Here’s a couple of items no longer required for projects. Price includes insured P&P for UK mainland.
Bachmann Green 24/1 SYP DCC Ready #32-441
As new, very limited running. Excellent runner all paperwork and detail fittings included. £120.00 Payment by PayPal, cheque, cash. Can be collected at Newark Notts.
Dapol OO Class 52 #4D-003-001 ‘Western Legionnaire‘ Maroon SYP
Excellent condition and runner. As new includes all paperwork, detail pack and etched nameplates. £120.00 payment by PayPal, cheque or cash. Can be collected from Newark Notts.
4 x Airfix B Tank Wagon Kits
4 x B Tank kits. All complete, £20.00 including P&P
Back in the midsts of time I always wanted a complete set of British Rail ‘Standards’. Don’t know why, but I set about the task Hunter gatherer stylee, and apart from the WD 2-10-0, I ended up with all the available types as kits. Which of course ended up on the mancave maturing shelf gathering dust. We all know how that story ends up, Acme Train Co., brings out a decent RTR model of the type and the kit continues to ‘mature’ on the shelf. Guilty as charged…
Bachmann WD 2-8-0 32-258 32-257
One of the first really good takes on the ‘Standard’ types in OO was Bachmann’s WD 2-8-0. Accurate, well made, and reliable. In short everything you’d want from a RTR model. I indulged in one early on, subsequently replaced the maturing kit shelf queen’s with RTR examples. I make no apologies for this, the RTR versions give me a quick fix, and a consistent one in terms of appearance.
The 9F’s are a case in point. I was an early adopter of the Model Loco range in the late 80’s. I bought the 9F rather than modifying another Hornby version, (I’d done several previously). They of course went straight to shelf, rather than DVD, and moved on when the unrealistic prospect of making them dawned due to time/life constraints. SABLE (Stash Aquired Beyond Life Expectancy), was rearing it’s head even then. The Bachmann 9F however is still a firm favourite! They are excellent in their own right, but stand as a good basis for further work.
Bachmann 9F 32-853
I currently have an ex ‘Cadbury’s’ version underway, see above. Why Cadbury’s? Well an early weathered version suffered excess browning in the days of early factory weathered RTR, see picture courtesy of Hattons below.
So much so, this (and a good few others) looked like they had been dipped in milk chocolate! This is a slow burner, replacement pony and tender wheelsets to come and a makeover including repaint and fine detailing to finish.
DJH K39 BR/WD Austerity 2-10-0
So what of the WD 2-10-0 and the bucketlist? It’s one of those locomotives that just captures my imagination, much like it’s smaller sibling, I’ve no use for it apart from I like them. Due to the small numbers of the prototype and relatively limited sphere of operations, these are unlikely to be a candidate for a RTR model so the only game in town is this DJH kit.
DJH K39 WD Austerity 2-10-0
This one came via Tony Wright dealing with an estate sale. Offered as a very poor runner at a fair price, it was an easy choice to make, and I’m very happy with it. Now back in the mancave I’ve been able to to take an initial look at it to assess what needs to be altered. Overall the build quality is good, and the tender immediately stood out as ‘odd’.
Basically the chassis sides are back to front. Some prodding and disassembly indicated a partial glue assembly, and this will be a relatively easy fix. The locomotive body assembly is pretty good and I doubt much work will be needed. Next the main chassis, this is where most work is needed. It’s built as per instructions. There’s rigid connecting rods, so little lateral play. Romford drivers are used with centre and leading axle unflanged. The motor works well in reverse but in forward motion the armature bounces within the motor frame. In due course I think it’s going to be a chassis rebuild, with a new motor and gearbox combination. Wheelsets will be replaced with either Gibson’s or Markits, both of whom make the correct wheels.
Bachmann 32-254A WD Austerity
It’s not a high priority project, but one that I think will be interesting. It’ll be a series of issues to resolve, and if it can stand toe to toe with Bachmann’s 2-8-0 above, (a 2009 image from Albion Yard), then I’ll be well pleased.
Updates to follow in due course. At the moment, obvs, it’s ‘maturing’, but the tick is on the bucketlist!
Today has been a ‘down day’, a short gap between work cycles, and a day off from Viking Challenge preparation, I thought I’d ring the changes by breaking out some other plastic. Like many in the hobby I started out with the pocket money Airfix/Frog/Revell kits and an excellent introduction to this type of building craft they were.
Over the years the plastic kit hobby has changed with more details and after market components, and new techniques, much as the rail hobby has too. Airfix, like Hornby, had a bit of a fallow period in the not too distant past, but of late they’re producing some really nice kits. The De Havilland Mosquito above is one such model, a 2021 release it captures the overall appearance well. Certainly well enough for me to simply enjoy nailing it together straight out of the box.
Airfix A04023 Mosquito Cockpit
The design and fit of the components is superb, as are the instructions. There’s a very interesting video here featuring the designer and his thoughts on how the kit was ‘put together’ design and build wise.
