vindictive

Yeah for some reason after ww2 the British army decided to revert back to putties. But they weren't the same as the pre war ones, they made them shorter, about a third of the length, the same size as the ones the commonwealth forces where using. I'm not really sure why they did this but they where still in use into the 80's I believe.

The 37 pat uniform didn't really come into effect untill 1940. All of the bef that left for France in 1939 where still wearing the 1922 pattern uniform. Though some small numbers did have 37 pat webbing and where issued with bren lmg's but by no means all. In fact the 22 pat tunic was still being manufactured into the 1960s as I used to own one that was made in 1961. The current one I own was made in 1943 and was still in major use for ceremonial duties as well as for the military police. Putties where still in use in 1940 but where phased out by the British forces mostly after that. Though alot of the commonwealth forces such as Australians, new Zealand and south African forces never went to gaiters, though the commonwealth ones where only 3 feet long as opposed to the British ones being 9 foot. Hope this helps, if you have any other questions let me know. Dave

Yeah it will do most things, my boss is letting me make some new hornblocks for my jltrt pannier kit tomorrow. It's a lathe with full milling capabilities too. I will attach a picture of some new wheel studs and nuts I made for my ww2 Bedford lorry. It will still do tiny parts but as was already mentioned finding them can be a challenge! Also the nuts where done complete, including the hexagon in one operation. 12 minutes a piece, and 3 and a half minutes a piece for the studs.

As abit of a comparison this is the lathe I use at work.

I got a reply a few weeks ago after enquiring about the a8 kit. He's not been well for quite some time so patience is a must I think. He did take a while to get back to me though.

There's a short tank one at Oxenhope on the kwvr, is that the same?

I bought a full set of castings for a 2251 to upgrade my Bachmann model.

Brilliant work as always pad. Brilliant work as always pad.

That's fair enough, like island I didn't know what the differences where but it all makes sense. Thanks for the info. David shackleton

I've got two at home waiting in the hope you will do a chassis kit for them... Haha. I wonder if there is much difference in the bodywork between a 45xx and a 44xx, maybe you could do a conversion kit at the same time. I don't know that much about the 44xx's, only that I fancy one.

Hi I've built a couple of your chassis kits for gwr locos before in EM and they are great, would you consider doing one for the Bachmann 45xx prairie or a Hornby 61xx or churchward 43xx? Regards David shackleton

Are you using the cast hornblock that came with the wd? What is the axle hole fit like? The ones that came with my 8750 where that baggy on the axles the could have been thrown in. Dave

Haha sorry I got mixed up.

That's the impression I have got western thunder. The pipe seems to run around the front of the firebox and into the valve behind the injector on the fireman's side, it appears the the valve is also located slightly below that of the fireman's side injector. From what research I have done so far, it appears that all of the 36xx, 37xx and maybe even the 46xx have this mod. I am continuing to research this however. I will continue taking photos whenever I can. Hi Tony. The plan was to drill a hole in the cab floor or to drill and tap a block of brass and glue that on top of the floor casting. I will see how it goes when I get to that stage. Cheers Dave

I got an email today from jltrt to say my parts are on the way. In the meantime I did a little more detailing, this time on the bunker. I had to make the lamp bracket on the top of the bunker myself as there is no allowance for this in the kit. Dave

Today's progress. Because I'm waiting for parts to start the chassis, I decided to do some of the work on the boiler/tanks and the cab. I've had to measure and mark out all of the holes for the fire iron hooks, lamp brackets and handrails as none of the holes are marked. Nor is there a scale drawing or measurements supplied to work from. I did some work detailing the top of the tanks and had to remove the rivet plates that support the front steps on the tanks as they are a different shape and are welded on. There's alot of fiddling so far. Dave shackleton

Yeah I have 2 of the three volumes, I've decided on 3775, it was a regular in the forest of Dean in its final years. Also I have alot of good photos of it from a book steam in Dean, including a picture of the tank tops. I've also been able to tell that it has the difference injector pipework on the right side too.

Thanks pad that will be a huge help. This is what I mean about the injectors. The pictures aren't great because I've taken pictures of a book and coped them but here goes. The first image is sort of how they come in the kit, as you know they need modifying. The second image is the right hand side of the engine and although the injector is the same it is configured differently.

This is the footplate so far, it shows the cab floor and the suspect lamp brackets.

The splashers are totally etched in this kit, you still get white metal ones supplied but the castings where crap, so I normalised the etched ones and fitted those yesterday. Did you say you had some pics of the cab interior on an 8750 pad? Because there are no diagrams of the interior in this kit, the cab floor is a totally different shape to 57xx and there's no holes for locating castings. I expected more for the money I spent!

I will remember the nut sandy. But it will have to go on top of the resin cab floor. I also spotted today that the spare lamp brackets are etched to the side of the front splasher and there are only two not three, all the photos I've seen of locos with the exception of one have three behind the tool box, so that will need to be rectified. I've also noticed looking through the castings that both injectors are identical, but on photo the injector on the right side has a different arrangement so more modifications required...

The hole for the motor is different from your photos pad. Also the cab floor is totally different, also did the 57xx kit have provision for etched splashes?

This is what it looks like so far.

Having not done any modelling for near enough 9 months now because of moving house and then my girlfriend giving birth to my son. I have now got my workshop to to a usable state, so I decided to start on my jltrt 8750 kit. So far I have only got as far as the basic footplate assembly. However the footplate looks totally different to the 57xx.

Will do. Thanks alot pad.