Darius43

Track painting today. Cheers Darius

Only seventeen more to build… Taking a break from fish wagon building today. Cheers Darius

Couple of Parkside/Peco Insul-Fish wagons built today. Decals are a mixture of Railtec and Parkside/Modelmaster. Got a few more to build before weathering. Cheers Darius

DCC Ready… Basic cab interior made from plasticard. Not too much detail as not much is really visible. Cheers Darius

A few more details to the cab fronts and light weathering to the chassis. Next and final task is to wire up and test the motor. Cheers Darius

If the shoe beam fits… Cheers Darius

It’s the “ready to assemble” kit with the wheels package. The glazing is included. It was purchased from his stall at Ally Pally a couple of weekends ago. Cheers Darius

Motor coach completed. Bachmann DMU motor and bogie shoehorned into the left hand end. Cheers Darius

World of Books is just up the road from me in Goring by Sea. I have used them many times, usually through the Abebooks second hand book website, which I would also highly recommend. Cheers Darius

Second driving trailer completed. Cheers Darius

Cheers Darius

Driving trailer completed. Cheers Darius

Bratchell Models Class 455 EMU under construction today. Added handrails and hosiery to the cab front - unmodified cab front at right. Also drilled out the “printed” lights. Cheers Darius

Another PowSides wagon kit completed and a couple of old Triang mineral wagons “cleaned up” and weathered. NEM type couplings fitted to all wagons. Cheers Darius

I think RMWeb is being migrated to a new host. Could take some time… Fortunately for me I am over here as well as over there and it’s much, much nicer over here. Cheers Darius

Couple of PowSides/Slaters PO wagon kits assembled today. Cheers Darius

Quick refurb of a couple of 1970s era Hornby SR sheep wagons. Original chunky couplings removed and replaced with NEM types. Plastic wheels replaced with metal ones. Plastic roof painted white. Light weathering to chassis and body. Cheers Darius

Weathering completed. Cheers Darius

Buffers fitted and body painted. Cheers Darius

In the case of the 1973 Piccadilly Line driving car, yes, back in 1987 - in a one room bedsit from plasticard and balsa wood. I remember I had a couple of needle files and a Stanley knife as a toolset. No decals - the LU roundels were hand painted. The red 1938 tube train is more recent - RTR from EFE Rail. Cheers Darius

More details added and primer coat on. Cheers Darius

Second brake tender under construction. Cheers Darius

Buffers fitted and decals applied to the brake tender. The Fox Decals carrier film is applied around each “word” in each decal set rather than as a block, which makes them prone to distorting and “folding under” on application. Fortunately the film is quite strong so the errant decals can be recovered and re-applied with care. I have since sprayed the decal sheet with a coat of acrylic varnish to avoid a repeat of these issues on future brake tenders. Weathering will be next after I have built another brake tender. Cheers Darius

As a follow up, my paternal Grandfather was a permanent way engineer and later inspector for the Great Indian Peninsula Railway as witnessed by this photo of a trial assembly taken in 1945. My Grandfather is sitting to the left on the inspection trolley. Cheers Darius

Actually I know that the body is scratch built as I scratch built it myself from plasticard sheet with paper and cardboard bracing and stiffeners when at University in Bristol. Interesting to know about ERG. Cheers Darius