Class 47 BR blue with DCC sound

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas and is looking forward to a fun filled new year.  With a couple of free days during the festivities I have had some time to get on with some modelling - the airbrush is up and running and I am looking to finish off some projects that have been hanging around in the paint boxes.  In the meantime I thought I would produce a better update on the recently finished class 47.

The finished class 47 shunting at Charlton station.

The class 47 running light out of Charlton.

Another view of the completed loco - ready to head back to Barnstaple.

The model is the first Bachmann offering with a 21 pin DCC socket.  I purchased this locomotive on special offer from Hattons, about 10 years ago for the princely sum of £50.  It has sat around in its box since then.  I have always meant to make on a start on this locomotive, but never got around to it!  Anyhow the model was finally taken apart this year.  The glazing and cab were removed from the body and the bogie frames from the chassis.  All the details were added to the bufferbeam and then everything was masked off ready for spraying.  With all my detailing projects I start with an all over body wash on the body shell - a mix of sleeper grime and weathered black.  This is mainly brushed off, before spraying some different mixes of weathered BR blue over the body, intermixed with some light weathering using sleeper grime, frame dirt and weathered black. The grills had weathered black sprayed into them and the roof treated to a healthy dose of roof dirt.

The body wash applied, with parts of the wash removed.  This was taken part way through the process.

The body shell with streaks of faded blue, sleeper grime and weathered black applied.

 The body shells with roof dirt and weathered black sprayed into the grills.

The chassis and bogies were also sprayed with various shades of weathered black, frame dirt, sleeper grime, brake dust and matt white.  When all this had been completed the body was reassembled and reglazed.

Chassis masked off and with the first coat of weathering applied.

The bogie frames with brake dust, weathered black, and frame dirt added.

The chassis with the fuel tanks having sprayed with sleeper grime, frame dirt and weathered black.

The sound decoder is a Loksound v 4.0, fitted with Howes sound.  I must say, this is an absolute belter.  As soon as it was fitted I was delighted with the sound.  There is plenty of room inside the body shell for a speaker, so I could fit my speaker of choice; a Road and Rails double Iphone speaker.  The sound quality on these speakers is fantastic and it sounds like the real deal.

The decoder with the double Iphone speaker soldered up.

All fitted and ready for reassembly.

The locomotive was then reassembled and tested.  Despite sitting in a box for 10 years it runs like a dream.  I am very happy with how this one turned out.  I ran it for the first time at the Brighton exhibition a few weeks and it ran faultlessly.  Whilst not strictly common for the Tarka line in the 1970s, a little bit of modellers licence can be applied, they were common in Exeter St Davids from the 1970s onwards, so why not have one trundling up to Torrington or Ilfracombe!

Class 47 running into Charlton.

Class 47 heading back to Barnstaple with a short train.

Another Milk Tanker - and Merry Christmas

Another few weeks seem to have flown past.  The airbrush has been firmly packed away and the partially built models have been gathering dust on the work bench.  I have had to work away for several weeks, which really disrupts the rhythm of modelling and life in general.  However, with Christmas now here, I have managed to gain some days for uninterrupted modelling over the festive period.  This is virtually unheard of and is something I am really looking forward too.

Finished milk tanker.  As per previous posts it is not the best model there is, but it is about all there is!

Anyhow, prior to travelling away I did get another milk tanker finished off.  This is the third milk tank I have finished; overall I am going for a train of 5 milk tankers.  I am planning to build a small 00 gauge layout next year, a small 3ft box to act as a test track, although it will have a small goods shed with it, with milk loading facilities.  I am gathering some buildings for this and hope to start building in earnest early next year.  Let's see how this progresses next year.

Another shot of the wagon after some shunting.

I have lots of small projects almost finished, so I hope to be able to finish some these off over the break.  In the mean time I wish everyone a very merry Christmas.

Another goods van and Hailsham Model Railway Show

After the last show at Brighton MRC I have another show booked for this weekend at Hailsham. It is a one day show, but I am looking forward to another day playing trains - even with a very early start.  Between shows I managed to finished off another wagon for use with the provender store.  This is another weathered rtr model from Bachmann.

Factory finish on the wagon.  It is very shiny making the wagon look toy like.

As per normal I added three link couplings before giving it a good wash. It was then treated to some weathering, including an initial all over body wash of black/sleeper grime.  I then picked out a few details on the underframe using the air brush, before some frame dirt, sleeper grime and roof dirt were sprayed over.  The Bachmann underframe is a little chunky but with a little bit of weathering the wagon looks ok.  

Finished 12t wagon.

Being shunted at Charlton with the recently finished class 47.

A few other projects are heading for completion soon, so further updates to follow.. 

