MrSimon

Thanks Dave! The scenery is the bit I’m looking forward to - the plan is for two or three different cameos on the board, it’s the bit I’ve been looking forward to 😁 It’s widely known that BR tested the Hello Kitty Shinkansen on the surviving section of the Great Central before deciding on getting centre cars for the class 144s instead 😉😉 it’s quite a handy thing to test clearances with being quite wide with long cars and slightly coarser wheels. Also it’s quite fun and was at the front of the cupboard! Cheers Simon

Hello everybody! I skived the gym tonight and messed around on the bedroom floor instead… The first time I made a loop with the viaduct so I could test the layout with whatever I had to hand… Obviously I recorded it for you… What I found is I need to sort some small risers to bring viaduct about 1cm higher so the track can be as level as possible. I also need to widen the hole in the baseboard where the back track comes in on the left…. These eclectic passenger trains were all fine/fine-ish, I need to test more freight… Lots to do! Everything is going to hurt in the morning!! Simon

Hello everybody! I’ve had a burst of energy and over a rainy long weekend have got all but 2” of track laid! It’s been a while but I’ve stared at the layout really hard over the last year… Firstly, I cut another hole in the baseboard: Icecream vans as switches turned out to be a non-starter, but a removable hatch turned out to be just the thing. After I fitted the three switches that go in this little cubby I removed the temporary track-testing wiring and properly wired it up: Heres all the wiring on the left finished. To do the right I had to make and fit the third point mechanism, find and fit the rest of the baseboard, and lay some the track over the board join. It’s now complete and I can run trains from one end to the other. Heres the current state, time for the scenery… Lots to do Simon

They look great Nigel! What did you use for the roof section on the Worsley kits? Many thanks Simon

Not strictly related, I love the packaging you use; really good quality! The kit was great too 😃 Cheers Simon

I think a short rake of Hanson livery

It’s not bad as conversions go - the only spare parts you need are some exhausts and a strip of glazing. Cutting the new windows is a little tricky but it’s not hard hard.

Thanks David, I’d got some off a random seller on eBay and they felt a little bigger than I thought they should be to go in the middle of some valve gear - then I measured them and they’re bang on 2mm o.d. - I’ll have a think and maybe see if I can reduce the diameter slightly. I wasn’t sure if the old assoc ones were smaller. Thanks also for the hobby holidays link - I didn’t realise they were selling online, looks like they’ve got all the other bits I’ve been scratching my head about since Eileen’s went! Cheers Simon

Hi all, This might be a ridiculous question, so bare with! Did the association used to sell 16ba washers? If so, what size (diameter) were they? I get that the hole is a set size but is the rest variable? Many thanks Simon

Great news! Do you have any kits available Chris? Many thanks Simon

Hello everybody! Quite a quiet summer, filled with plenty of putting stuff off and doing little jobs instead of sitting down and finishing things… but some things have been finished! I’ve got the unfinished 2mm wagon queue down by quite a chunk. Top is an NGS/parkside 3 plank open with container, Middle is a pair of LNER opens (these are rewheeled Bachman) and Bottom are three wagons that had been returned from Dad’s layout at Christmas ready for their new life in my 2mm stock box! I managed to get the steel-sided teak effect LNER BG finished. I’m 90% sure both numbers are wrong and I wasn’t sure if I should have painted the LNER out on the side with the BR number (I assumed I should, but I’ve got a picture of my grandad leaning out of a coach that says LMS on well past nationalisation…) I finally got over my nerves and took the chimney and dome off and had a word with the splashers. Then I filed too much off the new chimney and it’s currently without one while I get an order together… but it’s coming together nicely. The fairburn valvegear is almost finished, I had to send off for a replacement but from Bachman and I just need to fit it all together and see if it runs. I’ve also had some random new arrivals: I think this will go 2mm, but not yet I don’t know why I bought this… but I like it! A sonic J50 also came for the 2mm queue and 13 gypsum containers which were for Gresby… Lots to do! Simon

