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Chris Chewter

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  1. Chris Chewter
    Walked into Howes Models for some Matt varnish and thought I had found a right bargain. A load of Hornby R6665 Brookes Limited 4 Plank Wagons for £6! Two were purchased to be resprayed. However disappointingly they are a bit crude with chunky running gear and massive D couplings. 🤦‍♂️ Theres nowt I going to do about the running gear, life’s too short. However the couplings had to go! I want NEM sockets so I can swap the couplings out to kadees if I wish in the future, so some 3d printed adapters were acquired, the D couplings unscrewed and binned, and the adapters fitted on the old coupling pins. Now we can respray, decal and weather these up. In theory, 4 planks were very rare by the 1960s, so these will look fairly battered and abused. I’ve also done another 7 plank to go into the set. Ive got two more planked open wagons to go and then I should probably stop, otherwise the place will be over run by them. However I do enjoy a cheap wagon respray!
  2. Chris Chewter
    Oxrail 2023 is nearly here! Cherwell School, Marston Ferry Road, Oxford, OX2 7EE on Sunday 17th September between 10:30 and 16:00 Layouts include: Abbots Morton - A OO layout representing one of the proposed lines from Broom Junction to Worcester. Bremen - A HO tram layout by Beckenvick Modellers. Bossington - A OO layout of a small GWR terminus built back in the 1950s Carterton - A OO representation of this wayside halt on the Fairford branch line. City Basin Goods - An N gauge layout representing a goods and marshalling yard Cromarty - A small branch line terminus in N Cynon Valley - A modular layout inspired by a wartime evacuation to Mountain Ash in Wales constructed in N gauge Edrom - Built in N, this layout represents Edrom station on the Berwickshire line between Duns and Chirnside in the Scottish Borders. Exebridge - Built in 3mm scale, this layout represents a small West Country cross country railway line based around the River Exe. Five Elms - Five Elms is a MPD layout in OO Freshwater - 2mm scale layout of the terminus of the Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway on the Isle of Wight. Hook Basin - A model of British 18 inch rural tramway set in North Oxfordshire. Kreuzweg - A Swiss metre gauge layout in HOm Lammas Lane - A London Underground layout in N Memory Lane - A Hornby Dublo 3 rail layout showing model railways of times gone by. Randolphs Yard - A small shunting yard in OO Rain Folly - A small N Gauge layout set on a typical rainy day in england. Trifoulou - Z scale metre gauge Tetsudo-Sankei - Japanese Z scale layout The Snake Bed - A large US modular layout in N William Street Yard - A small marshalling yard set somewhere just off the GWR main line between Reading and Didcot between 1947 and 1953 in OO As always, please note that layouts and attractions are subject to availability and last-minute changes may occur. As part of the exhibition, the Oxford and District Model Railway Club shall also be running a tombola with many prizes to be won. The usual selection of traders will also be available for you to purchase supplies for your next project, plus representation of clubs and organisations in the area. Crane Garden Buildings Squires Tools Coastal DCC Transport Treasury Orwell Models N Cresswell Model Railways Saddletank Books White Horse Brewery We also have the following organisations attending: Didcot Railway Centre Network Rail Oxford Bus Museum Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway Pendon Museum International Plastic Modellers Society More details can be found on our website at https://www.oxfordmrc.org.uk/exhibitions/
  3. Chris Chewter
    Oxford and District MRC - Model Railway Open Day Collinwood United Reformed Church, Headington, Oxford, OX3 8HW Thinking of joining a Model Railway Club but want to know more, or simply want to enjoy some model railway layouts? On Saturday 13th May 2023, the Oxford and District Model Railway Club are putting on a display of some of our layouts for people to come along and enjoy. Layouts are both a mixture of club and member layouts, and include: Bossington - A classic 1950s layout in OO Brymbo - Some narrow gauge O scale Carterton - Part of the Fairford branch in OO Oldstead Gate - Our classic circular layout in OO Layouts are subject to change We shall be holding the event at the church hall where we regularly meet at Collinwood United Reformed Church, Headington, Oxford, OX3 8HW. https://www.oxfordmrc.org.uk/location/ More details can be found on our open day link at https://www.oxfordmrc.org.uk/open-day-exhibition/
  4. Chris Chewter
    Models at the Oxford Bus Museum Hanborough Rail Station Yard, Main Road, Long Hanborough, Oxfordshire OX29 6LA The Oxford and District Model railway Club have been invited to provide layouts to the Oxford Bus Museum for their Model Bus Federation and Model Railway day. Layouts present should include: Carterton Oldstead Gate Bossington City Basin Goods We shall also have a visit from Network Rail Layouts remain subject to change Entry is via the bus museums usual entry fee. Further details can be found at https://www.oxfordbusmuseum.org/heritage-bus-rides
  5. Chris Chewter
    Could anyone who own a version of R3987 92194 take a close up photo of the makers nameplate on the front running plate? I had read in an article that whilst the loco was Swindon built, it’s been incorrectly printed. However I cannot find any photos confirming this. Thanks
  6. Chris Chewter
    I’ve just realised that I haven’t put an update here following the wagons being completed, although it was a little naughty of me posting progress here as well as the Tetbury thread. Ive now assembled quite a rake of planked wagons ready to run when Carterton next goes out on the road. That’ll improve the variety a bit! I’ve also assembled a good rake of Collett suburbans. With the coaches on special offer at Rails, it was rude to say no!
