dj_crisp

1 hour ago, adb968008 said:

I’m going to give one ago and compare. Ive seen enough and convinced this is one of Heljans better (if not best diesels), its certainly heading in the direction of industry trend.

 

I also think the detail is there, possibly more so under the frame than Bachmanns, and more metal handrails/grabs etc… the piping through the engine room windows looked a bit more substantial too.

 

However other areas Bachmann may have it, one is the eth and footstep, I want to also see how the tapering angle of the cab compares, both side on and from above… I’d no idea how far out the old Bachmann one was, until I saw the new one and compared to pictures.

 

For certain though this new one will sit nicely and play alongside, better than the old one.

 

But if its got the beans inside, and enough positives, then it will come down to the liveries, and who brings them first, i’m not partisan in that way.

I look forward to seeing some photos! But especially lined up with a coach ;)

I never understood with why my Vitrains 47 looked off until I got a new Bach 47.... then I realised that while there is a smidge of a difference body height wise the bogies of the Vi's aren't big enough. So lowering Vi's helped make it look better on its own it doesn't look as good with a coach. All sort of makes sense to me now. 

So I suspect something is going on with Heljans as the photos seen so far don't look right... but that could easily be the camera tricking me.

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

1 hour ago, lyneux said:

Will, that looks superb! I can't wait to see this up close at some point. You should be very pleased with it! I particularly like the corridor connections and the 'Not in Service' on the destination blinds.

 

Guy

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

51 minutes ago, The Fatadder said:

That is frustrating to hear, I had been using the same and have to touch up the ends for my next 37 respray.  Likewise my old tin has dried up and was planning to buy a replacement at Warley...

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? 

3 hours ago, Rich Papper said:

Good Evening All

Some wheel cleaning afoot tonight as Oxford Road is out this weekend at the Thornbury and South Glos MRC exhibition - details here.

 

Taking a lot more tools this time just in case. Please do say hello if you're passing.

Always interrupt if it looks like I'm concentrating on something, I've probably just snookered myself.

Rich

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!

18 minutes ago, wombatofludham said:

I'm also a fart cart fiend.  I'm looking forward to the 104, plus any others companies want to throw at me.  The 116 and 120 would certainly tempt me.

You can never have too many DMUs.

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

18 minutes ago, GordonC said:

 

But mainstream locos are probably getting more niche as well as their cost, detail and accuracy increases and there must be lower production run volumes to spread development cost over too while new releases have to compete with existing older models out on the market.

 

While we're probably more likely to buy multiple locos in different liveries and numbers/names the potential for sales of a Class 104 would have to be significant even if more modellers just buy one livery when its not been available RTR before.

 

Personally I'd probably feel more attachment to locos by number/name/depot so I might hold out for a Scottish large logo example rather than just any old one. Whereas a Class 104 is much more generic to me - almost like in the background - you'd notice its there or not, but not details about it.

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 😉

2 hours ago, Iskra said:

Where’s the evolution in a standard DC 2-car DMU with working lights? Manufacturer’s have been churning those out for years now. And then I need to spend additionally on it to make it DCC fitted or sound, which other manufacturers are offering at the same or similar price to this DC only unit. So, yes in this instance the very high price does grate somewhat. 

 

Accurascale are providing choice, variation and value all at the same time. They are showing other manufacturers up in the value department and showing value, quality and variation can all go together. 
 

Heljan are welcome to charge what they like, but if nobody buys them, where does that leave them? …discounting and wiping out their fat margin anyway on the rest of the stock. You could argue revenue wise, it’s the same financial result as selling more with an initially lower price and therefore profit margin, but one looks a lot better than the other on the manufacturer. 

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.

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

On 21/10/2023 at 11:31, sb67 said:

I decided to try some AK worn effects fluid on a couple of the vans. I don't think it's too bad, bit more work needed though I feel. 

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 :)

4 hours ago, NickL2008 said:

Nice work Will, Layout has eaten up my time recently, Ive started working on the spare Bachmann Bubble shell, probably do it as 55026 with NSE flashes etc. 

 

NL

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

12 hours ago, charliepetty said:

An all new 153 is being planned by someone else.    Charlie

Good news but a pity its not one of yours.