Iain.d

50 Missile Regt RA? We used to call them 49 after they fired one, or 48 after two...! Kind regards, Iain

Like many modellers, I often have too much on the go at any one time. That said, for me it prevents me getting bored as the variety of tasks provides the opportunity to do something different each time I have the time to model. This last week has seen some heavy sessions with the soldering iron as I have three brass kits on the go. The first is this oldish Pocket Money Kits (maybe Connoisseur Models) S&DJR 6-wheel 4 Compartment Luggage Composite. I acquired it quite recently from the family of a modeler who is no longer in a position to complete it himself. There were/are a few items missing such as buffers, W irons, axleboxes and a roof so I bought some bits and pieces from Wizard Models, less the roof which I’ll do from brass or plastic sheet. Other bits will come from the spares box. I’ve formed the tumblehome, added the door hinges and door droplights and end steps. I haven’t added the vents above the doors as I think it will be better to do this after its painted. The etches are lovely and the brass cleaned up nicely with a toothbrush and some Jif. Next is this (I think) older Mallard Models LBSCR Balloon Composite; the kit was incomplete when I received it, the biggest problem being there were no ends. Dave at Roxey Mouldings kindly provided me a suitable end drawing, so I cut and finished two pieces of .5mm brass sheet to the correct profile… …to which I then added thin brass strip, to represent the beading (it looks much neater ‘in the flesh’ than the image below portrays) and drilled holes for future detailing. I don’t have any spare brass that would be suitable for the end steps, so these will likely be made from plastic ‘L’ section and added at the end. I also made up the bogies (Roxey), formed the carriage side tumblehome and added the door vents and droplights. The above composites were often paired with a Driver Third which is the third kit on the go. This is a Roxey Moulding one, I’m not really sure what caused me to purchase it as it doesn’t fit in with my intended location or era. I haven’t decided how it’ll be finished, it might be SR olive, malachite or even SDJR blue(!) who knows, I’ll see how the mood takes me when I get to that point. It’s at about the same stage as the other two; tumblehome formed, droplights and passenger doors added and ends all prepared. It has been a standard build so far. I do like the ‘daintiness’ of Roxey kits and yet the robustness as they go together. I don’t have any plan or pictures of the interior layout, so any advice, particularly in relation to the partitions and seat orientation and placement, would be gratefully received. If time allows this week I will try and get them soldered up as bodies and work on the S&DJR carriage's running gear. Kind regards, Iain P.S. For those with a photography interest: Images taken with a tripod mounted Pentax K-3 w/Pentax 16-50mm/2.8 @f16, ISO 100, processed in Photoshop.

Hey, thanks, but no problem - I should have seen it myself, I have enough pictures of real ones! It's a case of looking but not seeing. I also forgot to add the door handles to the other set of doors, on both sides, when I photographed it. I've since added them. Kind regards, Iain

Hi Paul, Reading the CD-ROM wasn't an issue, I have had mac desktops for about 10 years and with the first one I bought, I 'invested' in a USB SuperDrive, so copied the disc contents to the hard disk. The CD drive has seen little use in all those years - the last three uses have been to copy this CD and the two for the Siphon G's. It probably hasn't been used a dozen times in all the time I've had it! Thank you for the kind comment, re modelling. Kind regards, Iain

