Friday Update: Valentines 2025…

Welcome to the eve of the weekend and with it, another capitalist holiday to give and receive gifts with loved ones! You won’t find any of that here, it’s a Valentines free zone in todays round up of the week in the workshop…

Headliners this week are this pair of Bachmann Class 25! The rear model is from my own collection and contrasts with the earlier bodywork of this example destined for a Leatown. These are lovely models. They run beautifully, the detail is ‘just right’ and the Bachmann finish always responds well to my weathering methods. I’ll write about them more when they’re finished, but for now, consider them a work in progress!

They have been an enjoyable distraction from large scale commissions that are completely overwhelming the workshop at present. From an Australian sugar plantation diesel (above) to the Glyn Valley (below) and from plastic to MDF to real wood it has been busy yet fun to breathe my own character into these well known models.

The GVT opens are from Binnie kits and have been reworked with custom etched brake details. I’ve also given the bodywork a lift as well with filled and smoothed corners to the metal top brackets, replacement river detail in stead of bolt heads and carved in wood grain. The result really lifts the already lovely kit into something a little special. Looking forward to finishing these!

The van is a Perfect World kit and is largely solid wood panels and planks glued together until you get a van. The result requires finesse to avoid gaps and ensure things are straight but it pays off with the variety of texture and depths available in this approach. This was sealed with sanding sealer and primed whicu seemed a shame but the prototype was painted! Still a few things to add or modify now I can see the state of the finish but pleased with this one.

Next up a cautionary tale… you get what you pay for… on the left a new set of drill bits -circa £15. On the right, a set that had the same (or a very similar) photo on eBay for <£4. I should have known the price meant a drop in quality but the drop was over a cliff… first of all the small bits were all 0.5mm! I total the number if different sizes was surprisingly not the same as advertised! The quality of the bits themselves was also pretty ropey. EBay ensured I got my money back but avoid! The £15 may not be the most cost effective way or best parts ever, but I’ve used these for over 20 years without trouble.

More weathering, and yes, a work in progress too, a pair of OO gauge Revolution TUA tank wagons. I’ve given the chassis a wash and started adding the stroking and staining on the tank, this is Matt 62 ‘leather’ and will be toned down with further applications but provides a good lurid base to the work to follow. If you’ve got some rolling stock you’d like me to bring to life get in touch prices start from £30 a wagon.

Finally, something of my own - I’ll be sharing more on this models genesis over the weekend, but a tease of the weathered finish I’m applying shows the conversion of Jerome K Jerome to a more useful ‘banger blue’ finish well in hand. In this photo the roof exhaust and under frame are still to be tackled, but the body sides are pretty much how I envisaged them at the start of the conversion. 

The weather is still very cold but trains start again tomorrow here in the valley so I am looking forward to the sight and sounds of the real railway infiltrating my consciousness once more. If you see me about do say hello, I hope whatever you get up to over the weekend you can enjoy it. Until next time, more soon…

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