James Makin

For those going to the Warley show tomorrow (the Saturday), some of my weathered items should be in the Accurascale cabinets to have a cheeky browse at up-close, including some fun bits of which have yet to debut on this thread! Hopefully see some RMWebbers about for a good natter! Cheers, James

Thanks very much! Some royalties would be rather nice from modelling ‘Ed’s Wonderful System’! Good question on the volume of 47s tackled so far, I’ve had to consult my spreadsheet, eek, the answer is currently 61 Duffs! These are all the Bachmann first-gen models like the above, detailed, weathered and ready to roll, that’s discounting my random Heljan leftovers from the old Wells Green layout project, and within that number there might be a few newbies yet to be unveiled here 🤫 It’s all silly numbers really but it feels like you can never have too many! I’ve made a conscious effort in recent years to portray a balanced proportional cross-section of the entire fleet in my chosen time period, that you’d typically see on a day out at Didcot, whether that’s EWS’ various inherited sub-classes along with Virgin XC and interlopers from Freightliner and Great Western, each machine serves a purpose, even if it’s a dull dishwasher version 😂

Cheers Rich! I really like your 3D print lights so it’s something I’d like to do on future batches of suitable locos for sure, I will have to tap you up there when the time comes! I’ve always loved a good bodge but now in the modern world of 3D printing it makes sense to use what’s out there!

Anyone bored of the Duffs yet? Well, there's a few more where they came from! 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Joining the fleet today are a pair of the top-link Rail express systems (Res) 47/7s that once headed up the network of mail trains connecting up the country, in the form of 47742 The Enterprising Scot and 47777 Restored. 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Like all my other Res 47s, the natural start point was the Bachmann 47745 release of 2013 (how interesting that there have been no new releases since!), with another couple of examples broken apart and gradually put back together again. 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The bodies are separated from the chassis, with the cabs removed and glazing masked internally with tape, and externally with Humbrol Maskol fluid to keep the glazing intact during the reworking process. 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47742 was one of the locos that featured the round boiler port arrangement, so the original details were filed down from the model, and replaced with a rather low-tech bit of card, cut to shape and glued with a dab of PVA! It's also a great time to sand down the moulding lines that plague the roof of the Bachmann 47 bodyshell, both at the mid-cantrail and in front of the horn grille at each cab end. These still exist even to an extent on Bachmann's new-gen '47' version, so work is required no matter which example one goes for sadly! 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One of the fun bits was another flush-front conversion needed on 47742, following the same processes described on the previous 47s in this thread, only with the addition of the 47/7 Railnet RCH jumpers on the cabs to add a busier appearance to the finished article. The numbers and nameplate printing can then be removed using your preferred technique, here the plate just lifts away with a dash of Humbrol enamel thinners. 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Once stripped, each bodyshell is gloss varnished, with new decals and nameplates added, before being coated in matt varnish and left for a month to harden before the inevitable weathering stage would begin! The Res 47/7 fleet was generally kept in very good external condition, being recently repainted as they went through transfer from their former sectors into Res usage during the 90s, and so the weathering was more about adding layers of grime in the hard-to-reach recesses that the washing plants couldn't get to. 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Mirroring the techniques seen on the other locos within this thread, layers of browns were painted on and wiped away, being careful to keep the sides clean and dirt gathering only in the recesses. 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The complex ends were similarly treated, with cotton buds being used to remove the excess brown paint and enamel thinners to get rid of all but the remnants of dirt in the fiddly bits! 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Once the weathering shading was completed, each loco had their cabs painted up and reassembled ready for a final traffic weathering, covering a range of browns and dark greys to show the typical clean-but-dirty appearance of the average Res '47' in the late 90s. 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47742 The Enterprising Scot inherited its mighty name from Scottish classmate 47492, shortly after rebuilding as a 47/7 during 1995, however the plate was re-cast in the Res house style. Prior to the rebuild, 47742 used to be 47598 and part of the tranche of Network SouthEast 47s working West of England services out of Paddington before being displaced by DMUs and being reallocated to parcels work in the early 90s. 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Other finishing touches to the model included drybrushing Humbrol Metalcote Gun Metal onto the bogies and cantrail grilles - once dry, this is polished with a cotton bud and reveals a satisfying sheen on the raised surfaces! 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr A small 5/0 brush was used to touch in any areas of dirt or damage as required, in this case small dinks on the yellow panel and door, following prototype photos of circa 1998 to get the positioning right. 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The nameplate was attached using varnish, being applied at the same time as the decals earlier in the project, this gives plenty of time for fine adjustments to make sure it's level and any overspill is hidden once the final layer of varnish goes on. 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Bringing up the rear here is 47777 Restored. In a past life, this used to be a bit of Scottish royalty - as 47636 Sir John de Graeme - most will prefer the loco in its large-logo blue guise compared to how it ended up! 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One of my main reasons for liking this loco goes back to the days of first getting the Platform 1 trainspotting books and seeing how few locos have consecutive blocks of numbers - really not many can boast to having four of the same digits in their running number as 47777! Using my numbering system on DCC, this will be coded as '7777'! 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Period photos of 47777 showed a tasty dirt streak on one side over the Res logo, so this was replicated by a thin wash of brown paint & enamel thinners over the desired area, and then with most removed using cotton buds dipped in more thinners, eventually removing enough to give a very faint brown streak. 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The Restored name continued the theme of names starting with, or containing the word 'Res' within, often resulting in a mix of both powerful or downright weird names! 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr In line with other loco projects, the roof was weathered with a custom mix of black & blue paint to replicate the oily exhaust deposits left on the roof, and are dusted on over an existing layer of brown-grey 'roof dirt' paint. 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr As most readers will know, I'm a bit of a bodger, so the special Res LED taillights on my 47s are just the existing Bachmann mouldings, circled in white paint with the hinge mouldings filed off! Fine wire coupling bars are added for working with tension-lock-fitted stock too, and the standard Bachmann bufferbeam is stuck on, keeping an eye out for any variations on the prototype as needed. 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr For these locos, their time working top-link postal trains for Res was a real starring moment late in their long careers. 47777 would succumb to withdrawal under EWS in 2000, whilst 47742 would see a brief swansong, being transferred to the Virgin CrossCountry ILRA pool before sidelining came in 2001. 47777 would go on to be cut up in 2004, with 47742 following it in 2007. 47742 and 47777 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It's been great fun to bring back a couple of favourites, and bolster the fleet of 47s for the much-missed mail trains, and they certainly won't be the last! Cheers, James

