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SRman

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  1. SRman
    Continuing with the C=Rail containers, I have decorated a couple more of the tank containers, plus a 40' hi-cube container, and finished off a previously started 40' one.
     
    Starting with the box containers, I completed the Hanjin one, which had already had the main large side logos and names applied some time ago, I added all the remaining details such as the numbers and end logos and information panels. The OOCL one was just a bare, off-white box! Both still require the locking bars to be applied ... unfortunately, I can't find where I have put those at the moment!
     

     

     
     
    Turning to the tank containers, I decorated the Stolt and Seabrook ones. Both are visible just behind the Brisbane City Council Leyland Panthers (resin models from Brisbane's Model Buses), which are another project (I have just added the fuel and water filler detail on the closer bus).
     

     
    EDIT: The 40' containers aren't 'hi-cube' ones!
  3. SRman
    And just about complete, now. The Sturgeon A with some additional rust coloured weathering, and with a rail load added, using some cut lengths of rail and some plasticard strips cut to represent wooden battens. Just a few minor paint touch-ups to go and it is ready for service with my model Engineers Department.
     

     

  4. SRman
    I have been contemplating the Hornby S15 and the weathering to date, which came out just a little too brown for my liking. I mixed up some Humbrol coal black #85 as the predominant colour, with a tinge of Humbrol #66, olive drab, and even less Humbrol #62, leather. The whole lot was then mixed with some matt varnish and 'watered' down with turps to form a grey, almost black wash.
     
    I am much happier with the result, but I'll leave it to you to judge for yourselves.
     

     

  5. SRman
    The Sturgeon A has now had the first coats of paint. After masking off the couplings, I sprayed some automotive grey primer, followed by matt black from the same source. This will eventually be followed by various shades of black, grey and rust colours to weather it down a bit.
     

  6. SRman
    The actual building phase of the Sturgeon A has finished with the addition of the door springs on the other side, handbrake wheels and 'V' hangers (representing an air braked wagon). I have only fitted the outer 'V' hangers, but have not mounted the corresponding inner 'V' hangers as they would interfere with the bogie swing.
     

     
     
    This wagon is now ready for painting. It will go into either very dirty black or very dirty departmental olive green.
  7. SRman
    Has it really been a year and a half since my last entry on the Cambrian Kits Sturgeon A?
     
    I have been putting off doing the fiddly door springs for that long. I have now fitted the springs on one side. One more side to go ... then there is a second wagon to build!
     

  8. SRman
    I have continued with the weathering of my Hornby S15, thus ruining Hornby's beautiful pristine black finish! I have been using two colour photos in the book The Heyday of Nine Elms and its Locomotives (Colin Boocock) for reference to the degrees of weathering 'suffered' by the S15s. The first pic is of 30839 outside the 'New Shed', the other is of 30829 on a local passenger turn.
     
    After the initial Humbrol black washes, I added a wash of their dark brown. This actually came out a bit more patchy than I wanted, but it was still a step in the right direction.
     

     

     
     
    I then decided that for a more even finish, I would revert to my older technique of mixing up the grunge colours and adding some matte or satin varnish. I used Humbrol 62, leather, Humbrol dark grey wash, and Humbrol satin varnish stirred very well, then added some Humbrol coal black 85. I do not mix this thoroughly, allowing the brush to pick up various shades and mixes of brown shading to dirty black. This was all thinned down with some mineral turps, before using the weathering wash the boiler and smoke deflectors, cab floor, cylinders and steps, some of the valve gear, all wheels and visible frames and pipes, the tender sides and steps, and a few other minor bits and bobs. I left the crests on the tender with a slightly thinner covering, as if they had been cleaned off in the ast but had gained a newer layer of dirt.
     
    This has dried much more evenly, and I am much happier with the effect so far.
     

     
     
    The overall finish is just a tad too brown at the moment, so now needs a wash of dark grey shading to black to finish off the main weathering. That will be followed by a few rusty and limey streaks around the cylinders and firebox washout plugs. Then I will have to see if there are any final adjustments or additions needed to make it as near completely convincing as I can.
  9. SRman
    This is just a progress report on weathering projects. The photos were taken in fairly dim light with my HTC phone, so are not the best but illustrate what I have been doing and indicate to me what the next steps should be.
     
