GLOSSY LNER A4 4903 PEREGRINE HORNBY RAILROAD BLUE STREAK

robvulcan · September 21, 2013

Hi all this is my first railway related post.

I have just gloss varnished one of my Hornby A4's 4903 Peregrine in the gorgeous LNER blue livery. She might be a railroad loco but she looks the business.

I have swapped out the motion set for finer super detail versions and Glossed her up so she looks to me more "real" like shes made out of metal.

I am very happy with how she now looks and thought I would share her with you.

I hope you like her. Here she is outside curing off in the afternoon sun.

Cheers Rob

So there she is thanks for looking.

Rob

Sgeek · September 21, 2013

Lovely.

Not knowing much about model trains, nor trains in general you mentioned 'motion set' and 'finer detail set'. Are these after market sets specifically for tricking up older models?

If so I have a box of old loco's in the loft that could well be seeing the light of day again. I also foresee a noticeable increase in the number of reference books dotted around the house that will need some careful planning to avoid 'complications'

robvulcan · September 21, 2013

Hey there. There are seperate detail sets available. But these are hornby ones.

This is a Hornby Railroad model. The railroad series is a budget brand that offers fantastic models with less detail and less paint apps but fantastic models that you can run out the box on a great running chassis and detail further if you wish.

This is the railroad a4 which features a super detail series body moulding and the older type tender from their old 70s a4.

the motion sets fitted to railroad a4s are from the old 70s version which look great. but the superdetail versions as seen here are finer. I had a spare set and thought why not fit them !, so I did.

The super detail version features windows, window frames, separate cab side glass shields. lamp irons, painted cab interior, totally new tender moulding of 3 types with removeable coal load and separate handrails.

They are both great models. I highly recommend picking one up if you can. The railroad one Is a fantastic model. the more common version of this blue a4 in the railroad range is falcon, This one is from "the blue streak" Train set from a few years ago. but they are soon to release a mallard train set with a version of this loco as mallard.

Cheers Rob

robvulcan · September 22, 2013

Here are some more photos of Peregrine with the new refurbed tender that had the gash down the right hand side and other uglies.

The legends series Hornby Mallard in Lner blue that is in original Hornby finish so you can compare the difference.

Plus to other a4s that came second hand and were also a little scruffy and missing items that I Have restored and shined too.

Its like a little great gathering. Hope you enjoy the following images.

robvulcan · September 22, 2013

Now the green ones

andrewribs · September 30, 2013

Nice work, would never have thought of using a gloss coat but it does make a big difference.

Andrew

AndyC · September 30, 2013

Very nice - as much as I like to see original schemes (except the Silver Link one!), Brunswick Green really suits the A4 to my eye

(from a confirmed GWR follower!)

robvulcan · September 30, 2013

Very nice - as much as I like to see original schemes (except the Silver Link one!), Brunswick Green really suits the A4 to my eye

(from a confirmed GWR follower!)

Cheers I agree and a big fan of the GWR too. everything looks good in brunswick green. A4s look good in all liveries. I have extented this article on RMweb I have customised mallard now and turned falcon into bittern. I will be doing more, I would like to update here but it seems we have not WIP section for railways here. Shame really. I suppose I could post it here to thinking about it. Here is the link Check it out if you like, I am happy with how bittern is looking.

Cheers Rob

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/76433-glossy-hornby-a4s-on-going-project-446444684498-etc-customising-the-hornby-model/

robvulcan · September 30, 2013

Nice work, would never have thought of using a gloss coat but it does make a big difference.

Andrew

Thanks It does indeed. I makes them look more like real machines with their own personality. rather than mass produced plastic bodies on chassis. to me at least.

Cheers Rob

robvulcan · September 30, 2013

While there seems to be interest in this I am copying the content from my rmweb page so the good ship britmodeller can share in my love of A4 locos. Here is mallard bittern and sir nigel gresley getting work still going on. Cheers Rob

Ok now I am getting giving mallard a tarting up. Here I am using 6mm tamiya tape to mark out were the plaques will be fitted. then I use a strip of tape to hold the plate in position but allow me to lift it over to put a very small amount of rubber infused superglue on the back then when I flip it back over its in the right spot.