I have to make a good point of going around the tops of my open tins with a cotton bud before closing up, the size of the bud luckily is a nice fit for the rims on the 14ml tins! I ordered a batch of recent Hornby Humbrols and the contents inside were alarmingly mostly dry stodge! They don’t cover as well as they used to, so I find myself using more Phoenix paints even for general painting/weathering as they always do the job, even though they do smell a bit more and can dry out quicker if not careful!

Some lovely ideas on the Class 47 marker lights guys, I shall have to have a go at those on a future batch! Haha yes Rob! Though a little bit by accident just amassing shades over the years! Ironically in my experience the newer Hornby-produced Humbrols aren't quite as good as the old ones, the older ones should be still great to use for years to come going by findings to date. Some, more interesting people may choose to collect wine, my vice is paint! There's nothing like going down to the cellar and cracking open a fine '99-vintage tinlet of Slate Grey to sample on a beautiful summers evening and savouring the gorgeous enamelly bouquet..! 😄

Thanks Rich! I think you definitely need a few more Virgin 47s, there were so many nice ones out there tantalisingly waiting to be modelled! I hope to tackle most of them but it does take time getting through the fleet. The flush fronts are always interesting ones to do, I've done quite a few now so it's getting more straightforward, I've always struggled on getting the marker lights right as they were most often recessed into the flush new panel, so the Shawplan etches don't look quite right for many examples when just overlaid on top, so I came up with another plan! My technique for most of the models tackled in the last few years has been to fill out the flush end with the filler, cocktail sticks put through the marker light holes, which are then removed once dry. The filler is all sanded smooth, leaving two random 'naked' marker light holes, and then I would use the end of a slightly larger brass tube to create circular indentations around the marker light holes, pushing into the dry filler with some good pressure and gradually leaving fine circular recesses to make it look like the marker light is set into the front like most of the sealed-beam marker lights are, and then touch in with a bit of weathering at the final stage. Some come out better than others but it's been reasonable enough so far! None of my stuff is intended as display-cabinet showpieces but just to be hard-working 'layout locos' but I've been surprised at how sometimes a cheap bodge works out better than expected! Cheers, James

