James Makin

Time for a cheeky bit of MoD wagonry! VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Last year's loco projects were very all-consuming, taking almost every spare bit of modelling time to get over the line, so now that they're all done, it gave some time to pick up some smaller fun little projects in-between building the big layout. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Today welcomes a trio of VAA wagons to the fleet, based on examples active on MoD traffic through Didcot in the late '90s. The project here dates back to deep in pandemic-time, Autumn 2020 and I picked up a bundle of Bachmann VAA's and set about painting them up to match photos found on Flickr. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr There's nothing I love more than buying a cheap wagon, knowing there's a fun project ahead. I picked these VAA's up some years back from a good friend at the club, knowing that the subdued brown liveries would soon make way for something more colourful! VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Each wagon replicates an actual prototype, all sporting the classic BR Railfreight red & grey of the 1980s, albeit looking somewhat more battered and faded by the late 1990s. Various Humbrol paints were mixed together to replicate the faded shades, before being gloss varnished and Railtec & Modelmaster decals applied, before a final coat of Railmatch matt varnish to seal in the decals. This was late 2020, and at this point, life got in the way (not to mention 11 model ZKV 'Barbels', 40 diesel locomotives and a pair of Great Western HST power cars!) but fast forward to 2022, I could now dig these out and start finishing off from where I'd started! VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Armed with some free time and Green Day on the iPod, I set about doing some paint-on/wipe-off weathering coatings to each wagon, to take the edge off the sharp liveries, and get a build up of grime in the hard-to-reach places on each model. Layers of colour were built up over a few weeks, with rusty browns and darker grime colours, being painted on almost neat, wiped off with kitchen towel, and wiped down with cotton buds dipped in enamel thinners. The roof tops of the VAAs are most interesting, each one being slightly different, and generally in pretty bad condition by my modelling time period! VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Notably the roof strapping could be seen on each wagon, so lots of masking tape was cut up and laid on to mottle in some dark brown/dark grey strapping over the basic colour of the roof. It's key to look at the photos here of the chosen wagon to get its unique roof appearance, this dictates not only the base colours but also the additional patterns/fading/patches on top. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Some of the roof tops had a more textured surface than others, so talcum powder comes in handy for adding a teensy bit of texture to wet paint, being puffed very lightly onto the roof and brushed in. It also serves to mute the colours down and gives a pleasing finish to the roof. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Moving back down to the sides, the plethora of tiny marks can then be added on, using a fine 5/0 paintbrush. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Areas that were interesting to model on the trio here were the streaking marks around the door handles, plus the rusty/dirt/oil build ups in the hinge mechanisms, as well as some of the general bodyside markings. Once satisfied, each wagon was then given a final coat of Railmatch matt varnish to seal in the weathering and give it some protection agains the rigours of exhibition life ahead! First up is VAA 200100, a brightly coloured red example, holding on to the majority of its livery, although the old Railfreight logo has been patch-painted out. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr One fiddly part of the weathering was touching in each of the rivets where needed, using the tiny 5/0 paintbrush, following the Flickr pictures available. Next up was VAA 200031, in a much more faded version of the same livery, although, holding onto its lovely Railfreight logo! VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Peppered with little dinks, scratches and scars left by removed MoD explosives stickers, the bodyside was great fun to model and portrays a very hard worked wagon towards the end of its mainline career. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Little finishing touches on the wagon include adding the Colin Craig etched brake discs onto the faces of the wagons, I believe that nowadays these are available from Stenson Models. I stick these onto the wheel using Krystal Klear PVA glue, and once dry, paint over & wipe off a layer of dark grey to take the sheen off the stainless steel metal disc. The rear face and front edges of the wheels are also painted to remove any unwanted shiny metal from showing through. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The last wagon in today's trio is VAA 200126, another faded derivative of the classic Railfreight livery, with painted-out logos and damages across the sides in a number of places. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr For the underframes, these are left as delivered by Bachmann, and painted dark brown, with highlights of darker brown, dark grey and gunmetal grey around the oily parts. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I've had great fun with these vans, although a protracted project, it was good to pick these back up again and since doing these, it has reignited an interest in tackling the wagons again, it is refreshing how much of a quicker project they make compared to some of the big diesel locos seen further up the pages! VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Keep an eye out for more fun quickies coming soon! Cheers, James

Thanks Rob, that sounds like a superbly atmospheric image there! Funny how Transrail locos saw the best places, both Scotland and Cornwall would make for some awesome layouts, and a branch line there would make for a very tempting for a smaller fun quicky project! I've yet to read Gary's book but it is on my list of things to catch up on for sure! I think I spend too much time modelling 🤣 Lovely, that sounds like some fun memories there! One of the appealing things about going for '404 was its early scrapping, it all seemed very dramatic that a top-link ETH '37' could have such a change of fortunes compared to its classmates and meet its end so much sooner! Cheers, James

🙋‍♂️ The cab interior unclips once the body is removed, a set of jewellers screwdrivers helps here, then this brings out the cab and a driver can be fitted - I use the cheap unpainted Chinese figures from eBay, give them some amputations and paint them up! The hardest part with the 90 is taking out all the screws and remembering the different sizes and where they belong, my top tip is to label each ones to aid the memory for fitting them back again 😂 Cheers, James

