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Thanks to some encouragement from one of my friends this week I got around to trying to layer some additional grass textures on the cutting sides. I used Peco Scene Layering Spray which worked pretty well, it doesn't seem to colour the existing grass but holds the next layer of static grass securely. Getting different lengths and colours of grass fibres makes quite a difference to the overall look. The pickup goods approaches the overbridge on its way from Clare to Cavendish. Cambridge bound Cravens DMU crosses over into the loop and heads over the small girder bridge. The same train pictured from the overbridge, I think the cutting sides look a lot better now we have some additional layers of static grass. I also managed to get some work done on the coal siding, adding some coal pens and sacks of coal (3d printed from the thingyverse). I need to make some coal scales and a suitable shed. David

About ten years ago I came back from Warley with three Ratio Midland clerestory coach kits. My vague intention at the time was to paint and line them in full S&DJR blue livery, possibly with some minor modifcations to the bodies and roofs, just to have a semi-acceptable period-looking train to run behind my one or two S&D blue locomotives. However, time went on and I never got around to it. Eventually I decided that, if I were to go to the trouble of painting and lining a set of coaches, I would rather they were at least approximately right for the desired prototype. I therefore decided to finish the Ratio coaches in lined crimson lake as running in the LMS era, and set about painting the sides as a batch, while still on the sprue: The sides were brush painted with four thin layers of crimson, then allowed to dry properly before adding the yellow panel lining. This was done using gloss yellow enamel applied by bow-pen, neat from the tin. All the books on painting and lining say that more or less neat gloss paint should work properly through a bow-pen (unless there's a fault with the pen itself) and this proved to be the case. However, the paint only has to be a little off its freshness to not flow properly, and it's then that I find it very difficult to thin it back down to the right consistency. There is probably an argument for sticking to fresh bottles for lining. In the above picture, the lowest pair of sides has also had the black line drawn down the middle of the yellow - again after giving the yellow at least a day to harden. In this case I couldn't get acceptable flow from my bow-pen with my existing black gloss bottle, so I opted to use a 0.25mm Rotring pen. Personally I find using these pens a lot more intuitive than either a bow-pen or a Bob Moore lining pen; it's just a pity that they only take inks. The other four sides were treated similarly, and I then made a start on the assembly of the first complete coach, shown here with its roof loosely in position: Things were going spiffingly until I noticed something odd: all the black lining had disappeared! It turned out that just handling the coach had caused all the Rotring lines to rub off, presumably because, going onto gloss yellow, they hadn't had much to key on. Time for a cup of tea! I redid the lining, which wasn't all that harder even though the sides were no longer flat, and then went back over all six sides with a coat of satin varnish, applied carefully so as not to disturb the lining already present. Close-up of the lining at the end of the coach: I'm pleased with the overall effect from normal viewing distance, and it's certainly a lot better than my first attempt at lining one of these coaches, in my teenage years. Now progress must wait as I want to add some seats and passengers before (regrettably) having to fix the roof in place. However, I am very happy with the batch-production method of doing these, and will be taking a similar approach with some LNWR coaches from the same stable. While I was in painting and lining mood, I also tackled this Ratio GWR four-wheeler composite, seen next to the brake third I built a couple of years ago. These are on the Mainly Trains etched chassis. I think there's something a bit doubtful about the overall relationship between footboards, solebar and coach sides but there is possibly some scope for getting the bodies to sit a bit more snugly onto the chassis. In the meantime, though, I need to finish two more of these coaches. This is what operating Wenlock's llayout, and reading Mikkel's blog, does to a chap.

