SRman

Thanks David. I have now adapted the DTC seats to fit the Hornby underframe, so have a matching set which can now run, even in this raw state! Don't expect a super-detailed fine-scale result like Colin Oarks' one, from me!

Lofty's one looks good in your photo.







p.s. I have also been adapting the Southern Liveried 2 BIL body shells to sit on the erstwhile Ayjay 2 HAL underframes. This means I'll have a Black Beetle powered unit in SR livery - it won't run smoothly in multiple with the BR liveried units but I am not likely to want to do that anyway!

 

Ha ha!

I wish I could say yes as that's a nice compliment to me. As it is, it takes me long enough to get around to doing these things. 

I have to say Peter Mantle (PCM) has influenced my weathering style a bit. I tried the same line on him ("Can I give you some of mine to weather?") but for some strange reason, he declined my offer!!!!

What I can say is have a go and try something yourself. Choose something where if it goes wrong you can easily repaint and start again - wagons are better for this than locos or coaches.

Cheers,

Jeff Lynn,

Melbourne, Australia.

Hi Malcolm.

This was a 'native' Lima offering - 'skinhead' 31 004 was its out-of-the-box guise.

I did detail another Lima 31 and made up my own handrails from fine wire. They are coarser than the Lima originals and doing the ones with the bend in was a bit of a pain.

The Lima handrails are very fine and very easy to damage or to lose, as we have both found out the hard way!!

The carbon paper sound like a good idea for weathering effects and is probably really good for around the the exhaust outlets. Thanks for the kind offer to send some to me but I am in Australia, which could bump up the postal costs a bit.

Thanks also for the compliments.

Kind Regards,

Jeff Lynn,

Melbourne, Australia.

Thanks Tractor. I nearly tied my brain in knots trying to work it all out at first,  but it eventually all fell into place!

I emailed Jason (Stickswipe) with my solution so he could pass the idea on to others who buy his lighting kits.

He also pointed out that he uses Zimo sound or non-sound decoders for some of his projects and they have six functions available. In my case I was modifying a locomotive that was already fitted with the ESU decoder so the Zimo solution was not an option but for anyone starting from scratch that would probably be the better way to go.

Hi Peter.

I agree, pure black is usually overkill.

I knocked the handrail off during handling and can't find where I put it for safe keeping. If you can supply a spare I would very much appreciate it.

Thanks.

Jeff.

Ha ha. Thanks Paul.

A slightly better photo of the Cambrian Kits BR Sturgeon A wagon, still under construction and unpainted, awaiting fixing the door stops being attached to the underframes.

Many thanks, Pete.

I'm not sure about whether they were lit during daylight hours or not but, for sure, even if they were, you wouldn't be able to see it until the train entered a tunnel or other dark area. That's why I chose setting 2 on the dimness for the TCS decoder and also why I don't mind the usual dimness of all the earlier Heljan locos.

I did remove them again last night and painted around the whole front of the glazing except for the raised bits that become the actual head code glasses when inserted in the model. I made sure to paint the raised edges as well.

I haven't taken any pics yet but it has improved the appearance even further.

Yes, thanks for that suggestion. When I pull them out again, I'll adjust the level of the headcode/plasticard inserts very slightly and paint some black around the edges of the two main raised glazed panels. As you suggest, that should improve things further.

Thanks guys.

For my next trick, I'll try to find the right CVs to dim the lights a bit. I will also adjust the positioning of the headcodes very slightly downwards - that will be relatively easy since I did only tack them into place!

Hi Colin. The roofs are, indeed, a little darker. I applied a wash of the Humbrol weathering wash in dark grey.

I must weather the undeframes and bogies next - they are way too 'clean' at the moment!

Thanks guys.

Paul, the livery s mostly already applied,with only a few extra touches needed to complete - I baulk at the very idea of doing the NSE livery myself!

Robert, the kits are relatively easy and straightforward to build and you can get them up and running in just a single day of modelling. Adding extra details (something you would be quite expert at doing, I think!) make the kit into a model. Bratchell do leave the front ends a little bare, with only printed on lights and moulded on handrails as supplied.

They are not cheap but they are well thought out and robust. You can now buy the undecorated kits off them now. If you were to do a 455 in blue and grey you could save a bit of money as that livery is somewhat easier to apply.

I agree with you on all points there. I have always run either dark grey or black paint around window openings on those models with thick side mouldings - it also worked well on older models with recessed glazing (befre flush glazing became more the norm).

I tend to paint dark grey or black inside the yellow ends on Lima and ViTrains models, to reduce show-through of lights or even just daylight where self-coloured plastics tend to transmit a little light at their corners and edges.

I keep looking at my Lima blue 101 and thinking I would like to put the much better Hornby mechanism into it, without the expense of a whole new unit. I know Hattons and Kernow (amongst others) have some reduced price Hornby units for around 57-58 UK Pounds but that then leaves te dilemma of what to do with the surplus models.

I too am awaiting further pics/info on the Bachmann units but, so far, the old Lima/Hornby units are looking better above the solebars. The Bachmann one will no doubt be much better for the underframe detailing.

One other trick I have used in the past for yellow ends was to use the Humbrol #69 as per usual, then varnish with a hint of orange mixed in it to tint the yellow.

Cheers.

