O Gauge test Track and O gauge musings

I have recently been clearing out a lot of OO gauge unstarted projects from my modelling boxes and selling these items on ebay. I have been guilty of buying way too much rolling stock for projects that I never get around too and having a declutter has been good (and made some space too). The thing I like about O gauge is that the rolling stock is a little more expensive(!), so it makes one really consider what they are going to buy. I have been talking to my partner for weeks about what locomotive I really want to get next in O gauge, when I stopped and thought - exactly what projects do I have to finish for my O gauge layouts? Well the answer was, rather more than I had started!

So in an attempt to not buy more than I need, I took out my O gauge locomotives that I have not started to detail. There is a quite a lot there. I have a warship about to be detailed and a class 33 about to head into a bath of superstrip (just waiting for a delivery). Alongside this I have a western and a hymek to detail, alongside a class 122 that I have dismantled and made no further progress on. And of course there are many more coaches and wagons waiting in the queue. So the upshot, I really do not need to buy more rolling stock! However, I am sure that it will happen of course. As modellers we all like to have projects we cannot wait to get around too and buy (probably) too much stuff. Taking out these O gauge locomotives was great fun. They are seriously impressive and imposing models. Looking at them made me really excited about running my O gauge layout, although ideally I would like to buy a few more locomotives to complete my western diesel fleet (class 31, class 37, class 47 and 50!)....

O gauge western waiting for detailing.

A class 35 Hymek; I am undecided whether I will repaint this into BR Blue.

A class 42 warship; this is the next one to work through detailing and DCC sound chipping. This locomotive will be finished as D810 Cockade - one of the later lived class 42s.

Anyhow, moving onwards, the microlayout continues to make slow progress, whilst the main layout has not been touched for almost a year (erghhh) - house renovations have taken their toll. However, I have a plan for completion of the text track; I am just waiting for some plasticard to arrive to build a a small platform, alongside building the goods shed.  Then I hope to move swiftly on to painting the track, installing point motors and ballasting. The main layout will really start to be detailed the other side of summer, so there is plenty of time to get stuck into some modelling, before crakcing on with the main layout again. 

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.

The class 03 bodyshell has been largely repaired following a fall to the floor and is now finished. A bit more weathering is needed on the chassis.

The Heljan class 33 body is ready to head into a bath of Superstrip. You do need quite a lot of paint stripper to cover an O gauge body shell.

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.

The beginnings of the pub that will act as a scenic break at the end of layout.

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.

Finished Dapol open wagon, ready for use.

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!

12T standard van ready for painting.

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.

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.

Conflat A wagon finished on the test track.

Top view showing the weathered wood floor. 

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.

This wagon so far, has only been weathered by hand. It is definitely good practice to learn some new techniques.

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.

The underframe needs a little more detailing (grease in particular).

The interior needs some more painting, a second coat for the wall and flor. The black smudges on the floor are an attempt at footprints. 

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.

SPV painting in progress.

So some good progress. I am going to clear a few of these wagon painting projects out of the way, then it is building the micro layout/test track - such as weathering the track, adding in some buffer stops and ballasting. I also took the class 33 downstairs to add on the details before it has a full repaint, alongside the detailing of the class 122 and class 03. I am also clearing out a lot of the old stock from the railway room that I never got around to detailing - I have too much stuff(!). It feels great to be having a clear out and to be focusing on a smaller number of O gauge projects.

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.

Weathered and sound fitted class 25 on the test track.

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...... 

Screw terminals on the Class 25 DCC sound chip, after complete removal of the PCB board - take a deep breath when you do this for the first time!

After weathering the bogies, underframe and body separately - I reassembled the chassis first to fit the dcc chip. I placed a speaker on two small pillars of foam packing, glued to a piece of plasticard, so it sits above the drive shaft. I also added the headcode transfer to some very thin clear pasticard (from food packaging - after washing) and trimmed these to fit the headcode boxes.When I was reattaching the body I realised I had lost one of the red tail lights (typical) and had to fudge a new one using some red plastic. Once all this was done I reattached the body - which I really struggled with. Getting the body to sit on the chassis correctly was really hard work and took me about an hour. I, of course, scratched the roof when doing this, so I had to touch up some paint (I do not think this is too noticeable - but it was very frustrating). Handling these big O gauge diesels is tricky - but once it was back together - I did having a wow that looks great moment.

I removed the bogies and weathered these separately.

Chassis reassembled.

The speaker cradle constructed from plasticard and two pillars of foam packing, so it sits above the drive shaft and the bogie pivot.

