Darius43

Dunglazin. Cheers Darius

Cab handrails and hosiery fitted. Cheers Darius

Arrived yesterday Still waiting for “My Lovely Horse”. Cheers Darius

Primary painting completed. Cheers Darius

I’ve seen those built - no thank-you. Cheers Darius

I found this somewhat distressed MTK Class 50 body on eBay and thought it deserved a second chance. An offer was put in and accepted and here it is. It is definitely in need of some tlc. Its builder had soldered it together - unfortunately with a banana-shaped footprint. Some serious surgery was needed to straighten it out. This was done by making two cuts across the roof and the inside curve sidewall using a razor saw. Once cut the body was carefully straightened out and the sides reprofiled using judicious finger and thumb pressing. The soft white metal construction makes this quite easy. The inside surfaces will be cleaned up using a Dremel and plasticard backing pieces glued behind the cuts to strengthen them before filling and sanding. The plan is to mount the completed body on a re-wheeled Lima chassis. Cheers Darius

Sittin' in the mornin' sun… Cheers Darius

Further details added and light weathering to finish. Cheers Darius

Cab glazing fitted and decals applied. Cheers Darius

Cab undergibbons installed. Cheers Darius

Cab door handrails and bodyside grilles fitted. Cheers Darius

Of course they do. It’s a Modern Traction Kit (MTK). Cheers Darius

Cab front details fitted. Cheers Darius

Primary painting completed. Cheers Darius

Primer on. Roof fan installation fabricated from plasticard and A1 Models etched parts. Temporarily held in place with black tack. It will be painted and glued in place after the body has been painted. Cheers Darius

Cab front details fitted. Handrails and jumper cables will be added after painting. Test fit to Dapol chassis. Cheers Darius

Rooftop fan vents stitch drilled away to enable the fitting of the A1 Models etched grilles. Etched roofside grilles also fitted. The large bodyside grilles will be fitted after the body has been painted. Cheers Darius

I spotted this Class 56 body on eBay. It looks like an MTK product and has been quite well put together, if in need of some tlc. So, with that in mind, it was duly acquired along with a Mainline/Dapol chassis and an A1 Models detailing set. The MTK buffer beams are pretty good representations but the side valences are not. The beams were cut away and put to one side. Thus enabled the valance pares to be easily detached. The assembly was pretty good but the cab fronts lacked the distinctive inwards sloping profile. To correct this cut were sawn into the cab side walls and the front bent back to the desired profile. The cuts were backed with plasticard and filled, along with a few other visible joints. The “face” didn’t look quite right so I carved off the moulded on details and reprofiled the main windows. Cheers Darius

Finishing touches… …and light weathering to finish. Passing the test… Cheers Darius

Hornby GWR railcar bogie side frames fitted to Bachmann motor bogie assembly. Modified bogie assembly re-fitted and scratch built plasticard undergibbon parts fitted. Cheers Darius

Battery boxes fabricated and fitted to the motor coach. Roofs repainted. Cheers Darius

I suspect the Ultrasonic Test Train would have been more of a challenge with respect to the undergibbons and more obviously incorrect if Bachman left the standard DMU kit in place as they have done with Gemini. I built the MTK version of the Ultrasonic Test Train earlier this year. Cheers Darius

I have always been fascinated by the RTC fleet of locomotives, coaches and wagons. When Rails announced that they had commissioned Bachmann to produce Test Unit Gemini, I duly placed an order. The unit is nicely finished but a major issue is that the standard diesel traction undergibbons remain beneath the units as per the standard Bachmann Derby Lightweight unit where there should be the batteries that give rise to the unit’s BEMU description. To rectify this, I first removed the standard undergibbons, which became useful additions to the spares box. Using reference photos I made a card template for the battery box and framing that is a major feature of these units. This was tacked to the model and tweaked to make sure it looked right. The template was then used to make model battery boxes and frames using plasticard. Once assembled, these were primed, glued to the model and painted black. There are more undergibbon bits to fit and the motor coach needs a replacement bogie frame - I have a spare one from a GWR railcar somewhere. Cheers Darius

Glazing fitted to cab and one side. Cheers Darius

Had a go at improving the Hornby interior. Cheers Darius