grob1234

People will laugh and tut, but I have used cheap coca cola. It's very effective at removing tarnish. Just give it a good wash in clean warm water after, and dry quickly to avoid water marks.

It's just a variation on the holding jig that Ian Rathbone describes in his book

Not the best picture perhaps, but at least I'm able to practise some off-set lining using my bow-compasses: Without doubt the hardest bit is the cab front. I'm tackling that with a brush...

Get the off of t'internet did you?

Might of had you should I say. My mistake

I think Jonathan might have had you there Iain...

Thank you all to the usual suspects for your help, Tony, Graeme, Jonathan and Graham; team Grantham essentially! The C2 is running to a very acceptable standard. The body is doing whatever it does and really smooths the whole thing down. No knocking! Graeme - you're right it is the slightest of 'problems', but with all thats going on and with the much larger troubles I face at the moment, chewing the fat with good friends about a loco thats 99% intstead of 100% is very welcome light relief!! Would you belive I have lost a poppy's jig in the move, and I can't for the life of me remember where it could be. It'll turn up the day after I buy another one!! Oh BTW, the Silver Jubilee 8 car set is finished now

Thank you very much Tony. I think I managed to check most of your points off. Its more of a problem when its on my rolling road. With the body on and on track its very smooth. Why am I asking then?! Well I'm a perfectionist, and I assumed there must be a reason that the loco behaves differently when on a rolling road. I wonder, is there a fool proof way of soldering the coupling rods up perfectly straight? I did this, and I couldn't find any binding. My rtr models dont do this so there must be something there. But with the body on and on the track its lovely. I tried this too, I moved the flywheel super close to the motor body, and theres no knocking now. Physics would tell me that the energy is just going somewhere else though!

Good afternoon Tony, I was wondering why is it that you solder the articulated coupling rods? Do you do this for all 3+ axle locos? Also, what might be the reason that I get a slight knocking coming back through the gearbox and into the motor, resulting in the armature moving forward and aft? Yet when the loco is run without the coupling rod, it is smooth. Clearly an issue with the coupling rod? But... too slack or too tight? I notitce RTR valve gear seems quite slack, surprisingly so. Many thanks as always (I do take notes I promise, it just takes a while for it all to sink in! )

Really brilliant Mike, thank you very much for sharing this.

Hi Dave, thank you, I can't take much credit for it, it is essentially the method I have seen Mike Trice use. So the base for this one was Pheonix Precision P995 Teak Basecoat. Once thats very very thoroughly dry, use very small amounts of oil paint top coat. Streaking it and working it til there is very little grain efffect left. These are the paints I use: You can be creative too. I have made up a few other 'recipie cards', depending on the look you're after: The technique is still a work in progress, but hope this gives you an idea. Just have a go and experiment.

I'm calling this one done. Lovely little build, and will look lovely behind a D2 on a local service.

Brilliant as ever, Tony. Valve gear photos like you have posted are invaluable. 'A picture paints....' May I dare to offer a D120 LNER pigeon van. I know there is a little controversy surrounding these - possibly a jack of all trades, master of none. All I know is it looks reasonably LNER'ly to me. First attempt at Teak. It's perhaps a little darker than I wanted, depicting a van about 10-15 years old. Comments welcome, as long as they're nice

Thank you Richard. I have seen that previously, lovely footage though isn't it? The valances look quite dark there... what do you think? Many photos I have seen show the valances as being lighter?

Quick re-spray. Much more like it I think. Here is a contrast with the A4 Silver Link Tender. Original: New version: Very similar IMHO to the Loveless set, which I am led to believe is very accurate. Don't model a model, etc etc.

Work continues: the unfashionable D120 van has been numbered with Methfix Trasfers. All I need to do now is apply a modicum of weathering, dull down the varnish a tad, and finally fit the glazing: In other work, I made an error. The valance on the SJ is too dark. Partly my fault, partly PPP's fault. Their website says the following: P54... "Used in conjunction with P55 Charcoal Grey for the smokebox and P56 Mid Grey for the valances, running board, frames etc. on the locomotives and below the footplate on the coaches." So thats what I did used P56, but as you can see, it is far too dark: Silver Jubilee Pic 1 Silver Jubilee Pic 2 In both of these images, the valances on the coaches are clearly lighter than the valances on the loco. I did wonder why the bogies I had previously painted were much lighter. Now I know. Anyhow, not too big of a job to correct it, and I want it to be right, so that'll be the next job.