This week I finished a kit by @macgeordie of an LNER Thompson 6-wheel NPCCS BZ. It came with everything needed less wheels and couplings and included a CD-ROM of build images and instructions. The only thing I did differently to the instructions was that to represent the door bumps/stops, I drilled out the half-etched holes and soldered in .45mm wire as opposed to pressing them out. The chassis is reasonably complex but built in steps and following the instructions (pretty much a must for some bits) it soon comes together. I like the design of the Cleminson style design to control the movement of the centre axle and the axle boxes (there being no cast type available) are a really novel design of layered brass. They certainly look the part. The main components – the instructions suggest gluing the roof on, but I like them to be detachable, so I drilled the roof for a 12BA bolt and then partway drilled in with a 2mm bit, then filed down and curved the head of the bolt until it sat in the drilled 2mm hole. It's secured on the underside of the roof with a nut, and I then filled the slight recess on the roof with filler. A piece of brass offcut with a hole in the right place, is soldered to the centre partition. The roof rain strips are secured with superglue. And the final test build. I’ll add the handrails and window bars after painting. The screw couplings are a hotchpotch of bits: Roxey hooks, Rumney links and 14BA nuts and bolts for the screw part. Its finished in BR Maroon (Tamiya TS-11) and lined with a pen. The kit also provides for glazing (a transparent sheet with the window outlines printed on it) but I opted for cut glass. Like the two Siphon G’s I recently completed, it was a pleasure to build. I think is captures the look of the prototype really well. Kind regards, Iain

I think the conversation between kits and ready to run will be ongoing! I believe they both have a place in our hobby. I like making kits, it gives me something to do, it’s a sense of achievement and I can see progress and improvement (generally) in my ability. But I have no issue in seeing something in a shop, or online, and thinking, ‘ooh, I’d like one of those’. This week I finished a kit by @macgeordie of an LNER Thompson 6-wheel NPCCS BZ. It came with everything needed less wheels and couplings and included a CD-ROM of build images and instructions. The only thing I did differently to the instructions was that, to represent the door bumps/stops, I drilled out the half-etched holes and soldered in .45mm wire as opposed to pressing them out. I think they look a bit neater. It's finished in BR Maroon (Tamiya TS-11) and lined with a pen. The kit also provides for glazing (a transparent sheet with the window outlines printed on it) but I opted for cut glass. Like the two Siphon G’s I recently completed, it was a pleasure to build. I think it captures the look of the prototype really well. I seem to have a bit of a thing for 6 wheels stock and think this one compares favourably with a Comet Models Stove R that I completed a couple of years ago. In due course they'll both be weathered. Kind regards, Iain

Hi Martin, I’m not sure if it’s the same family as the KWVR one. The type I’ve built were referred to as ‘Continentals’ as I think the vertical planking on the sides was similar to European vehicles of the time and they were used pretty much exclusively on the continental boat trains. The description below is much easier to do than describe, I probably should have taken some photos but I didn’t think anyone would be interested! To secure the roof to the carriage body, the body has three brass cross members added, each drilled with a hole to take a self-tapping M1.6x8mm screw. The base of the roof is made from .75mm/30 thou plastic card that is cut exactly to length to sit between the ends and is wide enough so it sits on top of the sides. I cut 17 cross braces / ribs / joists (I’m not sure the right name) from .75mm plastic card and filed them to the shape of the end profile. I then attached the first three, one at each end and the one in the middle. The remaining 14 were then evenly spread between the two sides; there’s about 1.5cm between each upright. I tried to position them, taking into account where the roof vents would need to be. Then when that was all dry, I drilled a hole just off the centreline of the flat roof of what would become each compartment of the roof when the cover was on, to allow for glue vapour venting and expansion. I cut short lengths of 8mm diameter styrene rod and drilled them centrally, to accept the self-tappers, and then glued them over the holes where the screws would go. I then cut individual lengths of 2mm styrene rod and filed them to fit between each apex of a pair of braces / ribs / joists. The purpose of this was to try and reduce the likelihood of the curved plastic cover sinking or settling between the ribs and causing ripples – which is what happened on the first roof I did. It also ensured the whole roof remained flat and made the frame hold its shape. For the curved cover I used .25mm plastic card, cutting it oversize by 1mm prior to fitting (only so there’s less waste and less to tidy up at the end). I secured one side to the base side of the roof and let it dry, then over a few sessions rolled the base of the roof onto the cover a little at a time, against a piece of glass, securing it with liquid poly as I went. On my original roof I used liquid poly gel (Revell Contacta) which took a while to dry and I think stressed the cover to cause ripples. For this one I used Mig Ammo Night Blue cement so you can see where capillary action draws the liquid, it dries in seconds and I didn’t worry if the curved plastic card wasn’t secured to the rib along its whole length – only where the curved cover naturally bought them into contact. I used finger pressure while it dried rather than weights (books) so I was far more gentle. I secured the remaining side, let it dry and cut the excess off with a scalpel. I added rain strips and cantrails from .25mm x .5mm strip. So the roof overhangs each side by .5mm (.25mm for the cantrail and .25mm for the curved cover) which looks prototypical. Given the thinness of the curved roof I took care when drilling and fitting the vents. Below are a couple of images as it is completed, you’ll note the brush painting under the cantrail is not that neat and you can see some blue dye from the cement and the overspray….. Kind regards, Iain

