Converting a Class 08 to a J45

[Bunkerbarge]

I thought I would share with you all a project I did recently that may have some interesting aspects. First of all I have to hold up my hands and say that this is no way a definitive modification, nor is it an accurate representation of a J45. My skills and expertise are still under development and, even now, if I was to do this again I would do a few things quite differently. Even then I made decisions that ultimately compromised a perfect replica for the sake of simplicity, in the knowledge that I was happy to put up with a less than perfect finished J45. All I offer therefore is a description of what I did, which may contain elements that some others might find interesting and want to use as a basis to improve on.

As my layout is supposedly based on around a 1947 period in time obviously all the locomotives are appropriate period steam based items. One thing that did once catch my attention however was the superb sound files that are used on some diesel locomotives, in particular diesel electric propulsion based locos where the load sounds follow beautifully the loading of the engine, which is frequently not necessarily in direct proportion to the speed. When I came across the J45 and realised that it was appropriate for my period and compared this with some of the available RTR Class 08 locos it didn't look like too big a job to have a go at converting one. Armed with a few pictures sourced of the internet I decided to go with an earlier Bachmann Class 08 in early BR green but I also purchased a separate later Schencker body. With the bodies being interchangeable the idea was that if I made a complete mess of it I could still replace the original body and sell the loco on again. I specifically went for the Bachmann as the side boxes are removable and the cab easily slides on and off so can be worked on as an individual unit.

As the LNER operated five J45s some of the reading and studying of pictures made me realise quite soon on that the configuration of the side boxes, the side doors and, more prominently the door handles, seemed to change throughout the development of the engines. Identifying a specific loco in a particular configuration with views from various angles seemed to be impossible so the configuration I ended up with is more of a conglomeration of them all with typical features rather than a specific loco. The door handles in particular were going to be a compromise as some I had seen were even fitted with recessed handles. The items that I knew I needed to attend to were the following:

Raise the height of the cab.

Raise the height of the top of the fuel tank.

Make a new roof that went across the two.

Reconfigure the side boxes to closer represent a typical arrangement.

Add the ventilation ducting to the back of the cab with the deflector on the cab roof.

Move the lamp brackets and cable conduits.

Add the original engine compartment vent deflector plate that was removed from later engines.

Move the vacuum/compressed air tanks from the front of the chassis to the rear of the chassis.

Paint and number the loco.

Apart from moving the vacuum/compressed air tanks I decided to do nothing else to the chassis and running gear.

[Bunkerbarge]

I started with the work on the cab. The first job was to remove the lamp brackets and cable conduits from the rear and fit the ventilation ducting. This was simply fabricated from evergreen strip and plasticard sheet with a row of rivets added from a photo etched rivet sheet.

The roof was sanded down smooth and a new roof made out of thin plasticard with the shaping of the forward edge left until it could be lined up with the extended fuel tank top. The rain deflectors were simply bent evergreen rod. The biggest challenge was to raise the height of the cab for which the only guidance I had were the reference pictures. I estimated that the scale height needed to be lifted by 4mm so I glued strips of 4mm x 2mm styrene strip to the lower edge and removed the cab locating clips to enable it to slide onto the rear of the body.

The higher fuel tank top was also extended using the same 4mm strip with the sides being contoured to match the original shape and the front edge bent into shape and glued down. When this had all set completely the gaps were neatened up and the fit of the cab roof checked. This could now be shaped to perfectly match the raised tank.

[Bunkerbarge]

A couple more shots of the completed cab work.

[Bunkerbarge]

The next job was to modify the side boxes to better portray a typical J45 configuration. This I did be removing the original boxes and extending them with plasticard sheeting. This is perhaps the one aspect I am least happy with. On reflection I would have been better making completely new boxes from scratch and, if I was to do it again that is what I would do.

Other bits and pieces included the adding of the vent deflector, which was simply plasticard sheet glued to ribs added to the roof after the original support stubs were removed and the removal of the vacuum/compressed air tanks from the front of the chassis. Hanging brackets were added from thin strips of plasticard sheet and the tanks relocated at the back end of the chassis.

[Bunkerbarge]

The paint job started off with an all over grey acrylic primer from a rattle can. This was followed by a number of very light coats of very dark grey airbrushed over the primer, concentrating on the panel edges and leaving the centres of the panels slightly lighter. This emphasises the sun bleaching and gives a much more interesting overall appearance than a single solid colour would. A panel was then painted of a number of coats of gloss clear acrylic to enable the numbers to sit down well and then an overall matt clear varnish was applied. A little bit of further weathering was applied such as very light dry brushed rust colour around some fittings, pure black enamel gently airbrushed around the exhaust, steel enamel dry brushed on handrails and a few pigments added in areas of higher use.

The chassis was placed on a test track to give it nothing more than a weathering with track dirt enamels, pigments and oily deposits around bearings and running gear.

[Bunkerbarge]

The final shots

And a link to a brief video so you can hear the full start up sequence:


https://youtu.be/gWKoOUWsIoY

[Atlantic 3279]

I can see that a terrific amount of conversion work has been involved in attempting to cover the almost endless list of differences between a J45 and a later typical BR 350HP shunter. It would be almost impossible, I believe, to create a model perfect in every dimension and detail using any RTR BR version as a starting point, but if you have convinced yourself that a fair likeness has been created then that has to count for a lot. I know of no kit (do others?) and I imagine that a complete scratch-build would be a severe challenge, if not a nightmare, so I suspect it may well be that this example is as close as one can get without major suffering.
You've been a braver man than me - I considered a conversion but rejected the idea on account of the work that seemed necessary.
Thanks for showing the process as well as just the outcome.

[mick b]

NIU Models , recently announced a 4mm 3D printed J45 body kit on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/niumodels/post ... 952643456/

Sadly they have now announced that they have closed (for family reasons).

[nzpaul]

Looks like an enjoyable bit of model making you've had. Most impressed by the paint job, looks very convincing. I admit to being somewhat ignorant of the LNERs diesel classes and had to Google it to catch up. Nice job .

Paul

[Bunkerbarge]

As Atlantic mentions the differences between individual locos were numerous and dependent on the time. I had a number of pictures but no pictures of both sides of the same engine. Each one had differences so even if you made a perfect representation of one side there would always be uncertainty as regards what was on the other. In the end I picked out the most significant changes that were common and then numbered the loco as one that I didn't have a picture for.

nzpaul, there is an interesting couple of paragraphs about the J45 on the parent web site for this forum here:

https://www.lner.info/locos/IC/des1.php

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Nice looking model, Will have a go at one, good project.

manna

[Atlantic 3279]

That NIU Models print looks as if it would have been a good option, for the model above the running plate anyway, and rather deflating for anybody who has just home-brewed a model of the same loco, although it would seem that it will not now be produced in significant numbers.
I've had contact with Al at NIU Models a few times, so it is rather saddening to hear that he has been forced to suspend his activities indefinitely, but he is quite right that family matters must come first. I wish him well.