Friday Update: Twelve Six Twenty-six…

Welcome to a bumper update, packed full of projects across multiple scales and gauges. Now is the time for that cuppa you’ve been promising yourself, sit back and let me meander through this week’s progress…

First scale and gauge, 1:76 on 12mm track. Yes, another 00-12 project, but this time squeezing the Hornby B4 chassis inside a EDM Models Townsend Hook 3D print, not a straight forward job! The resin is quite brittle and I don’t like modifying 3D prints - but a few snaps and repairs later we have something resembling the prototype. There are still some wheel arches to add and I’ve spaced the replacement dumb buffers to match the forthcoming 00-12 wagons I’m producing. It will be finished in the red brown livery with red lining edged black, hopefully and attractive little engine.

There are quite a lot of repaints and custom transfer jobs on my bench at present and good progress on all of these this week. The first trio of projects all centring on Spanish examples, 1:160 scale, 9mm gauge - Transfesa road-rail boxes above (custom designed markings), some inter-continental sleeping coaches, below, and finally repainting an electric in a ‘what if’ livery…

The transfers for these coaches are tiny, and pretty much illegible but were, I promise, all drawn up to scale! These are almost ready for lacquer and reassembly. The electric locomotive has proven to be a labour of love, however. Trying to mix and match the colour to a sample provided by my customer has proven difficult, apparently the real locomotives were painted in colours mixed by the depots too, so there was some variation but with trial and error, and after a second strip of paint and starting again we’re getting there now I think. This goes to show, it happens to us all…

First attempt: cream to cold, orange to dark and light brown too light.

Second attempt: cream much better.

Second attempt: orange and lighter brown about right, just dark brown and detail painting left.

Another 1:160 scale 9mm gauge project is recreating this M62 in a North Korean livery. I stripped down the rather lovely Fleischmann donor model and have been re-spraying it in parallel to the other European N scale commissions. There is just a little bit of touching up to do before I can give it a coat of laquer and re-assemble the model - with some etched brass number plates custom designed and ordered to finish it off. No country or continent off limits here, I never thought I’d be working on North Korean model!

Back to larger models and in 1:76 and 18.2mm gauge track we have an old friend. In parallel to the new build O2s I’m working on, my customer sent me 32 (which I built previously) and a selection of other O2s he had assembled and painted by another builder, with a list of changes to bring them all into one time period. In the case of 32 we’re replacing the Fox ‘British Railways’ sunshine lettering with a similar but simpler style applied to the O2s that I have custom designed. This meant removing the original markings and making good without damaging the original paint - well, to ensure a good base I did mask and airbrush some new green (below) and the model now awaits some gloss lacquer before decal application. The new build pair are awaiting an order of paints to arrive as they’re in slightly different shades and colours. More, I’m sure soon on those…

Fourth variant is 1:76 scale, 9mm gauge, classic 009 but not classic 009 models! Much much larger… A pair of Avontuur Models NG15s using the Kato D51 chassis as specified. I’ve used Peco L&B wagon bogies on modified tender frames for robustness, I find the Chivers ones a little delicate. The Kato chassis have been modified to extend the pony and trailing trucks and I’ve added fake cylinder covers to the body footplate. Next up are the details now that I’ve primed and smoothed the grey example, which started out in the old nylon material.

The nylon material doesn’t sand, instead I find it best to flood it with primer, then burnish with the back of a blade or blunt screw driver, re-prime and repeat a few times. The result then accepts paint much better and whilst not as good as a modern resin or acrylic print, is more than acceptable at layout distances. The photo below shows the model with just the first coat of primer, before burnishing.

Another gauge, 1:76 scale but 16.5mm gauge, this old Bachmann class 04 has been stripped down to components and coarser details replaced and supplemented to represent, loosely, one of then Drewry diesels used on the narrow gauge lines in Australia. I’ve got some custom decals and etched plates ordered to transform this - and I think, with careful painting, the subterfuge of the inside (rather than outside frames) chassis will be less noticeable.

Finally, a chance to talk about some personal projects this week. 1:148 scale on 9mm gauge, we have my latest Class 08 - a Farish model using a new Next18 chassis with the circuit board and speaker removed, and an older (cheaper) Basra body, this will become, in time 08994 in Railfreight grey - destined for use, of course, on Cwmbach. I’ve drawn up a new etched cab roof and cab upper plate as these models had smaller rear cab windows. Hopefully the etches will arrive soon, along with the cab side name and number plates.

Finally, our last scale, 1:87 on 16.5mm gauge track, is my HO scale Kato SD40 make over. This aging model has some lovely toolmaking and a Japanese chassis - it runs beautifully. I will be adding DCC sound in time, but up first is making the shell more Canadian! Key spotting features, beyond the bell and headlight placement were that GMD built units had a different step well arrangement. I have used some parts from Kaslo Shops in Canada to replicate this, cutting out the Kato steps and lightly modifying the frame weight and truck corners to clear the new parts.

This latest Canadian locomotive is destined to become another chapter in the TerraTransport back story. It is rather nice to be back day dreaming of green diesels and I look forward to watching her roll down Beaverbrook. I must must write up more on this evolution, I produced some more maps and have further ideas on the evolution of this network and its remains eventual re-integration into CN.

The weekend approaches, I should be heading to Welshpool tomorrow and Sunday, I hope, will allow some more work on Cwmbach, behind the scenes this layout has been making steady progress. I hope you all manage to get out and about and enjoy some railways real or model, or perhaps just a good book and a coffee, day dreaming of what may come in time. For now though, I need to get back to the bench. Until next time, more soon…

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