dj_crisp

This model is definitely one I want to see in person as some of the photos taken seem a little distorted. I've always felt the 47 is one of the more deceptive shapes in that it looks simple but probably isn't. I imagine it's camera angles. To me it looks like it's on stilts, can look a little fat in the face with a fairly short body (as those bogies are quite large). Most models to date haven't completely captured this right imo. I think this one may fall into the same category as the body looks to sit too low Vs the bogies, and the arc of the roof could be off too... but will reserve judgement till when I see it in person.

I think this all looks really good. What do you guys use for TOUs, tiebars etc? That's the bit I'm struggling with to get a robust and reliable setup my hand-built track.

An interesting thread that I've stumbled on as I'm trying to research better ways of doing point stretchers (or are they tie bars?). Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere. My trackwork is a mixture of bullhead and flatbottom.... and hasn't had much use this year. Anyhow I returned to the layout and have found 4 or so tiebars have failed (3 FB, 1 BH) since i last used it so need to sort these. They all have differing methods of construction... simple soldering to copperclad to using Ambis etches with C&L TOUs. A few photos of the failures... Ambis etches on a non standard drive due to baseboard frames - snapped on the copperclad stretcher. Standard soldered joint fail. Ambis stretchers with a C&L TOU So does anyone know of a better way of doing this? I think I need a solution that needs a bit of flex/rotation especially so with the heavier FB ones.... and I'd also like it to look ok but I'm beginning to think something more robust would be better? Also in this world of 3d printing has anyone drawn up things like point locks? Thanks Will

Thanks Guy! Doesn't time fly.... I think it was over a year ago that I brought the repainted shells along to show you at Tolworth Showtrain!

Time for a spot of toothpaste livery. I'm very nearly finished with my attempt at modelling Set L210.... which was a little n large hybrid comprising of 54381 101 DTCL & 53083 116 DMBS in nice NSE revised livey. My photos are just snaps taken on my phone in todays winter sun so lighting is perhaps a little different lighting wise to my normal ones. Here's one of the 116 DMBS leading.... And one of the 101... It's been a lengthy project but one that I've enjoyed. As with all my models it's not totally finished.... I'm waiting for some data panels for the 116 from Rail Tech and so for the time being I've painted out the "117" bit and haven't yet weathered the ends as a result. I also can't bring myself to weather the roofs (just yet) so these will probably stay as is! I've probably mentioned most mods already so will just summarise a few changes I've made; Class 116 DMBS Throughout this project I've expected Bachmann to announce a 116 so now I've finished one I reckon there'll be one announced soon! The starting point is a Bachmann NSE class 117. The hardest modification is the removal of the guards grille which appeared on refurbishments of 117s and this has been scraped off, filled then primed, filled then primed etc and then painted over. Hopefully it's not too obvious where I've filled but did mean i needed to spray some white and blue to hide it. Also while doing this the guards handrails have been replaced to be two piece type which the 116s seem to have. removing the original handrails meant I needed some more filler and painting of blue grey and white so the red is the only colour untouched by me! The front cab needs handrails removing and I also removed the headlight as the prototype didn’t have one. so more filler. The Derby cab roof is from a Dapol 122 roof and the extra roof marker is just a bit of plastikard and metal brass which i think i showed me doing earlier in the thread. To add some extra work I broke one of the markers so had to replace that with brass tube.... and also the marker lenses! The roof vents where replaced with MJT shell vents and then sprayed black. I also now open out the exhausts where-ever I can to try and make them look like tubes The destination blinds are a railtech transfer sandwiched between two bits of clear plastic and is illuminated behind using the Bachmann circuit board but modified to illuminate the top and so I removed the window destination LED etc. Also replaced is the front glazing with Shawplan laserglaze with the front window frames reduced in thickness with MJT wipers. (Which i wish had longer fixings! One benefit (?) of shawplans glazing is that it does show off the cab detail so quite a few things needed picking out in paint etc. Although I can now clearly see the drivers window being clunky original glazing! And the great debate I have with myself.... to include a driver or not! My now (usual) chassis additions were all added which I batch did all my DMUs in one go which regular readers may note is more than one DMU.... even my wife commented that I seem to have alot of trains with them all stacked on the bench so I just casually passed it off as only a few but they happen to all be in bits.... I think I failed there. Class 101 DTCL A surprising amount of effort went into doing the DTCL as quite quickly I realise Bachmann have made a right mess of measuring the size of all the windows. TBH i can live quite happily with the sides but couldnt't with the fronts so have added shawplan frames which to my eye makes a real difference to the look of the model. It’s subtle but I think has a massive effect to the front. The hardest bit for me was getting the electrics right which is mostly homemade bodges but seems to work surprisingly well. The interior lighting circuits have been completely replaced and I can now control separate Head/Tail/Cab/Interior & destination lights on DCC. The undeframe has had lots of extra details such as airhorns and speedo cablesadded , and I’ve mostly used a spare Bachmann 117 kit for the rest of the bufferbeam. Hopefully the speedo cable will last as it's a bit stretched out! The corridor connector is a working slaters etched brass effort… It’s only a single scissor as I think a working double is beyond my building abilities! I've actually borrowed this from a NSE 108 which will now be moved on as I probably do have the odd DMU too many ;) I'm pleased with the effect of the working corridor connectors as it's made this feel like one unit to me. And it goes round surprisngly tight curves thanks to sprung buffers! Painting & Transfers As the 101 started life with early NSE blue and I didn’t fancy paint matching Bachmanns revised blue on the 116 I just resprayed the lot with precision revised NSE. It's a bit more purple than Bachmanns interpretation but it's nice to have a variation and tbh every photo I look at seems to have a different shade of blue. Railmatch NSE grey is a great match though so that I've been able to blend this in. And Tamiya white primer is nice match for Bachmann's NSE white - LOL! (I did try "NSE white" but that looked awful.... it's basically just white on Bachmann models and prototypes as far as i can tell). The roof is Halford Black and I'm still undecided as to weather or to not weather (as i quite like it as is). The NSE transfers are railtech but everything else I've drawn in inkscape. They're about right but not exact! I've finished off with satin Varnish and while it won't win any prizes I'm quite pleased with the effect. Hopefully this has been of interest... quite a fun project to do tbh. Next up will probably be my other 116 project so that will definitely bring in Bachmann announcements! Happy Modelling and cheers for reading this far! Will

