Many years ago I purchased a bottle of Howes Railmatch ‘faded BR Blue’ paint. Up until now I have been a bit reluctant to try it. Anyway, after researching an appropriate 08 that fitted my requirements, number wise, body style and weathering, I decided to have a go at some faded areas on the body, mainly the bonnet top and the engine room doors.

I have to say that after fading with the areas required, I was a bit taken aback, the faded areas looked quite bright compared with the original Dapol BR blue. Anyway after a coat of Satin Varnish it did subdue the differences a bit.

After leaving the loco to thoroughly dry, I commenced a medium to heavy weather akin to photographs of the prototype. This was followed by another coat of varnish.

I am quite happy with the results and will use this method again. The weathering certainly breaks up any colour variances. See what you think.

 

After the arrival of some new loco’s the research started as which loco’s I wanted to represent. I still find that researching is one of the most interesting stages of bringing my visions to life. I am certainly not a rivet counter but I need to feel that a fair representation of the prototype is modelled.

After settling on the appropriate numbers, their position, styles and other graphics, work commenced. I used Fox Overhead Warning transfers on all five locomotives, I find they are still the best. For numbering I used a mixture of HMRS and Fox on the Class 37’s. On the Class 15’s I used the transfers supplied by Little Loco. There has been some criticism of these rather odd transfers but I followed the instructions and they worked fine. I think the key here is to leave them the ten hours recommended to dry, no short cuts here. After drying I peeled the ‘pink’ carrier film off by using a scalpel in one corner and lifting very gently.

Most add-on parts came with the locomotives. The only extra parts added were to the Class 15’s, these were the control pipes. these were Heljan products obtained from Howes of Oxford.

Only one of my Class 37’s, the blue one, needed a small plate added on both noses just above the coupling hooks. These are only relevant on centre head code variants and appear to have all been built without these plates. They appear to have been added from about 1968 onwards and they all seem to have been modified by about 1972. I do not know why this was done, but it appears to have been a small cut back and plate to ease coupling, but I stand to be corrected.

All loco’s have had their grills blackened in preparation for full weathering. The weathering will be light to medium based on how they looked around 1967 -69.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say what a welcome entry into the O gauge diesel market Little Loco have made, In my opinion they go straight to the top, and yes, I have ordered a 48DS already. Rumours suggest that they are looking to produce further main line type two diesels – bring them on.

I had to sell over twenty OO loco’s to fund these five loco’s – was it worth it? – you bet it was!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Saturday I had a visit from a very old friend, Les Williams. I have been doing work for Les for nearly twenty years. Les, like myself is moving more towards O gauge, although we both still have quite an interest in OO.

Les had recently purchased a new blue Heljan Class 25 and a second-hand blue Heljan Class 20. He also brought a Heljan Catfish for weathering at the same time.

I had already weathered at least six other O gauge loco’s for Les, these ranged from a lightly weathered Deltic to an absolutely filthy Class 40.

After a quick discussion it was clear what Les required and a start was made. As Les has to drive up for the day from Bedford, I have to complete the work in about eight hours. I usually take three steps to do this task over 2 or 3 days. The steps are  the Roof and Cab Ends, the frame and bogies and the body sides last. I usually leave the first two steps to completely dry, but usually work and wipe the sides when the paint is still tacky, to create streaks and runs. Doing it all at the same time means it is difficult to handle the loco without unwanted finger marks.

The catfish was a medium weathering plus Les wanted ballast residue in the bottom. I actually sprinkled the ballast in over wet paint as time was short and I have to say the effect of the ballast being sprinkled was quite pleasing. More experimenting to follow I think!

 

 

 

We have four new Locomotives, 2 Dapol 08 Shunters (at last) for my son and two Ebay purchased steam loco for me.

Firstly the Dapol 08’s. These had been on order for well over two years and we were excited when they eventually turned up. The research for the 08 needs to be thorough due to the many variances in Door Handles, Footplate Cabinets, Door Hinges, Drivers Doors and number of Exhausters. These subjects have been covered many times and I do not intend to go over these yet again. However I will detail the work I carried out to each loco and also say which donor loco I used.

08141 Manvers

The donor loco was D3045. I removed the ladder as this is not required, ensure the ladder mounts are retained.  All engine room door handles were removed and holes filled. Foot plate cabinets are correct and need no alteration. The connecting rods were repainted ‘yellow’. The Cab roof was repainted ‘blue’

08375

The donor loco was 08202. It came with no ladder, that was OK. All engine room door handles are retained. The foot plate cabinets on 08202 are correct for this conversion although different to D3045. The buffer beams were repainted ‘red’ and the cab roof ‘blue’. An extra handrail was added above the front footsteps as per prototype. All handrails were picked out in white. Extra black lines added on the nose.

Dapol missed the windscreen wipers completely and the bonnet lifting lugs are missing. I have made no attempt to rectify this, hoping an industrious detailing supplier will come forth with an etch soon —–Please!!!

Overall this is a fantastic Model, the price is unbelievable and it deserves to be a big hit. However I will point out again that thorough research must be done if renumbering, a photograph of both sides and both ends is a must.

The first steam loco was a kit built Connoisseur Models Class Y7. I purchased this on a BIN on Ebay for £125. I could see by the photographs that it was of a reasonable build quality, but it did have some body issues. The paint finish on the model also left a bit to be desired. The ‘verbal’ said it was an excellent runner, so I purchased it. On arrival I tested the running and it was as stated, very good. I separated the chassis and body and stripped the body completely, I then visited the obvious problem areas and re-soldered them after a thorough clean, all went well. I also made and added some small details that were not present. A full repaint and lettering then took place followed by a coat of varnish, I have not got around to weathering yet, but a medium level is anticipated. This loco was a Stratford, 30A pilot in the early 50’s.

My final purchase was another Connoisseur Models kit built loco. This time it was a J71 and was made and painted to a good standard. Again the ‘verbal’ said it was an excellent runner, so I  purchased it for £300. On arrival I inspected the loco and it was indeed made and painted to a very high standard. I then tested the running, sadly it was a very poor runner. On inspection I could see that the pick-ups were in a very poor state. I decided to replace the whole pick-up system, it now works very well. Again I have not weathered the loco yet, and as it was an early BR York pilot, a light to medium would be appropriate.