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Hi All, I haven't posted in what seems like years! When I delivered the 158 to its new owner he issued me a challenge. To convert a Bachmann Class 101 into a parcels unit along the lines of the prototype class 114. Turned out it was quite involved. New doors were cut into the bodysides and windows blanked off in the appropriate places. I discoverd a problem with the Bachmann construction however. Anytime I put a soldering iron anywher near the model it fell apart. The factory construction was very weak. I don't know how common this is with Bachmann products but I have heard a couple of instances in the past. Here are some photos of the completed model. The transfers are from Fox, cobbled together from various sheets. A coat of clear and some tidying up of the paintwork and it will be plying its trade on the Great Tedsmore Railway by the end of November. It has been a lot of work for what should have been a straightforward conversion but has turned out well in the end. For now I am going back to 4mm electrics and the 4Bep and 2Hap that are in the painting stages. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi All, Rob, thankyou for you kind words and thanks to everyone who has pressed the like button etc. Hopefully the kit will become available again, I dont' know if anyone has it now, but I believe the BR Models 158 is back on the market. My next 7mm model will be a fictional Class 101 Royal Mail DMU. I have already started on this and I have to say that the soldering on the Bachmann donor model is very weak, to the point of the side falling off when I was trying to cut a hole for a roller door. I will post photos as soon as I start. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi All, At long last the Railcar is finished. Today I spent a pleasant couple of hours adding the finishing touches. The numbers and logos are from the POW sides range, it is a while since I have used rub down transfers!! The only hard bit was on the ends where the Razor Edge had to be overcome. Grabrails were added from 0.6mm brass wire and couplings are from Dapol. Passengers and crew are from Slaters. Overall this has been an enjoyable build. It would have been easier if I had the correct BR Models bogie bits, but I have worked out how to make power bogies so that is a bonus. The lining issue dampened my enthusiasm for a while but I am pleased with the outcome. This model is due to go to it's new home on the Diggle and Halebarns Railway where it will join it's streamlined sister. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi All, I have finally summoned up the enthusiam to finish the Railcar after the lining debacle. The model has been painted in Ford Ivory and Ford Brazil brown and I think the colours look about right. Rather than pay for another set of Fox Railcar transfers I have sourced some from POW Sides. These will be put on tomorrow after the glazing glue has dried fully. The front marker lights have been made using canopy glue left to go transparent. I took advantage of the sunshine to take a few photos outside. I am quite pleased with how the model is progressing, I have the cab interiors to do and finish the seating. Transfers and grabrails will complete it, so hopefully not too long!! Cheers for now, Ian

Hi Pete, Thanks for the tip, unfortunately I had already removed all the paint when I read your reply. There were some pretty deep gouges left in the paint left by the lining, I may try to line the railcar by hand next time. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi All, Well, disaster. The Railcar went for it's coat of varnish, a clear laquer by the same manufacturer as the primer and it has ruined the finsh. I tested the laquer on my test caoch and all was well, a very nice finish resulted, encouraged by this I sprayed the Railcar. Left for an hour I returned to this, I hoped that I might be able to rub off the lining leaving the paint untouched but the lining has taken on an elastic type texture that when rubbed takes the paint off from underneath!! Only a couple of weeks work down the drain. I should have stuck with what I know and used Johnsons Klear! On a brighter note I took a few pictures of a couple of mineral wagons on the baseboards of my layout. They are both from Parkside kits, with the 16t wagon finished in a clean condition and the 21t version weathered using the well known techniques form Martyn Welch's book. Finally a picture of my future layout. This side will be based on Scotland Street in Edinburgh based in the early 1970's and on the other side of the garage will be a Colonel Stephens type layout. I am off now to strip the Railcar. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi Pete, Included in the kit are etched desks and some nice castings for the cab equipment. There are also some nice seat end etchings for the interior seating. I have some Slaters people for the fare paying public. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi Pete, Thanks for the comment, you are right the 158 cab fronts do look a little sad .Unfortunately I could do nothing with them. The Railcar has moved on quite well in the last two weeks. The painting has been completed and the Fox transfers applied. There are a couple of areas to touch up and I am waiting for a warm day to put the varnish on. The above three photos are taken in my garage on the baseboards of my future layout! Only taken ten years to clear enough space!! It only needs glazing and the interiors making now, so hopefully it won't be too long until it is finished. Following on from this will be a Bachmann class 101 dmu that is going to be converted into a parcels unit in the style of the class 115. I know it isn't prototypical, but that is what it's owner wants and he's paying the money!! Cheers for now, Ian.