    I have slightly unweathered the Hornby 08 by dry brushing some BR blue back over the black washed edges and roof panels. It still needs a lot more work before I am happy with it, but I think it does look a little better than before.
     

     
     
    The Hornby S15 has had a little more Humbrol black wash added, over the smokebox, cab roof, footplate and running boards, tender top and cylinders, plus a very thin application along the boiler top.
     

     

     
     
    The Kernow/DJM O2 has also had some more of the Humbrol wash added to similar areas to the S15, plus the tank tops and bunker rails.
     

     
     
    At risk of boring everyone with these slow step by step illustrations, I hope to show that weathering is best built up slowly, in layers, which is pretty well how it occurs on the real thing.
  10. SRman
    And now, here they are with bogies assembled and fitted, plus the roof vents in place. The painted bogie was recycled from the double-ended DM when I put a second Black Beetle into it, and needed a little adaptation and packing to get the ride height the same as the others.
     

     
     
    Next to do are the interior partitions, couplings and underframe fittings (which are fairly sparse on the trailers).
  11. SRman
    Following on from the previous post, here is a pic showing the elements that make up each side. On the left I have left the items spaced out, while on the right they are positioned very close to the final effect. You can sort of see what I meant about the possibility of getting it even slightly wrong so making the sides too short or too long, and also the possibilities of getting the side components slightly out of alignment or crooked.
     

     
     
    The double-ended driving car had two more components per side (the cab side doors), while the single-ended driving car (motor or trailer, depending on period modelled) had one extra door per side - all that is rather academic if you build the resin kits from Radley Models as the body moulding comes with sides, ends, roof and internal partitions as one single casting.
  12. SRman
    Having nearly completed the two driving cars for the London Transport F Stock, I decided to make a start on the two trailers. Bearing in mind I am on an antibiotic and a little under the weather still, so my hands are a bit shaky and my stamina is low, I decided to just do little bits at a time,
     
    The two trailers i have are original Harrow Model Shop white metal ones, which means there are three double doors plus four separate sections per side, two halves of the roof joined with a bridging piece (plus the vents to add later), and an underframe that has two extra end headstock pieces to stick on, it is just a little bit more complicated than the one piece resin bodies of the later kits from Radley Models. After that, both types of kit require the underframe details to be added and bogies to be assembled, and also the internal partitions to be added.
     
    With so many separate parts to the sides, I came up with a method long ago that used Blu-tac, a steel rule, a flat, hard surface and 5-minute Araldite glue, plus a modicum of cursing and swearing.
     
    That's jumping ahead a little. For starters, after cleaning up all the relevant bits with a file, I glued the two roof halves to their bridging piece, for each of the two trailers, and left those to set on a flat surface.
     
    Next, I glued the headstock pieces to the ends of the two underframes, while at the same time, gluing two coach ends to each of the roofs and propping those to dry with the coach ends held vertically.
     
    That's where I am up to now. The photo shows the two roof/ends sitting on the two underframes loosely. As you can see, the alignments are perfect.
     

     
     
    The sides will be next, and the reason for assembling the roofs and ends is so that I have the correct lengths to work to for the side assemblies. With so many separate pieces to fit and room for small movements relative to each other, it would be quite possible to end up with sides that are too long or too short by a few millimetres.
  13. SRman

    F Stock - minor progress

    By SRman,

    Frustrated by my own lack of motivation in building my London Transport train of 1920 F Stock, I ordered one resin body shell for a single-ended Driving Motor from Radley Models. I still have the older Harrow Model Shop white metal kits to build and one double-ended Driving Motor already built (also white metal). The resin shell was intended to speed the build of one more coach so I could at least run half a train with driving cabs still at both ends. However, having painted the resin shell red with grey roof, and assembled two bogies and an underframe from one fo the white metal kits, that's where it stopped again. All that was quite a few years ago.
     