After six months of updates, we have now arrived at the last duo of diesel locos that made up the giant batch of 40 undertaken throughout the whole of 2021! It seemed fitting to go out with a bang, and so this Scottish 'McTractor' pairing seemed ideal to book-end the giant project. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr When it comes to the Class 37/4s, they are pretty much all celebrity locos in themselves, however when modelling a celebrity loco, you may as well go big, or go home! Joining the fleet today is probably the most famous Large Logo Blue Class 37 to ever grace the rails - of course, 37408 Loch Rannoch. An incredible BR survivor right into the heady world of privatisation, this was the real deal, unlike the retro blue colours spread across the 37/4 fleet of today. Partner in crime to '408 today is another Scottish stalwart, 37404 Loch Long, finished in gorgeous Transrail colours with the yellow snowploughs setting off the look. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Despite their Scottish heritage, both locos did wander, especially 37408, which was allocated to a wide range of English and Welsh depots and appeared at Didcot on a number of occasions, further bolstering the case for being part of my fleet! 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The starting point for both of the locomotives was the current Bachmann model, with bodyshells sourced with the correct base colours, onto which the branding would be changed. Details such as the roof fan grille were changed too, Shawplan's beautiful grille replaces the Bachmann original. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The Bachmann branding comes off relatively easy with Humbrol enamel thinners on a cotton bud, gently rubbed across the required area. With the windows masked off, the loco was then given a coat of Railmatch gloss varnish, to help with the application of the Railtec decals over the top. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Nameplates were affixed with matt varnish, before the next coat of Railmatch matt varnish to seal in the decals. Railtec's Transrail decals are such a time-saver, being one piece examples, and with the colour intensity to not have the grey showing through from underneath. Next comes the fun weathering stages... 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Accompanied by a lovely slice of Gary Numan, layers of browns were applied on to certain areas of each bodyshell, building the colour deposits up from light to dark. The paint wash is wiped away with kitchen roll and cotton buds rub away the rest, having been dipped in enamel thinners, leaving the 'grime' deposits in all of the recesses. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr After the washing stages, another key part is the spot weathering, based on prototype photographs, each streak, damage and rust spot is added, using a mixture of brush strokes from fine 5/0 brushes in most cases. The time spent on this final stage really helps to make the model unique, and is where it can be lifted above the 'factory' weathering that one gets from a manufacturer. Once the fiddly detail painting is complete, it is time to give some coats of traffic grime weathering - 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The unsung hero featured here is the trusty airbrush! A Badger 175 Crescendo, this double-action workhorse is now 19 years old and still going strong! It does a lot of vital work yet never gets featured in my pics so it was time to remedy the situation. I've sometimes thought about replacing it or getting another brush, but it's just easy to use and gives a great finish, so why change it! 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The grime colours are in line with all the projects featured before, Phoenix Paint's weathering colours, brake dust, track dirt, roof dirt, dirty black, and then a custom black/blue mix for the exhaust. The paints are mixed hard to a milky consistency to avoid a splatty finish, testing beforehand on an old ice cream tub before spraying the model itself. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 37404 Loch Long interested me a lot when younger, it didn't have a long life after privatisation compared to the other famed 37/4s which have gone on to achieve greatness, so was a bit of a forgotten underdog! 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The bodysides were littered with little damages and marks, these were replicated with the fine brushes and shades of Humbrol browns, working from light to dark, drybrushing on the colour, matched to photographs of the prototype from the 1998 period. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The bogies and grille slats are drybrushed with Humbrol metalcote gunmetal to highlight the raised edges. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Down on the chassis, the snowploughs were added, being Bachmann examples with the rear NEM socked snipped off and sanded back, mounted to the chassis with small plastic brackets fashioned from styrene strip. A minidrill with sander attachment was then used to grind back any part of the plough that still fouled the bogie. Once sorted, the rest of the bufferbeam detailing was added, a mixture of pipes from those supplied with the model, plus others made from 0.45mm handrail wire, bent to shape and fixed with superglue. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The sideways shots are always fun! 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Nameplates were sourced from Fox Transfers on this occasion, I flip between Fox and Shawplan - the newer generation of Shawplan Extreme Etchings plates win through every time, however in some of the Shawplan range of plates there are still old ones from the pre-Brian days, and in those cases, the examples sold by Fox are often better representations of the real thing. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr What's not to like about a genuine bit of 1980s BR large logo! 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Dating back to the mid-80s following refurbishment and it's new life as an ETH-fitted Class 37/4, the loco received its Loch Rannoch 'plates just a couple of weeks after I was born, almost 36 years ago now. Once allocated to Glasgow Eastfield depot, it would go on to be allocated to a range of different BR Trainload Freight pools and depots across the UK including Immingham, Cardiff Canton and Thornaby, before being placed into the Regional Railways passenger pool at Crewe before privatisation. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The loco managed to cling on to its 1980s colour scheme right into the EWS regime, still wearing the classic Eastfield 'Scottie Dog' motif on one side! 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Based on the Bachmann 37401 release, the original arrows and dog emblem were retained, with just the Railtec number decals being added, alongside an orange cantrail warning line painted onto the body. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 37408 did seem to wander far during its time on the network, picking up a whole legion of fans, and to retain the blue colours as long as it did, there must have been a few heads conveniently turned the other way during its various depot visits whenever the triple grey paintbrush loomed! 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The paintwork was in pretty good condition for its age too, only a few minor damages and some ingrained dirt to be replicated. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The underframe was given the same treatment as 37404, and extra details over the Bachmann model include the full bufferbeam detailing, with the extra piping added for the ETH sockets, some 0.45mm handrail wire being pressed into usage connecting up the body and chassis, which is designed to be removable if the body needs to come off. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It feels good bringing these two workhorses to life. Taking the story up to date, the locomotives had interesting paths ahead, sadly 37404 would only have a few months remaining - being stored in 1999 and shorn of its Loch Long nameplates, being taken to Wigan and cut up at Booths, Rotherham in early 2002. Meanwhile, 37408 would inevitably surrender its tatty blue to a shiny coat of EWS red & gold in 1998, much to the mirth of enthusiasts, however EWS did refit the classic Loch Rannoch nameplates. The loco would go on to see service across the country until suffering an untimely end in 2005, a collision in Rhymney would see it heading for component recovery and eventual scrapping in 2008. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It's been enormous fun tackling these two locomotives, recreating two more grotty childhood favourites in miniature, and I can't wait to get them into service on Didcot Parkway once it gets up to speed. 37404 and 37408 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr And that's a wrap now folks! These 40 diesel locos took a whole year of modelling time to complete, from the first ones being tackled in the depths of the pandemic in early 2021, through to bringing the last ones over the line at Christmas, and it's hard to believe almost 6 months have gone by since unveiling those first Class 56s on this thread! In the meantime, I've been beavering away on a lot of varied projects, the remaining Didcot layout boards have now all arrived and are taking shape, this Summer is set to see a lot more progress here. Alongside that, there are many smaller wagon projects nearing completion that are set to pop up on these pages too, and whilst it's the last in the batch of dirty diesels shared here, rumour has it there are some truly electrifying projects coming this way! Cheers, James

