richard i

Two steps back. I tried to fit the grub screw tonight. Fitted it and applied power. The gears spun but not the wheel. Looked to tighten it further. it sheered. I thought about needing to ask highlevel for another. However it might be easier to drill it out and pin it. Or extract the axle, if I can, and get a new final gear and grub screw if I can. thoughts? richard

Would a conversation with the designer clear up some questions. It has to have been drawn with an era in mind. They may have researched far enough to say, “ until this year” or “not before this year” with the configuration of vents etc. it would all depend if it was primarily designed for their personal use for year x or for commercial reasons to be for the most popular sales point. I can not see clearly if it would be accurate for GCR days or only later in LNER days. After that we are out of territory I have anything more than a passing knowledge of. richard

It would look great in gcr livery. Not so difficult as it is varnished wood. richard

What, spider?

Thanks your a star.

Is it too much to hope that someone going to Warley on the Saturday has off cuts of decent 9mm ply which would allow me to make two pieces both 600mm by 240mm? I doubt many places would sell me that little and it seems a whole 4’ by 8’ board would be excessive for what I need. for the curious, it is to replace this which spends half a year in the hatchway of my father’s boat. It has now seen better days/ is falling apart. In fairness it is nearly as old as I am. richard

Tender transfers on. Apart from buffer beam number and crests on the loco, they are the only transfers on the model. still need to use black marker pen to add the black shading to the letter transfers. Otherwise they look too red. richard

Try fox transfers richard

Please don’t. It is a family friendly forum. hat coat leaving.

Throw it away, you do not need it. You will not be moving house anytime soon.

Modeling is good. The music is following your MO. richard

I might do if I remember to bring it for you to see how ham fistedly I have built it. richard

No where near citadel’s standard but here is all the painted lining done. just the boiler bands crests and side panels on the tender to do. this one is much better from a distance, in low light, not wearing my glasses. richard

So pen and masking gets this result. it is time consuming and I am not sure how effective it will be as a method for the inside lining on the wheel splashers. If I can manage that though it will bring this saga to an end for this loco. Thank you for all the advice. Some will be put in the bank for future projects. The Atlantic will not be far behind hopefully. richard

Yes and that is the issue. Plus what if the green fades over time more than the paint it is trying to match? richard

That might work where other colours are involved but it would be a cut for strips for the lining. Do I trust myself to consistently cut 0.2mm lines. I suppose there is only one way to find out. richard

If I could print white. Alas most printers do not have it. There is a part of me which wants to get some done for the gcr liveries as a bespoke order from say fox, hoping for others that they then put it in the range. Red white black white red for the boiler bands is probably the hardest to replicate. richard

The transfers work well. However, I find for complex shapes the are a big fight. Also I can find white black white which is great for boiler bands. There does not seem to be a white black for edging. Fox does white lines as a separate sheet but it is broader than I would like. caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. richard

To prove it is not a fluke. top of the cab sides done. to do that shape with transfers would be a nightmare. pleased this looks to be ok from 3ft rule. Also looks to be steadier. Curved cab front and splashers tops next. May need a big glass of bravery for those. That won’t be me. As attempt 1 showed. richard

Thanks for the advice. I found line marker pens in hobby craft which take to paint. Do not buy the extra fine brush. It forms droplets on paint. before final clean up it seems to have saved the lining. I will try the advice of thicker paint and perhaps go back and see if the hobby shop has white lining pens. In my experience, less likely. Paper is white normally. still some way to go on painting. I need to improve. richard

Aaaaaaaaaaah. I used a sharpie to do the black surround on the splashers and then hoped to use this pen which says it does 0.5mm lines. I practiced on the sheet. The width of the nozzle should have left a 0.2mm black line above. it turned out like this. Totally covering the black and much else beside. I did both sides so it can all dry and then I will look to infill with the black to see if I can get it to work that way around. All this so I do not need to use transfers. If I come up with a solution I will attempt the complex shape around the cab side. The slasher tops and cab front will need to use plan B…..whatever that might be. on the plus side, wooden cab floor and crew fitted. richard

Brave man at this time of year.

The fiddle yard and sidings beginning to fill up. ones at the front are for repair. I still need to find some brake vans. The red carriage is carved from wood from about 1947, not pregrouping but is genuinely pre nationalisation richard

No but it went into the transformers so a max of 6v came out. Not enough for some old motors and the points went across very slowly. it was also 50amps not 13 but my electric knowledge is not good enough to know if that makes any difference beyond how far it knocks you across the room if you touch it. richard

I had the dream team around to address issues with the layout from trips across the Atlantic and being forced to run on 110v for 5 years. Whilst it has run in BR steam condition this is the moment the first GCR only sequence is able to be started. Fittingly it is the inspection saloon. thank you Clive and Andy. richard