GWR1890-1908

cctransuk, I agree with what you have said. A lot of what is about is being done on lesser grade printers, or is work that was done some time ago still being sold. Some of what is being sold commercially unfortunately is not much better than a first attempt scratch build, BUT, I have seen some exceptional work of late. As Jol says, it will probably not appeal to the the likes of us who scratch build or modify kits. The quick, not necessarily cheap, and easy approach is probably correct-witness the explosion in the resin buildings in a box section of the hobby. I made a successful venture of custom made structures in 1/4 scale, 7mm, and larger, but the 4mm boys would baulk at $100 for a medium size building, then pay at least that for a resin one. Why? Because it was immediate. Sad! Greg.

I don't actually have the Lewis book (probably the only GWR one missing from my library!), but your information is helpful. Given my preferred time range, I can live with the prize monogram. Like the railmotor itself, it will be apoint of interest amongst my other stock. The black doors i WILL have to do something about!!

Totally agree Johnster. I was mainly referring to locos, but I have quite a few brass coaches. As my user name suggests, Comet coaches are a bit late for me. I have built Roxey and Blacksmith, and still have a stack of the latter unbuilt. In most cases they have been quite substantial, but, yes, the trussing is often under par. I replace with brass or N/S angle, and do find the brake shoes decidedly underfed. I found the bogies with the Slaters (hopefully to return) coaches quite substantial-I think they are .015 thick-I would have to check. I am about to order some of the MJT bogies and the newly released GWR 10'0" Dean cosmetic sides from Dart, so will possibly experience what you dislike. We will see-they can't be any worse that K's bogies, surely! I find the idea of a 3D loco body complete with handrails and knobs to be going a bit far. I consider it lazy modelling (if it actually IS modelling, which in my book it really isn't). Let's wait for the howls!!!

Yes Harlequin. I would have thought normal livery would been a better seller. A tricky process removing the logo to replace with another, not knowing if you are going to damage the model. I am not sure if there was a survey done prior to commencement, but it may have helped.

I have worked with 3D prints on a commission basis, and they can be a curates egg. I would much prefer to work with etched brass or nickel silver, and despite a comment somewhere above, it is not too flimsy if the designer has done a proper job: .020 N/S for chassis, and .012 half hard brass (or preferably N/S) for the rest. One of the past problems is that a too soft grade of brass was used, and that DOES cause problems. If half hard is used and needs to be formed, it is simple to anneal it. I believe the potential of 3D has been missed largely. It is ideal to produce multiples of SMALL, difficult to make bits, but everyone seems to want to produce locos with handrails and all included. With regard to Shapeways, there are some attractive items there, but who would want a GWR Siphon with a chassis done in WHITE Nylon, surely the absolutely worst material AND colour. How the H are you supposed to get paint stick to that?? 3D is a useful adjunct, but I don't think it is a means in itself yet.

I corresponded to Kernow re the black doors on the fully lined model, and they confirmed that B&W photos had been used as a colour reference for this version. Given that it is well known by all branches of historical modelling that you CANNOT use this method to determine colour because of ,if nothing else, the type of film used then ( we all know about orange lining being almost invisible, and in photos of WW1 aircraft, yellow appears BLACK), I was very surprised. Also, the prize monogram was not applied to all stock, and was very short lived. Given John Lewis book on GWR SRM's, I could not understand how such an error could be made. I pointed this out to Kernow, and also the fact that all other livery options had body colour on the doors, so why should that one be different? It was noted for future production. Given that the models were delayed at one point to ensure the liveries were correct, it is also a head scratcher. Despite this relatively minor concern, the model is exceptional. I have only test run mine as the layout is bare baseboards, but it appears to be trouble free. We are lucky that someone has taken the plunge with such a subject. Could we be lucky enough for them to tackle a Dean loco next?