I thought I’d show where I am up to with a SECR 5 Compartment Brake First Saloon I’ve had on the go for a couple of months. The main components (sides, ends, floor) are Worsley Works etches, the bogies are Comet Models SR 8ft, the interior is made from plastic card and bits and pieces (seats and partition doors) left over from previously built kits. The roof is scratch built from plastic card. All the main parts have been painted with the body finished in an etch primer, ready for the Southern green top coat and transfers. The roof is a second attempt; I wasn’t happy with the first one I did as it had too many ripples in its surface. This one is made in the same manner but I used thinner card for the curved part, more ribs to support it and was less generous with the liquid poly. This one isn’t perfect but it’s okay; depending on how it catches the light it does have a few gentle ripples but nothing worth writing home about. With the interior, I’ve done quite basic painting as very little can be seen once the roof is fitted. I’m unsure exactly what the colours were so I have done it with a general southern feel, that said there probably aren’t too many people around who would know. The saloon area will need some casual chairs. Given the ‘plainness’ of the etches, I’ve added handrails, lamp irons, electrical connectors, alarm gear, identification plates, vacuum and steam heat pipes and additional brake gear detail, both underneath and on the brake end. I’ll fold up some paper for the corridor connector at the non-brake end and then I think it has gone as far as I can take it. Kind regards, Iain

Following the completion of the two mcgeordie / Ian MacDonald GW Siphons, I have been building one of his LNER BZ 6 wheel NPCCS kits - another well designed, easy to put together project. For the main parts it’s a mix of brass and nickel silver, whitemetal fittings and an extruded aluminium roof. The only thing the builder needs to provide are wheels. The chassis is reasonably complex, but built in steps and following the instructions (pretty much a must for some bits) it soon comes together. I like the design of the Cleminson style design to control the movement of the centre axle and the axle boxes (there being no cast type available) are a really novel design of layered brass. They certainly look the part. I managed to solder the layers the wrong way round on one (ironically the last one of the six!) of them; I couldn’t get it to fit the ‘W’ iron and it took me ages to work out what I had done wrong! A real ‘doh’ moment! The main components – the instructions suggest gluing the roof on, but I like them to be detachable, so I drilled the roof for a 12BA bolt and then partway drilled in with a 2mm bit, then filed down and curved the head of the bolt until it sat in the drilled 2mm hole. It's secured on the underside of the roof with a nut, and I then filled the slight recess on the roof with filler. A piece of brass offcut with a hole in the right place, is soldered to the centre partition. The rain strips are secured with superglue. I’m not a fan of superglue, even at the best of times, so we’ll see how we go with these. If they fall off, I’ll resort to tape. And the final test build. I’ll add the handrails and window bars after painting. The screw couplings are a hotchpotch of bits: Roxey hooks, Rumney links and 14BA nuts and bolts for the screw part. Although not common on the Somerset & Dorset line, this vehicle will be painted in lined BR maroon and numbered E70649E, as per the Rev John Sutters photograph at Templecombe. But that won’t happen until I’ve finished off the LBSCR Five Compartment Saloon First, which is close to being finished. Kind regards, Iain

