Leaderboard

as I have mentioned before, eventually I want to be able to run every train which ran through Brent in a 24 hour period. The most interesting of which ran in the early hours of the morning. There is the TPO which I will eventually get round to building, and the sleeper services on to Penzance. In 1947 there were 3 down services with a sleeper portion in the winter timetable, (I think there were more in the summer including an LMS sleeper.). In the winter 46 / spring 47 timetable these each contained one J12, (which were all combined into one working back to London.) The first of these that I am modelling is a newspaper train with a sleeper include. Formations: (the section I am modelling is in green, I have tried to model one section of the train in order to cut the length down. these were long services! the kit is a Phoenix model, with pressed aluminium sides and roof along with details. 6 wheel bogies still need to be sourced. The first job on a set of Phoenix sides is to scribe on the doors and drill holes for handrails etc. i decided to to go with evostick construction, and started off the build phase by fitting the sides to the ends. Along with drilling and fitting the vast quantity of roof vents. Once dry, the roof was glued into place the inner window frames were glued in position for the left hand pair of windows. next the chassis and detailing

My son bought me a little present for my birthday, a tiny video camera. It fits nicely on a flat wagon and conforms to British loading gauge in 4mm scale. The inevitable result has been a Youtube video showing a run through the station. It shows up my dodgy track building rather well and I need to get better with the video editing software to fix the colour balance a bit better. I did try the 'black and white old film' effect which is really rather fun but I thought I'd show you the original version! With Fen End Pit going to the March show on 2nd I'll have to work out how to strap the camera onto a 16mm narrow gauge wagon for a trip between the works and the pit! Hope you like it. David

On to the task I have been dreading, rolling the boiler and smokbox. i was very pleased with how the rolling came out, though the soldering was some of the hardest so far. I have a lot lot of solder to clean up on the joint between boiler and firebox. The chimney was glued into place prior to fitting to assist with boiler alignment.

Finally got round to adding the crew and fitting the cab roof, as shown below. I think it's finished, now. Not sure whether to move on to the Ivatt 2 tank or the Class 40 next. Dave.

Here is a design for a portable folding fiddle yard to complement the "Minories in Streamline OO" design that I recently updated. It's presented as a PDF so that you can see it in high resolution, zoom in and out and turn the various layers on and off. The two parts, Minories and Fiddle yard, fold up into small, equally-sized boxes that could be easily transported and set up almost anywhere. Minories Folding Fiddle Yard 20.pdf

In a previous post called 'modelling again' I described the trials of detailing a pair of Airfix Inter District LMS non corridors (now made in kit form by Dapol), tackled just before a house move. Now having moved, some modeling has resumed in the midst of the necessary work after moving in. So first in the queue was the local train..... Almost finished, I discovered that the underframes were the wrong way round on both coaches. This I found by looking at prototype photos in 'Modellers and enthusiasts guide to the Somerset and Dorset line' (Brian McDermott, pub. Patrick Stephens) photos on page 25 and 30. Not a quick job as reversing the underframe on each one meant that the bodies and the interiors needed cutouts in the floor at the reversed end to clear some Roco 40344 close coupling devices that I was trialling as inter set couplings at the inner ends of the set. (Because these were set at buffer beam height to clear the bogies they fouled the floor - I had already made the cut outs at the 'wrong' ends). Having done this they are back together and just need a coupling bar between to join the two. Outer end couplings are Dingham. Two photos show them with ex Bath GP Jinty 47465 posed on my test track.

I have made good progress on my cake box model and am nearly done for the project. I will end up posting all of my progress images once I make a new blog for the cake box challenge (as I cant find out how to post on the other blog apart from comments) and I will post that once I am done. have fun with whatever you are doing

