Give them what they want.
I had a request for some more pictures of AC loco’s under the roof. Actually under the roof is perhaps the only place I can take a half decent photo of electric locos and units as you can’t see the missing overhead. Previous images have either used the plank, been cropped less than ideally to hide that the overhead isn’t there or have just relied on the viewer to fill it in for me!
A few more depart the workbench
47474 is another lima model. This one coming to me from the original roster for Amlwch as 47476. I kept it as brought for years as it was obvious that quite a lot of work had gone into it at some stage. (click here to see it in its original form) However for New Street it needed a few modifications to fit in era. I didn’t want to redo the whole loco as I wanted to keep as much of the original model as I could so I focused on the front ends.
The windscreens needed changing as per my other 47’s (it definitely stood out along side one that’s been modified) so these were the customary Extreme Etches offering. I also replaced the side windows with more etched from Brian as well has the headcode box. The headlight is from Replica. In my era 47476 had lost its water tanks hence the change of identity to 47474.
Also off the workbench are 2 of the 3 class 86’s I showed earlier, the third is waiting for its nameplates and chassis. Powered by the usual Bachmann Warship 86102 features Hornby class 90 sideframes and a spare underframe box from a scrap 87.
86260 is another tribute loco being named after Driver Wallace Oakes GC. To read his story click here.
To see more pictures of these pair go to the class 86 page
Variations on a theme.
With 3 more class 86’s working their way along my workbench some thoughts on variety might be worth sharing. Eagle eyed folk will spot that the one on the right is a class 86/1 while the others are class 86/2 but I have omitted the chassis for this exercise as that’s the big difference between the sub classes. It’s not even about the detail differences (TMD cables, headlights, extra door handles) but what I want to focus on this time is the livery. All three are, of course, Intercity livery and yet all three are different. The obvious difference is the amount of yellow on the fronts but the more subtle difference concerns 86260 and 86242. Aside from the front 86260 is actually the same as 86102 with the numbers the same size, data panels and nameplates in the same place and the double arrows on the bodyside. 86242 however had slightly smaller numbers, data panels behind the cabs, nameplates mounted centrally on the body, over the white stripe, and no double arrows.
Things get even more tricky if you consider that a year or two before the period my layout is set 86242 had the same livery treatment to the front as displayed by 86102. All this goes to show that you should really work from a photograph of the loco you are modelling taken at the time you are modelling. As I have said before, model what you actually see, not what you think you know.
Sticking with variations on a theme some thoughts on couplings.
The good old Kaydee, reliable easy to use and most importantly faff free in use. I use them between coaches and multiple units. Problems to my mind are as follows
- If you want them to work as intended (with magnets under the track) then you need to mount them too low for 4mm scale – this looks awful and to be honest from a visual point of view not much better than the current crop of smaller tension locks. By that I mean it jarrs to me that the coupling is kind of floating in mid air and not really attached to the vehicle in a way that makes any sense.
- Not a lot of UK stock uses buckeye couplings for coupling locos to trains, or should I say not a lot of uk stock used to use them. In my era it was pretty much EMUs and class 33/1’s and 73’s (the latter not completely unheard of at New Street but very unusual.
- Now this last one is the one that modellers have been ignoring for years – they don’t actually look much like a real buckeye coupling.
The first one is easy – dispense with the hands free and mount them through the bufferbeam where they should be. Mid rakes it not a problem to use Kaydee as, like i said at the start they are reliable and faff free but on the front of an EMU there has to be something better. There is and its called the Sergent coupling.
I have been aware of these for a few years now but only just got round to getting hold of some. The difference is, to me at least, like chalk and cheese with the Sergent coupling looking like a copy of the real thing. The Kadee looks almost toy-like by comparison. For those wondering they are not compatible and the way they work is different – the Sergent has a tiny ball bearing inside which holds the knuckle shut. This is released by using a magnet on a wand (from above) but in reality as I am not planning to do a lot of shunting with EMU’s I am using them purely for their cosmetic benefits.
8th August 2013
Just a short update this time. There are several new images in the class 25 gallery as well as a new picture in the class 50’s. Click here to go to the class 25 page.
There are also several new pictures to look at in the coaches section, click here
Revisited Locos part 3
Well these 3 are done. The original picture is recreated below.