I do wonder if anyone else did what I did and stripped the shelves of the budget Hornby Virgin Mk2Fs TSOs and then just supplemented the rakes with the Bachmann Virgin RBF instead, the cheapskate approach 🤣 Cheers, James

Thanks for all the likes and comments guys! I always get surprised by the reactions to some of the locos and these liveries seem to go down well! There is something about the NSE livery that will always be amazing, and the excuse of having a grotty one relegated to freight services was too good to miss 😄 Thanks Rich! That is a great price for those 47701s there, in hindsight I should've gone halves with someone who wanted a TC set! Crazy how the prices shoot up for the loco releases that were once everywhere, I guess people stash away the Ltd Editions and the normal stuff gets wrecked and becomes rarer! Looking back, I think I have unknowingly destroyed quite a few high-value releases over the years, hopefully doing some favours for the collectors along the way I guess! Thank you so much! It is crazy how much time has flown since Wells Green TMD went to Model Rail Scotland! That would have been 2006, I was a fresh faced 20-year old in my second year at Uni back then! It was a fun show, the guys at Model Rail Magazine gave me a surprise award for cutting up two Bachmann '66/5's to create Freightliner's low-emission 66951! As a prize they said I could choose any loco currently available, I went for a then-new Hornby Class 60 to get my money's worth! The very long trip back to Sussex saw a trainspotting stop at Carlisle to savour some decent freight action too. I can't believe that's 16 years ago now! Haha, it is always interesting reading through some of the new products threads on here and over on Facebook, I have to bite my tongue sometimes when reading some of the comments on the more minor things being moaned about! It's getting to the stage where the RTR models will be more accurate than our own layouts, perhaps the manufacturers should do some payback by going onto their critic's threads and start picking holes 🤣 Cheers, James

Looking great as usual Jack! Loving the pics of all the cute little snowploughs lined up too! Congrats on getting the Uni done and dusted! I bet 14k words are far more pleasurable to write on RMWeb than on course topics! 😄

It's time for another dose of diesels again as we go back to the late '90s for a double pair of 'Duffs'! 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Joining the fleet today is Network SouthEast-liveried 47711 County of Hertfordshire and Intercity 47810 PORTERBROOK. The theme this week is certainly outdated liveries, 47810 being a Virgin loco by 1998 but still sporting the older colours, while EWS' 47711 was among the last few survivors still clinging on to the iconic 'Toothpaste' colours at the time. 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The starting point for these two was of course the Bachmann model, and the 'classic' one at that - at the time these were created early last year, the new one was still a Barwell top secret! 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The 47715 release was chosen - picked up for a good price - the ideal donor would've been the Kernow Ltd Edition 47701 but finding one without an astronomical price was nigh on impossible! Meanwhile, over in the 'Raspberry ripple' corner, one of my Fire Fly models was used, some years ago I managed to get a stack of these at a very reasonable £59.99 from Rails of Sheffield in their clearance sale...how times change! 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Bachmann's release here is all tarted up with the whitewall wheels so it's always rather fun taking it back down a peg or two to a normal Virgin ILRA-pool member! The start point was to take apart the loco and strip off the unwanted names and numbers, with enamel thinners making light work of these as usual, followed by a coat of Railmatch gloss varnish to give a good base for the Railtec decals and replacement etched nameplates to be applied on top, using varnish to secure the plates. 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Having waited a month or so for the varnish to harden, weathering began in earnest, layers of light brown were washed over the roof and sides, and rubbed away, followed by shades of darker brown and dark grey, checking back to prototype pics on Flickr to get them matched for 1998 condition. 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Here we can see 47711 getting an absolute pasting! It's always a dramatic moment splashing on the paint and washes, it's also the reason why I leave at least a month between varnishing the decals and doing this, I have had some horror stories where I didn't leave enough time, and the layers of varnish and branding started to come off..! After the weathering was wiped off and further details added, the locos were reassembled and ready for traffic weathering. 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 47810 PORTERBROOK was a nice one to work on, and another example of trying to get something I wanted as a kid! Lima did an Intercity 47810 for a retailer special in one of two double packs, but the high price then meant it wasn't to be in my pocket money budget. When I got my first Heljan '47' in Virgin livery in 2001, I renumbered it as '810 (later ironically becoming an actual release) but it wasn't quite the Intercity version I sought all those years ago, so it's nice to finally complete the dream! 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Detail-wise, it was very similar to the Bachmann 'Fire Fly' release, but with a flush-front at the No.2 end, so this was filled in with Humbrol model filler. My top tip here is to stuff cocktail sticks into the market light holes when adding the filler, this way you have 'bookmarked' the holes to save the guessing game of where to drill out the holes otherwise! 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The iconic Intercity Swallow livery still looks as fresh as ever! 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr There's something just awesome about Intercity that I loved as a kid in the early 90s and bolstered further by borrowing Chris Green's "The Intercity Story" book from the library, constantly poring over every page and re-borrowing it for so long to the extent that the library asked my mother to bring the book in to check that I still had it! 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The Bachmann chassis was painted in Humbrol 32 dark grey, before being airbrushed with a variety of Phoenix Paints shades, including Brake Dust, Track Dirt, and then given a gentle drybrushing in Humbrol Metalcote gunmetal to highlight the raised detail on the bogies. 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The flush No.2 end is shown here to good effect, the real 47810 had quite a few battle scars on the yellow end by 1998, so these have been replicated by dabbing on rusty shades with a fine 5/0 paintbrush. 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I always loved the nameplate on 47810, the unusual shape and design was rather radical, and still pretty unusual, all these years on! What fascinated me was hearing about the naming ceremony for this one, being taken to a random park in Birmingham, that's got to be one of the more unusual locations to be named! 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Alongside 47810, I always knew there would be a place in the fleet for 47711! 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr This glorious old monster really captured my attention reading RAIL Magazine as a kid, the sight of this spluttering diesel in local Network SouthEast livery, now owned by EWS and appearing on freight trains! There was a lovely pic of 47711 on a rake of brand new EWS MHA 'Coalfish' and you couldn't ask for a bigger juxtaposition of the privatisation era. 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr One of the former Scottish push-pull 'Duff's, the loco was transferred down south in 1990 for the Network SouthEast loco-hauled services emanating from London Waterloo, until displacement by the new Class 159 DMUs. The loco then passed into freight usage and later ended up as part of the EWS fleet. 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr One interesting feature on 47711 was a big chunk of missing paint at the No.2 end, this being painted on over the livery with grey paint, and more shades of greys and browns added to create the look as if it was undercoat showing through the NSE colours. 47711 also had a flush front at the No.2 end, so the same modification was completed as on 47810. 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The factory Bachmann livery was retained, but simply faded down to represent the tatty condition of 47711. A wash of light grey was applied all over the bodyshell and wiped down with kitchen roll, the layer of matt varnish on the bodyshell acting as a 'key' to grip onto the grey paint and mute down the whole livery, before leaving to dry and later adding washes of browns and greys. 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It's quite fun taking a Hornby-catalogue-style side profile picture! I love the logo on one side where the 'N' sticker seems to have degraded and gone black, looking like 'etwork SouthEast' from a distance! 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Another selling point was the cheeky beaky Stratford Cockney Sparrow motif on the side, what's not to like! The clumsy positioning of the nameplate on this side is also very interesting. 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I had a lot of enjoyment modelling these two locos! A couple of great BR liveries in their twilight years and becoming outnumbered by the new generation around them, they wouldn't stay in that condition for long. Under the custodianship of EWS, 47711 would later see long term hire to Virgin Trains, receiving the operator's bright red and grey livery, alongside 47810 too. The fortune of each locomotive would diverge at this point, sadly 47711 would be withdrawn by 2000, and later be cut up in 2004. Meanwhile, 47810 would be much luckier, after finishing with Virgin Trains it would become part of the Cotswold Rail fleet, resplendent in silver and named Captain Sensible. Today it can be found as part of the Locomotive Services fleet and painted in the attractive 1960s original BR two-tone green. 47711 and 47810 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I'm looking forward to getting these two into service on my layout - 47810 will be added to the growing ILRA Virgin CrossCountry fleet, while for 47711 it would be rude not to whip out some ex-works MHA Coalfish! This is the penultimate update of the batch of 40 diesels tackled during 2021, I've been drip-feeding updates since Christmas, can you believe we are in May now? I'm saving something rather fun for the final update! Cheers, James

