Darius43

For the record, I have used a Dremel to grind out a lot of the wonkiness in the original castings. What wonkiness remains is in the large down to me. Cheers Darius

Whilst awaiting the arrival of a chassis for the Class 44, I thought I’d get this part completed (by someone else) MTK example up to the same level of completion as a Class 46. Some disassembly required… Disassembled. Reassembly completed along with joint filling. Dunprimin. Dunpaintin…again. Cheers Darius

Dunpaintin. Cheers Darius

BR Class 51 Super Deltic - never built. Seeing this has got me thinking about that kit… Cheers Darius

Longer etched bodyside grilles fitted and ends dipped in custard. Cheers Darius

“Superdeltic” eh? Looks like a cross between a Class 55 and a Western. In any event it’s a Q Kit so I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole. Cheers Darius

Started yesterday afternoon after the F1… Getting the hang of these now. Cheers Darius

Finished Cheers Darius

Some 3D printed Conflat P’s painted and loaded with Bachmann containers. Cheers Darius

Cab front glazing fitted. Glad that task is done… Cheers Darius

Headcode boxes made from plasticard and brass wire. Cheers Darius

Bogie steps added and cab window frames painted. Cheers Darius

Dunpaintin. Cheers Darius

Started yesterday morning. Plan is to use a heavily modified Lima Class 40 chassis with new wheels from Peter’s spares. Bodyshell parts cleaned up. The kit is missing the distinctive split headcode boxes but I have some spares from an MTK Class 45 that can be made to fit. Bodyshell assembly - always worth checking that both sides are the same length… Plastic shims added to the shorter side… For stability and strength I added the MTK cast central “box”. This means that each bogie will need a separate chassis rather than one common chassis. The roof parts were fitted in turn working from the cab ends towards the centre. The large central part needed to be trimmed and ground down using a Drexel so that it sat flush with the other roof parts. Lima Class 40 bogies modified to accept the MTK cast sides. The fit of the nose ends is best described as appalling. Filling and fettling next - a lot of filling and fettling. I cracked open a new tube of filler, which, being new, was a bit more “fluid” than the old one… I taped over the grilles and doors prior to applying the filler to protect them from being filled and then removed during the sanding process. Dunprimin. Cheers Darius

MTK 4-GRI EMU MTK Ultrasonic Test Train DMU MTK Class 114 DMU MTK 2-HAL stores Unit EMU MTK Class 306 EMU MTK Class 505 EMU MTK Class 506 EMU MTK Class 109 DMU Cheers Darius

I suppose it depends on how good the motor is. I’ve been using RTR chassis under the bodies - mainly Lima - so it’s touch and go whether it can move itself, let alone a train. Someone on RMWeb motorised an MTK Class 40 using two Lima motor bogies and said it ran fine. Cheers Darius

Finished Cheers Darius

Glazing and handrails fitted. Cheers Darius

Painting completed. Cheers Darius

Dunprimin… Cheers Darius

Started yesterday afternoon. Bodyshell assembled and joints filled. Hornby chassis modified to fit. Some filling and fettling later… The fit of the headcode box leaves a lot to be desired… So out with the Dremel… Some more filling and fettling later… Cheers Darius

Decals, hosiery and light weathering to finish. Cheers Darius

Glazing, handrails and other bits fitted. Cheers Darius

Primary painting completed. Cheers Darius

Started this morning. Some fettling later… Cheers Darius