M.I.B

How very dare they?????? Shocked of Paddington and Smithfield

Following on the Saint theme....in the timeframe that interests me: Jun 45 to 1 Jan 48: What was still around, by batch? If there is no scrap date listed - engine made it into BR service. Outside pipes were fitted pre 45 unless stated Ladies (square front frame step) 2902 Lady of the Lake. 2903 Lady of Lyons 2905 Lady Macbeth 2906 Lady of Lynn 2908 Lady of Quality Saints (curved front frame) 2912 St Ambrose 2913 St Andrew - no pipes fitted 2914 St Augustine - no pipes fitted. Scrapped 1/46 2915 St Bartholomew - no pipes fitted. 2916 St Benedict 2920 St David 2921 St Dunstan - no pipes fitted. Scrapped Oct 45 2924 St Helena 2926 St Nicholas 2927 St Patrick Pipes fitted Jul 45 2928 St Sebastian - no pipes fitted 2930 St Vincent Courts (curved front frame) All made it to BR service Scotts (square front frame) 2971 Albion No pipes. Scrapped Jan 46 2978 Charles J Hambro No pipes Scrapped Aug 46 2979 Quentin Durward No pipes 2980 Coeur de Lion No pipes 2981 Ivanhoe No pipes. 2982 Lalla Rookh No Pipes. Scrapped Jun 46 2983 Redgauntlet No pipes Scrapped Mar 46 2987 Bride of Lammermoor No pipes 2988 Rob Roy No Pipes 2989 Talisman Still got fingers crossed that someone from Dapol, Accurascale or Heljan is working up a 29XX in OO......

Perfect Jason - thank you. I can't see curtains in the pictures showing the blonde lady, so I'm guessing there was some sort of roller blind hidden by the top pelmet. Looking into the blurb with the picture: attendants were available in J12s and J8s. 11s and 13s had no attendant. But the vertical divider in the top window pane suggests she and the man in Third were both in the same Compo Sleeper - a late J8. It must be a compo sleeper - the "All third" sleepers were 4 bunk cabins. I'm still leaning towards a blind.

That explains the hazy memory on the details.🥂

I've travelled in German and Canadian sleepers, but can't remember- the window arrangement: drinks were probably partaken....especially on the Canadian train - not a speedy way to travel....

Specifically for a J12.... Are the windows of the passenger bunks clear with curtains or white like the WC? And the attendant's bunk window? I have searched through Russell's big brown book and the only hint is a picture of a J8 in late GWR livery - seems to be "clear with curtains". Anyone know for sure please? Thank you.

Gas tanks as discussed a post or two back: in short: Stick the tank ends on - centre ones first Drop in the cylinders.... If the tank ends for outers meet up with a Queen post, mark and file a very shallow groove - paint and grot will hide this later.... and so forth. To finish, file any moulding that protrudes beyond the framing (as seen above on the end tank and the mould flash on the underside of the tank end sections..... After the photos were taken, some minor movement and manipulation was done to make sure all of the tanks were positioned correctly and cylinders snug on the ends. Please make sure that you have a big spoon of patience at this stage. I used UHU type glue for this to allow for "adjustment" meaning that for every nudge, an equal and opposite nudge will occur elsewhere (Newton's First law of Kitbuilds). So apply decreasingly firm nudges until everything is in place. Later today I will add roof vents to the J12. On this mid January day (soon be February!!) I hope that you are happy and healthy.

K38 Buffer replacement. The base RTR running gear came with oval buffers, and K38s didn't...... Thankfully the RTR has a lovely mould line through the centre of the buffer beam, so after a session with the snips to remove the shafts, it is very easy to position the first drill bit in the correct place. I then went up a few bit sizes until the fixing shafts fitted. Before fixing the new parts in place, sand off the mould line, and if needed, slice off the buffer bases - all depends whether the replacements come with bases or not. 60Second Superglue was applied to the Wizard buffers. Job done. Corridor connectors will come at a later date. This is a Hornby offering, so they can slip out once the body is removed. but only if the body and end moulding don't have to be blended together with filler......

Saints..............a beginner's guide without rivets being counted. I was hoping to save up for two particular named Saints, and from a long way off, a class of 60+ 4-6-0s engines not modelled in RTR since the early 80s seemed to be an enigma. Why were manufacturers not rushing to make one? They were Edwardians who lasted almost into the age of the "New Edwardians" - so what's not to like? For a start, only 20 were named as Saints. The whole class is divided into four batches (discernible by name) with two distinct front frames: square step, or curved. Something that even the most flexible "Rule 1" operator would find difficult to ignore. The eldest lot (the Scott batch) (with the names from books and history) x 19 Then"Ladies" x 10 Both of the above had square frames above the front bogies. The next two lots had curved front frame steps: Saints x 20 Courts x 25 For someone who models post WW2 GWR, a popular period for modellers, the Saint's are remarkable scarce.... the scrap-ings of the Scotts, Ladies and Saints began across all 3 batches in 1931/32 and all of the 29XX class were "all gone" by 51/52. Court scrapping started in '48 and withdrawal was rapid. Then factor in outside steam pipe fitting halfway through their service (for some but not all), and that further subdivides the number of engines you can wring out of one mould. So I humbly admit to being too hasty to ask often on the forum why RTR Saints haven't been sold since Beatties were in business and since I was at school. The ideal model to make in RTR covers a huge era, and you can re-issue it from time to time with a new name, new logos, and perhaps a different tender ((like Bachmann did with the 2251s). Saints are a long way from that. There's only a handful of "Saint" Saints left for my timeframe, and one that I particularly wanted was melted down. So I either lean towards making a Court out of a Saint, or apply "Rule One" and forget the scrapping date. I'm getting forgetful in my old age.... Life is too short..... Meanwhile - the H57 Brake cylinders are fitted the correct way round, with the linkage correctly aligned. Wizard have sent me some more gas cylinders, so they will be fitted this week. The K38 has new buffers. Things are heading in the right direction.... I hope that you are happy and healthy.

