Adam

Anything with motor train gear is a swine. Having installed all the visible pipe work on a Terrier (before Hornby/Rails came along) I can’t help but envy the amount of space something the size of an I3 gives you. That and being able to use ‘normal’ size bits rather than having to make everything a size smaller. You’re right that these things are only superficially plain and need the pipe work to look ‘right’. Adam

No. The X2 is a rather bigger loco (16" rather than the 14" of the RTR model). Boiler's pitched higher, and is bigger, etc. Adam

To give a sense of exactly what is wrong with the DJH S15 and the work required to get a loco that looks like one (a Maunsell example in this case) you could do worse than to take a look at Andy Avis's thread on his effort: I remember talking to Andy about this before he started and even then we were of the view that it was a dog of a kit. Hats off for his persistence however. Adam

Very nice - is there any particular reason why it has a BR smokebox plate fitted? I know some tenders lasted with the letters 'GWR' on the side (Frilsham Manor had on into the '60s) but did 6363 keep one with a Shirtbutton? Adam

I'm really not sure that's the case. They certainly were not a small, local company in the way that say Tasker, Savages or Robey were. Sentinel were a relatively tiny player in railway applications but were a major player in steam-powered commercial vehicles (with a substantial factory - using innovative, quasi production line techniques - and fairly extensive housing for its employees in Shrewsbury and a subsidiary in Chester (which is where the loco conversions were done). They made literally thousands of steam lorries between 1920 and the late-30s and 100 S types for Argentina as late as 1950. Steam locos were a sideline really, albeit a significant one, and one of many that they applied their high pressure boilers and high speed steam engines to, pretty successfully. They would certainly have had a tech pubs department producing manuals and other things and these would have been illustrated. Adam

I'm sure I can find my Mercian rendition of an X and take some basic measurements. The real thing was a bigger loco, and more powerful than a B2, which was a 14" type - the X had 16" cylinders and thus the boiler was likely bigger in length and diameter. To give you some sense of the difference, a 14" Barclay is around 15% smaller in all dimensions than the broadly similar looking 16". So I reckon you might be able to get a representative HO X class out of a B2, but I'm doubtful that an X would work in 4mm. Adam

As Stuart (Barclay) said. The other factor here are those shiny wheels and rods which draw the eye a bit too easily. It'll come together. Adam

Yes, Lord Salisbury was an X class (Mercian used to do a kit). Though superficially similar - the Peckett house style was strong - the wheels are bigger, the wheelbase is probably a bit longer, the boiler is certainly mounted a bit higher and that has quite a big effect on appearance, and the cab is a strange squashed thing rather than the more elegant and generous effort on the B2. I wouldn't even think of it but your mileage may vary. Adam

The key variations are 4' as opposed to 4' 6" wheels, and a cab roof of a slightly flatter profile. There's a conversion of a Hornby 08 here: http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/model_omwb154.html and here: http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/model_omwb153.html. Adam

A pair of completed (well, in one case, all bar the shouting) milk lorries to serve the off scene dairy on the layout. Both are from Road Transport Images bits and both appear further up the thread, but here they are in the full colour finery. First the complete one, the Austin FF in the (fictional) colours of Bateman of Pitney, mover of milk churns. The real Bateman is a friend who'd probably be bemused by it... Glazing the cab took a bit of care. I'd managed to lose the vac' formed screen that RTI supply and so had so sort my own replacement from OHP slide film that I'd kept in the 'solutions in search of a problem' folder. Before painting I thinned the bottom edge of the opening and cut a strip of the film which conformed to the inside of the cab nicely. Once fixed in the middle with a spot of superglue, the ends were trimmed to approximate shape with scissors and the full fixing was achieved with a bit of Glue 'n' Glaze and looks not all that bad. While the Austin has hung around for some years, the big Scammell MU has been a bit quicker. Given the geographical setting of the layout a big milk tank *should* be an 8-legger AEC in Wincanton livery and maybe I will, one day, but I like Scammells and United Dairies owned plenty. This one needs plates and a spot of weathering, but not too much as milk lorries were generally well-scrubbed. Adam

Masokits? Seven pairs (self assembly, involving some fiddly soldering, much aided by metalblack and of course via rather 'old fashioned' mail order). Excellent value and I've never had one fall apart. The Accurascale version is four pairs for £7.50 (though those are more suitable for more modern prototypes or locos). Adam

Hi Stu - I hadn't see the Accurascale couplings until now. I see what you men about the tommy bar which is a bit of a shame, but the stem on the hooks is so short I'd want to replace those anyway. Worth looking into for the price. Adam

True - though heathen that I am, I build them all long. The spare links, of whatever length, are incredibly useful for all manner of things - lifting eyes, fixings for things, tow loops... Adam

Hi Stu - the screw couplings are Masokits: https://traders.scalefour.org/masokits/ which look reasonable and are indestructible. Having done a bit of googling, it seems that the bodies are fairly representative of LMS or BR all wood-bodied opens. There's a maker's picture of a real Ralls wagon in the replies here somewhere: The real thing seems to have been a Gloucester C&W wooden-framed thing 15' 6" over headstocks. So, yes, a Cambrian chassis would work with the body, but not with the livery. Adam

More churns have just arrived in the lunchtime post, but here's some actual modelling (and in the form of a couple of relatively quick projects - there are others dragging on, but more of these later). This pair of Lowfit, both with LNER-type fitted brakegear but different in construction. Obviously in model form they're both rendered in Kirkcaldy-tooled plastic. The more complete of the two, fully lettered and liveried is the BR-build, from the Red Panda kit but with a Parkside LNER chassis: Hopefully, you'll be able to see the additional work on the brakegear (which I've been told isn't worth it, more than once...) and the slightly wobbly tare numbers. Oops. Here's the other, an LNER, wooden-framed version, like this one: https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/45772458865/ And from underneath - obviously there are levers and lashing loops still to add, but probably no Ford Anglia. Stay safe everyone. Adam