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Lima Prairie end in sight

Glad to report progress with the prairie at long last, to the point where it's progressed to the final painting stage. The last bits and pieces have been added and the chassis now runs smoothly. Thank goodness! Cylinders have been painted and the wheels and motion blackened. Think that'll need another coat though and I'll give the chassis a light dusting of grime too. I need to get some screw link couplings at Wells in a couple of weeks, along with a loco crew. Both the prairie and the 57x

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Ivatt 2MT tank in P4 - Part 4 Final stretch

Having just about got the hang of the new software and negotiated the family birthday fest between mid Jan and mid Feb, I've returned to the modelling bench. The 2MT detailing has been finished off. I've added injectors, ejectors, upjectors and downjectors, quite a few bits of wire that no doubt have very technical names. I cut out the original door recesses and replaced with a new set back one and added side hung handrails. I've fitted a new chimney (thanks Dave) and subjected the body and chas

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Updating a Lima prairie. Onto the chassis!

Whilst I was waiting for ExpoEM to come around, so I could buy some body fittings, I turned my attention to the Comet chassis. Ive used the Brassmasters sprung hornblocks and I have to say I've been very impressed with them so far. The chassis is being built pretty much straight as per the instructions and I've got to the stage where I've got the rods on and am turning my attention to the motion. For some reason the motion / slide bar brackets don't appear to be the same width as the slide bar

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57xx Part 2

With the weather pretty awful down here in Somerset (though nowhere near as bad as it is in some parts of the country I grant you), I've just had to retire to the modelling bench and make a bit of progress with the 57xx. 5757 has reached working chassis stage and it's always a relief when things work. I put it down to Chris' design but this is the third kit I've built and the third which has run straight away without the need for tweaking/swearing/reassembly etc. I did quarter this one by e

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West Country Conversion to P4 part 6 - all stop

OK, I have reached the point where I wished I'd gone down the etched chassis route. So I'm going to stop and have a think about whether I should.   Have spent the evening b*ggering about with the drawbar. All ok after several attempts to solder 2 wires the correct way round. Body put back on. Binds have reappeared on the cylinders again, where previously there were none. Hmm. I have a sneaking suspicion that something's moving around which shouldn't be. I've also decided that there are quite a

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Updating a Lima prairie - body works

Evening all. Haven't put an update on here for a while as I've been out and about at the odd exhibition and finishing off some track work for a friends layout. But I have been slowly making progress on the prairie. The body's actually quite good I've come to think although there's a fair bit of cutting and carving required. The new firebox has been formed from the plasticard carcass made from 80 thou and I've added the bands and lifting covers from a mixture of plasticard and white metal par

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Ivatt 2MT tank in P4 - part 3 Bodywork

Happy New Year to you all. I'm not sure how long we're all supposed to keep saying that but as its my first blog of 2019, I will. This time of year is always slightly frugal when it comes to modelling as both the Mrs and myself have birthdays in the first half of the month and being the big 5-0 we spent last weekend in Barcelona, which was nice. Anyhow, the Ivatt chassis has been wired, a substantial amount of lead glued into the body and pick ups added. Happily, it trundles quite satisfacto

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Tulis Hoppers

Been doin' some modelling... A couple of Tulis PAA Hoppers. Very nice kits too. The resin is cast particularly well. They're filled with lead so should have no problems staying on the track. Now Weston's gone to the convalescent home I'm starting to think about progressing Clevedon. May put the boards up at the weekend and have a good look at things. I've a couple of weeks off coming up and a little modelling time will be required. Also sprayed up the bubble car roof. Body next.

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West Country Conversion to P4 part 1

Just like buses eh?   The Van B Link here needs something to pull it and rather than start on the Finney T9, I've gone for the quicker option. I want to have something ready for Manchester in October. So this is a (hopefully) straightforward conversion of the Hornby West Country pacific, using 605 Squadron as the donor engine and following the EM Gauge Society manual sheet as the basis of conversion.   First step is to take everything apart. It's quite scary when you get to this stage: N

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Peckett E Class

Evening all With the T9 virtually complete, at least for now until I can buy some number plates, I've turned my attention to the next project. This is a Peckett 0-4-0ST E class, a couple of which were acquired by the GWR via the Swansea Harbour Trust. MIne's going to be an industrial version for use as the works shunter on Wheal Elizabeth (at least for now anyhow). Haven't decided on a name yet. Might be Munchkin, might be Minion. The kit itself is from CSP Marketing and is going

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Conflat Clay

Have made a start on a conflat clay for Wheal Elizabeth. Before anyone asks, they were a Boplate E conversion with a couple of cut down ISO 20ft containers with sheets over. I don't know when they were created exactly, but I found a photo of one in Larkin's 'Working Wagons Vol 2 1974-79'. Apparently they ran to Avonmouth which was news to me. I didn't think they exported clay from there. I'll try and post progress. Should look very nice behind a hydraulic...

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Scenic update

Just a quickie. Have been experimenting with Artex, PVA glue, paint, fixative and coloured foam. The results are shown below. Not quite to the standards of Gordon Gravett ( in fact nowhere near them), but happy with my first attempts. I shall have these, along with one of Clevedon's boards at Expo EM this weekend. Come and say hello. I'll be the one covered in flock.