    I have had a few days off work with a chest infection, but got bored and decided to attempt further work on the single-ended car to bring it up to a stage where it matched the existing "finished" double-ended car. This involved painting black around the window rims and down the door centre divides, plus painting the interior with green (I use Humbrol #88, which has a suitable bluish tint to pass muster), the floor dark earth colour, with plasticard strips hiding any holes, then glazing the lot. All that doesn't sound too hard, except my hands were shaking rather a lot and I had a nose bleed half way through! At least it matched the red exterior colour!
     
    Anyway, after a few trials and tribulations, I only have to glue some of the underframe bits and pieces in place to complete a two car set.
     

     
     
    Next, I have to construct two white metal centre trailers. I'll try not to let it take so long this time.
  14. SRman
    Continuing with the class 31 where I put a Hornby RailRoad chassis under my previously detailed Lima 'skinhead' body.
     
    I added the buffer beam cowls as shown in my previous blog entry.
     
    Then, after filing the lower cowl shapes down to clear the couplings, I removed the numbers and central BR arrows, which also entailed removing a bit of the paint work. Fortunately, Humbrol/Hornby's BR blue acrylic paint is a very close match for the Lima shade so I was able to patch paint. Once I complete the weathering, the patches won't be noticeable anyway.
     
    Here I have not only painted the cowlings and the patches, I have also started weathering the roof and below solebar levels, but not the main body sides yet, as the replacement transfers have to go on before weathering.
     

     
    Then, I applied the new transfers from Fox (the BR arrows) and Cambridge Custom Transfers (numbers). I have deliberately used the old-style numbers, minus the 'D' prefix, because in the early days of the blue livery, many of these locomotives received the 'wrong' style - it was supposed to be the new Rail alphabet style. The CCT numbers come as pre-made up numbers for a range of diesels. The number I chose, 5528, wasn't on the sheet but I was able to combine parts of two pre-made numbers, 5547 and 8128. Doing it this way makes it easier to align the numbers and keep the whole number straight.
     

     

     

     
    There is still a little bit to do. Blue star coupling codes over the buffers, a little more weathering is needed on the sides and roof, and a coat of satin varnish (sides) and matt varnish (roof, bogies and underframes), plus I STILL haven't added the handrails that go on top of the gangway door bulge, and the little 'ears' for the windscreen washers.Edit: And replace the missing handrail that I knocked off earlier in the task!!
     
    Overall, I am pleased with the effect so far, and the running is so much better with the Hornby chassis.
  15. SRman
    I have made further progress with finishing the Smallbrook Studio LSWR 18 ton 'road' van (D. 1542) - the right-hand van in the photos below. Transfers from HMRS have been applied, although much of what I have done was guesswork, based on photos of other types of brake vans in LSWR livery, since all of the photos I have been able to find of D. 1542 vans were in BR grey, in various states of decreptitude! I used the smaller LSWR lettering as the panels are a bit tighter in dimensions than the other vans.
     
    The D. 1545/1549 20 ton van has had a few more paint touches applied and all the holes for the handrails drilled out, and couplings fitted, but otherwise looks the same as before - middle van in the photos.
     
    I commenced work on the D. 1541 10 ton van and it has now caught up to the 20 tonner, apart from the roof not being painted. This is the single-ended van on the left in the photos. I pre-drilled all the handrail holes before fully assembling the shell on this one. Both this and the 20 ton van's roofs are only black-tacked on at the moment, pending fitting the glazing.
     

     

  16. SRman
    Further progress with the Bachmann class 150/2 re-livery, using Electra Railway Graphics vinyl overlays. The job is nearly complete, with just a few finishing touches required.
     
    I haven't used the door overlays, although I intend to use the driving cab door ones, once I can remove the handrails. At present, they are First 'Barbie' blue blending into the Provincial/regional Railways blue!
     
    Application of the vinyls generally went smoothly, although the toilet window doesn't line up properly. There are a few bubbles I missed and the gutters over the doors gave me a few problems, but from normal viewing distance, it looks fine to me.
     
    I missed pre-painting the filler recesses in the middle of one side on each coach. Will fix that later.
     

  17. SRman
    I recently ordered one of the Realtrack Models class 143 units in First Great Western Local Lines livery. To go with it, I decided that I wanted a class 150 to complement it. Bachmann have already produced a class 150/1 in FGW plain blue livery, although that seems to have sold out. I may still be able to get hold of one in the future, so there is no point in doing one myself ... yet. That leaves a 150/2 in the more interesting, but superseded 'local lines' livery.
     
