SRman

It should have a microchip pre-installed! 😅

Accurascale make kittens now?? I hope it makes all the right sounds. 😈😉

I don't understand why the Dynamis has a problem with the pantographs. One is on F26, the other is on F27. Apparently F17 is "pantograph select", but I haven't worked that one out. As I use mine in third rail territory, I mostly use F8 to override the pantographs and keep them folded. As I also have more restricted clearances vertically, I have set CVs 360 and 368 to a higher value of 45 (default is 25, I think). This actually lowers the maximum height the pantos will rise to, so if they do accidentally come up when they shouldn't, they still aren't going to hit anything they shouldn't! 😅 I now have four of the things, three with sound. The latest arrival was only last week, with DB Schenker 92 009 'Marco Polo' with sound landing on my doorstep.

Simple answer to the OP's question: of course it's worth it, as long as you get some enjoyment from it. That is, if you get enjoyment from the kit-bashing and building phase, or you get enjoyment from the end result, or all of these things, then it is worth it. No one else has to judge your efforts, and it is all a valuable learning process. I have kept some of my earlier efforts, poor as they are now compared to later efforts or modern products, but they have a part of me in them (sometimes literally, with bits of my fingers included!! 🤣🤣 ). I once used a slightly adapted Triang Princess Royal chassis (the old shorty version) with Bulleid BFB wheels (also from Triang), to motorise an Airfix ex-Kitmaster Battle of Britain loco, with the Airfix bogie and trailing truck and their wheels. Any thoughts of building a brass chassis were way beyond me in those days, and still not really something I'm good at even now. Just enjoy whatever you do. 👍

For those in Australia, Steam Era Models have metal wheelsets in many different sizes and different axle lengths can be specified. The prices here are very reasonable, but postage to the other side of the world may kill the deal. I can vouch that they work a treat as I used them in my old Triang/Hornby container wagons, before eventually replacing the wagons with the newer and better, Bachmann ones.

I must stop this addiction! Another Accurascale class 92 has lobbed in on my doorstep. This time 92 009, 'Marco Polo', wit sound again. After quickly testing on the programming track and then on the main lines, I adjusted the volume down a bit, made the maximum pantograph height lower (CV360 and CV368 both set to 45), took a photo then removed the coupling and fitted the extra front end detail at the #1 end, and the etched name plates. I haven't taken the body off to fit a driver and sun blinds yet, but that will happen soon. Of course, it worked perfectly right from the start, as I have come to expect from Accurascale. The finish on it is spotless. First photo is out of the box appearance, the second is after fitting the details.

Both sides have pickups, but some of them have traction tyres on the motor bogies, but the unpowered bogies also have pickups on both sides.

The motor used in the RailRoad diesel and electric motor bogies is 5-pole skew-wound type, hence the smoothness. Some of the RailRoad steam locos use a large 3-pole motor, though. I have gradually been replacing Lima chassis with Hornby RailRoad chassis (which lack a bit of weight, but that's easily fixed!), particularly with the class 73 and 117 chassis (the 117 was used for quite a few conversions to other classes of DMU). I run DCC and the smoother running and lower power consumption make them more appealing to me. I have converted a few Lima ringfield motors to DCC but the results have been mediocre for the most part.

I have turned the front wheels on a few of mine also. This is equally effective on buses and lorries as well. I was still working on the bus in the photo, and it's not quite sitting correctly, and the number plate is hanging off too, but it illustrates the idea. I have "flatted" the paint on a few too: for a really weather-beaten model, matt varnish is the go, with some rusty edges to panels and doors, and even the odd different coloured panel. Satin is better for a vehicle that has been on the road for a while but is still clean or well-used. One other thing that always strikes me is the width of the tyres on Oxford diecasts: they really need to be thinned down, but I haven't figured out the best way of achieving this yet.