Thanks Steve! It is definitely tricky trying to interpret the colours! It's taken gradual investment over many years but I've got the entire Humbrol enamel range and a lot of the Phoenix range, and this is one way of always having something to match up - the rest is down to a bit of mixing and just studying the colours, especially in the recesses where the dirt builds up. For example with the Railfreight Distribution 47s tackled a couple of posts above, I was looking at the colours of the dirt in the handrail recesses - asking myself, is that medium brown or a dark brown? Then this governs the shade I used for the washes for example. Also, what other colours can I see, and are there any stains over certain parts of a prototype that need to be added? With the roofs on the VDA vans etc, I'll have these images on my phone and zoom in as much as possible to check the individual colours that make up the complex pattern of weathering, there's a lot of trial and error it has to be said, and only after having a go at adding the paints that I think match up, you can see if it's worked and if not, go for another. I've often found that the more shades you add to something, the deeper the weathered finish becomes, so if in doubt, add a bit more paint! I often tend to go from light colours to dark colours but there's always exceptions where I'll go the other way too, I know it's not too useful but you sometimes get a feeling when it will work better the other way round!

Probably the fastest I’ve spontaneously ordered something in, from seeing the post on Facebook, clicked on immediately and the order has through less than five mins later, wow I can’t wait! Great choice guys!

Time for some hot stuff! 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr In my opinion (albeit probably clouded in nostalgia!) the Virgin CrossCountry red & grey is up there amongst the top liveries ever worn by the Class 47s and I'm excited to unveil a couple more of the much-missed ILRA CrossCountry machines in the fleet. Back in my trainspotting days, the 47/8s were amongst the absolute top-link fleet, zipping up and down connecting the country together on a procession of long-distance trains and really leaving a mark on my childhood spotting experiences, whether blasting through Didcot or providing some excitement down at Brighton in a change from the regular diet of slam-door EMUs. 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr For some years now I've been gradually working my way through the fleet, ticking the numbers off, and today we have Virgin-liveried 47822 Pride of Shrewsbury and 47827 being readied for frontline service. Here's how it started... 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I've done plenty of Virgin repaints in the past, but with Bachmann's 2017 release of 47814 on the old-gen model, it really makes it unnecessary these days! The only challenge is that they modelled the first Virgin repaint on '814, with the exceptionally large wrap-around yellow warning panel which needs scraping back to enable an easier renumber to other Virgin 'Duffs'. There are quite a few variations on the yellow panels, so it's worth consulting the prototype photos before starting work, gently scraping away with a curve-bladed scalpel, revealing the base grey paint underneath. 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The numbers and nameplates just lift away beautifully with a splash of Humbrol enamel thinners. We've spoken on these pages recently about removing numbers and I'm pleased to report that on all my 47814s, removing the branding is an absolute breeze, and so satisfying to watch it peeling away before the eyes! Having done this, the bodyshells were given a usual spray of Railmatch gloss varnish, over which decals were added from Fox Transfers and nameplates attached with a splosh of more varnish, before being given a blow over with Railmatch matt varnish, and left for a month to harden. Now the weathering fun could begin..! 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Starting on the roof, a paint-on & wipe-off layer of dark grey meant that the jet black roof could be toned down, the grey slightly bleaching the paintwork and also building up deposits in the hard-to-reach areas. 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Moving down to the bodysides, and accompanied by some classic Gerry Cinnamon, the sides would be kept clean but with dirt deposits in the recessed areas on the body, so again a layer of neat paint was added and wiped away. Here the colours used would be Humbrol dark brown enamels, and wiped away whilst still wet using kitchen towel and cotton buds, dipped in enamel thinners. 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47822 was given a little extra coating of grime following photographs of the prototype - whilst the machines would be kept pretty clean, some of the mileages on the longer trips meant a fair journey between cleaning and so they did occasionally manage to pick up some good road dirt and and streaking down the body, which makes for great fun to model! 