dj_crisp

My Regional Railways Mk1s are progressing nicely. They're standing at about the right height now and to my eyes look like they're level with each other. I'm using kadees to couple and Keen Mk1 corridor connectors which fill the gap nicely. I'm now turning my attention to the interiors which i think should be an off white colour with blue seats, but I'm only going to roughly represent these. I'm not sure if there was any wood represented so I'll probably just leave them in the primer. If anyone knows please let me know! I'm also tempted with fitting some mesh in the storage compartment in the brake... not sure how visible this will be though and whether it's worth the effort in finding some! My next job is the bit I'm pretty useless at.... coach lighting!! LEDs, capacitors, bridge thingys etc are all ready to solder to a circuit diagram I found on the web. I'm trying to improve my photography, so have taken the radical step and opened my camera instruction manual. These are all shot with a normal light bulb with the camera trying to balance the white. I think I really need a daylight bulb (or nice weather outside) for this. Any tips gratefully received!! And my new victims.... I must resist starting my 50 project before my 37s are finished!! Happy Modelling all and thanks for reading

Thanks Brian. .. I'll try and check that one out. Cheers Will

Looking awesome I'm really enjoying following your thread. I hope you don't mind me asking but do you have any photos of the underframe. I'm just about to start a 4mm project and wasn't sure what bit's should and shouldn't be there. Cheers Will

The yellow one must be your favourite

Great stuff... really like your 08

Looking great! I'm going to follow your 50s with great interest

Well I couldn't resist a signal box from ally pally TBH I think they look better in the flesh... really excellent products and I look forward to your next releases! It was nice to chat to you, Cheers Will

Some very nice 50s.... Has anyone used PH designs Class 50 Etch Detailing Sheet 2 ? There are four grills on there and I can't work out where they are supposed to be fitted? cheers Will

I've been looking at the under frames on the Vitrains 37s and to be honest they look a bit boxy and flat to me. So after spending a few hours looking for photos on the web I thought I'd try and have a go at making them look a bit better. Before and After (well attempt started) It's still rather rough with filler here and there to smooth, but thought I'd put a photo up to see what people think before I add any detailing. The bottom has been angled a bit more and then I've cut out where i think there should be spaces. On the prototype I think they are two seperate boxes but I've left them connected to keep a bit of strength and shape - i don't think that'll be too noticeable. With all this new space the chassis block is going to need a trim.... something I'm not looking forward too! One set of Brassmaster Mk1 bogies down.... about 12 sets to go! And for a bit of light relief, (a total lie), my Hornby 09 has been progressed. I've fitted an express models lighting kit as I couldn't face making my own. It's turned out to be a fiddly job as everything is a tight squeeze, especially with a decoder with stay alive. To be fair it's gone in quite nicely although I've sacrificed the cab light as the decoder I've fitted doesn't have enough functions. I've no idea how people fit sound in as well!! A set of Ultrascales, a shawplan nameplate, some laserglaze and it has the beginnings of being a rather nice model. I have a soft spot for gronks and I think Hornby has done a great job with this one. I have some Brassmasters coupling rods to fit if I feel brave and then when the weather is nice a spot of gentle weathering. Happy Modelling! Will

It's been a few weeks since i last posted and not alot of progress modelling wise, although I have sorted my garage and now have a much improved working environment. I've even found my workbench! Primed and painted my RES 47 window frames and attached some roof grills. This end is the one I wasn't totally happy with as the two frames don't quite line up.... I think I'll just line with it and do better next time. Next in line is a bit of respray for the roof and sides, renumbering and then a spot of gentle weathering. One for a warmish day! Happy Modelling

Surprisingly I had a spare hour the other day and stuck a few window frames to one end of my Vitrains RES 47; I think it looks rather smart but won't really know until it's had a coat of primer.... then painted I'm not sure how I'm going to glaze this one.... as the new window frames are larger than the original Vitrains - my usual Vitrains laserglaze won't work. I read somewhere that a laserglaze kit for Heljan 47s might be a better bet... or last resort make my own! Happy Modelling

Slowly progressing with my regional railways mk1s - nothing really interesting to show. I'm working my way through building brassmasters bogies and have just fitted one with some ultrascales; I've had a hack at the ends though! The corridor connection have been trimmed in readiness for some keen floating plates. A few steps have been removed as most photos of the last MKs seemed to have these removed. I've also taken off the lamp brackets thinking I'd put on some made up from brass... but looking some photos I can't see any evidence of them being in existence so I'll probably just leave them off. The great big holes are for Kadees and the replacement buffters in primer are retractables by MJT. A very peaceful evening was spent cleaning the best part of 50 of them! Happy Modelling!

