FfarquharDeveloper's TrackMaster Customs

2023/6/17 Update

So

1. Dart's just kinda dead in the water and in custom purgatory right now.
   
2. Ryan v2 is sorta worked on but also kinda in custom purgatory.
   
3. Pip and Emma have also been started but I REALLY cannot be bothered to finish them or post photos of them right now (especially after the photocap update, this is edited after the last post in this thread from today) and are also stuck in custom purgatory.
   
4. Jinty has been started and is in custom purgatory.
   
5. Arthur received new paint applications to his face. 
   
6. Thomas got a new face.
   
7. Bertram has sorta been started however is in custom purgatory right now.
   

So basically a lot of customs are in purgatory and there's some minor face updates.

so I got one of them done, and things are tracking to be that they're going to all be done before Bear.

This is Willow, my interpretation of The Works Diesel from James and the Diesel Engines.
She started out as Plarail's S-34 Car Carrier Train, there were a few reasons why I picked this for her over something like BoCo.

1. The long bogey flatbed, definitely want more of these so I'll be picking up 2 more S-34s for some future customs.
   
2. The built-in front coupler is perfect for a character who connects to things from both sides regularly and not having to add it in was such a great help.
   

Build Process:

1. EF 65 1071 unboxed with Car Carrier.
   
2. Cut off protruding details with clippers.
   
3. File down the remaining details.
   
4. Straight up forget to fill in some holes.
   
5. Add the polystyrene sheet and tubing that makeup the buffer beams.
   
6. Add in polystyrene to make the new window holes.
   
7. Cut out windows.
   
8. Resculpt face (we don't talk about Willow V1's face)
   
9. Bake face
   
10. Paint face
    
11. Add first layer of milliput.
    
12. Shelf it for like a week (I went and watched Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts)
    
13. Add more milliput to the roof.
    
14. Sand down the middle section of the roof and leave an indent for the cabs.
    
15. Wetsand it a bit.
    
16. Apply tamiya filler putty.
    
17. Sand
    
18. Wetsand
    
19. Add the front panel ontop of the cabs.
    
20. Prime it in Tamiya White and promptly run out halfway through so there's only one coat of primer down.
    
21. TS-49 Bright Red
    
22. TS-26 Pure White
    
23. TS-26 Pure White again but to add on a white rectangle going down from the white of the windows/top half of the color.
    
24. TS-4 German Grey for the roof.
    
25. Hand paint all details on.
    
26. Sleep
    
27. Change bufferbeams to black and lipstick to a darker red after staying up late finishing up the custom.
    
28. Clearcoat it (this is the part of the process where it's the third and fourth image of the gru plan meme but I cannot be bothered to visualize the meme but if it were visualized the text would be "PLAN A CUSTOM" "MAKE A CUSTOM" "CLEARCOAT IT!" "clearcoat it."
    

Changes from the typical take of a rendition of The Works Diesel.

1. She's Red and White. This was originally and still is meant to look like a more "medical" like paint job but due to the placement of the white cross over a red cross it kinda looks like a Swiss diesel. However, this is not the origin and base for this paint scheme. The actual origin of the paint scheme is Transformers Animated Red Alert. Kind of a wildcard of a choice but I felt it was very much needed to help break up the massive cluster of big green and blue diesels which dominate color-wise.
   
2. She's female, this was a decision I had already decided from the get-go before any of the liveries were conceptualized. As most takes of the Works Diesel present the character as male I chose to take a different route like a few others had.
   
3. TFA Red Alert was the main inspiration for the color choice, personality, and face of Willow. Including bits such as the Red Front Coupler, which I would like to dye red instead of just painting red (now I wonder who I have to ask about dying couplers, thinking reeaaaaalllly hard here)
   
4. She's not numbered whatever number- actually wait the works diesel doesn't even have a canon number in the books so she's really just numbered unlike The Works Diesel.
   
5. Made out of an EF65 included with the S-34 Car Carrier rather than a BoCo like most people usually do when tackling customs of the Works Diesel (namely ADuckProductions and NWR58)
   

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Build Process - Images: