Class 119 DMU started......and back to blogging

At last I am back home. After about 5 weeks away working, 6 days a week, on some incredible projects, it is great to be back home. To this end I have started building my DC kits class 119 DMU and have also started building a Chivers Finelines Tunny wagon. The DC kits class 119 is an interesting kit. It cost about £150, not cheap, especially when compared to the standard of ready to run DMU's about. I have put the body shell together and most of the floor components are in place on one of the cars. I still have the second coach to build this weekend. However, conceivably it could be in the paint shop within a week...

Front end of the class 119

Considering the cost of the kit I cannot work out if it represents value for money. The mouldings are excellent. The underframe detail is basic and there is some individual licence on how to actually fit the body to the chassis. This said, with a bit of effort and a few extra parts I am hoping to be able to create a passable rendition of a class 119 DMU, although only time will tell. Ultimately, it is about creating something which is an acceptable representation of the original. It will never be perfect, so my modest aim with this one is to produce a finished working model. This is the first time I have undertaken a model like this so this is all new territory for me.

Back end of the 119

The DMU will be a two car unit, although DC kits sell this as a three car model. I attempted to build the centre buffet car from the floor up, and to be perfectly honest, made a bit of a mess with it. So it will now be a two car DMU, here is hoping that the two car unit will be more successful. The original centre car is currently being canabalised for spare parts for the rest of the model.

The bodyshell during construction

On other projects, the detailing of my class 121 dmu unit has ground to a halt. This has been due to the poor running of the original chassis unit. My solution? Well after being away for so long I thought I should treat myself to a couple of new trains. So a new class 121 and 45 will hopefully be winging their way to me soon. I intend to swap the chassis unit over from the new 121 onto the blue body shell. The new 121 DMU is an absolute steal from Hattons. Once this 121 project is finished I might then take the old chassis apart and see if I can cure the bad running. Other than that I might finish of the PMV wagon this weekend and also get the whale painted (still waiting on the release of transfers from model master for this, and the tunny/lamprey/crab!!).

View of the nearly complete first car of the two car set

My other big task his weekend, is to take down Amberleigh Halt. This is going to be moved to the living room for the weekend, which has much better natural light. I am going to finally finish Amberleigh by adding the platform halt name board. And then, I am not sure - probably give it to my son to play with. Up on the layout stand will be going the boards for the next layout in Watergate Halt. I will hopefully make some headway on this this weekend too......