dj_crisp

Agree with this and wouldn't be bothered if there is a price increase to accommodate the extra lights

Regional Express for me :) Always remember seeing it for the first time when the first were rolled out in it. Rather a striking livery in them days

I agree. Personally I'd prefer an etch which'll have more finese.... with a design that allows the middle part of the plough left off

Something I've pondered too... but for slightly different reasons. The 153 is a bit dodgy to judge as the wheels are too large and the roof profile is wrong so hard to judge on that one.. I think they squashed the gangways a little to compensate. (Fitting an alternative such as Lima makes a difference to the look). I was hoping Heljan would do a 4mm one tbh as the 7mm looks better. The 150 does look low in your photos and I'm not sure of the reason for it. I've noticed on some of my 150s there is alot of slop in the axles in the trailing bogies causing it all to sit low. Depending on which bogie is fitted then if you have the newer one slightly bending the contacts helps. I also fitted brass bearings to some of mine with no contacts to tighten things up. As my layout is EM I'm replacing all wheels. So have fitted 11mm ultrascales which hopefully makes an interesting comparison; I think it looks a bit better and if anything the 150 is still a smidge low but I can live with that. Rightly or wrongly I've based my platform height on the 158.... mostly I'm going with the theory that if the 158 has clearance then pretty much all my stock does. So I'm trying to make the 158 and 150 look ok in the platform... And a bit closer attempting for a level photo! I've probably built the platform a little high but there's no going back now! What we all need is a 11mm solid disc EM wheel.... (I say hopefully that one of our excellent manufacturers is reading this....)

No removable roofs to fit drivers though ;)

Lots of great stuff going on here. I'm not sold on the removable roof idea though especially with the ease of getting Accurascale bodies off. (I'm assuming the middle blue bit is removable as its not sitting right) End of the day I only change decoders when first bought or they go bang so hopefully not often at all. By being removable a heavier seem is introduced and then you're relying on a perfect fit for each loco. Something I've seen that's not achievable with the 37, and the 66 looks like it's going to have the same issues.

I've been researching 55020 and as you say it didn't last long in GWR150.... but in that time the roof did weather quite quickly! Also on flickr there are photos of it subsituting a 117, then with a DPU and also a DTS so had some interesting formations! T305 seems to be on loads of excursions so almost any late 80s/early 90s layout has an excuse to run one! I'm having a bash at doing 117305 when it was hanging around Penzance towards the end of it's days.

I've been spending some time this week bending bits of wire and staring at underframes - and for one chassis also slapped on some base weathering to see how things look. Then of course I've decided to do a few extras! When weathered I'm pleased how the speedo cable, front pipes and extra depth to the back of the bufferbeam looks. It's all very subtle but is noticable Vs one that hasn't been updated. I've also added some dangly wires to the two boxes behind the bogie which is my best guess as to whats going on here. I'm sure this isn't strickly right so I'm using my impressionist modelling style ;) The front is mostly standard Bachmann with my only change being the cross pipe on the MU connectors. Can't resist adding a bit of wire above the grill... this side is easy to fit as I've drilled a hole in the chassis whereas the other side isn't. Of course looking at this photo shows I've mounted it a touch high - hey ho. And hiding is a square bit of plastikard to the right of the battery box. Some of the preserved DMUs have this painted orange so it really sticks out but I think in BR days it wasn't.... anyhow it's a really quick job to add using square rod. One thing I'm consfused on is where did these units carry air horns? I've seen them mounted under the secondmans steps on some photos but i don't know of they had some both ends or all carried them there?

Stunning! i love the weathering and your refinements.... I must have a bash at mine now... (as soon as I've done my DMUs). As Will says laserglaze will nicely finish it off and just because I've been painting them a spot of dried bufferhead grease :) I've been looking for some better horns too - Accurascales are really nice but I'm not sure if they're available or if there is an alternative? Thanks for sharing the photos and tips - Will be bookmarking this!

