Well what an enjoyable weekend: An 0 gauge Lowmac and 13T open wagon, an 00 gauge Sr 40T wagon and a LNER CCT!

This weekend I have had some time to really do some modelling, a few undisturbed stints over the weekend.  I have to thank my most amazing partner - who is very understanding when I say I am going to disappear for a few hours!  Anyhow, enough of that - more about the modelling.  I have a few, very long burner projects that have dragged on and on.  The first is a Slaters 0 Gauge 13T open wagon.  I have no idea how long I have been on this project, but it has been dragging on for probably 4 years.  This week I am finally getting around to finishing this off, just needing to add a few etched brass castings.  One side of the wagon is almost finished and the second side will be a lot quicker now I have got the measure of what I need to do.  Hopefully, I will get an evening this week to finish it off.  I am keen to develop my rust weathering skills further.  Being a steel open wagon, this is going to serve as a test bed for developing some better rust weathering skills.

Slaters 0 Gauge 13T wagon heading towards completion (finally!)

My old man has also recently got into 0 gauge. I got him a skill builder etched brass kit the Xmas before last and once built, I offered to paint it for him.  I am keen to develop my wood weathering skills, so this wagon is going to be a test bed for some advanced weathering (or at least I hope so).  It is shaping up nicely so far, although there is a long way to go yet.  I have purchased the AK International wood weathering kit for this and it will serve as a test best for these techniques.

My dads 0 Gauge LNER Lowmac going through the paint shop.

A wagon that has been finally constructed this weekend, is an 00 gauge SR 40T ballast wagon.  This complements the 2 recently finished Walrus wagons, all constructed from the Cambrian kits.  The SR 40T wagon is not one of my best builds, it is a bit wonky!  However, I hope that a good paint job will disguise the building sins!  This is a quick build, taking a little over a year!

SR 40T ballast wagon heading for the paintshop.

Last up, is a much quicker fix!  It is a Hornby LNER CCT.  This is yet another parcels wagon for the layout.  I converted this to 3 link couplings and it is now ready for the paintshop, after a wash.

Ready for painting - yet more parcels stock.

So plenty of progress and it feels very satisfying.  I have also sorted out the paint boxes this weekend and a number of models are very close to completion.  I am determined to not buy any more stock at the moment.  I have lots of kits to build and lots of stock to weather!  I also have all the new baseboards for the next layout ordered.  So I want to work through everything I have right now, this includes finishing off a DC kits class 119 DMU, sound chipping and detailing a BR blue class 108 DMU, detailing and sound chipping a Hymek, Western, Class 42 and Class 43, and maybe even sorting out my Lima class 37.   Hopefully, plenty of more progress over the weeks ahead....although whether I will finish all of these projects before being distracted is open to question!

Class 45 (revised!!!) - DCC sound and running!

A couple of years ago, I posted on here about the destruction of a Bachmann Class 45 at an exhibition.  A lady pushing a wheelchair smashed into the layout and sent the locomotive crashing into a concrete floor. It taught me that I need a guard on the side of the fiddleyard to stop this happening again.  I did half heartedly attempt to fix the Class 45, but it was a big job and I felt I could do a better finish on the weathering, as the original Class 45 was an early attempt.  I managed to get a new Class 45 from ebay and over the last year or so I have been detailing this.

Finished class 45 on Charlton.

Class 45 on a short engineers train at Charlton.

I took the DCC sound chip (Howes) out of the class 45 and added in a double IPhone speaker from Road and Rails.  I also used the original bogies from the older class 45, but otherwise it is the new model.  As always, I detailed the body using an airbrush and Railmatch enamel paints.  I initially used an overall body wash of paint, applied with a paintbrush, wiping most of it away, before airbrushing in some shades of faded BR blue.  After this, the weathering was applied, using sleeper grime, weathered black, frame dirt, roof dirt, brake dust and a splash of white.  

Spotted between the foliage.

The short engineers train, with a GWR Mink and Python, with a SR CCT, all in olive green!

The locomotive from ebay was not very well run in and it took a little bit of cajoling to get it running properly.  However, it is all moving fine now and earlier today I used it with the recently finished engineers wagons in a short formation.  

A short video of the Class 45 heading out of Charlton and onto Barnstaple Junction.

In other news, I have decided I am going to sell the Charlton layout.  It is definitely time for a new project -  so if anyone is interested please drop me a message here. 

GWR Python wagon in the engineers train

A happy new year one and all!  With all the seasonal festivities over, I have managed to find some time to crack on with some modelling.  This week I put the final coats of varnish on a GWR Python wagon, in service with the engineers dept.  It really is a bit of a work of fiction, like the recently finished GWR Mink wagon.  However, a little peruse of various internet websites shows some use of GWR trucks in the engineers fleet well into the 1970s/1980s and that is close enough for me.

Finished GWR Python wagon in BR engineering olive.

The model was painted with Railmatch enamels via an airbrush, and finished with Modelmaster decals.  It carries 3 link couplings, as per all my stock.  Whilst I love the Parkside range of kits, I found this model to be a bit of a stinker to build.  Whilst many of the Parkside kits literally fall together, I found this one trick to get square.  The wheels are a bit tight, it runs ok but not brilliantly.  However, it does add some further variety into the engineers train I am currently building, with a Mk1 in dept olive ready for its final coats of varnish over the coming days.  Today I am also putting my class 45 back together and adding the DCC sound chip and speaker.  So hopefully by the end of today I will have the class 45 operational again.  I also managed to get the baseboard built for the first layout on the new station, so all in all some progress his week!