74009

Hi Paul, Did you have any luck with this? The picture above is actually mine, and I did find these too: https://www.flickr.com/photos/74009/4263959908/in/album-72157623555936002/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/74009/4974578507/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/74009/4257399407/ Theyr'e actually no closer but do at least show the other side of the shed, and that the end opening isn't full width. I'll ask around to see if I can find any more detailed ones. Best regards Stuart

Hi Andi, Thanks for the link - lots of very useful detail information there. Yes if they were for me I'd go with Jaffa livery I do have some to build for myself but they are the unrefurbished version from Britannia Pacific - so will be in Blue & Grey. However I will be doing some Jaffa 4-CEPs before much longer. Your Jaffa unit looks very nice - how did you deal with the aluminium window frames? All the best Stuart

Hi Cheesysmith, I wondered whether anyone would notice that. In fact I've already been in discussion with Worsley Works about there being two TSO types and me needing the other one, and I'm waiting for replacement etches to arrive. I've got two more plastic bodies already prepped and it'll be a simple substitution. The two vehicles that I take out (which are actually suitable as 4-CEP trailers) will be reused in a preserved Hastings unit 1001, and in one of the Connex '3D' units that had a CEP trailer inserted. From the evidence I've seen at least, all of the units where the TSO retained the end toilet are also the ones with a pantograph directly above the driver's cab - i.e. the ex-2 car versions. Best regards Stuart

So that's pretty much up to date now - the vehicles have had their first coat of paint and I've just started masking up for the NSE livery.

So now it's on to the nightmare that is Revised Network SouthEast livery. Something that's in my mind is that the unpainted aluminium window frames are going to be very prominent against the dark blue, so I have to decide how I'm going to deal with that. The window frames are identical to those in a refurbished 4-CEP (as in the image) and I do have some very nice etched stainless steel ones, produced by someone on here I think, to suit a Bachmann CEP. Unfortunately though they're *just* too small for the apertures in the 309 etches. It's literally a hair's breadth, but in this context that's all it takes. I think the original poster did say that he would make the drawings for the stainless steel etches available so if I can find the post again I'll see if it's possible to obtain them, and get some more etched that are just a tiny bit bigger. More to follow on that.

I've done a bit more work in the pantograph area now. As mentioned before it was difficult to find roof images and those that I did find showed, as is often the case, that there were inconsistencies both in the content of the pantograph well and in the positioning and number of ventilators. As the units were built in different versions and have undergone a fair bit of reformation and vehicle substitution, it was no surprise. This is what I've ended up with, although I do now suspect that all of it should have been mounted on a separate rectangular frame.

I was lucky to be able to take them for a test run on the layout of the Chatham and District Model Railway Club - performance of the Replica Chassis was very good indeed.

All 8 coaches coming along nicely.

Here's something that I'd never thought of. I recently built a No Nonsense Kits 2-EPB and the supplied diagram that showed where all the ventilators and other roof detail went was in the form of a scale size sticker, so you could just stick it to the roof and drill through. A quick trawl online and I obtained some A4 sized repositionable labels, so now I can make my own stickers for the same purpose. I actually drew a template in Photoshop which includes the edges, centre line and a grid, and now I can just print them off and draw in all the detail positions with a pen, then detach it from the backing paper and stick it on. Do make sure you use repositionable labels though as the permanent ones will be difficult to get off again and will leave adhesive everywhere. A bonus is that the paper helps to stop the drill from slipping as you start off the hole.

The pantograph well is just a matter of a couple of vertical cuts in the roof down to the rainstrips, with a plastic card floor. I had a couple of pantograph well ends in stock - I think they might have been from Britannia Pacific models - so for one unit I could use those and for the other I used plastic card. The pantographs are probably not exactly the correct pattern but they're what I had available. Roof detail shots of 309s are not that easy to find.

The printed cab ends include the first inch or so of the bodysides, which is also present on the Worsley Works etches. so the etches have to be shortened to suit. It's very straightforward - the etches need to be cut down the first door line. You could alternatively remove part of the 3D printed cabside, but I think that will be more awkward as then you have that lozenge-shaped cabside window to deal with, which is inset and at a slight angle. I am not sure whether the cab ends were designed with any particular manufacturer's Mk1s in mind, but they weren't a bad fit with the Replica ones; it just takes some time and patience with a file to get the best fit you can. One of them was more troublesome than the other three for some reason, and on that one I ended up sanding off the rainstrips and re-instating them with a single piece that wrapped around the end.

The bodies are fixed to the chassis by three clips along each side. These are very deep and the bodies have to be massively flexed to get them on and off - this is fine as they are because the plastic is particularly soft and pliable, but it wont be possible to bend them enough once the brass sides are fixed on. What I do is remove the end ones pretty much altogether, and reduce the central ones down to 1mm or so. It's still enough to hold the bodies on and it's (hopefully!) not like any model of a 309 is going to be handled in the same way as an off the shelf plastic model might be. If necessary, a little strip of plastic stuck into the sides towards each end, aligned with where the top of the chassis will be, is plenty to locate it and stop the chassis pushing up inside - but usually the step boards will do this anyway.

