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SRman

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Blog Entries posted by SRman

  1. SRman
    Coming back to the class 455/9, the unit will be numbered (45)5907.
     
    I have made a little further progress on adding the vinyls, this time to the Motor Brake Standard Open (MBSO), and in matching the blue on the Driving Trailer. There is some work involved in finishing these off and correcting a few errors in the vinyls, but overall the vinyl overlays take a lot of the hard work out of adding the livery elements and details.
     
    Note that the DTS is not sitting correctly on its chassis in the pics, hence the slight lean to starboard.
     

    url=https://flic.kr/p/MmJm76]P_20180916_135806_vHDR_On[/url] by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    P_20180916_135758_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
  2. SRman
    After a long wait, the Electra Railway Graphics (ERG) vinyls have arrived for the Bratchell class 455/9 kit I was building in South West Trains livery.
     
    While there is still work to do and some adjustments to make with paint, I am happy with the effect on the first Driving Trailer Standard (DTS). Putting these on and trimming slightly to compensate for the odd discrepancy is time consuming, with the use of a hair dryer set on hot to help settle the vinyls over raised detail and form it around corners, so the other three coaches are going to be done over the next couple of months (because of other commitments I have in the next few weeks).
     
    Anyway, here are photos of the work so far, with, as I said, more blending in and touching up to do. The first couple are a little blurred because they were taken rather hastily.
     

    P_20180913_121926_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

    P_20180913_121935_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

    P_20180913_191324_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

    P_20180913_191332_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
  3. SRman
    After a long pause, I have done a little more work on the Bratchell class 455/9 unit, having received a message from Adam of Electra Railway Graphics that he is nearly finished with the South West Trains vinyls for the unit. I have long been putting off painting the window frames, but recently bought a Sharpie permanent marker pen in silver with a view to trying it out on the frames. So far, I think it has been very successful: marking out the raised frames took me around 45 minutes to do the lot, and the paint/ink medium seems to dry quickly and can stand a bit of handling.
     

    Painting the Window Frames - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
  4. SRman
    Continuing progress with the Bratchell Models class 455/9: the body shells have now had a couple of coats of grey primer, then a couple of coats of flame red (all from automotive aerosols) to approximate the final base colour for the South West Trains suburban livery. The driving ends remain unattached (except for a couple of spots of Blu-tack!) and unpainted at this stage.
     
    The bogies have been assembled, although the motor bogie sideframes remain to be cut down and fitted. I have adjusted the ride heights: I found that Hornby's valve gear spacer washers worked well, with one thick and one thin washer added to each of the trailer bogie mounts.
     

     

     

  5. SRman
    Continuing with the Bratchell class 455/9, I have built all of the unpowered bogies now, but will need to adjust the ride heights of these upwards slightly, and the powered coach downwards slightly.

    The Powered bogies will have to be cut and shut to lose 1mm from the wheelbase but, as with the previous class 455/8 and 319, the blank sideframes on the Replica Railways motor bogies can be used to reinforce these, using the Bratchell sideframes as cosmetic items only.



    Bratchell Class 455-9 Under Construction - 7 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


    Bratchell Class 455-9 Under Construction - 8 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
    Once again I have had a little difficulty with poor light and the black ABS plastic Bratchell used for the driving trailer sides.
     
    I have used local manufacturer Steam Era Wheels (10.5mm dia., catalogue ref WH6) for this build, as Bratchell had run out of wheels when I ordered this kit.
  6. SRman
    Another new project, but one that will take a little while to complete: I have an unpainted Bratchell Models kit for a class 455/9 unit, which will eventually be in South West Trains red inner suburban livery.
     
    The unpainted shells are very dark and my lighting was poor, so these first two shots are only just sufficient to show the initial construction. The clear plastic driving ends will need a little modification to the lights to match the later, refurbished condition, and are not glued in at this stage. They will also be easier to mask off for painting while not installed.
     
    The instructions advise to remove all of the moulded-on door gutters and add new continuous gutters from microstrip. A quick look at some photos online of 455/9 units proved this correct and also showed at what height the new gutters should be mounted - I found that the height suggested in the instructions looked too low, so mounted mine at what looked correct to me, based on the photos of the real things. The ends of the gutter strips at the driving cab ends need to be cut back slightly, but I thought it better, and easier to correct, to have them too long rather than too short.
     