As a few others have done, I thought I’d show my completed one of these. I did it along with an O.62 inside framed one. As with the O.62, it came superbly packed and labelled. It was quite exciting opening the box and seeing how much care Ian had put into packing and wrapping them! So much better than some kit manufacturers. I started with the laminating the sides and then attached all the external hinges and straps, not difficult but a bit fiddly and quite time consuming. I don’t have an RSU, so I just used a small soldering iron bit and the least amount of solder I could get away with and lots of flux. Each of the nickel silver strapping etch pieces has at least three minute solder applications! I did maybe a dozen at a time before my eyes got tired and the tedium was too much. But they look okay, definitely worth the effort. The main parts done. Apologies, in the image below the gangways are for the O.62 kit. And then then put together for a final check that everything still fits before washing and painting. I finished this one in GW brown with BR markings, the transfers are by Cambridge Custom Transfers. A well thought out kit, easy and fun to construct (less the strapping!) and I think it looks the part. Kind regards, Iain

Having just completed one of these, I thought I’d show a summary of the build, given most of the images on the previous pages seem to have been lost in the big server failure of a year of two back. I did two Siphons at the same time, the other being an O.11 outside framed example. They arrived with me, beautifully packed and labelled, everything except wheels, and the roof already rolled. Probably the most complete and comprehensive rolling stock kits I’ve ever made. I did the sides and ends first. Ordinarily it makes sense to do the chassis first, but on some other manufacturers’ builds I have found it pays to build the body first, as frequently the chassis sits inside the body and it’s easier to file a floor pan slightly shorter than make a body longer! I need not have worried as the etches were perfectly sized. The chassis was made in stages, generally I like to make things as sub-assemblies and then attach them once they are all done, in my mind kits seem quicker to build this way. And then the main bits done prior to painting. Apologies, in the image below the scissor gangways are for the O.11 kit. A final test build before a scrub with jif and toothbrush And then painted in Railmatch BR Crimson with transfers by Cambridge Custom Transfers. The previous thread pages and instructions recommend the use of an RSU, I don't possess one of those, all of the soldering was done with a standard temperature-controlled iron using the smallest bit and least amount of solder I could get away with. A superb kit and a really rewarding build. Kind regards, Iain

Over the weekend I have been able to complete a couple of @macgeordie designed and etched GW Siphons, an outside framed O.11 and inside framed O.62 with outside vents. They are probably the easiest kits to build I’ve experienced. The parts are so well drawn and etched there is literally no cusp and minimal tag material to remove – definitely ‘design clever’. The instructions were clear, as were the provided build pictures. Everything fitted perfectly, literally. The kit provides for the O.11 to have gas lighting, I thought by my era this would likely have been replaced with electric lighting, so I omitted the roof fittings and the gas cylinders and equipment on the underframe and added some battery boxes and a dynamo. I read on the gwr.org.uk website a few years ago, well I think I did, that Swindon continued to turn out some NPCCS in brown into the early years of British Railways, so the O.11 is finished in brown. For the body I used Vallejo Game Air Charred Brown, transfers from Cambridge Custom Transfers (Sheet BL159) and finished with Tamiya Flat varnish; the roof is Vallejo Dark Sea Grey with Mig Ultra Matt varnish. And the O.62 is Railmatch BR Crimson and the roof Vallejo Engine Grey, all the other paint and transfer details the same. And the pair coupled together. These would have been finished a while ago but for not having transfers available and also, we’ve had a long run of warm weather which has precluded setting up my airbrush in the garage, they've very much been painted in fits and starts. Yesterday morning was a nice cool low 20s so I managed to spray varnish the bodies. By 10am it was too warm, and we have another 42-43 degree day today! I have really liked making these and it caused me to rediscover out of deep storage a few Lima and Airfix versions of GW Siphons. While not quite in the same league as the kits, the chassis' are a bit bare but I think the bodies are quite accurate and crisply moulded, but overall they are worthy of improving, so I have ordered some of the required underframe components from Wizard Models, dug out the required bogie kits from long-a-go purchases and the Cambridge Custom Transfer sheet has more than enough numbers to do these. An enjoyable background project. Kind regards, Iain