I like the Accurascale 3-pack Nupak nuclear PFA wagons but couldn't justify them on the grounds they were a bit expensive for something that didn't really run in the south, and they would be hot on the heels of the pair of FNA-D flask wagons I bought direct from Accurascale. Anyway, Rails had them going at a considerably reduced price so I succumbed and bought a set. I'm justifying them using Rule 1!! Here I am showing off all of them, including the pair of older Bachmann FNA-C flask wagons (yes, I know I posted the first two pics earlier).

Further to my tests and biopsy, while I am still just a little sore and recovering from the procedure, the results came back as "benign", which is a huge relief for me. The doctor also told me to get another blood test in six months time and gave me the piece of paper authorising that. She said that the elevated PSA readings could have been caused by an infection or inflammation. It means also that I can now start planning things ahead instead of holding fire in case the system suddenly pops an unexpected appointment on me. I sincerely hope all the other men on here get equally promising results.

Yes, Accurascale seem to be manufacturer of choice at present. I have only one class 37 so far, with another pre-ordered from Rails, but I also have three class 92s with a fourth on the way, and several of the wagons and NPCCs either here or on the way. Whether the products are perfect or not, their after-sales support is second to none, and the prices very competitive, and better then the "big boys". I think they deserve every bit of their success. I would love more of the 37s myself, but really don't need too much more stock (in general) - I long since ran out of space! 🤣🤣

I ran the ESU "auto tune" feature (CV54 = 0, then press F1) on 'Deltic', but the running after that became rather slow, so tried again with the same result. I tried a few adjustments to the BEMF parameters with only very marginal results, so ended up resetting the decoder to the Accurascale settings, then simply altering the acceleration and braking to suit my tastes. Using the "auto tune" feature usually works for me, but not always. It is still a useful technique to try, seeing as it is built-in to all ESU v4 and v5 decoders. On a different track, I have been doing more work on the class 74. The paintwork is still rough in places but it is presentable at viewing distances, and once I have added the transfers, I'll satin varnish it, which will hide more imperfections. It is gloss varnished for now to allow a better surface for the transfers when I apply them. Currently it has the end handrails fitted, although they are rather annoyingly sloping downwards at the cab sides, so I'll have to adjust that. The glazing is from the Hornby 71, but I managed to damage a couple of edges in trimming it all down slightly, but overall it looks better than the vacuum-formed glazing that comes with the kit. I had to cut my own for the three narrow side windows. Still to fit are horns, cab door handrails and door handles, kick plates under the cab doors (they were moulded on but not in high relief), the high-level jumper and air cables, and the Pullman rubbing plates. Ignore the scuff marks on the sides as that was just the paint picking up dirt from the cutting mat.

Lake was described as a very dark red/crimson going to almost black. Unfortunately, surviving paint samples varied due to various effects like weathering and oxidisation. The last time I read anything on this colour, no one was sure exactly what shade it should be. The bright reds are a little more certain.

That's a great photo, John. Thanks for posting that.

Two new short videos from me: the Dapol class 59 now fitted with a larger EM1 speaker which enhances the bass reproduction a bit, and the NRM Deltic now with Accurascale sound and the Zimo double dumbo speaker taken from the class 59. I haven't made any adjustments to the running of the Deltic yet, but its mechanism seems a little stiffer than Accurascale's, so I do need to do a few tweaks. Also, the nuclear flask train is something I don't think the real Deltic has ever hauled! I actually had the Accurascale class 37/4 on this train, but it happened to be convenient for testing the Deltic.