The BG turned out well - I used 2mmFS bogies but the Dapol ones and couplers from the underframe will work just as well. Great kit, thanks for producing it! (it’s the steel side one in N) Many thanks Simon

Here too! Thirteen wagons of gypsum containers to weather - the containers look great! Cheers Simon

I’d say sort the coupling issue. The grey/silver can always be matched by the modeller with weathering or paint, but the colour’s irrelevant if the wagon has to be sent back… Also, make sure it’s clear in the wagon description if the colour is changed - there’s already enough of a lucky dip with the couplings without introducing another variable

Does it just need pictures and a write up of what it is?

As the J94/austerity is EFE is it likely that the normal Farish bearings will be used so we can convert it to 2mm easily…?

Hi Kevin, Is the competition just open to the e-board members? Many thanks Simon

Hi Richard For the 0.33 rod try Albion Alloys - I found them on eBay but I’m sure they have a page in the rest of the internet too… My J94 chassis keeps threatening to come out of the sulking box, I think I’ve worked out what I’d done to it after doing a few more chassis! Cheers Simon

Is there a risk that the poor selling 175s in N won’t come? Is there potential for a 321-style livery cull? (Just because I’d ordered the FNW one) Thanks Simon

Hi all, After two hours of rainy afternoon here in London I’ve got this far on my Fairburn: Have I got the combination lever the right way round? It goes inwards from top to bottom rather than outwards - is that right? Many thanks Simon

Hello everybody! Its a while since I updated this, mostly through not taking pictures of anything and doing other things… but here’s what I’ve been up to: I weathered all but one of the wagons I’d got part finished, there’s just one now waiting for transfers. I got one of these and weathered it for the stock box - I’m not getting more to make a longer train (and it’s not going 2mm) but it’s an OK wagon - hopefully I’ve managed to disguise the repair to when I found how fragile the brake rod is…) Got another 2mm conversion on the go, a Fairburn tank (which I thought I had a picture of) - I’m about to start building the valve gear which I’ve had to put off many times. I bought an Isinglass Models steel sided BG kit to try as they’ve started to shrink their range to N. It clips onto the Dapol Gresley chassis. I spent quite a bit of time researching and doing testers for ‘teak’. What I’ve found works starts off as the above (yellow spray over grey primer) Then a thin layer of Vallejo acrylics - I followed Mike Trice’s method but instead of Orange and Earth colour I substituted half of the orange for ‘sunny skin’ to knock back some of the intensity, then a coat of Klear. Next I painted on the grains with a mix of Burnt Umber and Van Dyke Browns thinned with liquin. I swapped the bogies for 2mm ones, which need painting, and it needs glazing , lining out and numbering before weathering. The look I’m aiming for is BG in general traffic condition a while after last works attention/repaint. I’ve got a plan for the footboards! Lots to do Simon

Hi all, What are the best options for lining a teak coach in 2mm? It’s a steel-side Gresley BG so I’ll need to add it rather than just following the panel lines… is there a handy transfer set available or is this going to become the summer of the bow pen? The oils still need to fully set and be sealed with varnish, and the rest of the coach needs to be finished, but here’s where I’m up to. Many thanks Simon

Thanks Mike, It’s turning out quite well (although I’m not looking forward to doing the lining) - as it’s N I added Vallejo ‘sunny skin’ in place of some of the orange to tone the intensity down: I’m looking forward to trying it on a panelled coach! Many thanks Simon

Hi Mike, thanks for sharing your method! I’ve been doing some testers which have turned out well. Do you know if the LNER painted in panel variation in the steel/ply sided coaches/BGs? I’ve seen pictures of the coaches being lined out as if they’re teak (so I’m assuming we’d paint the grains as if the coach was teak) but would that extend to the paint shops making ‘panels’ darker? Also, do you know if they steel/ply coaches turned from the umber to the van-dyke in the same way as the teak coaches? Many thanks in advance Simon

What’s the N gauge wing of the family called…?