Hi All, After a break from modelling for Christmas, I have finally restarted the GWR Railcar. I recieved some resin bogie sideframes from Kerry Viney in Australia and after a bit of fettling fitted them to the scratchbuilt bogies. The original idea of driving one axle wasn't good enough so I fitted delrin drive. With some added weight the bogie runs perfectly. Hopefully I will put some more updates on here on Monday. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi Dave, Excellent photos as usual. C2278 is my local station at Sleaford with a Cravens class 105. Date probably pre 75. Not much has changed, where the photo is taken from there is now a low brick building, I think associated with the resignallling of the line. There is now a permanent way yard in the sidings to the left of the picture and where the wagons are in the left distance has recently been turned into a car park. There aren't many photos of Sleaford on the internet of this era, so it would be nice to see some more. Merry Christmas, Ian

Hi All, With the 158 complete and the Railcar awaiting bits, I have moved onto the next 7mm project. This is a BR Models Hawksworth Fulll Brake. I received this kit in part payment for the Dukedog and I am looking forward to building it. The kit came without bogies so I got Wayoh ones from Invertrain. These go together very easily and you get a very free running end product. The main body went together without any fuss and the whitemetal domes are a pretty good fit. Again this kit came to me without instructions so I am winging it a bit!! I have a Hornby 4mm model as a reference point. Now onto the underframe bits. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi John and Hilux, Sorry for the delay in replying. The Railway Modeller was indeed June 2011 and the Modellers Backtrack is from Aug-Sep 1991. I intend to revisit these Pullmans again to correct the window size but this is a way off in the future. Hopefully we shall see some from Hornby before then! Cheers for now, Ian

Hi All, At last the 158 is complete, not been an easy road at all!! The transfers are the excellent Fox product and really lift the model. The light in LIncolnshire has not been good today hence the dark photos. The unit will soon be plying it's trade on the Great Tedsmore Railway in Shropshire. Now onto the GWR Railcar. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi All, A quick update on the 158. All the painting is finished and the end result is not too bad, certainly 100% better than when I got it!! Now I just need to find the transfers that I have put in that safe place that I haven't a clue where it is!!! I know Fox do them, but I will have a look at Railtech to see if they have them available. The GWR Railcar is progressing well, just need to source some drive bits for it. The buffers were a bit of a challenge with no instructions but I worked it out after a while. At least I know how to do them when it comes to my BR Models Hawksworth full brake! Cheers for now, Ian.

Hi All, I know of someone who built a model of Warrior Square in his loft. A big circle of Triang Super 4 track laid directly on to the floor. It was 40 years ago, but I seem to remember he did a good job of it. If you came out of Warrior Square and went over the tunnel mouth at the Hatings end and continued up the hill, there used to be a really good railway shop at a place called Bohemia Junction. One of those shops that was full of second hand stuff. On one visit I remember coming out with a couple of carrier bags of Triang TT track and on another two Triang 37's. Sadly the shop closed many years ago, probably around the time the Hastings line was electrified. Looking forward to seeing more pics of your units. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi Pete, The 158 is going to be Scotrail white/blue, I still have to put on the red and green lines. I will be using the Tamiya masking tape this time, it took me 3hours to get the sticky residue off from the cheap stuff!! Cheers for now, Ian.

Hi Tony, Thanks for the comments. A quick update on the projects. First the GWR railcar. It needs quite a bit of filling aroung the cab roof but other than that all the parts fit really well. I now need to motorise it, the kit didn't come with any motor, wheels or bogie sideframes. If anyone knows where I could get bogie sideframes, I would be grateful of the tip off. Next is the El Crappo 158! The gloss white went on well and the blue bits were OK until I removed the masking tape. I am running out of Tamiya tape so used some tape designed for modellers! This has left a sticky residue all over the white bits!! Lesson learnt, I will leave the cheaper alternatives on the shelf. No great dramas as it can be removed with thinners or hot water, it is just an annoyance I could do without. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi Peter, I don't think I have ever seen any photos of 2636 in lined green, I think it stayed in unlined Maunsell black livery until repainted by BR in 1950. This livery was non standard though as it had LBSCR style numbers. As for unlined black with sunshine lettering; (3)2678 with IOW bunker. (3)2646 with IOW bunker, in early BR days this had it's lettering (British Railways)high on the tank sides but with standard BR numbering on the cabside. 2640 with IOW bunker and combined splasher and sandboxes. 2661 as per standard Dapol. There may have been more, I have a feeling I have seen 2655 in unlined black with sunshine lettering but can't find it at the moment, Here are a couple of pics of my 32655. With her apple green sister. Hope this hepls with your questions. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi Ernie, Received my Stepney (32655) today and can confirm no Westinghouse pump. Lovely model, runs like a dream and no construction issues. Now just need a layout to run it on. Cheers for now, Ian.

