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Hi , could be worth looking at lendons of Cardiff to come to a compromise, their range of spares is excellent, comparable with peters spares, and often cheaper…..they don’t appear to have any class 71 spares unfortunately.

Excellent, many thanks

Apologies if there is an old thread on this. Does anyone (Phoenix/Railmatch/Humbrol) produce grey roof paint used on br blue large logo Locos, or if not have a colour which is a close match.? many thanks.

The 56 looks great, most certainly down to the paint job, and interesting the use of an Airfix power unit, and how they can be maintained easily in knowledgeable hands.

Superb job by Cavalex, compared mine to Hornbys 56013, and clearly sorts out the shortcomings of the older model especially on the cosmetic front…..and certainly bodes well for the class 60.

Hi Darius, …..exceptional work as always. my vote would be for the 2Hal (as it is an interesting one off), followed by the SR Demu (since you have 2), and finally to be selfish the Clacton class 309 as I used to commute on those, and have one to be built, just mulling over the appropriate power bogie.

Excellent, many thanks

Excellent work as usual, especially on an unusual emu, so inspiring, you continue to prove to MTK critics that they can be built into presentable models. what is your glue of choice ?

I see a well known auction site has 3 potential restoration projects on offer, 2 class 47’s and a class 40.

Perhaps a bit of inspiration, if it takes your fancy? For a loose 31/0 headcode boxes filed down, followed by some filler and plasticard fetteling.

Flush glazing your Airfix 31 will dramatically improve the face and overall appearance of the loco, a great upgrade at relatively minimal cost. The 37 will look better but not quite to the same extent, as the window frames are somewhat too thick.

It’s good to see the constant stream of MTK kits appearing on the well known auction site, and perhaps a shame that Phoenix Precision who now own all the various moulds of Colins efforts ,don’t release any items, but I can appreciate why they haven’t. I would agree that the HST prototype was probably the Genesis offering, being just the cabs , which do look the part when married up to either Lima off Hornby bodies, and I wonder who now owns the Genesis range.

What a great looking model, have you sourced a pantograph? …. Just shows how well MTK kits will scrub up with patience.

Looks a promising model, I guess everyone is waiting with bated breath to see what liveries are announced………….and of course the price, and how the finer general details ie elements of the bogies compare with with the cavelex 56.

The joeuf loco has flush glazing which definitely improves the face , however compared to the other’s ,suffers from the tubby Duff syndrome, and is probably a touch underpowered. And apart from power bogie challenge, overall Qkits resin casting and particularly face was way ahead of its time, and still stands up well to current offerings.

I thought I would share with you whilst sorting out items collected over the years, a loco covered by a few manufacturers with some success, in 00 gauge. from left to right…Bachmann, MTK, Lima/Hornby,Q-kits and joeuff. Two kit examples sit on Mainline Peak chassis and running gear.

Tpex and 68’’s……….Just a minor observation in respect of wider franchise awards…..why are the First Group ever let near railway operations, their track record seems very poor in general……maybe they are just the only ones continuously putting their heads above the parapet.

Hi , for those who read Rail Express they review and describe the steps to resolve the derailing issue in this month’s magazine.

One challenge sometimes overlooked, is I believe that the 56 power units were all trucked out to Romania and during the winter, where the road network was fairly basic. Another sale to note was the Hillman hunter tooling to Iran , which was an immense success for that nation, current travelogues still show many popping up …. Although their numbers seem to be overtaken now by Peugeot 405’s which were made there from 1992 until 2022…. And still made in Azerbaijan (per Wikipedia).

How about a weathered offering….with the western region attention to cleanliness…. as demonstrated on many of the interesting photos on this thread.

Looks just right especially the face and slight curvature below the screens… the level of additional detail with the etching is definitely a big wakey wakey call to the big red and blue corners.

Good call and notes. .and the joy of picking up complete mtk locos second hand, takes the pain out of building them sometimes , and allows the more pleasant task of repainting and glazing . Todays paints and adhesives make life so much easier even against Colin Massinghams curve balls. !!! Cravens 105 , two car unit now on my radar, came with under frames missing but then cost less than a fiver , so will be a bit of a hybrid, and to use some spare transfers is representing when some were parcels units in their twilight days in the 1980’s, and coming on nicely with Lima ho class 33 as the power unit.

Class 24/1 as good as finished, really quite a nice kit…with the usual challenges. !!! Sits on Hornby 25 bogie frames with the ring field motor and runs so well with the weight of the body.

A Class 128 emu I purchased a few years before the Heljan offering, caught my eye as I had never seen an mtk kit finished to such a high standard with respect to paint,lining and overall appearance , almost a shame after all the builder’s efforts that it sits on a Lima platform. I have built other offerings of the 128 ie silver fox and craftsman but never attained a similar standard.