Precision BR blue - Humbrol Garter blue is nicer and gloss , and tends to airbrush better I think. I used it on my sandite unit - built up in many layers , thinned as much as I dare - allowing each pass of the airbrush to dry between coats. It took a couple of days to do but I'm very pleased with the sheen and the color itself.

Im liking this B) The open doors are a nice touch..

Did you use superstrip on the Dapol mk3s

 

tfn

 

Jon

 

 

Thanks for all the kind comments - nice to see some more vi47 fans out there I sometimes dont think these models get quite enough credit - It was a shame to hear my local shop had stopped stocking them as they werent selling - o well that means more for me

 

tfn

 

Jon

A crazy idea perhaps - could you take a rubbing of the railheads - and then send that off to someone (who is clever) who could laser cut some infill sections precisely to fit ?

No idea if it would work - but it would be nice if it did

 

 

Jon

I saw earlier you're intending to paint the gears - does it stick OK?

 

I was wondering the same - perhaps just go over them with a black permanant marker?

 

Jon

Now that would have looked very nice at Demfest today - top stuff! nead to read back through your blog again and find out what that lovely ballast is

 

tfn

 

Jon

Nice job! , and you've got a result sourcing the chain there aswell -

They're a small detail to add , but once youve fitted them , 37s/50s/55s will always look incomplete without them

 

tfn

 

Jon

Morning -

Further to Petes suggestion - have you looked at Xtrkcad - it's a brilliant free layout planning program that you can download - it'll allow you to build your trackplan - (it has all peco point templates included on it) and view/print it to scale - you can even print it out full size to work straight from it - better to make any mistakes 'virtually' on your screen where its much easier to correct things with a few clicks of the mouse. I'd also agree with Bill - if you skew the plan slightly , it may be at the cost of a siding - but you'll see all that lovely bufferbeam detail to better effect Again, you can easily rotate your trackplan on Xtrkcad and see how it fits your board size, and modify if required.

 

tfn

 

Jon

 

 

Evening - James - Nice to bump into you at showcase - have fun with the elastic - it has millions of uses! Do you mean the ETH fitting on the bufferbeam on the drivers side? that was scratchbuilt too - theres isnt really any off the shelf part ive found thats correct for it. The ETH bits that come on the Hornby 50 should be suitable- ie the same pattern - they look underscale to me.

 

Pete - I think the only way to get a new 2mm 50 is to do the tried and tested extensive rebuilt/superdetail job on the old farish model - someones bound to announce a new one as soon as its done .

...fancy scanning the napkin and posting it?

I'm afriad my layout drafting/planning isnt as elegant as yours - anyone who knows thier 'clay should be able to guess where im looking at - basically the opposite of your layout - in particular the board youve most recently shown.

 

Evening Jon - the brake chains are from A-line but i had to order it from the states - its nice if you can get hold of it - they do a blackened version too. Backwoods also do a very fine chain ready blackened - i think , like A-line its about 40 links per inch.

Ive changed all the brake cylinders on my 37s for class 50 parts - unfortunately you can only get a complete class 50 bogie as a spare - not the cylinders on thier own - You can sell on the remaining bits to recover some cost - of of course use the rest fo the bogie to remotor something else. Another american detailing parts manufacturer - Details West make brake cylinders that are similar - but dont look quite as good as the Hornby 50 parts. Fitting the parking brake brackets/chains does reduce the bogie swing , but only by a small amount - as , in the case of the 37s , I have narrowed the bogies - Im not sure if the deltic bogies are too wide or not?

Your ETH bits do look much nicer than Bachys! I work with boats and weve had a few classic vessels come to us with thier original napier engines - so ive probably heard the origins of the deltic sounds without realising it- very similar to your clip , but much lower revs, and water cooled, with 'wet' exhaust - plus they cant really open the throttle right up in our marina! Some of the modern powerboats do sound remarkably like class 20s/37s , which makes for a very unusual sight/sound combination

 

tfn

 

Jon

In terms of the wagons...now your tempting me to spend more money...for what was supposed to be a one off purchase...perhaps some PCA's first...I believe Bachmann are doing a Blue Circle Cement one soon...

 

Evening - yes - Bachmann have done a handfull of plain grey PCAs over the last few years , but theyre hard to find now- in particular the straight barrel PCAs, which seemed to be slightly more common at Moorswater -

Moorswater is a very versatile little place - wind the clock back a little from Freighliner and you'd see EWS 66s with VGAs and cargowaggons - although its not as well photographed as Freightliners operations, Its nice that pretty much all the stock you need , for whatever period is available off the shelf - or will be in the future , with the Dapol 121/122 . I dont think there is a definative clayhood RTR in any scale yet though..

Thanks for the advice on couplings - very helpful

 

 

tfn

 

Jon

You'll have to get some nice Dapol Blue Circle Cement Cargowaggons to go with that 66 now

Nice to see moorswater dries taking shape - the bit I've been looking forward to .

Im going back to rmweb3 to read the layout history from the start as I begin my little 2mm plan. I hope somone does 2mm scale instanters

 

 

tfn

 

Jon

Goodafternoon - the 'spares' come from never throwing anything away - and its handy to have a friend who also never throws anything away. The Heljan spares from howes have been OOS for ages - im not sure if we'll see them again?? The Bachmann 37 ETH moulding is nice - but you can only buy it attached to a loco Luckily i made one of my 37/5s using a 37/4 body - and made a point of keeping the eth fittings in a safe place when i removed them!

Hello

Thanks Pete - Ive been meaning to join for a long time - I really fancy a bash at the association class 08 kit -

Already have a layout plan scribbled on a knapkin so to speak (involves lots of CDA hoppers)- Hopefully someone will do an all new N gauge 50 - the old Farish one has definately had its day. It doesn't look great - CJM had one on his website , all done up with separate handrails, new bogies etc - but its hard to look past the dated farish bodyshell - even with the CJM treatment.

 

Jon020 - Ive never seen or heard a Deltic in action myself - other than on tv or computer - but I guess thats not the same. If we had taken a more convoluted route to the DEMU show , we could have bumped into the deltic on the way It would have been good to combine the two.

 

I've modelled 403 roughly as it was in late '94 early 95 - fairly clean - I haven't got the heart to weather it - theres a few painted details that i havent managed to figure out dates for - It had silver buffers at some point - and also yellow axleboxes.

Nice to see the real thing is now being restored - I think its got its original name back aswell