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr On the ends, the bright yellow was toned down by another coat of dark brown, just one layer makes a huge difference to the appearance! 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The differences between the locos have been modelled where possible, with the different jumper cable arrangement being included on 47822, with some mouldings being retrieved from the spares box. A small hole was drilled in the bottom of this, and was then connected to the other end of the jumper plug on the chassis, using fine fuse wire as can be seen in the finished photos below. 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Extra weathering was applied to each yellow end as required, the headcode panels for example have picked up dirt in the recesses, along with small chips and dirt splattering that the prototypes had picked up in the 1998-1999 period modelled. 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47822 Pride of Shrewsbury has been a long time coming, having been one of the early recipients of the bright Virgin colour scheme and even featuring in an old Hornby trainset, it has been on the to-model list for many years! 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr As part of the different jumper cable arrangement, the extra orange pipework was added up the sides of the bufferbeam, being just fine 0.33mm brass wire, bent to shape and glued on with PVA, before being painted up. 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Bufferbeam pipework was added, also from 0.33mm brass wire, bent to shape and superglued into the bufferbeam, along with the stock screw coupling supplied by Bachmann. 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Each model was then given a traffic weathering, the usual application of Phoenix Paint's brake dust, track dirt, roof dirt, dirty black and finally my custom mix of black & blue for the exhaust grime to finish. 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr In line with other models, the cantrail grilles were dry brushed in Humbrol MetalCote Gun Metal (no. 27004), which was then gently rubbed with a cotton bud once dry, and this then brings out the detail in the slats and divider bars. 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Moving through to partner 47827, the notable variation here was the flush-front end, contrasting with 47822. 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The headcode panel at the No.2 end was filled with Humbrol model filler and left to set, but with cocktail sticks poked through the marker light holes to preserve their original position, to avoid having to re-drill these and getting it wrong! 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One of the things I love about 47827 is that it was a relatively unsung hero in the fleet, no name, no glory, and just one of many Virgin 47s that we took for granted until they were no more! 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Gentle drybrushing of the gunmetal on the chassis has helped bring out some of the oily patches on the bogies and fuel tank, whilst also helping to bring out the hard edges on the bogie frames. 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The flush front is shown to good effect, after being filled and sanded with the Humbrol model filler, it was given two base coats of white paint before being painted over with yellow. I took extra care here to give a solid base coat as I've caught myself out in the past with flush headcode panels where even after the yellow was sprayed, you could still see some of the colour differences beneath, nightmare situation! 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Up on the roof, the top grilles were also picked out with some drybrushing of the gunmetal, and the weathering over the semi-opaque fibreglass panels is visible too. Eagle-eyed viewers will notice that the boiler details are changed for 47822, with the round-plated design being present, compared to the rectangle version on 47827. 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr What I do like is that from a distance these are similar locos, but closer up there are a range of minute differences between the pairing! 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It's lovely to preserve two more of the classic Virgin ILRA fleet in model form. Happily, both of the prototypes modelled here are still out there on the network today, both in the form of the 'Bodysnatcher' Class 57/3s. Somewhat alarmingly (making me feel rather old!), over twenty-one years ago now, these were rebuilt for the Virgin West Coast 'Thunderbird' fleet, with 47822 and 47827 emerging as 57305 Alan Tracy and 57302 Virgil Tracy respectively. The pair have since enjoyed a variety of different colour schemes including Network Rail yellow, Northern Belle, DRS and ROG blue, though in your author's opinion, none of these are a patch on classic Virgin CrossCountry here! 47822 and 47827 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr With everything complete, it's time to put these locos to work hauling some top-link CrossCountry services! Cheers, James