I do the same for Bitterns nameplates.

I am leaving Hornbys mallard plates as the look better spaced than the etched ones.

Bittern has its this was railroad falcon. I first used 6mm tamiya to mask were the plates were fitted then masked around to remove the excess plastic without damaging the surrounding paint.

Update time I am working on this now but just having a quick coffee break and a few custard cremes to help me paint better.

Mallard is receiving silver handrails. I am brush painting these with the excellent revel aqua aluminium with as always with me a good healthy drop of windsor and newton flow improver added which means you can paint acrylic with no brush marks as it makes the paint level and behave more like enamel. I free hand painted the main handrails but the cab ones will likely need masking as this is the legends version.

Revel aqua paints are fantastic but their metallic paints along with citadels metallic paints are the very best I have ever used that are not alclad2. They have a gorgeous sheen and brush very well indeed. I have successfully brush painted 2 aircraft kits with these a Vampire FB5 and Gloster Meteor mk4.

Bittern is now Bittern and not falcon. Well shes getting there still needs numbers, black on the cab and tender extending, I am also thinking of removing the wheels and spraying them crimson to the edge but there is not rush to do that.

Sir Nigel Gresley is being reworked too. I may update the transferrs, the hand rails and pipe were touched up, as the previous owner had got them all chipped and the cab ones were brass. I had not got any garter blue but I made my own match for Hornby's by mixing white into humbrol BR Blue. strange I know but it works.

Sir Nigel Gresley was a Railroad Falcon too I did not convert this one but I have improved it on what I got off evilbay but its still not finished. She has had her gripper coat and klear on ages ago but I needed to retouch the rails as mentioned and I am now redoing the front casing numbers as the ones on before were plain wrong. Much as I wish these 3 had glazing the ones added on sir nige are a good effort but not that great. So I am going to remove them I think and then later on get some glazing spares for them. Or I may make a new resin casting to make new glazing. for rail road A4s.

Right back to the paint shop..

robvulcan · September 30, 2013

Well I dint get much further last night before I had to go to sleep. normally I can keep going till 4am but not this time.

So I am up bright and early with another cup of coffee and back at it.

I have painted the brass part on the left hand side of mallards boiler. Sadly I do not know what this is but I guess its either blower,injector,blastpipe, I wish I could find technical information on what is what and what its not.

Again this was brush painted with the excellent Revel Aqua Brass paint with a dollop of Windsor and Newton Flow Improver. Lovely stuff to work with.

so mallard is about to receive a gripper coat. I have got alan gibson wheels for her though I must say shes looking good as is. I am also not brave enough to do this just yet and need a quatering jig. I have got a spare chassis that needs a rebuild to have ago at regarding that anyhow.

So when I have finished this coffee the next job is decals on Bittern and SNG. All good fun.

Cheers Rob (I really wish this form had a work in progress page.)

Update time and more coffee mmmmm

RIght then. I am not sure If I am going to pinch the tender off kingfisher for Bittern.. (you know I probably will in the end...) Either way I decided to paint up the railroad tender as and option if nothing else. The old tender is not that bad really. The coal load is huge but I have seen A4s piled up like this often and I have seen bittern that way. If i was to remove it and remove the casting inside that would have held the motor. I could scratch build the insides quite easy. or something that looks better at least... This can be done at a later stage its not the most important thing right now. so here it is being masked with good old tamiya tape.

This is SNG 4498 being masked up using the rivets and another Hornby A4 as a guide. decals are always applied with a smally puddle of old johnsons klear. its the only stuff I know that magically sucks and sticks down decals leaving no film visable and makes them look painted on. these are Fox Decals.

Update again, Bittern and Mallards gripper coat is complete. Bittern is now receiving her decals. I have also opted to use kingfishers tender..

I am really enjoying this build/modding session. I am happy with how its coming out. Its so much fun doing this and nice to have something unique with a bit of me in it.

more coffee more decals and I am getting there. Planet Rock FM helps with this too.

