Matt's workbench - current project: a Tractor

matto21

Western Thunderer
Loosely related to my current interests in that it's parcels stock, but otherwise a bit of an outlier. I don't think I was even aware of these before coming across some photos online. This, along with the lucky purchase of the Parkside PC40 kit from ebay gave me the opportunity to do a quick representation.

I seem to have a knack for buying kits with underframe parts missing or damaged and this was no exception. Nothing some plastic sheet and strip, plus some odds and ends from the spares box and a bit of scratchbuilding couldn't fix though.

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As a bonus, it looks very festive in Santa's livery!

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Now onto something a bit more "modern"!

Matt
 

matto21

Western Thunderer
Wow, February already and I've not posted anything for 2 months.

Here's my latest project, been on the go in fits and starts since January 2023. Ancient Bachmann Queen Mary bought in a damaged state. Sat in the to-do pile for ages while I pondered the bogies, in the end I plumped for some Roxey Models ones.

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I've added some rudimentary brake "stuff" underneath using odds and ends.

It's one of those models - on one hand I don't know why I'm bothering because I don't really need it. On the other - I've started it so I might as well see it through.

Matt
 

matto21

Western Thunderer
Wowsers, it's been over a month since I updated this thread!

HRH Queen Mary is now 99% complete, apart from painting...apologies if you've seen this photo elsewhere.

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I've also started working on what, for me, will be my most complex and involved project yet - completely upgrading a Bachmann Class 37 using as many of the bits I've collected over the years as possible. Highly likely it'll be finished as 37505 or 510 in I/C livery.

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This is a bit of an anomaly for me - I've recently sold several older 37's (and lots of other stuff) and used the money to replace them with the far superior "new tool" model from Bachmann.

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This one was in a fairly shabby condition externally - the windows were missing, the lights didn't work and the previous owner had clearly been concerned that the various details would fall off - so had been very generous with the superglue! As a result, it wasn't worth the effort involved in selling it, but it was a rather good runner. I've always wanted to build a Penbits sprung bogie kit but, until relatively recently, did not have the confidence or skills to solder it. So this is the perfect opportunity to try...

In other news, I'm facing a fairly major change in personal circumstances in the next few months. You've probably noticed that I've done lots of building recently but very little painting. This will probably continue for the foreseeable future, at least until things are sorted.

I am in the early stages of planning a layout - it will be set in Scotland in the 80's and early 90's and it will mainly feature Class 26's and 37's. I'm not in a position to start a thread yet because I've not decided on a track plan or any of the other details - again, until my circumstances are resolved, it'll have to wait. In the meantime I'll focus on stock building.

Finally, in addition to the above, I'm also planning a small micro layout but, once again, it's very early days. I have decided on some of the principles I'll be aiming for, for both layouts, but that's as far as I've got with either.

Thanks for reading

Matt
 
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