PhilMortimer

And to be fair, it was mentioned by Dapol some time Back (in the mists of time) that the model was being retooled. At the end of the day, they want to sell models and are not holding things up for the hell of it. It's sometimes hard to go back and redo things, but if it results in a better product (and a product that sells and keeps on selling), we are all the better for it. I respect the decision that was taken, as I'm sure it was a hard one. Dapol will have a lot of money tied up in the development of this model and the greater the development time, the longer it is before that money can be realized in sales. So I'm sure they want it out the door and bringing in cash. But one can just imagine the howling that would result if the model was released with known faults. Yes, communication could be better at times, but the world is not going to end if its delayed.

Look, you made a mistake. it happens. But don't blame the manufacturer. They are first and foremost a supplier of complete loco's, not components. Whilst they may have some spare components to hand for various reasons that they MAY be able to supply, it has been explained why they don't keep full bodies on hand. As has been explained by others above, yes, Bachmann may be able to supply bodies (at a significant cost), but most manufacturers don't. Some manufacturers may have some bodies available as a result of cannibalizing returned spares, but most don't or won't because it cost extra to produce and stock them. Keeping banging on about it does not make them a bad manufacturer, it is just their particular business model. Harking on about it, especially in the face of overwhelming alternative wisdom, just makes you sound petulant and annoying and uses up any goodwill that may have been there.

Actually 1953 in Washington. A couple of days before Eisenhower's inaugurations. Loco 4873 I believe - went through the bumper and ended up in the basement - later retrieved in bits and put back together again. It is now preserved at the B&O museum in Baltimore, though in rough condition.

Interesting! I now live about 5 miles form the new store. It used to be a great place to go and I did some exhibitions of my kit build stock there. (Kit building of loco's and stock being rare in North America). Unfortunately, it went mainly online and the showroom dissapeared and i haven't been there since before covid.

As noted above, it was reported last week on these pages that the 2nd batch had just been received at the warehouse, but that shipping would not be commencing until early this week due to travel / show commitments that had already been made before the shipment was released / arrived. And that stock would need to be counted in and checked.

I would be considering if placing the tender on teh track is somehow causing a short circuit or partial short (i.e. a short with a high resiststance) to develop, hence why things are not working as well when the tender wheels are in contact with the track. First thing I would do would be to contact Accurascale Warranty dept, giving all the information (and video if you have it) - they will be in the best place to help you. But for self investigation, I believe (and would have to check) that the tender has pickups. Therefore I would look to see if ther is an obvious short somewhere or if there is some wiring or solder assembly that isn't quite right in the tender, allowing a short to develop when tender wheels are connected to the track. PM

Ooooo!! Living dangerously!

Think of the size (and weight) of the box containing a model of one of those - that would get the delivery guy or gal puffing as they lug it up the path - no lobbing that over the garden gate!

I use household tin foil (or Aluminium foil) instead of fag paper. Solder doesn't stick well to tin / ally foil. Same principle otherwise though, just doesn't go soggy with flux. You can easily pre-pierce the foil for the pin without it tearing. (OK, you can do the same with paper, but I find it doesn't work as well). Along with use of grease / vaseline and / or marker pin, should keep those parts that should not be soldered from becoming so.

I have one of those exact same tool cases here at home in the US. Very useful for organizing tools and sturdy enough to pick up and lug around if needed. Just make sure the catches are fully closed before lifting the thing. Ask me how I know. Stored all my modeling tools nicely and easily find what I’m looking for. But then I acquired more tools so I now have two more of the same type - now I need to look through each cabinet to fine the appropriate required tool. Oh well……

Very Nice! As I remember them when I was growing up! PM

Love walking my parents dogs down on the water meadows down there. Often see the trains go by. Can hear them coming down the valley long before you can see them from Amberley or from Arundel in the other direction. Also, up on the top of the ridge at Burpham

I’d be interested in doing it if no one else will. Only problem is that I’m in North America and you may not want to subject it to a trans-Atlantic round trip (though I will be in UK for the next few weeks.). PM if interested.

Very nice Peter. Whoever ends up as the new owner will be a very lucky person. Regards, PM

I have to say that since I delivered the Red Garratt and returned back home, my mojo has been distinctly lacking. Maybe the final push to get the red Garratt finished for delivery was more stressful than I realised, or maybe visiting family and then getting back to work took it out of me, or maybe the thought of weathering the thing was not something I relished. Probably a combination of all of the above. However, I've been lacksadaisical about getting on with finishing my own Blue Garratt. Maybe I just needed a break from the darned thing!. Anyhow, over the past couple of weeks I've come back to it and progress is starting to be made again. First, it was time to seal the boiler and glue the smokebox door in place. This gives the loco its distinctive face. The loco was secured with the boiler in the vertical position and the smokebox door glued into position with 5 min epoxy. You have to take care when doing this as the aperture in the smokebox front is just fractionally smaller than the smokebox door and so careful positioning is required. The loco was left like this for 24 hrs for the epoxy to fully cure. I then started to weather the boiler unit, using the same technique as used on the Red Garratt. This is the technique described by Giles Flavel when painting and weathering his own loco as described in his own build thread and his thread on weathering locos. He also describes it in his article describing the build in NG&IRM Review issue 103. Anyhow, in brief, it involves rubbing down all the paintwork to get a really smooth surface. I use a combination of 2000 grit wet and dry, used wet, followed by polishing and buffing with ordinary kitchen towel. The loco paintwork is then brushed with small amounts of water soluble lamp black oil paint along cracks, panel lines, rivet lines, etc, immediately followed by wiping off most of the paint with a damp kitchen towel in the vertical direction. This stains the base paint and leaves residual black paint around raised detail, in the same way that washes do. It usually takes me a number of repeated applications and wipe downs to build up a convincing effect. The whole process can be quite time consuming to do (hence my reluctance to get started on it!) and for the boiler unit it required one complete evenings work to rub down the paint work to smoothness, followed by two or three evenings work applying the actual weathering. However, the result is that the oil paint darkens and "ages " the base colour. I can't claim any credit for the technique - I just followed the directions given in Giles's articles, but it does look very convincing. Because this loco was painted with a darker satin paint (unlike the Red Garratt, which was painted with a brighter gloss paint), I did first experiment on a couple of test articles painted in the same manner as the Blue loco, to ensure that the weathering would work without screwing up the paint job. The satin paint requires a bit more preparation, but with patience does yield a similar result to that seen on the first loco, though it is not quite as obvious due to the darker tone of the base paint colour. I still need to weather the frames and the footplating (for which I will also add in some burnt umber in the same manner), but I want to let the staining already applied to the blue paint fully dry and harden for a couple of weeks before I tackle that in order to reduce the likelihood of any staining being rubbed off by handling during the process. In the meantime, the tank and bunker are up for the rubbing down and staining treatment this week. Its difficult to see the difference between the weathered boiler unit and the untouched bunker and tanks in the above photo, since the effect is subtle and the dark blue base colour hides the effect more. However, since the sun finally came out tonight, I took the loco out into the garden to get some "in progress" portrait pictures. These are seen below and the difference between the the weathered and non weathered parts is more apparent. In the meantime, I've ordered some parts for the next loco to be built and I'm enjoying some time with the "hot stick" working on some of my part completed OO9 locos to give me a break from painting and weathering (I prefer building!) To be continued...........