Thanks for all the kind words guys! Cheers Chris, I must admit I do love these old 47s, the model is basic but so easy to work on, my only slight niggle is the size of the headcode marker lights, but the new-gen Bachmann model doesn’t quite convince me in this area either, so I figured I’m best off staying with these! I love the battery box underframe detail of the new model though, so I’m looking into buying spares here as it would save a lot of time scratchbuilding the gear on the battery-box-only models! Hi Steve! It depends on what I’m painting to start, if it’s a new-condition model I’d go for a Phoenix Exec Dark Grey pre-mixed, but if it’s an older weathered effect model then you may as well go for a more generic dark grey and mix by eye to a photo, but it’s normally easier to just buy the Phoenix ones where possible! That sounds a lovely project! It’s great hearing the different techniques, I know Humbrol enamel thinners would lift that printing off in a flash but it totally is a leap of faith and there’s nothing worse than the sinking feeling of when it goes wrong! Very best of luck there for whichever method you do use! Cheers, James

I've been busy beavering away on the next batch of locos joining the fleet, which currently totals another 39 new diesel locomotives for my Didcot Parkway layout fleet, some of which are now ready to be unveiled, whilst others continue to go through my filthy weathering works! 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Joining the fleet this week are a pair of classic Railfreight Distribution 'Duff's in the form of 47186 Catcliffe Demon and 47312 Parsec of Europe. 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr These are based on the Bachmann model of 2013 vintage, the original 47365 'Diamond Jubilee' model, which is great fodder for a cheeky renumber! 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The branding comes off nicely with a touch of Humbrol enamel thinners on a cotton bud, lifting soon after application. It's wise to go careful on the upper grey behind the nameplates, but with a gentle touch on the cotton bud and a little patience the branding just lifts away. 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The next stage is to gloss varnish the de-numbered bodyshells, ready for application of sharp new decals from Railtec and etched plates from Fox. My favourite way of applying etched nameplates is to use varnish as an adhesive - in this case Railmatch matt varnish, smeared on the back with a cotton bud, and then the plate just dropped into place. 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The good thing about using varnish is the extra long drying time meaning you can get the positioning bang on - nothing worse than realising it's wonky afterwards! Any overspill of varnish then disappears once the next layer of matt varnish is applied - another cunning bodge disguise! Having waited for a month after the coat of matt varnish, it was time for the fun weathering stage to begin. 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The recommended soundtrack for Railfreight Distribution projects is a bit of Olivia Rodrigo, just as the layers of paint-on & wipe-off Humbrol's are applied - coats of light brown, 186 and darker brown 251, applied neat and then wiped away with both kitchen towel and cotton buds dipped in enamel thinners, in line with previous locos featured on these pages. After applying the paints, further little details were added in the form of rust patches and marks, using fine 5/0 brushes. I like adding the 'emo eyes' around these RfD locos, where the Bachmann window frames are only edged in black, it's easy to see the thickness of the bodyshell around the glazing, so a layer of black around the window frame helps to hide this. 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Meanwhile, up on the roof, some Humbrol Metalcote Gunmetal is dry brushed on and later rubbed with a cotton bud to highlight the exposed surfaces on the roof and cantrail grilles. 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Each model was reassembled and then airbrush weathered using my two-decade old trusty Badger 175 airbrush, spraying on layers of Phoenix Paint's brake dust, track dirt, roof dirt, dirty black and a special mix of black & blue for the oily exhaust deposits on the roof. 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47186 Catcliffe Demon was relatively unusual amongst the Railfreight Distribution fleet having red-backed nameplates and even a red depot plaque on one side! 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One extra work element undertaken on this loco was the alternative boiler port arrangement being modelled, with the circular blanking plate version being added, using plasticard glued onto the roof after the original rectangular port was removed. 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr By early 1998, the Distribution logos on the real 47186 had faded, so this was replicated by applying layers of white over the original branding, muting down the colours to match the prototype. 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47312 Parsec of Europe is just another member of the once-expansive RfD fleet, and will be used on Ministry of Defence traffic, much as the real thing found itself on at Didcot back in 1998. It will look rather at home on the front of a load of the Cavalex Warflats! 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr A wire hoop is added to the bufferbeam at one end of the loco to let it haul the train using tension-lock couplings from the wagons, allowing for the full bufferbeam pipework to be retained. 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One of the fun things about 47312 was the scarring left from removal of the old Tinsley depot plaques, not only the bolt holes but the rainwater and surface rust marking from beneath the plaques, all recreated using the fine paint brushes again, dipped in various brown and light grey paints. 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Up on the roof, the fibreglass panels were given a treatment of the same paint-on/wipe-off weathering as on the bodysides, and then followed up by the wafting airbrush treatment of the roof grey, dirty black and my usual custom black & blue mix for the exhaust fume oily deposits. 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It's been great fun to bring these old Railfreight Distribution monsters to life again - the real 47186 having been withdrawn from service in late 1998, and 47312 in early 1999. Like so many other forgotten freight 47s, the pair would both eventually succumb to the mighty gas axe, with 47312 meeting its maker in 2003 at Wigan CDRC, whilst 47186 managed to cling onto life until 2007 before being demolished by EMR at Kingsbury. 47186 and 47312 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr There'll be many more fun locos to grace the pages in the coming months, and eagle-eyed viewers at today's Great Electric Train Show in Milton Keynes may have spotted a cheeky glimpse of my latest project tucked away in the Accurascale display cabinet...full story coming soon! Cheers, James

