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Thanks Pete. I always think that consistency is more important than absolute accuracy in things like that - so even if the shape's not perfect at least they all match!

One quite problematical issue with the No Nonsense Kits ends was the way that the MU pipes are cast on in one piece. Because of the limitations of the casting process, this leaves significant metal webs behind each pipe, so the only way to disguise it is with some extremely careful painting (not yet done in the picture). It would have been so much better for the pipes to have been left off and supplied as a separate casting - curiously the original MTK ends were actually produced in that way so it was quite a retrograde step to change it. For any future builds, now that I know I'll file off all the pipes completely and reinstate them with separate ones.

... and with some Blue and Yellow paint applied. A bit glossy at the moment and not cleaned up.

The primed EPB bodyshells, with the 207 shells that are being dealt with at the same time.

The motorisation for this one is a Replica 64' motorised chassis - these generally fit very nicely into MTK kits, although not the Bulleid EPB with its 60' vehicles.

Looking extremely ex-works with their high gloss blue and yellow paint, but this will get toned down after the transfers are on. A test assembly showed that the trailers currently sit a little lower than the motorised vehicle, but that's easy enough to sort out. What was very nice in the MTK kit was the etched representations of the grilles / vents to the engine room. They were an absolutely spot-on fit into the apertures punched into the aluminium sides.

Roof detail was added to the Motor Coach just using some plastikard and .7mm brass rod. The exhaust pipe was something I found in my misc. castings box - no idea what it was originally supposed to be

The replacement boxes for the MU pipes were just made up out of plastikard, and after fitting and a general clean up I primed it all with Halfords grey primer.

It took a good few hours to make those ends presentable, but in the end I got to here, which I'm quite happy with.

The basic shape was pretty good though. I did try for a while to clean it all up, but in the end I decided to remove the window frames altogether to give me a more detail-free surface that could be flattened out much more easily. Fortunately No Nonsense Kits make window frames for a 4-VEP, and a 207 end is very similar minus the corridor connection. I also decided, as the representation of the Multiple Working pipes was somewhat rudimentary, to cut these out too and make new, deeper boxes to which to fit replacement pipework.

Hi all, Alongside the Bulleid EPBs in the other thread, I'm building this MTK Oxted Unit. As both are pretty much standard MTK aluminium / cast kits the construction of both is pretty much identical. One noticeable difference was that the cast cab ends in this kit were very much poorer than those in the EPB - quite badly pitted with holes right through in some places and half the buffer beam missing. The cab window frames were a bit misshapen and I also thought the windows were a bit on the small side.

Where there are pieces of trunking that need to be a mirror image of each other, I super-glue together 4 pieces of brass rod, make the bends and then separate them.

One distinctive feature of the Bulleid EPBs is the massive amount of trunking on the roof. Quite some time was spent studying photographs of this as it's quite complicated - a few pics below of the arrangement that I came to (some are from the 2-EPB). I decided to do the 4-EPB with the high roofline, but the 2-EPBs all had the low roofline so there was no choice for that.

Handrails and door handles fitted, also some etched brass window frames. Initially I didn't notice that the driver's side window is the same size as the window on the opposite side - on BR-designed units the driver's one is bigger - so after these pics were taken I had to remove the etch, make the aperture smaller then fit a new etch.

Hi all, Since the 309s were finished I've not posted much - I was intending to get straight back to the 4-DD but I was still thinking about some aspects so I started two MTK kits - a Bulleid 4-EPB and a class 207 '3D'. I'll put a thread up about the 207 too, but this one is about the 4-EPB. There's also a No Nonsense Kits 2-EPB coming along at the same time - this is an upgraded version of the MTK kit, particularly at and below solebar level, and some of the thread is about that too. As MTK kits go, the 4-EPB isn't too bad at all so I'm using most of the original parts; the main exceptions are the bogies and the cab ends. The MTK cab ends were actually ok, but I substituted them with NNK ones because I wanted the 2-EPB and 4-EPB to match each other in appearance as far as possible. Once the vehicle ends have been glued in, the first job is to scribe in all the door frames. There's a handy jig for doing this supplied with the NNK kit - it doesn't fit the MTK bodyside that well due to a difference in design, but it still helps. One or two wandering scribe lines, but I'll sort that out later.