Hi Brit15, I think because if I leave it as it is, it will look odd in relation to the remainder of the vehicle, which will hopefully look okay when complete. I don't feel it would scale down and might look like it was never done properly, and I don't want that. That said, it looks better today than it did yesterday! Kind regards, Iain

A few pages back I showed the start I had made on an SECR Five Compartment Brake First Saloon ‘Continental’ carriage utilising Worsley Works parts as the main components. I have progressed by completing the chassis; I made vacuum cylinders using styrene rod (I had no spare whitemetal ones) and added a few extra bits of plastic card and strip to represent some of the bracketry. I made up some of the brake pull rods with scrap brass and wire. I’m not sure its 100%, but I think it’s close enough. Buffers are Comet Models LMS oval ones. The ‘Vs’ filed in the side strengtheners are to clear the body’s door hinges and where the handles will go. I made up the body and started on the roof. The roof is .75mm plastic card cut to fit between the ends and equal in width to the sides so it sits (grammar?) on top of them. Ribs / joists are .75mm card cut and fashioned against the end profiles. A couple of holes were cut where I intend to do some sort of fixing mechanism (exact method TBD). A cover was cut from .25mm plastic sheet, slightly longer and wider than needed…measure twice, cut once, discard, remeasure… Then one side of the cover was liquid poly’d to one side and allowed to dry. Holes were drilled to allow glue vapours to escape once sealed. Then over a few days a little at a time the cover was secured to the ribs, using a book to keep the cover in contact with the ribs, but not press on them. Once past the apex of the roof, the roof was turned through 180 degrees and the other side done, working down to the cantrail. And then it was done, except I added a second layer of .25mm card to provide a little more strength. And resting in place. It needs rain strips, vents and cantrails adding, it's okay but it’s not quite as a I want it, there are one or two minor wrinkles (well they’re not really wrinkles, more like slight distortions to the curvature) but I can’t unsee them and in one place the .25mm card melted – perhaps too much liquid poly – but that can easily be dealt with by a bit of filler. So the plan is to look at it for a day or two and think about what to do next. My first thought is to cover it with a tissue soaked in diluted PVA. Or maybe I’ll just make another one. Kind regards, Iain

Thanks for the kind comments, Chris. And I agree, the kit designs are excellent and make construction all the easier. You’re quite correct, I did mean SECR; I’m also doing an LBSC Balloon Composite and got my ‘pre-groupings’ muddled up! On the ‘Continental’ I did notice that the saloon windows were in the wrong order, as it were. I’m doing a model of 7746 in the late SR/post war period, but don’t have a picture of that one, I’m using a picture of 7750 and the drawings in Mike King’s An Illustrated History of Southern Coaches as guides/reference material. Kind regards, Iain

Thanks for the compliment, John. The kit comes with cut to size heavy black paper sections to do just that, so I'll fit those after the varnishing. Kind regards, Iain

Although I’ve not commented, I have read the last few weeks of this thread with interest, there has certainly been some thought provoking stuff, thanks. I thought I’d show where I am with a few bits and pieces that I have on the go. Probably too many for me really. I have completed the build of a couple GW Siphons, an outside framed O.11 and inside framed O.62 that I finished most of the building of, over Christmas. The O.62: The O.11: I’m pleased how they’ve gone together. The O.11 looks dirtier that it is, well it was, as they got painted this morning; the delay was simply that we’ve recently had a run of quite warm weeks in a row. Mostly days in the high 30s and a couple in the low 40s (a couple of super big storms too) and our garage never cooled enough to allow spraying. The O.62 has a homemade coupling fitted and is now in BR crimson and the O.11 dark brown. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll finish them off. The kits were done by @macgeordie, and were superb, at the time I got these two, I also purchased an LNER Thompson BZ, which I’ve just started. The kit came beautifully packed and laid out, with everything except wheels, including comprehensive instructions, images of a suggested build sequence and images of a ‘real’ vehicle. I have done the sides (hinges, vents and droplights), the only deviation was that I drilled out the door stops and soldered in .45mm nickel silver wire, rather than press out the half-etched holes, as suggested by the instructions. As per the Siphons, the quality and crispness of the etches look like it’ll go together really well. And I’ve also started a LBSCR Five Compartment Saloon Brake First (I think that’s the right order…) from Worsley Works. I have prepared the sides by adding the droplights, door hinges and vents. I have drilled lots of holes in the ends to add detail later. I also cut the end windows at the brake end as the kit end was lacking these. It’ll ride on the Comet Models bogies. Next task will be to solder up the body and probably add some strengthening partitions, then fabricate a roof for it. Kind regards, Iain

