EWS TMD, N Gauge, Modern Era

[Ben A]

Just wanted to add my congratulations on the new arrival(s)

Great job on the warflats. Those JJA ballaster kits look well detailed. On my long shopping list is a set of five of these.

Sorry to be picky, but the ones Matt is making are the HQAs. They have axle-motion type bogies, and only run in 5 wagon sets, with inners and outers, unlike the JJAs which have Y25 bogies and standard drawgear/buffers at both ends of each wagon.

No JJAs are in Network Rail yellow livery.

cheers

Ben A.

[Tractor Matt]

I want to start by saying thank you for all the congratulation messages.

So today I have found that I was the only one awake and the house was in peace, so a perfect time to start adding the details and transfers to the HQA's. Only got round to the one so here's a few pictures on my test layout I have in our study room. This will still need a coat of silk varnish spray but will do these once the other two are finished. I am planning on filling these with ballast. If anyone has any tips and pictures of how they have done this it would be greatly appreciated.



Second update today is that my HST arrived from Hattons. This is waiting for a re-livery as I have ordered the Network Rail Yellow Doctor vinyl’s (an Amsies kit).

[Tractor Matt]

hi ya mate
your layout is coming on very well and loving the station area slowly coming along
so whats your next plan of attack and good work on thoise kit wagons you built
peter

Thanks Peter,

The ramp area will be a loading platform and also somewhere for the Loco's to pull in to driver change as I have planned for the location to be in the midlands with this a location off the central mainline. With the addition of the Warflats thought about using this area to hold some small ARV tanks waiting to be collected to take to the training exercise? To be honest there are many uses for this area at the moment, but not a station that’s for sure as I love the movement of freight

Matt

[Durseytu]

Hi Matt,

Sorry I missed this post earlier but congratulations on the new arrival! So sleepless nights are ahead again then? Still look on the bright side, if you are kept awake then you might as well do some modelling!

I must say the (other) new arrivals look rather good. That HST looks rather smart too as it is; still I shall be looking forward to seeing how it turns out with the new livery.

Cheers,

Stuart

[Tractor Matt]

Hi Matt

You've done a great job on the Warflats, and your Autoballasters are coming on nicely too. I look forward to seeing the full rake of ten - will you do both sets of five in Network Rail, or one set Network Rail and one set Railtrack? (Or even Railtrack unbranded with blue patch painted over the lettering....)

cheers

Ben A.

Your seen the same you tube video as i have then? This rake of three so far are yellow and the next two will have to be to finish of the set. As for the next five after that you will have to wait and see.

Cards to chest?

Matt

[cmeonthemove]

The JJAs are looking very good and you soon knocked them together! A tip for the ballast load, line the bottom with a piece of polystyrene to pad out the load then add the ballast on top, before soaking it in diluted PVA to fix it. Don't fill the whole wagon with ballast as it'll be too heavy, especially with 3.

[Tractor Matt]

I must say the (other) new arrivals look rather good. That HST looks rather smart too as it is; still I shall be looking forward to seeing how it turns out with the new livery.

Cheers,

Stuart

I know it seems a shame to paint a brand new model but this cost me £59. second hand ones were going for not much cheaper on Ebay? So i thought i might aswell have a new one and know that it should run ok?

Matt

[Tractor Matt]

The JJAs are looking very good and you soon knocked them together! A tip for the ballast load, line the bottom with a piece of polystyrene to pad out the load then add the ballast on top, before soaking it in diluted PVA to fix it. Don't fill the whole wagon with ballast as it'll be too heavy, especially with 3.

Thanks for the tip Chris, this seem better than using cardboard. I will look to having a rake of 10 so weight will need to be kept to a minimum.

Matt

[Tractor Matt]

Today I have finished the other two wagons transfers and gave them all a coat of silk varnish spray. Still need to weather the sides and will do this with the Tamiya weathering kit B.

