richard i

That was my local too before moving an hour from Philadelphia, what is it with Essex based people and a requirement to settle near philly? They offered last time I was in to post to the states, most helpful.

If I write on the I pad it auto corrects to colonial English as it is a works piece of kit. The home computer does not do that.That's my defense and I am sticking to it m lud Richard

The argument it is too expensive might apply to loco kits if you see the 100+ pounds spent as wasted because you make too many mistakes. The way forward would be wagon kits, plastic first for a tenner then white metal and lastly brass which has overlays etc. all the skills can be learnt for twenty pounds a pop ish . Now what is twenty pounds, a night down the pub, a taxi ride etc. it is about priorities for most of us and after a night in the pub you are left with memories only.......perhaps not even that. The etch brass wagon kit I am working on at the moment has been coming together over the last three weeks in the evenings. That is better value than the pub then and. I will have something I will own perhaps for 40 years. Plastic kit park side, white metal David green and then brass I find bill bedford's go together very well. Richard

No usual color as it is a made up firm, but would they keep the roof clean? Possibly not. So a grey , dark grey ?Richard

Also looking in extreme close up, as the photo allows, do the letters stick out too much? i might cut them off and use some transfers i picked up yesterday in the local model shop. would the roof look better black? i need someone with a better artistic eye than myself to spot those sort of things. many thanks Richard

not PITA but helpful perhaps noticing an alteration needed or NAAN if we are keeping to the bread based theme. The helps i would rather now than after it has been altered for running in the rake.

shovelling but facing then tender as it looks different Richard

Been on the road recently, well built a 1911 daimiler, i painted it light blue to add a splash of colour. Named as usual after the helpful to me. this time after the father and son double act who have both helped me immensely. Perhaps it should have been green then. The flat bed was painted using the good advice of spitfire who has a very realistic wood effect, look it up on his thread. mine is only a pale imitation of how well he has got it to work. And finally in place, it looks best from side on but most is copncealled, i might have to work on its placement, it is not glued down. next up a fish truck or two. Question, did the GCR make the 19ft long double doored wagons fisjh trucks or did that not happen until LNER days?

Or compromise, move the gantry forward a twitch, extend your platform a little bit and close couple the stock in the wright way. That should see you home and dry. Richard Ps how big is a railway sign? One that says for instance beware of trains?

Fury? In hope Richard

To continue this theme the yoof I have to coexist with here say "yo blood" to someone they are friendly with or look up to. Now I doubt mr wright has ever been called that!

I have to support your wife, it does not look quite right and it is not necessarily the height but the presence of her. He is not a "fat" man to put it simply, so the lack of bulk to a thin woman would not be as much, now do her as a daughter and it has millage, I find you can get adults and perhaps small kids but the middle size ones are a pain to source. Richard

That wood effect is exceptional.Love to know what you did.

but not colour, honour etc. I am trying to convert them one U at a time. There is also an urge over here in the states to use a Z when an S would do just fine. Richard

Are you waiting for me to do the scenics as pay back for helping me get Dettingen off the ground? If you are the first trip i can make over is June, what with the puddle between u and all that. Richard

And now for someithing completely different, modelling! Progress has been almost frenetic this weekend. Painted men for the loading dock, Oooow close ups can be harsh. then the dock itself now all planted and with packages. I will add more clutter over time, but not too much it is a small station. Lastly Thom of this manor kindly gave me a house to fiddle around with. It was one of the buy a layout a piece at a time jobs. It looked alright but i felt it needed lifting, so i highlighted certain bricks , painted it up and drilled out the chimnies.i have tried to do a lime wash on the back wall of one to mix it up a little. It will be for the board beyond the station when that gets built. As there are only the signals to do on the rest of the boards that might be sooner.......next couple of years......than you think. Next up a 1911 lorry. This year of building carriages looks like it might be being delayed. Richard edit.........god flash photography is harsh, the house weathering looks more blended in in the flesh, honest govenor.

No your tummy is upset because it always yearns after what it has not got. I blame it on the consumer society that was developed in the eighties by Thatcher and encouraged in the Norties by Blair. The solution is to become a Buddhist and then you can seperate yourself from desire. There we go politics and religion, what was the other one we were never supposed to mention? Richard

The loading dock is in place., i am still toying with how much to put on it to make it realistic with goods and the spacing so the loads look like they were placed. too symetrical an it will look odd. I have also placed/ leaned against each other the two goods staff to place them in a natural way.Thats why they look drunk. But what else to add so it looks part of the scene and not just plonked down. I was thinking a shunters pole leaning against the end. Anything else? Richard

thanks. Always great to know i can ring the changes. Looks like a will have a scratch build or two on my hands then for the GN wagons. Now where is my tatlow book?

Ooooooooooow food for thought. Thank you.

I know full and empty coal wagons would not be in the same train, but they were on the build list, and it does have a randomising effect on the trains look. If that makes sense Richard

then the summer project is done, well maybe some weathering. First from on far then up close. It was a fun build and adds some needed mix of stock. Really now need some (a couple) GN wagons.....but from where? Richard

Silence for so long and then thre projects rach the camera at once. Frist up th loading dock. It has been bricked in and edging stones put on. next up the railings. Then got board waiting for a replacement track for my whipet as it is a year since i asked for it due to receiving two of one side, so i built my own. It should not be too hard to spot, but less so at three feet as it goes past. If they were placed differently, tough they are glued down now. Richard

Great video, helped me stay connected with the scene from states side. Your locos look great set in to the whole scene.

thanks for the heads up ..i will be as careful as i can.