Highlandman

Happy anniversary to you and your wife, hope you had a good time in Venice. Did you get to see the famous Murano Glassworks and the wonderful mosaics they have in Vencie? As always Gordon, your carpentery and joinery skills amaze me. If only I could match your quality. The platform looks amazing and it's exactly the way I built mine, using a strip wood subframe and thin ply/MDF surface. This method certainly makes it easier to attach items to the surface. Something to screw into instead of thin plasticard often used. Mind you I stuck my stone walls on with the subframe in place, but there again my platform was a much simpler affair. Below is my effort, you can see the strip wood on the far right of the picture. The stone face has already been stuck on the rest.

I have just been catching up on this thread and it's a fantastic bit of modelling. When i first saw the lawn mower I thought it was a kit from the likes of Langley. The greenhouse look great and the frosting can possibly be used as white wash sun protection. To possibly stop this from happening in the future and for large laminating jobs I was recommended a solvent adhesive going by the name of D-Limonine, supplied by Hobby Holidays and Wizard Models. It is milder than MEK or Plasticweld and does not evaporate as quickly, thus allowing you more time to line up items before they stick. It also allows you to stick finer plastic strip without totally melting it. I have used it to successfully laminate plasticard together and to stick strips to clear plastic without frosting. JUst another adhesive to add to your arsenal.

When I tried to look up their website a little while ago, my Bullguard antivirus blocked it as a hazardous site that could damage your computer. When I asked about that at a recent show i was told that the site had been hacked/infected with virus and that they had closed it down until they could sort out the problem. Some older JAVA scripts on websites could be used to hide potential viruses as I had the very same problem on a site I run a little way while ago. The only way I could deal with it was shut down all the pages with the offending code and try and re-write new pages that would be more secure from virus threats. Whether this is still the case I don't know, but it can take some time to get a working and more secure site up and running.

I've just been having a search through the internet, as you do at 2am and you can't sleep, and I've found these two pictures and information. One is of a very nicely restored finial and the other is of one in not so good condition. But the important bit, i think is that they give the height of the finial in their catalogue. I did think that you could get some measurements from the first picture using the bricks as a scale guide. If so the base plate appears to be about 10 - 12ins square, assuming a brick and mortar joint is 9ins. Trouble is, the angle the photograph is taken, means it doesn't correlate with the 24in height given in the auction catalogue. You might be able to make more of it than me. All the best Andy

I'm not sure if these are the ones you are asking about, but I took these photographs on the Bluebell a couple of years ago. I'm also looking through some of my books to see if I have anything with measurement in. Peter Squibb talks a little about the construction of LSWR signals in his Scratchbuilders Guide to Semaphore SIgnals. ISBN 978 1 905184 68 2 If these are suitable I have the original RAW files and jpeg's at higher resolutions if you would like me to PM or email then to you. All the best Andy

Not only is Jon's work superb, he's a damn good teacher and motivator as well. HIs pictures make it look easy and prompted me to give it a go, albeit in 4mm.

As always Jon, a very informative post with some great work. How do you intend to stop the stray light coming from the bottom of the LED's?

For buildings on a large scale, albeit in 4mm, check out this topic about the modelling of Carlisle Citadel and its surrounds. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/68919-carlisle-buildings-central-hotel-new-photos/?p=1635660 The pictures of the hotel builds are trully remarkable. This is one project to keep an eye on.

Don't you just hate some people. Here I am struggling to produce reasonable buildings for my layout and somebody can produce masterpeices such as these with consumate ease and what appears to be such a short time span. Why isn't there an emoticon for envy 'cause I think they're great?

Harking back to this previous post of mine, I was looking through various sites on the Kingsbridge branch and found this short video from the Railway Roundabout series. It shows the camping coaches at Gara Bridge, but what is interesting are the two pannier tanks that appear in it. One shot looks remarkably like the photograph, slide 57, in my link above. http://youtu.be/v5UT0Khrqqc [Edited to correct spelling mistakes. Well it was typed at 4.50 in the morning]

That is an amazing photograph of a superb model. Sometimes the simplest form of lighting can have really surprising results. Now that I'm drooling at the mouth I can't wait to see the others. Now all we need is a button for 'Fantastic, super, great', for those of you old enough to remember Reggie Perrin.