The Farthing layouts have seen some major rebuilding in the past months. In the early autumn, we sold the house and moved to a flat. Having made sure that the layouts survived the move without damage… … I immediately cut them to pieces. It was clear from the outset that downsizing was needed, as the only place to store the layouts is in a small attic room reached by a narrow flight of stairs. The Down Bay was the first to suffer. The sky backscene was dismantled and the integrated fiddle yard was cut away, leaving a 92 cm scenic board. The Old Yard was given a similar treatment. A third of the scenic section was cut away. It’s built on foamboard, so I was able to make a good clean cut with nothing but a craft knife. That left a 100 cm board (left). The off-cut went into storage, maybe it will return as a diorama some day. A bit of work was needed on both layouts to adapt the track to the new formats. An attempt at repairs. Looks a bit like Texas! The Down Bay still uses code 100 track, whilst the other layouts use hand laid C+L. I don't really mind the difference. My third layout, the Goods Depot, didn’t need shortening. It’s a micro built in an Ikea box, which fits neatly in a large old closet. I’m still negotiating for access to the lower part of the closet! In order to operate the now truncated layouts, my trusty “Bumblebee traverser" was adapted with extra tracks and sturdier height adjustment legs. It continues to work well against all odds, and is now able to feed all three layouts. So trains are now running again at Farthing Here is the Old Yard set up on the dining table. The small size of the layouts means that I am able to enjoy some relaxing “shunting puzzle” operation in our living room during weekends, without too much bother. Here is the Goods Depot, which is small enough to operate on my new desk/workbench, also in the living room. I have an agreement with my wife that when seated here, I'm invisible. She gets the point but says my activities are not exactly "invisible" And finally the Down Bay, taking up a tiny bit of space on the dining table . The retaining walls need to be realigned and proper sky backscenes are on the cards. So that's the current status. Ironically, there is room for further layouts as long as I keep them small enough. Plans are afoot for a modular approach, but more on that later.

A few more wagons for the layout. The 2 Cambrain wqagons are Cambrian Models kits. I think the grey I have used is a little to dark, but I had painted them a lighter shade but putting on some Klear to reduce the shadow of the waterlside transfer has darkened the colour. The LNWR Ballast wagons are Ratio.

Another long pause in activity following my participation in the Channel 5 'Great Model Railway Challenge'. Having completed our heat, and then being in the final, we were asked to build another layout for the Radio Times. Then, Peco invited us to have our Santa layout on their stand at Warley, which was followed by a visit to Bognor Regis. Finally, I could get back to worrying about Freshwater, with two shows in February, Stafford and Tonbridge. As reported earlier, I use small 'rare earth' magnets for operating DG couplings. I mounted three magnets on a bar that is moved by a servo so the bar covers three parallel tracks. This gives me 9 uncoupling positions for the cost of 3 servos. However, two positions near the centre of the layout were always a bit temperamental, managing to uncouple some wagons but not others. I put up with this for some time, but for the Stafford show, I had inadvertently left my stock box at home. None of the few odd wagons we had with us would uncouple there, so I had to try to fix the problem before going to Tonbridge. I had checked many times that the magnets were moving to the correct position, centrally below the tracks, so I toyed with the idea of adding a couple more magnets to boost the magnetic field. Then I had a brainwave. This uncoupling position was close to the frog of a point, so two magnets were quite close together. I used another magnet to check, and found that I had one magnet with its north pole on top, and one with its south pole on top. Being so close to each other, the magnetic field was taking a short cut between the magnets instead of going up through the tracks. I turned one of the magnets round, and uncoupling was reliable for the Tonbridge show. It only took me 10 years to rectify this problem.

I wanted be able to put a mitre on small pieces of MDF which are used to make walls. I've decided that mitred corners look nicer than trying to interlace or butt joint but sanding the mitre is a pain. I looked at bench sanders as a way to do this but the commercially available tools are quite expensive (around the £80 mark) and mostly very large (sanding disks around 8 inches). So I thought I'd have a go at making one myself. I laser cut the bulk of the components in 6mm ply and 3D printed the 'cone' that holds the grit paper. The motor was purchased on Amazon for £12. It claims to be 'high-torque' and operates on 6 to 12v. Seems quite happy powered from an old Maplin power brick. I've made the front so it can be hinged to 45 degrees, I might try and make a sliding gate of some kind. Initial tests show it seems to work ok. I think I might reprint the 'cone' with a slightly larger hole. I had to drill it out to 5mm because the hole came out a bit small on the printer and really needed a drill press to make the hole perfectly vertical, it is close but there is more wobble than I 'd like. However the results look ok, this is a bit of 1mm ply which I'd laser cut some bricks on the other side of. I am going to need to sort out either some dust collection or a mask. I don't want to breath is stuff in as it might be carcinogenic (bit late to worry about that!) Now to get on with building more fiddle-yard cassettes. David