Well this is were I am. All 3 With gripper coat done awaiting a seal over with klear and then the gloss coat will go on.

I am very happy with how they look they might not be super detailed ones but to me they are perfect.

Here we have 60s 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley. 4464 Bittern, and 4468 Mallard.

I hope you like them. Cheers Rob.

Thanks so much to modelmasters and foxx transfers for making this possible.

AnonymousAA72 · October 1, 2013

STREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!The A4 was, and is, a most fantastic beast of a locomotive. I have vague memories of them hurtling up and down the ECML (along with the odd A2 & V2) at the viewing platform at Finsbury Park in the early 'sixties, though they were in the process of being withdrawn at the time with some of them going up to Scotland, and were being replaced by the mighty Deltic's - what a racket they made!!

I was also up in York in June and was lucky enough to see all six remaining A4's parked up there - not that you could get any good photo's - it was rather crowded!

You gloss coat works wonders there Rob, its lifted the finish from the plastic finish and makes them look like they've been made of metal!! The Railroad A4 looks good - plenty of scope for super detailling - and thats relatively cheap and easy to do.

Edit: What gloss varnish did you use Rob?

Edited October 1, 2013 by Bill Clark

**Mike** · October 1, 2013

Flashbacks to the Great Gathering here! Like A4s, do you? Can't say I blame you - my boy is obsessed with "Mellard" as he still insists on calling it

Steve27752 · October 1, 2013

Very nice, well done. I don't know if you are aware but we 'polish' the real engines using an equal mix of paraffin and oil. It gives them a real shine.

Edited October 1, 2013 by Steve27752

robvulcan · October 2, 2013

STREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!The A4 was, and is, a most fantastic beast of a locomotive. I have vague memories of them hurtling up and down the ECML (along with the odd A2 & V2) at the viewing platform at Finsbury Park in the early 'sixties, though they were in the process of being withdrawn at the time with some of them going up to Scotland, and were being replaced by the mighty Deltic's - what a racket they made!!

I was also up in York in June and was lucky enough to see all six remaining A4's parked up there - not that you could get any good photo's - it was rather crowded!

You gloss coat works wonders there Rob, its lifted the finish from the plastic finish and makes them look like they've been made of metal!! The Railroad A4 looks good - plenty of scope for super detailling - and thats relatively cheap and easy to do.

Edit: What gloss varnish did you use Rob?

Hi Bill many thanks for the compliments and the memories you share I love A4s as much as I love Vulcans etc. I was lucky enough to get to drive Sir Nigel Gresley off carnfouth shed in 1992 under the drivers guidance over the turn table on to the mainline. Very nice experience that was..

Me and the mrs really want to go to york to see them all this month I cant wait !

The railroad body is the super detail body all it lacks is window parts, and lamp irons. which is a good thing really as the glass can be refitted from spares and the lamp irons fittted to hornby super detail versions are so dam fragile I tend to remove them and refit metal ones. (well I will refit them) I wish hornby would make theirs from metal like bachmann do. much better looking and stronger.

The railroad tender is the old type one not bad really but not as good as the newer verions. If you look at sir nigel this has the old tender , bittern has the super detail version of the same type of tender, the 1928 pattern, mallard has the slimmer non corridor.

The gloss varnish is humbrol rattle can 35, Its a very expensive option to get them looking like this, as first I have to give them a distance mist coat of this to stop chemical reations and give a gripper coat,. so its a bit stippled in finish and to avoid crumpling the factory tampo decals, I give them a good covering with this technique, then when dry I give them 3 damp sponge coats of old johnsons klear to seal it off and bring the sheen back, this is to help form a barrier layer to stop orange peel effect risk.

Then I wait for a sunny day to do the top coats I have to get in quite close work fast and carefully put a thicker coat on that is even, then when this tacks up after about 60 seconds, I apply a further coat that is thickish too and working quick again this will then settle and flat out giving the gloss you see, however if its slightly humid it can fog, A further coat will remove this, and even so a slight fogging may appear but usually this disapears totally as it is gloss. (Funny chemicals)

However this is the best gloss varnish I have ever used, Same with the satin, but you have to be carefull what distance and what weather your working in.

thin coats will level out toataly over about 2 days, I could not believe the finish I got on my pit road vulcan, general melchet and canberra kid were impressed at the finish of the varnish at cosford.

