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SRman

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  1. SRman
    A little while ago I was lamenting not being able to find the locking bars for some C=Rail containers I was building and decorating. Well, I recently placed an order with C=Rail for some of their new Freightliner containers, plus some extra locking bars to complete the previous builds.
     
    The two 40' containers for Hanjin and OOCL are now complete, apart from possibly a bit of weathering.
     

     
     
    The pre-finished Freightliner containers from the late '70s and through the '80s are shown here mixed in with some more modern containers. The finish on them is superb.
     

     
     
    I still have two of the kit-built tank containers to finish off in there!
  2. SRman
    Normally after spray painting an item, I would brush paint the final coats of paint to fill in any holes or gaps in the spray coats. However, because I want to model the Sturgeon A in a heavily weathered and slightly battered condition, I didn't bother with more black paint, instead going straight to the greys (Humbrol #66 and #79) and browns (Humbrol #29, so far) in washes and dry brushed streaks.
     
    The initial results are shown in the next two photos.
     

     

     
     
    While I should have added the transfers before weathering commenced, it doesn't matter too much with this build, as there are more layers of weathering to go on. This is the stage it is at at the time of typing this post. Still to do: more rust is needed on the metal parts (of the real thing - they are all plastic in the kit!), more shades of grey and brown for the insides and outsides of the wooden planked bits, and more weathering on the floor, before adding the rail load I have earmarked for this wagon.
     

  3. SRman

    The Name of the Game is ...

    By SRman,

    I have had a rolling program of upgrading printed name plates with etched ones over the last few years. I put in two orders to Modelmasters just before Christmas to cover most of the remaining diesel and electric models I have, although a couple were not available for various reasons (either not made or out of stock).
     
    The following photos show the ones I have fitted so far.
     
    London Transport (ex-Metropolitan Railway) Bo-Bo no. 8 Sherlock Holmes has benefitted from having its over-thick plastic plates replaced by the etched versions, although I have to say the Heljan version was not too bad at all.
     

     
     
    ViTrains class 37, 37 428 David Lloyd George needs a little more work to patch up the paintwork at either end of the new plates - that's where I had to scrape off the slightly longer printed versions. This locomotive had its yellow bits overpainted with a deeper (correct) colour, plus some black paint inside the noses to reduce light bleed. It has the TTS sound chip in it from a Hornby RailRoad class 37, with a home made speaker enclosure to house the speaker. Note that the front of the nose is not quite seated properly, a known weakness of these very early ViTrains class 37s.
     

     
     
    I like my Lima class 73s for their liveries, but the running qualities were nothing to write home about. All of my operational ones except one now have Hornby mechanisms (the odd man out has a ModelTorque motor fitted). 73 125 Stewarts Lane 1860 - 1985 looks much better with the etched plates instead of the printed ones. It would benefit further if I weathered it lightly.
     

     

     
     
    Another hybrid locomotive is class 59, 59 005 Kenneth J. Painter, with Hornby chassis and Lima body. I experimentally fitted LED head and marker lights at one end only - something I would rate as entirely successful but I need to tidy up the internal wiring a bit. The plates are black, where I think they should be blue for the earlier condition. I may flood some blue paint into them at a later date, but they still look good now, as is.
     

     
     
    And finally, for the name plate fittings for this session, Hornby class 09, 09 012 Dick Hardy, now sports the etched plates. The printed ones were just a tiny bit longer, but I didn't modify them at all; you don't see it from normal viewing distance, and only notice if it is pointed out at closer viewing distances.
     

     

     

     
     
    Since placing the order for name plates, I have landed a few more models, two of which are named! I'll have to order plates for them next time I place an order.
     
    First up is Heljan BR blue class 47, 47 508 S.S. Great Britain, bought second-hand but almost unused. I spent yesterday evening gluing the buffer beam pipes and coupling hook in, then cut them all off at a level just below the bottom of the buffer beam to clear the model coupling swing. I still think this looks better than having a bare buffer beam.
     

     

     
     
    Also from the same source, and almost unused, was BR blue Heljan class 33/1, 33 117. This one is not named (whew!) but needs some buffer beam detailing and weathering.
     

     

     
    p.s. I only spotted the cat hair on the front of the 33 when looking at the photo full-screen. I wish our Toby wouldn't share his hair quite so freely!!
     