    With that in mind, I kept an eye on eBay for a relatively cheap 150/2 that I could use, having already ascertained that Electra Railway Graphics (ERG) produce the necessary vinyl overlays.
     
    I located a Regional Railways unit in Rails of Sheffield's eBay shop and made an offer, which they accepted. At the same time, coincidentally, I bought a Bachmann Silverlink class 350/1 from Rails website shop on special for £99 or so, with a view to doing a second class 450 conversion, also with ERG vinyl overlays.
     
    The two sets of vinyls were ordered from Adam at ERG, and he very kindly offered both sets with postage at an inclusive price.
     
    So far so good! The 450 conversion has been dealt with in my previous blog entries, so I need say no more on that. I commenced work on the 150/2 by removing the bodies and pushing out all of the door glazing, with a view to pre-painting the doors in pink. The ERG vinyls include overlays for the doors but I prefer to simply paint them. I used an initial coat of a standard Humbrol light pink, followed by a coat of the correct 'Barbie' pink.
     

     
     
    I then used one of the side overlays to test out what areas would need any paint touches. The vinyls seem a fraction short, so I used First 'Barbie' blue to paint all of the necessary end and door edges to blend them better with the vinyl overlays. I know that the 'Barbie' blue is not quite correct but it is close enough to do what I need from it.
     

     
     
    The other vinyls will follow once the paint dries. Here is the initial one that I did, though.
     

     
     
    As usual when I am trying to do these jobs, I have just snatched the photos somewhat hastily on the mobile phone camera, so the quality is not the best. It does show what I am talking about though, so they will have to suffice. Once I complete the job, I'll take some better ones of the finished product.
  18. SRman
    Both the previously shown Bratchell Model kits of classes 455/8 and 456, in Network Southeast livery, running "in multiple" through Newton Broadway LT station. I had just fitted the unit ends with Parkside kits NEM coupling adapters and Kadee #18 and #20 couplings, respectively. The couplings are mounted directly on the bodies, rather than on the bogie extensions, as is the case of the intra-unit couplings. Unit 455 835 has a Replica Railways motorised chassis, while 456 007 is actually unpowered.
     
    Both videos are straight off my mobile phone but I will try to get some better footage later and string it together into a single, more coherent clip.
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnk2ZNXTrhw?version=3
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6qNcjSBqpI?version=3
     
    I am also putting these same clips on my layout thread, so apologies for the duplication.
  19. SRman
    After leaving it aside for quite some time, I have now got around to glazing the Little Bus Company Bristol MW/ECW bus. I have opted, like with the previous Wilts & Dorset one I did, to glaze it using the outside mounting method, which meant cutting each piece of glazing material to fit each of the window apertures.
     
    The photos were taken in fairly poor light, but the first one emphasises that I need to redo the driver's side windscreen as it is not straight and also not sitting correctly.
     
    I use Micro's Krystal Klear to glue all windows in as it dries clear and also fills in any gaps I may have left by over-trimming the windows. A couple of the windows in the photos show the Krystal Klear hasn't quite dried and is still milky white, but rest assured, the glue will be invisible very soon after the photos were taken.
     

     

     
     
    There are a few things left to do before I can say it is complete: one of the headlights needs a little filler, there are some very minor paint touch-ups to do, and then the transfers may be applied, including that for the front grille.
  20. SRman
    Continuing on from fixing the Silverlink class 150/1 Sprinter, I have now repeated the steps with my Provincial sector class 150/1, with photos!
     
    Dismantling is relatively easy, once the three body fixing screws are removed from the chassis. Two very small screws hold the PCB in place, and two larger screws retain the bogies. A flat-bladed screwdriver at the inner ends of the bogie side frame mouldings will release those (easier to do before removing the bogie retaining screws), and the axles just pull out with a small amount of force.
     