…a beautiful summer Saturday in the 1950s, on the northern part of the Somerset & Dorset with a good quality digital SLR and Ivo Peters as my host… Kind regards, Iain

Over the last 10 days I have made steady progress on a couple of GW Siphon kits, much of the modelling done in quite short sittings between doing all the other things that need doing at this time of year – my longest session was an hour yesterday when everyone else took an afternoon nap! On the O.11, I soldered all the side and end fittings – there were lots and lots of tiny detail bits which did test my patience. And I soldered up the bodies of both. I like to have the roofs removable so simply soldered a 10BA bolt to the roof and an ‘L’ shape bracket with a hole to the outside body partitions. The roof rain strips are ‘sweated’ on. I had wondered if there would be expansion issues with the fine strip brass, but I took some care and soldering from the centres out has seen them neatly secured. The chassis’ are close to done, just the finer detail to add, and these have all be made pending fitting. And all test assembled together. They are almost there as all the big jobs have been done. I’ll do the gangways next and then finish off the underframes. I hope all on WW have had a safe and happy Christmas, wishing everyone the best for next year, wherever you are. Kind regards, Iain

Hi Chas, Thank you for the kind words. The bogie sides are just attached with glue, two-part epoxy. There was such a good fit between the castings and the etch material that just a thin smear was needed. Kind regards, Iain

I have started a couple of GW Siphon G kits, an outside framed O.11 and an inside framed O.62, that I bought a few years back from @macgeordie. They arrived beautifully packaged, each coming wrapped and laid out with all parts needed to complete, except wheels. Each also comes with a CD-ROM of build images and a comprehensive set of instruction; it took me a while to find a computer with a CD drive so I could transfer the files to a USB drive!! Modelling time for me over the last couple of weeks has been quite limited, although I’ve managed to do a bit most days, it has been in short periods of 15 or 20 minutes at best. In using this time I’ve been able to complete various components and sub-assemblies which can then be put together when time allows. First up was the bogies, I did both Siphon’s pairs over a couple of sittings, the etches fold up perfectly; there’s minimal cusp and there was almost no need to enlarge holes or file things to fit. Probably the easiest set of bogies I’ve ever put together. And much the same with the sides and the vent covers for the O.62, although the hinges are quite fiddley, each being made of two parts. My soldering was not as neat as I’d like and a couple of the hinge plates are slightly skew-whiff, but not so as you would notice unless you’re really looking. And the underframe is almost done, again everything fitted as it’s supposed to and there is, I think, just about the right level of detail. The O.11 is not as well advanced, I’ve been able to laminate the outside frame etches to the planked sides, there is no error in any of the lining up of vents between the three pieces and soldering along the top and bottom has seen them satisfactorily fixed. Next are the hinges and the frame strapping etches - I think that they will certainly be a test of sanity! Kind regards, Iain