Last night the build finally reached the stage I am much less comfortable with, the firebox / boiler. While I am happy forming angular components, or those with a continuous arc, forming Belpair fireboxes or boilers is a lot more worrying. Its one of those jobs that I wish the kit would come with a set of spare wrappers so I could have a second go… Anyway, yesterdays work started off adding more small components (snifter valves), and working out which part was the sandbox filler lids (which appear to be the wrong shape). The valve rod cover castings are missing and need scratch building. While I forgot to add the sandbox linkages…. (these will need to be added tonight!) Next up was the ATC pipe which was soldered in place, the bell will be glued into the cab once all the soldering is complete. It was now time to start on the fire box. After soldering together the formers (I beefed up the rear former with some scrap etch), I formed the first two curves in the wrapper for the upper corners. The etch is well designed with pips on the sides showing the alignment for your 4.5mm drill bit, however one side must have slipped as the alignment was slightly off. Cue lots of effort at adjustment trying to get it to the right shape… The front and rear plates were soldered onto the wrapper, before soldering the side seems. The curves at the bottom of the firebox were formed in situ, before soldering in place. After adding a thick fillet of solder around the inside edge, I then filed the curved profile working from photos. After a little fettling to clear the splashers it was test fitted into position, I am pleased with the end result. I now need to glue the washout plugs fitted, and add some mud hole covers (which I need to buy as these are also missing). From experience I know the latter will be a pain (there is no chance I am taking a soldering iron anywhere near it, so it will have to be glue.) I think I need to buy a large vice before I can set up my GW Models rollers, so rolling the smokebox (and the boiler cone that I really fear), so tonight after getting those last few small components soldered in to place the project will have to go on hold until the vice arrives. What is this component? (also visible in the bottom right of the previous photo), it is the last bit that I have been unable to determine. Edit: it’s the ATC shoe, but I am less clear as to where it goes. i have done a little more work adding sandbox linkages

Got up this morning and found this He'd set it all up without me and was running trains. Think I built it well

I thought it was about time I got back to some modelling. My arm/shoulder is still recovering, but i have sufficient movement to use small tools, etc., without over stressing it. So, I decided to fit the DCC chip as part of the finishing off process. This required separation of the chassis from the body, taking care not to damage the paint or weathering. That's not to say some minor touching up will be required by the time I've finished. The chip used is a Digitrax DZ126, the current nearest to the DZ123's I've tended to standardise on in all my recent locos. The (spare) lighting wires were cut off close to the encapsulation, just leaving the four traction related wires. Actual fitting was very easy as I had already fixed four copper-clad pads to the side of the gearbox, one each for the two pick-up connections and the motor terminals. In the temporary DC operation, short bridging wires linked the relevant pads to connect the pick-up wires direct to the motor. It only took moments to un-solder the bridging wires and connect the appropriate chip lead. The chip will just rest freely inside the boiler/smokebox when the loco is reassembled. The photo below shows the attached chip and chassis. Dave.

I have updated my Minories PDF. Edit: I noticed a small but annoying mistake in version 18 so version 19 is attached. Minories 19.pdf

Farthing, June 27, 1914. Europe is on the brink of war, but noone knows. The staff go about their morning routines, and No. 835 sleepily shunts a horsebox. Station Master A. Woodcourt examines the scene. He likes the order and calm of the bay area. He is feeling his age and hopes it will be a quiet day. But it is not to be. As he propels the horsebox into the sidings, driver T.F. Oberon notices a problem. Throughout his life with the railways, he has been able to smell a hot axlebox. And he can smell one now. As the "hot box" is confirmed, Woodcourt realizes he has a problem on his hands. There is a major event at the Farthing Race Course today, and there are no spare horseboxes to deploy. To make matters worse, the owner of the horse turns out to be the rather brusque and imposing Mr Bull. As Bull launches into yet another of his long-winded complaints about the state of the country's railways, Woodcourt realizes it is going to be one of those days... *** Credits: Horsebox built by Pete Morris. *** Will Woodcourt solve the problem? Will the horse make it in time for the races? What else is in store for the good people of Farthing? Find the answers in the next instalment of "All in a day's work"... Go to part 2

. These are the last 2 of a batch of pre grouping wagons built in the last few weeks. I posted a request elsewhere on RMWeb about loads for single plank wagons and got some interesting replies. The BR wagons have been hanging around for months in the nearly finished state so I have had a finishing purge and these are the result. Mostly Parkside (what would do without this range!) David