    The MSO (Motor Second Open) coach has already been test fitted to the Replica Railways chassis that will power the whole unit. This had to have the continuous footstep moulding cut off, and a minimal amount filed off the width, then slotted securely straight into the assembled body shell.
     
    Bratchell Class 455-9 Under Construction - 1 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     
    Bratchell Class 455-9 Under Construction - 3 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    Before I paint anything, there are also roof vents to make and fit. Four per coach, except for the MSO, which only has two. These were unique to the 455/9 construction.
  7. SRman
    I have been working on an original form Merchant Navy locomotive sporadically over the last few years, but am making an effort to complete it before the new Hornby model of 35023, Holland Afrika Line, arrives, probably in June.
     
    The chassis was adapted from a Hornby rebuilt MN, with Hornby's air smoothed West Country/Battle of Britain connecting rods and cylinder assemblies. I hard-wired a DCC Concepts Z218 decoder to it with its 8-pin plug cut off.
     
    The Golden Arrow Productions MN tender body was a bit flat-sided so I had to file and sand it to a better profile.
     

     

     

    This was followed by some final fettling and adjustments to the locomotive body. When I removed the front fairings from ahead of the cylinders, I took a little too much material off, so have added a strip of plastic micro-strip to each side, then a bit of filler, followed by filing and sanding back once the filler had set. there were a couple of other places on the body and at the cab/firebox joint that needed filling, too.
     
    Once all that set, I filed it all smooth again, then repainted. The body and tender still require a little more finishing as the paint surface is just a little rougher than I would like. The photos take us to the current status. Once I have finalised the finishes, I can add lining and names and numbers. My current thinking is for 35027, Port Line, but I could still change my mind.
     

     

  8. SRman
    Having previously described modifying the plug and wiring for fitting non-Hornby decoders to the Hornby Huntley & Palmers Peckett W4 and Sentinel diesel shunter, I failed to take a photo of the decoder actually in place to show just how easily the TCS M1 fits inside. Being smaller than the Hornby 4-pin decoder, there is room to spare, so I use a small blob of Blu-Tack to stop the decoder moving around.
     
    Having just received a second Peckett, this time the Peckett pale green Dodo, I went through the same process again, only this time it took half the time to do and came out a little neater as well.
     
    The blue, white and yellow wires are neatly bundles out of the way with a spot of heat-shrink tubing. If I ever want to add lighting or other functions, the wires are still available for use.
     

     

  9. SRman
    I have long held a dislike of Hornby's own DCC decoders (their Sapphire excepted), so when I purchased the Peckett W4 saddle tank loco, I declared at the outset that I would use something different, even if it meant hard-wiring it. Unfortunately, Hornby are the only manufacturer offering a 4-pin decoder. I never took photos of that conversion, so when I received Hornby's Sentinel diesel shunter, I resolved to treat it the same way.
     
    The decoders I favoured for these conversions were TCS M1 (2-function) or M4 (4-function); they cost me the same at the time I bought them and the shop had run out of M1s. I doubt that I'll use the functions in the short-term, but if I ever get brave later I might fit lights, firebox glows ... that sort of thing! These decoders are smaller than the Hornby one, so they actually fit in the places provided with room to spare.
     
    I did have a brainwave, though, and decided to retain the 4-pin socket and use the 'blanking plug' to connect the decoder by the relatively simple expedient of replacing the two looped wires and soldering in the correct decoder wires. Hornby have wired the plugs so that the track feed wires are on the outer pins and the brush feeds on the inner ones, so even if the plug is accidentally (or deliberately) reversed, no harm will come to the decoder.
     
    The metal sockets can be slid out of the plastic shell by lifting the little plastic tags. This allows the Hornby wires to be removed - I just cut mine off flush but you can choose any method you like to get rid of them.
     
    After this, the decoder wires were soldered on, using the end tags on the metal bits to clamp the wires in place as well.
     
    Then the assemblies can be slid back into their respective sockets, ensuring that they are correctly positioned - black - grey - orange - red.
     
    Spare wires on the decoders were cropped short and secured with a bit of heat-shrink tubing.
     
    The idea worked well with the Peckett, making it easy to restore to DC or swap decoders later if desired. However, the Sentinel wasn't as cooperative, and I ended up stripping it completely and rewiring it, including hard-wiring the decoder. The photos show how it all worked for the Peckett, and how it could have been for the Sentinel.
     

