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Looka very nice will definately be an LNER visitor to my layout in dirty BR guise. Be nice to see pre-production with some wheels and gear.

Nice looking loco (Swindon), however the lubricator pipes look a bit on the large side, I know one should not be pedantic especially as the overall loco is superb. I have just converted my 'Bristol Castle' (The last of the ex Airfix tooling with the 5 pole motor) into 'Spitfire'. This model did not have a lubricator either in front or behind the steam pipe. The lubricator I bought is a very nice representation with fine pipework. My opinion and it is only mine before the moderators nab me is that all of the manufacturers and the NRM are missing out on GWR 175, I know Hornby have the 28XX coming out but it would have been made anyway. But thats another subject.

What if the LMS had purchased Castles? No rebuilt Scots/Patriots? No Black 5s? does not bear thinking about. GWR were too soon with its Pacific, What if the King had been developed as a 4-6-2?

Diana Vickers, 'Songs from a tainted cherry tree'. I was pleasantly surprised by her first offering, Voice is like Dolores O'Riorden of the Cranberrys plus the faintest whif of Kate Bush, certainly by far and away the best act to come out of the X factor (including Leona Lewis). And she has co written a lot of the tracks. As long as people like Simon Cowell keep their grubby mits off her and she is allowed to develop I think she has a great future and will be around for a while. She is also pretty good actor, was excellent in the west end.

Doughnut forsake me Oh my darling-Jim Reeves I think

twenty a day

Decided to have a go at the overspill on the wethered bullet, I have used real china clay but havent sealed it yet as I want to try various applications until it looks a little better trying to get a splash effect rather than the 'runny paint' on the original, pice shows before & after

Must have had a few weathered ones left over, I got one this morning, weathering is superb, china clay spillage is a bit overdone and will be lightly removed. I put the Hornby Roco style couplers on, the wagons do not couple any closer but look better. Not being advertised now so I guess they were snaffled pretty quick

Was in the shop today, they had just taken delivery of a load of Bullets they do look superb, I saw the flat tarps and quite frankly the tarps are poor, thick material like the hoods and my order will get my own tarps made from aircraft modellers tissue. The actual wagon though loks very good

Thanks Summer_Saturday

MSE? Excuse my ignorance but who are they? is there a website?

Anyone got any news on replacement ladders/walkway availability?

Any luck removing the lubricator Drandles? All my pictures of Earl Cairns show it without the lubricator behind the pipe, and I believe this is pretty much how it remained unless anyone knows better. Funny how Hornby can get details such as handrails and pipes right but miss a glaringly (?) incorrect one like that.

I have got the original Bournemouth Belle and coach pack that comes with New Zealand line, will perhaps add a twelve wheeler, but it has never been out of the box so I am not sure what tweleve wheeler to add/substitute

As reported before the Kernow wagons are all spoken for, hopefully they will do another run of weathered 'bullets' I thought about using the couplers that you sometimes get with Bachmann Mk1's a sort of pipe that slots into the socket. Hornby make a Roco style coupler that couples closer than the normal couplings and look much neater.

Just wanted to say what a superb thread this is with loads of information, these must be a candidate for model of the year even at this early stage

Thanks Craig that explains how you were able to get so close still great pics. Does anyone know which/where the pipework connects? Looking at the photos again there is no eveidence of the end platform or the side information board, so given that Dapol have modelled a different version it begs the question did Dapols version ever carry China Clay slurry, and could Dapol produce the TEA rom the same tooling?

Just a quick add on to my last posting, but how did you get to the yard Craig? i.e did you have to cross the tracks or get there from the High Street side?

Nice photos Craig, Burngullow is only a few miles from where I live, have been down there a couple of times but must go down and get some photos for a bit of detailing. Sad to say that the china clay industry is running down slowly but surely, that is why rail traffic has diminished, Imerys like to clog the byways of Cornwall with masses of trucks/tankers getting in everyones way! It would be good to see them running again but I guess their next move will be to a buyer or to the scrap yard. As far as the dirt/muck is concerned you have to remember that these have not carried clay slurry for a while and any residue would probably be washed off by the copious amounts of rain we have here in Cornwall, however that said the weathering is interesting with small areas of chrome showing through. I will probably use various coloured charcoal sticks to weather, plus a little matt varnish and of course some real china clay for the whitened areas.

I agree with some of what you say ews60002 however we are to a certain extent victims of our own wishes. Many modelers wish for ever more fine detail and when we get it we come to expect that from all new products. The Silver Bullets are fantastic wagons despite the ladders, its just that when Dapol go to such great lengths to produce such incredibly fine lettering and beautiful bogies and running qualities it is a shame that the ladder appears like an afterthought. I was comparing the ladder to an old Hornby tank wagon that I have had for years and the ladder on the Hornby wagon is superb compared with the Dapol effort. I would have liked/expected an etched ladder for nearly £30 a wagon. But all that said it is an inspired choice, bring on the Tigers!

Picked mine up today, absolutely beautiful aside from the ladders which look as if they have been lifted from an old Tri-ang model, they are completely at odds with the rest of the model which is fantastic. Running qualities are especially good. I must admit I am not too worried about the walkway which I think I can live with but the ladder is in need of replacement. Shame really the one pays nigh on £30 for a wagon which is let down by a distinctly un-super detailed ladder. All that said I will get another when the coffers allow. The chap at the shop I bought these told me that Kernow wanted to do a bigger run of the weathered wagons but for some reason could not. I believe we will see more weathered wagons but whether it is Dapol or Kernow who market them is anyones guess. Can anyone confirm if a ladder/walkway is in the pipeline?

I asked at the Kernow MRC stand at the recent West of England show if they were going to do another run of the weathered silver bullets, the answer was that they did not know at the moment. I would speculate (always a bit dangerous) that if they do not Dapol could market their own weathered version and clean up judging by the way they are going. One of my local shops has had a few on order one of which is earmaked for me which I will pick up tomorrow am really looking forward to seeing this superb model, I think we can forgive the ladders and walkway on top but as someone else wrote I am sure an etched replacement kit will appear very soon. It will be interesting to see who makes the kit first and how long it takes to get on this thread!

Thanks Peter I will follow that up

Speaking to the Kernow MRC boya at last weekends show in Cornwall, they have not made theie minds up whether to have another run of the weathered wagons, If they do not it leaves the door wide open for Dapol to cash in.

Thanks Taz I think the penny has dropped, I did not realise the splasher was a one piece brass fitting seperate to the rest of the body, so I am confident that it should not be too daunting just make sure I do not bend the brass splasher! in fact one could be really prototypical and attach the new nameplate with three small backing plates. I saw a renumbered and named example at the West of England model railway show at Carn Brea, aptly it was 7015 Carn Brea Castle and looked very nice too.