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AA3 Toad conversion to P4

I was doing a demo at the recent Railwells show and was pleased that I managed to do virtually no modelling. Always the sign of a successful 'demo' weekend. I did get as far as dismantling an Oxford models AA3 ex GW Toad in BR livery. Several people pointed out the errors in the model (apart from the chassis being supplied in the wrong scale as the wheels are too close together obviously), so I didn't do much more than take it apart and compensate one axle with a low profile MJT unit. The ax

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Collett Goods in P4 - part 1

After my 7mm interlude (never again), I'm returning to 4mm and the next loco for Cheddar. True to my mantra, this is the oldest thing in the modelling cupboard, namely converting a 35 year old Replica Railways model of the 2251 Collett Goods to P4. The body is accurate according to the sources I have and the underpinnings are one of the rather splendid High Level chassis kits. In a fit of madness, I'm going to spring using CSB's. There's a good article on the CLAG website about springing a

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Ruston 165DE

Decided to open the Impetus R&H 165DE kit that's been lurking in the cupboard as it's too cold to start spraying the 03 just yet.   This kit is my best ever bargain, ??8 on a second hand stall at a local show including wheels. I thinks there's a couple of bits missing but nothing insurmountable.   Spent yesterday evening soldering - it's nice to build an etched brass kit body again. I can't think but just about everything I've done recently has been whitemetal or plastic. After the compl

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A tale of two praries

I've managed to get the Bachman 45xx ready in time for Wheal Elizabeth's final show under my stewardship this weekend at Nailsea. It's been finished off as a St Blazey engine 4552 in unlined black. Blackening the wheels and fitting balance weights makes such a difference. The engine should be running under correct lamp codes too, though I haven't had time to weather it yet. The only trouble is that 4552 never went anywhere near Somerset so will have to be renumbered before it can run on

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West Country Conversion to P4 part 2

Not much progress in the last couple of weeks due to work commitments, but I have managed to complete the bogie and get the wheels quartered.   The wheels trial fitted in the chassis block. I used a mixture top hat bearings and ordinary 1/8" washers to suit. The wheels were quartered using my NWSL quartering jig, which I find easier for RTR conversions than the GW Models one. I'm wondering whether to fit cosmetic sides from plasticard. I might make some up with slots than can be put in later o

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Collett Goods in P4 - Part 5 - chassis complete

Evening all after a very inspiring but tiring day at Scalefour North yesterday, I found time to make a little progress on the Collett Goods today. The tender chassis is virtually complete and just needs the vacuum tank adding before its ready for the paint shop. The loco chassis now has pick ups too (36gauge phosphor bronze mostly hidden behind the steps) and bus bars with the final connection to the motor now in. I'm pleased that the CSB's are working well, even on the rear driven axle.

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Wheal Elizabeth at Yate

Just a quickie. Happy to report Minion has been successfully delivered to Wheal Elizabeth and will be on shed this coming Saturday at the Sodbury Vale show In Yate. It will get toned down a bit when I can bear to get the airbrush out but at the moment it's too cold to stay in the garage for long. Excuse the lack of backscene. I've only put the layout up to track test everything. Am also playing with a couple of Hawksworth coaches. I've done nothing other than re wheel at the moment bu

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14xx - 1454 ready for service

Have had a bit of a modelling spurt and finished off 1454. Should be released to the operating department for Wheal Elizabeth's forthcoming appearance at the Sodbury Vale show on 31 January (though what the engine is doing in that part of Cornwall is anyone's guess...). Minion will be making it debut too. Hmm note to self, must build a new stock box.   Anyhoo, the numberplates and smokebox plates were attached with Johnsons Klear and the final details (buffers, couplings, balance weigh

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T9.8 - 30719 ready for service

Just a quick update. Crew fitted to the T9 and smoke box plate fitted from Fox. I also found the screw coupling and am quite happy with the end results as per the photos. It hauls 2 coaches just... I'll need to make sure layout is absolutely level though!   Have put Wheal Elizabeth up and tested it ready for Scaleforum next weekend. There were a couple of running repairs but these have been fixed. Do come and say hello if you're at the show.   Now, I can start to think about

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Rumblings in the paint shop

As Wheal Elizabeth is about to make an previously unplanned exhibition appearance at Scaleforum, I thought I'd better try and get the T9 ready for service. Have given it a light touch of weathering with the airbrush, applied smoke box number and route disks and given it a couple of coats of Dullcote. Just needs the crew, the front coupling (I had it here somewhere) and the shed code plate. I am rather pleased with how this has turned out. Oh and it runs too, though it hasn't pulled a train in an

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Wheal Elizabeth at Manchester - new passenger service

Just a few photos from the Manchester show at the weekend. The new end to end format allowed us to have a lot of fun playing with new trains. The Class 108 DMU needs a bit of work to stop it falling off quite so much (either weight or compensation) as the lightweight nature of some of the bogies meant it was a little unstable.   All in all, it was really good fun. I only had the phone, so apologies for the poor quality of some of the photos.   Wheal Elizabeth will be back out in 2013. It's

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News just in

Those boffins at CERN have just confirmed the smallest known element. No it's not the Boson-Higgs particle, it's the distance between the jackshaft and the rear of the step assembly on the High Level Kit if you're building in P4...   The important bit is however small, it is enough.   Wheels quartered up and trial assembly photos attached. All well so far and it doesn't bind when I push it up and down the workbench! Have gone past the point of no return and loctited the final gear wheel onto

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Photo update

As promised, I've finally got round to taking a few photos. Dogfish, Crab and Ling in glossy post transfer application but pre-weathering from Cambrian and Chivers kits. Also a pic of the Conflat Clay in the same state and one of the excellent High Level 03 kit. It's moved on since I took this and I've now done both step assemblies. A joy to build. Fiddly, yes but very rewarding.

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