I recommend the t-cut and cotton bud method for removing the numbers it got them off quick and easy with no loss of the paint underneath. The fox transferrs /decals went down fantastic with klear and the model master jackson evans plates were great too.

So next I will get a railroad mallard or other superdetail green a4 and do myself a union of south africa. Living in kidderminster I miss her not being on the severn valley. I hope she returns one day. Number 9 Is a beautiful loco, I might well do her in coronation blue too.

Cheers Rob

Flashbacks to the Great Gathering here! Like A4s, do you? Can't say I blame you - my boy is obsessed with "Mellard" as he still insists on calling it

Hi mike yes That was the inspiration and like your boy I am and have always been since a boy obsessed with a4s, particulaly mallard after watching the bbc documentary,"mallard the drakes progress" and the series "the train now departing" they are wonderfull documentary's they don't make tv like that no more.

I remember your post regarding union of south africa wanting to do the same as you, I guess the results with bittern prove you could do one for your boy with the help of t-cut and a cotton bud.

I would love it if we could have a ready for inspection/work in progress section for railways, I love britmodeller as it brings together all modelling genres and the collective of skills talent and information make it a friendly place. I am big on railways as I am planes, I am also getting into armour and sci-fi, mostly because of BM. Cheers Mike

Very nice, well done. I don't know if you are aware but we 'polish' the real engines using an equal mix of paraffin and oil. It gives them a real shine.

I have been told that I would love to have ago at polishing. I wondered If all locos are painted gloss, or are some satin,. I take it you work on steam ?

lf so lucky you.

cheers Rob

robvulcan · October 11, 2013

Some things are worth waiting for.. I have longed all my life since childhood to have an extremely glossy Mallard, This even feel like the real one running my fingers along the body its so smooth and makes me smile more than it probably should

I had nearly a major disaster with this one.. due to the weather,... Failing to take my own advice I sprayed this in the overcast conditions and she turned white.. looked very effective for faded paint and the positive side of this is I can now accurately create faded BR diesels.. But I have never seen a faded Mallard !!! I hoped for 3 days that the sun would come back as I have the feeling this might be a UV cure varnish from humbrol..

At last the sun came and I did some tests in the same spot outside on the same day within mins of each spray using the same can of varnish.

When the sun went behind the clouds it frosted, But when there was a good gap in the clouds and Judging the wind speed of the clouds moving I reckoned I had time to shoot over another layer and In the sun the varnish behaved differently It dried to a deep gloss finish and the white frost disappeared. I reckon this is because the sun causes it to skin over quickly and allows the chemicals to do their work under neath to level and clarify.

It seems that it is not so Important to warm the paint but make sure if you do this that it is a hot sunny day to do it on.

As a result of the above Mallard has got a thicker coat of varnish on but I am still really happy with the results and she looks as glossy as the real thing so Its made me happy at least.

I quite often find that the models that fight you to the end are often your best in the end. its only months later when its finished and you have not been eyeballing it you look at it and think wow that come out alright. But during the build you look at every little bit so closely you don't take in the whole picture.

Any way here are some quick snaps on the Iphone I will take better ones soon.

I have rebuilt up the gap in the bottom of the valance added super detail cab interior fascia. All I need to do now is put some windows in and at some point when I am ready add alan gibson or ultrascale wheels and a comet motion set to another chassis to really give her that NRM look. But she looks ok for now.

Some of you will notice that I have switched the chassis for a super detail one, However this runs like a dog on the same decoder, I seems to speed up and slow down on each speed step, like its stiff and sort of emulating the way a pigeons head moves when walking, I take it this is a quartering issue... I suppose this is natures way of giving me that push I need to complete her with shiney wheels and motion.. I just need guidance on how to assemble and fit the motion to the wheels and Hornby chassis, I am sure it cant be that hard.... (famous last words huh)

Morning all I forgot to post these photos of how I built up the valance with some plastic sheet.

