Farkham – Farkham

February 16, 2023February 17, 2023

Traffic Services Polybulks

Recently, I’ve enjoyed doing the two Rails of Sheffield exclusive Polybulk wagons, so I decided to pull out the four original Bachmann released wagons I’ve had in storage since they first became available.

A little research on Paul Bartlett’s website soon helped me decide on the prototypes:

33 70 938 2014-6 This one is fairly dirty with more brown at the outer ends.
33 70 938 2017-9 This photo was taken in 1987, so some imagination was required to add 3 years worth of weathering.
33 70 938 2041-9 This wagon was repainted in 1989 so will remain fairly clean. This wagon wasn’t renumbered and is the standard Bachmann release.
33 70 938 2052-6 This photo is later (1993) and has CAIB branding so this was ignored.

To give four different running numbers, three were chosen to have parts of their numbers removed. This was done by simply brush painting over the tiny numbers with matt black. Once dry, gloss varnish was then applied as a base for the transfers.

I ordered the Grainflow sheet from Railtec Transfers, and cut out individual numbers from the sheet. The numbers were then applied and sealed the following day with gloss varnish, and once that had dried the whole wagon was given a coat of matt varnish.

Numbers changed using the Grainflow sheet

All four wagons were then weathered with the airbrush, paying attention to the prototype photos for each wagon. One wagon had some ‘white spotting’ to the body sides, so this was added with a small brush and a mix of an off-white colour. Finally, a Flory Models wash was applied, left to dry, and then wiped in a downward motion with a sponge.

I’m really pleased with how these have turned out, they’ll look perfect once I’ve done the Clay Tigers to go with them. Now, onto the next project!

February 13, 2023February 13, 2023

Railfreight Metals BMA Wagon

With a couple of hours of free time, I managed to build a Cambrian BMA wagon. In 1980, eighty Boplates were rebuilt with air brakes and new bogies. After deciding on a prototype photo I built this kit as the instructions intended, with the addition of a 1mm x 0.5mm styrene stip to the sides. I’ve also added and bent some stanchions using 1mm x 1mm styrene square rod.

I thought about how I would paint this wagon, and concluded the easiest way would be to brush paint it. First though, I sprayed the whole wagon with Vellajo Grey Primer. The chassis was then painted black, and the axle boxes yellow.

I then mixed some red, yellow and white until I had a railfreight Red that I was happy with. The outer ends were then painted, followed by the internal ends with a mix of brown leather and Charcoal grey.

The prototype photos show the BMA with dark wooden decks, so this and the bolsters where painted with a thinned wash of Charcoal Grey and Ash Grey to give a weathered wood effect. There’s a good photo here showing the wooden deck of a Boplate. The inner ends were also given a hint of railfreight Red, as this was something I spotted on one of Paul Bartlett’s photos from 1989.

The wagon was numbered using a mix of individual numbers and letters, and the brake handwheels where added and painted white.

Finally, the wagon was weathered with the airbrush using the same colours and a wash applied to the outer ends for added work stains. Four blue ratchet straps were added to finish the model.

February 4, 2023February 4, 2023

Another 90s Polybulk

The second of the Rails of Sheffield exclusive Polybulks, fits perfectly into 1990 straight from the box so a minimum amount of work was required. Looking at the prototype, the plain grey Polybulks appear to have visible seam welds to the body side. Or at least, these seam welds weather heavier than the rest of the steel work.

The first job then, was to mask up the seam weld lines and paint them with a brush using Brown Leather from the Army Painter range.

The next stage was to airbrush weather the wagon, using Charcoal Grey and White. The charcoal grey was used to darken the body slightly, while the white highlights areas of clay dust.

The Tiger and Nacco logos were then cleaned of airbrushed paint with Isopropyl Alcohol and a cotton bud. These appear cleaner on the prototype. Finally, the wagon was given a wash of Florey Models White, and left to dry. Once dry, this was wiped off with a damp sponge leaving streaks to the body sides.

Starting to wipe the wash off, leaving streaks

The first two finished Polybulks together

January 28, 2023February 2, 2023

Dutch ZTP Ex LMS Brake Van

Resprayed Hornby ZTP Dutch ex-LMS Brake Van

I’ve recently purchased two of these Hornby brake vans at a bargain price of £14.95 each. So, thoughts soon turned to what I would do with them.

