My two of the new re-vamped Heljan Class 26 arrived a couple of days ago – yesterday I researched appropriate numbers and then added the numbers and Depot stickers.
They will have to get in line for weathering – which will likely be in the new year.
I have now fitted some of my Terriers with ‘Spark Arresters’. These are 3D printed and obtained off Ebay. A bit of a warning though, not all Terriers were fitted, so some research is necessary. Three of my four Terriers were fitted, but one was not.
They will be weathered later.
This is a Bachmann Brass 4F that I have been working on for a few days. It has had a partial repaint and renumbering. The main jobs were to replace the chimney, dome and vacuum and steam pipes, but I also added real coal, a crew and fire irons.
Will be weathered when everything is well and truly dry.
Heljan Class 25/1 numbered and weathered in a medium condition.
This was a purchase from a big online auction site by one of my friends. It was said to be Very Good and Boxed – in truth it was less than that – in fact a lot less. There was missing bits – there was broken bits – and after a couple of initial good running session – the motor stopped and would not work.
When I took the body off to check the wiring – five bits dropped out of the chassis – this included two bits that were originally missing. How did a sand box get inside the body!
After I attached two wires that had come adrift – it ran again. I would say it took at least four hours to get most things re-attached, or duplicates made. Sadly, even now there are still a couple of things missing.
I then had to strip off the original transfers as none were level and then I removed the makers plates that had been added in the wrong position with overzealous amounts of super glue.
I resprayed the mended areas, added new transfers and varnished the rehashed areas. I then gave the loco a medium to heavy weathering.
And the moral of the story – buyer beware.
This is a kit-built Thompson Full Brake in BR Maroon – as running late 50’s. It was given a wash/wipe with matt black and airbrushed with frame dirt, brake dust, roof dirt and matt black to give it a medium weathering. It will look good in a parcels train or milk train.
Here are two Heljan Dogfish from the second batch recently delivered. I have given both a light to medium weathering with special attention to the inside of the hopper and the ballast shutes.
I felt I needed to make the interior much ‘grittier’ than I normally do, to add more realism – I hope it is a step forward.
My friend Graham is coming over from Australia at the end of the month and this is his Loco. It has been weathered to a light-medium level. I am trying to find a way of securely fitting the snowploughs that it carried for a time, problem is, it only carried outside ploughs both ends. As the supplied Snowploughs have a centre section and are all joined by a bar, experiments are taking place – but I may well need a good etch to do it properly.
All my usual methods were used, wash and wipe followed by airbrushing and dry brushing. HMRS transfers used with Railmatch and Humbrol paints.
As the title says – the final batch – this time they are in BR Maroon. All have been renumbered and given my usual weathering methods. See the post before this one for colours used etc.
This is the third batch of Dapol Mk1’s I have weathered – that’s over 20 coaches in total. This time they are the BR Crimson and Cream variety. I have to say that these are the best Mk1’s ever made – seriously better than those that came before.
All coaches were re-numbered using HMRS Transfers.
The work I carried out was as follows:-
1/ I put dilute matt black in all door creases and then wiped off any excess with a cotton bud.
2/ I did a wash and wipe on the roof to highlight the vents etc.
3/ I hand painted all the wheel rims with a matt black and brown mix.
4/ I masked all windows to avoid overspray.
5/ Out with the airbrush and attacked the sole bar, bogies, under chassis and buffers – I used three different colours, Frame Dirt, Brake Dust and Matt Black.
6/ I then dry brushed a dark rust on all springs to highlight.
