Ive been meaning to keep up to date with what ive been up to since i finished the 13 all the way back in August and obviouly have failed to either get anything done or when i have put it on here so i thought id stick a few pics up of whats been going since.

So during and after the class 13 bash id set to and started to rebuild the tunnel mouth for the Gas Works coal 009, the original was a bit poor and not up to what im capable of now so i stripped it all back and set to guessing measurements from the Harrogate Gas Works book for the wall heights. At least the book has a good pic of the tunnel mouth and also measurements & diagrams for the actual tunnel bore.

I did a few sketches & doodles and then drew out what looked right in 4mm scale on an old school book i keep lying around (quite funny looking back at the half a**ed attempts at economics homework!) I cut out the paper template and checked for size, trimmed back the grass and all seemed to sit pretty well. Out came the plasticard & thin ply and built it up. All looked pretty good so after lots of checking with teh 009 stock for clearence out came the paint. After that i reballasted teh the track and built up the rocky out crop in polystyrene which was coverend in polyfiller or somesuch and weathered up with plenty of greens & black to make it look like damp exposed millstone grit sandstone that we have up here. THen it was just a case of sticking the tufts of grass down to blend in with the original scenery and putting. Lastly i decided to have a bash at tree making, i have a 'forest in a box' i got years ago so i streched out some woodlands scenincs green & some orange 'foiliage' and had a play about, pretty please with the results so the plan is to get some more trees sorted this year, im going for a late september look so plenty of colours for these leaves....

Iv also been fettling up another deltic with shawplan bits, progress is slow buts its coming on ok, name plates in stock already so its 9004 with dominoes i think, best check the books again just in case. Just need the ETH holder on teh front and a couple more bit from shawplan and its about ready for paint, if it ever warms up thats is...

Finally iv also been tinkering with a warship over the past few months, it was bought very cheaply after what looks like a fall with one cab end all smashed in, i transpalted a cab off a mainline one but the Bachmann chassis must ahve taken a knock as well and is somewhat twisted and im guessing as a result of the fall the mazak chassis is failing. Much bodging has been done and the chassis is now re inforced with plasticard and the just about straight, the body isnt too far off and i think its come up pretty well as 866 Zebra, Iv always like the hydraulics so i got a western as an xmas present, a quick re number from 1073 to 1017 before the new year (i had a set of plates on an old Hornby model) and a set of shawplan grilles before a few coats of grime and much and im pretty pleased with the results, all its waiting for now is my 08 sound chip to be re blown by Legomanbiffo! Roll on payday, i fancy a Hymek........

Cheers for looking

James