     

     

     

     

     

  10. SRman
    Progress on the A Stock train.
     
    There was a delay while I awaited the delivery of some new wheels with shorter axles (25mm) but those have now arrived from Steam Era Models.
     
    In the meantime I managed to find a flat aluminium paint I was happy with, so painting has continued apace, with only a few extrnal retouches needed, but complete internal painting is still to be done.
     
    The bogies have been assembled and mounted on the underframes. Being all metal, with metal wheels and metal couplings, there were a few shorts until I isolated various components and made sure no wheel faces could touch the bogie frames. The bodies have been set loosely on the underframes to get an idea of how the whole train will look, and I am fairly pleased with the overall result.

    It has moved a short distance under its own power, although the power bogies are not yet seated properly.

    There are still many adjustments to make and extra parts to fit before it is anywhere near complete, but I feel encouraged to continue.
     

     

  11. SRman
    I have now made a proper start on the 4-car A60 Stock train. Initially, I had sprayed the body shells in a metallic silver, but I really didn't find the effect convincing. The A Stock in original form had actually quite a dull finish, so I have experimented with shades of greys, settling on Humbrol colours #129 for the main body, #126 for the corner castings, driver's doors and communication doors, and #67 for the roofs. I have included some before and after photos of the bodies to show the effects of the different colour schemes. Grey #126 is not perfect; I feel I need a slightly bluer shade, but I really don't want to mix it as that makes touching up later much more difficult. As the photos show, there are a few touch ups still needed to the lighter two greys.
     

     

     

     

     
    I have also started on the bogie assembly, but the axles are a little too long, and the bearings are already countersunk enough, so work on those has had to be paused pending an order for some steam Era wheels on 25mm axles.
     
    The Tenshodo SPUD motor bogies have been in storage for a long time, so were oiled and tested on DC. They ran fine so I have prepared them for DCC conversion and also added the adapters for the side frames and couplings.
     

     

     
    I glued the bogie stretchers to one side frame for each bogie, but the rest of the assembly has to await the correct wheels/axles arriving.
     
    The old Hornby Collectors Club card is now serving as a mixing palette for the Araldite 2-part epoxy glue I am using!
  12. SRman
    Another recent project on my workbench: an LT pannier tank, L91. This is actually a new locomotive wearing old clothes! L91 was an earlier release from Bachmann with the dreaded split chassis. I hard-wired a DCC decoder into ti, and the running was good apart from a constant waddle. I replaced several of the wheelsets, but still none were entirely concentric. Eventually, I managed to get a much newer pannier (BR black 9759) with a decoder already fitted. With some very minor modifications, the old pannier body sits very nicely on the new pannier chassis.
     
    I replaced the cheap Bachmann decoder with a TCS DP2X-UK decoder for better running (not that the Bachmann one was too bad, but the TCS one allows a lot more fine tuning).
     
    I need to repaint the wheels and coupling rids on the new chassis, but that won't take long to do.
     
    L91 is seen here with much newer DCC-ready L89 behind. The shades of red are quite different, but looking at photos of the real ones, it seemed to darken considerably over time with age and weathering.
     

     
     
     
    I may try to sell off the old chassis and the black pannier body later. The new body doesn't fit the old chassis particularly well.
  14. SRman
    I am making progress on glazing my Q Stock train. The latest addition is the Q38 car. I tried Phil Radley's moulded flush glazing but didn't like the effect at all. I pulled the bits I had already done back out, and started again from scratch. The four large windows in the middles of each side were glazed as two pairs, and will have the window pillars painted back on from the outside. Likewise, the angled vent glass will have the dividers painted on by hand.
     
    The Krystal Klear I used as the glue was still wet and milky coloured in places when I took the photo.
     

  15. SRman
    Yet another project which has been sitting on the back-burner for a while is my Bratchell Models class 319. The pantograph, salvaged from a Bachmann class 350/1 being converted to a class 450, should sit on quite a substantial framework.
     
    I have a good photograph of the pantograph well, kindly supplied by another modeller, so used that as a guide to make up something resembling it, albeit rather cruder. Some of the plastic sections I have used are not only too big, but also the wrong cross-sections, but I had to use what was available. The insulators are from Somerfeldt. There are still a few finer details to add, but I think I have captured the effect, if not quite super-detailed.
     

