James Makin

They're just £14 currently and I must say having used them since 2015 they've been good for me so far - I will miss them! The fleet is around 200 locos/units currently chipped and only had one failure from memory, I rate them as a budget alternative! I started with Lenz Golds, then down to Lenz Silvers, but as fleet volume increased I moved over to the cut price ones from Bachmann and Hornby, but Hattons came up on the inside as a winner for me! 🙂

Aside from the upcoming Warwells, I've put in an order for some more of their Hattons branded decoders - they are fantastic and I'd urge others to take a look before it's too late. This was certainly a good innovation to start marketing their own range and offer modellers a cheap alternative to chips aside from the well-known DCC brands of the time. One ironic legacy is that the Hattons brand will live on inside the hearts of over 75% of my DCC-fitted fleet for many years to come. I will certainly also cherish the free pens being given away by their stands at shows too Cheers, James

Ah just red and gold is fine Fran honestly, save the gang opening too many paint pots! 😋

Thanks so much for the nice comments guys, it is always great fun doing these projects and hope you don't mind my waffling writeups! 😂 Cheers Steve, though I've an idea of what I'm looking to create, I must admit I never know quite how something will turn out, some models prove to be more of a pig than others and a real struggle to match a photo, whilst others accidentally seem to go rather smoothly! Thanks Rob! Absolutely, it would be awesome to see some Transrail on the Cavalex ones! I will certainly be doing some homemade DIY rebrands on grey Cavalex 60s until one is released! It looks like the enamel thinners will take good care of removing the printing of the existing sector logos etc, if the previous Cavalex wagon releases are anything to go by. Then there's the small matter of their forthcoming 56s...not long now til the boat docks and the fun can soon start..! Cheers James

Well it'd be rude not to buy a GNER HST wouldn't it now! They did occasionally venture off the ECML and Virgin XC were known to have 'borrowed' a set or two over time, which is how I'll be justifying the gorgeous train to occasionally run on my Didcot layout, flying through the Oxford line - and am very much looking forward to it arriving! As a youngster I remember craving the original Hornby attempt at the GNER HST - I think it was 1997 if my memory serves me right, they were still with the Ringfield-powered loco and comedy 'shorty' Mk3s back then, so to finally buy a set with high-spec power cars, easy provision for sound and the latest-gen Mk3s with the accurate interiors & jumper cable sockets will be a real treat that's been a long time coming! The black Shell TTAs in particular are lovely too - I'm sure there'll be many more releases in due course, but I'm certainly far from disappointed with this announcement, bravo! Cheers James

Very sad news, having been a customer since the old telephone mail order days, Hattons always stuck out as providing constant innovation for the customer to make it increasingly easy to make purchases as the shift to online transactions came and put themselves front and foremost of giving a great customer journey. I also used to love it in those days when you’d order something and they’d tell you who’s packed it! I’m sure they have played a much larger part in influencing the ease of the great online service that we take for granted at all the major online model railway stores than we may realise, a big loss for the staff and all of us across the hobby!

Looks a fun project Steve! The suspension parts can be replaced with the Bruninghaus type, either available as whitemetal casting from S Kits/Wills Workbench or just cutting and filing the original plastic to shape! Plus your choice of couplings and then the option to add extra detailing to recreate all the fiddly bits underneath. I’ve done a few on my Workbench thread on here, adding extra chassis pipe runs etc, it’s almost easier to find a new-gen Hornby TTA and seeing which bits are missing on the Bachmann chassis now! The weathering will be the most fun part! Cheers James