     
    And finally, from eBay, sound-fitted Hornby 08, 08 844 Chris Wren 1955 - 2002 in EWS livery.
     

     

  4. SRman
    Was it really as long ago as November 2013 that I first reported on this and another LSWR 'road' van from Smallbrook Studio? I have taken all four of the kits I purchased (LSWR and 'Met' versions) along to a couple of exhibitions with a view to continuing construction but ended up operating the BRMA layout on each occasion, with no productivity as far as kit construction went!
     
    Anyway, I dug out the LSWR 18 tonner and fitted the handrails last night, followed by the glazing, roof, gutters, chimney and couplings tonight. There is still a bit of painting to do and transfers and weathering to go, but it is now very close to being finished.
     
    I have posed it with the Bachmann LBSC E4 0-6-2 tank locomotive for effect.
     

     

     
     
    Next to complete will be the diagram 1545/9 20 ton van.
     
    Much later, I'll do the as yet unstarted Metropolitan Railway version of the 20 tonner, and the D.1541 10 ton brake van.
  5. SRman
    Continuing with building up (and decreasing, in the case of the 08) weathering effects, here are some more progress photos, taken on the layout near Newton Broadway station.
     
    In the case of the O2 I also 'doctored' two of the photos to resemble older images in black and white and sepia tones. They then give me some comparisons with the photos I am working from in various publications.
     
    The 08 shunter has had a partial wash and partial dry-brush effect with grey, Humbrol #66 (called olive drab). I had to use a cotton bud and turps to feather the edges over the top corners of the bonnets. I also used a few dry-brushed strokes of rusty brown along the lower edges of the frames and brake blocks and rodding.
     

     

     

     

     
     
    And to the O2, with a lot of grey (#66 again) washed and dry-brushed over most of the areas below the footplate, plus the running board top surfaces and smokebox.
     

     

     

     
     
    And the black and white versions of two of these:
     

     

     
     
    And the sepia tones. I think these look particularly effective, myself.
     

     

     
     
    As before, these are still works in progress, but I am happy with the way they are going, at present.
  7. SRman
    Having trawled the Internet and my books and magazines, I decides that the blue 08 I have been working on should be renumbered. D3219 seemed to be the most suitable candidate I could find that matched the body features of this particular Hornby model: wooden cab doors, external hinges on the body side doors, the correct number of footplate 'boxes', and Southern Region based for most of its life. I have no idea when it went into blue, so that is an assumption I have just had to allow. A quick renumber, using the same Replica Railways rub-on transfers as before, and D3272 became D3219.
     
    I have used several layers of Humbrol's black weathering wash, plus a layer of off-white dust from Tamiya, which was rather less successful in giving the faded, chalky paint effect I wanted. Another very thin wash of the Humbrol black has hidden most of the Tamiya wash. That's not to say there was anything wrong with the Tamiya paint, it just wasn't quite the right thing for the effect I wanted. At the moment the effect is a little too dark and dingy, and I want to get a little more of the BR blue showing through, so a little bit of dry brushing the centres of panels may be in order.
     
    I used a little of the Humbrol glossy oil stain finish as well around the fuel tanks and suspension leaf springs and a little on the crank pin and hinged areas of the coupling rods. The wheels need attention to dirty them down and blend them into the overall effect.
     
    Here she stands in full sunshine with a very cruel close-up to show me what I need to do to fix the weathering. This time, I used a strip of masking tape below the baseline of the numbers to make sure I got them straight on both sides.
     

     

     
     
    I noted the slight bend in the coupling rod on one side, and have now straightened that. Sometimes these cruel close-ups can be useful!
  8. SRman
    Some considerable time ago, I started work on a Maunsell 0-6-0 diesel-electric shunter, using a Golden Arrow Productions resin body kit and a slightly modified Bachmann class 08 chassis. It has been operational for a while, and painting and glazing is all but complete, apart from a few very minor touch-ups required, although without numbers or BR crests.
     
    This will be 15203 with late style crests when done.
     
    Today, I have added most of the handrails. A quick check of photos of the real thing showed that I have a couple of small handrails to add on the bonnet top, The door locking handles and the lamp irons are still to be added, but this still marks a good step forward.
     
    While drilling holes for the handrails, I decided to use short lengths of the handrail wire to reinforce the joints between the edges of the running boards and the plasticard extensions. These will be hidden with a little filler before repainting the sides.
     