A package arrived from Accurascale today. Among a few other things, there was a pair of FNA-D nuclear flask wagons (set C), and an ESU LokSound decoder with their Deltic sounds on it. The flask wagons supplement the older Bachmann FNA-C type, and could be seen running together in trains for a few years. I have a pack of suitable batteries on the way to operate the built-in tail light on one of the new wagons. I fitted the LokSound decoder to 'Deltic', but the most suitable speaker I have was actually in my Dapol class 59 - EM1 or Accurathrash speakers are too large to fit in the space available in 'Deltic'. So, I popped the top off the 59, unsoldered the Zimo Double Dumbo speaker and soldered in the EM1 speaker I had sitting spare, with its end screw hole extensions clipped off. The 2-pin plug was also snipped off (a shame as it is a useful fitting, but I have saved it for use elsewhere) and the wires soldered to the tabs on the Deltic PCB, and then it was tested. At full volume it was very loud, so I turned it down a bit, but it was very successful overall. Of course, the Bachmann model doesn't have all the lighting functions of the Accurascale model, so I will have to adapt to what functions are available. In the meantime, the 59 sounded slightly more bassy and quite a lot louder, so that too was turned down a bit. I will do a video at some time in the near future of the end results for both locomotives. The illustration of the Double Dumbo speaker is from the YouChoos website (where I bought it from). I know one of the guard irons has gone missing (again!) from 'Deltic'. I'll do something about that later.

According to one of Brian Haresnape's books, the blue colour was supposed to be "peacock blue". However, the actual shade seems to have got lost in translation. I have this model bought second-hand, which appears to be a professional respray using electric blue on the super-detail Hornby model. Personally, I think it looks too light for the actual blue used on the prototype, but I like the effect anyway. I also have two Triang blue products, the first one from 1962 and the later R357B from 1965, which both work fine but I keep them as display models only. Again personally, I think the white lining really set the blue off nicely on the Triang model, it was a pity BR didn't apply it to thee real D5578.

The top lights are on Aux 11 and 12, and those are the ones I dimmed. I haven't dimmed the engine room lights yet, but they are next, and are on Aux 14. Cab interior lights are Aux 9 and 10. Separate from the above, for the Hall sensor, I wonder whether Aux 10 might be clashing with the input. I'll be experimenting a bit more with that idea.

Thank you to all who have responded so far. Some of the suggestions will be very useful for me, and I am sure other parts of the suggestions will be useful for other modellers in other areas of the world. John (St Enodoc) was correct in suggesting that I prefer enamels for the work I have in mind, but I can and do use acrylics as well, usually not for external jobs, although even that isn't a hard and fast rule. As I said in my original post, some of the brands are not obtainable here, although Tamiya is readily available, and there are local sources for Vallejo and (I think) Games Workshop. I would love to get hold of some Railmatch and Busmatch paints, but they absolutely refuse to post them here, even though the postal regulations do actually allow small quantities to be sent with correct packaging. Revell are available, and I use certain of their colours, but I find that I don't always like the way they dry either, even with a little thinning. One of these days my airbrush will get its first use, and that may be a game changer for me too.

I need it for detail work on railway and bus/road vehicle kits. The automotive spray paints are good as a starting point, but not so good where it is too awkward to mask off an area. A recent bus I have almost finished using the satin black below, but satin is not always quite the effect I need, and, as I said, the Humbrol paint just doesn't cut it any more (I used to go through gallons of it!!). Also, for weathering work and flooding into door openings and seam lines, matt is more useful than gloss or satin. but not really ideal for spraying.

Thanks; that's very useful. We have a K-mart just down the road from here (the original one in Australia!).

Can I get a few recommendations for a good matt black paint with brush-painting in mind, please. I want one that has good coverage, dries to a hard finish and most importantly, dries matt. I used to use Humbrol #33, but they changed the formula (probably more than once) and all of the recent tins I have seem to dry glossy. I do use Humbrol #65, coal black which is a satin finish, and I go through heaps of that, but I want a truly matt finish for some jobs. Bear in mind that I may not be able to get all of the brands mentioned in any responses here in Australia, but also remember that lots of members from all over the world may also benefit from the replies, so all responses are welcome. I do have a few model shops nearby with different paint ranges, so there is some choice available here. Thanks in anticipation. Jeff

That's interesting, because I found the circuit board was very tight, and took some effort to pull out, whereas the decoder blanking plate and the decoder both felt very insecure. Obviously, there are different production tolerances at work here. 🙃

Yes, of course, that's very true ... Tram and bus destination displays suffer from that problem too. I was trying recently to capture the destination display on a Danish bus and totally failed even after a number of attempts. I kept getting either halfa display or gibberish. 🤣