37114

4 minutes ago, Nick G said:

 

Thanks Rob, I am experimenting with a couple of techniques until I am happy. I wonder how often the tyres wore out and needed replacing? I wonder if I can get someone to 3D print the rollers...

Lynx models do wheels which may be suitable, failing that it could be something @mudmagnet models might be interested in?

7 hours ago, Nick G said:

I am experimenting with weathering some Dapol HAA's trying to replicate the rubber marks along the sides (not happy yet). These marks are done by the equipment used at some loading points that have tyres on wheels that are used to move the train along through the loader. Photo attached taken at the now long gone loading point at Point of Ayr on the North Wales coast.

 

 

The weathering looks pretty good to me Nick, I think the wheels were standard lorry wheels so must have been an interesting job for the local ATS tyre fitter when the tyres needed replacing..

Final visitor was 37029 which while rare has visited Westbury albeit after the time I modelled it.

Some of the Peasevern Yard fleet got an airing as well

08950 suits either era, being quite long lived in blue 

03382 would have been a rare (if ever?) visitor to Westbury 

D7017 on the other hand was a regular 

I took the opportunity to take the display outside and take some photos of the loco fleet.

First off some photo's of the usual resident,  60029

I tried a head on shot but need more practice on this

Some general shots

29 minutes ago, silverlink said:

Looks like Heljan are going down the same route as they did with the class 26 and 27 

NO NOSE DOORS which if I'm correct they should have on the green version.

silverlink

 

Too early to say for sure, I think with the current UK team in place,  Heljan have upped their game recently (eg the retooled 37, 55 and new 73) and thus any all green version will more than  likely have doors. 

The Edward Gleed book on the class 60s is worth a read and is insightful. As has been mentioned basically the build to deployment timescales (13 months) were unrealistic for a new frame up design of loco as politically the order was destined for a UK builder, effectively ruling out the class 59. Once the niggles/faults were sorted they seem to be reliable, the problems came when the power units got up to 20,000 hours and they were prone to major failure.  

Fill from bottom, as you say to prevent foaming. Where I think people get confused is they see what look like top loading gantries/pipework in pictures but this was used for cleaning of the tanks. 

I spent some time working with (Road) Milk tankers, everything was piped in/out at ground level. To clean the tank you would need to go on the top, open the lid, attach a "spinner" which looked like a T piece which would then be connect to a closed loop high pressure cleaning system which forced cleaning fluid up through a pipe into the spinner which then cleaned the tank for about 15 - 20 mins. Once clean/drained you had to go back up and remove the spinner etc and you were ready to load again.

Progress on a couple fronts, the first front being the front. As the paint on the cab was peeling off behind the air filter and was quite thick I decided to totally strip the cab of paint. With the aid of a grinding disk in the mini drill I ground off the Pegaso badge and lettering on the front.

The cab is incredibly touch die-cast so rather than to try and carve out the grille the plan is to fill the channels completely and then use a transfer for the full grille. Hopefully this will be fine at normal viewing distances.

The chassis has had surgery as well. The Battery box has been cut off as it is on the opposite side on the Seddon Atkonson. Also removed is the spare wheel carrier, most UK Hauliers having ceased to carry spare wheels by the early 90s.

Hopefully that's most of the destruction done!

Nice to see a new update on this Chris, that Cargowagon is massive!

A bit of a different project to engage in some nostalgia of my youth; As a kid I always wanted to be a Lorry driver and in addition to my love of railways, I was a fan of trucks in the 1990s, particularly the British makes of Foden, ERF and Seddon Atkinson, all marques sadly no longer with us. 

As part of my O gauge layout set in 1977 (Peasevern Yard) I took great care to get 1/43 scale lorries, modifying IXO models of 1970s Bedfords, rather than using more readily available Corgi models as these are 1/50. I recently bought a Heljan class 60 as I like them and may in the future do a 1990s era layout so decided to build one of the trucks of my youth. An easy option would be to respray an IXO model of a European make such as a Volvo or Scania but I really wanted one of the British makes however there are no models of an ERF, Foden or Seddon Atkinson that suited my 1990s era.

However last year a potential option was presented by IXO in the form of a Pegaso Troner model if I was prepared for a "little bit of work"...

Now 99% of the UK logistics population would never have heard of Pegaso as they were only sold here for a few years and only a handful were sold. Pegaso were a Spanish manufacturer whose owner (ENASA) happened to have acquired Seddon Atkinson in 1980s. Seddon Atkinson was the result of the merger of Seddon and Atkinson trucks in the 1970s and by the mid 1980s their cab was somewhat dated. ENASA collaborated with DAF to design a new cab to be used by all 3 brands. Branded the "Strato" the new cab coupled with the proven chassis and running gear enabled Seddon Atkinson to grow their market share and won them plenty of new customers albeit some of the growth was short lived as the cab was prone to rust, there were electrical gremlins and a few other niggles. ENASA were bought out by Iveco who replaced the cab with their own which  was even more prone to rust and electrical gremlins and Seddon Atkinson ceased production in 2005.

