JZjr

Today, my DCC Concepts order arrived - so it was time to fit the bodyside indicators. I have used DCC Concepts MicroLights - these are pre-wired LED's measuring less than 1mm in either direction. I could have used any surface mount LED but the benefit of them being pre-wired is a necessity for me at this size! I bought a 0.5mm drill to make a hole for the wires to pass through and just stuck the LED on the surface with Loctite. Not a great photo at the moment - My wife took the photo while I held the wires against my multimeter. Still en-route is the two speakers, the Howes sound decoder and some NRN Radio pods, I still have to decide on the LEDs used to fit head & tail lights. I also ordered some 1.6mm 'Butterfly' LEDs which I am planning to use for cab and passenger lights. I'm currently waiting for a new soldering iron before I construct a stripboard 'roof unit' which will contain all resistors for the cab, saloon and BIL lights - when I have this along with the decoder I'll be able to take some better photos! Then I just need to think about micro plugs to connect the two units. Does anyone know how I can insert more than one photo into a blog post? Fred

Starting with a few dabs of paint on the underframe - silver on the exhaust, a couple of spots of orange and red on some mouldings. The Hornby underframe is fairly crude so the red and orange paint don't really match up to the prototype. After that dried I brushed over with some 'Rusty Wash' made using some Tamiya Orange Brown and a drop of Orange mixed with suitable paint thinners; and some 'Dirty Wash' made using some Tamiya Dark Grey and a dash of Orange Brown, again with suitable paint thinners. As you can see I managed to damage the glazing mould, I have had to order a complete body spare from Peters Spares. I plan to saw the glazing so I have access to the roof to fit the DCC Decoder, wiring and lighting. Next - Altering the internal seating to give a more prototypical look.

Almost 6 years later (with no progress), it's time to continue. With a wife, two kids and a new full time job since the last progress, time will be tight but I'm sure I can do more than I have done in the last six years! I've ordered some NRN radio pods from PH Designs, a total of 6, to add to my two pacers and my 121. It was £20 but I can't seem to find any others - I've previously used Hurst but they seem to be out of stock of everything. Although NRN is out of use the pods are still fitted to most stock. I'll also need to make a pod for the GSM antenna. From the photos I've seen this is a small 'lump' behind the NRN pod. I've half weathered the underframes and just waiting for the wash to dry before I take on the other sides, I'll post some photos when they are done. Then I'll move on to the interior: Removal of the DCC Sockets Cutting the interior moulding Adding lower floor where possible Adding a toilet cubicle Fitting directional, cab & Saloon lights Adding Sound chips and fitting speakers Hopefully it will take less than 6 years!

Thanks, I've had a look through some of the decoder options in JMRI and the Zimo's have an impressive number of options to explore. Looking at the costs for different numbers of Functions, I'm thinking I'll go for the headlights on F0, and the tails wired separately - using function mapping to give the option of one end or both ends. This will give me the option to add plenty more functions with one decoder - such as internal lighting and BIL's which are now becoming standard.

Hi, I've been out of this game for too long - the range of decoders available is huge compared to those 10 years ago! I am looking for a decoder (hopefully one which is offered in a variety of socket types) which allows a range of functions to be set up as 'directional', I see that the TCS decoders allow you to do this. Are there any others? What I'm looking to do is add more lighting options so some of my DMU's - looking to do a couple of 142's first. Function 0 controls marker lights Function 1 controls tail lights Function 2 controls headlight Function 4 tails at both ends Or probably just a subset of these options as I can see myself eating through functions very quickly leaving no space for internal lighting etc. - I'd like to limit myself to one decoder per item where possible! If anyone could suggest specific decoders that would be great - at the moment I'm looking to do non-DCC-Ready stock first so sockets etc. are bottom of the priority list for the moment.

I have now painted the interior of one of my units. For the seating I have used Humbrol RC404, although this isn't a match for First Great Western Blue, I think that it is close enough when viewed through a window of the unit. I have also used Tamiya X-32 (Titan Silver) on the very top edge of the seats, this is to represent the hand-rails on the top of every seat, I am hoping that this will show up when I fit internal saloon lighting. I have painted the passenger side of the cab door partially black (upper half) as in photographs of the units that I have seen, I have also painted the drivers side of the door all-black, this is because there is no representation of this in any images and I want to be clear where the door is, I may well go over this door in another colour as it probably isn't black in the actual units. I have painted the wheel sides using Tamiya XF-64 (Red Brown) and I have painted the tank cap (on the side of the chassis) Titan Silver. Much of the interior painting looks un-neat but a lot of this will be hidden by the body and passenger figures.

Thanks for pointing out the fact that they have one piece gangways, I will look in to using foam. I will be fitting a toilet compartment as I have noticed that there is none!

I have started by removing fittings from the seating unit that aren't present in images of unit interiors. These fittings are shown here and include dividers and screw fittings that are used to mount the DCC socket, something that I will also remove as it isn't very easy to hide with such large proportion of the model being clear plastic.

Who was it that produced the 142 before Hornby?

The Hornby 142 is a rather crude representation of the Class 142 'Pacer' and the model dates back to the days of Lima. Not only is the model crude, but the 142 itself has changed a fair amount since the model has been released, the doors for a start have changed and new features such as NRN antennas have been added. I would like to bring my models up to date and also to correct shortfalls that were, not surprisingly, made in the days of Lima. When I have completed this project I hope to have: Detailed roof, including NRN Radio Pods and vents. (SJR Models) Detailed interior, including cab details and hiding the DCC decoder. Further electrical connections between cars. (to provide digital functions) Correctly represented folding leaf doors. (Electra Railway Graphics) Detailed front end including windscreen wipers and BSI Coupler. (East Kent Models - Hornby Spares) Representation of corridor connections. (Folded card) Directional lighting. (Express Models Kit) Interior Saloon lighting. (LED Lighting strips) Individually controlled cab lighting. (LEDs) These images show the current state of my two Hornby 142's in First Great Western Livery.

You Are So Beautiful - Escape the Fate

It doesn't seem to look too bad in those telephoto pictures.

A lovely shot of it's bent chassis on the road trailer.

I'd Hate To Be You When People Find Out What This Song Is About - Mayday Parade

Smile in Your Sleep - Silverstein

It is, yes.

My RailExpress arrived today and there is a close shot of '012 on page 5. Obviously can't post it die to copyright though.

I have recently started a 143 in FGW livery, I think I will finish it and use it until this comes out then it will be packaged up somewhere seeing little use!

The layout is stunning! The trackwork in amazing and trees look like they have been shrunk down from those over the road from me! I can't wait to see the finished product!

Have you got any photographs of 'Kingstoke Junction', sounds like an interesting layout!

Is that OO? What manufacturer of 170 is that?

Would be nice for a 144 but they don't come down to the southwest anymore

Defiantly not anywhere near as good as some of the pictures on here but here goes! A Central Trains service accelerates over the bridge from a request stop/ A 50 receives maintenance after days of tour work. A Voyager has terminated at Somercombe ready to work the return journey whilst a SevernLink service leaves the bay and a 158 provides a semi-fast service. A dirty skateboard. The layout work was done by JZ (Julian Boniface) whilst the weathering was done by me.