I have been progressing some more pre group wagons, with these 3 just completed and weathered. I have also repainted and re numbered a Brassmaster G2 that I bought in a few months ago, bringing my fleet of these up to 2. This was the first kit that I and Jim Barnes developed to start the Brassmasters range. I have a prtially built one to complete as well. I was going to number it as one of Staffords locos but this has been built with the sand fillers on the cabsides and none of the Stafford allocation had these and a tender cab. I have therefore numbered it as one of Crewe Souths locos and can if I wish also give it a Yellow stripe wich it received in August 1964 and was withdrawn in December 1964. I have also been painting and linning a Brassmasters Black 5, this loco (allocated to Crewe North) was seen working between Shrewsbury and Stafford on the stopping services. It is a long way from being finished needing some satin varnish, light weathering, couplings and a coal load. I like to photograph locos and rolling stock when part built as it shows up any remedial work required, the eye sometimes misses things but the camera does not. David

For those that have known me for many years know that I have always had an interest in the LNWR and some years ago I was the newsletter editor for the LNWR Society. I have now decided to have a pregroup period for the layout (freight only!) and have over the past few weeks built 8 LNWR wagons, all from ratio kits. I have also added a few GWR wagons as the Lilleshall Co who had many pits in the area supplied loco coal to the GWR, Cambrian and North Staffs. A few more wagons are waiting to be built along with a LRM LNWR 10 Brake van. The trigger for this has been the announcement by London Road Models of a Ramsbottom 0-4-0 Saddle tank as one of these was allocated to the small trench Sidings loco shed. This is the loco and what looks like a Shropshire Iron Company wagon. Whilst I am waiting for that I have started on a conversion of a Bachmann 0-6-2 Coal Tank. David

'A Highland Life" came into my mind while researching the Killin branch and the time period. I plan to explore the period of the 1950's-60's through at least one layout. The first one is to be a branch terminus that was initially going to be based on Killin but has expanded its remit. While I await the baseboards, I'm getting on with the buildings which are to be based off real buildings around the Highlands. First is the church. The hub of communities. The church is based off the one at Tomatin. Built in corrugated iron/ asbestos First parts is measured and cut out parts that make it up: https://imgur.com/bt2cahY. While I await the drills to assist in cutting, the windows are marked out. More to come as this develops.

As an update to my previous post, I have just received a CB09 holder and packs of both 45 and 60 degree blades from China I ordered these from http://stores.ebay.co.uk/win-win-mechatronic?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 on 29th December and they arrived, very well packaged, this morning, 6th January, which I consider excellent service. The holder is a nicely machined aluminium tube, which fitted smoothly and firmly into the Silhouette Portrait carrier. To fit a blade, it is only necessary to unscrew the black cap at one end and slide the back, rounded, end of the blade into the holder. Then remove the protective cap from the blade and slip a spring (provided) over the shaft. Align the black cap carefully, so that the blade slides into the small aperture and tighten it up. The blade projection is adjusted by the knurled knob at the other end of the holder and there are no click stops, so it must be adjusted by eye. The blade components are very small, so you may need tweezers for handling them, and a magnifier to see how they fit together. I bought some 60 degree blades as well as 45 degree ones, like that originally supplied with the cutter, as I have read that they are better for thicker materials and, more importantly, for finer details. The difference in the blade profiles can be seen in my following photograph of the original Silhouette cutter alongside the CB09, with a 60 degree blade fitted. The acid test was to re-cut the same coach side with both types of blade; the results are compared below: I cannot see any difference in the quality of the cuts. There are two rather square-looking corners (ringed in red) that appear identical in both cases. Re-examination of the drawings revealed that I had failed to 'trim' these to rounded corners! I think it is a testament to the cutter that the error is clearly visible! It remains to be seen how well these blades last but, at about £7 for five, they represent a very considerable saving over the Silhouette product, which can only be bought as a complete blade and holder assembly. Mike Next Post

I came across JCL's splendid thread about Silhouette cutters (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79025-a-guide-to-using-the-silhouette-cameo-cutter/) at an appropriate interval for dropping heavy hints before Christmas, so now have a 'Silhouette Portrait' machine and loads of ideas for coaches and buildings Having discovered all about Cleminson chassis in an earlier post on this blog, I want to build some six-wheel coaches, especially since they seem to be rarely modelled, probably because of the difficulties of getting them round curves! The first step is to decide on suitable prototype(s) and I have put out a call for help about earlier diagrams, in the GWR forum. As an example, this is an early standard gauge coach, converted from broad gauge. At least, I think that is the story - Russell's 'GWR Coaches part 1' states (p.22) that these were built in 1882 for the broad gauge but that the photo was taken much later in standard gauge days. In which case, it seems odd to me that the oil lamps are still on the sides of the clerestory. I coloured the old photo using the same techniques I used for the Garter Crest, as described in my Lining & Lettering entries. I hope to share some of my experiences with the 'Silhouette' in my next post.. Mike edited to add more info about the illustrated coach I have now found Richard Spratt's splendid website at http://www.penrhos.m...chesIntro.shtml His site contains a mine of information about GWR short coaches and has answered all my queries so far. I now know that the coach illustrated above is to diagram U29, of which 12 were built in 1886.