Charlton at the Brighton MRC Exhibition

I have just completed two days of exhibiting on my own at the Brighton MRC exhibition.  This is a great little show.  The members of Brighton MRC are very friendly and it was a pleasure to be invited along.  The show is very family orientated and it was fantastic to see lots of young aspiring modellers watching the trains go by.   Charlton performed near faultlessly, although I have a small list of repairs to make, namely one dodgy wire and replacing a station lamp.  Other than this all good.  The new class 47 performed fantastically well, as did the new class 33 - both had a good run out today.  A very pleasurably, if not slightly knackering, two days!

The layout almost set up on Friday evening - the weekend has literally flown by!

And the new class 47 on the layout - I am really pleased with how this one turned out!

Class 47 with Howes DCC sound, plus Brighton Model Railway exhibition this weekend

Over the last week I grabbed the odd hour here and there to put the class 47 back together, a job that did not take too long.  This is a quick update and I will write a more detailed post on this project soon, with some detailed snaps taking during the painting of the locomotive.  However, with the layout in storage, getting a quick photograph with a good background is difficult.  Thus I took a quick snap of it tonight on my work bench alongside a quick test run of the sound chip.  The verdict - overall I am pretty happy with this one - it looks and sounds great.  You are never quite sure how the locomotive will look until it is sat on a layout with the scenery providing the context - but looking at the quick snaps of it tonight I think this one is looking the part, with the caveat that the lighting in the model room is pretty awful.  I think I purchased this locomotive during 2010 ofr £50 - so it is fantastic to see it finally sorted out and ready to use.

Class 47 finished!

The reassembly of the locomotive was the normal heart in the mouth moment, trying not to damage the paintwork - however it all went back together reasonably smoothly.  The sound chip is Howes and this is definitely another belter from them.  Finishing the locomotive last week meant that it is now available to run on the layout this weekend, when I am exhibiting Charlton at the Brighton Model Railway Exhibition (http://www.brightonmrc.com/exhibition.htm).  I will attempt to take some proper photographs of it then.  It is great to have a new locomotive to use and this will be on the rosta alongside the recently finished class 33.  The class 25 and class 22 will be making up the rest of the motive power - so if you are about please come along and say hello.  

A quick test run of the DCC  chip: verdict - I think this sounds great!

A class 33 with Howes DCC sound

Several years ago I finished the detailing on a Heljan class 33/2, and at the time I was really pleased with the weathered finished I had achieved.  It was one of the first models I had finished that several years later I am still reasonably happy with.  Bar a few knocks and scrapes on the model, the weathered finish has held up well and it has happily run on my layouts.  The recent destruction of the class 45 at an exhibition meant that I was an engine light in the rolling stock rota, so I thought I would treat this class 33 to a sound upgrade. A nice quick easy job or at least so I thought at the time!

Micro-speaker plus the removed fuel tanks.

A snug fit!

The issue was the lack of space for a speaker in the body.  So I took off the fuel tanks, removed the partition and glued the two halves back together.  I also drilled holes in the bottom of it to let the sound out.  There still was not a lot of room, so I ordered a micro-speaker from Road and Rails and ran the wires up past the bogie tower.  This seemed to work well, leaving only a simple solder up of the speaker wires before plugging the chip in.

Back together, with the holes drilled to let the sound out.

Even up close the speaker wires are not visible.

I ran the speaker wires above the bogie and through the bogie tower.  These were then soldered onto the speaker wires from the sound chip.

I have not set the layout up yet since adding the sound chip.  So I did a test run on a temporary track.  The verdict, as with all Howes sounds chips - it sounds fantastic.  So hopefully not does it only look the part, but it now sounds the part too.

Test run - I think this sounds great!

The class 47 project has not made any progress unfortunately, life has been a bit pushed in the last few weeks.  However, I have the Brighton exhibition coming up in mid November so it will be ready for then - it just needs to be reassembled and have the speaker and sound chip added.  I have also just ordered a new Hymek and goods shed for the next layout.....I just need a little more time....so apologies for the lack of updates recently and I hope to get some more modelling time over the next few weeks!

BR Blue class 47 heading for completion

Over the last few months I have intermittently been working on a the detailing/weathering of a class 47.  This is the Bachmann model, one of the earliest 21 pin releases, with a 4 letter head code.  The last one of these I did I filed down the window rivets, although on some 47 photographs these do seem pronounced so I have left them on this one.  

Finished weathering on the body - this is shaping up nicely....

The model still has a way to go until completion, but the main body weathering is finished.  The bogies need finishing off and I am yet to order the sound chip, another job for today. I need to reassemble the body and add the glazing back in before adding the speaker and the chip.  So in all optimism I should get this finished next weekend and I am quite happy with how it is looking at the moment.  A few other models are nearing completion too, so hopefully I will have a range of new stock for the next exhibition.