    This is what you should have before any soldering occurs:
     

     

     
     
    Insulated wires are prepared by tinning the ends, and the copper pickup strips on the bogies are also prepared with blobs of solder - one up near the step, another just above the "tee" formed with the strip along the bogie sides. The wires are soldered at one end to the strip. Meanwhile, some brass (or copper or phosphor-bronze) pickup wires are prepared by cutting to length (a little shorter than the bogie wheelbase) and the centres are tinned with solder.
     

     
     
    The pickup wires need to be bent outwards and slightly downwards to bear on the wheel backs when the axles are reinserted later.
     
    The insulated wires are fed up through the slots in the chassis block. The wires can then be soldered to the springy strips that bear on the tops of the bogie strips.
     

     

     

     

     
     
    Reassembly is mostly the reverse of dismantling, although I found it better to screw the bogies back on as soon as I had soldered the wires to the PCB. Axles and sideframes were clipped back into place, ensuring that the wires go behind the wheels. From outside, one would never know there was anything different!
     

     
     
    After a quick test, the body is replaced and the unit is ready for service, with no more hesitations or flickering lights. I'm not too sure whether the Provincial liveried units would ever have run in multiple with Silverlink ones, but here are the two units posed together, regardless!
     

     

  21. SRman
    When the Bachmann Collectors Club offered the class 150/1, 150 123, in Silverlink livery, my wife offered to buy one for me for my birthday. Naturally, I accepted this offer! Around the same time, I had bought a Regional Railways Provincial liveried version, 150 148, pre-fitted with Howes sound, at a very reasonable price. I swapped the chassis on the motor coaches so that the prized Silverlink set had the sound.
     
    However, there has been an ongoing intermittent problem with minor power interruptions on both units. Initially this caused the (non-sound) Bachmann decoder I fitted to keep resetting itself back to address 3. After fitting sound, it was more noticeable because the unit would stop, then restart the engines, then accelerate again.
     
    I have investigated the units several times but could not see any reason for the interruptions. Then, the more recently released Bachmann class 40 with sound alerted me to what might be the problem. As I have documented in an earlier entry, I found the class 40 pickup arrangement was causing intermittent breaks in power collection (as reported by several other modellers in the forums as well). The solution with the 40 was to add soldered wire pickups bearing onto the wheel backs. I decided to do the same with the 150 123 (and may well follow up later with 150 148).
     
    As some people had also reported problems with some of Bachmann's DMUs not transmitting power reliably through the rubbing contacts between the bogies and the main PCB, I decided to use a few decoder wire off-cuts to solder connections between the vertical contacts on the bogies, and the tops of the contacts on the PCB.
     
    While all this was a little fiddly, it wasn't all that difficult either. The bogie side frames simply clip off the bogie chassis and the tops are released by undoing the screws through the main chassis block, so access is not hard. I checked that the cardan shafts were engaged before reassembling (they never came out of their sockets) and test ran the chassis before replacing the body.
     
    Running of 150 123 is now faultless. When I tackle 150 148, I'll take a couple of photos to show the work done.
     
    This is quite an old picture of the unit, running on my old layout.
     

  22. SRman
    A little while back, I bought a Hornby N15 that was missing its dome. A quick phone call to South Eastern Finecast secured one of their white metal N15 domes, which arrived well before Christmas.
     
    A few minutes' work with the drill and files on the N15 boiler cleared the area to allow the new dome to be glued in. Two coats of Humbrol HS 172 BR standard locomotive green (a very old tin of enamel from the old railway range of colours), including both the dome and the boiler segment between the bands has produced this, just awaiting a little weathering and toning down to blend it in properly.
     

     
     
    Progress has also continued with the Ayjay 4 SUB, with painting of the unit. All parts were given a coat of grey primer, followed by a coat of matt black on the underframes and bogies, and a pale metallic blue on the coach bodies - the latter because I needed a base coat before brush painting the special green I have for Southern Region EMUs (mixed up for me by Haymes Paints in Nunawading). The pale blue was used because my green spray can had gone off! I include a photo of one of the bodies in this colour just for curiosity value - does it look weird, or as a might-have-been (well, they did paint CC1 / 20001 in a pale silvery blue at one time)? The green is an acrylic but was not really formulated for painting models, so has to be applied in several thin coats. A few more coats are needed yet but the unit is starting to look like an SR/BR(S) electric. I ran it under test as a full four car unit and all works exactly as it should.
     