The Hornby A4 has small notches cut into the valance to in theory allow running on small radius curves. It is however a stupid pointless design as all this does is leave a very thin piece of plastic which the wheels will cut through as I have seen other people have trouble with, I had wondered about this as my eyes were instantly drawn to the ugly cut out. Its the only bit of the model I can really decide on not liking..

By adding another piece of plastic and then masking the area I then file it with a very fine grade file to approximate shape and then paint it blue, Its not perfect but it

1. looks better, 2 means I don't have to worry about ugly cuts to the valance, 3 can still run on smaller radius curves,

It would be so simple for Hornby to put on the box for small radius curves look for our british railways non valanced A4s. Or some such.

Here Is Mallard getting the treatment.

I mixed up some Humbrol rail blue and white to get a close match to Hornby's Garter blue which actually varies from loco to loco.

Here is another shot of mallard how she currently stands. I really need some help on how to go about the valve gear, regarding eccentric arm fitting to alan gibson and ultrascale wheels, also if i can fit comet motion/valve gear to the Hornby chassis.

Also a photo of a Vulcan I have been working on.

Dominion · November 13, 2014

Hi Rob, I enjoyed reading your postings on improving the Railroad Hornby A4s, they look really good. You mentioned a product you used to make the acrylic paint flow more easily. I have some Winsor and Newton medium called liquin, that is for making oil paint smother and flow better. I used it for putting the teak grain effect on some coaches. Is the product you used for acrylic the same do you think or different ?

Also I saw you recommended T cut for removing numbers. They don't seem to sell that here in Canada, do you think it is the same as automotive polishing compound that they use in body shops ? I don't want to mess the paint up below the decals. Thanks Rob, Tom

Pete in Lincs · November 13, 2014

If the polishing compound you mention is a paste, as sold over here, then no.

The paint on North American cars is rather more robust than in Europe.

T cut as sold in the UK is a thick liquid. Rather grainy like brass polish.

I imagine you could use the compound, lightly with a Q tip?

robvulcan · November 13, 2014

Hi Rob, I enjoyed reading your postings on improving the Railroad Hornby A4s, they look really good. You mentioned a product you used to make the acrylic paint flow more easily. I have some Winsor and Newton medium called liquin, that is for making oil paint smother and flow better. I used it for putting the teak grain effect on some coaches. Is the product you used for acrylic the same do you think or different ?

Also I saw you recommended T cut for removing numbers. They don't seem to sell that here in Canada, do you think it is the same as automotive polishing compound that they use in body shops ? I don't want to mess the paint up below the decals. Thanks Rob, Tom

The stuff I use is T-cut which worked a treat and I was scared to use it as I have had bad past experience using thinners removing the paint and not the number, this worked though but there is a certain amount of risk and trial

And error. Especially between manufactures Bachman are much easier to remove.

I would try and get some t-cut sent to you somehow try getting a friend to bring

It back or import some.

It can be useful to polish black surfaces for alclad 2 and just polish debris from paint to a great shine. I would not want to recommend a product I have not tested but I would say get a spare body the same

As you want to use to practice on, Hornby have a great spares department.

I would join RMweb and ask Mick Lner (think that's his name look for anything Lner related and you will find him) he knows lots about removing numbers on a variety of stock,

Another thing you could do is get clear decal paper and paint it a colour that matches your loco to cover the numbers and allow you to get fresh transfers or decals on.

I use Windsor and Newton Flow Improver for acrylic I add this to citadel, revel Aqua, Humbrol and xtracrylics (any acrylics) it makes the paint thin as ink, retain its colour density (this does not happen with any other thinning method) and causes the paint to behave more like an enamel and brush better than an enamel only expiriance, it also stops brush streaks and allows them to self level.

It's great for making pin washes too.

Just make sure you paint them over a primed surface or you will be wasting your time.

I hope this helps im guessing your doing the dominion of Canada , good choice I hope to do the same soon, just wonder where to get the brass bell from.