Sorry for the lack of updates on this. The 309s took much longer to finish than anticipated, and when I got there I was still considering some questions on the 4DD - so I started an MTK 4EPB (Bulleid) and also a class 207 which are both nearly done. I've decided on having the cab and inner ends for the DD etched; the drawings for this are in preparation now, so hopefully I'll be able to restart it within the next few weeks Stuart

I was just about to post the same question. It's actually been down for best part of a fortnight - hopefully they're just on holiday and there's a shutdown for that. Best regards, Stuart

So, that's probably about it for this thread. Thanks to everyone for the kind comments along the way. Huge thanks again to David Crow for allowing me to use his 4-CEP window frame artwork to make the frames required for the 309. If anyone would like to obtain some of these window frames for their own use, I'll put the details below: Contact : enquiries@ppdltd.com (Precision Photofabrication Developments Ltd. - Unit 3 Highbank Park Ind. Est. - Lochgilphead - Argyll - PA31 8NN) For my version of the window frames, as used on the Worsley Works 309 in this thread, the details are Order Number: 33512 e-mail : pinza007@btinternet.com Order date : 18 November 2020 Material : 0.2mm stainless steel I also checked with David and he's happy for me to re-share the details of his original order in case anyone needs some of those: Order Number: 4456 e-mail : davyjcrow@hotmail.com Order date : 14th November 2011 Material: 0.2mm Stainless Steel David's sheet contains frames that are sized to fit a Bachmann 4-CEP, for if you want to make a refurbished version without using brass overlays for the whole thing. Note though that it's an involved process because in a refurbished CEP the windows are in different places to the originals, as is the guard's van. As well as the window frames, David's sheet also contains etched bodyside sections to represent the guard's van in it's new position, and some cowling to go around the corridor connectors to cover up the rubber bellows. There are also some fold-up square headlights. If you search on RMWeb you'll find some threads about this from when David was working on his. Below is one of them but I think there were others too. I also measured the frames up against some MJT refurbished CEP etched sides, as they could be used to add some relief to those. David's sheet is the better fit of the two for this application, but I think it would be necessary to remove the transverse bar across the windows on the MJT etch as they are much thicker and heavier than the stainless steel ones. This would mean strengthening the stainless steel frames in this location, but the sheet does contain some reinforcing bars designed for this purpose. The price of my last order was £10.50 per sheet, plus VAT and postage. All the best, Stuart

Hi all, As promised, here's a short video of the 309s running. The video was only shot on a phone so it's a bit jerky. The excellent layout is that of the Chatham and District Model Railway Club; because the train is not yet DCC fitted it's restricted to one particular circuit of the layout which can be switched to DC operation.

It might work as long as the thickness isn't too great. I notice in the spec that at 12v it turns at 14195rpm, so that would make for an extremely fast running locomotive. The two types of 6v motor I've used so far have top speeds of 5,500rpm and 8,100rpm, and fitted into a Hornby ringfield I estimate their scale top speeds to be around 80mph / 120mph. So it's possible that this 12v motor would produce a top speed in the 200mph range; although of course in DCC the top speed could be limited. Stuart

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. I'm pleased with the way they turned out but they were also very much a learning experience and there are definitely things I'll do differently next time. I'm very tempted to do a 'Jaffa' pair now and I'd like to make one of them a 309/1 with the pantograph above the cab, so I'll have to speak to Allen at Worsley Works about the possibility of a different set of etches. I've also got an unrefurbished set in progress from Britannia Pacific models, which will be in Blue/Grey, but I think I'm going to take the cab-end castings out of that and replace them with the 3-D printed ones. All that said, I'm a bit Clactoned-out at the moment so some other projects will come before any more work on those, in particular the Bulleid 4-DD and some EPBs I'm working on. Cheesysmith - after your previous post I did examine the possibilities of some open hoppers and managed to make one in the refurbished CEP trailer. It's awkward to do but it does look nice - so I think I will try to do it in the Jaffa ones I've got a couple of short videos of the 309s running, which I'll add soon. Best regards Stuart

Hi all, Another MTK creation from about 20 years ago - this is one of the original Swindon-built Inter City 6 car DMUs.

After what seemed like an eternity of cutting out and fitting the etched stainless steel window frames, that part of the job was completed and there followed the job of cutting and fitting something like 200 pieces of glazing, plus the various grab rails etc. The units are pretty much finished now - there's a few more glazing panels to do, then a tiny bit of touching in of paintwork. I assembled them temporarily today for a test run at the Chatham and District Model Railway Club's layout - this is how they look. Hi all, Stuart

Hi all, I did say some time ago that I'd post some pictures of my MTK efforts from over the years. This is a Class 506 Glossop/Hadfield unit that I built in the region of 20 years ago. It's quite basic - I used MTK parts throughout, even the bogies, plus a Lima motor bogie from a class 73 (or maybe one of those HO 33s). Recently I dug it out and replaced the motor with a CD/DVD motor costing about £1.60. The improvement in performance is staggering - even though it still uses the original Lima gear chain it can reliably crawl along at an almost imperceptible speed. I'll try to dig out some more MTK constructions soon! Stuart

These are looking good Clive. The 309s that are the subject of this thread are not for me, but I do intend to do some blue / grey unrefurbished ones later on for myself. You've made a good job of those ends - the original curved windscreens are quite difficult to replicate. Good drawings too - that's one of the motor coaches from a 2 car unit isn't it. When those were refurbished and extended to 4 cars, the door nearest the centre of that coach was removed and replaced with another standard hopper window - but the drawing of a refurbished vehicle in the Hugh Longworth BR EMUs book incorrectly shows the door still in situ - a trap for the unwary. Best regards Stuart