    The resin steps have also been added but these are a little weak, so may require the same trick of using handrail wire to reinforce the joints.
     
    Eventually, I will have to scratchbuild the front steps out of plasticard.
     
     

     

     

  9. SRman
    I have posted a couple of pictures of the F Stock in running condition (although still not fully finished) on my layout thread. All four cars are now in the same colour (LT train red).
     
    For Melbourne Cup Day, we have a public holiday here in Melbourne, so I have put in a little modelling time this morning, decorating a couple of items of stock.
     
    First up is the Hornby class 08 shunter that I repainted into BR blue a little while back. I have not heard any more from PH Designs regarding the etched steps (I transferred the money but nothing seems to have happened at the other end), but in the meantime, I found the plastic steps I had removed from the Bachmann 08 chassis I used under my SR 15203 shunter. With a small amount of trimming and drilling of holes, these are now attached to the Hornby chassis. I am still missing one shunter's handrail at the front but that will be easily replaced with a handrail knob and some wire. I then numbered it as D3272, which (so far) is the only 08 I have found pictures of on the Southern Region that seems to match the configuration of the model, although even now I'm not 100% sure it's right.
     

     
     
    I also replaced the single 'sugar cube' speaker (the last one I had in stock at the time) in this locomotive with a matched pair in parallel with a double mounting, from DC Kits. The sound from the Zimo decoder (Paul Chetter/Digitrains sounds) is much better now.
     
     
     
    For quite a while, I have owned a Dapol track cleaning car, which came from Hattons with their own branding on it in grey and white livery. I repainted into blue and grey, and arbitrarily assigned a DCC number to it (1074), which I kept forgetting. I have now given it a fictional Derby test livery with white edging to the grey (wider stripes than standard) and a red band below the waistline. It is now called Laboratory 26 and numbered RDB905090 (5090 for DCC purposes, lthough I could have used the '26' instead). I'm not sure what the real Lab 26 was, or what it was for, and it almost certainly wasn't RDB905090, which probably also exists, but since the whole shebang is fictional anyway, it gives an illusion of legitimacy to it!
     

     

     
     
    As this vehicle is sometimes propelled in front of a locomotive, I may add some wasp stripes to the ends at some time in the future.
     
    Transfers used were: Replica Railways rub-on type for the 08 cab side numbers, Fox Transfers for the red stripe, and RTC markings and identifications on the track cleaner, and Modelmaster for the white striping.
     
    Edit: I trimmed the excess red stripe off at the ends after the photos.
  10. SRman
    The two trailers have had a little bit of filler applied to the roof joints, followed by a coat of primer. After removing any rough bits that showed up, another light coat of primer was followed by a coat of bright red (as a good base colour for the train red that will be brush-painted on afterwards.
     

     
     
    What this photo also showed up more obviously than before is that the side panel closest to the camera is not straight and needs to be removed and remounted. This demonstrates that taking progress pictures is not only for my own ego in showing off the models, but also a useful tool to show up any little errors or omissions before it's too late to fix them.
  12. SRman
    The LT F Stock trailer construction continued tonight. The side and door sections have been glued together and glued to the roofs. Both cars are still sitting loosely on their underframes.
     
    Has anyone ever wondered what the F Stock from 1920 would have looked like if they had been built in aluminium and left unpainted? Well, here you go!
     

     

     
     
    I suppose the next thing to do is to build the bogies and mount them on the underframes. I could also glue the roof vents into position too.
     
    A curiosity of the F Stock was that those vents proved rather too effective, so were blanked off fairly early in the life of the stock.
     
    There is a small amount of weakness in the centres of the sides, reinforced by the underframes and the tabs and recesses there. Once the interior partitions go in, they will strengthen things further, in spite of the fact that they are fairly soft and flimsy themselves. The whole is stronger than the individual parts.
  13. SRman
    More details added to the fronts of the Ayjay 4 SUB. Lamp irons and windscreen wipers added, horns removed from the dummy motor coach but not yet from the motorised one.
     
    I must change the wire gauges used for the jumper cables. The ones I used match the resin moulded-on ones but they are really too coarse - I seem to recall I discovered this when I did the 2 HAL previously. I think most would agree the effect is still better than moulded-on detail though.
     

     

     
     
     
    EDIT: I decided I just had to fix the overscale jumper cables. The wire used originally for the centre cable is now the thickness used for the outer ones, while much thinner wire, from some multi-strand cable, was used for the centre one. I am now much happier with the effect.
     