Sorry Tony, I was rather slack in my prose. What I meant to imply was that I would be unable to create a brass or white metal kit insomuch as designing all the etches, making the moulds for the white metal and casting them etc etc. I'm always keen to have a bash at building one though - at the moment I'm lining out the tender of my C2. I don't think Geoff needs to worry about his income stream being challenged any time soon!

I think the way you have overcome the problems you encountered is very sensible. What 3D printed resin does is offer items like this on a very 'bespoke' basis, and I would imagine far cheaper (in terms of initial set-up) than say the complete design and manufacture of a white metal/brass kit. To see how much 3d printing has developed in a reasonably short period of time leaves me in no doubt as to the possibilities it offers. You want Humorist in its exact 1943 guise for example - no problem, just render it all in the CAD software and hit print! It really can be that individual. However, there is always a compromise - in this case the material itself. White metal and brass are clearly excellent choices for kit built locos. But could I make one? Of course not. Could I print off my own A3 if I had the equipment - yes very much so. I think the mix of 3d resin and brass is an excellent compromise, and one I would consider as an intended route if I built one myself; replacing fragile detail with metal. Can't wait to see it painted.

Well, I suppose there comes a time when any (half) self respecting LNER modeller has to be able to 'Teak' and line. First of all Teak. Now I know the Diag120 isn't to everyones liking, however for my own money, I think it's a pretty little van that will look appropriate on any local service behind an old D2 for example. It's my fist proper go at applying the teak finish. I was aiming to get a finish similar to some of the colour shots on Steve Banks site: https://www.steve-banks.org/prototype-and-traffic/133-teak-coaches Now I like the look of the darker more wizened versions, so I used a PP base coat and then Raw Umber over the top. It awaits clear varnish which should homogenise things a little more. I understand the kit is not quite correct, a mix of Diag170 and Diag 120 perhaps? But it looks LNERy to me, and as I say will still look the part in a 1930's setting. Errors aside, a really lovely kit, I jut have to add decals and glazing after varnishing. The next element that requires some attention is lining. A black art some say, and to be honest I don't think AB, LG or IR need to worry themselves too much just yet. I basically tried to copy the techniques of Rathbone. One thing I find amazing is how forgiving the base coat is when you inevitably mess up. A very lightly dampened small brush with white spirit and small errors can be instantly dressed back. Larger errors after about an hour simply disintegrate. At this stage I'm a better error corrector than I am lining master, but hey ho! Oddly, I find the haff compasses easier or should I say more forgiving to line with than the haff pen. On balance, the pen does give finer lines, but I am less consistent with it. Perhaps the shape of the nib on the compass better suits me? I don't know but what I am sure of is that more practise is required. Clearly there are still touch ups to do on the C1 tender, as well as to apply the black. For a first attempt, I think it's passable - certainly with some weathering over the top, from more than 3ft away, at a scale 60mph and in poor light!! This photo is also about 4x larger than real life. I do have more excuses if you need them?! I did find this image of my first practice attempts at lining. I do feel I have made progression, so there is hope. Now all I need to do is 5 locos a day for the next 20 years....

I'd love one for a Comet Chassis please, Mike. Again, no hurry whatsoever.

Just a little teaser for you from my work over the last few weeks.... answers on a postcard please

Thank you, Tony, most helpful as always. A superbly handsome locomotive, I would certainly be interested if Mike is looking in! All you'll need is a good handful of lead in there and it'll weigh enough to haul 10+ carriages at some speed too I'd have thought. I must be maturing with my modelling. I have seemed to have 'in stock' items I would normally need to have to order. It's very satisfying having a decent stock of modelling materials and supplies. Not long now til I can make a meaningful update on my projects - they're really getting to a critical mass now, which is very exciting.

That looks superb, Tony. How does the body shape and proportion look to your expert eye? That isn't a loaded question at all - it looks exactly like a V2 to me! I really fancy a few V2's, but the Finney one puts me off and its not exactly cheap either!

My preferred method, with a bit of Jif, and the brass comes up just lovely.

Smashing as usual, Frank. Be good to see that pair of quints finished (how rude does that sound?!?!) In all seriousness, the C1 chassis looks very much the part. Got a very soft spot for those, and you're a brave man, because those aren't cheap models. Where is the chassis from? I've also watched the video of those J7's, really impressive to see them at scale speed working together like that. Keep up the good work, hopefully not too long until you're able to access the layout.