Adrian

Hi, It's all ordered on line but you have to create an account first. If you click on the login top right you should get to this page : https://www.engraving-supplies.co.uk/customer/account/login which then gives you the option to create an account. I seem to remember they emailed me to verify the account. Once you are logged in then the shopping cart is enabled for online ordering - be prepared for the prices though! The laser thin black sheet 1245 x 614mm is £35.50 plus VAT plus postage the 0.8mm ADAsignage is £29.50 plus VAT and postage. So it depends on how much you want - 1245 x 614mm is a lot of 2mm models! It would be worth considering joining up and splitting the costs if smaller sizes are required. As for the colour then from the Darkly Labs forum I believe the black cuts easier and cleaner but I having nothing to compare it against as I just went for the black stuff.

They are expensive once you've added VAT and postage on. Amongst other things I bought the 0.5 "Thins" https://www.engraving-supplies.co.uk/lt404-102-black-0-5mm.html . It is quite flexible though so it depends what job you want to do with it. If you are interested I can send you a small sample to try, it does cut nicely. I don't know what other people have used, the next order I will probably try the ADA signage at 0.8mm https://www.engraving-supplies.co.uk/laser-materials/trolase-ada-signage/ls401-103-black-0-8mm.html

As you have found this is the supplier for Trotec, https://www.engraving-supplies.co.uk/laser-materials.html . They will sell to individuals as they sold me some sheets, although you will need to create an account to order stuff.

It's not a drawback because you don't need to do that anyway - earlier in the post I show how I set out the horn blocks in the frames with the coupling rods as guides. That is something you want to be doing before assembling the chassis. It's much easier if you do one step at a time rather than all at once on the chassis jig. Once you start putting the frames in the chassis jig you should already have set out the horn blocks at the right wheelbase.

A few 12" lengths of silver steel is all you need - a darn sight cheaper than £80 then spend the money on other tools that you will use more often. http://www.cherryclan.com/2015/08/jinty-chassis-build/ IMHO chassis jigs are a luxury item if you have money to spare, personally there are dozens of other tools to spend my money on before I'd even consider a chassis jig.

I could be wrong but it looks like the cones were turned on a lathe, but if you faced it off in a lathe then the cone would be symmetric. By clamping it in the mill in the way shown and milling the end of the cone it means that the bottom line of the cone part is straight with the smokebox and all the taper is on the upper part of the boiler.

That's a shame - the paint went on nicely! It was only £1 so nothing lost for a bit of practice. Thanks for the info.

I'd be interested in the BR CCT - hopefully it would fit the Lima effort as well (with a little tweaking) - not really into that era but I bought one to practise my painting and actually to my untutored eye the body on the Lima model looks alright to me. Also interested in details of the LNWR Coal Tank chassis, although I have just bought motor and gears to start my own chassis so it depends on the arrangement.

I'm lucky in that my local model shop stocks the Alclad range, I've used the matt lacquer and got results I'm happy with in 2mmFS, I would recommend the range if your local shop can stock them. http://www.transportmodels.co.uk/alcladiilacquerklearkotematte120mlbottlepleasenoteduetoroyalmailregulationsthisproductcanonlybepostedtoukaddresses-24219.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=24219

The European events are still running albeit only a couple of events http://europeanhovercraftfederation.org However there is an active GB club http://www.hovercraft.org.uk/racing.htm - well worth getting along to an event - it's great fun. Many many moons ago I built an F3 racing craft. However the speed and precision of the F1 guys is phenomenal.

Cheers - I'll look forward to a response to my email to then.

Great photos - I could do with a crane like that but I can't see any reference on the N Brass website - do you have any more details? I've emailed with an enquiry.

Instead sprays oil onto the boiler lagging and causes problems for the guard when he tries to explain to the passengers that the reason for the delay is because steam engine is on fire! (courtesy of Mendips Engineman)

Highly recommended - very readable, amusing and informative.

I've tried it a couple of times but it never worked that well. With the solder being softer than the n/s it's very difficult to get a completely flat finish, also when soldering on any subsequent details you have to be very very careful not to get the soldering iron anywhere near the filled etch because all that hard work can disappear in an instant. Been there got the T-shirt!! Which is why I would make a replacement part -it might seem a bit of an effort but in the long run it's worth it.

For the cab plate it's quite difficult - often there is some angled beading around the tank and cab plate will this not hide the half etch line? If not then personally I would just use the cab plate as a template and just cut a new one out of nickel-silver. As for the slots in the footplate use a scrap bit of etch and fit in from underneath, solder in and then file flat.

It depends on the depth of cut. This supplier, http://www.mscdirect.co.uk/cgi/insrhm, hasgrooving/cut off tools down at 0.5mm / 19thou. Page 593 on the catalogue

I don't think it is quite as clear cut as that. I use the free version of QCAD and have no problem creating and saving layers. In the latest version think that you can only create new layers when the pro version add-on is active i.e. for the first 15 or 20 minutes. but once those layers are created you can load and save the drawings with the layers intact even in the free version. That said it is an excellent drawing package and buying the pro version is to be applauded and good value for money (IMHO).

Hi, as recommended earlier in the thread somewhere I got some 0.8mm LaserPly from Hobarts. https://hobarts.com/sheet-materials_124/ It cuts very nicely and prompt delivery.

Sorry to disagree but for modelling of the highest order that will need the aroma of eau de urine emanating from the boxes!! That said they do look really really good.

Hardly dredged up from the mire of obscurity - they are still hugely popular. That said though, they probably got the gig being best buddies of Chris Evans, they both appear regularly at his CarFest concerts.

Sorry I know it's bad form replying to your own posts but I just remembered a small addendum to this story. In all the shots of the supercars for this road trip you may have noticed that they were always being followed by a fugly dark green Fiat Multipla! Again that was my brother along for the trip because in the back of that Multipla were half a dozen jerry cans full of fuel. They made a joke of it in the program but the GT40 range on a full tank was pitiful so the jerry cans were just to allow the GT40 to stay the distance without running to the petrol station every hour. My brother has a few choice comments on JC's driving style and treatment of cars but I'm afraid they aren't printable on a public forum.

Not cynical at all - it was all scripted - a short story. My brother is involved with Ferrrari and helps provide the cars for the show. He was involved with the road trip with the Ferrari, GT40 and Zonda down to the south of France to the Millau viaduct. They allegedly started in London with the Ferrari and GT40, met up with the Zonda in Paris and drove down to the viaduct. What actually happened was they started at the viaduct because they had to schedule in the filming with the helicopter and then drove up to Paris. So the observant watcher might have spotted that in the evening the sun appeared to be setting in the East, that was because they were driving north not south according to the script. Then when they got to Paris and got "stuck" in the underground carpark, actually that part was unscripted, in the background you could see my brother breaking up some pallets so that he could get his Ferrari out without damaging it. JC spotted him doing and decided that it would be his idea and it should be filmed. Anyway it was during this that they broke the Zonda, the owner wasn't very happy with them so took his car away. So then they were left without a Zonda for the rest of the filming from Paris to London, hence the script had to account for no Zonda between Paris and London.

Agreed - why does he always preface any question he asks with the comment that "The question that everyone wants to ask is ..."? He does it on F1 as well and I keep thinking it's not the question I would have asked!