  14. SRman
    I wasn't sure what to do about adding couplings within the 4 SUB unit. The motor coach, using the Hornby 2 BIL chassis, already had NEM pockets; a rigidly attached one at the driving end and a swivelling one at the trailing end. I have a few of the NEM pockets, as marketed by Bachmann and Hornby, so thought I would experiment a bit with these.
     
    I filed a gap in the resin bogie ends and superglued the pockets in. I wasn't too worried about exact distances as I was going to experiment with different couplings to start with.
     
    As it was, I started with Hornby tension lock couplings but these held the coaches too far apart. Similarly with the Hornby close-couplers. The 2 BIL rigid couplings were too short, as well as being less practical for handling a four-car unit. Kadees seemed like the way to go. I have settled on combinations of #17 and #20 couplings to get reasonable coach spacing while allowing for my tight-ish curves.
     
    Once I have settled everything properly, I'll reinforce the pocket-bogie joints and cut off the dropper arms from the Kadees within the unit (no need for automatic uncoupling in a permanently formed EMU!).
     

     
     
    Edit to add video link and additional info:
     
    The NEM pockets superglued into the small recesses in the bogie frames seem to be a success, using Kadee #17 and # 20 couplings. I'll strengthen the joints with Araldite later.
    The reason I had to use the odd mix of Kadee sizes was because I needed to keep the coupler heads clear of the headstocks, and each type of coach has slightly different overhangs from the bogies.
     
    Here is a short video of the unit running temporarily as a three-car 3 SUB.
     
    http://vid98.photobucket.com/albums/l265/jslynn/Rail/3SUB%20test_zpssxckqxrl.mp4
  15. SRman
    Some time ago, I purchased a couple of C=Rail's bulk container packs, one with 40' box containers, the other with five 20' tank containers.
     
    I have built and decorated three of the box containers, with two still being completed (delayed by a bad can of primer that left lumps stuck to the surfaces). These are now awaiting their transfers, plus the locking bars on the white one.
     
    The tank containers were only partly assembled, to make painting easier, before putting all the fiddly bits on. I completed the painting to my own satisfaction, even though a couple of bits are still a little rough. The detailing bits (walkways, tank fillers, ladders, etc.) have now all been added, although, looking at liveries of the real things, I should repaint the red framework one into black. The GCatainer item is the first to be completed properly, although there were only a limited number of images I could find to assist with the positioning of the transfers (which also came from C=Rail). I think it looks reasonable, regardless of the accuracy of positioning some of the transfers.
     

     

     

     
     
    They are posed here with a couple of C=Rail's professionally finished tank containers, which also gave me some clues as to where some of the markings might be placed.
     
    And these are the previously finished examples of the 40' boxes.
     

  16. SRman
    I gave the blue 08 a second coat of paint, then later touched in the white cab handrails and under-runnng board pipes.
     
    I gave it a quick test run on the layout and it completed one circuit before coming to an abrupt halt with one coupling rod detached.
     

     
     
    To see if I could recover the missing crankpin, I sent another 08, green D3963 around with a neomagnet (intended as a Hornby Dublo ringfield replacement magnet) attached with some Blu-tack. It came back with two track pins and a few bits of magnetic detritus attached!
     

     
     
    In the absence of the correct crankpin, I quickly ascertained that the thread for the pin is 12BA, so used a short 12BA countersunk head screw to secure the coupling rod. I put a small smear of glue on the thread beforehand to ensure it wouldn't unscrew accidentally. The screw head is a little on the large side but once it is painted it won't be all that obvious.
     
    Incidentally, D3963 is also a candidate for possible renumbering. I haven't checked where the original was based at this stage.
  17. SRman
    I recently scored a Hornby DCC sound class 08 off eBay, from a reputable dealer acmodels2 in Eastleigh, for £75 including postage to Australia. This was described as running well with working sound but in poor condition with "lots of detail missing" and unboxed. This was still a bargain as the sound decoder alone was worth in the region of £100.
     
    When the model arrived, it was missing all of the footsteps, one handrail for the footsteps with the others being loose, and the cab roof ventilator hatch. The condition was actually much better than I had anticipated, notwithstanding the accurate and detailed photos posted on the listing and, after straightening the coupling rods slightly, a quick test run on the rolling road showed that it behaved impeccably well for both running standards and the not very good Hornby sounds (easy to get reblown!). All in all, I'm very happy with the purchase.
     
