Warley 2014

This weekend it’s the Warley Show at the Birmingham NEC, look forward to seeing you there!

York Exhibition

Hornby Sentinel

This weekend we are at the York Model Railway Exhibition. Hot off the lase is the glazing kit for Hornby’s 4mm scale Sentinel, which we will have at the show and is Price Code H
http://www.shawplan.com/spprice.htm

Come and see us and say hello!

2014 Exhibitions

This weekend Shawplan are at  Scalefour North, at the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School.

 

We have also taken the time to update our 2014 fixture list https://shawplan.wordpress.com/exhibition-diary/ where you can find which exhibitions we are attending this year. Its been a busy year already one way and another, and we’ll provide further updates on new products soon. If you’re unable to get to Scalefour North, we are at the York Model Railway Show over the easter weekend. We hope to see you at either or both shows!

Warley 2013 Stand D36

ViTrains Class 47 Laserglaze Windows and Extreme Etchings fan set

Just a quick update, this weekend its the Warley Model Railway Show at the NEC in Birmingham.
We’re there on stand D36, come and see us. The header picture is of a ViTrains class 47 which has been modified using components manufactured and supplied by us.

We often get asked how to use or apply some of our etches and in this months Railway Modeller, Paul Marshall-Potter  http://albionyard  provides step by step instructions on this particular model.

http://www.thewarleyshow.co.uk/

See you there, Stand D36

Cheers

Brian

Scalefour North

20th April 2013

This weekend its Scalefour North at Wakefield. We’ve been working on nameplates as well as the laser and detail etching components too and here’s a couple of pictures of some recent additions in 4mm scale. Double click the bottom two images to see why we’re so pleased with the results, remember these are 4mm scale!

73119b Borough Of Eastleigh

EELW4-1 F Cast BR Lion and Wheel

Come and see us this weekend, and see these and other new plates in stock.

Venue: Wakefield College, Thornes Park, Wakefield
Opening Times: Saturday 20th 10:00 – 17:00, Sunday 21st 10.00 – 16.00

Warley 2012 Show Releases

We are pleased this week to announce a number of new products in the Laserglaze range. This batch of releases includes windows for some of the very popular classes and vehicles we’ve frequently received requests for. Pictured above is the venerable Airfix GWR Autocoach, now produced by Hornby which with a few evenings work can still be made to look really good with our latest Laserglaze pack and the excellent detailing pack from Dart Castings (http://www.dartcastings.co.uk/dart/DK1.php)

Bachmann 2EPB

EELG4022 BACHMANN 2EPB

This set covers the popular Class 416 EMU, each pack contains sufficient windows for one coach. Just arrived and shortly to go into tooling is the Class 419 MLV, further updates will be announced here.

Hornby 25/0

EEFG2503 HORNBY CLASS 25/0

The ever popular Hornby class 25/0 is now included in the Laserglaze range. Whilst the body moulding is very much a heritage model, the difference adding this flush glazing and one of our extreme etchings roof fan grill sets makes is well worth the effort.

Bachmann 25/0 and 25/3

EEFG2501 BACHMANN 25/0

Two sets of glazing are released this weekend for the Bachmann class 25 models. The 25/0 body and cab are covered by catalogue number EEFG2501, and the later body style 25/3 is catalogue number EEFG2502.

Airfix/Hornby GWR Autocoach

EELG4021 AIRFIX/HORNBY GWR Autotrailer

Replica BR MK1 Suburban

EELG4020 REPLICA BR MK1 Suburban

New Locomotive Glazing Kits
EEFG2001 Bachmann Class 20 (Shallow Cab Side Window) Price Code K
EEFG2002 Bachmann Class 20 (Deep Cab Side Window) Price Code K
EEFG2501 Bachmann Class 25/0 Price Code K
EEFG2502 Bachmann Class 25/3 Price Code K
EEFG2503 Hornby Class 25/0 Price Code K
EEFG5701 Bachmann Class 57/0 & 57/3 Price Code K

New Coaching Stock Glazing Kits
EELG4020 Replica BR MK1 Suburban Price Code K
EELG4021 Hornby GWR/WR Autocoach Price Code L
EELG4022 Bachmann 2EPB Class 416 Price Code K (per vehicle)

Nameplate News
4mm scale GBRF 66/7’s are in production with stock availability and release targetted for the Warley show 25th November. Ask on the stand (D34) for availability.

Due to attending the Warley show we’ll be closed from Friday 24th November to Tuesday 27th inclusive. We look forward to seeing many of you this weekend, come and see us on the stand D34.

See you there
Cheers!
Brian

Mid Summer Update August 2012

One of the things we frequently get asked on the stand and in correspondance, is how do I fit the glazing? The easiest way to describe this is to show you, so this is a quick technique and tip posting on fitting our glazing to a 4mm scale class 47. We will also add a few more hints and tips on how to use our nameplates and etched components to this blog later this year. This will help you get the best out of our products and your models. The glazing technique shown here is the standard one we use at Shawplan, and we’ve found it works across all the scales and window types we produce.

Old style glazing

Since we started producing the glazing we have changed the way we cut the transparency fret. If you’ve bought one of our earlier releases they are on a sprue in a similar fashion to a traditional Airfix kit, and you can see in the following images we’ve used an older fret.

