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Thanks Jo, am looking forward to seeing these on the lorry, this project has definitely been a labour of love.

Both those thoughts came into my mind as well.

I thought that, but his previous deal ran until the end of 2025 so wouldn't have been an option anyway?

Looks nice! I was tempted by 55022 when one came up on ebay recently. Is anyone able to advise if the cantrail silver grilles are separately fitted or part of the body moulding please? If I bought one, I would want to back date it without the bling...

I was massively surprised to read this, feels a big risk for LH but as Fernando Alonso once said when he left Ferrari for Mclaren "If you are not winning then it doesn't matter if you are 2nd or 10th" and I suspect Lewis has decided that Ferrari is worth a gamble. The reality is Red Bull will probably win this year again and 2025. Moving to Ferrari for 2025 is really a stepping stone ahead of the major changes in 2026, one presumes that Vasseur etc have shown him a vision of what 2026 will look like, how they are planning to trounce the field etc, just like Niki Lauda did in 2012 to get him away from Mclaren. As to who replaces him, I guess the team are looking for someone who can work with George but be as close as possible to a championship winning driver: - Sainz is obvious candidate who would be a solid driver looking to support the team in the long term. - Ricciardo - Has the popularity vote with the fans but how close back to his peak is he? - Fernando might be banging on Toto's door for that final crack at the 3rd championship but I can see him and Russell creating fireworks and Fernando has at most 2 years in him? - Albon - Hmm not sure, he seems to be rated but is he potential champion material Other wilder options - Norris - Maybe Merc would have the pockets to buy him out of their Engine customer - Bottas - "Valteri, it is Toto.. We need you back"

I have had a few non modelling bits and pieces on at home at the moment and coupled with some cold weather which doesn't lend itself to spraying, however Jo sent me the latest artwork to test fit today before the transfers go to print so I have some impetus now! As the transfers are custom made drawn from photos, Jo always sends me a PDF before hand so I can check the artwork fits and I have all the bits I need; these are printed at home on my printer to size which I then cut out and let Jo know any tweaks to be made. We have an issue with our home printer so the artwork in the images below are nowhere near the quality of the transfers but that is not important at the moment. Jo has picked up on a couple of bits I had missed such as the "Conqueour" name on the cab door and I have asked him to add some duplicate copies of the tax discs and O licence disc which are missing from some of my other models. Trailer logo is spot on, I counted the curtain buckles to check it was the right size Cab artwork, again mostly spot on The front grille is nearly there are brings the front to life. It is slightly oversize but Jo will fix that before it goes to print Now the weather is better I will crack on with the spraying.

I am sure it will be excellent as usual Chris!

I did the same when I was a student in 1996. They had conductors if I recall as a hang over from some competition with Southampton citybus who had bought some Routemasters.

Great news re Lando contract extension, moving to Red Bull would have been a bad move for him while Verstappen is there. If Max throws in the towel in 2028 and Lando hasn't sealed the championship in the Mclaren by then he can still jump ship if Red Bull are the leading team.

Just watched a simulation of Madrid track and I can't see an obvious overtaking place on it at all sadly...

Nice models, never knew you could go direct from Cheltenham to Weston, that would be a long trip in an Olympian!

I got a spray can of enamel made up for my 1/43 Leyland National using the BS numbers so thanks for sharing: Pretty sure Model Masters do them in 1:76, https://modelmaster.uk/447-4mm-scale-bus-and-lt-decals-waterslide-transfers but if not the ones in the pics above were a custom job for me in 1/43 by Steadfast Models who may be able to help @Steadfast

Agree the model of 20223 is very nice

Looks lovely, very nicely weathered!

Re the cuts to the fairings, if you look closely the fairing around the buffers is removable as it is in effect 2 c shaped plates which wrap round the shank of the buffer. These need to be removable in the event of a buffer needing to be changed as otherwise it would be impossible to access the securing bolts. Looking at pics of the loco over the years it seems these were missing for a bit no doubt after repair so the presence of the plates does not provide a pointer to whichever livery it will emerge, potentially either blue or green will be correct. Of note it still retains the plate above the coupling which was retro fitted to all centre box class 37's early in their career, When 37248 was restored as D948 this plate was removed so the loco could be restored to true as new condition.

Thanks Mark, I am looking forward to seeing this finished. The guys at Torridge did try and keep the wagons tidy but that was hard with the Devon roads and quite a bit of their work was timber related for the wood chip works at South Molton which meant the trucks were often on muddy tracks.

Thanks Al!

Progress has slowed due to getting on with some decorating in the house as well as a myriad of daily life jobs however the good news is most of the plastic bashing is complete! The last big job was to make the side guards for the trailer which were made from plastic rod, copying the photo of my chosen lorry as best I could. I made the uprights over length as these slide in corresponding holes I drilled in the floor, they will be fitted permanently after painting. Talking of painting part of the delay since the last update was I spent nearly 6 hours removing the printing from the side of the trailer. I didn't fancy using nitromors on plastic so resorted to IPA on a cotton bud which worked fine on other IXO trucks, however the printing on the one was resilient but got there in the end. With the major bits done I couldn't resist putting the main parts of the unit and trailer back together to see what they looked like. The shot below shows the completed trailer doors. Some 3/4 shots before it gets dismantled for spraying. It is definitely looking more like a UK truck now.

I was chatting about this with my old man last night who while not a modeller is interested in Railways and has modelled previously. He had read the news re Hattons and Warley and we broadly came to the same place; - It is sad to lose Hattons for both the people who work there and it is a famous name but there have been other famous names (eg W&H) who have gone before and the hobby survived - It is sad to lose Warley as it was a popular show but it is not the first big show to so and the hobby survived I probably see more young people who are modellers at shows now than I did 20 years ago, and the "older generation" is still being replenished by people who are starting the hobby later in life. You only have to look at the advent of new players into the market such as Rapido, Accurascale to name a couple to see there is demand there as why would you bother to commit finance in such business ventures.

Thanks for sharing Nick, handy to know.

Although I haven't been for years, this is sad news and the loss will be mourned by many and it was a nice large central location.

Have to say he was one of the highlights for drive to survive for me. Every time a Haas breaks down/crashes I can imagine him on the wall ranting away ("Fok, what do we fokking need to do??") Followed up with the inevitable call where all you hear is "Gene I know.....I know Gene..... Gene its fokking me off too.. I know Gene...."

Greatbwork and thanks for taking the time to write up about the FV4 valve, very interesting!

Unusual choice but useful for the modern Modeller.

Ahem.. https://www.motorsport.com/dtm/news/why-verstappen-tested-a-ferrari-gt3-car-for-dtm-team-emil-frey/10562926/