Through the last two weeks or so I had time to complete a Roxey Mouldings LSWR Non-Corridor 3 Carriage ‘Cross Country’ set that I’ve had on and off the go since last Christmas. There’s nothing particularly difficult in their construction and normally I can do a carriage in about four or five weeks, but with these there were times when my motivation lapsed. I’m happy to have finished them and I think they’ve come out okay though. They are built pretty much as supplied with what came in the box(es), I made up my own couplings and glazed them with glass, although given the number of pieces needed, I was sorely tempted to use the clear plastic glazing provided in the kits. The interiors were made as number of sub-assemblies, prior to painting, and test fit and then installed piece by piece after the painting, transfers and glazing was done. There are five or six passengers in each carriage. I used cheap Chinese copies of the Preiser seated figures, they came painted in the most hideous colours – very un 1950s like! The commode handles provided in the kit were etched a different size (shorter top to bottom) than the holes etched in the carriage sides – this is consistent with the other half dozen or so Roxey LSWR carriages I’ve built. They need to be stretched slightly to fit, which is okay but then they lose some of the curved elegance of the original. Also the curved handles for the guards doors are too small, so I bent up some softish .45mm brass wire, not exactly the right shape but close enough for me. When cut from the fret, the handles have a short tab/leg that I think is supposed to be bent through 90 degrees and then this tab/leg is secured through the hole in the carriage side, but then this puts the handle too far to the right of the door. So I drilled out the top and bottom of each door handle with a .5mm bit and soldered in a length of .45mm brass wire to act as the pillar or leg. The photo below might explain better than my words! The door opening handles are beautifully fine etches. They’re finished in BR crimson as Set 122, one of the last to be withdrawn in late 1957. I have no real reason to model these carriages; my one day layout will be based on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway at Midsomer Norton, and I have no evidence of these non-corridor vehicles ever running on the line, certainly not during the period that interests me. If I’m honest, the blame lies with @Tony Teague who has an exquisite Cross Country set in Southern green (see page 39 of his layout thread); once I’d seen his, I decided I wanted a set of my own! Kind regards, Iain

Thanks to both of you. There's a Bunnings just down the road from me (well, 5km/3mi) which I'll drop in on, on the way home from work in the week. The nearest Auto One is about 40 minutes away which we can probably combine with doing something else. Kind regards, Iain

Yes, you're quite right! But I haven't found anywhere in Western Australia that sells etch primer; the model shop I use doesn't, and I've been to a fair few automotive shops and just received a blank stare when I've asked if they have any - admittedly that was a while ago. The Tamiya primer I use is okay but it's not as good as etch primer. Kind regards, Iain

I have progressed reasonably well with the build of the Roxey three carriage LSWR set that I’m doing. Over the last couple of weeks I have been able to spray the chassis’ and paint the bogies. I used Vallejo German Panzer Grey surface primer (73.603) with a few drops of their leather brown surface primer (70.626) added in and sprayed. The bogies are brush painted using a mixture of Vallejo German Tank Crew (333) and German Cam Black brown (70.822), from the panzer series, while all different colours they blend well. The bodies were sprayed with Railmatch 311 BR Crimson let down with white spirit. I have two part jars of this, one is about 5 years old the other from the early 90s; unfortunately, the newer jar had formed a skin on the surface, so I tried the old stuff, which worked fine. Transfers are by HMRS and then sealed with Tamiya semi-gloss clear varnish from a can. I have yet to do the ends and add the set number, I'll do that towards the end of the build as I often handle them via the ends, which will likely remove some of the paint. To complete the roofs, I added rain strips from tape; they’re still slightly overlength and will be trimmed back before final fitting. This is because the tape I used is likely to shrink back a mm or two over the next few days, it gets stretched during the application no matter how much care I seem to take. They are sprayed with Vallejo Air Dark Sea Grey (71.053) and varnished with Mig Ultra Matt Lucky Varnish. Ordinarily I paint coach roofs a variety of shades, to break up the homogeneity in a rake, but decided to do these all the same as knowing a fixed set would probably all have gone through the works at the same time. Overall, I’m pleased with the finish of the various paints and varnishes, I could probably streamline my painting methods to reduce the variety of materials and be more efficient, but what would be the fun in that? Next will be the fixing in of the windows, not the most exciting modelling! Kind regards, Iain