     

     

    And after adding a couple more details and painting:
     

     

     

    The pantograph is sprung and capable of being used, but on my layout it will only ever be in the down position, because it is all on third rail!
  16. SRman
    A job I have been putting off for ages and ages is to glaze the various London Transport Q Stock cars. Part of what slows me down is that I like to paint matt black (or dark grey) into the window rebates.
     
    Anyway, I tackled the first two cars of the five car set yesterday, with a Q23 DM and a Q27 Trailer now done. I chose to flush-glaze the windscreens on the DM, and the glue (Krystal Klear) was still wet on the centre screen in the photos - it starts of like a white PVA glue but dries clear.
     

     

     

    The close-up shows every blemish in the finish on the Q23 car!
     
    I had hoped to get hold of some flush glazing for these, but Phil Radley didn't answer my initial query (I believe he has not been well in recent times, so maybe he just forgot). I ended up ordering the wrong glazing, so have had to settle for doing things the hard way. The black rebates help disguise the depth of the glazing.
  17. SRman
    After several soldering sessions over some days, I have been adding lighting strips to each coach in turn of my Underground S Stock train from Bachmann and the LT Museum.
     
    I have tried a few different resistances to lower the brightness, which mostly failed to dim them. I also tried a different lighting strip with a slightly warmer colour and lower light output in the third car, but that too wasn't satisfactory. The results are shown in the photos below, with the first showing the car with the warmer lighting (actually a composite shot put together from three photos with different focal points):
     

     

     
    I had a bit of a session with the soldering iron again today, adding a 470k Ohm resistor to each of the S Stock cars in turn, plus wiring the final driving motor car for the lights. Car #3 has had its warm white lights replaced by cool white to match the remaining five cars.
     
    The first photo in this second group shows two of the cars (nos 3 and 4 in the train) for comparison of the before and after; the one on the right has the extra resistor in the line.
     
    The other two photos show the entire 6-car train with "tamed" lighting fitted. I am much happier with the result now.
     

     

     

     
    This last photo in the dark shows that there is still a bit of light show-through in the car bodies, so a coat of paint along the insides may be in order for the future.
     

     

    I suppose the next job will be to paint the seats, now that the interiors can be seen so clearly, and perhaps tidy up one or two stray wires.
  18. SRman
    I bought a second Sutton's Locomotive Works class 24, D5016 with sound, and it duly arrived in Melbourne. On test, it worked fine but emitted clicks and pops from the speakers whenever it was placed on powered tracks, programmed, or power was switched on when already on the track. There were a couple of anomalies with the functions but a decoder reset fixed those. Jamie from SLW suggested I swap the decoder into my previous SLW class 24, D5000, and D5000's decoder into D5016 and see what happened. The clicks and pops persisted with the decoder when in D5000, and the other decoder now in D5016 was silent when it should be, thus indicating a fault with the decoder itself. Jamie immediately sent me a replacement decoder, which arrived within a week, and all is now perfectly well with both locomotives.
     
    I cannot praise Jamie and SLW enough for their excellent, polite and very helpful follow up service.
     
    Having ascertained that I won't have to return the locomotive itself, I have now renumbered D5016 to D5017, which remained on the Southern Region for around three years, as opposed to D5016's stay on the SR which was only for a month. I removed only the 6's, using a wooden toothpick and a little moisture, then added the 7's using HMRS pressfix transfers - the height of the transfer numerals was slightly greater than the SLW ones, so I cut the bottom off the leg of the HMRS numerals to line up (one has a fraction too much lopped off, but I can easily disguise that when it dries properly). However, I may have to redo the other numbers because the HMRS ones are very slightly bolder, but it will suffice for now.
     
    I have reconfigured the headcode discs on both locomotives, but neither is yet sporting the extra SR lamp irons (or headboard brackets as SLW refer to them), although I have the etched components to fit.
     
    Anyway here are a couple of pics, the first showing the newly renumbered D5017, and the second showing the two SLW locomotives, D5000 and D5017 in multiple (i.e. a DCC consist).
     