Hi Rich, These all look fabulous, I'm just catching up on a load of stuff and loving the latest few pages here! The layout plans shared all look very exciting, and any excuse to run a load of HSTs is a good one! I must admit though whenever I have looked at doing simpler end-to-end plans for various permutations of my layout over the years, with half HSTs appearing from one end of the layout or short formations, I kept ultimately going back to the idea of a roundy-roundy! I would come up with a good end-to-end plan, love the concept for a bit but soon get the hankering for what I really wanted, a big fast circuit layout for the HSTs to stretch their legs! Just something to bear in mind that if you still get that niggle on wanting a roundy roundy, I think its worth planning in the concept of an easy extension from the outset or it will probably keep eating away at you 😄 The Merlin power cars look superb! I too found the masking for the green cab nose stripe tricky as the lights contain an error somewhere, if you mask the green line to interact with the headlights the same way as the prototype, it does end up a touch too thick. On my ones I ended up masking the stripe to the right thickness but then just trying to disguise the join to the lights by narrowing the painted surrounds of the lights slightly, not a great outcome but then what can you do! In terms of fixing things you mention using transfers, I reckon I'd just paint over with some more white and varnish over - with mine, I had numerous little corrections to make and did these all by hand using the Phoenix shades and they've all disappeared under the trusty matt varnish coating! Looking forward to seeing more of these coming together, Merlin is such an underrated livery! Cheers, James

Morris's were always a great resource, to me and to all of us at the nearby Worthing MRC, so good for finding those little bits and pieces and a nice friendly supporter of our local show each year too. As a kid just getting into the hobby, a visit to Morris' was an amazing treasure trove, stacked to the ceiling and many times my height back then with models galore. I used to love the large and varied 'exotic' collection of HO scale Herpa, Busch & Wiking cars, it was a great eye-opener beyond the 3-pack of Ford Sierras that Hornby used to produce at the time! Hope it finds a new owner, would be a shame to lose another good shop! Cheers, James

It's a lovely choice on the Res and EWS Class 90 liveries there! I feel like I need to dig out my old Wells Green electric layout out and relive the teenage memories of bashing up Hornby models to get these kind of results, seems only fitting to add some of the new-generation to the collection here for old times sake! Cheers, James

Thanks, that's a good question, no worries! I've always liked doing the wire loops/hoops (or 'goalposts' as they sometimes get nicknamed) as a great way of being able to fit all the bufferbeam pipework and still work with the tension lock couplers on my wagon fleet. I have found wide hoops work best for me, as my stock runs on Worthing MRC's Loftus Road which has some tighter curves in the fiddle yard, and longer-wheelbase wagons can otherwise have trouble if the hoop is a bit narrow! Using a Bachmann 47 extracted from the donor pile, here's a quick overview of what takes place, hopefully the red bufferbeam will help things show up better. Firstly, the holes are drilled with a small modeller's archimedes drill, just on the inside of the buffer shanks, and a hoop of 0.45mm brass wire (my stash is normally obtained via eBay or Eileen's Emporium) is put through - For bending the brass, I will bend a 90 degree right angle in it, pop it through the first hole as a test, and then using a permanent marker pen, make a mark as to where the next bend should be, I'll then remove the wire and do the other right angle bend to make the 'U' shape here. The next stage is to then superglue the joint at which the hoop goes into the bufferbeam, and once dry, I'll bend in the sticky-out parts behind the bufferbeam, and add some more glue at the rear, it's not going anywhere at that stage! After everything is dry, it's just a case of bending the hoop down to a height where a wagon can couple up on it's own to the hoop, and away you go! From experience on my tighter curves, the front beam of the hoop is generally good if it's just projecting ahead of the buffers, and be aware that once you bend the hoop downwards, it'll bring it in closer to the loco - it's often a bit of trial and error before getting to the glue stage! Hope this helps! James