Yes, I paid 50 pound for the GWR 2000 gal tender kit, but: 1, I am in Australia, and these things do not fall out of trees here, and 2, I have been scratch building for 50 years, so my intention is to use the kit (noting the bits that are inaccurate) as a pattern to hand make the others that I need. With regard to the prices for Hornby locos, I would not even look twice. The plastics being used now are not high impact (read soft), and I doubt their longevity. There have been many complaints regarding flimsy valve gear, plastic crossheads etc, BUT it is the small suppliers who are making the more practical small pre-group locos. Hornby seem intent on bringing out one-off types like the Hush-Hush, and the Turbomotive, and newer and better Flying Scotsman. It's the railway equivalent of continually bringing out new tools for Spitfire and Lancaster kits, when there are many other things deserving of being produced. Now if Bachmann used the Earl Chassis to produce a Bulldog, or Hornby produced a GWR 2000 gal tender, I might take some interest.

I built the 39XX many years ago following Brian's article. I still have the model. It is in line for a proper set of leading and trailing trucks, and an improved paint job. The 65 year old Hornby Dublo chassis is still going strong!

Flat flame is single pipe and incandescent is two. Technically the latter is gas supply, and pilot light supply as far as I know.

In addition to my previous post, I should point out that WM Collectables has quite a stock of Jidenco and Falcon kits. In fact, I was able to get one of the required GWR 2000 gal tender kits from him. The kits are not cheap (50 pound for some wagons), but if you can't get it elsewhere, or are a collector, that is probably not a concern. Service and delivery from WM is one of the best.

For a variety of reasons I have not been active on this site for some time. If anyone is reading this topic from the beginning, I would like to stress that Nigel at Dart Castings went to great lengths to try to supply my order of 6 GWR 2000 gallon tenders ordered from Samantha in about 2014. He was always intent on providing service. This to the extent of determining that the etches they had received were not correct, and committing to the process of drawing up new tools. We had regular contact, both by email and telephone. I did receive some test etches , but these also needed considerable re-work to be viable, and we exchanged copious notes and suggestions to this end. It was still going to be an extended process, and from the get-go he said that at any point I could request a refund. When Covid arrived , and some other factors eventuated, I finally decided this was the best option. I had ordered suitable castings from Brassmasters, and decided that I could utilise what I could from the etches, and scratch build the rest. I received my refund in October 2021. While the whole process had taken about 6 years at that point, I kept my cool, and Nigel was extremely apologetic and accommodating about the whole thing. I have never had any problems with Dart Castings, find no issues with them at all, and will continue to do business with them. I have quite a stock of Falcon loco kits, and have built several. Those that I HAVE built I have had no difficulties with at all.

Hooray! GWR back with Slaters. I wondered how many years of bad air with CC it would take for Slaters to take them back. Hopefully they will market the Excellent bogie kits separately as they did before. If you wait long enough.....

RCTS says that some auto fitted 517's were stationed at Truro from the 1920's, but does not say which numbers. Greg Waldon

The previous owners were the Breakspears, not Dart. I can confirm that as I spoke to them just after they took Falcon on.

I have a more positive update to this situation. I am in Australia and been waiting for some etches paid for in August 2017. On sunday I rang the Falcon number and found that it is the Dart Castings number. Had a long talk to Nigel. Dart has taken over all outstanding orders and has requested all tooling be returned from the etcher. They intend to honour all current outstanding orders, but he advised that this may require re-tooling in some instances. I have had an assurance from Nigel that I will be updated as soon as there is progress, and as I am also a Dart customer(he recognised my name from a not so recent order) that they wish to maintain their standing in the modelling community. Everyone needs to take care with comments in what has obviously been a very difficult time for this family, and exercise a little patience. I have run a small modelling business in the past, and when family goes belly-up, that is pretty much all you can concentrate on. Bear in mind that this is the closest I have come to getting these items since Phillip Rudd passed Falcon Brassworks on to the previous owners who did nothing at all. Waiting 5 years and will be very happy once the current situation is resolved.