Ian Rathbone

Replying to various points made since my last post, but possibly not in the same order. In 7mm scale Slater’s make axles to suit 120deg crank angles. This V2, built by Richard Spoors, has AGH wheels set at 120 deg, and working inside motion. Unfortunately AGH wheels are no longer available. I forgot about the C14 having outside admission gear, I painted one in 4mm that Mike Edge built no long ago! You can see the radius rod is below the valve rod. As far as I know the Midland Compound is unique in that the outside (hp) cylinders are 90 deg apart while the inside (lp) is at 135 deg. This beautiful model was built by the late Graham Varley. I cheated with my own Schools which also has 90/135 setting, but then, as Tony says… Some railway companies preferred right hand lead while the remainder preferred left hand. The Lord Nelsons had the outside cranks set at 90 deg to each other but the inside were at 45/135, giving 8 beats per rev. This made a very even pull on the fire but, as mentioned, not much difference to performance. Ian R

Further to the valve gear discussion, as well as the rebuilt Bulleid Pacifics Maunsell’s N, N1, U, U1, W & Z classes all had ‘backward leaning’ return cranks. These are the only examples of British locomotives that I know of. The other difference with the Bulleids is that the radius rod attaches to the combination lever below the valve rod. Of course all Tony’s 3 cylinder engines should have their opposing cranks set at 120 deg rather than 90, but I won’t go there. Ian R

It’s more subtle than ‘green or black’. There were variations between and within the classes, eg some green engines had crimson lake splashers lined in red and others had green splashers lined in white. These differences affected the lining colours on the boiler, cab and tender. You will need to acquire the GCR liveries book mentioned above to fully understand it - as far as you can as there are some gaps in the knowledge and red lining was invisible to the film used back in the day. Immingham, green for about 6 months, then lined black. And No. 272 in lined black. Ian R

I hate to be pedantic but if you are going for a Southern look (ie with a water softening triangle) then you should carefully remove the ‘MT’. MT was only ever used in Scotland. A Southern Region loco would have had 1P1F as its power class. The Bulleid light Pacifics were classified 7P5F. Ian R

You seem to have three variants missing. LNER green with full black smoke box, BR green with later emblem (and OHE warnings) and one of the last four with the odd shaped lining at the front end (not attractive). Ian R

I’m afraid Nigel Digby’s books are very sketchy - no rear views and no real detail. The photo I was referring to is actually a photo of a ‘New L’ in Stoke Works but in the corner of the photo is part of a cab side of another loco, freshly painted, and the four colours can clearly be seen. The photo also shows the lining marking out on the cab rear of the New L - many companies used plain black or unlined colour for this area. Ian R

I don’t think there is a vermilion border to the black edging. The inner lining has black on the outside so it would be logical for the outer lining to be plain black. There is only one photo that I know of where this can be seen (Locomotives Illustrated 136). Here is an 0-4-4T, built by Mike Edge in 7mm. For Madder Lake I used Precision Paints SECR Indian Red. Ian R

Thank you John, much appreciated. Here’s another WL&WR loco, designed by Robinson, scratch built by Mike Edge to 18.2 mm gauge. Ian R

One became Isle of Wight Central Railway No. 10. Ian R

I painted this model many years ago - GS&WR No. 273. Scratch built by an unknown builder in 7mm scale, 5’ - 3” gauge. Can anyone tell me what it is? Ian R

The turbines were impellers rather than fans and were mounted on horizontal cross shafts within the housings which resemble cylinder covers. The increase in size made no difference to the external appearance. What did change was the increase in size of the steam delivery pipe work, necessitating a much larger casing on the boiler side. A scratch built live steam Turbomotive built by John Henshaw in 7mm scale. Sorry, it’s not a turbine but it’s driven by four double acting cylinders giving 16 beats to the revolution. Ian R

Kim travelled to Russia from N. Korea in his armoured train but the gauge in Russia is different from that of China & N. Korea. So how did the train get there? Ian R

Modern brushless motors do not produce sparks so are safe to use with solvents. Go for the biggest extractor that will fit - the higher the amps the better. Tiny fans are not sufficient. Make sure the booth does not cut off the light - you need to see the paint as it lands. Ian R

Thank you Tony, I shall (or is it will?) miss the Missenden weekend. Best wishes to you too. Ian

Ah, Tony you’re not paying attention. I said never have, not never had. Anyway, Webster was American, rubbish at spelling. Time to get back to modelling topics! Ian R

True. But it is consistent - possessive pronouns never have an apostrophe, ever. Ian R

This is the other one that bugs me. Its or it’s. The possessive pronouns do not have an apostrophe, thus his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs. It’s means it is. Sorry for the pedantry. Ian R

But NO apostrophe!

Proper nouns do not change their spelling in the plural, thus Merchant Navys, West Countrys and Countys are all correct although my iPad doesn’t like it. Where it is ‘something of something’ I suppose either part can be plural. Ian R

It’s a pity that the P2 is spoiled by the heavy (and slightly misshapen) white line at the smoke box. They can get the red lines looking good, so why not the white? This is more like it - Model built by Mike Edge. Ian R

Locomotives of the LNER, Vol 9A, page 4 - “the enginemen who nicknamed them ‘Crabs’.” Yes, they were otherwise known as Zeppelins. Ian R

Mike’s GC Crab is now painted. Ian R

Tony’s latest A4, clean but not too clean. I just need to finish the V2 now. Ian R

Now you’ve defined the problem. I suspected it was the Airfix Castle. The boiler bands are not flat on top as they were designed to be lined with a brush in the factory, ie a single orange line on top of a slightly domed boiler band. Your transfers are not going to sit on a double curvature. As I see it there are two solutions of which the first is to file or scrape the boiler band so that becomes flat on top and is minimal thickness. You can do this by first sticking masking tape either side of the band, to protect the boiler surface, and then scraping gently with a sharp tool held vertical to the surface (a curved blade scalpel).The second is to use a decal softening solution eg Microsol, which will allow the transfer to sit on a curve, but it has to be used with great care, as the softened transfer is difficult to keep straight. Most proprietary and kit boiler bands are too thick and many are too narrow. A full size band is 2.25 to 2.5” wide by 1/16” thick. This equates to roughly one thou thick in 4mm scale and about two thou in 7mm, ie the thickness of the transfer. I hope this is of some use, sorry there’s no easy solution. Ian R

What exactly is your problem? What make of loco is it? Without knowing this it is difficult to give meaningful advice. Ian R