I'll be the boring one and vote for a plain triple grey version! These were the ones I remember most from my youth, excitedly clambering up the steps to Platform 4/5 at Didcot in the late 90s, notebook in hand, eagerly anticipating what line up of stabled locos would await me on a dull drizzly Sunday morning! Then when you got to the top of the steps, you were greeted by the sight of one or more suitably dull grey ones, often shod of nameplates as someone had nicked one and certainly not a whiff of a depot plaque in sight! Just plain old boring monotony resting in the cold grey British weather...and as I look back on those times now, don't I just love it! 😂

Thanks for the kind comments guys! It’s always useful to know the other techniques that have been built up over the years to despatch various printing and branding into oblivion, and useful tips to add to the arsenal! Thanks Steve, I must admit the shades here are just hand-mixed by eye to the photos found of each wagon, they are normally so faded that no official colour would match so I’ll tend to fade down a bright red with a dollop of white and keep going from there! Then similar with the greys too, and I love using Phoenix paints over Humbrol as they brush nicely straight from the tin with just a single coat, just mixing in various shades until happy! Eek! That is an unwelcome surprise to get, feeling your pain there! What starts as a simple renumber/rebrand suddenly becomes a much more involved project! The weathering on that version is unusually stubborn too, other Bachmann locos seemed much easier to play around with, so steering well clear of this release in future..! Cheers, James

Hi Richard! Out of interest, which specific loco have you had the challenges with so far? It’s always useful to know as Rob says above, it’s such a mixed bag as to which ones will cause issues and which will be fine! When I come up against a problem loco, the other method I’ll try is a curve-bladed scalpel, and gently rub across the printing but with almost no pressure applied, gently working away and filing down the raised printing back to the base paint layers underneath. Sometimes I’ll have to use a combo of the two methods, gently scraping away the top sheen from the printed branding, and then adding a little enamel thinners on a cotton bud, which seems more effective once the shiny top layer of printing has been gently scratched back, so that could be worth a try! I’ve had issues with selected older Bachmann models (pre-2015), Heljan stuff and similarly older Hornby models - I actually wonder if something in the printing techniques used in the various Chinese factories as most modern releases are generally an absolute breeze to strip off! Having said that, I’ve had an absolute nightmare recently with some factory-weathered Bachmann Railfreight Distribution 47306s being pumped out by Kernow for good prices, produced around 2017, and thought, great, that’ll be easy to work on, only to find that the thinners would have a delayed effect, having removed the nameplates easily and dried off, but within a few hours it had set in and bleached out the entire top grey on each of the ones tackled, requiring a batch of repaints, disaster! Hope that helps a bit and possibly some of the techniques may be worth a try! As Rob says sometimes it does just go pear shaped and you are left doing a part-respray, I make a note of which bodyshells are the troublemakers and then try avoiding those as donors for future projects! Cheers, James

I'd ideally just love to have a sea of bog standard EWS red examples, anything else just seems an indulgence! 😄 Too new for my modelling era personally but the GBRf 'Metronet' 66s were good lookers too! Cheers James