Make way for some prime movers! 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr This week's new additions are a pair of classic grey Type 5s in the form of 60058 John Howard and 60063 James Murray in Transrail livery. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The Didcot Power Station coal traffic brought in many a Class 60 to the Oxfordshire location, so it's only right that the fleet is bolstered to represent a very good smattering of these lovely old beasts modelled in what can now be considered their heyday. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The start point can be seen here, but all is not what it looks like! One of the things that would get on my personal goat would be Hornby's inability to produce triple grey '60's in the right colour, so these two 'Bow Fell's need a repaint immediately - the lower rail grey is too yellow and the flint grey too dark! 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr All printing and colours needed to be removed, I scratched away the logos to get back down the layers to the base plastic, I know many would normally resort to the chemicals but in this case I used a lot of fine sandpaper and emery boards to file back down to bare plastic, ready for some luscious new paints to be applied. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One of the redeeming features was the crisp Hornby yellow and black ends, so these were masked off whilst the rest of the bodyshells were given a coating in Halfords white primer, before a coat of Phoenix Rail Grey on the top. This was then masked with Tamiya tape to cover off and with a custom shade of Flint Grey - using the Phoenix colour with a touch more white to lighten the shade. The roof was painted in a mid-grey fade shade, ready to help with the weathering stages later. Then the fun could begin! 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr To prepare the bodyshell for decals, each one was sprayed with Railmatch gloss varnish and left to dry before adding a fusion of Railtec and Fox decals to complete, and Shawplan etched nameplates. The famous 90s 'Big T' roundels are from Railtec, and the beautiful one-piece items make installation an absolute breeze, whilst for the white 'Transrail' lettering, the Fox version is used as the font itself is slightly more 'square' and better matches these two particular locomotives, but the downside is that the quality of the decal simply can't match the modern production of Railtec. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Armed with a two-decade-old soundtrack from Sugababes, the time-honoured paint-on & wipe-off weathering layers were added, and here is a little pictorial on how some of the subtle bodyside streaking can be created in the images below. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Here we can see the Humbrol brown paint has been applied neat and then wiped away with kitchen towel, working vertically downward. The previous layer of Railmatch matt varnish (applied after the decals earlier) has clung onto the brown paint, despite most of the paint being wiped away. So the only way to remove this now is to use a bit of enamel thinners, applied on a cotton bud. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr By gently wiping downward with the cotton bud, most of the brown paint can then be removed, but being careful to focus on what's being left behind - if you want to create streaks of browns or greys, the paint is removed from around where these are desired, leaving the streak intact. It's worth experimenting with how much enamel thinners to add to your cotton bud, you can get different effects by using lots of thinners, or by working with an almost-dry cotton bud, so do mess around to the hearts content! If you remove too much, you can always re-add the paint and build up again, eventually the result should start to look something like the below. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr As with all weathering processes, the more layers that go on, the more effective the final result. The streaking can be tried with a range of browns and greys, building one on another to get a range of colours, matched to prototype photos and taking care to notice how and where each one weathers. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Following the body weathering stages, a range of other techniques were employed, such as using fine brushes to touch in small marks and imperfections in the paintwork, whilst attention could also turn to the underframe too. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 60058 John Howard was picked initially as it appeared at Didcot numerous times throughout its career, and is possibly one of the less well known members of the fleet, being a relatively mundane Transrail loco. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr New to BR's Trainload Coal sector in 1991, the locomotive was named in dedication to a longstanding British civil engineer who's businesses have contributed towards a number of significant bridge projects as well as the Channel Tunnel. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Although the attractive Coal sector 'black diamonds' had long since been covered with a 'Big T', the locomotive still managed to look relatively stylish - I was never a huge fan of Transrail livery back in the day, but as the years have passed, a certain level of nostalgia has led me to rediscovering a new love for them! 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 60058 had a lot of streaky weathering when observed, and is the look recreated here. On the chassis, coats of Phoenix Brake Dust and Track Dirt were sprayed across with an airbrush, before coatings of Humbrol Metalcote Gunmetal to highlight raised detail on the bogies, and some dark grey to pick out fuel spillages and greasy marks on the buffers themselves. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Although it can't easily be seen, the engine room interior equipment was weathered too, in the hope that if ever any light shines through the grilles one day whilst sitting on the layout, it won't look too shiny! 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 60058 isn't the only new horse in town..! 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Enter matching stablemate 60063! 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Many may be familiar with 60063 James Murray, having been the subject of a model by Lima at the turn of the century, and one that a much younger self managed to get hold of back in the day, before deciding to repaint it into a dubiously-executed version of 60081! 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 60063 entered service with the Petroleum sector, sporting the pretty blue & yellow wavy sector flashes when new in 1991. The machine was named after philologist and lexicographer Sir James Murray, possibly best known for editing the Oxford English Dictionary for over 35 years until his death in 1915. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The weathering on each machine was very similar, not clean, but also not filthy either! The compressor equipment on the underframe is dry brushed in a range of matt earth shades, following prototype photographs of how this area weathers slightly differently from the bogies and fuel tank area. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Still sporting a beautiful Cardiff Canton depot plaque at the 1998 period modelled here, the loco also unusually had a third electrification flash in the centre of its yellow panel at each end. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Meanwhile, up on the roof, the exhaust silencers were painted in a variety of rusty browns and greys, with a touch of talcum powder added to give a little texture on the smooth silencer. After this, the locomotives were dusted in shades of Phoenix Roof Dirt, Dirty Black and my usual mix of black & dark blue for the oily exhaust weathering. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I also like the way on the 60s (and the 92s) that the upper yellow colouring on the cantrail gets more weathered than the corners and ends of the model - it's worth while paying extra attention to give it a gentle squirt whilst airbrushing! 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It's been a blast modelling these two old heavyweights, freezing them in their late 1998 timeframe, from an era when they were very much an integral part of the rail freight scene, but not for much longer. 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Bringing the story up to date, as viewers will know, doesn't yield much hope! In 2003, 60058 would go on to lose its John Howard plates and exchange Transrail for a coat of EWS red, and would see service up until storage in 2008. Meanwhile classmate 60063 would see one of it's James Murray plates go 'missing', and in 2012 saw a coat of the DB Schenker traffic red livery that it wore in mainline service until 2020. Alas, both mighty machines can now be found stored at Toton TMD, along with the majority of the class, awaiting their eventual fate - whether they'll be sold for re-use, sold as donors or be sold for scrap - only time will tell! 60058 and 60063 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr At least those happier times have been 'pickled', and the locos are now ready for their new life on my Didcot Parkway - to be seen at the head of the numerous merry-go-round coal trains feeding the insatiable Didcot Power Station, wagons roll!