Whereas, in my previous posts in this series, most of the lining details were hand-drawn, when it comes to coats of arms, crests, and lettering, I think it is better to find some printed artwork to work from .... unless you are a real artist! One useful source of illustrations is O.S.Nock's 'Pocket Encyclopaedia of British Steam Railways' although, since these are all paintings, the accuracy of some of the pictures has been disputed. There are many specialised books covering the liveries of individual companies and, for the GWR, I find J.N.Slinn's 'Great Western Way' invaluable. Other good sources of photographic material are preserved railways and museums. One problem, however, is that most historical photographs are only in monochrome. Providing you have a description of the original colours, it is not too difficult to 'colourise' old photos that you have scanned into the computer, by using the 'Colour' option on the various painting tools in Photoshop (or PSE), For my 'worked example', I start with a monochrome image of an early version of the GWR 'Garter crest', and describe my way of adding colour in PSE. I shall assume that you are familiar with my earlier posts in this series, where I described using various tools in PSE and setting up an ink-jet printer for scale printing. After loading the original image into PSE, make a duplicate layer, straight away. By doing all your work on this layer then, if/when you make a mistake, you can use the 'Eraser' tool to let the original show through again. My first step in colouring the garter was to select a suitable 'gold' colour and then use the 'Paint Bucket' tool to colourise all the light areas. In the tool 'options' (along the top of the image area) I chose Mode: Colour, Opacity:80%, Tolerance:25 and ensured that the 'Contiguous' and 'All Layers' boxes were NOT checked. The use of the 'Colour' mode ensures that the light and shade of the original image are preserved. The 'Tolerance' setting may need to be adjusted, to optimise which areas are filled with colour. Inevitably, some areas will be coloured, when they should not be, so use the 'Eraser' tool on these areas, to restore the original ..... you did remember to work on a duplicate layer? Colouring a Monochrome Image in PSE Continue colouring the rest of the image in a similar way, using the 'Bucket' tool, when possible, and the 'Paintbrush' tool (set in 'Colour' mode). I also use the 'Dodge' and 'Burn' tools (with 'Exposure' set to about 8%) to lighten highlights or darken shadow areas of the image, to taste. This step can be very effective in bringing out a 'glitter' in the gold areas. I also use the 'Hue' and 'Saturation' controls to enhance specific colours. A useful tip is that, if you select to Edit a specific colour range, in the Hue/Saturation menu, and then click on the relevant colour in the image, using the 'Dropper' tool, the colour range adjusts itself for an exact match. Adjusting individual colours in PSE After about half an hour's work, I reached the following image, from the monochrome original. You can do all the colouring with a mouse, but a better tool is a Pen Tablet. The pen is much easier to control precisely than a mouse. Also, the tip of the pen is pressure-sensitive, so you can find the exact spot and then press down to apply colour as needed. Unlike a mouse, the position of the pen on the tablet is directly related to the cursor position on the screen, so you can easily find the next position for colouring. 'Wacom' do a good range of pen tablets, starting from around £50 (Xmas prezzie?) Colourised GWR Garter (pre-1903) It is important to note that the GWR and, presumably, many other companies, used different styles over different periods of time. In the smaller scales, some of these variations may be considered insignificant. For example, details, such as the ship's rigging in the Bristol coat of arms, changed from time to time! However, the overall shape of the GWR garter changed significantly after 1903, from the elliptical design I have shown to a much rounder shape - the difference is obvious, even at a small scale! For number and name plates, I either use the outline and characters shown in 'Great Western Way', scanning and colouring them as required, or find a good photo to copy. I have not managed to find a suitable typeface online - the flat topped '3' is a sticking point - but perhaps a reader can suggest one that is suitable.- so scanning is my only option. 'Great Western Way' also provides drawings of a works plate and various types of combined name and number plates, used on specific engine classes. 'City of Truro' Number Plate When applying these details, I prefer not to use decal film but print onto good-quality photo paper. This gives the plates some depth, although it is necessary to re-touch the edges, to prevent the white paper from showing. Alternatively, apply decals to raised plates. One of my 'cheats' is to print a whole flat panel, such as a splasher front, as a single transfer. I fill the image with the background colour and then add all the lining and crests, to make a single image, which I cut out and apply to the locomotive. Once varnished over, this panel is indistinguishable, at a normal viewing distance, from a painted panel. I have even made complete tender sides in this way, complete with three-panel lining and the elaborate entwined GWR monogram! Although I have shown these images in previous posts, I have repeated them here, for convenience. Splasher and Tender-side decals The detail provided by a modern ink-jet printer is, to my eyes, remarkable. I have taken microscope images of lining and a works plate, printed at 4mm scale, which show considerable detail. Note, however, that the coloured dots provided by the printer are much smaller than the pixel resolution, which is essential, since the printer only has a small selection of inks to choose from. It produces a visual impression of the required colour by printing patterns of these 'dots'. My HP Deskjet 6980 is not a dedicated photo-printer and only uses three ink colours. Other printers, with more ink cartridges, may produce better results. Printed Lining & Lettering under the Microscope That's the end of this series on Lining & Lettering. I shall now take a break and wish all members of RMWeb a Happy Christmas, with the hope that Santa proves to be a railway fan Mike

