Ben Alder

Very interesting- please keep us posted on this one. What period are you intending to feature?

I too tried working with square section rodding, firstly Plastistrip and then Eileen's wire, but gave up on that as too difficult, and laid the last bits with 36" brass wire, which was a lot easier, and to all intents un-noticeable when painted. Its a tedious job, but well worth persevering with. Richard

Thanks for sharing this- it is most informative and clearly laid out. I have been avoiding doing this same mod. due to the fact that I have five 5's on shed and if one is converted then I'd probably want to do the rest. Seeing this though, is tipping me towards action; I'll be interested in seeing the axleboxes when painted as well. Richard

A man with the same timescale as myself, I see. The only problem is that another thirty years can't be guaranteed, and are probably unlikely , so keep us posted on progress. It's looking promising, though. Richard

I copied this pic before reading to the end of the topic, so apologies for yet another showing. All I can say is- magnificent :D I have been following progress on this elsewhere, and am delighted that it has surfaced here. We are in for a surfeit of delights if Andrew can be persuaded to expand on his work. Richard

The(16V AC)inputs go into the two terminals at the other end of the terminal strip- the middle two are left empty. HTH, Richard

Is it a panel or handheld version? I have both on my layout, and can take a look to see what goes where if you let me know. Richard

Lovely piece of work, and captures the essence of the Highlands in a small area, but still gives an impression of spaciousness. A shining example of "how to do it" and surely an inspiration to others. The Sprat & Winkles will need a bit of tweaking to get them working perfectly, based on my experiences with them, but once fettled should give you no troubles. Richard

Good to see another ScR layout, and one from another part not often modelled in 00. It certainly gives an impression of the openness of the area, and I am looking forward to more photographs- keep them coming Richard

Super little model - very impressed, and the time scale -puts most of us to shame. I'm looking forward to seeing the finishing touches.

Yep, we've come a long way from dyed sawdust . This latest use of static grass included miniNatur 6.5mm winter flock- suggested usage being for O gauge, but ideal for straggly bits beside fences etc.- and Noch wildgrass; their plainness being quite suitable for this part of the world. I'm going to add some more whin type bushes, but don't want to overdo this aspect of the landscaping.

A small bit of scenic work has been going on at The Mound, to provide a bit more scope for photography. There was little landscaping in front of the branch line, which limited what I could do with the camera, so an extension was knocked up to hopefully remedy this. In common with other recent work it overhangs the baseboard structures , so is made of Fomeboard for lightness. Once built and braced this is surprisingly robust, and to date has stood up to the usual knocks and bumps with no real damage. One or two pictures to set the scene- what existed before, showing the small amount of scenic area. These are real warts and all views, with the layout seen in its squashed reality, so please excuse the mess and cramped conditions. And the add-on backscene that I was trying out to add more viewpoints. Construction is self-explanitory. The control panel had to be re-sited- each connection needed lenghtened; fortunatally the main controls are at Kyle, which would have been a nightmare to alter. The base was filled with a diluted PVA soaked torn newspaper mulch and coated with Polyfilla readymix and then given a sealing coat of green acrylic. The ground cover is various static grasses, applied with a Grassmaster, built up in layers until I felt I had done enough. The inital dusting was put onto a coat of acrylic and further ones were held in place with a mixture of Copydex or spray glue(PVA based from a pump bottle) as required. The copydex was better at adding small additions of grasses- I found that the sprayed glue went where it shouldn't, even with masking. Two shots of grass growing A close-up of a bush of some sort- Woodland Scenics foliage covered with Noch leaves. And long grass at the lineside fence. Finally, as it is at the moment; I am still tweaking it and doing some gardening here and there, but it gives a bit extra to the scene.

Yes, it was featured in their latest newsletter of new products but with no further details. I asked someone on the Peco stand at Glasgow about release dates, but he was non-commital on this. The only problem with a NEM type is the height of the pocket, which is a bit of a moveable feast with some wagons. Still, it'll be interesting to see their take on this, and whether delayed action is incorporated into it. Richard

Very impressive- I like the backscene and the way the scenery blends in to it. Nice spacious feel to the whole thing as well. Richard

Looks very interesting- keep us posted on progress on this. Although I've moved onto S&W's I still await the Holy Grail of tension lock couplings- delayed action- with interest, and if your trials work, some form of commercial adaptation would surely be feasible. Richard

Yes, I've seen this and have promised myself that I will give it another go one day- the memory of ruined brass sides lingers however Richard

The Bachmann model is a lovely little piece, just a pity that it wasn't of the LMS one, as the Airfix model stands the test of time well, and is in no real way a lesser version of the prototype than the Bachmann model. Once the hinges for the opening doors are tidied up , it is more than adequate for purpose. I bought some of the new ones with an eye to replacing the kits, but on comparing them decided that the increase quality didn't justify it. Mine date back to the early 70's and are still running with round ended Jackson wheels, but are being kept on. I still have a strategic reserve of unmade Airfix one if they need to be added to; the quality of the current Dapol plastic offerings is iffy to say the least, but there appear to be plenty Airfix ones about on E-Bay. Attached is a shot of the two versions on my layout- excuse the original hinges as these date from a time when I didn't bother about such things, and has joined the list of something to be done about one day.

