irishthump

I had been planning to buy a few Hornby timber wagons but after seeing this thread http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/1212-Four-Wheeler-Timber-wagons I decided to go the scratchbuilt route.

I had a few of those horrible Hornby Railroad range tanker wagons so I decided to use the chassis as it looks roughly the right size.

I cut away most of the underframe detail.

An old paperclip makes some passable brake gear and makes the chassis look a little less bare!

I removed the tension lock couplers and used filler to make a suitable mounting point for a Kadee No.5 coupler.

Coupler mounted...

The wagon bodies were built from styrene.

Fitted to the chassis and given a coat of oxide primer, weathering to follow...

Hardly prototypical but I think they'll look good on the layout!

Yeah Thump, you blob on a rice shaped bit, and use a wet brush to push it into the corners, really heavy and crude. When it dries in a few minutes, run the wet brush over it again and take the heavier stuff off. Keep repeating as much as you need, and if it goes wrong, wash the model and start again! R

Thanks, Glenderg.

I usually use Games Workshop washes which give the same effect, but they are getting bloody expensive so I was looking for a less expensive alternative!

Excellent work!

Is the wash made up from just gauche and water?

Man, that sounds impressive!

I have the sound chip for my 071 on order from Modelshopbelfast, can't wait for it to arrive.

Wonderful work, both vans look the business!

I fear that little street might end up an oul parody allright

Sheriff Street? Then don't be surprised when you find you're pliers gone and every window smashed on that double decker!

Lovely find, really enjoyed it!

Lads,

Lidl are selling 1 metre strips of leds complete with a small 12v transformer wired to it for €10

It's the same as this stuff - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-Lighting-Strip-300mm-18-Warm-white-LEDs-per-Length-/270703748272?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item3f073364b0#ht_1769wt_1255

Which can be cut into various lenghts and used for building or coach lighting. They had white as well as other colours.

I'd be surprised if anyone has ever bought any hornby stuff from Toymaster on Jervis Street to be honest.

That said, I got a couple of Hornby Railroad Container flats for €10 euro each.

Guys,

Was in Dublin yesterday picking up a few things in Mark's Models and I happened to pop across to Banba Toymaster on Jervis street (they have quite a large selection of Hornby stuff). While I was there I noticed they were selling the bog-standard Hornby decoder; R8429, for €25. Bit pricey thought I! Sure enough I went into Hamley's in Dundrum that afternoon and they are selling the same decoder for €15! You can even pick up the Sapphire from them for €30...

I know that some shops are a law unto themselves but I think a tenner in the difference is a bit rich!

Hi irihthump, I've been sitting here viewing all your work on your layout, & I have to say it look's just fantastic. your attention to detail is amazing, I know it takes time to do what you would like your layout to be, your doing a great job, you also have a really nice selection of rolling stock, and your 071 sure do's not look out of place, very well done,

Thanks for the kind words Burnthebox! As you say it takes time, and while I'm very happy with the way it's going, I already find myself thinking of what I would I would do differently on the next layout!

A few pics of my 071 in it's natural environment!

Outside the engine shed.

Picked my 086 up from Mr Bracken this evening and have to say it's a cracking model, the detail is just superb. I stuck in a decoder and it is now happily getting run in on my layout!

Check the electrical pickups to the wheels on the loco and check the decoder is seated fully?

I would say it's the pickups. You can get a lot of crap building up on the inside of the wheels where the pickups touch the

wheels, bare in mind that over lubricating the loco can cause dirt and dust to stick.

As regards the squeaking, was the loco properly ran it when you first got it? It's recommended that you run a loco for at least 30 mins at medium speed in both directions to help bed-in the gears and to work the factory applied lubricant around the mechanism.

Some rolling stock may need a damper to give it heft when reversing (and also to prevent it rolling away if there is any slope while shunting). You can do this by putting a piece of sponge between the wheel centre spindle. Getting stock to separate consistently takes time and patience but the effect is well worth it especially at exhibitions!

I had to do this with my Mk3's as they were just too free wheeling. When hauling coaches over the magnets they would uncouple near all the time! I attached a small piece of copper strip to one bogie and adjusted it so that it was just touching one axle.

Also check out these two videos. Although he is talking about larger scale models all of the info is applicable to oo gauge and I found it a huge help.

My problem is that the Kadee is either not uncoupling over the magnet or when I go to couple up they are not connecting.

I do the usual backwards and forwards over the magnet but they don't seam to spring apart very often so I spend all my time going backwards and forwards over the magnet.

Anyone have the same problem.??

Wiggy.

It sounds like this is an issue with allignment of the coupler. If they are off centre the magnet will pull the trip pins together rather than apart. Kadees have to be alligned dead straight over the centre line of the wagon to work right. It may help to glue the pocket in place once it's dead straight.

The 321 uncouple also has to be dead centre of the rails, this is really important with this particular magnet, if it is even slightly off it won't work reliably.

Coupler height may also be an issue; with the 321 uncoupler the trip pins should just brush the top of the magnet when they pass over it. If you don't have one already get one of the coupler height gauges. Many of the NEM coupler pockets can be at the wrong height. I found the pockets on Dapol box vans to be a shade low.

Misalignment will also cause problems when coupling up BTW.

I decided to add a canopy and lighting so came up with this...

I figured a single, white led would be enough.

The canopy is just corrugated sheet styrene.

And here it is wired in and placed on the layout.

B165 takes on fuel!

Thanks for all the positive comments lads.

@ Glenderg - yes, I used track pins for the valves!

All painted up...

I really was'nt happen with using the wagon tank, it just did'nt look right. So I scratchbuilt this...

Add a ladder and a quick coat of Halford's primer...

Weathered and put in place.

I also scratch built a loco fuelling point for the layout, based around the Knightwing kit.

The base is 6mm MDF and I scribed the edging pattern into it, the tank is from an old wagon and the rest is offcuts of styrene and other bits and bobs.

I'm not sure if I'll put a canopy over the pumps, and I may switch the tank for something better looking.

A long overdue update...

Sitting at home nursing my now tonsil-less throat I did these to pass some time, a "toad" and a couple of siphon G parcel vans.

Looks spot on!

Lads and lassies,

I came across this weathering tutorial today, some very interesting techniques are described in detail with excellent photos. It's aimed at US outline

but it's still a good read.

In it's PDF form, just follow the link.

http://wnrr.net/WeatheringTips2.pdf