  7. Chris Chewter
    I took some stock to run on another club members layout, and was a little embarrassed to pull six unweathered coaches out of the box. I’m not sure whether it was the lack of weathering or the fact I had totally forgotten about them that led to the embarrassment. However, with my wife at a conference on Saturday, and two pre-teen kids glued to various devices, it gave me a reason to get on with some modelling at the dining table. Loads of blue paper was laid down and the weathering could commence! I used the Flory black wash technique again which seemed to come out well. The roofs were sprayed with Matt varnish, then smoke grey weathering powder over and a final coat of black weathering powder over that. They were then resprayed with Matt varnish which seems to work fairly well. I do like the restaurant car pair so how about another shot of the restaurant cars being shunted by the good shed for good measure! I seem to be getting a slight reputation in the model railway club as the person to weather coaches that owners aren’t brave enough to attempt (I suppose there are worse reputations to have!) I ended up with a Bachmann autocoach thrust at me with a request to weather it down from its owner. Seeing as I had the Flory washes open, it seemed rude not to! The only change with this one was the roof. It seemed to be rivited, plus I couldn’t be sure how it was going to be handled, so I concluded that powders on the roof might not work well, so it was toned down with the Flory washes only. Some dark earth powder to the ends and under frame give it that slightly worn effect. Hopefully it’s owner will be pleased to see it returned in its slightly grubby state!
  8. Chris Chewter
    I’ve tried a different weathering technique for coaches this afternoon. I had heard about Flory washes after one of the model railway club members used them as part of some of the schools work we do. I picked up a bottle of black in the hope it would save some of the scrubbing when you use the t-cut method which leads to damaged handles and lining. I had a rake of Collett Suburbans to do. So the sides and roof were painted with the wash and set aside to cure. Once dried, out came the cotton buds to work back and remove the black from the coach sides. However that roof looks very blotchy! In the end, I had to work it over with a damp cotton bud and move the black wash around into streaks with a dry cotton bud. Now we have a coach ready for some powder. Sides were masked. The frames were wafted with Humbrol dark earth powder. Then Matt varnish applied to the roof and the under frame. Then onto the roof. It still looked too shiny even with Matt varnish on it, so some Humbrol smoke grey was brushed into it. That looks better than out of the box! I might give them a light application of black to tone it down. It worked for the other pair of collett corridors I’ve got. I’m now out of Matt varnish, so looks like that’s it until the postman makes a visit. Those locos will also have to stay shiny for a bit longer!
  9. Chris Chewter
    To show the challenges of using the t-cut method with Hornby coaches, I managed to just about stop the lining completely pulling off the collett corridor on the left!
  10. Chris Chewter
    I had forgotten what a pain coaches were to weather. The thing is, they were always much cleaner than wagons. It’s easy to weather coaches and find you’ve made them too dirty! First up, some BR suburban mk1s. These have already received factory weathering, but it doesn't pick up the black in the panel lines. I used the same t-cut technique as before. A cotton bud is dipped in t-cut and dipped in black weathering powder. It’s then applied across the coach surface. This is then rubbed off as much as possible with cotton buds. You then end up with a coach like the one on the top. The original factory weathered one is the grey coach it’s sat on. However it seems a little bit too dirty. Wasn’t coaching stock cleaner than that? It’s best to judge with some photos to check. My first attempt was obviously a smidge too black. So a t-cut cotton bud was swabbed over the coach sides and removed some excess black. Rub carefully as it’s easy with neat t-cut to remove numbers and linings. Not so bad with Bachmann coaches but a real pain with Hornby ones (ask me how I know!) That looks better. The grey weathering is a little odd but that’s the Bachmann weathering for you. I could have put a bit of brown around the bogies and under frame, but I was feeling lazy! Roofs are Matt varnish and smoke grey powder wafted after to stick on the varnish. I did try weathering some CCTs using some thinned down black. However I just couldn’t control the removal of the black as well as the t-cut method. I think they should be a bit cleaner, but they’ll do the job and ready for use on Carterton.