Thanks for all the likes and comments guys! It's always nice to hear things like this! What's always fun about doing projects is getting the chance to tackle a machine that triggered a certain memory or takes you back to a certain time or place, and so when sharing these project posts I love hearing how what might be an obscure or random loco from a cast of hundreds actually does mean something to someone else too! Thanks ever so much Will! It's interesting doing these projects as often the detail differences are never that apparent in real life back in the day, and not normally noticed until I've already committed to starting to work on a loco and then staring at dozens of online photos, and by then you can't really go back! Sourcing the different end for '042 was a challenge but I just happened to have one in the collection I could pinch it from, a bizarre bit of luck! The rest of it is just bodging on the detail differences as the project develops! Haha, cheers Rob! That's a really interesting nugget on the 90 day arrows story! That would explain some of the scarring and rusty holes left behind, even from where you'd think by 1998 that a triple grey loco hadn't even carried the arrows for that long, its left a dirty big set of scars! Cheers, James

There's few locos that could follow on from a lovely pair of Class 60s, so how about a duo of 'Tractors'! 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Joining the fleet today we have EWS-liveried 37042 and 'Heavyweight' 37711 still carrying tattered Trainload Metals livery into 1998. 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr As with the others in this batch, the starting point was the outgoing Bachmann Class 37 (how long before the first Accurascale contingent come through the workbench..?) and each loco stripped down. The red 37/0 was reworked from one of the poor 37174 donors, the side steps filled in and repainted into correct EWS colours, with reworked ends and detail to match 37042. 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It's always a fun part applying the decals and the loco coming to life - especially when it's something as colourful as a Trainload Metals logo! The jazzy decals came from the Railtec stable, with their range getting bigger by the day, and they just apply so well over a glossy surface, meanwhile the numbers were using up my remaining stock of Fox Transfers. The ever-fantastic Sia is the go-to music recommendation for Trainload Metals locomotives. 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The regular weathering fun then took place, the two locos have a good contrast between them, the shiny fresh finish of recently painted 37042 is quite different from the battered BR survivor that is 37711! Layers of browns and greys were applied over selected areas of the bodysides, wiped off with cotton buds and kitchen towel until arriving at the desired finish to match prototype photos on Flickr. 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr After weathering was completed, the two locos were then reassembled, having had their cab interiors weathered, drivers painted up in hi-viz jackets, and engine room windows blanked off with black electrical tape on the inside. 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Red-livered 37042 had long been a favourite. Originally a Trainload Metals locomotive itself, at privatisation it gained Mainline logos over the triple grey before receiving the now-classic colours of EWS. The red loco came to my attention when Hornby included it in a train set I really fancied (but never got!) and then shortly after seeing the real thing at Didcot, its fate was sealed as a loco that I'd one day seek to make a model of! 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The model was originally a centre-box 37174, but the yellow ends swapped out for spares from other models, and the air horns removed from the roof, along with detail changing like the strapping over the No.2 boiler end roof, to match the real 37042. One interesting detail is that the ends are different from each other - the No.1 end has a flat plated door and centre headlight, whilst the No.2 end displays the original doors and hinges, with a headlight mounted to the driver's side. 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Later in it's career, 37042 would receive a set of black-painted headcode boxes, but this was a little late for my 1998-99 timespan that I've set this model within. What we do have however is a great mix of old and new electrification flashes, the older versions still visible on the roof, whilst the side ones have been replaced! 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Weathering on the loco included painting the underframes in dark grey, before airbrush coatings of brake dust and track dirt shades, whilst the roof received 'roof dirt', 'dirty black' and my custom exhaust shade of black mixed with dark blue. 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I have to admit I do like a vulnerable-looking 37/0! 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr As much as I love a 37/0 however, serious respect is due to the 'Heavyweight' beasts that were the 37/7s! The bruiser 37711 in Trainload Metals has again been on the 'to-model' list for many years, the result here being from sourcing a spare Bachmann 'Coal' sector grey 37796 body with a chassis and doing some de-branding, before tarting up to replicate 37711 itself. 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Little details such as the divider bars on the cantrail grilles were added (just thinly cut masking tape!), and the second set of footsteps removed from the fuel tank, whilst Shawplan radiator grilles were added to the roof in line with all my other 37 fleet. 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr A nice feature on 37711 was the rusty markings left from the Tremorfa Steelworks plates removed in 1992, alongside some general bodyside scars and damage showing by the late 90s. 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It was also fun painting the rusty ghost effect left by the removal of the BR arrows too, being done with 5/0 paintbrushes and a spare etched BR arrow for guidance, working on the lighter brown shades and up to the darker ones for the rustiest parts. 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The loco even had marks from the old Cardiff Canton depot plaques too, 37711 had a full house of scars from arrows, plates and plaques! 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The Shawplan roof grilles can be seen to good effect here, whilst I opted not to go too far on changing details like windscreens or lowering the locos on their bogies, the halfway-house of adding the Shawplan grilles do lift the model above the ageing Bachmann effort. I can't wait to start working on some Accurascale ones now though! 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The two locos have been great to bring to life. As is often the case, in real life the 'Tractors' have had mixed fortunes, 37711 would continue in service only until late 1999, before being taken to Wigan CRDC and later cut up in 2005. Meanwhile, 37042 would have a better outcome, seeing service until being sidelined in 2004 and sold into preservation at the Eden valley Railway, where famously it still stands today, albeit the rich coat of EWS maroon has faded to white! 37042 and 37711 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I'm really looking forward to getting these into service, they will look very at home on some grotty old ballast trains for starters! Cheers, James