     

     

    For running in consist, I modified the decoder settings to allow functions 1, 2, 5 and 6 to work with the consist address, thus allowing the sound to be turned on for both at once, the brake function (F2) to work on both (otherwise applying the brake only stopped the front loco, with the rear one pushing it on!), and the engine sounds of both to be returned to idle. Function 5 reduces the inertia/momentum to simulate light engine/light load running.
  19. SRman
    Having played around with my early issue Hornby Hogwarts Castle by converting it to DCC and adding headlamps and flickering firebox glow, plus a crew, I was less than satisfied with the running qualities of the Airfix-derived chassis.
     
    Someone on these forums mentioned that the newest Hornby RailRoad County 4-6-0 chassis would be a good DCC-ready substitute, so I duly ordered one from Rails of Sheffield.
     
    The wheelbase is spot on, but on comparison of the two chassis side by side, I discovered that there are several discrepancies that would make the swap slightly more difficult, with the two major problems being the cylinder positions and the position of the rear combined tender drawbar and body mounting screw, which was slightly further forward on the County.
     
    After much head scratching, I decided that using the cylinders in the position of the County would be better as it more closely resembles that of a Hall, which is what the 'real' Hogwarts Castle is (Hornby didn't have a Hall model at the time, so used the Castle). I had already worked out that the chassis differences would not allow for an easy swap of cylinders and connecting rods. Allowing for the cylinders to fit under the Castle body meant filing down the depth of the footplate towards the front, which means that my Hogwarts Castle now has a shallow valance extending back to where the old cylinders sat. The repositioning of the cylinders also meant the 'S' shaped steam pipes were now leading from the smokebox to empty air, so they had to come off too; fortunately, they are separate mouldings which plug into holes in the smokebox and footplate.
     
    In the meantime, I pulled the TCS M1 decoder back out of the old chassis and resoldered the main track pickup wires (black and red) and the brush feed wires (grey and orange) back onto an 8-pin plug, but left the white, yellow and blue wires from the decoder soldered to the 3-pin connector plug I used to allow separation of the body from the chassis before. A quick test of the chassis showed that this was all successful.
     
    Back to the adaptation, I decided that the tender coupling should remain where it was on the Castle body, which meant that it didn't line up with the hole at the rear of the County chassis; I milled away a crescent shape at the rear of the metal County chassis to clear the screw while allowing it to set the chassis height at the rear, being hard against the rear of the chassis. The front mounting screw actually does most of the work of securing the chassis to the body.
     
    A few minor adjustments to the footplate, mainly involving drilling holes to clear bits of the County cylinders and valve gear, saw everything sitting nicely and running well.
     
    In all of this, I managed to dislodge the Hogwarts Express headboard, one of the headlamps, and the fireman I had previously glued in, so a quick session with the superglue saw all of those things restored to their 'correct' positions. I found some plastic tubing that was approximately the right diameter for some new straight steam pipes (maybe a teensy bit anaemic!), so set about trimming and fitting those by trial and error.
     
    I'm not too worried about accuracy: we are talking about a fictional engine on a fictional train, running on a fictional line from a fictional platform at Kings Cross to a fictional destination! With that in mind, a hybrid locomotive with an identity crisis really fits in! Poor old Hogwarts Castle doesn't know whether it is a Castle, a Hall or a County!
     
    Here are a couple of photos of it with the County chassis fitted but minus its headboard and steam pipes, no fireman, and with one headlamp pointing off into the scenery.
     

     

     

    And after the fixes were applied.
     

     

     

     

    The Knight Bus is one I hacked from two EFE models bought cheaply with the conversion in mind.
     
    I think I'm happy with it now, although I may restore the valance depth a little behind the cylinders at a later date ... much, much later.
  20. SRman
    A fairly simple task (albeit requiring steady hands) is to fit etched nameplates to locomotives to replace or cover printed ones.
     
    Two more of my class 73s have now had the printed plates covered with proper etched versions: 73 004, The Bluebell Railway, and 73 129, City of Winchester, both look much better now with their Fox Transfers etched stainless steel plates. Both are on Hornby chassis, but 73 004 has a Lima body. I mix and match bodies on the Hornby chassis - I have eight of the chassis but around 12 bodies of both Lima and Hornby origins.
     

     

     
    A banger blue Heljan class 47 also got the treatment. 47 508, S. S. Great Britain, now sports the Fox plates.
     

     

     
    Another class 73 to receive etched name plates and shields is royal locomotive, 73 142 Broadlands, with Shawplan plates. This locomotive has a Lima body and chassis, with a Modeltorque motor replacing the Lima 'pancake', and the addition of a newer Hornby unpowered bogie with its better wheels, extra pickups and NEM coupling pocket.
     