A couple of years ago Accurascale brought out the JSA steel hood wagons, and I couldn't resist tackling some of the gorgeous British Steel blue versions, toning down the bright ex-works finish to represent these wagons in 1999 condition. Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I used to love these wagons as a kid - they matched the two EWS '60's in British Steel Blue! By 1999 however, the wagons had faded considerably, and picked up some delicious damages and surface rust patches that were desperately needing to be recreated on the Accurascale model. Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I've penned a full how-to-do-it article on the Accurascale website, but thought it would be fun to share some extra pics here! Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr As delivered, the wagons arrive in a nice satin-finished bright blue... Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr ...so the first thing was to apply a good coat of Railmatch matt varnish, and leave for a month for it to harden, before a layer of Humbrol white enamel paint could be applied neat, and wiped away, instantly toning down the bright blue to a more muted shade. The varnish layer helps the white paint to adhere to the previously-shiny wagon body. Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The side effect of the whitening process is lots of white left in the recesses, however this does not last long, as a couple of days later, a series of brown shades were again painted on and wiped away. Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Armed with a recommended soundtrack of superb Stornaway-based Peat and Diesel, layers of Humbrol browns No. 62 and 186 were applied and wiped away, working in vertical movements from top to bottom, leaving brown gathering in the recesses of the wagon. Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The bulk of the remaining brown stains were removed with a cotton bud, dipped in Humbrol enamel thinners. This can also help to create selected streaking where desired, by leaving behind some of the brown stains, but cleaning all else around it. One interesting observation noted from photographs of the wagons in the late 90s is the significant 'scratching' that can be seen on the roof and angled tops - I don't know myself exactly how this was formed, whether from the doors retracting or something else at play, but it is rather weird! A big thanks at this point goes to Tim Rogers who answered my request for photos of the roof with a big album of pics online of the JSAs in the time period! Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr These scratches were replicated using a fine 5/0 paintbrush, gently painting on with 5-shades of brown paint, working from light to dark. Humbrol's 62, 186, 113, 133 and 251 were used in varying amounts, layering on over each other, with very minimal application of the darker shades at the deeper points within the scratches. After this, Colin Craig etched brake discs were added to one wheel on each axle - Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Each brake disc is affixed with Microscale Krystal Klear PVA, and once dry, painted over with dark grey paint, and wiped away with a cotton bud, just slightly taking an edge away from the bright stainless steel finish and leaving 'dirt' in the recessed grooves on the brake disc. Each wheel and axle is also painted, to remove the bright factory finish. Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The buffers were treated to a gentle dabbing of dark grey paint, representing the grease deposit on the buffer heads. Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr On the underframe, the bogies and underneath were painted in a blend of random browns & greys - some leftover Phoenix Paints 'Track Dirt' and 'Sleeper Grime' being supplemented by Humbrol 32 dark grey, and finally Humbrol 27004 Metalcote Gun Metal, dry-brushed on, and then polished with a cotton bud - highlighting the fine raised detail on the bogie. Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Other touches also included painting in the axlebox covers where required, and going around with a fine paintbrush to replicate the fine dinks and damages seen in photographs of these in the late 1990s. Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The photos here show how the gunmetal paint can bring out the lovely moulded detail and suspension. Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The streaking was supplemented by a range of scratches and scrapes on the sides and ends, following prototype pics from 1999 to get the distribution and colouring to match the real JSAs of the time. Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr By 1999, some fo the JSAs had lost their British Steel branding, so this may make an interesting addition for future JSAs yet to be tackled! Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The bizarre scratching on the roof can be seen in more detail on this roof shot, most interesting! My wagons were based on both Tim's photos and those taken from a 1999-edition of RAIL Magazine, of a steel train being hauled by an EWS '60', a scene that I can now recreate after all these years! Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr After all the painting was completed, the final act was to give another all-over coating of Railmatch matt varnish to seal in the weathering and the wagons were good to go! Accurascale JSAs weathered by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The JSAs made for a great fun little project and I'm looking forward to giving a few more a blast! Cheers, James

Going to need to launch a new weathering paint range...AccuraRust! 😂

Very exciting that the wagons are available to pre-order, I too would most appreciate it if you had the start dates of the various versions if possible please, with a wagon like this it's tricky to find many period shots online from the late 90s to verify which ones were about, especially when most shots available from back then are the usual three-quarter loco images! I'm modelling 1998-2000 period and would eagerly press the 'Buy' button on the right ones once knowing which releases are the most suitable for that time range! Many thanks in advance guys :)

P4 would surely be the way to go there if you wanted ultimate accuracy, a P4 Accurascale 66 would be the pinnacle of 66’s surely! These little HO scale 66s look to be the equivalent of when Hornby pop jazzy liveries on their existing Railroad tooling! Incidentally I walked around my local Gaugemaster shop this week and their display cabinets are full of brightly coloured German HO advertising livery locos, I can see how these two releases easily fit into that realm and will probably be most sought after by that kind of audience, pretty to look at! Accurascale’s 66 is in 4mm:ft so anything in HO is just a different scale, same as comparing to TT120 or N gauge, must be a very specialised set of people willing to pay a lot more to import an HO model to the UK when you can get an accurate one for less money and post free! 🥳

I must say I used the last 4 digits for my DCC numbering and modelling in the late 90s period, actually the number of clashing loco identities is very few! Most likely to clash are the 37s and 47s, however by that period most of the 47s left working are either low down 47/0s or way higher up in the number blocks and clear of most active 37s including the popular 37/4, 37/5s and 37/6s. Despite a big fleet the only clash I have to date is 37711 and 47711! Bringing it back on topic, I am loving seeing these pics of the weathered Accurascale 37s! Just to whet the appetite for more, there is one undergoing transformation on my workbench right now 😜