  11. Chris Chewter
    I’ve been under the weather again ( see what I did there) and have finished off some more wagons and coaches. Wagons are fairly straight forward. However for some reason, you pay through the nose for BR grey wagons. I managed to get some Oxford Rail private owner wagons at the exhibition at Milton Keynes for less than a tenner each. Firstly these were attacked with a glass fibre brush before spraying to remove the owners text. They were then masked and sprayed with Railmatch BR grey from a rattle can. Some Modelmaster BR private owner wagon decals were purchased and applied. This was after I realised the decals I applied were for 20t minerals. I’m not sure anyone would notice but the ones in the photo below were changed for the correct P numbers. Because the wagons had been sprayed and decals applied, they were weathered very gently using the same technique above. And hey presto, some BR grey planked wagons and a BR departmental black spoil wagon. I love how the glass fibre brush has distressed the planks!
  12. Chris Chewter
    One of the things I noticed after the last exhibition is that a bit of variety keeps the operators sane. When it’s the same pannier and Mk1 coach formation all day, it gets a bit boring. So I’ve been building up my wagon selection. However getting BR wagons for a good price is a bit of a challenge. Looking through the various books I’ve got on the Fairford branch, I noted there were a lot of examples of planked open wagons. I managed to find some Oxford Rail private owners wagons at the Great Electric Train Show for about a tenner each. I snapped them up and set about respraying them. Firstly the old advertisement text had to go, so they were rubbed down with a glass fibre brush. The important bits masked and the wagons sprayed in BR grey and departmental black. I had a set of number decals from an old Parkside wagon kit which’ll do for the grey wagons, and some Modelmaster departmental yellow decals for the departmental wagon. To make sure they’ve cured, I’m going to let them dry overnight before weathering them tomorrow.
  13. Chris Chewter
    In case your interested in how the weathering is done, you’ll need the following: Black weathering powder Dark earth weathering Smoke grey weathering powder T-cut A box of cotton buds Matt varnish I suggest you also have paper and disposable gloves to work on plus brushes to apply weathering powder. Firstly you’ve got to get your wagon dirty. Dip your cotton bud in the t-cut and then dip your cotton bud in some black powder. You then wipe the blackened cotton bud all over the wagon to get it nice and dirty. Believe it or not, that right hand wagon was brown! Take a clean cotton bud and wipe off the black stuff from your blackened wagon. Once the cotton bud is dirty switch to a new clean one. You’ll go through loads of them for a single wagon! Keep rubbing off the black in vertical swipes until you have the effect you’re after. If the black won’t shift, then dip the cotton bud back in the t-cut and use it to loosen the black layer, but do that very sparingly or it’ll strip too much black off. Now that’s not bad, and you could stop there, but if you’ve ever been below the sole bar in a wagon, you’ll soon realise everything is dirty brown lower down. To do this get your earth brown powder and a brush. You then waft it around the chassis. Then using the brush, brush upwards to blend the brown into the wagon, or you’ll end up with a brown strip. The ends of wagons got even dirtier, so waft brown all over the wagon ends. Again, you could stop here, but if you are going to handle the wagon, gently spray over with Matt varnish. I like to powder weather the roofs after they’ve received a light spray of Matt varnish, as it gives a bit of stickiness for the powder to grip to, and leave a bit of texture. Take the smoke grey and brush it lightly onto the roof in the direction it might take if rain was to run off the roof. Et voila. Weathered wagons. And not an airbrush in sight! Nice!
  14. Chris Chewter
    Another weekend and another batch of wagons. Again destined for Carterton, they’ve been trialled on Tetbury for effect. Firstly, a couple of western Fruit vans, and an Oxford Rail planked wagon. Also, to increase the variety of vans, three general vans have been weathered up. I think they’ll do the job!