Headcode transfers applied to some very thin plastic - these were then trimmed to size.

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.

Body side view, showing the layering of faded paint and bodyside detailing.

The other end of the locomotive, showing the wobbly headcodes - a characteristic feature of the 1970s.

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.

And the first passenger train leaves the station on the test track behind the class 25.

Class 25 coupling up to its train.

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.

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.

Test track operational. This is with the lighting unit switched off, showing the real benefit of O gauge and coach lighting.

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!

Aerial view showing the very limited track layout.

The internal lighting is visible to good effect in this picture.

End of 2023 and back to modelling in 2024

The end of 2023 and it has been a quite a year for us. Looking at the amount of modelling done this year is quite disappointing, but this is hardly surprising given we purchased a new house and then set about renovating pretty much all of it - certainly more than we were originally anticipated. However, the majority (not all) of the renovating has been completed downstairs and certainly in 2024 I will have much more time to model and for my other hobbies.  This is a real relief, as the second half of 2023 was a bit of a slog. Anyhow, over the xmas break I slowly started to reawaken the modelling projects that were dutifully put away before the real mess of the house renovating started. It was difficult coming back to modelling projects after a gap of several months, as I had forgotten where I had got to with each model.

The class 03 that smashed onto the floor sometime in early summer was an expensive mistake. The locomotive has now been completely disassembled and I have slowly started rebuilding it. The main body is now finished and this will be heading to the paintshop later today. The chassis needs a bit more work to glue some broken bits back on and make sure it runs properly, alongside adding a stay alive to the decoder. Ultimately, the poor running of the locomotive was the cause of the crash, so hopefully the stay alive and rebuild will cure the temperamental running. I need to source some new buffers for it, but otherwise I am optimistic I can get this locomotive back to running pretty soon. The sheer number of components that I removed from the the locomotive is a little daunting, but hopefully I will remember how to get it all back together.

Class 03, only lacking buffers now.

I have also been building some new wagons, first up is a GWR diag 032, from the Parkside kit. This is now finished and will be washed and enter the paintshop today. It was pretty straightforward build and was done a few hours each evening over the festive period.

Diagram 032 wagon, ready for painting in BR bauxite.

I had also started a Slaters GWR 6 wheel milk tanker and of course in the intervening months of no modelling I had lost some of the sprues. So this project has stalled a little whilst I await the spares, although I have built the tank and now need to fill this and sand it down. Earlier in the year I also set about destroying(!) a Dapol milk tanker. This is now finally dismantled and I will now wash and paint the milk tank before reassembling and detailing the chassis. I have ordered some Slaters spare sprues at the same time to use on this wagon, so it will become a bit of a hybrid build and I will be happy to produce any useable wagon from this process - this is one of those projects where I wish I had left it alone and not started!

Slaters GWR milk tanker making slow progress.

Dapol Milk tanker - now a total mess and the rebuilding and painting can begin.

The air brush has also be set up and is running again. I have got some transfers on the Vanwide, the Conflat is making steady progress with painting and the Pill Box brake van is heading to completion. It is great to be painting again and I am optimistic that I can get several wagons finished over the next couple of months.

SR Pillbox Brake van, part way through painting in faded olive green.

So what modelling plans do I have for 2024? - well of course plenty! The biggest problem at the moment is that the house still needs plenty of work done and this will essentially curtail me setting up the layout. I think that not being able to run and test locomotives easily is a real drawback; whilst setting up the layout is doable, it will take up a lot of the lounge and I need to be finishing off various projects in the lounge and kitchen. Therefore, for use over the the next few months I am going to build a small DCC test track, something that will probably become a micro layout in the fullness of time, but for now it will be something where I can just test the rolling stock that I am finishing off. I have a 5ft Tim Horn scenic box already built for this purpose and I have ordered the track for the project.   I have a the class 25 to reassemble and check, plus the class 03, a class 122 DMU ready to be weathered and I am also about to start a class 42 warship. Therefore, having a test track to easily set up and test locomotives has become essential and I am looking forward to starting this project tomorrow. So for now a happy new year to everyone and I hope to update this blog with a lot more content and projects in the new year.

Happy Xmas Everyone!

Modelling has been pretty quiet for me over the last 6 months - hence the lack of updates! We have been busy renovating our house - and there is light at the end of the tunnel. I should be able to get my airbrush up and running again over xmas - ready for the new year. I am also optimistic of a little modelling time over the Xmas hols. 

However, until then - I hope everyone has a very merry xmas and lots of train shaped presents!