Glazing sheet (current style)

The current windows are supplied as a push out window, see the image of the BR MK1 suburban fret above. There is no difference to the size or shape of the components, but this is a more effective production method, and all future releases are anticipated to be in this style. The laser is set to cut the material so that all you need to do is gently flex the material whilst applying gentle pressure on the window you want and they will drop out. One thing we have found is that window aperatures on models can vary significantly. This is not generally noticeable but when laser cutting it makes a huge difference. If on a fret we indicate a window for a specific aperature or window, please make sure you use the correct one. An easy way to ensure this is to use non permanent OHP pens to mark the window. Even factory paint thickness can have an effect, so often there is a need to just sand the window or aperature to get the flush fit. 1500 wet and dry grade paper is a good starting point to remove very small amounts of material from either the body or the window. For fixing the windows you can use a variety of adhesive materials. We find Deluxe Materials Glue ‘n’ Glaze works particularly well and is very easy to use with the micro applicator supplied, very thin gloss varnish also works well, using capilary action to run the varnish around the aperature before drying and setting. PVA or ‘Canopy’ glue can also be used with just a very small amount applied in a corner or around the perimeter of a window. We have been told superglue works but there is the potential of paint damage by chemical reaction ‘blooming’ on some manufacturers finishes, so we would advise particular care if trying that technique.

ViTrains Cl 47 as supplied

This is typical of many diesel and steam locomotives today, take note of any particular pieces that may be light conduits from LED’s before removal.

Remove cab insert

With this model we supply cab and body window glazing, so remove the black inserts for the roof fans, and then the cab interior. Some interiors are glued in so be prepared to cut away glued areas.

Remove all original glazing

On this model gentle inward pressure on the glazing made it fall inwards makeing removal easy. Be prepared as glue amounts vary from model to model within manufacturers ranges. This is true of rolling stock as well as locomotives.

Paint cab window aperatures

Ready for glazing

Once the windows are removed, touch in any areas with the body surround color, this makes a noticeable improvement where there is a thick body side.

Test fit of glazing

Test fit each glazing piece, if possible slide the transparency in as flat as you can this helps it sit better, and any fit problems are easier to see.

Test fitting shows slightly oversize for this window.

If the aperature is too small the glazing will sit ‘proud’ of the aperature. In this instance we used wet and dry to take a few thou from the door pillar and base of the glazing transparency. It’s usually obvious which to work on, the body or the glazing transparency and once you’ve done one or two it’ll become intuitive which is the easier component to work on.

Fitting completed to check seating of glazing.

Fitted windows labelled with non-permanent OHP marker pen

Each glazing panel will be custom fitted to your model, there are two options on fitting. You can fit them as you go fixing them and then moving on to the neext panel after they have set. This particular model has more work to be done to it, so using the OHP pen each panel is marked as is the corresponding window on the model. This means they can be stored safely and fixed after the rest of the conversion work has been completed.

Finished effect.

This is the finished effect, the last touch is to run a black marker pen or paint around the edge of the window glazing, this kills any refraction of light through the edge. The difference can be seen comparing the door(treated), and cab side window. The door window edge has dissapeared, but there’s still a slight refraction on the cab side glazing.

This weekend, 4th August we are at STORMex, Cheltenham, and on the 18th and 19th we’re attending Midland Railex at Ripley. See the Show Diary page for full details. At the end of the month we are closed from 24th August to 3rd September, and we look forward to seeing you soon in August or during the Autumn season. Full details of shows we are attending are in the diary section.

Railex Aylesbury 2012

24th May 2012

Today we are pleased to announce the introduction of a new Laserglaze product for the Airfix/Hornby GWR ‘B’ Set. No pictures yet as this has only just come in to production. The product reference number is EELG4018 and price code K.

Work in progress and hopefully for introduction at the DEMU exhibition are 4mm scale Class 31 window sets to cover Airfix, Lima, Hornby Railroad range, and Hornby (regular range) body variants. Also underway and anticipated in production for delivery at DEMU are glazing sets for the 4mm scale Heljan Hymek, and the Bachmann Class 25 locomotives.

This weekend we are at Railex Aylesbury, where the B set glazing will be in stock, and then DEMU and Wigan before the summer break. See the diary page for more details. Hope to see you there!

Easter Opening Times

3rd April 2012
We’d like to thank all our customers who have dropped by at the recent shows, it was good to meet old and new customers and listen to feed back on how we’re doing. Unfortunately we are experiencing a slight delay in responding to emails received between 26th March and 3rd April. We will respond in the next week or so, the delay is due to re-stocking after the recent run of shows and an earlier than anticipated requirement for a computer upgrade.

We are also taking this time to close over Easter until Monday 16th April. During this time we will be completing the computer upgrade and also working on new product development to get a head start for the Autumn show season.

We are next out at Scalefour North at the end of April and hope to see you there.

Class 73’s at Nottingham

March 16th 2012

EEFG73001 Hornby/Lima Class 73

We are pleased to announce the release of the Laserglaze kit EEFG7301 for the Hornby and Lima Class 73 body, price code K.

This weekend we are at the Nottingham show and the class 73 kit will be in stock, we hope to see you there!