Hornby A4

[Phipps]

Actually Splop,I'm beginning to come around to the idea you suggested now.Cutting up the double-chimney shell would be a pity & one mistake would fettle thw whole project completely......
I'll track down a sizeable jar of Railmatch or Humbrol railway series acrylic in the meantime whilst I try & obtain a Railroad 60022 Mallard shell...........

[D605Eagle]

If Carlsberg made steam locos they would be A4's.

Not with that shite middle big end, they wouldn't.....

You are what you drink, and he's a bitter man!

[Phipps]

Prefer the old cider myself these days.That new Stella Artois Cidre isn't a bad drop(pleasantly strong taste of apple).

[Phipps]

The lad at Hattons was a superstar........
He was disgusted that I've had two duds & agreed it was quite unacceptable,even if the A4 was a "budget" item.
Looks very likely I may get a different engine & give the Falcon A4 a wide berth......

I know this is quoting an old post but I took a plunge to get another Falcon donor engine.
Would you believe it,but when it arrived yesterday & I checked it over,guess what fault I found?
Surprises,it was a loose tyre on the front pony......AGAIN!
Thankfully,on this occasion I was able to repair it with the delicate use of pliers & it runs fine.
But again,we have another defective Railroad A4 from Hattons with the same fault in the same place.
Better still,they emailed me back to assure me the model had a twin-chimney(like that advertised on their website),yet mine was only the single type.Luckily,the donor bodyshell I plan to use from the green Mallard has the correct chimney & no valance on either side..................

[Phipps]

My latest creation coming into what will eventually be Wansborough station

Been waiting ages for this

4498 "Sir Nigel Gresley" in the garter blue

This is roughly from the 1970s era......

....just before it got the metal letters/numbers

Had a bit of fun with some of the transfers(esp on the tender) & the garter blue shade from Humbrol's railway range was a tad out from Hornby's,but overall I really can't grumble.
Majority of the gratitude has to got to Steviesparx for both of the bodyshells,even though I only used the green Mallard one.
A small thank you to Kenny,who gave me the incentive to make this after I declined his wartime 4498........

[siquelme]

Looks stunning lovely creation

[Phipps]

Cheers mate.It's more or less how I first saw the locomotive way back in 1975 at the Shildon cavalcade when my Dad took me.
Pity I don't remember it too well & STILL haven't seen an A4 in steam since.Something I may rectify in 2013 if all six are reunited with each other.
Main problem I had Siquelme was finding a bodyshell with a double pipe,no valances & in the garter blue.

[siquelme]

Yea she looks like a beauiful model shame i have never seen her in real life But hoping to see her sister at the watercress line .. then i would of been on two of the A4s Been on a train pulled by the Mallard around 92 which was an experince. The A4s are such lovely locos.... not as nice as a castle in my view but they are still stunning

For your model did you just get a double chimey shell with no valances and then just paint it blue?

[Phipps]

Yes,it was the bodyshell from the R2784X version that I bought from Steviesparx.He'd already sold a double chimney 4484 Falcon body to me,but was advising me not to cut the valances off,as it was a tricky job with a dremel tool
Glad that I had a good think about it,as Steve was correct & I'd also read the same advice in a Hornby magazine.
Two undercoats of Humbrol matt 64 applied first then the acrylic blue in two coats
Next job is a RR Class 40 to an E.E.Type 4 with full yellow ends which I'm in the process of.
Needs the all-over green next
After that is my BRCW D0260 Lion kit which is already primered.

[siquelme]

Good luck you could prob enter these into the kit building competition you know?

[Phipps]

Nice thought,but I don't think there was THAT much work invloved......
Granted,I had to apply paint to create the parabolic curves on each side,but that was mainly because of the disappointing transfers I got from Fox.Both those & the ones with the allocation on the front beam(ie A-4 HAYMARKET) just disintregrated once immersed.Might need to get in touch with Fox,cos it was £11 straight down the drain
Just hope their other transfers don't do the same,cos I followed their instructions strictly.
But that was the only negative with the job.

[siquelme]

I bought a Hornby magazine at the start of the year which had an article about upgrading a railroad A4 and there was alot of stuff done to upgrade it
Such as upgrading the windows, painting the cab, adding a crew and adding real coal. Doesnt the real Sir Gresley have modern piping at the front as well .. that could be another job... all adds up

You could then do some electrical work such as adding work lights, smoke and sound I was going to do that to my Dean Single but not confident enough at the moment to attempt that and i hear its easy to do add them to an A4 due to the amount of space you have under the shell. Lots of little jobs all add up. Would be a stunning model and a great little thread for the competition as other people could copy it for thier own models. ... feel like i am bullying you into entering ... when i should really talk you not into entering as your model will beat mine and i want to win

[Splop.]

Very nice looking model sir.

Would look great in Virgin Pendolino livery.

[Martin71]

Hi
Just to help your confidence the A4 is one of the easier locos to add all of what you suggested. Plenty of space and a very good loco to work on.

You could then do some electrical work such as adding work lights, smoke and sound I was going to do that to my Dean Single but not confident enough at the moment to attempt that and i hear its easy to do add them to an A4 due to the amount of space you have under the shell. Lots of little jobs all add up. Would be a stunning model and a great little thread for the competition as other people could copy it for thier own models. ... feel like i am bullying you into entering ... when i should really talk you not into entering as your model will beat mine and i want to win

I would think twice about using a railroad loco if you were to go down that path.

Here she is with DCC Sound smoke and lights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4UrdD9tHGo

Proof it can also be done in" N" duel smoke working lights and sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuATRsce0mo

I am slowly working on an A4 with the new lok 4.0 it will be much the same as above with the following exceptions better sound and I have built a very nice syncro smoke unit which is already installed. I will get a video up in the next couple of weeks.

Cheers

Martin

[Phipps]

I'll persue that path when I've built up enough confidence one day Martin.It's a bit early for me just at the moment to start pulling apart one of the higher spec ones,but if I get one of those in a bargain deal,that would be the candidate.
Since added two more to the ten(RR Falcon & Kingfisher from the Rare Bird set)