Interesting... i don't suppose you have some of Brians new laserglaze to compare? Looks a little shallow to me.... but that could be compensation for the thick edges thanks

I've been pondering the front of my Bachmann 37 vs the prototype (don't have an accurascale version to do similar to) and i think it's possibly a little flat at the base but I think this issue is exaggerated by the naff glazing. I'm tempted to try some of Brians frames as i have loads in stock to see if it makes any difference. (i understand Bachmann and brian seem to agree on the sizing of the frames but as yet haven't tried ) I think (judging by photos) that the accurascale version is laid back a bit too much and have my suspicions on how the curve of the roof departs away from the side windows. If you have a side on view you'll know what I'm on about. I've often thought the frames of the accurascale look a bit small... but they could be fine just not at the right angle? It's hard to tell on photos. Mind you the bonnet doors on Bachmanns is way better so overall I think Bachmann have done a better job in this area.

Hopefully a 4mm scale version to follow?

Looking very neat! I'd be tempted with just using foam board but that'll be an experiment rather than anything ive used (seeing as mine is all cork)..... The trackbed looks quite flat around the station area in your photos so probably not much is needed. Also if I were to start again I'd like to try out the droppers you've suggested and try to sneak them through a sleeper with a cosmetic chair hiding them. I just stripped back wire, bent it into an L shape, soldered it and then soldered it to the base of the rail. Its hard to see under flatbottom but a little more noticeable under bullhead but if u do it before laying the track then it can be easily file a little to hide further. Even better is to have the wire go though a sleeper and add cosmetic chairs which ive done in places. Every length of rail has a dropper to the main DCC circuit... wiring and track laying did seem to take an age with me!

I may have lost what little sanity I have.... I've been experimenting with magnets and bits of elastic.... this has gone together surprisingly well but only time will tell how robust it all is. There doesn't seem to be any interference with the hunt coupling either so I'm going to expand it out to a double socket next then if that works trial it on my 118 to see if it lasts! Also added a bit of black plastikard behind the buffer beam and been bending wires... alot of wires! I reckon by the end I may have done one right!

Thanks Nick. A great and useful photo. Yep Agreed Bachmanns efforts are a little shallow. I'll look into the square piece you mentioned to see if I can do something to represent it.

I've found a photo on flickr of a 117 close up which suggests the pipes go in at the side so have modified by setting them back a little and then bending at the end. I think it looks a bit better side on now; So thats the rest of the week sorted (at least) fitting these small mods to the fleet.

Hi Nick I'm not sure if I've got these additions right as I've found it tricky to locate where they should go..... I'll be very interested in opinions on whether they're ok! Speedo wire location and extra pipes under. The Speedo wire isn't glued in but I've added a hole so it's fixed into place. You can see a few holes testing out MU connector locations! but I'm guessing this the location where they go.... or they go in at 90 degrees? And i think there is a missing MU connector pipe that I've added in plastikard. Also do you know if they had air horns at all? Sometimes i think i see them on photos to the secondmans door but not sure if they're always there... or on bubbles just at one end? I thought it best before i do the fleet to have a test to see what it all looks like! Thanks Will

I can't resist a bubble in distress and placed a low bid on a non-working Kernow return and surprisingly the bid was successful. Anyhow I almost cut the body up for the 116 centre car project but just couldn't bring myself to doing that and so I've got a london area bubble project on the go! The chassis fix was simple which was a right bonus so it's been converted to EM and is now on the detailing bench. @NickL2008 has highlighted a few missing speedo & bufferbeam details on his excellent bubbles so I'm rather tempted to copy his efforts and have a go myself. Flickr has some nice photos of the prototype dragging a DTS or a DPU so I've added a smiths coupling hook to mine as I quite fancy doing those formations! I don't mind the "scale" dummy couplings provided with Bachmann DMUs but tests on my layout have shown they uncouple so I'm now going down the route of using smiths hooks even though they're way too big but practical. However I have used the rest of the Bachmann coupling by reattaching it using 06.mm wire and painting it black. Hopefully my hybrid coupling looks ok. Bachmann doesn't model any of the roof welds which doesn't matter so much for dark grey or black roofs but on 55020 with it's lovely creamy coloured roof looks a bit plain to my eyes. Colour wise Kernow were spot on for when it was first painted but I'm after that end of livery look. So here's my experiments; First task is masking up the ribs which i airbrush a dark grey colour (probably weathered black). Unmasked it all looked a bit scary so needed toning down! From photos it looked a bit more blue/grey towards the end so I mixed my own shade of grey using yoeman grey... some dark grey and as much blue as i dared. I couldn't get an exact match but went with this approximate match as it'll do till i weather! Anyhow it ended up a bit like the photos show but in reality is a little lighter than my phone photos suggest. I probably sprayed too much grey but the lines showed through so i tried some acrylic washes. These weren't great so I've used enamel black and brown washes and sharpened the welds a little. I've tried for a sruffy look.... LOL. Question is does it looks ok? I think it's roughly what i had in mind so might be passable. The finishing touch will be airbrushing exhaust dirt and possiblly a coat of varnish but I'm not so sure thats needed. And the sun came out for 20 seconds or so.... cheers for reading! Will