Probably still worth a try.... I may have just been unlucky!

It's always fun colour matching! The closest match I've found to Bachmanns yellow is strangely a tin of precisions pre85... but this has nearly dried up so I bought a replacement and im sure the shade is now a touch lighter... more like pre85 yellow should be I guess... but not as light as railmatch pre85 (which I used on a recent 122 I sprayed) So now I've mixed up a combination tin of precision pre and post 85 to get a closer match to Bachmanns for current and future projects 🤔 Personally I've found the post 85 yellows from railmatch and precision to be a touch more orange than Bachmanns efforts but one thing I'm learning is that each pot is subtly different! And for that reason I like to have several shades of yellow available....(and some humbrol yellow gloss)

Somehow I've managed to get my 101 DTCL lights to work.... A proper homemade bodge! I have in stock some Trains4u stay alive capacitors and while they were probably not designed for DCC i've hooked them up Lais DCC function only decoder which all just about squeezes in. My homemade circuit bodges now stretch to using copperclad point tie bars which I've scraped off bits to make circuits for SMD LEDs and resistors. I'm using 5 of the 8 functions on offer for head/tail lights, Interior/ cab and destination blind. Today feels like progress as it all seems to work (for the time being) and I've matched it up to the 116 so L210 may just come alive soon! Before that I'm playing with getting the tone of the interior to sort of match Bachmanns 117..... then theres the small matter of what colour to paint the cab interior.... should the desk stay blue?

The early blue does look really good and a cracking job! One of the problems I have with Bachmann 117s is the glazing is really difficult to remove. Not sure what glue they use but I've struggled with it. Had a few cracked windows and crazing on the sides so it's always obvious the glazing has been removed and re-fitted. So for my final 117 I need to varnish it prior to weathering and so have left the glazing in situ which i normally wouldnt do. Will use alot of masking fluid! L210 is a great idea! Or any 116 :) The only horrible bit is removing the guards vents but fine if you're doing a full respray.

Challenge complete! Brilliant and some excellent photos! Thanks for posting. The 104 in NSE is a fav of mine and yours looks smashing! You can never have too many DMUs :) what plans do you have for the Bachmann 117s?

Enjoy! I won't be able to make it but please post some photos if u get the time to take some (especially if they're DMUs) Will

Always nice to see a 50 hence why I've ended up browsing this thread. I reckon they're taking a different approach to the challenge of producing a EE model to go round tight curves. On the OO one they used smaller wheels (which I think Accurascale did with the Deltic... I dont fully know as I haven't bought one). On this one it looks like their solution is to raise the body as the wheel size looks good to me. You can see this on the front as there's too much bufferbeam showing and a gap between the buffer beam step and bottom of the body. I think (but hard to tell) there is the same gap between the bogie and body but it looks a little tighter to me So this will look tall Vs coaches and the HST next to it ;) Debatable whether this option or smaller wheels is better but I understand why they have to do it.