[Tractor Matt]

Yeahhhhhhh! The post-woman came today with my Vinyl overlays for my Network Rail HST. So I retreated straight to the workbench and took to starting the kit.

I have previously brought a brand new HST from Hatton’s, so with a little hesitation in painting a brand new loco I offered up the overlays to the power cars and took to filing the details that needed removing. This has to be done so that the vinyl lays flat to the body. The vinyls have these details printed on them such as the handrails and door surrounds so don't worry on losing this detail. You will only need to do this to the rear of the body, as this kit will need painting on the front quarter. I have painted around the light details and the coupling door details as the kit doesn’t come with this detail to reapply when painted. I have done this as I feel it will be hard to add this detail back on afterwards with a brush. The instructions also say to spray the body with rail match yellow paint, I think this will be ok to do in OO gauge but hard in N as the windows are tiny and will require masking over.







I have then taken to paint the roof flat black and while I was doing this I also painted one coach I have that came with the HST set. I have also painted along the bottoms encase the overlay isn't wide enough and so it will not show the livery prior to the repaint. I will bring more updates when I have the vinyl’s applied but will need to go shopping for some super glue with a brush as per the instructions.

[Tractor Matt]

First thing this morning was to check the colour of the yellow paint that was done yesterday evening. To my disappointment the Railmatch colour yellow from Humbrol was dull and a silk finish which didn't match the yellow of the Amsies Vinyl's. A trip into Town was planned today so with my pocket money and a sheet from the kit I went to the model shop to find another shade of yellow. The closest I could find was Tamiya's Yellow with a gloss finish as I needed the shiny finish to match. The Vinyl’s are sticky backed and super glue was applied to the edges once aligned on the body. The model was then warmed with the hair drier and given a coat of varnish spray. Just need to order more MK3 coaches to finish the train of. This was relatively easy compared to the Autoballasters made last week. Some photos below but not on the layout yet.

[Tractor Matt]

Problems at Tinsdale!

My layout is in the loft, and this morning was the first time this week that I have been able to get up there. I wish I hadn't, the fiddle yard to the rear of my layout is made using flexible PECO track and with the heat has warped. This has brought the layout to a standstill with no trains running due to the bends. I’m in a dilemma and this problem occurred last year in the height of the summer but not in the first week of spring.

Has anyone else suffered from this? And have you got any tips?

[m8internet]

Those Amsies overlays, for the HST power cars, are horrific

There should be NO need to perform any painting, and certainly not that much
I would look at replacing these with the Electra Graphics version
I am quite sure Adam can supply just the power cars for you (looks like they are priced at £10, post free)

The only painting I have had to perform is to the coach ends, on older coaches
On newer coaches I have masked over the existing end details, to retain them
The bottom and top align nicely with the existing bodyshell
The trick is to work out where the middle is for coaches
Align the bottom first, any excess then easily be trimmed from the top as this is typically flat and straight
For HST power cars you will probably need to do the reverse, aligning from the nose end and top, trimming the bottom

The Amsies Mark 3 sleeper overlays are very good
However, when you compare the Amsies Mark 2 coaches to Electra Mark 2 coaches, there is just something not right with the Electra ones...
The windows just look too large!
The only failing of the Amsies Mark 2 coaches is the door control lights on ScotRail livery...

[m8internet]

My layout is in the loft, and this morning was the first time this week that I have been able to get up there. I wish I hadn't, the fiddle yard to the rear of my layout is made using flexible PECO track and with the heat has warped

What has warped, the track or the baseboard?
If it is the track, then what construction method did you use?
During construction what was the typical temperature?
Is the loft insulated or subject to variable temperature?

[Tractor Matt]

What has warped, the track or the baseboard?
If it is the track, then what construction method did you use?
During construction what was the typical temperature?
Is the loft insulated or subject to variable temperature?

Its the Peco track that has warped not the base board. The loft is consistant troughout the day and the layout was constructed in the winter of last year. I have been looking at other locations and will try and salvage as much as i can. I might even design this to be a portable layout? So much to consider at the moment.