Much happier now, in the end I did a full repaint on both clasa 25’s. I’ll add more pictures of the 25’s to their page over the next day or so.
While the 25 roof fan mod is an improvement over the Bachmann original the difference the Extreme Etches fan grill makes to their Peak is a bit more drastic!
I never realised just how undersize the original fan moulding is. This one is much easier to fit though as the entire fan and its mounting ring is the size of the opening for the new fan.
Finally I know I said id wait but as I was respraying the 25’s in blue I did the Newspaper GUV too. Below is the result.
Revisited locos part 2
Progress continues on my class 25’s. I cut out a little jig for the triangular panels on the sides of 25059
It was then a simple case of scoring round it for the panels (1 on one side, 2 on the other)
It’s not that the Bachmann roof fan is course as it’s not too bad for what is quite an old RTR model. It’s that it’s so small compared to a scale one. I’ll need to order some more from Brian (and some for the 45 too while im at it.)
Progress on 25059. The window has been deepened and the top of the gangway door raised by 20 thou. The bodyside grill hinges are 10×40 thou strip and are only on this side. I re-did the tail lamps, lamp irons and handrails while I was at it.
Revisiting a few locos
I have decided to revisit a few locos that I have found out a little more about since i did them. The lineup is as follows.
50033
A few class 50s had some subtle variations from the rest of the fleet. A lot of class 50 fans will know that 50050 didn’t have the horizontal handrails on the nose front but 50033 lacked the vertical ones at the no. 1 end. This will be a quick fix. I have also discovered that 50007 (which I havent done) had a dropped cab at one end. Anyone fancy cutting a cab off, filing it a smidge and sticking it back on to represent this feature?
25288
Ive never been that happy with this one as subsequent late body 25’s that I did had the Bachmann bodies mated with the Silver Fox cabs. 288 is all Silver fox so I plan to cut the cabs off and bring it to a consistent standard to the others. It will also become a 25/9 which fits my period.
25059
A few things to do on this one. The central window is too small and needs to be deepened. I will replace the roof fan with a Shawplan/EE one and the bodyside grills had hinges on one side only. Also I need to add in the extra ‘triangle’ that 059 carried on the body side. Finally I will improve the cabside windows. I am hoping I can avoid a repaint on this one.
To read my original Class 25 detailing article click here
Another project comes to a close
Completion of 50008, Thunderer (besides the crests which im waiting for from Shawplan), sees another roster for New Street complete. I think 8 of the class is probably a bit disproportional if im honest but its good to have a spare or 2!
On the subject of class 50s I recently discovered this book.
Which i cn recommend to anyone who likes the class. You can order it from here with any profits made going towards the continued preservation of 50027 Lion and 50050 Fearless.
21st May 2013
I have been busy uploading quite a few coach pictures to their various pages.
You can also see more on the above conversion on my workbench pages. For those who are not all that interested in coaches there are new pictures on the class 45 page too!
Class 45/1
My model of 45115 has been on my workbench for years – quite literally! Starting life as a mainline example, it had its nose improved first – then switched to an early Bachmann chassis. When the current Bachmann model appeared I swapped the body and later, upon realising just how squashed the original bogie sideframes were I swapped them too to the newer bachmann ones!
So it’s nearly a standard Bachmann model – except with the main chassis block being the earlier Bachmann effort and the battery boxes being the only parts left from the original Mainline model!
The headlight is from replica and the lifting brackets are Shawplan. The original bombshell was one of the Modelzone 45/0’s and as such the boiler end was wrong for a ETH fitted peak.
The picture above shows new roof panels and I also filled in the bodyside steps. The models rather tatty (for me anyway) is as per an image of the real 45115 taken during 1987.
30th January 2013
Just a quick news update this time folks! For those interested in my scribblings I have an article on my class 85’s in this months Rail Express magazine. Hope you enjoy it.
Class 47’s get set for hybernation!
Hi All
My class 47 project is due to go into hybernation for the winter with the chassis of 47 549 and the roof of 47 485 both requiring airbrushing to proceed. (I do all my spraying outside) Below is where 485 has gotten to.
The body has received a light weathering and this one will run as a light loco so no need to replace the original lima chassis. (I’d already rebuilt the battery box area so it seemed a shame to bin it.) I do plan to swap the windows on the rest of my class 47 fleet over the winter an also to mount them on vi-trains chassis but no point posting that here.
