The prototype

The class 121 Bubble cars were built from 1960 by the pressed steel company of Oxford. They were double ended with a cab at each end. A class 121 was still in use in 2017, on a heritage line. They had a top speed of 70 mph and were used mainly on the Western Region. Lightly used lines in Cornwall being their main area of operation.

The class 122 was similar although built by Gloucester RC&W in 1958. They also made a further nine single ended trailers.

The model – £99 approx.

The amount of detail for the price is amazing. The masking is crisp and the under frame painting adds a lot of visual appeal.

The height of the floor is a compromise and adding a few passengers would help to disguise this. Separately fitted detail includes windscreen wipers and handrails. The glazing is flush and has printed details. Door handles are picked out in silver.

Running

Certain versions of this model had problems with the bogies catching on the chassis detail, causing derailments. The version tested here did not have this problem. In fact it ran OK on first radius curves!

The gearing is low so that in runs slowly, even at half speed on the controller. The model does speed up once the lubrication warms up.

The model is Named Thunderbird 1

Lighting

As a consequence of the low gearing the lights ,on DC, are rather bright even at medium speed. The cab ,carriage, head and tail lights can be switched off by internal switches. They are on by default, on the DC version. All the light can be controlled individually on DCC.

Conclusion

The model is great value and runs well once it warms up. It ran using an ancient Triang controller with no problem.

The kit

In the Greenwood produce a range of good value, laser cut kits. The shop reviewed here was £6.00 with free shipping.

On opening the nicely presented box, you get the unmistakable waft of burning wood! There are some rather thick plywood parts and a sheet of instructions. No glazing is provided. The chimney parts are bagged separately.

The build

The parts slot together well and are a good fit. I had an issue with warpage on the side walls. A block of balsa glued to the inside fixed this. Press the parts under a heavy weight until the glue has set. The build progressed quickly with the shell being completed in about 20 minutes.

After assembly give the model a coat of primer. This takes paint much better than bare wood.

Painting

Paint the bricks with a salmon red colour. Try to paint the surface only. The gray primer then looks like old mortar. The woodwork was painted green. The signage and interior are from the Scalescenes high street shops download. Glazing was made from some Javis thick clear sheet. The curtains are just an off cut of purple card. Some weathering was added to the roof.

To add depth use some thin card to make the window lintels.

Conclusion

This range is great value for money, the only caveat is the warpage problem and the thickness of the wood parts. The roof ,wall thickness and barge-boards are over-scale to a large degree. It would be fairly easy to replace the roof. This would probably be a good idea anyway, if you are making a row.

A thin shim of brick detailing for the front of the chimneys would also be a good idea. Finally, adding some glazing material would be helpful for beginners.

You can buy this model built to order.

Lighting can add another dimension to models. It is not too difficult, however, It needs some pre-planning and there are a few issues.

Types of illumination, filament bulbs.

The oldest method is to use grain of rice or grain of wheat bulbs. Grain of rice bulbs are a tiny 2mm x 6.5mm. Grain of wheat bulbs are 3mm x 7mm . They are quite current hungry at 30ma and 50ma each respectively and run at 12V. The four bulbs used in the shops model take close to 100ma in total !

Filament bulbs give a warm yellowish light which simulates gas lighting, if used on a lower voltage. The main problem is reliability and inaccessibility. If one blows they can be impossible to replace in some cases.

LED lighting

LEDs are much more reliable and use less power. White LEDs can be a bit harsh giving a much whiter light than filament bulbs. There are now many sizes from miniscule “chips”, to over 10mm in diameter. The most common size for model buildings is 3mm. You can use yellow LEDs to simulate gas lighting.

The voltage required for LEDs varies depending on the colour. You will need to use a resistor to run them on 12 volts. The voltage needed for full brightness is usually referred to as Forward Voltage or Vf. The current is usually set at 20ma. The table below gives an approximate guide. you can increase the resistance to reduce the brightness.

Light blocking

Card buildings are the easiest to light as the card tends to block light. However plastic kits need more attention. Paint the insides of the walls black. You may need to make a light box around shop windows, out of styrene. this will stop any light bleeds. Use filler to address any gaps and test with your choice of lighting, before sealing the building up!

Wiring it up

Filament bulbs usually come pre-wired . These can be threaded through a hole in the building’s base card. You can get LED’s that are pre-wired for 12v. I usually use a dab of UHU to hold them in place, or you can use hot clue.

Make up a power “bus” under the model using doll’s house self adhesive copper strips. Solder the wires from each bulb to the bus bar and then Add the wires that will go to the PSU. If you are using LED’s use red and black wires so you maintain the correct polarity as LED’s only work one way round, Unlike filament bulbs.

Powering the lights

The 12v accessory output on model railway controllers can be used. You can also use the 16v AC output with a resistor for 12v bulbs. LEDs can be used on AC by wiring another diode across the LED and adding a resistor of about 1K, for white LEDs. This gives full wave rectification, experiment with the resistor value.

Old 12v DC controllers can be used to give variable brightness.

An example circuit is shown below using two LEDs, with one reversed. This is for 8V AC, hence the 560R resistor,

Manual shooting and exposure.

If you have a camera with manual exposure. shoot with the background slightly over exposed, as most engines tend to be black or green. This will make the loco less dark.

Modern clutter

Try to avoid any modern clutter, to keep that period charm. The only thing not period in the shot below is the black plastic bin bag. You can use good photo editing software to remove such anachronisms.

Shoot stationary trains for detail shots

For detail shots wait till the train is stationary and get as close as possible.

Shoot people

Having the driver in a shot adds interest and character. Drivers usually wear overalls and, if you are lucky a “period ” cap!

Shoot in winter

The East Lancs line, was shot below ,on a very cold January day. This made the steam much more obvious . The misty conditions were very period. This could be the 1950’s !

Shoot 3/4 shots

I usually shoot 3/4 shots that is with the loco 3/4 of the way around.

Use a zoom lens

A good zoom lens will bring the action to you. Try to avoid digital zoom, this will just drop the resolution. For flower beds and trolleys, crouch down so that you can get more distant buildings in the shot. This will also add drama.

Research locations

Most lines have a guide to the best photography locations, check out the relevant web sites.

Make sure you have a timetable and find out which way the engine will be facing. On the Ribble steam railway the engine will be going backwards on the way out. This line does not have many good vantage points. One of the best is the level crossing close to the station and docks.