This Dapol pug was one of the first models I bought after returning to the hobby in the mid 1990s. Living in the Netherlands at the time, my purchases were confined to occasional visits to the UK or those few Dutch retailers who sometimes had British stock for sale. This model, if I'm remembering rightly, was bought at one of the big Eurospoor model shows in Utrecht, for the princely sum of 115 Guilders, from the stand of "De Spoorzoeker". This friendly Dutchman (Harry, if I'm also remembering rightly) had a very well-stocked shop in Borkel, near the Belgium border, which I visited on subsequent occasions, mainly because he always has good stocks of Hornby. Alas, the pug was a terrible runner! I don't think it ever made it around my layout without stalling at every bit of pointwork or mildly dirty track. It ended up getting a test run every few years but to no discernible improvement! I know these Dapol models are not regarded as particularly good runners, but this week I decided to take a more methodical look at the problem and see what could be done, without going to the time and expanse of a new brass chassis. Some disassembly showed that the basic chassis is perfectly free-running, so it ought to have a chance of running reasonably well. So why was it so temperamental? Testing revealed that while pickup from the rear axles was reliable, there was almost none to speak of from the front wheelsets. In addition, the back to backs were found to be very tight, such that it wouldn't run through a Peco double slip without bumping over the crossings. Suitably motivated, I decide to tackle these issues. The back-to-backs were adjusted first, using the high-tech approach of gently levering the wheels out with the flat part of a screwdriver, a tiny step at a time. I was surprised at how far I had to shift them before the Pug traversed the slip without bumping. Since I also use shims to tighten my Peco flangeways, the wheels were eased out even more . This done, the Pug could be pushed through slips, crossings and points without resistance. I then took a careful look at the supplied pickups. These are very flimsy fixtures which might work if properly adjusted. The problem is that once the wheels are in place, the pickups are all but inaccessible. I tried cleaning and re-bending them, but nothing improved the pickup from the front wheels. I therefore decided to fashion a new set of pickups for all four wheels, as shown here: The problem here is that there's very little room to work, due to the minimal clearance between the keeper plate and the tops of the rails. I therefore had to get a bit creative. Areas adjacent to the wheels were carved away to allow the pickups to bear onto the treads without touching the rails (not a problem on plain track, but an instant short circuit through points and crossings, for obvious reasons). PCB pads were fixed to the keeper plate and 0.35mm Phosphor-bronze wire used to form both the pickups, and the extensions which take the current to the pads at the rear of the chassis, and then up to the motor terminals. Unfortunately, the clearances were still too tight. I therefore opted to melt the extensions into the keeper plate, touching them with an iron until they sank into the plastic and allowed that vital fraction of a mm which then permitted the main pickups to be arranged within the available room. I retained the original pickups and wiring as a belt-and-braces approach. Also visible in this shot are areas of the cylinder cover which have been trimmed back slightly to provide for the crosshead movement, now that the wheel spacing is wider. The effect of these two tweaks, the back-to-backs and the pickups, is an immediate and pleasing improvement in slow speed running, with the pug now proving fully capable of slow running and being stall-free across all pointwork. It's still somewhat noisy compared to a Hornby Peckett and can't be got down to an absolute crawl, but it's still not a bad showing given its age, and the less than brilliant reputation of these mechanisms.

It was gloomy yesterday so I turned the layout lights on and tried running a few trains in the dark. Daft, but oddly fun. Anyway, a few random pics of variable quality. The station in general, I need to lightproof the roof more next time it is off. This is a lucky pic. I cant really see the from of the station building so its just done by point the camera at the mirror on the end of the layout and hoping. The resultant image is then reversed in preview. Through a window. Atmospheric, a bit....

Hot on the heels of the Tempest and defying my normal convention of posting a cameo of my next build - as I have three unfinished (and I'm unmotivated to finish them yet), I opted for a quick and simple build instead. I've had the Attacker in my stash for nearly a year, so I thought what the hell let's build it. Up first here's what's in the box... The sprues a clean a crisp, no shorts or burring and a minimal flash. I assembled the cockpit and jet pipe, I opted not to paint them as on test fitting within the fuselage the tolerances a very tight - so painting before will cause problems.. The ejector seat is dry fitted, as this can be fitted after painting. Something of note - fit the intakes, before gluing the fuselage halves together, as it makes getting decent fit easier. Fuselage glued together, it needs only minor filling. Wings and tail planes assembled - no issues though some minor filling is needed around the cannon. Tail-planes fitted with no issue. However the wing need so fettling to fit and then to remove the anhedral - nothing major. Wings corrected a few lumps and bumps added. Belly auxiliary fuel tank* and arrestor hook fitted. * The tank doesn't have to be fitted, but it covers a lot of joints Flaps fitted and ready for some Mr Surfacer 1000. That's all for now TBG

Just shown Freshwater at OXRAIL 2019 in Abingdon. I finally got around to adding some more details to the layout a few weeks before the show, mostly adding further vegetation along the river Yar, and the brook that runs behind the platform. I had some extra operators, so I managed to just sit and watch shunting operations, for a change. And an additional detail added was a pair of benches, a ModelU scan of yours truely, and a terrier, donated to me by Hardy's Hobbies at the Tonbridge show earlier this year. The dog is extremely small.