For this one, I’ve found a prototype photo on Paul Bartlett’s website which I’m going to use as a guide.

I started by removing the handrails and dismantling the van. I also drilled out the handrail holes making them slightly wider, which aids refitting and prevents them from looking bent. I then removed the numbers and markings with Isopropyl Alcohol, and masked the door and ducket windows with Vallejo masking fluid.

Next, I primed the van with Vallejo grey primer through the airbrush. The following day, once this had dried properly, I sprayed the faded Dutch yellow using a mixture of Games Workshop Phalanx Yellow and Scar White. Once dry the yellow was masked up and Army Painter Ash Grey was sprayed on the remainder of the body.

I applied gloss varnish with a brush to areas that required transfers. I find this speeds up the process, rather than airbrushing it. And the end result isn’t compromised. Then the transfers were applied and another coat of gloss varnish added to secure them permanently.

Note the electrification flashes. The one on the right is offset while the other is central.

The roof was next to be painted so Charcoal Grey was sprayed with the airbrush, after some careful masking. More Vallejo masking fluid was used over masking tape seams as a precaution. There is nothing worse than unnecessary overspray from poor masking!

A coat of matt varnish was sprayed from a rattle can. I’ve used many different brands of rattle can varnish over the years, but one I always recommend is Colour Forge. The finish is second to none.

Final tasks before weathering was to paint the lamp irons white and glue the handrails back in place.

Weathering consisted of 3 colours applied lightly through the airbrush. Ash Grey, Brown Leather and Light Rust. The roof was also given a light blow over with Ash Grey, just to take the newness off the dark grey.

January 22, 2023January 22, 2023

The Glue Train: A Ciba-Geigy TTB Tank

Recently, I’ve been doing some research on 6N84, Duxford to Tyne Yard speedlink service, nicknamed ‘The Glue Train’.

The service carried chemicals between the Ciba-Geigy plant at Duxford, as well as Urea for Haverton Hill for use in chipboard manufacturing. The train was made up of ICI TTA tanks, Ciba-Geigy TTA/TTB tanks and ICI PAA hoppers. This was the mainstay but occasionally Grainflow and Scottish Malt Distillers Polybulks would be included too.

I had a couple of the Bachmann Ciba-Geigy TTA wagons that I’d put aside since they were released, so this seemed like a logical starting point.

I renumbered the wagon and changed the tops code to TTB by painting out the printed numbers, brush painting gloss varnish, and adding individual numbers. Gloss varnish was applied to seal the transfers.

The new tops code and number transfers applied

The walkway is incorrect for the Ciba-Geigy TTA and TTB, but Bachmann were never going to retool it as it wouldn’t be economical. So this was removed and a Stenson Models walkway replaced the plastic item. I placed masking tape on the tank and marked the required drill holes, and drilled them using an Archimedes drill and a 0.5mm bit.

The new walkway was located with a gell superglue, primed with vellejo grey primer, and once dry painted with Griffon Blue. Next, I added handrails, bufferbeam walkway, a central end ladder and painted them in the same way.

It was now ready for weathering. I masked up the Ciba-Geigy and PROCOR logos as these appear less dirty on the real item. Looking at prototype photos on Paul Bartlett’s website, I mixed some Sons of Honus Green and Electric Blue. A nice weathered base colour, which I applied to the tank with the airbrush. The chassis and tank centre were then blown over with Brown Leather and Charcoal Grey.

Finally, I used Charcoal Grey and dry brushed around the masked logos. I then removed the masking tape and applied Flory Models Grey and Grime washes to provide some streaks to the sides. I’m quite pleased with the finished wagon.

January 21, 2023February 4, 2023

A polybulk project

With a surprise release of two new Bachmann Polybulk wagons from Rails of Sheffield, I decided to add both into the Farkham roster. These two wagons are ideal for Speedlink era modellers.

Here I’ll document the first of the two, the Tiger-Nacco branded version. With a little research, I could only find photos of this livery in the early 80’s. So it was time to think about post-dating the wagon to circa 1990. The prototype photo I’m using can be found on Paul Bartlett’s website here: https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/polybulk/h2af298ed

I removed the Tiger-Nacco branding and TRL logos with Isopropyl Alcohol and gently rubbing with a cotton bud. It came off very easily without affecting the models paint.

I then masked the upper half of the central grey bodyside, and painted it white. Once dry, I then masked up the brown blanking panels and brush painted these with Army Painter Brown Leather. I used a fine sanding stick to remove some of this paint to give a worn effect.