Hi All, As seen on my 4mm workbench, I have been doing some 7mm projects for other people. First is a rebuild of an El Crappo class 158. Not the easiest thing I have done! This one was screwed together and had a mountain of filler on the ends. The chassis has been completely rebuilt with delrin drive on the motor bogie. The model has moved on somewhat since taking these photos. The bodies have had their first coat of paint, it is going to be in Scotrail white/blue livery. I will post some pics when the lighting conditions allow. Next is a BR models GWR railcar. The kit is a world away from the El Crappo 158! All the parts fit and it is really well designed. It is a shame it's not still available. This kit has no underframe with it, so it will be all scratchbuilt unless the owner can find the relevant bits in the next couple of weeks!! All the brass bits of the bodywork are done and it just needs cleaning up before fitting the whitemetal parts. Lastly is a Gladiator GWR Dukedog. This took most of the early summer as I had to completely take it apart and rebuild it. It was an interesting kit to build with quite a few challenges. Mainly the 4-4-0 wheel arangement but also because there were many parts of the kit missing! Not the manufacturers fault I hasten to add. It was one of those "can you have a look at this for me" kits that I seem to get asked to do. So this is what I do when not doing 4mm EMU's. It is nice to work in the bigger scale, I really enjoy the feel of the 7mm stuff. After these are done I have a BR models Hawksworth full brake and an Orion Collett full brake on the list. Also I will be rebuilding my Terrier chassis to match the running of my soon to be delivered Dapol 32655. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi, Thanks for the comments and the likes. Mike, the castings in the class 158 kit are quite good. This is the second one I have built/rebuilt, this one just reqiures painting. Robert, I have refurbed an El Crappo 156 and again it was quite good. The disclaimer on the box lid is typical of Colin Massingham, I used to talk to him regularly at exhibitions, The hobby is the poorer for his loss. Despite some dodgy kits he was a real pioneer of Diesel and Electric modelling. I also have a 7mm resin boiler for a rebuilt Bulleid pacific that is really good that was his work. Maybe there should be a topic dedicated to Modern Traction Kits. I have got a Cravens parcels unit in 4mm that I may do one day. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi All, The CK is now in primer and windows have been checked for fitting. I had to use some of the windows from the SK body to replace three that I broke removing them. The CK and Buffet match quite well. I have removed the windows from the DMBS bodies without any problems and they are ready for priming. They still need underframe fittings and wheels, but are not that far off being done. While I am not posting on here I do 7mm models. One of them recently has been this EL Crappo 158 that I am rebuilding for someone. I tend to get models like this and part built kits with the phrase, "can you just have a look at this for me". Often the kits come without instructions and with bits missing! The next 4mm project is a 3TC from Your Model Railway and Triang parts, with MJT ends and Replica body inserts. It is going to be quite an involved conversion but one I am looking forward to. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi All Thanks for the comments and likes etc. I did toy with the idea of getting another cheap blue Vep and do the frameless version along with a repaint to Blue/Grey. It wouldn't involve to much to reglaze. The windows I use for the Hap toilet are normal Replica toilet windows. I cut them down to the correct size and in the case of this model the bars and vent were shaved off and smoothed down with a product called Micromesh. This gives a really smooth glass like finish. Next after the Bep will be a 3TC from the £8 MK1 and a Hornby BSK. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi All, With the 2Hap in the paintshop, I have completed the interiors. Built from mostly Replica parts the corridor is from an old Coopercraft MK1 kit. The bodies have turned out quite well. I think I am going to finish it in Green with a small yellow panel. I was toying with the idea of Blue with a small yellow panel but can't find any evidence of this batch appearing in this livery. The next coupe of photos show the Bachmann/DC Kits 4Bep project. The CK is already in primer, I will put some photos on later when the sun comes out. I had issues removing the glazing, but have enough left over from the SK to cover it. I put one of the DMBS bodies in the freezer to try and see if it eased removal of the glazing, a tip I got from here, and the glazing came out without any dramas. Again the 4Bep will be Green with a small yellow panel. Cheers for now, Ian

Hi All, A quick update on the 2Hap. Only a small amount of progress due to being in the loft and sorting through all my accumalated bits and pieces. Basically only vents and buffers, I also did the tailing pick up bogie from Replica and DC Kits parts. While sorting through endless unfinished kits and boxes of parts I found this. It will save quite a bit of time and matches the level of detail on my completed 2Hap. I am off to play golf this afternoon, not something I do regularly, taking advantage of the late Lincolnshire sunshine. Cheers for now, Ian