Cheers Rob! I really liked your 47016 and looking forward to seeing 47004, that was always a favourite, something about the snowploughs over the green which was a lovely combo! My 47004 has been playing up a bit lately, the driveshafts keep falling out so it will be coming back to the workbench for a bit of an overhaul internally and externally to freshen it up a touch! There's always room for more sector grey 60s for sure! In my grand plan 'hit list' I hope to cover examples from each of the sectors that remained into 1998-ish, so just need to do Metals, Coal and Petroleum examples now. 60054 is definitely a good candidate and it's between that and 60014 as to which Petroleum one will get done first, or both! I've got the plates and decals ready for some other sector survivors as part of my 2022 batch so that will be fun to work on, filling in more gaps in the '60' fleet list! Haha thank you! The Big T ones are fun, there are bound to be more coming too that I can say!! Thanks for all the nice likes and comments guys! Cheers, James

Happy Easter guys! As an accompaniment to the chocolate eggs, here's a portion of cheeky grey 'Tugs'! 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Joining the fleet this week is 60016 Langdale Pikes in Trainload Construction and 60089 Arcuil in Transrail liveries. 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I do have a soft spot for a grey 60, so it was inevitable that a few would make it into the big batch of locos tackled over the last year. Naturally, the starting point was the Hornby model of 2005 vintage. I've collected a few ragtag models over the years, whilst they were triple grey, Hornby have in recent times started to get the colours wrong, so each of the triple grey 60s have had new shades of grey applied, before being decalled up with their new identities. 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr As always, Railtec came up trumps with the decals, their one-piece Transrail logos are so easy to work with, and the Trainload Construction logos are a colourful work of art. The bodyshells were glossed up and the transfers applied - the high gloss finish underneath is there to prevent getting a silvering effect on the carrier film, once the final layer of matt varnish goes on. Next stop was the etched nameplates... 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I thought it would be fun to show a comparison here - as modellers we pay a lot of attention to the accuracy of RTR locos coming out, but don't always notice that some of the other details aren't always as spot on! I ordered a set of Fox Transfers' plates for 60016, but upon looking closer, they did seem a little on the dinky side compared to photos of the prototype - so knowing that Brian @ Shawplan/Extreme Etchings had redrawn all the '60' plates in recent times, I went and got some Shawplan ones, and you can see the difference above, Brian's larger ones are bang on to the prototype pics - it pays to take a second look and shop around..! 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Moving on to the fun weathering stage, the usual slop washes of browns were added on to the bodyshells, with the background of my favourite band Ladytron. The wash of paint is applied and then removed, tinting the paint to the shade of your choice, and then you can use cotton buds to remove the residual paint further, to leave dirt in the recesses, and selected streaking where needed on the body. 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Once happy, the loco bodies are then given a final coat of Railmatch matt varnish, and left to dry, before being reassembled onto their chassis, the internal detailing added to their cabs and the chassis painted up ready for the final airbrush weathering stage. 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 60016 Langdale Pikes is modelled in early 1997 condition, being a firm favourite in Trainload Construction before becoming an early recipient of the then-new revised EWS livery. 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Ironically in the time between putting this loco on the grand 'hit list' and completing the model, Hornby actually released a Construction '60' - their Bow Fell model, I did consider buying it and doing a switch but in the end, the shades of grey weren't right on the Hornby model so it made sense to keep pressing on and sticking to the original plan! 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I couldn't resist taking a 'Hornby Catalogue' side on view of the finished loco! 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr There is something beautiful about the original BR sector colours on the Class 60 fleet - almost perfection, when compared to the range of mountain names - the only improvement would be an earlier example still sporting arrows and a depot plaque, but modelling the time as late as I am, beggars can't be choosers! 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Langdale Pikes as many will know takes it name from the series of peaks at Great Langdale in the Lake District. 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Partner in crime here is 60089 Arcuil in the now-classic Transrail 'Big T' livery. 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 60089 is the first Transrail '60' I've owned since the old Lima release of 60063 that I bought as a kid and later (badly) repainted to represent the then brand-spanking-new 60081 in GWR Green in 2000! Big mistake in hindsight but at least good for building the airbrushing and lining skills as a young teenager I guess ! 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Little details on these included the window blinds added, little bits of card cut to fit the inside of the window glazing, and glued in with PVA. 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The underframe was weathered firstly with a base layer of Humbrol 32 dark grey, painted across the entire underframe, and then airbrushed over with layers of Phoenix brake dust and track dirt, before being drybrushed with Humbrol Metalcote Gunmetal. 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 60089 picked up a few nice streaks and was often seen as fairly grubby during my modelling period, so it was quite entertaining to have some fun here! 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Got to do a side view of 60089 as well! 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The nameplate for 60089 was also taken from the fabulous Shawplan range, Brian did a great job on all of these! Arcuil (more commonly 'Arckle' or 'Airceil') is named after the mountain found in the Scottish Highlands and is among one of the shortest nameplates to be found on the Class 60, alongside the likes of Canisp, Slioch, Quinag, Tryfan and Pillar. 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The two 'Tugs' recreated here have had some interesting careers since my modelling timescale. 60016 would go on to receive EWS red and be selected to carry the 'RAIL Magazine' nameplates, later renumbered to 60500 to celebrate their 500th issue in 2004. Meanwhile, 60089 would also trade its grey colours for red, and be bestowed with the name 'The Railway Horse' - at a naming ceremony complete with live horse in attendance! Alas, both locos have much in common with most others - they lay in the giant scrapline at Toton depot, plate-less and not having worked in years, slowly rotting away - who knows quite what the future holds for these two, but at least they are active in model form here! 60016 and 60089 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It's been such great fun recreating this grey duo and I can't wait to tackle some more soon - there is something about the '60's that just makes you want to catch them all! Cheers, James

Steve, it was a noble sacrifice above that we must all thank you for! 😄

Absolutely superb news! I can’t wait to get my dirty hands on some and weather them into oblivion like the wrecks they became! 😄 It’d also be fun if it prompts a new Speedlink tangent for Rapido such as the VCA Van, the notable missing one from Bachmann’s current line up. Cheers, James

My pet peeve - with the Hornby Class 60 I think it's the colours that let them down, where they used to have the capability to produce a good triple grey Class 60 back in the mid-late 2000s with their first few releases, nowadays their more modern releases all use shades that are too dark. It's almost like they had a member(s) of staff that left the business and took the knowledge with them - the last decently-shaded triple grey releases they did were 60062 in Trainload Petroleum, 60066 in Coal/Transrail mash and 60014 in EWS sticker triple grey. Each release since including 60090 and 60015 have all been wrong, the Rail grey being too yellow and the upper Flint grey being too dark. Strangely it never gets picked out by the model reviews in the magazines (the old REX reviews would've seen this!) - lots of big fuss when Hornby misprinted the Construction logo in the wrong place on the body but not one person mentioned that the basic shades of grey were completely wrong, making the loco still useless without a repaint 🤦‍♂️😄 Hopefully now they've announced new runs of 60001 and 60002 they will have new shades of grey much closer to the real thing, fingers crossed! Cheers, James

Love it Rob, looking great!

