Woodcock29

Also the strip along the edge of the roof which will hide the join. Still the timber work looks very nice. Andrew

I have a P1 I built from the Crownline kit plus a D16/3 and a J17 to build. Years ago I was able to buy lots of spare chimneys from Dave's Crownline kits and more recently I got quite a lot from PDK. RIP Dave King. Andrew

Normal 3ft 1in wheels. I built the D&S kit back in the 80s. Unfortunately the kit is based on a one off version. It has one door each side on a diagonal basis which are placed at the end of the verandah, whereas the other GN 8 wheel brake vans built had the doors on the inner end of the verandah. The kit could be kitbashed into one of these with a bit of work. The steps are rather fragile and benefit from some reinforcement. They are covered in Tatlow's LNER Wagons Vol 1. Note the example at Tanfield has a rebuilt body without the larger GN style verandahs, more LNER standard style. Andrew

Last year I posted some photos of the Spirsby layout built by Gavin Thrum based on the Spilsby branch in Lincolnshire to which I contributed some items and on which we run some of my LNER stock. We assumed that Spilsby became more important and the line was signalled to allow more than one engine to be on the branch at the same time. Hence we named it Spirsby rather than Spilsby. This last weekend should have been our annual BRMA Convention here in Adelaide. But due to Covid restrictions on travel across state borders here in Oz we've postponed it once again. We were intending to show Spirsby at the Convention venue but will now need to do that next year. As we had a free weekend locally I had a BRMA meeting at my place on Sat (split into two sessions to allow for Covid restrictions of a max of 20 people in a residence at one time) and as Spirsby is in storage at my place I set it up for a week. This will allow its use by two operating groups I'm in, one of which was last night. Consequently I took the opportunity for a bit of a photo shoot. Hope you like the shots. Andrew

Below is a photo of my Hornby O1 (possibly shown before?) to which I've fitted a Graeme King resin smokebox front and chimney. These changes turn what is a fairly good looking O1 into what an O1 should look like in my view. It still needs further weathering of the chassis and the valve gear in particular which currently is still Hornby's weathering. Also I should fit a new pony truck to get rid of the ugly NEM pocket. I have an unbuilt Little Engines O1 picked up for an absolute bargain (~£15) at a BRMA Convention which might become a source of parts for a range of other projects so I could fit that pony truck as its likely to be too difficult to carve up the Hornby cast metal pony truck. As indicated above by Headstock, most retained this earlier style of smokebox door which I believe is of NE heritage. The chimney is an interesting problem with all of Hornby's LNER locos with flowerpot chimneys except for the B12/3 which it got correct. I've had dialogue with Simon K on this matter and understand its something to do with the moulding process that prevents the correct curves being incorporated into the stem of the chimney, although Hornby got it right on the slightly shorter chimney fitted to the B12/3. I've got models of all the relevant Hornby models but as most are for a BR period I've not bothered to change them yet as I really only run my railway in a 1930s LNER period. However, I've fitted a replacement brass chimney on my black LNER D16/3. Whether I'll upgrade all the BR locos only time will tell. Andrew

On the subject of the DJH Atlantic's - both are far from accurate being based around an extended driving wheelbase as suggested above. I built a C2 about 20 years ago and made some corrections such as shortening the length of the loco (footplate) and narrowing the footplate. If I had known more at the time I could have made a few other changes such as reducing the height of the frames above the springs below cab and on the tender. At the end of the day whatever you do with these is going to be inaccurate to varying degrees as you can't change things like the boiler diameter easily. One unfortunate fact is that the overscale dimensions are not consistent across the models. One of the most significant overscale parts is the boiler and smokebox on the C1. I bought an unbuilt C1 secondhand many years ago but will probably never build it. I'm more likely to reuse the parts from my dismantled Ks C1, built originally in 1976, when I get around to building my model of 3279. Andrew

edited to delete duplicate post

Gilbert - I imagine the F stop shifted accidentally in manual mode on your Canon G12 assuming you're still using that? I've had that problem with mine - in other words I've accidentally changed it without realising it. Andrew

Despite the fact you had to cut them out - they are the best etched plates in my view and they are still available I understand. Andrew

Yes I would email them. Andrew

My understanding is the A2s were meant to have the flanged Cartazzi wheels provided but they got left out by mistake. Hornby will provide them if you ask for them. Andrew

A most interesting photo. Thanks Mike looks like I was wrong about the 'band' on the edge of the V. The only time I've seen 4771 was my first trip back to UK in 1981. The photos then were slides although I took a range of views I've not yet bothered to find them - looks like I should! Its interesting the handrails are black - I've always imagined they were green on the green parts of a loco. Andrew

The photos above reminded me of mine from 2017. What's also interesting in this shot of a V fronted cab is that there does appear to be a very thin extra band on the front of the V which maybe what Bachmann has tried to reproduce on its V2 albeit much too thick? Andrew

Certainly looks like a V-shape to me. NRM July 2013 Andrew

Tony and Tony Although I can't yet measure the Bachmann cab windows I'm almost certain they are too small. The space between them seems to be too wide for starters. Andrew