  15. Chris Chewter
    Oxrail 2023 is coming For 2023, we'll be back at Cherwell School, Marston Ferry Road, Oxford, OX2 7EE on Sunday 17th September between 10:30 and 16:00. The team have been working hard already, and booked layouts are: Abbots Morton A OO layout representing one of the proposed lines from Broom Junction to Worcester. Billton Goods A 3mm layout portraying a typical LNWR/LMS goods depot in the 1950s Bossington A OO layout of a small GWR terminus built back in the 1950s Carterton A OO representation of this wayside halt on the Fairford branch line. City Basin Goods An N gauge layout representing a goods and marshalling yard Cynon Valley A modular layout inspired by a wartime evacuation to Mountain Ash in Wales constructed in N gauge East Quay A OO finescale representation of a great western quay side. Edrom Built in N, this layout represents Edrom station on the Berwickshire line between Duns and Chirnside in the Scottish Borders. Exebridge Built in 3mm scale, this layout represents a small West Country cross country railway line based around the River Exe. Freshwater 2mm scale layout of the terminus of the Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway on the Isle of Wight. Hook Basin A model of British 18 inch rural tramway set in North Oxfordshire. Kruzweg A Swiss metre gauge layout in HOm Lindon Road This small layout represents a fictional Southern Region branch line through station located in the River Medway area. Memory Lane A Hornby Dublo 3 rail layout showing model railways of times gone by. Randolphs Yard A small shunting yard in OO Stonewaite and Bainrigg Railway Set in the 1930’s, this 0-16.5, 7mm narrow gauge layout depicting a narrow gauge line originally built in the 1870’s to transport stone from Bainrigg Quarry to the canal wharf at Stonethwaite on the outskirts of a large Yorkshire town. Trifoulou Z scale metre gauge Tetsudo-Sankei Japanese Z scale layout William Street Yard A small marshalling yard set somewhere just off the GWR main line between Reading and Didcot between 1947 and 1953 in OO As always, please note that layouts and attractions are subject to availability and last-minute changes may occur. As part of the exhibition, the Oxford and District Model Railway Club shall also be running a tombola raffle. The usual selection of traders will also be available for you to purchase supplies for your next project, plus representation of clubs and organisations in the area. More information can be found on the Oxford and District Model Railway Clubs website at: https://www.oxfordmrc.org.uk/exhibitions/
  16. Chris Chewter
    If you weren't able to make Oxrail 2022 last month, one of the club members have put together a video of the layouts on show: I also took the opportunity to run a camera around to show some of the layouts, which can be watched in the link below. Enjoy and hopefully see you at Oxrail 2023. More information can be found at: https://www.oxfordmrc.org.uk/exhibitions/
  17. Chris Chewter
    Had a busy afternoon weathering up wagons. First up was a pair of Dapol/Rails iron minks. These were given a wash of dilute black and rubbed off with cotton buds. The roof is smoke grey weathering powder mixed with t-cut to turn it into a light paste, and then rubbed off with cotton buds. Why t-cut? Well it seems to increase the working time over mixing with water, and has a longer working time than diluted paints. The under frame is then given a waft of earth brown powder and fixed with a light spray of Matt varnish. I also worked through a few conflats and containers using a similar technique, although the containers sides and roofs are only treated with diluted black. A bit of extra weight was hidden inside the containers to aid running, as the conflats are very light! They will probably end up being run on Carterton, but Tetbury makes a great environment to make sure I’ve got the weathering correct!
  18. Chris Chewter
    Looking around the usual Instagram and Facebook posts, I found a great shot of a Modelu figure stood on a brake van. It was so good, I decided that one would look at home on one of the brake vans in the collection. I’ve also been working on a Collett Goods for Carterton. However it came with a ROD tender. After a spot of shopping on the Bachmann Spares website, a new tender was sourced and resprayed. You wouldn’t know it was once Great Western green! Another loco that seems to suit Tetbury workings!
  19. Chris Chewter
    Something slightly different. I’ve been helping the Oxford and District MRC with their Oxrail2022 exhibition. One of the jobs I was asked to do, was pull the exhibition programme together. I was talking with the exhibition manager when he requested I used one of my Tetbury photos on the front cover of the programme. I was happy to oblige!
  20. Chris Chewter
    And then it was over… A fantastic day at Edward Feild school in Kidlington for what turned out to be a very enjoyable exhibition. Now to get ready for 2023!
  21. Chris Chewter
    Well the tables are all set out ready for our exhibition tomorrow. All we need to do is welcome our traders and layouts tomorrow morning. If you are in the area, then please do come along for an excellent day of model railways.
  22. Chris Chewter
    Don’t forget that Oxrail 2022 is nearly here! Held at Edward Feild School, Bicester Road, Kidlington on Sunday 16th October between 10:30 and 16:00. £6 for adults and free entry for children.
  23. Chris Chewter
    I tried to photograph the manors through the display cabinets at the Great Electric Train Show on display on the Accurascale stand. They’re not the best images as there was a bit of glare on the glass, but they might be useful to someone…
  24. Chris Chewter
    Leader on display at the Great Electric Train Show exhibition earlier today.
  25. Chris Chewter
    Sometimes it’s good to run something a little different. The Dapol Mogul has come out for a run on the layout. I know Moguls didn’t run on the line, but it does fit in nicely and gives a bit of variety.
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