The glazing is indeed a s*d to remove. The sleeper was easyish, but the other two were something else. With regard to your comments on brass sides, I am afraid you are in a class of your own here- your work is astounding and far ahead of most of us. As for myself, the most dreaded words I can hear are "form the tumblehome". Its an art I never mastered, hence the Kirk sides, and I am glad that most of my coach needs are LMS, with Comet having done the hard work for me. Richard

Here is the non corridor with the SE windows. The lining is a bit heavy, but it must be about twenty five years old by now and wasn't worth the time stripping and re-doing, so stayed as is. And a cruel close up.

Yes, I must take some clearer photos- watch this, or some other, space, maybe tomorrow.

Coachman is to blame for the following assaults on the new Hornby Gresleys- his always informative coach blog encouraged me to return to an abandoned coach that I had decided was beyond redemption.As with the LMS coaches, others have led the way- Larry and Tony Wright both having sewn seeds that led to this. Basically, the new Hornby coaches are so full of faults that they are of no use on any layout that pretends to work to current standards of detail and authenticity, which is a shame, as they are well made, but wrong. Their failings are well detailed elsewhere, so I will just show what I did to try and upgrade mine. The first one I had was a sleeper in teak, and attempts to remove the glazing caused so much damage that I eventually removed the side and fitted an Ian Kirk moulding in its place- a backward step in many ways, but at least it has something like the correct profile. The chassis was narrowed as Coachman suggested, and the result was a great improvement on the factory offering. Hornby,s plastic is very soft and cuts easily, but there seems to be no problem joining it- poly cement doing the job OK. This was the state of the original side when I gave up on it. I was going to do no more with these coaches, but Coach's ideas sent me to that clearing house in Liverpool, and two bargains were obtained for further work - a crimson and cream sleeper and a maroon RB. I liked the idea of forcing a tumble home into the sides, but the glazing strip was too thick to do this, so I managed to either remove it completly or slice through it below the window level, allowing the body moulding, which is quite thin, to take a shape. The sides were Evo-sticked, as was the chassis where it met them, and when dry the two were put together, with the shape holding along its length. To date the sleeper is running, but the buffet is lagging behind as removing the glazing cracked some windows, so some juggling was needed to hide this. As I only need to see one side of any vehicle this is not a problem for me. Some WIP pics. The RB body with glazing removed to curve the lower body. A trial fitting of the C/C sleeper showing the changed sides and then a before and after of the ends. This is the Ian Kirk sided coach as running. And an end profile of the two together- although the further away one is a bit blurred, the profile runs the length of the coach. All in all, an interesting few nights work if the originals can be obtained cheaply enough, but like the LMS ones, not something I'll be making any more of. This is an example of the chaotic conditions of my workbench. Actual modelling takes place on a pull out tray and I give it a tidy-up before the next big idea, in theory anyway. A couple more shots to show the difference this hacking about achieves. I borrowed an out of the box teak to give a visual comparison. And the original and the modified versions. I rest my, and Coach's, case.

I actually gave a non-corridor brake third a tweak when I was doing the rest of this work-it was lying abandoned in my spares box, and when I was collecting donors for the Caley coach ends Ithis one came along for the ride. There is a pic of it on the layout thread. As the finish was tolerable- I had repainted it years ago- it got a spray of Games Workshop varnish to bring it up. The windows are horrible, so, although not a big fan of them, I fitted SE Finecast glazing, which is a good bit better than the original. The roof can be prised off and then the interior and glazing are removable, although its a tight fit in the body. Richard

An interesting idea this, and I will have to look at some LMS coaches to see if it would be an alternative. However, I've no intention of doing any more of these as I have plenty of stock already- it was just a case of seeing if they could be improved. I prefer the hybrid approach of Comet/Airfix anyway to give a wider choice of types. Richard

Cheers all, A job worth doing, but it should have been unneccessary- Hornby's coaches are a real hit or miss mixture. The painting of the glazing just needs a small, good, brush, a steady hand and some tissue to wipe off mistakes . Acrylics makes this easier, but it makes a big difference.

The original releases of the Hornby Stanier, while good models, were blessed with a very dull finish that did not sit well with my other Stanier stock- Comet sides on Airfix cores, and finished with a mix of cellulouse and acrylic spray paints, so they have sat for some time waiting for attention. I will begin by saying that nothing I have done has been original but a straightforward crib from an article in MRJ some considerable time ago, but AFAIK there has not been much said here about this, so I have recorded my efforts. The basis of the process is T-cut, which is applied and buffed off, and which leaves a lovely glossy surface that matches other stock far better than the original finish. Apart from a tiny bit of lining on one coach it did not affect the surface at all, although a Bachmann coach did lose most of its particulars in the process, but that is easily sorted. Some pics of WIP. Firstly some before and after views of the glossing up. Once this is done the next stage is to tackle the prismatic effect of the thick glazing strips. The original article suggested black but I found a crimson worked better- all the clear glazing has to be painted to improve the visual effect - as shown here. The improvements can be seen in these shots. Finally,two shots of in service vehicles- one of the modified carriage alongside an original, albeit not too clear, and of the two I did running together. This was a straightforward piece of work that made a big difference to the models- I also put some Peco interiors in place- and they are now on the layout instead of lying in a cupboard, which is what should be. One less task to do. I don't know if later batches of these coaches had the same problems as I didn't buy any others, being happy enough with my existing hybrids, but it has transformed these two anyway. Richard This is the polished side with the glazing painted over.