Inspired by all this talk around 58s, I've jiggled around my next unveiling to feature something more 'Bone'-shaped! 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Joining the fleet this week is former Civil Engineers 'Dutch' 47315 and of course, 58037 in the house colours of EWS, modelled in late 1998 condition. 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The starting point for the '58' was Heljan's release of 58047 in revised EWS livery. 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The numbers and lettering came off by scraping over the top gently with a curve bladed scalpel to remove the sheen from the printing, and then followed up with a cotton bud, dipped in Humbrol enamel thinners. Working very gently at each bit of printing it came away, leaving an intact gold stripe behind. The body was then varnished in gloss before new Railtec decals were applied and the fiddly detailing painting of the grilles could commence and adding engine room door handles on each door. Meanwhile over in the 'Brush' camp, the Bachmann 47346 release was used to do a simple renumber to 47315. 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 47315 had a heavily faded roof, so this was repainted into light grey, after having smoothed off all the roof plastic moulding lines from the Bachmann model. Once again, Railtec's superb TOPS numbers set off the simple clean lines of the livery. 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Soundtracked by the Dandy Warhols, weathering took place on each loco, the usual paint-on-wipe off method starting to highlight the panel gaps, before more localised weathering was added. On the 58, the interesting part was where the oily patches gathered at the bottom of the engine room doors and oil stains dripped down onto the solebar and underframe. 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The Heljan model responds well to a bit of light weathering and care was taken to match the model to pics available on Flickr of 58037 in late 1998. 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr One of the main fiddly jobs with the early Heljan models is having to paint the bodyside grilles yourself, they seemed to just forget those! My top tip is to gloss varnish the body first so that when you do make the inevitable slip whilst painting them, it can easily be wiped off and re-done. I have in the past tried masking the grilles but found the quickest way is just to get stuck in with a fine 5/0 paintbrush and hope for the best! 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 58037's plain cabsides can be seen here, in 2000, the loco would later gain Worksop Depot nameplates, inherited from 58011 upon its withdrawal. 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The model was weathered with a variety of brake dust/track dirt and roof dirt/dirty black from the Phoenix range, and the bogies finished off with a drybrushing of Humbrol Metalcote gunmetal to highlight the raised edges. 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Final touches for the '58' included adding a driver and painting the inside of the cab mouldings, and installing a wire hoop at one end to enable hauling trains with tension locks and retaining the full bufferbeam pipework. 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I do rather like the 'Dutch' livery and it sits very nicely on the clean lines of the Class 47, and it was still pretty intact on 47315 here in 1998 condition. The loco was a grubby one towards the end, with extensive oil staining and traffic grime alongside some corrosion in certain places. 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 47315 was formerly named Templecombe, carrying the plates between 1993 to 1997, and when removed, the plates revealed a rusty patch behind, great fun to model! To do this, low-tack Tamiya masking tape was applied to the bodysides, and using photographs, shades of browns and light greys were mottled on until the desired effect came out. 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Little paint chips were added to the roof and sides, each following prototype pics on Flickr of the 1998 period, and the heavy staining added on, being the result of a paint-on/wipe-off in the localised area using a couple of shades of dark grey to build up intensity - it's a bit of a dirty one! 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Each end was detailed using a mix of Bachmann bufferbeam pipes and 0.45mm handrail wire, bent to shape and attached, with working screw couplings from Smiths. 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 47315 had the meaty full complement of underframe tanks, which is always fun to model! 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr In line with the 58 and other locos before, the model received the same airbrush weathering processes and some gentle highlighting of the detail on the bogies with the gunmetal, as well as touching up the cantrail grilles too. 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The real 47315 would soldier on until late 1999 when withdrawal beckoned, being scrapped at Wigan in 2000. Meanwhile, 58037 would be slightly more fortunate - eeking out a couple more years service until being sidelined in 2002. Unlike it's classmates however, there would be no chance of a foreign holiday and the loco would gradually be stripped and left to rot at Eastleigh, until the gas axe eventually came in 2014. 47315 and 58037 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr As always it has been great fun bringing these two to life in miniature! Both locos will most used for MOD trains on my Didcot layout, and will look very at home at the head of some box vans and warflats! Cheers, James

To get to the stage where it's just the handrail entry point as the main detractor then that shows the rest is at a pretty good place, I would take that as a huge compliment! For me in that photo it's the checkerplate that looks sublime, I'm going to have to up my own game as on my models I'd been happy just to represent this with some silver paint on a flat surface before..! It's amusing to put this all in perspective and rewind 20 years - Lima announced what would be their final product development on their 37, putting airhorns on the roof of their centre-box locos, meanwhile there was to be the dawning reality that the entire roof shape and grilles had been squashed on Bachmann's forthcoming 37/4! 😄

