Mikkel

Interesting photo in Andy's thread, here: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/163683-helston-revisited/?do=findComment&comment=5487694

What a lovely photo. And a rare good shot of a round-ended 3- planker with lefthand GWR!

Hi Matt, very pleasing to see an old kit like that coming to life. The aluminimum look is almost arty. I'm sometimes tempted to pick up one of the old wooden wagon/van kits that come up on ebay etc sometimes. Just to see what they're like. I doubt they can match this though!

What a great finish, all the modified parts are completely integrated with the original body. I'm impressed with "Croesnewydd", very neatly arranged, not easy when you're adding each letter individually. I enjoy it though, there's something satisfying about making up the words letter by letter.

Interesting. Turns out that Sam is a hands-on person.

Looks great. I've been looking at RTR tenders for it, ended up with the Oxford Rail 2500 G for mine (but hard to get on its own,had to nick it off one of my existing Dean Goods). @Miss Prism provided a useful overview of GWR RTR tenders here: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/183088-gwr-4mm-rtr-tenders/

Very effective. A lot of work must have gone into that in front of the screen. That sounds useful for railway modellers. This hobby never stops developing!

Setting aside the tragedy for a moment, the authors clearly had a lot of fun researching that case. Holmgren's little trick is very clever, it must have been exciting to analyse the lamps!

I note this comment below the video:

PS: Been studying your painting of the harness. It looks fantastic!

It's a bit tricky because the livery changed over the years and tended to be adapted to each particular design anyway. There isn't much photo material either in this case, as the GWR did not actually have that many horse-drawn wagons with hard sides likes this (I can't find this particular design in the any photos or in Atkins' diagram overview). But as a rule of thumb, in pre-WW1 years the sides would have been chocolate all the way up to the roof, which was in principle white. Then later cream above waist as you have done (your period is 1930s IIRC?). If the top is supposed to be tight canvas I would keep it in dark grey. Some of the last horsedrawn designs has a hard roof which appears very light grey - almost white - in photos. If you look at 1930s motor vehicles it becomes even more confusing, as some of the hard tops are all cream and others are all dark grey. But to sum up I think what you've got now is plausible.

Thanks Mike. Good point about the note, maybe I should have left one in there! I should probably also have soldered her in place, rather than just superglueing. If she comes loose there is no way I can get in there, and I dislike loose objects that rattle inside. She may yet get her revenge!

I think he has a point. Some station buildings appear large on their own, but are actually fairly low and narrow in comparison with other structures. Newbury is an example. Anyway, only you know the relative dimensions of the two structures Chris.

Yes, congratulations on the round number, we are lucky to reach them. And Great Western in the snow. Not a bad way to spend a birthday!

Anything for the hobby 🙂

Yes, it deserves the name on it. If you already have one of the HMRS transfer sheets, the name can be composed from the lettering - either the alphabet provided or from bits of the other wording. But it takes a bit of time of course.

Very nice work, David. And all done with basic components, without buying in special items (save buffers and hooks). The L sections for the handrails are particularly impressive. And the lamp irons are ingeniously simple, but effective. There's a magazine article here, I think.

Proper mixed-up stock and nicely subdued colours. The "grimy" look can come across rather stark on layouts sometimes, but the brown shades used here are very effective, and suits the period well I think. The chocolate-box days are gone but this railway is not mismanaged, just coping with changed circumstances.

Excellent Stu. A commission?

Curvy bay with platforms both sides. Groovy. And the tower style station design in stone, for once. Still there I see.

Atkins et al say this was taken 1902. Left-hand GWR. Admittedly a demo photo from Swindon, but the wagon looks in fair condition. The "Disused Stations" site states that this is West Bay Bridport in 1906. Wagon extreme left has left-hand GWR, possibly fourth from left also. But could be wrong date, especially as no 25" lettering present. Can't find any left-hand GWR's in the post-1905 Reading goods yard photos that we often refer to.

Crop from edge of well-known photo from Bath, dated 1908. Frustrating angle, but the plate is interesting. Could be special instructions of course. Note pattern of rain strips.

Thankfully not for sale, it seems.