I’m hoping Serge has put night-vision goggles and a microwave oven into my 56s 😂

I'm not fussed over any new tooling for D&E items, but wouldn't it be lovely to see them slopping on some classic liveries seen in the late 90s onto the warmed-over HSTs and new Mk3s - the likes of Virgin, Great Western 'Merlin' and the elegant GNER - mmm! The new management regime sounds like a great opportunity to break with the past - I hope they remember that us kids who grew up in those much-derided early rail privatisation days, now have the income and spending power to cross their palms with a lot of silver should the right product be available!

Awesome stuff Nigel, just gets better and better! 😎

Hope you guys had a nice Christmas! Sorry-not-sorry but here are some warmed up Christmas 'Duff' leftovers, this time in suitably festive shades of red! 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Joining the fleet today is Res-liveried 47741 Resilient and Virgin red 47844, both former members of the classic Virgin CrossCountry ILRA-pool of '47's elected to splutter up and down the UK network. 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The project kicked off just over a year ago, picking up the Virgin model from the 2022 Warley show - with this later model normally going for higher prices, I snapped up this example, only to find on closer inspection at home that someone had weathered it beforehand, so that was why it was so cheap! 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr This meant gently stripping back the splatty brown spray that had been pasted across the body and chassis, before getting the model into a good condition for renumbering to an old favourite. 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Humbrol enamel thinners was sparingly applied to cotton buds and rubbed across the loco, peeling back the weathering but being super careful to try and keep the Bachmann printing in place, it was a close call at times! The numbers and nameplate branding peeled away nicely with the thinners. It was also time for a bit of selective scratching too - as with other Virgin 47814 donors, the excess yellow panel was scraped back to match 47844, using a curve-bladed scalpel. 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Finally, other body-specific mods were made including the round boiler port on 47844 - in contrast 47741 was very similar to the Bachmann Res donor model, with minimal changes needing to be made. 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr With work complete on the bodyshells, these were gloss-varnished ready for the decals to be added, and a final coat of matt varnish to protect everything for the inevitable weathering stage! 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr These two locos were kept generally very clean, so the weathering stages just comprised painting on and wiping away a couple of shades of browns and greys - and the sides kept nice and clean. 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr More dirt deposits were found around the ends and headcode recesses collecting dirt, with fine 5/0 paintbrushes being used to build up layers of light and medium browns until happy, following prototype pics of each loco from late 1998. 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr By 1998, 47844 was a pleasingly unremarkable 'Duff', having lost both its scabby Intercity colours and the reflective Derby & Derbyshire Chamber of Commerce & Industry nameplates in favour of a smooth shiny coat of Richard Branson's finest. 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The loco was a relatively early recipient of the bright new livery, and looked very at home on a rake of Intercity coaches, which is the plan for how this one will appear on my Didcot layout, alongside its large and growing cohort of other ILRA 47s! 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One of the fun things about this loco was the style of ETS jumpers being different from the factory version, so this was modelled using the Shawplan jumper sockets, brass wire and fine fuse wire to connect between the body-mounted socket and the other end on the chassis. 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The cantrail grilles were picked out in Humbrol MetalCote Gun Metal (No. 27004), dry-brushed on, and then later rubbed with a cotton bud to bring out the shine on each grille bar. 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr EWS' 47741 Resilient was a longtime 'Parcels' sector loco, formerly known as 47597 before reworking by the Rail Express Systems sector in 1994 when the Railnet multiple-working sockets were fitted to allow it to work with the PCV stock. 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr As many will know, in the late 90's, Virgin CrossCountry had huge reliability challenges with their existing 47/8s, with numerous no-heat freight locomotives drafted in at the head of the top-link Virgin services. Displaced on mail trains by the brand new Class 67s, in mid 2000, a batch of former Res 47/7s were contracted out to Virgin CrossCountry, including 47741 here, which would go into the famous ILRA pool, and later receive the operator's lovely red & grey stripe livery. 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr In many ways, 47741 was also a very average member of the fleet - there were so many examples with various 'Res-' nameplates that it was only when you spotted one with a different type of name that it stood out! 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The roof tops of each loco were sprayed in Phoenix Paints' 'Roof Dirt', 'Dirty Black' and a mix of black & blue for the exhaust area, before again being drybrushed in a smidgen more Gunmetal to help highlight some of the raised detailing on the roof around the radiator area. 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Bringing the story up to date for these machines, 47741 Resilient would be repainted into Virgin colours and see action through to end of VXC's loco-hauled services in August 2002, before being stored with classmates on the Toton scrapline until an appointment with the gas-axe in 2008. Meanwhile, 47844 had a rollercoaster of a time - after the Virgin loco-hauled services finished, it was selected for conversion to Virgin 'Thunderbird' Class 57/3, however unknowingly, it's card had been marked many years before - with a derailment at Slough, way back in 1969 when it was known as Brush Type 4 No. D1583. Reportedly discovered during the strip-down, the significant structural damage from this historic accident led to its rejection from the Class 57 rebuild programme, and subsequent scrapping of the gutted bodyshell in October 2004. Standby locomotive 47225 took 47844's place in the queue, becoming the 57307 that we all know today. 47741 and 47844 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It's been a fun project bringing back two unremarkable locos in model form - exactly the kind of fodder I'd take for granted back in the day, but would give anything to see them now! Cheers, James

Amazing, thanks Andy! The Premium subscription is such good value for the benefit that RMWeb gives (essentially a club and a magazine all in one!) so let us know if you ever need any more magic beans to keep the meter happy! Hopefully you get a nice peaceful Christmas off here and maybe even a spot of modelling time too! Cheers, James

I’ve spotted the new Railways Plus pop-up adverts today, as a Premium member if I upgrade to Gold member, will this turn them off please? So far I’ve yet to go Gold as I don’t read magazines (admit I might be unusual here!) but if it helps eliminate pop ups forever then please do count me in! RMWeb is all the magazine I’ll ever need so more than happy to chuck money at the situation to resolve! Merry Christmas! 🎄 James

Well that is lucky Rhys, as there are plenty more from where that came..! 😴😂 There is something awesome about a good ‘Duff’, but I know so many people who dislike them with a real passion! Whilst I adore 37s, 60s, even 66s, it’s the ‘47’s that I’ve come to love and model so many of, they were everywhere and there’s enough great prototypes to keep me busy for years to come! Cheers, James

