Monday 8 April 2024
O Gauge test Track and O gauge musings
Tuesday 2 April 2024
O gauge progress - wagons and buildings
I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter weekend. I have been modelling away on a quite a few projects recently and although I have been making some progress, it all feels a little slow and disjointed. In theory I have more time to model nowadays, although in reality progress is somewhat slower than I would like. I currently have a lot of projects on the go and this scattergun process means that attention is somewhat divided between multiple tasks. I spent Easter Monday modelling away on a few projects and I have decided that I need to finish off a set of these current projects before moving onto the next ones. This involves finishing off a number of wagons and buildings that are 'in progress' before starting anything else.....
I currently have a number of locomotives stripped down ready to weather/ and detail, including a class 33 and a 122 DMU. The class 03 is heading through the paint shop and I reckon that I will be ready to reassemble this in a week or two. The body weathering has been finished and most of the chassis has been done, although there are a couple of bits to finish off with the airbrush before I can reassemble the locomotive. The class 33 on the other hand has been disassembled, with the body about to head into a wash of Superstrip, whilst I weather the bogies and underframe.
I am also keen to get the microlayout scenery going and to do that I need to build several structures. I have a pub at the end of layout that acts a scenic break. This building is currently being 'polyfillared' before scribing. There is also a grounded van body and a goods shed to start building. I also need to build a platform for the microlayout, although the plasticard to do this is not yet ordered. Unfortunately, these tasks all need doing before I start ballasting on the microlayout, so for now I can get as a far as track painting, whilst I build these structures. I am also going to motorise the points on the micro layout, using the excellent DCC concepts point motors and levers. Again, this task has not been started yet.
I have made a little progress with some wagon projects. I managed to finish the weathering of a Dapol open wagon. This wagon was weathered using AK Interactive washes and filters, before finishing off with an air brush. I wanted to expand my skills/techniques in weathering and this wagon was a test bed - it has turned out OK I think. I definitely started to get the hang of using these washes/filters and although more practice is required, it is not a bad start. I did try to fitting a Geoscenics tarpaulin onto the wagon and have subsequently decided that I was not happy with the look of the taup and it has now been removed.
I also finished the build of the 12T standard van over the wagon, This is the Slaters kit and was a straightforward built. However, it was also one of those projects that for whatever reason was a bit of fight from start to finish. I am not 100% happy with the fit of the roof, however, I am certain that once painted all the little niggles of the build will be forgotten. A good paint job can hide a multitude of sins! This is also the last box van for the fertiliser train on the main layout, so my first rake of O gauge wagons has now been completed!
So that is my progress update, despite a lack of posting there has been a bit going on. The aim is to finish off a couple more wagons right now and get the buildings sorted out for the microlayout. Then I can seriously think about weathering/detailing more rolling stock.
Sunday 18 February 2024
O gauge Wagon Progress
The last few weeks has seen some intermittent, but steady progress on a few O gauge modelling projects. I managed to finish a Slaters Conflat A wagon over the last few weeks and all in all I am pretty happy with it. There was a lot of subtle weathering that I applied to the wagon, which seems to have been lost with the application of transfers and final weathering coats, but overall it look good I think. As per normal it was Railmatch enamels from an irbrush and tranfers are a mixture of Railtec and Fox.
Another wagon I have been playing with recently is this Dapol RTR 5 plank 13T corrugated end wagon. This wagon was an attempt to broaden my modelling/weathering repertoire, using AK international washes applied from a brush. Specifically, I wanted to develop my application of rust deposits, produce more realistic weathered wood effect, alongside attempting to work more quickly through the weathering process. It has been a good learning curve and whilst the wagon is not perfect, something usable will come from it. I am now airbrushing in some weathering on the underframe, before blending it all together with some final varnish coats. This wagon is a bit of experiment and I might well end up putting a tarpaulin over a wagon load at the end, if the finish is not quite right.
The SR pill box brake van is making good progress towards transfers and glazing. There are a couple of bits of weathering to sort out and I am now painting the interior of the wagon, finishing the floors and painting the stove (why did I not do this before I glued it in place!). I am hopeful I can complete this wagon in the next couple of weeks.
