Detailing a Heljan Class 37

DETAILING A HELJAN CLASS 37
Michael Cole

I received my 37 from Tower Models on Wednesday 3rd December, and having removed it from the box I was very impressed with what I had in front of me. However, as with all ready to run rolling stock, there are things that need doing, not only to customize it to my own requirements, but also to right any wrongs and omissions that the manufacturer has made in producing the model in the first place; very few in my opinion in this instance. The model is the usual Heljan construction of a heavy metal chassis block with motorised bogies, and plastic and ABS detailing parts, either screwed on or push fitted into moulded holes. The plastic bogie side frames (a push fit onto tapered spigots) have to be removed to gain access to the body and bogie fixing screws. The body is plastic and has a number of separate fittings in plastic, ABS and wire already fitted. Also supplied in separate bags for you to fit are a pair of screw couplings, a set of miniature snow ploughs, a pair of frost guard screens, two pairs of air pipes and fittings, four chequer plates for the door entries, and a pair of NEM coupling sockets. There is also a very brief set of instructions, and a selection of two character head codes (but no dominoes).	My model, 37057, was to be based on a Brian Daniels' photograph taken at Oxford in August 1979. I set about seeing what needed to be done: Black dominoes, black rubber surrounds to the front windows, front sand pipes, horizontal air pipes behind the couplings, tie-rods between the brake shoes, removal of the train heat boiler flue and associated valves, the application of numbers, and TOPS panel and works plates. Not forgetting the weathering. Where should I start? Since there was little to do to the body, I started there. I removed the bogie sideframes followed by the four retaining screws and gently lifted the body up. Experience from the Hymek and the 47 told me that the slack in the wiring loom for the lights would be minimal, and this loom was no different. The cab rear wall needed to be removed; a moulded clip needs to be prised open and the wall slides out enabling access to the front windows, which needed to be pushed home to make a better fit. I should have removed the side windows at this stage, as they hold in the remainder of the cab moulding (thanks to Brian Daniels for pointing this out) and it would have made the task of fitting the driver much easier.	The main engine room grills showed signs of coming adrift, so I took the opportunity of refixing them with some canopy glue while I was inside. The opportunity to fit the screw couplings was taken while the body was off, as there is little room to fiddle with pliers when inserting the split pin with the bogie in position. So the bogie retaining screws were removed and the bogie gently moved out of the way. The couplings fitted no bother into a swivel guide, the bogie was replaced on its gimbal arrangement and then the other end was fitted in the same manner. The body was then reunited with the chassis. Next the train heat boiler flue was filed down and plated over with a suitably riveted piece of 0.005in brass shim, and the adjacent moulded valves removed and the base filed down. The four doorway chequer plates were then fitted. I then turned my attention to the headcode boxes. As supplied they are formed of a clear lens piece held in position by an outer frame which clips into the main body (much easier than on the 47). This arrangement allows you to change head codes almost at will simply by removing the frame, inserting your choice into the rear of the lens unit and replacing the frame; done in seconds.
		However, I wanted black faced dominoes, so again I turned to the 0.005in brass shim, cut it to fit on the front of the lens and then soldered a ring of 4mm o/d brass tube onto the shim, having first checked the location of the rings on the prototype and found that one of them was closer to the centre of the nose that the others, and a hole formed through the ring for the light beam. The plate was then primed and given a couple of coats of Tamiya flat black paint and when dry it was glued into position on the front of the lens. I fitted a piece of thick copy paper to the back of the lens to reduce the intensity of the light from the as fitted bulbs. The rubber window seals were applied by using a black CD-ROM marker pen, following the moulded on lines representing the seals.
Next to be tackled were the bogies and buffer beams. During the running-in trials on the Merseyside Club's Chester Street layout, one of the bogie sideframes fell off on two separate occasions and it was obvious that as they were only a push fit, the problem was not going to go away. The solution was to mimic the real-life version. There are pips moulded on the back face of the bogie sideframe, which were removed with a scalpel and a 1.2mm hole drilled through the frame at all eight points, four pieces of 1.2mm brass rod were then cut to length (42mm), measured prior to removing the sideframes, and both ends threaded 14BA. With the side frames off, the opportunity was taken to carefully remove the moulded pipes to the brake cylinders, and replace them with fine white coloured plastic coated wire, one end fitted into 0.5mm holes that had been drilled into the ends of the cylinders; the open end formed over the top of the sideframe. The upper part of the speedo cable was done in a similar manner, but with orange coated wire. The opportunity was also taken to paint the roller bearing end caps yellow. The frames were then refitted to the bogies and the tie rods inserted, washered and nutted up. The fittings supplied to hold the air pipes to the body were then glued into place and the ends of all of the air pipes, jumper cables and the like received their respective colour codings. At the front of the bogie are three horizontal air pipes. I represented these by gluing three short lengths of white plastic coated wire, bent to shape, to two 1.2mm diameter brass rods which were then glued into holes drilled into the underside of the buffer beam. This just left the front sand pipes, which I have represented with the same plastic coated wire used on the brake cylinders; shaped, painted black and fitted into holes drilled into the underside of the skirting.	The 'Arrows of Indecision' are already applied as are the bodyside warning flashes, so all that remained to do prior to weathering was the application of the cabside numbers (HMRS Pressfix), TOPS panel and shed plate (Precision Labels) and works plates (Guilplates); the latter should be painted over, but it's a shame to cover up the actual numbers on the plates (well done Gareth and Philip, spot on as usual). The weathering commenced when the protective layer of Johnsons Kleer was thoroughly dry, by spraying Railmatch frame dirt horizontally, moving higher at the end of each pass, followed by roof dirt horizontally, moving lower at the end of each pass, having lingered in certain areas on both of these Air pipes and tie bars fitted.	operations. Finally, a general overspray of weathered black was applied from a distance to give a more misty application. Had I sprayed the loco from a primed state, I would have sealed the whole body after the application of the transfers, with a couple of coats of Railmatch satin varnish with half a dozen drops of weathered black or coal black to give it an oiled appearance, but in this case, I thought that the plastic effect would do the same job. Having let the weathering dry for about four hours, I then wiped the front windows with a flat brush, dipped in thinners and most of it was taken off with a piece of kitchen towel, in the rough arc that the wipers would describe in practice. Then detailed areas were picked out and / or generally treated to Tamiya's weathering blocks, applied with a selection of round and flat brushes of varying stiffness depending on the area being detailed. Particular attention was paid to grills, riveted/bolted frames and oily patches. Finally, a dusting here and there with various Carr's weathering powders completed the job.
		Am I pleased with the result? You bet. Would I buy another one? You bet. Would I make any changes? Yes and no. In doing the research into Class 37s in general and 37057 in particular, I have convinced myself that the large logo blue livery probably suited the class the best, so that it probably will be the next model, which means removal of the skirts, which is very straight forward; and an extension to the buffer beam, which is not as straight forward, but sketches have already been drawn up. The cab interior would also be treated, as would the plating up of the footsteps to the boiler flue. A better representation buffer would be fitted. The buffers fitted would have to be discarded anyway as they would be too short. As headlights would be needed, a Peter Clark PCB in lieu of the factory fitted one would be installed so that the lights would be constant and not controller reliant. So why not go the whole hog and go DCC? Perhaps.