How can one possibly follow the grotty Accurascale '37' from last time? Well, here's a grubby old 'Duff' with a seagull on the side of it! 47326 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Joining the fleet today is 47326 Saltley Depot Quality Approved, modelled in early 1998 condition, using the older Bachmann model of 2013 vintage. As many can probably tell from looking through the list of previous projects, I can't get enough of the old Railfreight Distribution '47' fleet, and in my 'just-before-66-domination' timeline modelled, they are still the backbone of the fleet for a whole portfolio of traffic flowing through the Didcot area, so there can never be too many! 47326 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr There's stacks of RfD '47's still to be modelled, but 47326 with its lovely Saltley seagull plaque on the side was irresistible. With the obvious football connotations left to one side, being a bit of a Sussex-based animal-lover I had to do it, the herring gulls down here are gorgeous mini-velociraptors worthy of respect both in real life and model form..! Anyway, getting stuck in, the old Bachmann model came up trumps - these can still be sniffed out for under £100 at shows or eBay even in these heady days of 2023 - 47326 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Similar to my previous examples, the old Diamond Jubilee plate and number printing was removed with Humbrol enamel thinners soaked into a cotton bud, and gently rubbed across the required area, with printing lifting away nicely from the background colour. 47326 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Very similar to all my previous locos, the windows were masked off and the bodyshell given a coat of Railmatch gloss varnish, before Railtec decals and Fox etched 'plates were added, before a coat of Railmatch matt varnish to seal in, and leave for a month before the weathering could start. 47326 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The marvellous Holly Humberstone proved a worthy soundtrack to the 'Duff' weathering - think of a modern-day British Avril Lavigne and ideal background for the usual paint-on & wipe-off application of Humbrol's No. 113 (mid-brown) and 251 (dark brown), allowing for a few days drying between layers. 47326 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Building up further on the weathering, little details could be picked out, such as the marks left where the old Tinsley rose depot plaques once stood under the secondman's cabsides (thinking about it - there can't be many BR sector-era locos that wore competing depot plaques at the same time, Saltley and Tinsley!). To do this, a spare etched depot plaque was used to help trace the outline on the cabsides, using the lightest brown paint (Humbrol 62), gently painted on using a fine 5/0 brush. This was then supplemented with slightly darker browns around the former bolt holes and where rust deposits and dirt had built up over the years. 47326 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The deep RfD European Blue roof was toned down by a paint-on/wipe-off layer of dark brown (Humbrol 251) and dark grey (Humbrol 32), leaving dirt deposits in the recesses and grilles. The louvres & bars in the various roof grilles were all then dry brushed with Humbrol 27004 Metalcote Gun Metal to bring out the detail. 47326 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Down on the underframe, the standard Bachmann detailing parts were added to the bufferbeam, following prototype pics for the real 47326, and little details like the underframe-mounted engine shutdown switch were made from square styrene strip, glued onto the chassis and with the red rim painted with a fine brush. 47326 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Traffic weathering was added following my usual recipe - this includes a custom mix of black & dark blue for the oily exhaust deposits, airbrushed on. Those lovely nameplates were affixed with varnish, and the cute Saltley seagull can be seen in all its glory! 47326 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The weathering on the chassis consisted of layers of Phoenix Paints' 'Brake Dust' and 'Frame Dirt', topped off with a dry brushed layer of more Humbrol Metalcote Gun Metal. 47326 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr There's just something about the Railfreight Distribution livery that looks very 'right' - certainly a favourite in your author's opinion, and a livery that spread over a huge number of 47s through the 1990s, but virtually disappeared within just a few short years as each boatload of Class 66s was commissioned. 47326 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Tracking the fortunes of the real 47326, this characterful Railfreight Distribution stalwart didn't have long left, succumbing to withdrawal under EWS almost a quarter of a century ago, in February 1999. Stripped of its plates and plaques, the machine would languish alongside stored classmates at Doncaster for some years before its final appointment with the gas axe at Rotherham in 2006. 47326 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It's always a fun experience adding more Railfreight Distribution 47s to the fleet, and the wide-ranging traction requirements of my Didcot layout mean that it certainly won't be the last. Merry Christmas and may those old Saltley seagulls stay flying high! Cheers, James