Next, I removed the 21 wagon number prefix, as some time in the mid 80s the Polybulk number prefix was changed to 33. Gloss varnish was then applied to the data panel end, and once dry the 33 prefix was added, along with Railtec Transfers Tiger logos.

The wagon was now ready for the first stage of the weathering process. I masked up the painted white area, tiger logos and parts of the data panels, as these appear much less weathered on the prototype.

I used three colours in the airbrush, starting with Army Painter Brown Leather. After this base layer, I removed the masking tape before a second pass with the airbrush. I then changed to Army Painter Ash Grey before finishing with Games Workshop Scar White. At this point, I was really happy with the outcome, and I could have easily considered it finished.

I was now ready to introduce some weathered streaking effects caused by rainwater mixing with China clay dust. To do this I used Flory Models Grey and White clay based washes, applying a good amount with a 10mm flat brush and leaving it to dry.

Flory Models washes applied and left to dry

After half an hour it was dry and ready to be manipulated with a damp sponge. Always using a downward motion, I wiped the excess wash off, which leaves a nice dusty but streaky finish.

This one is now finished, and ready to be put to work on Farkham. It could be used as a single wagon in a Speedlink train or mixed in with other china clay wagons.

January 29, 2021January 29, 2021

Bescot’s 08928 in Railfreight Red Stripe livery

In November 1988, during a regional re-organisation, Birmingham area shunt locos and their duties were re-alloacted to Bescot. One of 10 shunters transfered from Tyseley was 08928.

For this project, I’ve started with a Hornby class 09. Removing the unwanted pipework from the front and rear of the loco, I then filled the holes with Deluxe Materials filler before brush painting over it. I then seperated the cab from the main body and removed the windows. Next, I carefully masked up the cab front and the radiator end which will save me painting the wasp stripes later. The body was primed with Railmatch acrylic primer thinned with acrylic thinners and while this was drying I brush painted primer onto the bufferbeams, buffer shanks and along the chassis side.

My attention now turned the the loco livery, and the cab was painted Railmatch Warning Panel Yellow, while the main body and roof was painted Games Workshop Dawnstone Grey. Once dried, a coat of Railmatch acrylic gloss varnish was sprayed ready for transfer application.

Transfers come from my prefered supplier Railtec, and they do a sheet for this particular loco with everything you need. The transfers were applied and a coat of acrylic matt varnish was sprayed to secure them to the model. The bufferbeams and chassis sides were then brush painted red. After looking at photos of the prototype, I decided on Royal Mail Red because the red is much more vibrant than standard Rail Red. Once dry, the glasing was refitted and secured using Humbrol Clearfix, the cab and main body were reunited, and the body located back on the chassis.

Fitting screw link couplings to the Hornby Class 08 isn’t straight forward with its solid metal chassis, so I opted to fit the ones supplied in the detail bag. These are only really meant for decorative use, but I figured that if I used the links from the wagons to couple onto the hook on the shunter, this should be ok. A good strong super glue was used to secure the screw links in place, and bufferbeam pipework was then added at both ends.

My attention then turned to the weathering, and a suitable prototype photograph from 1990 was sourced online. For copyright reasons I can’t share the photo here, but the loco has a fair amount of oily residue to both sides and on the underframe and connecting rods. I started with a mix of White and Dawnstone Grey and applied the wash all over the grey sides and roof to add to the already faded paintwork. Once dry, I used the Dawnstone Grey without adding the white, as a wash into all the panel lines. I then used the airbrush with Railmatch Frame Dirt for the underframe area and radiator grille, Roof Dirt along the roof panel lines and Soot Black for the exhaust port and filter panels.

I will add some oily streaks to the filter panel etc, at a later date when my local model shop can reopen. For this I’ll try AK Interactive Grease, as recommended by a friend.

08 928 prepares the next Speedlink service.

December 31, 2020February 15, 2023

A Bescot Celebrity Class 47

One loco that has always been on my radar to do is 47 238 ‘Bescot Yard’. In fact, I’ve had the nameplates for this loco for a number of years, buying them at a Wolverhampton model railway club show from the orignal Shawplan owner, Graham Shaw.

