As you may have noticed by the lack of updates over the Summer, I have had precius little time to do any modelling and even less time to write about it. This, however, hasn't stopped me from thinking about it! One part of my thought has been to how I can use my limited time more effectively and how to manage to finish everything that I start. So here is the conclusion of my thinking and a bit of an exaxample of it being put into practise. At this point I expect you, dear readers, to split into two camps - those that say that is so damned obvious I should have been doing this already and those of you who thing ' that is so damned obvious I should be doing it'! So, this pearl of wisdom is;

'Make sure the thing works before you start on the pretty bits'!

To explain and illustrait; Why has the Joffre project stalled? Answer - because I put the valve gear on before I was sure it ran. Why has the Baldwin Gas Mech stalled? Because I painted and finished it before I had got the pick ups working properly. Why has the Hudson stalled? Because I started on valve gear before the pickups and basic running was sorted.

I know I am not alone in this but the rush to get a model finished often results in the basic objective being lost i.e. creating a model that works. So, from now on I have resolved to make sure that basic mechanisms work correctly (and smoothly!), before the pretty bits like valve gear and brakes are fitted. This may often mean that body work will need completeing so that trial runs can be made but only really needs to be to a basic level.

Pretty simple really and I just don't know why I didn't realise this sooner.

In an attempt to put this into practise I made sure with the armoured Simplex that I tested the chassis before I fitted it and reprogrammed the chip before fitting, Then I mounted the Black Beetle before fitting out the interiour and exteriour. All very simple but has meant that I know this admittedly pretty easy project will actually work and that I am not going to be undoing hard work taking it apart again after it has been 'finished'.

So here we have a fully DCC sound fitted model which works! Just a bit of weathering and numbering to do and it is all ready for service. After this, I aim to get the Baldwin GM working properly, something that would have been far simpler if I hadn't got carried away with all the fiddly bits!