You may need some fittings try 247 developments they have a great range of castings and mainly trains and Alan Gibson are good to get parts from for detail.

I must crack on with these soon but been otherwise engaged I still have wheels and motion sets to fit !,

I see my photos are lost on this thread I will have sort that,

Cheers Rob

Dominion · November 14, 2014

Thanks Rob, I didn't realize Winsor and Newton made a medium for acrylics, but I can see it on the net. I will try to find some in Canada. I actually have a Dominion of Canada's, in Garter Blue. I did read on RMweb I think mention of someone finding a white metal bell, but don't remember if it said the make. But search for dominion of Canada and bell on RMweb or the LNER Encylopedia and you may find it.

robvulcan · November 14, 2014

Thanks Rob, I didn't realize Winsor and Newton made a medium for acrylics, but I can see it on the net. I will try to find some in Canada. I actually have a Dominion of Canada's, in Garter Blue. I did read on RMweb I think mention of someone finding a white metal bell, but don't remember if it said the make. But search for dominion of Canada and bell on RMweb or the LNER Encylopedia and you may find it.

Thanks mate yep that LNER Encyclopedia is a great site. I also at some point would love to make one of the 2 sandrigham streamlined B-17s looks like a 4-6-0 A4.

I must start my 0 gauge Build of an A4 on here soon. I have the Thread going but I have not started yet and the parts are piling up now..

Windsor and Newtons Acylic Varnishes are amazing too and highly brushable. The Americana Decoart Paints are wonderful too.

Its amazing how Paints have come on in recent years.

Cheers Rob

robvulcan · January 14, 2015

I can see my previous posts have gotten messed up from my photobucket cock up a few years ago. I will go back and correct this soon. Plus I need to update this ongoing project as there has been a lot more done that I have not yet covered here.

I am reposting this part of the article on how to re-wheel with Ultrascale wheels. I wanted the article to be on its own as a help guide for others out there potentially wanting to do the same. but it is part of this article too and I want it included as a record for myself should I need to go back and see what I did and also keep it all together in one area. Hence the repost below.

Here is how I have fitted Ultrascale wheels to the Hornby A4 using the modern superdetail/railroad chassis and retained the original 80s Nickel plate motion from the original Margate era Hornby A4.

I had come across some very Cheap Ultrascale wheels on ebay I picked them up for 20 quid including postage !. Lucky me. I was almost frightend to use them and that was a year ago. These wheel sets usually take 6 months to wait for to be made for you and cost over a £100 quid !... But it will make your A4 Look like a real A4 so ... The things we do for detail eh !

I have done much reading on wheels, motion, etc etc.

I have also been asking many questions much to the annoyance of some on rmweb I bet ! , But the advice on here has been brilliant and This past few weeks I have thrown myself in at the deep end. As there are still bits that seem to be a dark art.

I have always found info on Kit Built locos hard to come by. It almost feels as If you have to be invited to a small clandestine religion to learn the tricks.. Well I hope to expose it as I learn in the hope others will have ago. As the kit industry for railway models seems to be on the decline and that’s sad. Much as RTR is nice making models or customising them is where the fun lies.

This is a custom job but I hope to make a model soon.

I have done something that might be considered a sin to many. But I have found it is indeed possible with care to resuse the Hornby fittings from the motion on Ultrascale, Scalelink and Alan Gibson wheels. At least on my ones. I tried this first on a Scalelink, Then an Alan Gibson, Then an Ultrascale. I have been successful and managed to make a working chassis using the Hornby A4 chassis, Hornby 80s Nickel plated motion, and the Ultrascales. This has given me a chassis that will look right for Mallard and now all I have to do is paint the wheels red and add the balance weights.

I want to share with people on here how I have done this as I have found the information on how to do this hard to come by.

I want to do my bit to try to share my first attempts with you all in the hope others have ago. I know many already know how to do this but there are likely many more like myself that wish to try. So hope this helps.

here goes...

I had started with the easy part, Fitting the Tender, Pony wheels etc,. These gripped well enough to not need any loctite and were a breese to assemble by hand and the back to backs checked with and Alan Gibson back to back gauge.

Before you put together your drivers you need to shim them and replace the Hornby washers with these, They are from Alan Gibson and come in a pack with various thicknesses, The Hornby ones do not seem to want to fit onto the axle so I replaced them as you can see in the photos.

As you can see I had fitted the Ultrascale pins but then soon after this I ditched them, I had only fixed one side of the wheels with loctite 603 (thankfully)

So I could remove the wheels. The plastic Ultrascale uses is surprisingly tough and I had no problems with wear or loose wheels or any issues with them going out of true when refitting but I don't recommend messing unless absolutley nessercery. The loctite 603 is nasty stuff if certainly grips VERY strong. If you get it wrong forget it so be careful.

I will also note the Hornby Gear that I refitted to the Ultrascale axle needed to be very slightly drilled wider to fit the axle. like the Hornby washers it would not refit.

When I say slightly drilled out I mean very slightly using only my fingers to twist the drill bit.

Here are the Ultrascales as you can see I have Drilled them out by hand using a pin vice and taking my time,. The plastic as I mention is very very strong and it took ages to drill out these holes using the molded ones as a guide. But as you can see the 80s Hornby part fits and so will the modern versions.

I had to file off the rivets holding the cross frame attachment from the modern railroad motion off a spare chassis I have and then drill the old motion parts out to fit to the cross frame. This again was done by hand with a file in a pin vice. I just put a comedy show on and sweated it out for a few hours and got through threre eventually. The old metal rods were made of much better quality material than these new ones and are very robust unlike the kitchen foil ones of today.

Moving on you can see I am now using my modified Railroad Peregrine to help with the build of the chassis for Mallard.

Here you can see the 80s Hornby Nickel matches the Ultrascale wheels a treat,. These motion sets might be basic but they are not that bad and they are strong. also the solid conection rod is one piece making the wheels move more realistically that the modern type. I like the robustness here and like with all modelling compromises are always to be made. I am having to delete the little lubricator arm thing (I am not sure what it is ) From the right wheel. But I can live with that. This is my first attempt at a loco chassis conversion and re-wheel.

I was going to use these Rivets from Alan Gibson but Instead used Alan Gibson crank pins and bolts.

You can see the holes that are drilled out ready to attach to the cross frame.

Here you can see the Hornby boss which Needs little mods to it to fit, with the shim washer in place on the axles as seen previously the boss at the back will not collide with the chassis or pickups. The only mod is the file down the oval ear on one side to allow you to set the lead correctly. There will be many times you will have to assemble and de assemble the chassis and motion to make sure this works freely with friction fit only before loctite 603 goes anywhere near... But its worth doing to get it right even if it does take you days.

The other advantage to this old motion being used is the return crank arm moves elaborately and realistically where as the later finer type hardly moves at all. I prefer this old type for that reason.

Here you can see the Gibson Crank pins holding the motion together these were tigtened and Loctite 603 applied when in situ on the loco to make sure they set in the right place.

And here is my 1st atempt at a chassis mod complete and running sweetly. I quartered it by eye and now I just need to add the red paint and the balance weights but right now I put the body on for a few photos and enjoy finally having an LNER A4 with nice shiney thick rimmed wheels. What a lovely site. I do like the blackend ones but I adore the highly polished look.

If only Hornby made the wheels like this in the first place it would have been perfect. Here is a comparison with the standard wheels which I must admit look fine for most locos.

If they had red to the edge which a few did.

Thanks for reading. I hope its not been boring and might be of help to others out there. I will be doing more conversions now and love ultrascale wheels. I also hope to do my first chassis soon.

Happy New Year everyone. This is my first modelling post on here this year.

For anyone curious about Ultrascale they are a great company and the website is well worth your time reading through

http://www.ultrascale.com/

Cheers Rob

robvulcan · January 14, 2015

Some things are worth waiting for.. I have longed all my life since childhood to have an extremely glossy Mallard, This even feel like the real one running my fingers along the body its so smooth and makes me smile more than it probably should ....oooo matron!