Great - thanks for your help. I shall put an order in! Cheers Will

Thanks for your help Andrew. I'd tried emailing but no reply so far.... I'll ask them when they're next at an exhibition. Cheers Will

I can't resist playing around with coaches and I have a number of Bachmann MK1s on the go.... First off I'm fitting Brassmasters compensated bogies with black beetle 14mm wheels - A set up I'm happy with as all body rocking is removed and then i can also attempt to match body height with my Bachmann Mk2s I think they look ok. I'm fitting pickups as I intend to fit some form of lighting but I haven't worked out the best approach just yet... one to ponder. After experimenting I've decided to go with fitting kadees between the buffers. The corridor connectors are Keens and as they're lightly sprung they help remove any slack in kadees. I've ended up only using the floating plates from Keens Bachmann MK1s connectors. Quick Question - does anyone know if the Hornby/Lima Mk1s corridor connectors are the same size as Bachmann? I only ask as I notice you can buy a bulk pack but the website has no mention whether they fit Bachmann Mk1s? And probably the most essential update to any of the older Bachmann Mk1s is filing down the roof ribs! A few before painting that are destined for a pair of regional railway Mk1s are shown below; I'm tempted with trying the excellent looking Masokits MK1 detailing etches... but may just leave alone and be lazy

As it freezing in my garage and I've been working away a number of projects have been paused for a warmer time. I have been progressing my class 20s and 20096 has had a few extra details added to the front and I'm pleased that i was able to fit the centre portion of the snowplough under the kadee; And I've progressed it's partner too which is currently having a lighting circuit put in although I only took a photo of the cab which is being laserglazed. For me a rather exciting Christmas present arrived..... my batch order of ultrascale 3ft9in EM wheels So I'm in the process of removing the gears and fitting them to my Vitrains 47s. The chassis has also been lowered which I think when finished really improves their look. And as an experiment I'm having a go at fitting Shawplans lovely window and cab frame etches - It's amazing how much smaller Vitrains efforts are as I've had to remove quite a bit of plastic! Happy Modelling!! Will

Thanks Phil A really neat idea and imo really improves the livery. I shall try it myself. Cheers Will

I'm with you on graffiti as I also can't model it. I really like your NSE 50 and how you've captured the faded look. Is it a respray? Cheers Will

Hi Afraid not with my HSTs. My trial mk3 is waiting for respraying... but as I only spray outside it'll be a few months before that job is done. When I've escaped my job I've been busy with my other projects on my other thread. Although a set of ultrascales have just arrived for the power cars and I have a couple of class 25 chassis to convert so I plan to start that in the new year. Thanks for your interest and merry Christmas Will

As winter has turned up I've spent some time on one of my class 20s.... a project that I've had "in progress" (in bits) for years. Harry Needles' 20096 in RF grey is my favourite and I was lucky that someone else thought soo as it appeared on the second-hand market and saved me a respray! I don't know why I've found this one so hard and fiddly but I've a good push this last week and I'm now pleased how it's turning out; This loco is actually my first ever conversion to EM. I used blackbeetles and as it turned out so well I thought I'd give the gauge a go The reason for the project stall was installing lights.. I just couldn't fit everything into the nose along with a decoder, stay alive etc... So I've simply skipped the nose and just installed them out of sight in the cab. I don't normally bother in a cab light but I've installed one and I'm very pleased in how it turned out... I'm now very tempted to fit a few in my other projects! Glazing is shawplans laserglaze... as are the grill, fan and indicator discs (which will receive another coat of white). I've managed to fit kadees to the body and so these are now seperate from the bogie. The snowploughs are Heljan which have been hacked to allow fitting of the kadees - I might have a go at fitting the centre piece too. There are a few things left to do... a touch of paint here and there, windscreen wipers, bufferbeam detailing and the small matter of it's partner 20905.... thats for another day Happy Modelling!

