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Adam1701D

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Blog Entries posted by Adam1701D

  1. Adam1701D

    A proper EMU in N

    By Adam1701D,

    I've rebuilt the Class 310 into a blue-grey 312, with a new TS and PMS. Roof vents and end buffers are from ABS, pantograph from Dapol and the end is from N-Train.
     
    The PMS has the transformer and resistor banks salvaged from an old Class 325 chassis moulding and other components from Mk2 underframes. It's not quite there yet but looks OK for now. A little tidying up is needed on the ends and they need glazing...working up the courage!
     
    Brings back happy memories of my spotting days as a lad around Stevenage - need some blue/grey HSTs, some 101s and a Deltic or two to complete!
     

     

     

     
    I intend to power the TS with a 150 chassis. The pantograph car is not suitable, as there is insufficient height to accommodate the PCB.
  2. Adam1701D
    As GF have announced they are not doing the 222 ( a wise move, given that all the cars are different - the tooling costs would be horrific), I have decided to have a go myself.
     
    A Farish Voyager was duly purchased and dismantled. As it turns out, apart from the different window arrangements, the front ends are virtually identical apart from the light clusters and buffer skirting.
     
    When removing the chassis from the driving ends, make sure you unclip the front skirting first, otherwise you'll lose the dummy end couplings.
     
    As the roofs need repainting black, the silver air-con pods can be removed, alongside the black plastic piping underneath.
     
    The end livery will depend on the version modelled, as the EMT has a completely different treatment to the MML and HT versions. I painted the roof and inner ends matt acrylic black and white over the front ends that need to be repainted yellow.
     

     
     
    Yellow was added after this had dried followed by grey and green to match the front end panels - The vinyls are not able to wrap around all the way. At present, the colour match isn't brilliant and this will be repainted as soon as I get down to Trains 4 U.
     
    The vinyls were then fitted - line up these by the oval door windows and the rest just falls into place.
     
    Here's 222001 in HT Green / Grey /Gold - one of the best liveries, post privatisation, IMO.
     

     
  3. Adam1701D

    N Gauge Layout Arrives

    By Adam1701D,

    I've just taken on a 6x2 N Gauge roundy-roundy layout, courtesy of eBay. It appears to be suffering from long-term storage but looks pretty sound and in need of some TLC to make presentable again. I'm fed up with photographing ERG stuff against a plain background and would like something a little more scenic.
     
    The main concern has to be the eye-watering radius of the curves, which totally preclude anything six-axled running round. A re-design may be required, so I'd be open to suggestions!
     

     
    Overall view, as received.
     

     
    Farish 47 and Mk1 on the girder bridge
     

     
    Tunnel section. The freight stock came with the layout, along with lots of buildings and a GF GWR coach!
     

     
    Grappa the Staffordshire finally discovers model trains. Better be careful where I leave stuff!
     

     
    Get off my bed...
  5. Adam1701D
    I've been sent a T Gauge Hankyu 9000 EMU to have a play with and attempt to Anglicise, using scaled down N Gauge ERG artwork - never one to refuse a challenge!
     

     
     
    The coach in the background is a Dapol N gauge MkIII, BTW...
     

     
     
    2-HAP vinyls added to the donor unit. The only modification done here is to unclip the roof air-con pods. With a little judicious painting of the roof and a couple of file-strokes to the ends, the potential is obvious.
     
    At around £40 for a 4-car unit, they seem quite good value and I gather the latest Class 103 units are much better runners. If anyone is having a dabble in T and fancies something UK, drop me a PM
  6. Adam1701D
    I've finally been able to progress with Valve Design's superb little class 201 bodyshell. it has had considerable smoothing off done, along with a couple of coats of silver and recycled Dapol 66 bufferbeams.
     
    Starting to look the part - the fun part will be the IR Intcity livery - expect some vinyl cheating to follow!
  7. Adam1701D
    And I'm not talking about a taste for Guiness...still prefer a good quality bitter, I'm afraid. Whilst researching the Irish Rail coaches for the ERG range, I'm really starting to see the appeal of the traction scene over the water and increasing numbers of my former "demo" coaches are now sporting Orange...so far three each of Mark 2d and 3.
     
    I reallylike the look of the De Deitrich Enterprise stock, with the GM-style Driving trailer and the new IR mark 4 coaches with the platypus-esque DVT and have a feeling that some conversions based around the GF Mark 4 may not be far off.
     
    So what to use for traction...? I've ordered a 3D Printed Class 201 bodyshell from Valve Design, which is now shipping. This is designed to fit the Dapol 66, which I happen to have going spare and I'm really looking forward to getting this built and painted. Could be the first of many, methinks.
     
    From what I can see, there's precious little Irish N Gauge around, so perhaps I can do my bit to give it a bit of a kick-start. Who knows how things may develop?
  8. Adam1701D
    ...actually, I've never been but, it seems, there is a growing following for Irish N Gauge. I have had a few requests in the past to produce overlays for IR coaches and thought "why not?"
     