The donor loco for this project is a Bachmann 31-663 Class 47, 47 209 in Railfreight livery. The first job was to remove the windows, which is usually a simple job, but not this time. Some of the windows were well and truely glued in, and on being a little too heavy handed, one of the cab doors cracked and came off with the window. I don’t know what they used in the factory when this loco was assembled, but its good stuff! As a precausion, the remaining glazing was removed with Glue Buster.

At this point, I decided to cut out the rest of the cab door so the loco could be modelled with the cab door open. It is the summer of 1990 afterall. Part of the chassis needed to be cut out to allow the door to be open, and the wiring for the lights was rerouted to the other side of the cab. The cab and bulkhead also needed modification with the razor saw, and a new cab floor and brace was fabricated with some plastikard. All these were painted after they were fixed in place. A rumage through the parts box found a suitable cab door from a Hornby class 56. Although not identical to a class 47 cab door, it looked fine inside the cab. You can’t see enough of it to notice it’s different. A kick plate was made and glued to the bottom of the door, covering the lower door handle which is found on the class 56. I then made a plastic bracket and located the cab door in place.

Next, the loco numbers, nameplates and BR arrows were removed. The new numbers, etched nameplates, depot plaques and arrows were secured in place with some varnish. Attention could then turn to painting the window surrounds white, with a good quality brush and a steady hand. The

was done for the bufferbeam before fitting screwlink couplings and appropriate pipework. The glazing was then reinstalled using liquid poly, and the fuel tanks were also swapped to suit. The bogies were also swapped from another Bachmann model that already had the details painted in white. Yellow stripes were painted on the fuel tanks, and the buffer heads painted silver, as per the prototype.

BR arrows offset and painted window surrounds.

December 17, 2020January 13, 2021

Weathering Heljan BOC Tankers

The Heljan BOC tanker is an expensive wagon, but when they were offered at half price I was keen to get them added into the Farkham roster.

Shortly after receiving the seven tankers I purchased, and after looking at Paul Bartlett’s photographs of the prototype, I got started on the weathering. Using Railmatch acrylic Frame Dirt in the airbrush, I blew over the bogies, chassis and lower bodyside.

On the prototype, the top half of the tanks seem to rust far more than the half below the identification band. In fact, the lower part of the tank remains almost rust free. After the frame dirt was dry I gave the wagons a coat of matt varnish, which is an essential part to the next step, the washes. Using a flat brush and the Flory Models Rust and Sand washes, I applied a generous amount to the upper bodysides and left it to dry. Then, with a damp sponge, and using a downward motion, the wash was manipulated to give the desired effect.

I’ll clean the handwheels before I consider them finished, but otherwise I’m quite pleased with them. A short blog post today, for what has been a time consuming but simple job.

December 14, 2020December 16, 2020

47 971 ‘Robin Hood’

I recently purchased a model of MENTOR from a friend and realised I didn’t have any suitable traction for it. With a quick look through my collection of Bachmann Class 47’s, and some research time spent on class47.co.uk, a suitable doner loco was found.

The base model for this project

The base model for this project was Bachmann 31-660A 47 444 ‘University of Nottingham’, and once the body was seperated from the chassis, work began on removing the numbers.

This model has a round boiler plate cover, so that was shaved off using a sharp scalpel, and a replacement square etched brass boiler plate was fitted. This was supplied by Shawplan, part number EEDP47-15.

New etch boiler blanking plate fitted and primed.

47 971 has a non standard darker colour grey roof, so the next job was to mask up and respray it. I sprayed the etched roof details with white Etch Primer first, and after studying further photos of the prototype, I decided to paint the roof with Games Workshop Dawnstone Grey.

I then turned my attention to the cab fronts. While sorting through the spares box, I found a pack of Shawplan white metal MU fittings. I don’t think they are available anymore, and I think I bought them of Graham Shaw many years ago at Wolverhampton Model Railway Club’s exhibition. Anyway, a pilot hole was drilled and the MU fitting was painted before fitting using Games Workshop Jokaero Orange. The bufferbeam details were then added, with Romford screw link couplings and the fuel tank was swapped for the correct one for this loco.

The loco now received an acrylic gloss varnish, ready for Railtec Transfers. I used left over parts from other transfer sheets, but Railtec do a complete sheet for this loco. Note the numbers on the prototype are wonky and spaced further apart than normal! Once left to dry over night, a coat of acrylic matt varnish was applied. The loco just requires weathering to finish, but I’ll leave that for another day.

The finished 47 971 ‘Robin Hood’