Express!

I like your final statement :) I fully expected Bachmann to announce a 116 as I'm just about to finish mine! I rather like the 104s near the end of their time... mixed up in hybrid formations. From flickr... a blue one with NSE flashes with a 101. Great stuff

Yeah I agree.... which is kind of the point I was trying to make that future margins will be more challenging after the excitement of a new versions of each model. However (and i know Im in the minority) I've found DMUs and in particular 1st gen examples way more interesting to model than locos but each to their own eh 😉

A/S haven't (yet) produced a UK outline DMU so I don't think you can really compare. I hope they do though! Also I'd consider A/S in the earlier phase of a startup company.... done great with some low hanging fruit picked, got some buzz about it and trying to expand from a niche company to something more mainstream. When they do it'll be interesting to see pricing then and what they focus on. Returning to the 104... its clearly more niche than mainstream locos so I would expect shorter runs and a higher price to achieve a decent return on the tooling. So far i think it looks great and hopefully its a success so other DMUs are considered! Looking forward to seeing it.

Sorry some more DMUs! 70s bubble time! Well they're nearly finished but it's amazing looking at photos there are plenty of odd things that need sorting out. Both are resprays with my own decals drawn in inkscape and printed by 4D. They're not drawn strictly right so I'm going with them being an impression of the real things.... as are the route indicator numerals (I've no idea what the true fonts are!). I have to admit I was really worried over my respray attempts and in particular the blue. So worried I almost stripped them and started again. The problem was they appeared to be very grainy on drying which I think was caused by spraying on a really hot day (30+) and using pheonix quick air drying thinners. I've since switched to using their general purpose thinners which have worked better so I'll see if it happens again. Anyhow with alot of disappointment these were left to harden for at least a month (along with my 116) until i could face looking at them again..... Anyhow I decided to t-cut the lot to see if i could gently persuade them to look a bit smooth with the theory that if it looked awful I'd just start again. Wasn't fun doing 5 coaches! Having a small blue square waterslide transfer to fit from Railtech I then took the decision to gloss the lot in the hope things would look better.... and now I have a greater respect for those than can paint in gloss! I took the plunge and attached the transfers, straightened the lines between blue and yellow and then coated the lot in a railmatch gloss/satin combo mix. Note to self - must learn how to mask straight lines! Amazingly this coat has hidden so many of the imperfections that I think I've blagged an average paint job! Roofs are Lifecolor Acrylic painted on which is where my rough painting skills come in handy as it adds some texture. First up is my "1976" representation of W55026. I think i shared earlier a rather nice photo of the unit with some nice bashes on the fronts.... so I've tried to represent this along with a few dents. One of the rare occasions damage from my workbench is intentional! (I'll admit to one of the antlers having a splint to keep it in one piece). One of the benefits of dry rub transfers is there is no film around the dent so is easier to fit. A modelling bonus is the prototype had a missing destination box for a while so as I think I'm quite good at modelling missing things I had to model that!! The route indicators are a drawing in inkscape that I've printed off in black and white then weathered with acrylic washes. I quite like the numerals not being aligned as it tricks me to thinking there are four blinds which have a bit of motion and a bit of selective weathering helps. The other end has some dents which are just humbrol metalcote. Both units had different buffers and i happened to have some nice brass ones in stock... but they had a square base and so I removed this is a mini file so I could attach and keep the original base plate. The destination blind is printed off and attached to some plastic, a 1mm strip of plastikard was then painted brown. W55016 is from a picture of it in 1973 while it was still in revenue earning service. As I've done before I've used a Bachmann underframe (with some extra bits of wire as mentioned before) and a Dapol body. I'm now a pro at hacking the body about to allow it to fit to the Bachmann chassis and it's really straightforward to do if the roof is separated. This is then smoothed a bit and MJT shell ventilators added. From trying to joing Bachmann and Dapol shells I'm now convinced Dapol have got the heights of the door hinges and door bangers wrong. It's not something that bothers me and I was all confident that it would cause a problem with a blue livery.... then tried to line up the transfers!! I've ended up just whacking them near where i think they should be rather than being lined up to anything specific. Again the area which took the most effort was thinning and opening out Dapols front route indicator box and it's a pity there isn't an etch for this to make it look a little bit more flush.. Again it took an age to find a font that looks similar to the photos i have.... clearly different to the 121! The destination blinds are printed paper between two bits of clear plastic and is illuminated behind using the Bachmann circuit board but modified to illumate on the top removing the window destination ones, I was planning on black exhausts however I had my silver spray can out (for a 117) so just sprayed them silver to see how they looked and rather like them... so they'll stay silver! I've had a go at opening out the exhausts to make them look a bit more like tubes. Interiors on both units have been weathered to tone them down and I've fitted a faux wall round the pins attaching the roof circuit board as i just don't like seeing them when the lights are on. (I don't know when the guards van couldn't have been used for this tbh! They've both been converted to EM using my normal method with DCC concepts 12mm wheels which i do feel as though I'm making a good contribution to the entire UK trade for.... but the latest batch are rather excellent (i.e. I've had no wobblers since they're changed the plastic busch). The last things to fit are the cab glazing which are both laserglaze - I'm finding Dapol is consistent on sizing whereas Bachmann seem to have slightly different sizes between different moulds (and even on the same bubble car!). Where they're a bit loose I've been using a splodge of paint here and there as well as my normal Humbrol clear to seal everything in but this has only rarely been needed. I'm not sure whether it's a 116 in Blue or NSE next - depends which one i have the mojo on finishing first. Its a funny thing this modelling mojo thing, which has wained a little recently. I think it'll help if i get the layout up and running, or maybe some 116 data panels arrive from Railtech to inspire me to finish them. For the time being until the mojo fully returns I'll keep myself busy flogging items which really don't fit in any of my layout plans (which of course all of my DMUs do 😀 ). Ta rah for now and happy modelling! Will