    I have ordered some PHD Designs 08/09 footsteps, although I could have tried to knock some up from plasticard. The roof vent has already been covered with a piece of 20 thou plasticard cut to match my Hornby D3963 (which was reblown a while back with legomanbiffo's sound project), and the missing handrail will be replaced with a piece of wire and fine handrail knob in due course.
     
    I have ordered a Zimo sound decoder (21 pin) with Paul Chetter's sounds on for the 08 as I have rather fancied his version of the 08 sounds with the lovely exhaust rasp. I also want a BR blue 08/09 but all of mine are so far have been either green or in post-privatisation liveries, so here was an excuse to do a repaint as well. The yellow wasp stripe ends were already applied and this one had yellow buffer beams so I don't have to do anything to the ends of the loco at all.
     
    The ESU sound decoder from the 08 will be reblown and fitted into something else - I have a few suitable candidates.
     
    Here are a couple of pics of the 08 after a first coat of BR blue. It requires a second coat before numbering in pre-TOPS style, followed by a good dose of weathering. I will, of course, repaint the handrails after the next coat of blue. I have yet to decide which number this locomotive is to become.
     

     

  19. SRman
    Well, the Little Bus Company Hants & Dorset Bristol MW has taken another step towards completion. I filled the ragged edges on the driver's side headlight and touched up the paintwork there.
     
    I have put the grille, Bristol 'wings' badge and fleetnames on, leaving just the registration numbers and destinations to add, plus painting in of the tail light clusters.
     
    The photos show up a few ragged paint edges rather cruelly, but overall it doesn't look too bad. I will try to fix up the worst bits before I declare it "finished".
     

     

  20. SRman
    The transfers have now all been added and weathering improved/added to. There were a couple of minor setbacks: the matt varnish on the roof dried a lot glossier than the satin varnish on the sides, and one of the numbers dissolved in the satin varnish (I was probably too rough with the brush!).
     
    I have reapplied the missing number and added blue star coupling codes on the ends. I revarnished the roof area using a Testors lacquer, which tends to dissolve any paint layers beneath it if one dwells on the spot too long, leaving one or two spots that need re-weathering.
     
    For the first photo my phone camera somehow decided to turn the flash on (I always leave it turned off) so, while it is not a good photo as such, it does cruelly highlight any errors or omissions in my modelling. In this case it has picked out the bright yellow plastic interior of the body, so it looks like I'm going to have to source some cab interiors and paint the insides of the body too.
     

     
    These next shots show it in a better light (no pun intended but it works!!) and I think it has come up looking OK.
     

     

     

     
    Looking at the front end, I need to do a little weathering around the doors and seams, flooding a little black wash into them to eliminate the slightly plasticky look.
  21. SRman
    The ex-SECR brake van kits are very nearly complete now. Just a few minor paint touches to fix up and some varnish and weathering to go, and they will be finished.
     
    I have used the Cambridge Custom Transfers sheet 2b/c to add the lettering on the two vans, although some of it was just guesswork as to where it should go as there is a distinct absence of good photos of them in BR days (non-preserved state). They have both ended up as van S55476/DS55476 but I can doctor one of those numbers later.
     

  22. SRman
    Does anyone remember the two Cambrian Kits SECR 'Dance Hall' brake vans I started sometime in 2009 (or maybe even before that)? No? I posted a few photos of them sitting on the old layout at Middlehurst, minus glazing, couplings and handrails. Here's a reminder:
     

     
     
    I have had them sitting on a shelf above my workbench, reminding me every time I sit down there that I need to finish them. Well, I finally fitted the glazing, added the handrails and added couplings, utilising the Parkside NEM adapters packed up with a piece of 60 thou plasticard to eliminate the requirement for Bachmanns cranked couplings, and allowing for alternate couplings to be fitted at the correct height if I so desire.
     
    The first two shots show the standard brake van finished in BR light grey (slightly faded) with the handrails unpainted. The Ballast Brake conversion behind still awaits its handrails.
     

     

     
     
    The third photo shows the handrails painted white. Both vans will be lettered appropriately to complete them.
     

     
     
    And here are two photos of the Ballast Brake Van conversion, the first with the handrails just fitted, the second with them painted white.
     

