13T Open Wagon

Finished 13T open wagon.

Not an awful lot of modelling has transpired in the last week, although I have got the air brush running this morning and I am going to spend the day building some wagons.  Over the week I did manage to get the last coats of varnish on this 13T steel open wagon.  It the Parkside kit and is finished with a mixture of bauxite and rust.  It is painted with Railmatch enamels and has Modelmaster transfers applied.  As per normal it has 3 link couplings.  Other projects are plodding along and I hope to finish off some more models next week.  I have a few days off work next week and I am hoping to build a new baseboard to start the new layout.

Bachmann Class 37 in BR Blue

This week I managed to put the finishing touches to a Bachmann Class 37 in BR blue.  I started this model about four months ago, so a fairly speedy project by my standards.  The model has the 21 pin DCC chassis and is supplied with a set of frost shields, to model the locomotive in pre-1976 condition. 

Finished class 37 running at Charlton.

View further down the platform.

As per normal I removed the bogies, chassis and body and weathered them all separately, before reassembly.  I started off by putting a weathering wash over the body and chassis using a brush, wiping most of this away.  Then the various parts of the locomotive were detailed using the airbrush and Railmatch enamel paints.  I attempted to make a blend of faded BR blue and some weathering streaks on the body side, to create a work a day look, but not overly weathered.  The roof was treated to some roof dirt and weathered black, whilst the chassis and bogies had a mixture of weathered black, frame dirt, sleeper grime and matt white applied.  I used a Howes sound chip in this locomotive, the unrefurbished variant, with a Road and Rails speaker (a 25x7x7mm speaker).  The speaker plus chip work really well together and it sounds fantastic in my opinion.

Running light out of the station.

Finished class 37 running in the evening passenger service from Barnstaple, with parcels traffic.

Class 37 on the milk train!

Overall, I am pretty happy with how this one turned out, its looks pretty good in the station I think.  I did not chip the bodywork, like I have been experimenting with some other locomotives and rolling stock.  The diesel hydraulics I am modelling tend to be in a pretty grubby state, as they are nearing the end of their working lives during the 1970s, in comparison to classes 50, 47 and 37, 33 and 31, which are taking over what remains of their duties in the west of England.  With this locomotive finished, I have a class 50 that I am just starting to detail, alongside the resurrection of my class 45 and a class 108.  These are the next projects before tacking a hymek, a warship (class 43) and another western.  

Up and running again - some comings and goings at Charlton station

The next move has been completed and we are all settled in.  A hectic few months, although overall for us it has been a good time.  I know many people have had a far worse experiences over the last few months, so I am counting my blessings in life.  So with the majority of the stuff moved in I have had some time to set up the 'office', aka the modelling room.  One of the first things I did was to set up Charlton and have a good old running session or two.  It was great to finally have some time and space to do this.

Class 25 bringing in the milk train.

Class 22 on an engineers train.

An early morning parcels train.

Another view of the class 22 on the engineers train.

I also took the opportunity to take some pictures of the some of the recently finished rolling stock to see how it looked 'for real', placed on the layout.  In short, I am pretty happy with it all.  The LNER CCT and Ling wagon, both had badly applied transfers, but some with some weathering, at normal viewing distances they look passable.  The SR CCT and milk tanker look the part in my opinion and the post office van looks just right sat at the end of the platform!  The layout as always has performed faultlessly and it has been very enjoyable to run some trains.  

Class 47 bring in the evening passenger turn.

A view looking up the platform.

Engineers train shunted to the siding.

Recently finished sealion wagon.

The recently finished Royal Mail van ready for loading with parcels.

SR passenger C in the parcels rake.

Recently finished LNER CCT.

However, the limitations of the layout have also resurfaced when playing trains.  The terminus to fiddle yard has limited operation possibilities.  So, to cut a long story short, I am embarking on a much more ambitious project.  The plan is to build two stations on separate scenic boards, with a middle scenic section.  I am going to build this in discrete sections, to save being overwhelmed by the project!  So what to do with the Charlton layout in the meantime?  I am going to put it up for sale I think.  If no one wants it, then it might just have to storage for a while.  It would be a shame to break it all up and it has been a great learning project, but it is time to move onto a bigger project.  However, this said, it is still great to play trains!

Class 25 bringing in the evening parcels train, to collect the mail.

Class 25 collecting the milk tankers and a CCT from further down the line.

Class 47 on the early evening passenger turn.

Class 22 pulling in the engineers train.