Time for a couple of plain Janes! 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Joining the fleet this week are my renditions of EWS' plain triple grey 47276 and Freightliner's 47296, modelled in late 1998 condition. 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr As before, these are both based on the outgoing Bachmann '47' model, having once been the Trainload Distribution 'Herbert Austin' release from a few short years back, already in the right base colours but just needing some tweaking before taking on their new identities. 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Humbrol enamel thinners helped to strip back the old branding into the plain triple grey needed, whilst work took place on the respective bodyshells to give the Crewe-cut cabs for 47276, and update the roof boiler panel arrangement for each loco. The trademark Bachmann plastic roof mould lines were also removed at this stage to give a more realistic appearance, and the two roofs repainted. Each bodyshell was then gloss varnished and decals applied. 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr My favourite paint-on/wipe-off method was used here for each loco to get the initial grime build ups in the panel gaps and streaking where required, and here some later-stage Avril Lavigne is prescribed as the necessary soundtrack to grey freight '47' projects. 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The locos were reassembled and then put through the familiar airbrush weathering process as all the other locos received, building up layers of Phoenix Paints' brake dust and frame dirt over the dark-grey painted underframes, and the roof having received passes of roof dirt, dirty black and my own mix of black & blue paint for the oily exhaust fume deposits. 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Starting with Freightliner's 47296 in focus first, this machine was chosen as it was just so nothing, and so typical! With the passing of time I'm more than a little guilty to admit that I used to find their '47' fleet very boring, seemingly just machine after machine painted in matching triple grey with red logos, and with little to distinguish one from another, and would see them hurriedly rushing past Didcot all day linking up Felixstowe, Southampton, Crewe and everywhere in between - 'oh just another grey 47 again'...how times change right! 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 47296 was beautifully nondescript and therefore perfect to be at the head of some of my container trains, still retaining the original Brush bufferbeam cowling and full set of underframe tanks too. 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The livery was the classic triple grey with the red triangles, being applied using Fox Transfers decals and Railtec's black numbers. On one side, 47296 had a slight damage to its red triangle, this was replicated with some gentle touches of grey to the logo. 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr There were a few fantastic 'namers' amongst the Freightliner fleet and some interesting ones with battered liveries or ex-RfD colours, but in the interests of modelling the everyday, 47296 is most representative of the ones I saw, clean, never bestowed with a name, only slight wear & tear and otherwise beautifully workaday, just going about it's business! 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Not all 47s were born equal, and for 47276, it had a distinct disadvantage in being an EWS machine! Once part of the Immingham Railfreight Petroleum fleet, by the late 90s it found itself debranded and in generally poor external condition. 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr By my modelling time period, the loco had a lot of ingrained dirt across the bodysides, and some interesting marks that needed to be modelled. I took a different approach to get the ingrained dirt on the sides, so here's a quick overview - 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr After having done the same paint-on/wipe-off as the Freightliner loco, I then mottled on extra layers of light brown to the lower bodyside, and partially wiped these off, tinting the colour of the lower bodyside towards the brighter brown compared to the rest of the body, and adding some dirty marks in the process. Next, I then dipped cotton buds in enamel thinners and washes of browns and rolled these across kitchen roll to dry out slightly before rolling across the lower body of the loco: 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The cotton bud rolling was completed a few times, ending up with a mottled effect on the lower bodyside with 3 different shades of light-medium browns, and extra thinners added where the effect was too strong, the idea being to replicate photos of the machine online where dirt had built up on it over a long period of time and rain could only wash so much away, leaving a very deep ingrained dirt finish. 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Other individual markings were added with fine brushes, such as the little corrosion marks and damages. Shawplan oval class 60 buffers were added at the No.1 end. 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr For the underframe, a Bachmann moulding of the battery-box-only version was used, but with the middle section removed and filled in behind to give the sufficient open space needed, and a representation of the pipework that can be found underneath a 47 too. It is quite fun that on the new-spec Bachmann 47, this is all done from the factory now! 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It's been great fun modelling this duo of ordinary 'Duff's - nothing special in their day, and just seeing out their final years without any glory! EWS' 47276 wouldn't have long to go - being sidelined in 1999 into the famed WNXX pool, and eventually meeting its maker at Wigan CRDC in 2001. Freightliner's 47296 would soldier on in frontline service until September 2001, before suffering the indignity of being beached, bogie-less, on wooden sleeper chocks in Southampton Maritime depot alongside sister 47152 until eventual cutting came in 2003. 47276 and 47296 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Looking forward to getting these two into service and loading up those container trains! Cheers, James

Thanks very much! The 58s were certainly good fun to work on and I'm always so grateful Heljan did the model, even though it's not quite up there with today's new releases. The old Hornby one was so basic, and I remember ever so hopefully writing out a cheque to Paul at the Class 58 Loco Group in the hope of their commissioned '58' project coming which eventually morphed into the Heljan one a few years later! It was amazing when Hattons were knocking out the £50 '58s'! I remember them being a great offer but even then £50 was still a reasonable amount for a loco, but fast forward to now and it'd be worth clearing them out in hindsight! 🤣 With removing the numbers, I used my usual Humbrol Enamel Thinners, and it worked pretty well, taking off the numbers but being careful not to labour too much and go through the backing grey as it does seem very thin! Strangely I found the blue Mainline model harder to work on than the grey - there was a depot plaque that needed to be removed and I started to go back through to the light grey plastic underneath - my bizarre stroke of luck being that on the real 58042 it had a scar in exactly that spot so I could cover it up! When I've also had trouble with the thinners being too effective, I sometimes revert back to using a curve bladed scalpel to scrape away at the numbers and generally a combination of the scraping and a very brief showing of thinners on a cotton bud will help remove the branding but keep the backing colour - hope this helps and you can dig out your stored 58s! Cheers, James

Isn't it great to be back! I've a backlog of loco updates coming... Cheers Rob! I've always been keen to put across my reality of trainspotting and I never knew whether it was just my bad luck, or life was largely dull for everyone..! 😄 Most of my visits to Didcot were at weekends as part of visiting relatives, and so that often meant many a Sunday afternoon there, smack bang in the middle of some engineering works! There was frequently that disappointment when you walked down to the station and noticed the HSTs were creeping by very slowly through the station and it turned out there was a possession on, or worse still, nothing running at all! I remember an entertaining Sunday in January 2003, a sunny but bitterly cold afternoon, no services running and just a trio of red '66's stabled in the sidings, and the only movement was on the Down Fast at the Eastern end of the station, where a group of engineers had a rail-mounted mobile digger and a trolley with an open box on top of it, they tried to use the digger to lift up the box over the fence into the adjacent car park/hard standing, but didn't lift it high enough and ended up demolishing the concrete posts & chainlink fence in the process! 🤣 The concrete posts remained limp & broken for a good while after that! I do wonder if anyone senior noticed or whether they just thought, "quick, lets get out of here and hope no one saw it!" Cheers, James