     

     

     

  23. SRman
    The Ayjay Models 4 SUB kit has arrived from Radley Models. Oddly, it came with four trailer bogies and four motor bogies. I contacted Phil Radley and he immediately offered to send out the two missing trailer bogies. I also asked if he wished the extra motor bogies returned but, as yet, he hasn't replied to that. Excellent service, as always, from Phil.
     
    With this kit, I am using the Hornby 2 BIL motor chassis but will have to use the Ayjay resin chassis/underframes for the remaining three coaches.
     
    I have cut off the buffer beams from one of the DMBS bodies and sat it loosely on the Hornby underframe.
     
    The semi-saloon seating unit will have to be cut to suit the Hornby chassis configuration, losing one seating bay in the process to clear the motor housing.
     
    I have not yet chosen a unit number but am probably going to select one from the 4355 to 4363 group as these had two 10-compartment trailers to match what was supplied in the kit (edit: these units may have had compartment motors too, unlike the kit). That also means I will retain the foot steps over the front buffers and add handrails above and either side of the front at windscreen level (similar to the 'Tin' HAL).
     

     
     
    This also shows the interesting contrast in front ends for what were otherwise almost identical body shells for the DMBS vehicles in the 2 HAP and the 4 SUB. The roof details also differ somewhat.
     
    It also shows that I have thinned the lower roof edge gutter on the HAP to improve the appearance.
  24. SRman
    More weathering! I bought one of the new Hornby extra long ex-LNER CCTs in BR crimson. It is a very fine model but way too clean - these types of vehicle rarely saw anything like a carriage washer between overhauls and repaints.
     
    I used the usual weathering techniques and colours (much the same as the 2 BIL in the previous post but with heavier weathering on the vehicle sides) but wanted to try a patchy effect on the roof. My attempts at that failed so I ended up repainting the roof with Humbrol #66 but thinned it towards the edges, allowing a little of the previous colour to show through.
     
    This is pretty close to the final result - I think I am happy with the overall effect.
     

     

     
    I must do this with a few more of the SR style CCTs/PMVs/Van Bs and Cs!
     
    Edit: One Van C in crimson done as well, using the same techniques.
     

     

  25. SRman
    Having modified the livery and renumbered one of my Hornby 2 BILs so it represented a unit getting near the end of its life I decided that the bogies and underframe and its equipment were much too clean and shiny. In fact, this applies to all of the units, BIL, HAL, CEP, EPB and MLV! However, one at a time is the way to go, otherwise I get bogged down and lose interest again.
     
    The techniques used on this one were simply to use thin washes. My usual colours for this are Humbrol coal black (#85), dark earth (#29) and rusty browns (#100 or #133), and sometimes a bit of leather brown (#62) as well. I have also recently acquired some of the weathering washes so have been experimenting with those too.
     
    However, having said all that, I chose to use only a few of those for this project. For the roofs I used the Humbrol dark grey wash, which came up quite nicely. Buoyed up by the success of that, I tried the dark brown wash on the underframes and bogies. This was less successful as it dried very glossy, in spite of my having mixed and shaken the jar well.
     
    Next was a wash of Humbrol #66 over the bogies, underframes, equipment, buffers and beams, and inner ends. I also did a very thin wash of the same along the lower body edges, up to the side waist mouldings and jumper socket level on the yellow ends.
     
    After that was a thin wash of a colour I hadn't used for weathering before, a Revell dark reddish brown #84. Again this was done over all the same areas that had had the grey (except the previously done roofs). I also used this colour in less thinned form for the brake blocks and brake rigging. Again I applied a very thin, tapered wash up the lower sides to the waist moulding, thinning the colour right down to almost non-existence at the waist mouldings.
     
    The effect is quite good and I am not inclined to do too much more to this one. I did apply slightly thicker grey #66 to the step boards under the doors to emulate where people's shoes scuff them.
     
    The trick with all these washes is to build up the colour in layers, rather than applying it all at once.
     

     

     

     

     
    I noticed that the driving motor coach body was not properly seated at the inner end and fixed that up after these photos were taken.
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