Hi

I would suggest starting with a simple wagon kit to build your confidence and experience before attempted something as complicated as the 444.

If you are a member of the N Guage Spciety they do a few kits that are ideal for a beginner.

A few examples
https://www.ngsjoin.com/kit-14-lnerbr-8-plank-mineral-wagon-ngsk0140-611-p.asp

https://www.ngsjoin.com/kit-47-br-ex-lmslner-highfits---twin-pack-ngsk0470-820-p.asp

https://www.ngsjoin.com/kit-61-br-vanwide-van-ngsk0610-8335-p.asp


Cheers

Paul

Repainting a 350 as a 444 is definitely an option if you think that would satisfy you. Not meaning to continually rain on your parade, but be aware you can't buy additional 350 coaches, so you'd need to find a donor from an additional second hand set, and only one of the 4 coaches would be suitable (as you'd not want a second motor coach), so that could be awkward.

Personally I'd just give it a go. The kit isn't hideously expensive in the grand scheme of things. You'll be able to strip the paint off if you're not happy with it, just keep trying until you are. You probably do need to manage your expectations. Very, very few people would be able to create a ready-to-run standard model from a kit like that.

Hi Paul

Thanks for the advice yes I used to be a member of the n gauge society few years ago, I forgot to renew it and never got around to doing it - now is probably a good time to do it so I don't forget again

njee - yes the kit is worth the money and looks good but from everything what has been said in this thread it's far to complex even for me to paint - unfortunately it just doesn't seem like it's a viable option

Thanks for the tip with the class 350s I'm ok here as I have a few of them in my collection so would be good to go there assuming I can find someone to paint it as a professional service

Either that or hope and pray that revolution trains decide to do a class 444 but I don't think that will happen and can't see any other manufacturer doing it so feel the class 350 repaint would be best option in this instance.

Also does anyone know if it's possible to buy a class 319 in London Midland livery?

Someone like Mercig would definitely be able to do a repaint into a 444-esque livery. I imagine it would be about £1000, and you'd have to have it weathered, even lightly, as he doesn't just do repaints, but it would be RTR standard (or indeed better).

Ian Monks (IMR models) may well take it on as well.

There has not been a Farish 319 in London Midland livery, no. Between Dapol, Farish and Revolution there is a 153, 170, 321 and 350. 

Thank you to those who recommended me to assist with this project.

It looks a nice kit, with lovely underframe detail and bogies. In theory, if a suitable donor chassis can be identified, I'd be up for helping with the respray and lighting. I think the glazing is probably beyond me.

I think one of the issues of getting this, or a class 350 into white SWT livery is the lack of available decals. The SWT livery is pretty complex, with multiple curves, lines and spots, in multiple colours. Without some decals such as the blue 1st class spots and maybe the red and orange end curves, I'm not sure it would be possible to do to a professional standard, at least by me. I can't see that either Fox, Railtec or CCT do any 2mm SWT decals.

Rob

Thanks njee & ensign elliot

After considering what you both have said and what others have said I'm going to abandon the idea for now but I am grateful to all who have offered advice here

I guess I should just focus with getting on with a layout plan/idea

The only thing I have decided to do is go with dcc just not sure weather to go Kato or peco for track - will have to research this further

If I might make a suggestion, I think what might do you a power of good is to finish something. How about a very small micro layouts like an inglenook shunting layout? Keep it small, only needs two points, buy a shunter like the NGS Hunslet and a few NGS wagon kits to build to shunt around on it. You could do some really basic scenery like a ratio oil depot and some piles of ballast or something. It will give you a useful but bite size experience of many aspects of building a larger layout without overwhelming you. I feel like far to many people get stuck in "one day" land in this hobby because small achievable projects aren't really the prevailing style in the mags etc. But it's one of the best ways to just relax, learn a bit, have fun and end up with something you can be proud of.

My mate Matt did something just like this and covered it in one of his videos. Take a look and see if something like that inspires you!

https://youtu.be/hZfErFC-CrI?si=Hycvx0tm-CsKwh_U