Definitely in due course, that is one plan, that and some easy ‘Limpets’, trouble being that I’ve got numerous Bachmann examples of each in the cupboards but the time taken in bringing each underframe up to scratch would take possibly months/years of work on top of the weathering, so it’s a good timesaver for doing a trainload, even if not the cheapest route..! I think I’ve only done about 8 ‘proper’ Limpets in the last 19-odd years since Bachmann did their POA, mainly just down to the boredom of having to add all the chassis gubbins before starting work on the fun stages 😂 I’ll wait to see if the Hornby 2024 announcements yield anything in this direction though, and the new grey TTAs I’ve bought will just be rebranded/weathered up as the tankers that nature intended, to start with! Cheers, James

I took the grubby monster up to the club last week, here's 37059 on Worthing MRC's Loftus Road Accurascale 37059 by James Makin on Worthing MRC Loftus Road by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Accurascale 37059 by James Makin on Worthing MRC Loftus Road by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Accurascale 37059 by James Makin on Worthing MRC Loftus Road by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr A nice easy load with a couple of my homemade TUAs Accurascale 37059 by James Makin on Worthing MRC Loftus Road by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Work has now started on Accurascale Tractor No.2! Cheers James

The ‘98 BTCC Renault Laguna in Nescafé Blend 37 green is right up there for me! But my ultimate favourite has got to be the ‘93 Mondeo, gorgeous… I managed to persuade my Dad to look at buying one of these over a Rover at the time, based on how much I loved seeing them race on TV! Tenuously going back to topic, my vote is for the 5-car articulated WIA Arbel car carriers, which were also blue and carried many Fords 😂 Cheers, James

Thanks for all the likes and kind comments, it's hard to beat a 'Tractor' for a fun project! Haha thanks very much, that first moment of removing the branding is the most daunting, as there's no turning back now and you've just got to plough on forward 🤣 It does get less with practice but certainly with something as new and fine as the Accurascale model the pressure is a lot higher than a battered old secondhand wreck..! I will have to get a pic of the loco on Worthing MRC's Loftus Road layout for sure! My own Didcot layout has still got a little while to go yet, but I am making it my 2024 resolution to get some track down and wired up, we'll have to come back in a year's time to see how far I got on that promise! Thanks Steve, the Tope sounds like a juicy project to tuck into! Have you got a matt-finish surface to paint onto, as a starting point, and do the 5/0 brushes end in a precise pin-point? Both of those factors can have a big impact on the success of painting delicate scratches I must say! It's very much practice but you want enough paint on the brush to be able to apply it to a precise area, but not too much to 'blob' it as you say, I'd keep having a test on a spare bit of plastic until you're happy. Also, though the first shade I paint on when modelling a scratch is generally 100% neat enamel paint and in the lightest colour, and sometimes you can gently feather the brush downwards (say even if its a horizontal scratch, you can jiggle the brush downward a bit along the line) to emphasise where rainwater may have made some rusty wash marks below the exposed rust spot, and then you can do a more precise line with the darker shades of brown over the top. Sometimes it doesn't always look that good until you've added a few layers of colour on, but if you go with a fairly dry brush each time then it should go on ok enough! Another trick you can do is if it looks too 'harsh' a scratch over the light body, you can rub a dry cotton bud downward over the paint and it'll often give a nice little smudge which can be helpful too! It is hard to give any solid rules on this, often for me it is a case of playing around with the paints you've got and experimenting until happy, it doesn't always work out well the first time but it's a case of pressing on and trying different combinations of paint/brushes and seeing how you get on! I do look forward to seeing how you go with the Tope, great wagon! Thanks ever so much! I gave the windscreen mouldings a solid push from behind at each end as I know they're a separate insert, and I wanted to make sure they were as flush as could possibly be, I think also the weathering layers might account for the variance too, as with any separately fitted part there'll be a tiny dark micro-seam, but this disappeared instantly under the paint-on/wipe-off layer - the paint dominates all..! 😂 Cheers, James

Thanks, I hoped that some might find this useful! I first read about the toothbrush method in Model Rail magazine back in the heady early days when I was cutting my teeth in the hobby (pun intended) - the likes of masters Darren Sherwood, Dave Lowery and Chris Leigh upgrading Lima diesels in the late 90s - the toothbrush bristle technique served me well as I've never had a broken aerial since!

The covers are off for this monstrosity! Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Joining the fleet today is my disgusting take on 37059, modelled in 1998 condition at the very end of its career with EWS, and is based upon the gorgeous @Accurascale model. Visitors to the Accurascale stand at the GETS show at Milton Keynes and Warley this year may have seen this behind glass already, but it's time for an up-close-and-dirty exposé! I'd long had an urge to model the locomotive, and when the details of the first Accurascale Class 37 releases became clear, it was impossible not to want to have a crack at it, considering the similar 37026 Shap Fell release had almost exactly the right details and ready to go. Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Once named Port of Tilbury, 37059's Trainload Distribution livery had been gradually fading and falling apart in the decade since application in 1988, so was amongst one of the worst-lookers in the EWS fleet, and of course crying out to be modelled! Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I've put together a full weathering step-by-step guide that's been published on the Accurascale website - https://www.accurascale.com/blogs/lets-get-involved/lets-get-involved-class-37-weathering-guide-by-james-makin - however it would be rude not to feature here and share some more indulgent pictures of the grimy and faded heap..! Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr In a whistle-stop overview of the process, here's how it all came together... Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The start point was the lovely 37026 release, which was really good fun to work on, with the body simply unclipping from the chassis and being ready to work on. The numbers and nameplate printing was all removed in a jiffy using Humbrol enamel thinners on a cotton bud - just a dash applied and rubbed over, and the printing lifted right away, without any damage to the underlying paint. When it came to the weathering, sometimes it is easier to do some preparation by changing the colours of the model itself before even getting into any fancy tricks. Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Here you may notice a few odd changes - the roof is now painted in a lighter, faded grey, the logo repainted entirely to a faded yellow and white, nose grilles painted black and various patches applied over the remnants of where the BR arrows and depot plaques used to be. A layer of Railmatch matt varnish was added over the model, and it was put aside for a month to harden fully, before the drastic weathering stages took place! Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr When the time was right, the bodyshell was whipped out and a 'fade' layer was applied - a coat of Humbrol white paint, just applied neat over the body, and wiped away quickly using a kitchen towel. The previous matt varnish layer meant that the white paint pigment clings to the bodyside, toning down the greys to a much more muted shade. Unwanted white paint will collect in recesses and grilles, but not to worry as this will disappear shortly... Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr ...when the next layers of brown paint are applied on top! Having left a few days between layers, shades of Humbrol browns 186 and 113 were applied, with prescribed music being some classics from electropop masters Ladytron - the only choice for Trainload Distribution 'Tractors'. With the layers of paint on & wipe off weathering completed, the real fun part on 37059 happened when the small 5/0 brushes came out to touch in the little details of the scabby machine. Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Consulting prototype photographs was essential - the picture that started it all was Gareth Bayer's superb portrait of it at Carlisle in 1998, supplemented with other shots of every possible angle, gleaned from exhaustive searches across Flickr and elsewhere online to build up a complete 360-degree view of the model, to copy as faithfully as I could to try and do it justice! The elements I loved most were the old BR rail blue showing through the faded and flaking triple grey colour scheme, together with the rusty nameplate scarring where the Port of Tilbury plates used to be mounted. Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr A range of browns were applied, going from light to dark, built up around where the markings appeared on the prototype, again using the fine 5/0 brushes and a steady hand to complete. The lighter browns were feathered on to suggest the marks where rainwater drives the rusty stains down the bodyside from the boltholes and bare metal parts exposed after the plates were removed. With all the dents, dinks and scars replicated from numerous different shades, the model was given a pass through the airbrush for some traffic weathering... Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The trusty 20 year old Badger 175 lives on! Layers of Phoenix Paint's weathering shades were added - brake dust and track dirt on the underframe, with their roof dirt and dirty black shades on top - finally my custom mix of dark grey and blue for the exhaust area, in line with the other recent loco projects completed. Next came the underframe detailing - Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Accurascale's 37 has an incredible set of underframe detail, and one way of highlighting this is to apply a dry brushed layer of Humbrol Metalcote 'Gun Metal' (No. 27004) to the bogies and fuel tank area - this gives a great rendition of the oily deposits that build up around the moving parts, as well as on the raised edges of the model. Once dry, running a cotton bud over the dried paint will bring out a lovely sheen to the raised edges and further emphasis the real weight of the loco. Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The livery on 37059 was so bad, on one side I like the rather odd engine room door being a different colour to the rest of the loco! Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr A side-on view of the No.2 end highlights how the nameplate scarring is different on each side, one with a more mouldy appearance than the other! The buffer shanks on the '37' are given a coat of Gun Metal grey too, which gives a shiny but not-too-bling appearance. Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The end view shows how imposing the Accurascale model can be at track level! The Scottish 'car' headlight from the donor model was swapped for a modern high-intensity headlight to model 37059 in all it's late-'90s glory with a Replica Railways moulding added on. Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Bufferbeam pipework was applied following prototype pictures - all very easy to add into the pre-drilled holes, which is a breath of fresh air for an RTR model. Amusingly, during fitting, I had a query on the placement of the front guard irons on the bogies, so I'd messaged Gareth at Accurascale, casually sending a Facebook message over one evening, and despite the time difference in Canada, he'd responded back straight away with some guidance and tips! Never before have I found myself at the modelling workbench with a query and been in a live chat with the actual product designer, thoroughly deserving a best-ever customer service award here I think! 😂 Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The roof details come out in the higher-level shot, the radiator grille is especially fine, and there's no need to replace with a Shawplan version, which is a first amongst my Class 37 fleet! Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One of the trademark weathering features of the '37's is the dirty bonnet, this was completed during the airbrushing phase, spraying directly down from above, but being careful to use a lolly stick to shade the windscreen from being similarly splattered in the process! Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I love a side view! The intricate underframe is incredible - it's actually pretty durable too, despite being so finely moulded! I'm in love with the detailed underframe on the model, though the downside is that is instantly renders my 40 existing legacy Bachmann '37s' to the 'chunky toys' category - some upgrades might be needed me thinks! Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It's been fantastic to preserve the horrendous appearance of 37059 in model form before succumbing to withdrawal by EWS in January 1999. Miraculously - this wasn't the end for the locomotive, and as many will know, it went on to live a second life with DRS from the early 2000s, being outshopped in the classy dark blue livery, and can today be found as a part of the Locomotive Services fleet and fronting the occasional railtour - what a return to glory! Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The model is an absolute favourite of mine already - it's a sound-fitted example and the depth to the 'Accurathrash' speaker is extremely impressive, hearing it rumbling around Worthing MRC's Loftus Road the other week was great fun indeed! I've tackled a few borderline-wrecks before - BR Large Logo 47467 and Petroleum 37350, but this trumps them both in scabbiness I think! I've already picked up another Accurascale 37 ready for a further project coming soon, it's a slippery slope..! Accurascale Class 37 37059 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I couldn't end this without saying a massive thanks to Fran, Gareth and all the amazing team at Accurascale for their help & support - and the chance to have my stock featured in an RTR manufacturer's own display cabinet at Warley was another modelling-life-achievement moment that my childhood-self would not have imagined in the wildest dreams when attending the show as a kid back in the 90s! This may be the end of my first Accurascale '37' project but it's only the beginning of many more to come! 😅 Cheers, James

I've just had the Hornby pre-order notification, they've arrived at the warehouse and ready for despatch, exciting times ahead! I look forward to weathering these - similarly how much time saving will there be with just a few mods and chucking the Bachmann 'Limpet' or MTA bodies on top, hours saved in grinding out the old suspension units and scratchbuilding the various dangly brake yoke bits 😄

I’ve got a pic of mine with the guard irons fitted, hopefully this illustrates easier than words, but they plug into recesses in the bogie fronts, and a little dollop of Bostik contact adhesive was just the job to keep them in place! Cheers, James

Thanks ever so much and great to catch up! More will follow on weathering that particular ‘37’ on the Accurascale website in due course! Cheers, James