Fabulous PGAs! Some days when I see shots of this layout I'm tempted with N....!

A great thread that I'm enjoying following! This looks very interesting and a product I've not heard of before. Do you spray it on and then mess about with it? I guess it'll work on any colour? Thanks Will

I'm building up to tackling the electrics on my 101 DTCL for use in set L210. To avoid looking at such things I've looked at photos of an underframe and added a few bits (as you've probably guessed electrics are a bit of a mystery to me so I try to avoid!). First up is adding a speedo cable (from Bachmann spares). Now I really hope this doesn't snap! The 101 seems a bit lower mounted so I've used a bit of TCL pipe metal roof mounts (taken from the 116 project) and stuck in a speedo mounting pin (also avialable from Bachman spares). The bogie mount is just another pin drilled into the axle box. It's a little more stretched out than say a 117 but should negotiate any curves that the unit may face. Not sure if the vacuum hanger thing should be horizontal or as is when the unit is moving? A poor photo but hopefully shows the mods to the front bufferbeam - added brass horns, an extra white pipe and couplings and other cables from a 121 bag. Typically I broke the white MU connector pipes so this is now brass wire while the black one is original. The red and blue pipes are original but i would like something better but don't have anything so will live with them. A toilet shoot has been added at the back (more spares from the TCL to TC conversion) and a dynamo band added using scrap brass fret. The interior is in mid-repaint into a blue that will hopefully be more matching of the NSE 117 interior on the 116. It'll be toned down with an airbrush at some point. Final mods have been thinning the V hangers so they look a bit less plastic and adding some kind of box thing to the right of them. Debatable how successful this has been! It's also scary how bendy all of the underframe is without the body!! If I've missed anything please let me know! I've not done much research on the old 101s! I'm hoping to take on the electrics at the weekend or next week. Looking forward to that working :)

Excellent choice! I also like 55026 in this formation :) Set number is sadly not on railcar.co.uk

I've nearly finished my class 118 and I'm just waiting for some data panels from Railtech then I can add a little weathering to the inner ends. Anyhow a few test shots (with a few more of flickr).... I've got quite a few excuses for a 118 as my layouts are based on the western region, and on the west side of the country, so P471 was chosen. The other slightly far out excuse is this model reminds me of my old Lima 117 (or was it a 118 ;) ) which I had many hours of fun with before selling on so wanted to recreate some of that. Mods are probably detailed earlier in the thread but essentially the main effort went into getting the headcodes to be curved using a bit of spare Dapol 122 roof. Also the DMS on P471 seems to be more plated over so that was added with some brass. Otherwise it's the same mods as my 117.... and all of the heavyweights I've done so far! TBH the roof is probably a bit too smooth so I've tried to roughen it up a bit with my poor painting style ;) I'm quite pleased with the exhausts and think it's worth the effort to open them out. I think the TCL should have lost it's first class portion for the time period i'm modelling.... but a few years before it still had it. I've currently decided to leave alone in case i mess up removing it all! Modellers license and all that. The underframe has had a few changes with a few wires here and there and I've added a dynamo belt from scrap brass frets. TBH I'll mostly run it in 2 car formation so won't worry too much about the TCL ! Transfers for the renumbering are dry rub which i drew in inkscape using my approximate guess method of sizing. I find it hard to hide waterslide so prefer the dry rub alternative. I do like this one in 2 car formation :) Next steps will be data panels and experimenting with connecting pipes... but there are a few DMU projects nearing completion first. Happy Modelling and cheers for reading! Will