Thanks Cravensdmufan. I matched the yellow/orange tint using another model with something like the 'correct' shade (although even that varies with different models and manufacturers!).

It was brushed on, thinned only slightly with mineral turpentine. There were three coats of paint applied, with the first two being plain Humbrol 69. Painting around the cab windows was tricky and needed a steady hand but all the other edges are well defined or abut colours that can be easily touched up if required (I had to use a little black on the buffer shanks and foot board ends where I caught them with the yellow brush. 
 

2147 was one of the units which had the yellow taken right back to the leading edges of the cab doors. Hornby didn't get the front profile quite right with the BIL, as discussed elsewhere in the forums, so, working from photos, I decided to stop the yellow at the panel joint just ahead of the doors. This and the panel joint further ahead are very well defined on the Hornby model, making it easy to paint down the line of the joint without getting paint on the next panel. It gives what I think looks to be the right amount of yellow around the corners.

Hi Ken. Thanks for the compliment.

ModelMaster supplied the black triangles I have. been using. See the next post I have done for a pic.

Thanks for that information. It means that the formation in the photo is wrong, but it was only hastily posed to show progress.

I think I may have to make some 10 thou plasticard WiPAC light covers to go over the kit mouldings to hide the little chips and slight unevenness caused by my drilling operations.

I do agree with you about the livery. I know I could have bought an unliveried kit from Bratchell some time back but I seriously doubt I could have done anything even barely adequate as far as the NSE livery goes!

Hi Southern Bliss.

I would be interested in any answers you receive regarding the refrigerator vans in 4mm scale. I wouldn't mind doing a couple of those myself.

Continuing the Western brake saga, I have now cut away more of the brake hangers to clear the skirts. This has ended up leaving the leading ones unsupported, so the pull rods are supporting them, rather than the other way around! However, Western Talisman has now completed several circuits without derailing ... on the inner, tighter radius circuit! 

I still have to touch up any unpainted edges and paint those brake shoes and brass wire pull rods. I may try to add some wire supports behind those leading shoes on each bogie just to tighten things up a little.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with the result as the Heljan model always looked a little bare around the bogies before. It is now a fitting companion to the Dapol/Kernow model and almost indistinguishable from it at normal viewing distances.

I did a bit more grinding and filing last night and Western Talisman has now been able to complete laps of the outer circuit and go through the crossovers without derailing. A little more work and I hope to be able to use it on the tighter inner circuit too.

Getting handrails straight is always a bit of a challenge. I have got it wrong on a few occasions, which is where my old method comes in handy!

What I used to do in my "less skilled" days was to drill the holes oversized, fill with modelling putty (or Milliput, or similar). then stick the handrails (and any handrail knobs on locomotives) into the putty, straightening them as I went and remoulding the putty to fill any holes or slots left by moving the handrails about. This method still works where even one drilled hole is out of alignment.

For the axle boxes, I have, on a few occasions, drilled through from the outside and inserted non-shouldered bearings then used filler to cover the hole again. That applied to a few very old plastic kits that had worn the axle bearings out and a couple of ancient wagons that didn't actually have pinpoint axles at all, just blunt ended rods for axles.

I think it was DCC Concepts that marketed the tool you are thinking of, Chris. I wouldn't mind getting one of those myself. 

In the meantime, filler is my friend!!!!!  

Yes, I noted that some of the wagon kits used Dapol underframes. I would have thought they might be a little too modern for the wagons represented by the kits but I'm no expert in these matters (as my previous comment illustrates all too well!!).

All of the brake van kits I chose use the bespoke resin chassis supplied with the kits, which I found to be extremely complex, multi-layered works of art with very good depth of detail. There is a fair amount of flash but I found it was easily cleaned up in less than 10 minutes per chassis.

My only other reservation was the axle bearings; none are provided and the axles just run in the bare resin. The wheels run freely so I figured that if they do eventually wear, I can drill them out and fit top-hat bearings anyway. It wouldn't be that difficult a job to do.

From looking at the photos in the Mike King book, they look right to me. I cannot vouch for them dimensionally as I haven't seen any plans for them. 

To be honest, I don't really care if they are wrong, as long as they capture the right look and atmosphere. Let's face it, records from that far back are not exactly thick on the ground and may be wrong anyway. Wooden vehicles were notoriously difficult to produce uniformly. Many bus body builders used wooden frames well into the 1960s and, as the preservationists have found out, nothing was entirely interchangeable between bodies from the same stable.

Jeff.

Always a sense of achievement when you can get that last bit of track linked and powered and that first train runs!

Hi Colin. Sorry I missed your comment earlier. I agree with what you say about dstance from the coupling's leading edge to buffer face although with tighter curves I tend to allow a millimetre or two to avoid buffer locking. As the photos show, this installation clearly exceeds that by a considerable margin!!

It would be possible to move the coupling mounts only slightly further back. The axleguards are part of a boat shaped etching which takes up a bit of the chassis space on either side of each axle. Addtionally, I have opted to use the compensation unit which means that the coupling mount cannot be attached touching the pivot or etching as it would then interfere with the movement.

The upshot is that I have mounted them as far back as I dare. I want to get hold of some shorter couplings (I think Bachmann make them) to reduce the distance from buffer face to end of coupling bar.

Kind Regards,

Jeff.