As a result of comments on earlier posts, I have added this supplement, to describe some variations in lining styles. The GWR used many different styles of lining at different periods, as I was reminded by 'N15class'. Many of these can be reproduced by slight variations of the methods I described in earlier posts. Before 1881, however, the GWR sometimes used a technique called 'scarfed' lining, which is a variation on 'dropped shadows'. In the period 1864 - 1881, the lining comprised a 1” wide 'pea green' line, bordered on one side by a 1/2” black line and, on the other, by a 1/8” white line - with the added twist that these edges were offset, so that white always appeared to the left and above, whereas black appeared to the right and below. This more complex scheme, also used by other companies than the GWR, can be reproduced by making use of 'layers' in Photoshop (or PSE), to represent the different colours. I start by constructing a rectangular panel frame in black - 24 pixels wide. KH1 suggested a method for creating the curved corners and I have adapted this by using the Elliptical Marquee Tool', rather than Paintbrush (hold down the 'Shift' key to constrain the tool to a circle). I use this Marquee tool to mark off circular selection areas, inside each corner, as shown below, and then 'Invert' the selection [menu: Select | Inverse] and use the Paintbrush to fill in the rounded corner, against the selection boundary. Making Rounded Corners against a selection Boundary The outside corners can be made in exactly the same way, with selection boundaries set against the outer edge of the corner, and painting in the background colour. The next step is to create a duplicate layer [menu: 'Layer | Duplicate Layer...' - select 'Background copy' in the box that opens]. Then select the lining shape, on this new layer, with the 'MagicWand' tool and fill the shape with a Pea Green colour (R,G,B = 128,128,0), Creating a Background Copy Next, invert the selection, so that the whole of the background on the new layer becomes the selection, and select 'Image | Clear'. This will remove the background from the new layer but there will be no visible change, because the original layer will show through from 'below' (Think of 'layers' as a stack of images behind one another.) Now remove the selection [select | Deselect] and use the 'Move' tool to move the new layer upwards and to the left. The 'Pea Green' lining will move relative to the black and the background, which are on the original layer. Position it (by eye), so that half the thickness of the pea green band appear as a black 'drop shadow'. Positioning the top layer relative to the Background Now we do the same again for the white 'shadow'. Make sure the original Background layer is selected (This should happen automatically if you click on the background) and then make another duplicate layer. select the loop of lining again and, this time, fill with White. (The new layer should have slipped in underneath the top 'Pea Green' layer.) As before, select everything except the lining loop on this new layer and 'Clear' the background. Now 'Move' the White layer into its position above and to the left of the Pea Green loop. Now you have some 'Scarfed' lining! 'Flatten' the image [Layers | Flatten Image] and it is ready for printing. 'Scarfed' Lining Panel There are lots of other complications beloved of 19th century designers, such as inverted corners. I've not yet tackled these but would approach them by using the same techniques that I have already described. Always remember that, once you have drawn a complex ornamental flourish, you can use 'Copy' and 'Paste', together with 'Rotate' and 'Flip', to repeat the design in different ways. At this stage, I'll just wish you good luck Mike