Good news but a pity its not one of yours.

And now for something Blue/Grey.... well a couple of bubbles. My standard Bachmann release has had extra detailing like the others so it sits nicely next with the rest of the fleet. I've replaced a few of the front windows with laser glaze where my homemade attempts weren't that great. Also changed the headcode boxes so they're a bit less thick... this end doesn't if it's coming or going ;) And I've just finished off my oddball bubble; This end I actually broke but thankfully I think I've got away with it.... ? Livery wise it's the standard release (with lining fixes due to the knife slipping at the wrong moments....) The inspiration for this model came from finding a shot of it at Penzance so this is the condition I've gone for. The main difference as far as i can see is the positioning of the BR Symbols which are left from the days of this being a valley trains machine. So along with the renumbering I've drawn slightly smaller versions in inkscape and then had them printed as a dry rub transfer. Actually all of my re-numbering (and resprays to come) have been done this way. Inkscape has been a steep learning curve and is certainly not a package that I've got to grips with but it does open lots of possibilities for things like destination blinds! In the period I'm modelling 55033 really has a rough looking roof. I've not gone as heavy as the real thing as I feared it'll just look like paint splatter and look like proper naff weathering...! So i may if I'm feeling brave add some more patches on the roof and re-visit this but for the time being I'm happy with how this one has turned out. The Dapol headcode box isn't illuminated (i think the real thing wasn't) but has a bit of grey plastic stuck inside and then I glazed it. I'm not entirely happy with the centre blank destination box tbh as its perhaps a little thin so this may be changed one day.... but I have other DMUs to play with and finish :)

I remember a rather inspirational Rail Magazine supplement from the 90s that showed how to upgrade the Lima 117 and was resprayed into GWR150 livery. I thought it was amazing and the work involved was really special and inspired me to try upgrading my own lima 117s (or were they 118s?). I never did a great job but fast forward 30 years or so (?) and Kernow brings out their own version and so any thoughts of attempting a re-spray are instantly forgotten and I now have my own 117305 (although without the super interior the model rail supplement had). The first modification is to the fronts as Kernow's commission is the original version without the headlight. I'm yet to find a suitable headlight so modified a replica railways version by thinning it down and drilling a hole through. It wasn't the easiiet task tbh! It's probably a bit large but will do! The window frames have been thinned then painted black which I find especially hard to achieve a look as good as a Bachmann print so have settled on how it looks now (3rd attempt). Transfers are dry rub and i tried to incorporate the Tysley depot sticker but this only worked on one unit and is probably pushing the technology too far. The front has then been airbrushed with satin varnish. The front destination blind is my mashup of printed paper between two bits of clear plastic and some masking tape and is illuminated behind using the Bachmann circuit board. Front glazing is by shawplan. I'm finding subtle differences in size between each moulding so for this one had to do a bodge approach of painting one end of the frame to add a bit of thickness and while still wet add in the glazing then fix with humbrol klear. I've tried a bit of fading for the roof. It's probably a bit subtle but hopefully looks similar to the last few years of the units life. Also the exhausts have been opened out to suggest they could be a tube. The circuit boards have been modified with each coach having it's own decoder. This allows better speed matching, opportunities for easily mixing units as well as removing the coupling unit which I find hard to use. The revised coupling is mounted at buffer beam level and is a kadee box and hunt magnetic coupling. Corridor connectors are York Models lasercut paper but with the addition of some plastic binliner for the roof. I didn't take many photos of the centre car but this has had some extra underfame detailing and also fitting of a dynamo band using scrap brass. Overall I'm quite pleased how the unit has turned out. I'm planning on experimenting connecting pipes but thats for another day. Being a bit of a celebrity set the unit appeared all over the place particularly on railtours. It also ended up in the south west in both 2 and 3 car formations so is a really usefull unit for my layout (and any others i may dream up!) cheers for reading Will