    Given that a lot of IR stock is of UK design, such as the Mark 2 and Mark 3 coaches, these have been fairly easy to replicate, thanks to some superb web resources like Fotopic. As I already produce the Class 442, modifying the artwork for the hauled IR Mark 3s is fairly easy and the finished coach really looks different to the UK counterparts.
     
    The most fun conversion I'm working on is the IR Class 2700 DMU, which looks a little like a 158 (which i've used as a basis), though has doors in the three-quarter positions like a 165. It won't be the most perfect scale model but should give a good representation of the prototype.
     
    Tomorrow I'm going to have a bash at the Class 6100 Mark 3 Control Trailer - a sort of DBSO (without the B) - it's going to involve some butchery to one or Mr. Farish's finest.
     
     




    It's a little wonky and I haven't cut the windows out yet but looks like an interesting little DMU...


  9. Adam1701D

    Time for T

    By Adam1701D,

    Another couple on units have received the T-reatment now.
     

    Class 377 Electrostar running as a 3-car set
     

     
    Class 151 DMU
     

     
    Another view of the 151 and 377. The 151 would benefit from the front end being angled back but is ideally suited to this slab-sided donor unit.
  12. Adam1701D

    Class 310 EMU in N

    By Adam1701D,

    Currently progressing across the workbench is a 3-car Class 310 EMU in Regional Railways livery. The basis is the venerable Farish Mk2 coach, with cast ends from Bob Davis of N Train and my own vinyl sides.
     
    The MBS was fun to build - the Dapol Stone Faively pantograph and roof bits from a Farish 90 shell make all the difference.
     

     
    Here's the complete BTDS shell...
     

     
    I still need to knock up some underframes using bits from the original Mk2 and whatever I can find in by "bits box". The other driving car is still taking shape and will receive some different vinyls initially for the website.
  13. Adam1701D

    Meridian goes large

    By Adam1701D,

    Having completed a 4-car Hull Trains Class 222 in N Gauge, I thought that there might be some demand from the 4mm fraternity for a bigger version.
     
    I purchased a rather shabby 3-car trainset example from eBay and set about the conversion. Essentially, it is almost identical to the N Gauge version - remove the roof air-con pods, repaint the roof and ends and stick on the sides.
     
    The vinyls were totally re-drawn from the N Gauge versions, making use of the opportunity for extra detail that OO affords and, I think, the end result is pretty good, my ham-fisted attempts at repainting notwithstanding...
     

     
    The Hull Trains livery is my overall favourite for this class
     

     
    Bang up-to-date with East Midlands Trains. It's not too obvious from the picture but the leading passenger window is missing on the first class end. The fronts of both cars need another couple of coats of yellow and properly blending in with the vinyls.
  16. Adam1701D

    1959 Tube Stock in N

    By Adam1701D,

    Those of you who were at the N Gauge Show last month might recall that Bob of N-Train had made some interesting bodyshells for London Transport 1959 stock. I have finally got around to the rather fiddly process of producing some vinyl overlays to try to bring these to life a little.
     
    This is the absolute first draft and has a few dimensional errors that will be corrected in due course.
  17. Adam1701D

    Sprinting ahead in N

    By Adam1701D,

    I've recently been backdating a couple of the new Dapol Sprinters into something a little more suited for the Sectorisation-era layout that is starting to reach fruition.
     

    As the green around the nose shows, this is a former Central trains 153 that has been revinyled but needs a little touching up here and there. Where's my silver-grey?
     

    A 156 in Regional Railways Central "Express" livery. This really suits these units - the chromed window surrounds makes the livery look far smarter than the 158.
     
    And finally, a line up of all three recent N Gauge Sprinters - the GF 150/2 (with RR Merseyrail vinyls) and Dapol 156 and 153. This really goes to show just how far British N Gauge has gone in a fairly short time.

  18. Adam1701D

    Class 201 Progress

    By Adam1701D,

    I've now got some paint and "First Draft" vinyls on the 201 and she's starting to really look the part.
     
    I've used Games Workshop Snot green (dark) and Scorpion green (Light) for the stripes and BR diesel roof grey for the bufferbeams and underframe. The silencer is currently gunmetal, tough far too clean and will be rusted down in due course.
     
    The loco still needs glazing, varnishing and end pipes adding. The side vinyls are too light and will be tweaked for production.
  19. Adam1701D
    The second draft of the 59 stock is a lot better and bodes well for the future. I've been pretty busy with some other bits following some requests, viz the Class 158 in EMT livery in both N and OO, OO Turbostar in Transpennine livery (a real pig to do), and more N Gauge Renaissance coaches.
     

     
    The Renaissance stock has given me a few ideas for other "international" releases in N. Unfortunately, I can't get onto my FTP site at present to do some much needed updates.
     
    It's supposed to chuck it down tomorrow, so I may even be able to tidy up a little...
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