Lastly the SPV painting is coming on, applying faded BR blue. Multiple coats have been applied to try to create some tonal variation. This wagon was recently paint stripped and partially rebuilt, due to some bad transfers last time around. The underframe now needs painting and there is a bit of weathering to go on the body, using some paint washes.
Saturday 27 January 2024
Heljan O Gauge Class 25 - DCC sound and detailing completed
I have been building an O gauge layout for at least 3 years now, and frankly progress has been very slow. The layout is all wired up and scenic work has started, however, two house moves in two years has really disrupted progress. The other big limiting factor has been a lack of rolling stock ready to use and completing the fiddle yard for the layout. Well I have partially managed to remedy one part of this equation with the completion of the class 25 detailing project.
The model is the first release of the class 25 by Heljan and I pre-ordered it as soon as it was announced. A mere 7 or so years later I have installed the DCC chip and finished the weathering. The transfers on the locomotive are from Railtec, and all weathering was done using Railmatch enamels from an air-brush. The decoder fitting was an ESU Loksound V5 Xl with screw terminals and figuring out how to wire it up was a good challenge! Once I had got my head around the common return, it was relatively straightforward......
Beyond these tribulations - putting this locomotive on the test track and hearing the sulzer engine was a delight! I am however, not that impressed with the speaker and might add some more packing around it, it has a somewhat tinny vibration at the moment. I have turned down the volume a little and this has helped. Anyhow, it is now fully operational and whilst I might replace the speaker in due course - this locomotive is finished. Taking some photographs of the locomotive - I must say I am pretty happy overall with how it turned it. It was also a great learning experience, being the first O gauge diesel I have sound chipped. Like all modelling projects, there were bits I could have improved, but it is all learning.
In my experience, the smooth running of Heljan locomotives is the best there is - and this model is no exception. I spent a good few hours letting the locomotive potter about the little test track with the sound running - really great fun.
From here, I have a clear set of modelling priorities, to fit around the ongoing house renovation. First up is to finish some buildings and add some detail to the micro-layout/test track. The only rule for this, is I have to use stuff I already have lying about (except for maybe the backscene), just to keep costs manageable in the short term. I have a couple of Slaters wagon kits on the go atm, alongside rebuilding a Dapol milk tanker and these projects require finishing off. I am also weathering a class 03 shunter and fitting a stay alive to this locomotive - that will be perfect for operating the microlayout. I am also about to detail and dismantle a Dapol class 122 and a Heljan warship. These are the the priorities for the next 6 months or so, alongside the painting of various wagons already in the paint boxes. The aim will be to have the little micro-fully operational in a few months - and if it looks OK I might take it to a few exhibitions. Then from summer onwards, it is back to the proper O gauge layout - I have the traverser ordered for the fiddle yard, - so when that arrives it will really help with the running of the layout and getting the layout over the line.
Tuesday 16 January 2024
O Gauge test track
We are still renovating the house and this has really impacted my opportunities to set up my O gauge layout. This is really frustrating as I have several O gauge projects that are nearly complete and I need somewhere to test rolling stock, especially the DCC sound fitting to the O gauge diesels. So over the last week or so I decided to build a small O gauge micro layout/test track. I had a 5ft scenic box that I purchased from Tim Horn several years ago - I had made the box up, but had gone no further. So I dragged this out of the garage and started to arrange some track. I was keen to see what track I could get into a 5ft box in O gauge - the answer is not much!!! However, I added in two points, wired in the polarity switches (Gaugemaster), and used the Express Models Powerbus kit all soldered up. I also added in a small internal light and added a control panel for the NCE powercab on the front. By the end of Sunday it was operational - fantastic. I cut out some simple paper templates of buildings to see how things could fit, and I now plan to add a couple of buildings to the layout, alongside a backscene and some simple scenery to provide a photographic plank, as well as a fully operational test track.
So now there are now excuses for not finishing off some DCC diesel detailing projects. I am determined to finish off the Class 25 project this week and reassemble the locomotive. I cannot wait to try it on the test track. Otherwise wagon building and painting continues, with a Conflat now ready for transfers and the SR pill box brake van and the SPV being painted. Lots of fun and a satisfying weekend... I plan to spend this evening building another wagon!