A day of news. Hornby won't be making the MACAW after all. Bit pointless with the Bachmann one freely available and it's a very credible model. Hornby's GWR offerings for 2024 are meagre and unexciting. Still hoping for a Saint from Dapol or Accurascale or Heljan....... I have been doing some researching on Saints and perhaps I may put my musings into words soon. My previous thoughts of a huge class of engines which lasted for a long time aren't correct. Every day is a school day! Hatton's won't be making any more Genesis coaches - thankfully the ones I wanted are in the stock crates. Hattons is to close - sad news. It seems like they are closing properly, with no debts etc. I have only ever had great service and prices from them. Many thanks and best of luck to the staff who were always great. (Always end on a high note) CPL had a dig around their stock room........ and I have a fresh new J12 etch. I hope that you are happy and healthy.

Last time I checked the proposal list, the K22 was going to be made. I have a few "hand builts" so I will be focussing my hard earned on express passenger toplights.

My Hornby RTRs were given as many tanks as I could fit - across the carriage, as i had no reference material at the time. I was then politely informed on this means, that I had mounted too many. The same CBA rule as yours applies, at least until I have nothing else to fettle.......

Gas tanks as shown in the photos above are installed incorrectly, and have since been removed. The ends are fitted upside down in effect. I now think the best way to fit these items is as follows: Working with the restaurant upside down.... Join with glue or solder as you wish..... Fit the ends first. Small "wedge" shape is attached to the underside of the chassis. Push them out as far/wide as the under-framing allows. The wider "wedge" will now rub along the under framing and can be attached to it. Finally drop the cylinder onto the ends - trim the length of the cylinder to fit. It is held in place by small cubes moulded in the centres of the end pieces.

Some H57 jobs to boost morale - how many roof vent holes to drill with a pin vice?????? All of the castings from Wizard are excellent, apart from the corridor connectors - more filler work required..... And with all this white metal underneath, it's not going to need any liquid ballast...... More work on gas tanks to be done, then vent fitting, then roof paint, then interior paint.......

The sides slipped in the vice when they were being trimmed. They are very bent, creased and torn. J12 Sides come complete with the strip that forms under the roof and also under the tumblehome. Because I am adding sides to RTR I didn't need these strips so they had to be removed.

Happy New Year to you all for 2024. I hope we all get the Saint from Dapol that we would all like...... I did say that I would like to get the carriage kits into primer by New Year, and I almost achieved it: as previously mentioned, the J12 etch is very very damaged, and CPL are not producing etches for now. So on with the rest: As they stand in the photo: K22 H57 Centenary Full Brake K40 C76 D130 They have had a very thin coating of either Upol Etch primer (brass items) or Halford's grey primer (plastic bodies.) The aim of the thin coat was to dull down the myriad of colours and textures and make the blemishes and faults stand out ready to rectify. H57 roof is still in plain alloy - I need to make two water tanks and fit a host of vents, so I thought these were best done on a bare surface. There will all be finished in later versions of chocolate and cream. Still a long way to go before final paint: buffers, couplings, gangways, sole-bar steps. handles, droplights............. I hope that you are all happy and healthy, and that I can find another J12 etch somewhere........

OO gauge Saint in DCC

I'd remove the "Parcels Van" logo and replace it with a "Return To Old Oak Common".... and definitely stuff it in a fast mixed van train behind a 47XX or a Hall. It's too nice not to run, despite being fictitious.

I bow to your research on the 3000 gallon offering - My first 2251 must have been tender swapped at the shop for some reason - being 12 at the time I was unaware and pleased with my purchase. The shop is still trading some 44 years later so I won't name them (:

Sadly the two I would like are absent from the range - will try Kings Cross who seem to have them both. Thanks for the advice.

No fighting about Modelmasters on here please Fox don't yet do the whole range of GWR name plates. Narrow Planet do any number you fancy - and great service too. But not common GWR class names. So who else does name plates in 4mm please? Looking for some Saints names in advance of someone making them in OO RTR soon........... (Dapol/Heljan/Accurascale) Regards,

Mainline/Palitoy/ Bachmann did two types of tender behind their 2251 offerings. A 3500 gallon and a 3000 gallon.

Christmas greetings to NC followers. J12 has had a bit of an incident, and MIB Snr is still in hospital. So no progress on the "sides" projects still left to get glued up. I drove from Colchester to Barnsta-bubble and back today so that MIB Snr wasn't alone on Christmas day. Hats off to the NHS staff at 'bubble Hospital for doing a great job today, and all though the holiday period. Modelling has taken a back seat.... Hope you all have had a good Festive Season. On the day that is also the birthdays of Annie Lennox and Shane MacGowan, I wish you well.

GWR Saint Class in OO - every livery/logo from launch to late BR.

Where is the "clasped hands in prayer" button?