I gave up on trying to modify Hornby's lighting circuit and so made my own. Nothing revolutionary - a home-made circuit that has separate tail lights and forward lights. I replaced the LEDs but re-used the light guides for the roof marker and tail lights using a 2mm white tower light for the headlight. I very pleased with the overall effect (sorry i can't show it due my lack of photography skills). Lighting was poor today but thought I'd take a few quick snaps; Following updating the lighting circuits I got on with fitting Shawplans Laserglaze which I always thinks makes a huge improvement to the look of any loco. With the pipes in the window and the laserglaze it hopefully it has the illusion of a thin body side... I also painted a super thin black wash to enhance the bodyside details giving, which makes it look a little less flat. Then onto the bit i always enjoy.... final detailing (as at this stage i always feel a project is coming together). I'm not sure of the origin of most of the bits although I'm sure some are Hornby. Windscreen wipers are Shawplan as they look less heavy that the originals (although they do need touching up with a bit more black). Everything has been fitted so as to not foul the kadees. I'm pleased I took on the roof fan as the new one does look really good. So all that's left is a little weathering to the chassis and a bit of DCC tuning using my Sprog. Hornby's 31 does get a lot of bashing on the forums and it does have a few faults (particularly the dodgy chassis on some models which is poor and the reason i got my dutch example for next to nothing). I've spent ages looking at photos of the class and sometimes I think Lima's version looks better... but then sometimes I actually prefer Hornby's effort.... I'm not convinced all of the class were built the same However I'm pleased how this project has finished so this one is a keeper.... a spot of modellers license will hopefully allow it to sit amongst my NSE stock

I've been playing around with my Hornby RR class 31... the super quick and easy project has been extended a little On fitting the EM gauge wheelsets I kept getting a random short so it's running qualities were rather disappointing. It took me ages to realise that on one wheelset the two axle pins were actually touching each other! This has now been rectified and running qualities are now nice and smooth. When I'm looking at the prototypes I can see pipes behind the side windows. I decided that to try and disguise the thickness of the body shell by adding brass wire cut to the window size and then glued... I wish my cutting skills were better as probably more didn't fit that actually fitted! These were then painted white. I then felt I had to replace Hornby's grill with a rather nice shawplan example. Hornby's is too large and so some filling has been done... which I think i just about got away with it. The fan has also been soldered up and painted red. And as the weather today was rather nice I managed to spray the grill and weather the roof. A replica railways headlight also improves the front (although you can't really see it with my photography skills). This leads me onto my next challenge which is the lighting circuits. Something I know very little about and just tend to bodge is lighting circuits. I'm after independent control of the tail lights but because of the way Hornby wire up the 31 I don't think this is possible, so it'll probably end up being easier to put in some homemade bodges.... One to ponder for a few weeks as I'm away with work. Happy Modelling!

Looking great!

Thanks both! I'll never say never to another 31... but this time I'll get the wheels first. I think I just got a bit lucky after spending the best part of 3 years looking for a set! I really think the front windows improve all rtr 37s. I found them tricky to get right on the vi 37s but really rewarding when finished. Mostly because the Vi windows are on the large side which needs some careful filling when fitting the etch. Cheers! Will

A new job and being away from home has reduced my modelling time over the summer, but I've managed to slowly progress my 37s. A few bits from Shawplan have been fitted... these being laserglaze, windscreen wipers and a fan. Then i thought the cab looked a little empty so I've made a representation of the cab front and rear from scrap plastikcard. I've fitted these to two of my 37 projects and although they're crude from a distance it looks ok...well to my eyes it does A (hopefully) quicker project is a Hornby 31. I've always quite liked them (despite the reviews) and couldn't resist starting my regional railways example. The printed stripes and numbers looked a little bit too gloss for me, and not in keeping with the rest of the excellent livery application, so I've sprayed the body with railmatch satin varnish. I think it looks a bit better now. Also I've a applied some light weathering to the roof and picked out the inside of the window frames in black, which will then be laserglazed. Shawplan nameplates finish it off nicely. I've been lucky recently and have been able to get two EM conversion sets off a well known auction site.... no idea who makes them but they work well. I've also fitted a set of kadees and converted it to DCC. This leaves me with a small challenge for the tail lights as I'm trying to think of a solution that will allow me to turn them off.... other than permanently! It also looks like it's missing the headlight from the front so I'll be fitting one of those soon. And onto something a bit more southern.... a Bachmann Mk2 which I rather like these (especially in toothpaste livery) . The bogies are Branchlines excellent etch with Bachmanns sides - it now glides along my uneven test track. They're pretty straightforward to fit with the main challenge being getting the ride height to look ok! Now i have done one the rest should be easy.... (famous last words) To create an illusion of corridor connectors I've fitted a keen systems connector. Couplings are kadee as usual. I'm going to attempt a home made lighting circuit but thats for another day! Happy Modelling!