The paint I've used is Rainbow Railways BR early blue which is a perfect match for Bachmanns Blue on their recent DMU releases. It might be the paint is a little old but I remember finding it tricky to spray well when new also. Railmatch is my preferred paint when it comes to spraying. I think next time I'm going to try different thinners to see if that helps. Airbrushing is one of those things that some days goes brilliantly and others less so!

Thanks. An interesting idea that I hadn't thought of. I'm trying to get away without a full respray as lining is a skill I haven't got to grips with. Adding a mm might make the rear end look a but strange in relation to the lining. There are so many differences Vs a 117 that it's going to very much be an impression of one rather than anything exact so I'm going to try and live with it being a tad short Cheers Will

Well the DMU project has been keeping me busy.... and in the odd occaision some progress has been made. Not a particularly interesting post but some things I've been up.... I've converted the bubbles and 116 to EM. A fairly lengthy process fitting DCC concepts wheels to existing split axles but surprisingly all went in first time with smooth running; They've since been chemically blackened and will be ultimately weathered. I'm having a go simulating roof welds.... a pretty boring task masking it up but at least it's just one bubble! Some projects went blue; I'm really not too happy with my blue paint finish. I'm not sure if it's a new compressor since my trusty old one blew up, my mixing skills, the weather (it was hot when i painted), using quick evaporating thinners, too many layers...too few layers or even the paint used but it's turned out a bit rougher than normal. Really disappointing. Anyhow rather than strip everything and start again I'm attempting to rescue one coach to see how it looks finished under a coat of satin but first i need to sort some transfers. A coat of gloss didn't help things tbh as that has probably added to the poor finish. For a few bubbles the victims didn't have the right round buffers. It's not a spare part that Bachmann sell but as it happens I had some brass Oleo buffers in stock. Problem was they had square bases... until i put them into my minidrill and filed off the base! A before and after; Almost too nice to paint! They're probably not strictly accurate but I think they look ok fitted and doing it this way meant i didn't need to faff about with the Bachmann bufferbeam to remove the plastic base; Rather than admit to my DCC woes I'll just say the 116 now has working lights ;) A pig of a job getting a decoder to simply work.... but I've mananged it in the TC (after what felt like 20 attempts). And typically I put it all together then realised because of the new compartment walls one compartment is in the dark.... so have added another light; Crude but seems to work I've painted the interior far all of the 116 this nice shade of blue.... a halfords rattle can which also looks a bit rough so maybe blue just looks rough! I plan on painiting the doors then spraying it all with matt varnish. My preferred approach to DMUs is to have seperate decoders in each car and use Hunts couplings between - way easier to couple up! It does mean wiring up decoders though.... and I just manage to squeeze a lokpilot into the DMS Next up is drawing some transfers and then adding details to the chassis to get them all ready for weathering - something i enjoy doing. I really hope i don't need to strip the 116!

Sounds good to me! Good luck. The weather isn't helping for me to progress any of my airbrush projects. I've been spraying blue on mine and I'm not sure whether it's the paint I'm using, the weather, a new compressor or just my poor mixing skills as it all looks a little rough. Going to finish one with some satin varnish to see if I'll get away with it. The trials of painting!

Thanks. As things stand I prefer the Bachmann body to the Accurascale version so i suspect I will be going with Bachmann for my 37s.

Haha! I think your model of 678 is a very bad influence on me! Looks smashing. I have plans for some St Blazey allocated machines to do one day but I'm rather hopeful of Bachmann just doing them. Oh and maybe a 37/7 in metals.

I know which one of those two I'd be keeping ;)