As always Steve, some fantastic work there. Even with all that packaging I'm surprised you trust it with some of our delivery services these days.:-) http://youtu.be/PKUDTPbDhnA

That's funny, I could have sworn it was only one gent talking about his tree. (Put up against wall and shot at dawn). But on a more useful note have a look at this site, http://www.naturallivingideas.com/9-natural-ways-to-keep-spiders-out-of-your-home/, which shows some natural remedies for keeping spiders at bay and keeps your layout smelling nice and fresh. And i love the tree. I also have Gordons book and will try to emulate some of it when I come to build the trees I need.

Lovely looking loco. Now all you need is a purple one that goes "Aaagghh" to match it. ;-)

According to this site, http://locodriver.co.uk/Railway_Encyclopedia/Part255/Part33/Part02/index.html, the four different panniers to work the line were 2062, 3796, 9633, 9678. Scroll down to slide 57 which appears to show an unidentified pannier arriving at Gara Bridge.

I've compared drawings in Russell's Pictorial record of GW engines and by using a set of calipers to compare several points on the chimneys of each loco I can see no difference in size. The chimney height appears to be the same as does the width of the stack. Maybe it is the design of each varient that gives the appearance of one stack being squatter than the other. There is, though, a short paragraph on the frontispiece. " Many of the line drawings are taken directly from official Swindon originals and due to the age of these the reproduction is not as clear as they would wish. The drawings have been reduced to 4mm scale as near as possible, but again, due to the condition of some of the drawings, variation in scale might exist."

Lovely finish on the loco. I am looking forward to see it in action.

Just noticed you can't get rid that Robinson guy. His article about constructing clay dries is in Augusts edition of Railway Modeller. May be we should start a petition: "We, the undersigned, demand that Allan Downes (Master Builder) be allowed to publish articles in Railway Modeller to fairly balance those items published by his arch enemy Iain Robinson and to prove that there are other ways of producing outstanding models."

It's just got to be done. What is probably the most well know and funniest chat between Eccles and Bluebottle. Makes you wonder how they'd chat about model railways. Bluebottle: What time is it Eccles? Eccles: Err, just a minute. I, I've got it written down 'ere on a piece of paper. A nice man wrote the time down for me this morning. Bluebottle: Ooooh, then why do you carry it around with you Eccles? Eccles: Well, umm, if a anybody asks me the ti-ime, I ca-can show it to dem. Bluebottle: Wait a minute Eccles, my good man... Eccles: What is it fellow? Bluebottle: It's writted on this bit of paper, what is eight o'clock, is writted. Eccles: I know that my good fellow. That's right, um, when I asked the fella to write it down, it was eight o'clock. Bluebottle: Well then. Supposing when somebody asks you the time, it isn't eight o'clock? Eccles: Ah, den I don't show it to dem. Bluebottle: Ooohhh... Eccles: [smacks lips] Yeah. Bluebottle: Well how do you know when it's eight o'clock? Eccles: I've got it written down on a piece of paper! Bluebottle: Oh, I wish I could afford a piece of paper with the time written on. Eccles: Oohhhh. Bluebottle: 'Ere Eccles? Eccles: Yah. Bluebottle: Let me hold that piece of paper to my ear would you? - 'Ere. This piece of paper ain't goin'. Eccles: What? I've been sold a forgery! Bluebottle: No wonder it stopped at eight o'clock. Eccles :Oh dear. Bluebottle: You should get one of them tings my grandad's got. Eccles: Oooohhh? Bluebottle: His firm give it to him when he retired. Eccles: Oooohhh. Bluebottle: It's one of dem tings what it is that wakes you up at eight o'clock, boils the kettil, and pours a cuppa tea. Eccles: Ohhh yeah! What's it called? Um. Bluebottle: My granma. Eccles: Ohh... Ohh, ah wait a minute. How does she know when it's eight o'clock? Bluebottle: She's got it written down on a piece of paper! Sheer bloody magic.

From the infamous Goon Show! Ying tong yiddle I po and a very loud Rraaaspberry from Neddie.

It looks like the Tetbury Goods shed produced by Timber Tracks. They have an amazing range of laser cut buildings at reasonable prices. Their 2 road Weymouth goods shed looks amazing. Even so, I would be extremely proud if I could produce a shed as good as yours Allan.

I thought his was a model until I looked more closely.

Earl Bostic and Cracked Ice http://youtu.be/8vJODPYvXT0 More great sax playing. Here's one below called Night and Day but at least with a railway twist. http://youtu.be/sebbktK31zc Can we have some more modelling please, like St. Pancras or the original Bristol Temple Meads. ( I will now grab my coat and exit quickly by the back door) Keep up the great thread Allan and friends.