16th December 2012
Id just like to say thanks for all those that have visited or sent messages over the last year. Thanks also to those who have signed up to follow the workbench or who have added coments. Its all appreciated.
Theres some now piccies for you all in the class 45, 50, 85 and 155 (the unphotoshopped version of the above) galleries.
Merry Christmas everone and all the best for 2013!
tweaking the nose
On the left the lima original windows and on the right the Shawplan replacements. You can see the obvious shape difference. I have also flattened off the nose a bit on the example on the right.
Why are all 4mm scale duffs, kinda, duff?
If theres one loco i would really love one of the RTR producers to get spot on out of the box its the class 47. Not because I like them, actually its the opposite, i dont. I just cant rustle up much enthusiasm for them, give me a 50 or a peak any day.
There have been many attempts, the original hornby effort, although crude got the shape pretty well. The less said about the underframe and bogies the better. Then there was lima. A lot better and when detailed up looked quite good but the bogies were a standard item and thus too short. Heljan arrived in the UK market with a central motor and a sensible drive arrangement (A1A-A1A). Ok not the same as the real thing but once a bit of springing was applied to the centre axles it could pretty much cope with anything. One slight spanner in the works, the face was all wrong and it was 2mm too wide (gaining the name tubby duffs)
After a big gap Bachmann entered the class 47 market with a model derived from their earlier class 57, which came with a lot of class 57 details on the underframe (since corrected I believe) and odd looking windows. Plus it had all wheel drive which means in P4 they are a bit iffy as they tend to rock on the centre axle. Finally we have ViTrains. Essentially a stalled lima re-hash of the class with a heljan style drive, the right width and better bogies than the Bachmann effort. The Vitrains model is so nearly there but not quite. Unlss Dapol decide to have a go its fair to say we may never see the definitive class 47.
It was a conversation with my friend Phil that drew my attention back to the Lima 47. As all things lima pretty much slagged of on forums due to pancake drive and the lack of extra bits stuck on and value added price points like working lights they were discarded in droves for the newer models but as is Lima’s way the toolmakers had something about them that just ‘got it’! Its not perfect the windscreens are wrong for a start but it is perhaps the most fixable.
On the left a lima body on the ViTrains chassis, on the right the ViTrains version. Note the height difference over the body (the photo was arranged so that the roof lined up) and the more raked back look of the vitrains windscreen.
47840 at New Street
The size of the Vitrains windscreens seems to big to me and perhaps the nose is a little flat. While the Lima model features replacement window frames from Shawplan. The top of the nose is too curved though. I also think I need to mount the window frames a bit lower on the next one.
24th November 2012
Some more changes to the site to report. You can now subscribe to my workbench if you would like an email to be sent to you when something is added. You will also get an email when there’s more news too. If you would like to subscribe, simply pop your email address into the box on the workbench page.
There are new pictures for you in the class 45, 86 and 122 galleries.
23rd September 2012
Time for another update I think. There are new pictures in the class 20, HST and coaches sections.
Also I have added quite a few pictures to the class 31 gallery. I am currently working my way through a batch of them.
6th October 2010
The above picture was taken by Darren Rees at the Kernow/YMR show where the layout appeared as a work in progress demo. You can see more of Darren’s pictures on the shows page.
Other updates this time include new pictures in the class 31 and class 50 galleries while I have made a start on a page devoted to my class 47 models. Click on the stock link to have a look. On the scenery front I have been building a bus stop and billboard! If you fancy having a go at a bus stop yourself my drawing can be downloaded from the drawings page.
14th April 2010
Several updates this time, starting with my work on producing parts to help people model Scale OLE. Go to the layout section to see more.
Updated a few of the stock galleries too with classes 08, 25, 50 and 87 all having new pictures. There is a new gallery for class 86 too.
There is a new area in the scenic section for things that don’t really fit in the other sections or warrant a section of their own. Its in the scenic section under miscellaneous.
11th March 2010
I have started up a few more galleries, this time dedicated to classes 20, 31 and 120. They are all to be found in the stock section.
Also for this update I have a new section on how I am modelling my platforms in the layout section
17th April 2008
I have added a new page dedicated to visiting stock and my own stock that either I haven’t detailed pharmacy-no-rx.net myself (chequebook modelling!) or are not part of the plan for New Street.
Its under stock and then other.