So what will I get from this apart from a dust collector? Well I’ll be trying a new airbrush, I also want to try some new masking techniques, and I want a project that has a start, and definitive finish. So far, so good!
Well it’s a Monday and the sketch pad, pencil and track layout books are out, and that can only mean one thing. It’s a Monday I’ve got a book, a sketch pad and pencil.
Heljan Class 26Bachmann Pannier
Over the past week or so I’ve had the opportunity to sit back and consider where I want to concentrate my efforts on. Doing the regular tidy the mancave task, you know, the rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic thing, a couple of shelf queens worked their way to the lifeboats.
Heljan Class 26 shunts the yard on Shelfie2
The first one in the header image, the Heljan Class 26, had me reverting back to thoughts of Ian Futers’ Scottish layouts, always a source of inspiration. The opportunity to run short, prototypical diesel hauled trains always appeals and had me digging out my version of 26041. This is a conversion done by myself into a windowless door cab variant. Heljan now offers this within the standard range, but initially they didn’t. When I look at it now the work isn’t the tidiest, but that doesn’t actually matter for me, what motivates me is that I did the conversion. The 26 at the top of the page has a pile of Shawplan goodies to be fitted, windows and grills to give it that difference from straight out of the box.
3721 is yet another Bachmann pannier. I’ve done quite a few now and it’s weird how it feels so natural just working on them, almost a muscle memory type of thing, and each one takes a shorter time. I’ve not really changed what I do to them, but each one gets its own character which seems to develop a little more with each conversion completed. This one just needs final paint, couplings and front lamp irons, and the next one, a low cab 57xx is already waiting it’s turn across the bench.
Bachmann 4575 Class
Behind the panniers and moving up the project queue is this small prairie, another Bachmann product. A spare body kindly passed by a friend, this will give me a little more fleet flexibility. To match its cousins it’s got a replacement chimney from Alan Gibson , and the bunker and cab shutters will be altered to give it a bit more life.
Modelu figures on Shelfie2
And that’s really it, ‘a bit more life’. Doing these simple but effective makeovers gives me a unique fleet, which I have had an input to, as well as buying and bartering for them. With these completed and/or well underway, it builds on the inspiration to build further layouts, and that’s where the sugar paper, crayons and reference books comes into effect. Enjoying the moment and planning, looking forward.
I’m mindful of the irony of this weekend too, writing about motivation. Normally it would be the Railex exhibition at Aylesbury, where every year I come away motivated and inspired by the modelling seen at that show. Here’s hoping we’re back in play in 2022!
At the moment many of us modellers (and our families) are using the postal services that get mail order products delivered. Obviously this increase means that there’s potential for the bottom feeders to attempt to rip people off.
The above text rang alarm bells as I’m not waiting for anything, as well as the wording.
Royal Mail have a page to advise what to look for, with examples of texts/emails illustrated, and a facility to report them.
Working on several projects simultaneously is common for me, and the grain cars here are no exception. With significant changes at the house it made sense to use some of the time available to kick start Shelfie4. Going between Shelfie3 and 4 allows me to try different techniques or equipment back to back, which is partly why S4 has taken a leap forward.
One of the ideas of having a ‘foreign’ layout was to free up some modelling time by not being quite so focused on prototype issues. However I’ve found that not to be the case, and I quickly reverted to type, and whilst not rivet counting, it still has to gel in terms of era and equipment. It’s sometimes referred to as proto freelancing, an imaginary line/location built on prototype practices and equipment. That genre describes my approach perfectly regardless of the modelling I’m doing. The grain cars here are a case in point,
I have too many of these in ‘pretty’ colours for the proposed location, so some thinning out in the stock list is happening. At the same time, the mundane 40ft boxcars are on their way in. Up into the 80’s the boxcar was used as a bulk grain carrier, a relatively inefficient method of transport, but actually adding some operational interest.
So this week a batch of 40ft’ers arrived, and being shorter stock means I get an extra car per train, providing an optical illusion of longer trains. The liveries on these aren’t quite right for my era of around 1970 to 1980, and detail changes on roof walkways and end ladders will give them a more authentic feel in due course.
This Geep is the largest type of motive power to be used, the core of the movements will be SW1200 switchers. Shelfie4’s aim is to show grain car operations against a backdrop of silos in a waterside location as part of a larger off scene railhead. It’ll be my first pure DCC layout, the Genesis and Rapido motive power chosen for its quality, reliability and ease of use, NCE being chosen as the control system. I’m aiming to try Rapido point motors too, on Micro Engineering code 70 track.
The baseboard is shallow in depth using a new support system for a flying fiddleyard so some space will be at a premium, with a quayside type appearance, above board point motors aren’t going to be practical.
Shelfie3 and Shelfie4 are almost tied in their current development, and S4 is likely to be the faster completion. Some of the trial items I anticipate to find their way to S3 too, the point motors for example, if they are successful. The development also works the other way in the lighting from S3 is already included in the specification for S4. The next steps are fixing and wiring track for S4, hopefully, this coming week.
Albion Yard 
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