     

     
    Edited to add the last two pics.
  23. SRman
    Fairly recently, I bought three pre-grouping vans from the local swap meet, all Roxey etched brass kits and well made, although a little battered from unsympathetic handling. Each cost me $20, (compared to the £27 each, or approximately $AUS55, for the flat kits, still currently available) and was fitted with EM gauge axles and wheels. I have slowly regauged or replaced the wheels and axles, with two of the vans retaining their compensation at one end, while the S&DJR van had to lose its compensation unit as it was too wide to fit within the OO gauge wheelset.
     
    I fitted NEM pockets from Parkside, with a 60 thou packing piece to negate the Parkside requirement for cranked couplings, and plugged in some tension lock couplings.
     
    The S&D milk van is in a blue colour, which I may retain, while the other two LCDR/SECR luggage vans were in a rather insipid green colour. One, the SECR Grande Vitesse luggage van, is now in EWS red (a reasonably close match to what I can ascertain is SECR red/maroon), while the other, an LCDR luggage van, is in Humbrol leather colour to represent a teak finish, as used by the LCDR. All require further work before I can add transfers, and two of them were rather stiff runners, so more work was required there too.
     
    Making up a rather unlikely combination, I have posed my two LSWR M7 tanks with the three vans plus the previously worked on SECR (ex-LCDR) brake van. It does make for a colourful combination, although the purists are probably screaming in the background!
     

     
     
    Looking at Roxey Mouldings' website, I cannot decide whether the LCDR van is an 1878 or 1880 design; Roxey offer both but they look the same to me! Neither of the built up examples on the Roxey website has the torpedo vents, so mine is either wrong or represents a later modification. Either way, they will have to go!
     
    As per the above photo, I started by painting the whole body in Humbrol leather colour.
     
    I have now dry-brushed some Revell dark brown on all panels, vertically streaked on the main panels and horizontally streaked for the waist and cant level panels.
     
    This was followed by a coat of gloss varnish. The first photo shows it before varnishing, the second, after varnishing.
     

     

     
     
    I think it's not too bad for a first attempt at a wood grain finish.
  24. SRman
    In response to a request from Mallard60022, after fitting a decoder to a Bachmann Lord Nelson with split chassis, here is a step by step guide to how I did it, using my second LN as the example (I didn't take any photos for the first one!). This one is no. 850, Lord Nelson, renamed and renumbered from no. 864
     
    Some of the photos are a bit blurred as I was trying to hold the model and operate the phone camera at the same time, but I think the results are sufficiently clear to show what I was doing or what I am talking about.
     
    To start with, remove the body from the chassis. This is retained by one screw under the cab and with a tab on the chassis slotting into the body under the smokebox at the front.
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 3 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 4 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    Next I removed the two remaining screws holding the chassis wheel keeper plate / spring and brake block detail (I'll refer to this as the base plate from here on), after springing out the brake rodding (note that I actually took the screws out before lifting the body off - this doesn't affect the process).
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    After this, I removed the cylinders, which are simply a force fit on metal extensions from the chassis. Then I levered the motion supports off; these are also simply a force fit, like the cylinders.
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 5 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 6 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    There are three screws holding the chassis halves together. One of them also holds the solder tags on to the front end of the chassis. Before we remove the base plate / axle retainer, I prefer to remove the front screw, pull out the plastic plug from the other side and release the two solder tags. I didn't do this on the first conversion and ended up breaking one of the wires coming up from the bogie.
     
    You might wish to mark which tag is on which side, perhaps with an ink marker pen. This will assist identification for reassembly and connection of the decoder wires later.
     
    If you have a later release LN from Bachmann, these tags may not be present as Bachmann quietly dropped the extra pickups from the specification. In that case, you may wish to add some brass or copper tags later when reassembling the chassis, to ease the job of connecting the decoder track wires.
     
