Pottington Quay micro layout - further progress

It has been a while since my last post, mainly due to working away the last few weeks. I have been doing bits and pieces of modelling, but none of my current projects has really significantly moved forward. One thing I have been trying is to position buildings around Pottington Quay to disguise the holes in the backscene for the entry/exit of the trains. Originally I had planned to only have two exits on the Barnstaple side of the layout, but added a third on the Ilfracombe side of the layout to allow through-running passenger trains. This has complicated the layout a little bit as I had originally constructed one building to disguise the Barnstaple side, but I now need something else for the Ilfracombe side. I am thinking of using the Bachmann maintenance depot as per the picture, but this will remove the use of the siding for goods vehicles - which is something I want on this layout. So for now I am stuck for ideas - I have purchased a double portacabin kit from Knightwing to see if this will fit between the mainline and the siding. Otherwise, I am a bit stuck on how to disguise this break.....

Barnstaple side - this end will also have a goods shed between the railway and the quayside

And the Ilfracombe side - this exit needs disguising but I am not sure how....

Vitrains class 37

Finished Vitrains class 37

This week I managed to finish the detailing of a Vitrains class 37 in BR blue. I got this loco at a bargain price and I was keen to see the quality of the Vitrains models against Bachmann and Hornby locomotives. Having read on several internet forums conflicting reports on the Vitrains models, I have been pleasantly surprised by the model. Out of the box the model does look a little 'toy like', but with a bit of work I think it really comes up well.

The body during painting

The class 37 was separated into the chassis, bogies, body and buffer beams. I have read several comments by others on the fitting on the various detailing components to the Vitrains models, with some moaning about having to add these parts. For my two pence worth, I think the detailing parts that come with the Vitrains models are fantastic. They are comprehensive and well made. I remember buying the craftsmen detailing parts for Lima locomotives, so I think having all the components supplied for fitting on the locomotive is a great idea and most welcome.

Trundling around Pottington Quay

With the bufferbeams separated I added the various pipes and a shortened three link coupling. The full length 3 link coupling fouled the bogies so a half length coupling was installed. The NEM coupling was cut off and the bogies were weathered separately to body and chassis. The body had the glazing removed and the various detailing parts added such as handrails, etc. The body then had a diluted wash of weathered back and frame-dirt hand brushed over it, using vertical streaks. Then a number of passes of sleeper grime, weathered black and frame-dirt were airbrushed over the body and chassis. The whole lot was sealed with a spray of Railmatch matt varnish.

Shortened 3 link coupling

The full length fouled the bodies when reassembled

The model was reassembled and the glazing was added with the windscreen wipers (thanks George Dent for the advice on these). Some MU cables were added to the body/bufferbeam (I nicked the MU cables from another Bachmann class 37). Overall I think this is a pretty decent model and having run it on the Pottington Quay the running characteristics on DCC are superb; every bit as good as a Bachmann or Hornby model.

End view, with a dutch liveried class 37 for company

However, there is also room for improvement with this model. One of the worst aspects of the model is the poor glazing. This glazing really does let the model down and with hindsight I wish I had replaced it. Another issue are poor working lights, with dim lights and both the rear and headlights visible at the same time due to light bleed. The last issue is the nose join to the body, which has a slight gap and again allows light bleed. Again with hindsight I wish I had tidied this join up, but it was something I only noticed once reassembled and running. However, with these minor niggles aside, in my opinion, this is a great model which with some work really looks the part. I think a lot of the Vitrains bashing I read online was completely unjustified and to anyone thinking about getting this model I would definitely recommend it.

Large Logo Class 50 weathered

Weathered class 50 with the detailing pipes added

I have just returned home from a fantastic half term week with my son and managed to finish off my class 50 weathering project. The locomotive in question is the BR blue large logo hoover, Centurion. After looking on the web for quite a while at pictures of these locomotives in service I have tried to recreate an 'in-service' look, albeit towards the dirtier end of the spectrum of how these locomotives were in the 1980s.

Dirt streaks running off the roof

First of all I added the various pipes to the front of the locomotive and cut away the NEM coupler socket at the front, replacing it with a 3 link coupling. After this, try as I might, I could not successfully remove the bogie sides from the locomotive and fearing I was about to damage the locomotive I went with the option of masking of the wheels and then weathering the chassis as a whole, with the body done separately. The roof was treated to some weathered black and the chassis/body sides were weathered with a mixture of weathered black, frame-dirt and sleeper grime, each applied as a separate coat. In total the weathering probably took around 20 different air-brush applications, including sealing with acclad varnish. I attempted to produce some dirt streaks running from the roof down the body sides as well as varying the weathering on the chassis in a way which is sympathetic to the moulded relief of the underframe.

This locomotive is now finished and is trundling up and down the first section of laid track on Pottington Quay. With a bit of luck I might even get the next sections of track laid down on Pottington today as well.

Pottington Quay DCC micro shunting layout

Class 50 running an engineers train

A couple of pictures of the developing scene at Pottington Quay. Over the last few nights the track has been glued down on part of the micro-layout. This has allowed the 'mainline' running past the yet to be constructed platform to become operational. The fiddleyards have also been extended and can now hold a diesel with a 3 coach train or a rake of 7/8 open wagons with a locomotive. The track laying was soldered up last night to a powerbus (soldering is not my strong point) via dropper wires. And tonight I have been testing the end to end running of the layout with the recently finished class 50 and also the class 45 I recently fitted with a Howes sound decoder. So far, so good. It is great to have somewhere to start running the locomotives again, especially with the sound on!


Class 45 with the sound running!

SR Tunny wagon

Another little project I finished this week is a Chivers Tunny wagon. After adding the decals a layer of sleeper grime and framedirt were blasted over the wagon before sealing with a matt varnish. The transfer application is not quite right, but for now I will live with it. It is another wagon for use in the engineering department. These are lovely kits to build and I have a GWR tunny nearing the transfers stage now as well. Incidentally the photograph was taken on the recently laid track on Pottington Quay. Hopefully I will get at least some of this layout operational this week and it will see its first trains running....


SR lamprey now in the engineering department

Hornby class 50 near completion

Just a quick update on a long standing project - a large logo class 50 which is now almost finished. Today I reassembled the chassis and the body and had a general look over the state of weathering and detailing. The locomotive is close to being completed now, but there is a little bit of touching up to do with the weathering, although it has already been sealed with varnish. Also after reassembly I just could not get the ETH pipes to behave and this are protruding at a funny angle at the ends of locomotive; I am not sure how to cure this one - if anyone knows please get in touch. Otherwise an enjoyable little project and another locomotive ready for service on Pottington Quay - speaking of which I really need to get my soldering iron out this weekend....

The next project - Bachmann class 37

Class 37 stopped at Georgeham halt

At the moment I am not getting much modelling done. A combination of working outdoors most days coupled with some severe weather has meant that energy to do any modelling has been low in the evenings. However, I did get a decoder fitted to an intercity liveried class 37 this week and this is the basis of an upcoming project. The model looks great running along my little Georgeham layout. I am wondering how to weather this one....a spay of colour on the chassis and lower body side/grilles is all this one will need I think....hopefully some progress on this one soon....