The first step is to remove all the raised detail from the plastic coach bodies, then enlarge all of the window apertures so that the gaps correspond to the windows in the etched sides. It's worth spending a bit of time comparing the bodyshells you have with the etches in various combinations, to determine which arrangement will require the least cutting. This is a process that takes great care - the plastic is soft but quite thick, especially below the window line and a new, sharp blade makes it easier. Always cut away from your fingers as the blade can easily break out. I also remove all of the roof detail at this stage, including the moulded ribs which are too prominent on most r-t-r Mk1s, except of course for those that don't have them at all.

Hi all, Following on from the 4VEP thread earlier in the week, here is the progress with the project to build an 8-car Clacton Express, class 309, in revised Network SouthEast livery. This is for a friend of mine who lives in Colchester and commuted on them every day; some while back he sold me a couple of kits that he thought he would never get around to (a 6-car TransPennine DMU and a 6-car Swindon InterCity DMU) at a knock down price, so I decided to make the Clacton Units for him. The main parts are: Mk 1 donor coaches from the current Replica Railways models range. These are available from the manufacturer for a good price, along with lots of other useful parts for this conversion. Etched Brass Sides from Worsley Works 3D-printed cab ends by PH Designs - they are very fine indeed and available from Shapeways. https://www.shapeways.com/product/PG5TYVCEF/309-cab3?optionId=57069592&li=marketplace This is the one for units with a pantograph well directly above the cab and with the later style of cab window, but the other versions are available too. Replica Railways motorised chassis. Pics in the next post....

Thanks CloggyDog. I'd never actually noticed the absence of commode handles - so there was a real danger that I would have fitted them in blissful ignorance. Thanks for pointing it out! Yes I think I'm going to go with 9' 0" at the waist. The picture above from Bristol_Rich does seem to show the taper quite well. If you hold a pencil vertically against the screen, carefully aligned with the outer edge of either cab window, it's evident how the other side of the pencil is not parallel with the bodyside. It's a very tiny taper though - in 4mm scale probably no more than ¾mm either side. All the best, Stuart

Thanks Graham. The project is paused at the moment until I finish the Clacton Units - not too far to go with those now. All the best Stuart

Thanks Bristol_Rich, that's a great film! All the best Stuart

Hi all, Time for a question. Having decided on the profile in the pic above, I was sent by the 4DD preservation group a diagram which shows the body being 9' wide and with absolutely vertical sides, no tapering whatsoever. Does anyone know for sure? I can convince myself either way depending on which diagrams / pictures I look at. On the data panel painted on the end of the units it says 9' 3" - presumably though this would include grab rails, which are excluded from the dimension on the diagram and could easily account for 1 1/2" each side. The MARC models ends were parallel sided too. I mentioned earlier that I had to get a VEP and a 309 done before I could return to this project - the VEP is done now (thread below) so I just need to get the 309, which is ready for painting, off my bench and it'll be back to the DD. If I haven't found any more information by then I'm going to go with the diagram, 9' 0" wide and no tapering. All the best, Stuart.

So that's it pretty much done - just the air horns to add. I spent some time flush glazing the cab windows, which I think was worth the effort. Not perfect by any means and I'm well aware of the dimensional problem with the corridor connector, but as a quick(ish) restoration I'm pretty happy with it. Next thread will be the 309 in Network SouthEast livery, which is at the painting stage now, then I'll be back to the Bulleid 4DD. All the best Stuart

Then it's all the fiddly stuff - door handles, grab rails, transfers and that wretched white piping around the grey. This time I used transfers for that too but it was really difficult to get the long thin lines off the sheet and onto the model without them kinking, turning over or breaking.

Starting to look like a VEP now. The interiors were a mixture of Replica and Hornby parts painted in generally 'VEP' colours.

Masking up and on with the grey...

All back together, missing ventilators replaced with the closest match I had, and ready to paint. I always use a high gloss paint if available as it makes it easier to do the transfers, with a coat of satin varnish as a final step.

There was a problem with the end cars in that the cabs were wider than the donor coaches, leading to an unsightly gap between the sides and the roof near the cab ends. I decided to slim the cabs just slightly by gouging out some extra metal where the sides go, to make them sit in just fractionally more, then attend to the remaining gap along the roof by making and feathering in a slightly wider gutter towards the end. The hope was that this subterfuge wouldn't notice once the paintwork was complete. I also managed to shatter the roof overhang at the end of one coach so I had to stick all the bits of plastic back together then make a little brass bit to reinforce it all from underneath.

This is how I always do couplings on multiple units. The adjacent vehicle can just have a small hole in the floor, and this arrangement keeps the vehicles a fixed distance apart whichever the direction of travel and allows easy pivoting. Sometimes I fit another brass tube in the next vehicle - if required current can be passed down the train like this so it's possible, in the case of a VEP, to have extra pickups on the vehicles either side of the MBS - one vehicle can have 4 pickups on the +ve rail and the other one on the -ve.