    44291315681_dcf79eb8b6_b.jpg
    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 7 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     
    Now lever the front end of the base plate up, just behind the bogie, lifting it and moving it backwards slightly to unhook the rear part that hooks over the chassis end.
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 7 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 8 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    This leaves the wheels, axles and valve gear free to be lifted out of the chassis.
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 9 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    The remaining two screws can be undone to allow the split chassis halves to be separated. Watch out for the plastic spacers: two white rectangular ones at the bottom and two black plastic washers around the upper two plastic plugs (that the screws go into). Also ensure you don't lose the plastic gear.
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 10 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 11 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    I actually use a little black-tack (or mastic material) to retain the spacers in their places so they don't get lost and don't shift when reassembling the chassis.
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 13 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     
    The motor just lifts out, but keep an eye on the two black plastic cup washers that go over the end bearings. Also, make sure the thrust bearing stays put (it is wedged into the chassis where the worm gear touches it). Note also that the motor has a small red spot marking the bottom which was connected to the right-hand chassis side - this brush will get the orange wire from the decoder. As an extra precaution, I chose to wrap the motor in insulating tape but this is not really necessary.
     
    Remove the two copper/brass (or whatever!) springs that bore on the brush tags.
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 14 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 15 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     
    Now prepare the decoder. This one is a TCS M1, which is very compact yet able to handle over 1 amp loads. These give reasonable running qualities at good prices and are covered by TCS' 'goof-proof' warranty, which means that if something goes wrong with this installation, they will replace it with no quibbles. I bared and tinned the grey and orange wires. Don't forget to thread on some heat-shrink tubing before soldering the wires to the motor brushes: orange to the red tagged brush, grey to the other one.
     
    Slide the heat-shrink tubes over the bare wire ends and brush tags and apply heat.
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 16 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 17 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 18 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     
    Now resite the motor in the chassis half. The decoder wires are only just long enough and are routed through the gap between chassis halves.
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 19 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     
    The chassis halves can be reunited, ensuring all the plastic spacers are in place (a bit of black-tack stops them moving or dropping out during handling, as mentioned earlier). I replaced two of the screws but not the one at the smokebox end (yet). I did temporarily push the plastic plug into the smokebox end hole to align the spacer washer.
     
    Next I replaced the wheel sets in the chassis and clipped the motion supports and cylinders back in.
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 20 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 21 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     
    Next I clipped the base plate back in, hooking it onto the rear of the chassis first then sliding it up and pushing it home at the front, and replaced the two screws.
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 22 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     
    Now for the final connections. I shortened the black and red wires from the decoder, stripped the ends and tinned them. Note that I have also cut short the function wires (white, yellow and blue - green and purple additionally if using a TCS M4 decoder as I did with Lord Anson) and "tied" them up with a section of heat-shrink tubing. If you are going to fit lights or firebox glows, or other extra functions, these are the wires you will need in addition - that's beyond the scope of this essay.
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 23 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     
    Solder those red and black wires to the solder tags attached to the bogie pickup wires. Make sure you identify the right-hand wire (as you look from the back towards the front of the loco) and solder the red wire to that. The black wire goes to the left-hand tag.
     
    Now you can pull the black plug back out of the chassis at the smokebox end, insert it through the left-hand solder tag and then through the chassis. Insert the screw through the right-hand tag then screw it into the plug through the chassis.
     
    Finally, add a section of double-sided tape to stick the decoder to the very front of the chassis.
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 24 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     
    Now test on the programming track. Mine read back properly so I reprogrammed the decoder to number 850, tweaked the inertia and momentum settings (CV3 = 20, CV4 = 15 as a starting point for my tastes - yours may be quite different), then gave it a track test. Again all was well, so it was back to the workbench to refit the body.
    Note: I also used the opportunity to lubricate the motor bearings and gears while everything was accessible earlier.
     
    Here is Lord Nelson hauling a test goods train under DCC control.
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 25 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     

    Bachmann LN Decoder Fitting - 26 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr
     
    I hope this helps somebody and hasn't been too boring or laboured.
     
    Edit: I have had to reload all the images into Flickr after suspending my Photobucket account. I hope I have got the right photos in the right places.
  25. SRman
    School holidays for Christmas are here. I am hoping to get a bit more modelling done over the break, including getting the 4 SUB and 2 HAP completed, wiring and more tracklaying on the layout, and some weathering on more of the Hornby ex-SR units (2 BIL and 2 HAL).
     
    The first move on this has been to scrape and file off the moulded on pipes on the Ayjay 4 SUB and replace them with separate wire fittings.
     

     
     
    Next job is to add lamp irons, windscreen wipers (both of these items to be from selectively flattened wire), and handrails on the cab and guards' doors.
     
    I'll be cutting those roof-mounted horns off and leaving the whistle in place, as many SUBs still had their whistles in the late 1960s.
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