    I removed the printed Lima name plates and shields using a trick I learnt a long time ago: stick some sticky tape over the printed elements and press it on very, very firmly with a fingernail, then peel it off complete with the Lima transfers.
     
    I roughened the backs of the etched items then used some Krystal Klear glazing medium as a glue - any that squeezes out can be wiped off with a damp cloth.
     
    Not the best photo with limited light available, but here it is.
     

     
    And still on Lima class 73s, E6012 in early blue has a Lima body on a Hornby chassis. It also has legomanbiffo sound fitted. I tidied the roof grilles up, much as I did previously with green E6002. Once again, this emphasises just how fine the original Lima moulding was - pity about the mechanisms!
     

     
    (Edited to remove duplication if the previous blog entry).
  21. SRman
    While awaiting paint drying and vinyls settling on the second Bachmann class 450 conversion (to be described in a future blog entry), I was giving one of my oldest class 73 models a run, and noticed how crappy my painting of the roof grilles for the electrical compartments was. I had weathered them early on, but never tidied it up, so the grilles were indistinct and just a grey-black blur.
     
    Now the Lima class 73 body mouldings have some of the finest moulded grilles you'll find anywhere. So fine that, with careful painting, they can actually look better than etched see-through grilles, such as those on the much newer Dapol class 73, or Heljans newer class 33/0 efforts. All I needed to do in E6002's case was to dry brush some roof grey over the grille mesh and surrounds to tidy them up to my satisfaction.
     
    I also noted that E6002 actually needs to be renumbered to one of E6004 to E 6006, or else I need to replace the buffers with oval ones, as sported by E6001 to E6003 when new. I think the round buffers were fitted at the same time as the first three went into BR blue.
     
    E6002 started life as a Lima model of 73 005 in BR large logo blue livery. Unfortunately, while all the livery elements were nicely done, the blue had a surface finish like fairly coarse sandpaper. I repainted the loco into green with grey roof and skirts. Much more recently, E6002 was the first of my Lima models to receive a Hornby DCC-ready chassis, from one of Hatton's bargain-priced class 73 models in Dutch livery (I bought several more of the Dutch model to re-chassis some other Lima 73s as well, over a period of months).
     
    Next, it received Howes' class 73 sounds on a LokSound v 3.5 decoder, fitted with a large, bass reflex speaker and a standard 23mm round speaker in parallel.
     
    When taking the photos, I realised that the replacement Hornby chassis still had black buffer beams, so they have had a coat of red in the last photo only.
     

     

     

     
    Having mentioned the wrong buffers for the locomotive number, I decided it would be easier to swap the buffers than to renumber E6002. I had some rather nice brass oval buffers in my bits boxes, so removed the Hornby round buffers (they were a good force fit only) and glued the replacements in, then painted them. The paint is still wet in the second pic.
     

     

     
    Looking at the close-ups, it is obvious that these models would benefit greatly in appearance from the fitting of separate handrails, but that is a job for another time ... I only have 12 of the Hornby or Lima bodies to deal with! I have already fitted the extra jumper cables to both of my class 73/0s. E6002 received some noce white metal cables, while 73 004 got the 'discarded' cables from E6002 to supplement the existing ones.
  22. SRman
    Now for a simple task (albeit, requiring steady hands): fitting further etched nameplates to a few more locomotives.
     
    Two more of my class 73s have now had the printed plates covered with proper etched versions: 73 004, The Bluebell Railway, and 73 129, City of Winchester, both look much better now with their Fox Transfers etched stainless steel plates. Both are on Hornby chassis, but 73 004 has a Lima body. I mix and match bodies on the Hornby chassis - I have eight of the chassis but around 12 bodies of both Lima and Hornby origins.
     

     

     

    A banger blue Heljan class 47 also got the treatment. 47 508, S. S. Great Britain, now sports the Fox plates.
     

     

  23. SRman
    Some years ago, I decided to try and improve the running qualities of one of my Lima class 73 models by replacing the Lima armature with a ModelTorque motor (available from the manufacturer just a couple of kilometres up the road from me at the time - sadly no longer available since the passing of the man responsible for them). This was almost a drop-in replacement but promised much better, smoother and more responsive running. It still used the Lima gearing and did deliver what was promised, although the Lima gearing did it no favours, but it would go from a crawl to around 350 mph. The top speed was later tamed a little with a diode pack supplied by the manufacturer. At this time I was still using analogue DC.
     