The Pegaso was the closest visually to the Seddon Atkinson so is the obvious choice for this project. IXO have produced a couple of Pegaso Troners but while they have produced a Paris - Dakar rally truck with a sleeper cab, the most suitable starting points for the conversion are either the less common day cab or even rarer cab top sleeper version (a variant Seddon Atkinson never did). IXO models can be quite expensive at circa £70 to £100 plus postage from Mainland Europe but I picked up my donor model on ebay for a bargain £27  and no postage. From looking at the pictures of the model I worked out the cab top sleeper was a separate moulding so hoped the standard roof would be present underneath. 

Most day cab Stratos were owned by fuel or tanker operators and I didn't fancy making a tank trailer. I was lucky to find this photo of an ex Esso tractor unit sold to another operator with a curtainside trailer so ideal for my donor model:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/16212470@N03/51309366403/in/faves-49261102@N07/

So the basic plan is;

- convert to Right hand Drive

- replace fuel tank and battery boxed which were different between Pegaso and Seddon Atkinson 

- remove the high roof sleeper 

- Modify the cab front grille to represent a Seddon Atkinson

- Add the fuel regulation specification modifications such as fire screen at the back of the cab and Exhaust pipe under the cab

- Modify and detail the trailer running gear

- Repaint and add transfers. Jo @Steadfast at Steadfast models has kindly agreed to do the transfers for me.

So the first part was to dismantle the tractor unit... Suffice to say that every part had been either riveted or glued with the strongest superglue ever. The more I dismantled the more I realised that this will be a bit more than "a little bit of work'..

The biggest challenges are;

- The cab roof under the sleeper pod is not detailed and will need a lot of work to get it to look anything like the real thing. I am surprised that IXO didn't reuse the standard day cab tooling and put the pod onto but it is what it is and I love a challenge. 

- The bumper is attached to the cab not the chassis. This makes the grille modifications hard but not impossible as I am likely to fill the current area and rely on a transfer for the grille.

The paint on the cab is easily chipped and will therefore get a bath in paint stripper to take it back to bare metal. Plan of attack is to do the cab mods first as it affects the grille transfers before doing the chassis with the trailer last.

46 minutes ago, SouthernBlue80s said:

This reminds me of when I used to visit the place

Nice shot, very atmospheric!

1 hour ago, Nick G said:

Somehow I have missed several updates on this thread but now up to date. Looking great Rob, O gauge 56 next is it?

Thanks Nick, afraid no chance of a class 56, I am no fan of them at all! I might be tempted by one of the upcoming 1990s era class 37s though, I am working on an early 90s 1/43 lorry at the moment so maybe  new layout in the future..

I have added on the details to the board earlier today, firstly the fuel point;

Also the battery charge, fire extinguishers and buckets, all from the mudmagnet models range. I have a couple of barrels that are still being painted and also a couple of weeds to add. The ripple in the wagon is something I haven't noticed before and is v annoying, and may end up needing to be replaced 

I have also put up the shelf in our study where the display will live. The location is slightly odd at first sight but I have a height adjustable desk which I can stand at so needed to be factored in. The bare wood at the front if the board will be covered in black painted ply.

60029 is temporarily trying out it's new home.

1 hour ago, Nick G said:

 

Thanks Rob, copied the weathering from a photo. Finding round buffer heads is the next hurdle!

Will Dapol 08 buffers work Nick?

Looking good Nick, the weathering on the buffer beam is really well captured.

I am amazed both by the speed of your builds, the quality of the finished product but mostly by your resilience in building MTK kits! 

5 hours ago, jamest said:

Hi,

 

Can I ask who makes/supplies that lorry?

 

I'd like one of those.

 

Regards,

James

Steve's Kits can be made up to reasonable models with time and patience, there are a few threads in the Road vehicles section of the forum that I and others have done which are worth a read.

On 05/12/2023 at 10:34, acg5324 said:

Just back on Sunday from a few days in Copenhagen. Not much train stuff but did a few journeys on the driverless Metro and we did avail ourselves of the refreshments available in the “Railway Pub”. There was more snow (and fog) at Leeds when we landed than in Copenhagen which had almost nothing.

Looks a nice pub, gutted I missed that when I was there last year.

It has been a while since my last update but there has been some progress. 

Further to my last post and the base for the fuel pump being installed, I have also installed the catch drains which are a laser cut purchase off ebay and are perfect for my needs. I have also weathered the concrete and track with a mix of washes of various greys and blacks which looks much better 

In addition I have also permanently affixed the backscene pictures, these blend in nicely with the recovered foreground 

Next steps is to add some details to the concrete area and sort the backscene on the end panel. I will also paint the exposed wood work.

Airfix JCB would also have been available. Didn't Lima do a plastic car, I want to say based on a Sunbeam?

On 30/11/2023 at 19:24, SouthernBlue80s said:

Shunters 

 

 

 

 

The thing I love about this display/photo is how well the backscene is colour matched to the main board/stock, very effective.

Stunning just stunning... What a great model, great job James. Did you do anything to the windscreen surrounds at all please? The "seam" looks much much more subtle and realistic than the out of the box model I recently inspected.

On 14/05/2023 at 07:27, Hilux5972 said:

My IKB arrived with a broken Bogie retention post, but it did travel to New Zealand. Gaugemaster are the spares dealer so they sorted it pretty quickly for me. No running issues though. 

The bogie retention post is a definite weak point, I had to replace one on mine and ended up buying a couple so I have some spares.