Thanks so much for all the kind words and reactions guys, that's really nice! I like modelling these mundane little vans and it is nice to give them a bit of attention, back in the day they were just part of the great spotter's backdrop and you just thought they'd always be on the rails, until they weren't! Cheers Rob, mine are similar but this muppet right here has just got a smaller brush 🤣

I've been working on a lot of diesel loco projects over the last few months, so the antidote to the longer projects has been working on a 'quickie' little project to makeover a couple of VAA vans. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Joining the fleet this time are VAAs 200069 and 200105, modelled using photos gleaned from Flickr of a typical duo of faded Railfreight examples. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The starting point was the Bachmann model, using a few more examples purchased from a mate a few years back and patiently waiting their turn to be given a blitzing! VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The brown liveries respectively made way for the faded red and greys of the chosen prototypes... VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Railtec Transfers were used for the various markings, applied over a gloss finish and then with a layer of Railmatch matt varnish applied on top and normally left for a month before the weathering would take place...except this was back during mid 2022, and I got distracted with other projects and ended up leaving it for another few months! VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Eventually, armed with a soundtrack of the superb Devon Cole, layers of weathering paints were added, starting with light browns and working up to mid-brown and dark brown layers of paint-on & wipe-off weathering. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Having applied the neat brown paint, this was then wiped away downwards with kitchen towel to leave just the dry residue on the wagon sides and ends, which really clings to the layer of matt varnish applied earlier in the project. Next, the residue is then wiped away further with a cotton bud dipped in enamel thinners - VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr This stage is ideal for highlighting streaks on the sides of the wagon and cleaning away the more exposed parts and leaving the grime in the recesses. This was repeated for the three layers of light, medium and dark brown shades, leaving a few days between each layer for the weathering layer to dry and harden, as otherwise there is a danger for the enamel thinners to start ripping away the previous layers, which is not ideal! Next up came the rooftop fun! VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr In line with many other VAA vans, the roof areas of each wagon showed a lot of deterioration which was interesting to model. Firstly the panel lines were masked off and painted up, followed by spot painting with a fine 5/0 paintbrush, and adding a palette of colours from dark grey to light grey and a variety of browns, mottled on with larger brushes and smaller spots with the 5/0 brush again. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr With the roof done, work then moved onto the sides where the fine detail was picked out with yet more 5/0 brushes, and using a brush with a pinpoint tip specifically, picking out each rivet with a small dot of light brown. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The wagons soon came together, with further elements picked out such as the ghosting of former explosives warning diamond stickers and various scratches and damages, following prototype pictures to get everything to match up in model form. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Moving down to the underframe, this was painted in a variety of Phoenix Paints colours, a bit of 'track dirt', some 'oil leakings' and 'brake dust', all slopped on wet together and mixed into each other in certain places to get a nice blend where needed! VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr VAA 200105 was interesting as it had the ghosting of the Railfreight lettering still visible, as well as the cute little Transrail branding too! Colin Craig brake discs were added on the wheel faces, being attached with PVA and given a coating of dark grey, painted on and then wiped away to leave dirt in the recesses. VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The photo below shows the two contrasting rooftops nicely, the fun thing about these box vans is the wild differences between each wagon! VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr After all the weathering was finished, each wagon was given a final coating of Railmatch matt varnish to seal in the paint job and flatten out the odd glossy bit from where the various weathering was painted on neat from the tin! VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Overall these are great fun little projects, and normally pretty quick, unless the malaise sets in and you end up leaving it for a year until finishing..! VAA Vans by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It's great to get these over the line clear out the stack of half-finished projects ready for the next ones to take their place! There are a whole host of diesels being given the makeover, which will likely debut in the late Summer, together with a stack of 'Barbels' and some other interesting wagons to follow! Cheers, James

Closer to the time I shall have to post some of my pictures - our old office used to overlook the aggregates unloading area at Chichester station, giving uninterrupted chances to photograph these wagons high above from a 3-storey building, giving weathering inspiration of the wagons both inside and out! Some were really battered and you could see through the metalwork holes in the sides of the wagons..! In the period 2021-to-date the traction variety was comparatively good, loads of Freightliner 66/5s and 66/6s, together with ex-DBS faded red 59/2s and 59/2s in Freightliner Orange livery. Also you'd regularly see the other 59/0s and 59/1s turning up in their random liveries from Yeoman to Hanson and Aggregates Industries, really interesting! Cheers James

Great work Tom, love it! 😎