    It was still totally dependent on the Lima brass wheels and dodgy electrical pickups, however. That remained the achilles heel for running qualities. Hard-wiring a Bachmann decoder allowed much finer tuning for the motor speeds and also tamed the acceleration and deceleration using the inertia/momentum settings, but still those brass weheels and poor electrical characteristics prevented reliable running, with the occasional prod from a large finger being needed.
     
    A partial solution has since become available in the form of a Hornby dummy bogie from Peter's Spares. The Hornby bogie not only has better wheels but also picks up from both sides of the bogie, where the Lima one only picked up from one side. Fitting the bogie required the hole in the chassis for the original Lima one to be enlarged a little, using a round file. The Hornby bogie could then be clipped in, after first threading the two wires through. When I originally rewired the Lima chassis for DCC, I followed the convention of using a red wire for the right-hand track feed from the power bogie (which is always the number 2 end of the Lima/Hornby models). Hornby have very kindly marked one of the two black wires from the new bogie with a red patch - this also goes to the right-hand side of the bogie. I simply soldered the red-patch wire to my existing red connections, and the black wires together, then tested for short-circuits before putting the loco on the programming track and double-checking that all was well.
     
    Doing this modification means that I have electrical pickup from four decent quality wheels on the dummy bogie, and two (on one side only) through the Lima brass driven wheels. I could wire up extra pickups for the remaining two wheels on the motor bogie but these also have traction tyres, so the benefit would be marginal, to say the least. Anyway, the running, while not perfect, has improved considerably, to the point where 73 142, Broadlands, can now rejoin the main fleet and not be parked languishing at the back of the drawer.
     
    In the photos, the motor bogie looks like it has a standard Lima 'pancake' motor, whereas, in fact, the ModelTorque motor is installed from the other side, away from the camera. The first photo shows the new bogie clipped in place after opening out the hole, with the two wires floating loose, and the original Lima clip arrangement also detached, awaiting removal.
     

     
    The second photo shows everything soldered in place and all joints covered with heat-shrink tubing. I had to use a short stretch of red decoder wire to extend the reach of the Hornby wire to the original wiring.
     

     
    I'll post a short video to demonstrate the improved running in a short time - I'll edit this post to include it.
     
    EDIT: OK, video delayed - it ran smoothly enough until I got the camera out, then the main drive gear started slipping! I'll try again when the glue has set properly.
     
    2nd EDIT: I finally got the video, edited it and then uploaded it to YouTube (even that took ages, for some reason).
     

     

    I may have to consider putting a newer, better decoder ... I'm not even certain that the existing one has BEMF facilities, it's that old!
  24. SRman
    I have started to letter the SECR 6-wheel brake van. There is very little specific information available on the Internet regarding liveries and lettering, but from what I can glean, the SE&CR lettering for the period I want goes in the left hand lower corner and should be approximately one plank tall - I think mine might be a little oversized but it's all I have. They are PC Models pressfix transfers (currently available from HMRS).
     
     
     
    One snippet I did pick up was that the SECR wagon grey was very similar to Great Western wagon grey, so my choice to use SECR grey on the earlier GW wagon builds seems to be vindicated.
     
     
     
    I cannot locate any pictures of the brake vans in the period I want to model, but later photos show the "Goods Brake" lettering (some even show "Goods Break"). It was pure guesswork to put the lettering in the centre of the main side panels - someone will no doubt prove it to be wrong, now I have done it!
     
     
     
    The "20 Tons" lettering seems to have been on the solebars, while the numbers (yet to be added) should be on the lower right of each side. Again, I'm not sure whether the numbers should also be repeated on the van ends or not, but it was the case with goods wagons.
     
     
     

     
     
     

  25. SRman
    Footboards and steps added. I have used the ones from the MR 20 ton brake van kit, but shortened the footboards by cutting a short section out of the middle and filing the clearance for the centre axlebox. There is a small amount of filler needed on one side, but the other side seems to have worked quite neatly.
     
     
     
    I also used the plastic hangers from the MR kit, but moved the middle ones outwards slightly to clear the centre spring hangers.
     
     
     

     
     
     

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