Hal Nail

I'm not sure of the top one is the one i was looking for - I'm sure it said something about filing off the body ribs when I originally saw it. http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/model_omwb56.html https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/84563-Hornby-Heljan-class-47/

"House!" which blue why do they cost so much do the cab doors open/are the handles wrong why aren't the pantographs more accurate and why don't they work.

Even if they do they have so much in the pipeline its 2 years away

That really looks the part. I think your right hand nose edge above the two side grills just rises up slightly towards the front - easy to file level now but the sort of thing that would stand out after painting! I hope you dont mind me saying I liked the idea of real wood steps on the dmu but I think they are too thick and look over scale for me which is a pity when the rest is so good. Dont like picking holes but two things that are easily fixed now!

The cheap 05 is tempting, turning an 03 onto an 04 appeals, I see Coinnoisseur do a Ruston 0-4-0, I have always liked the terrier in brown, then I think a top feed 14xx or the riveted 57xx variation. But at the end of the day £150 buys a lot of jaffa cakes...

For me the illusion that there is something beyond the bridge is a tricky one to do and it works, so I'd leave it well alone.

Worth skimming through the 7mm section as there seems to be a new thread on this every couple of months and all say the same things. I'm afraid 11ft is pretty small for a plank, let alone a circuit. A shed with light engines or a small industrial scene are most typical for that size.

Saw a listing today for a Slater 7mm milk tank kit. Listed as new and says as new in the blurb. It then goes on to say good for spares as parts missing! Annoyed my enough to look into reporting it but blatantly inaccurate listing doesnt appear to be one of the grounds under which you can report an item.

Like most things its a question of balance but the odd direct approach when needed does get results. The problem with forums is the impersonal nature and relative lack of context so often the replies you get have as much to do with the 20 previous posts someone has read that have caused them to form a stance on a particular issue. Additionally anything resembling a rant tends to provoke a reaction - which in a way is a good thing as it probably helps everyone to keep some perspective. I posted an very innocuous comment about something the other day and was rewarded with someone pontificating at length about a number of things most of which went completely over my head as they didn't relate to me in the slightest. If it made him happy then I guess no harm done!

And some sun!

China clay pretty much finished apart from retouching the oil on the axleboxes next time I have the black open. I did have another burst of doing the bolts properly on the sides and one day I might do the end door. Just 6 more of these and 7 BR ones to do.

I asked elsewhere but drew a blank why the older GWR china clay wagons had tie bars, given they were unfitted. My guess was perhaps to counter stresses on the underframe from the end tipper - good shot of that in the first pic (albeit a BR built wagon).

Similar with me. We were sent home from work two weeks before the first lockdown and I live alone, dont drive and dont fancy catching the virus (or more specifically inadvertently giving it to my parents) so all too easy to lapse into total self isolation, if not careful. In cycling all the local streets I've discovered a whole range of decent local shops and if one is remotely busy, I just move on to the next one. I did an online shop this week and got everything I'd ordered but I actually prefer getting out even if it takes me half a day picking my moments to nip in and out.

Dont want to stray off topic but this is the first line from the official govt advice. (nb. copywrite is automatic, its doesn't have to be stated). Copyright in images and photographs The basics Photographs illustrations and other images will generally be protected by copyright as artistic works. This means that a user will usually need the permission of the copyright owner(s) if they want to perform certain acts, such as copying the image or sharing it on the internet.

I echo everyone elses concern - take it easy! The light in this is amazing - first sun on a freezing morning: perfect for birdwatching! Can even see the frost on the old sleepers. Was it taken back when you had windows?

Some bad luck has gone on there. Theres always divorce though

Ben, You have a tricky job and I'm sure we appreciate your individual efforts, particularly as in the case of the gears, for example, you were nothing to do with Heljan back then. Two gears on my barely used 33 failed recently and there are none in stock. Yes its an old loco and only a few early types but a lot of people have them. To be totally honest Heljan have only got themselves to blame for the flack they get on this given, not withstanding the difficulty of production slots and batch production, doing sufficient replacement gears at some point in that 12-15 year window would have saved an awful lot of ill feeling. I do think this is an entirely different issue to some of the things that get raised around shape and details etc where I have far less sympathy as no one forces anyone to buy something that doesn't look right. Equally I agree that there are 3rd party options for sound fitting and the like. We cannot reasonably be expected to predict and fix a design fault in the mechanism though. Ian

I'm not really familiar with North American practice but after a holiday to Canada 4 or 5 years ago, where I had cause to try and identify what I'd photo'd, I was struck by how there seemed to be a whole succession of locos all using the same cab/structure etc, so at first glance they look the same. I'm not sure if they are thrashed and have short life cycles or if they are cascaded down to other users but the implication seemed to be that the Union Pacifics etc were upgrading fairly regularly. Naturally being a Brit this struck me as odd whereas completely reinventing the wheel, as we have traditionally done, makes total sense!

They possibly weren't interested historically but in a relatively short space of time we've had the 4 mentioned and the RT is actually two tools - closed and open top. You wouldn't expect them to flood the market with loads all in one go so perfectly possible we will see more new ones trickle through. For what its worth I'd like a Southampton City AEC Regent V rear entrance but I think that might be stretching things.

While the transfers on the china clay dry, I've been working on my Dapol BR brake van. I bought this off eBay cheap as it was literally the worst repaint I've ever seen. It hadn't been primed so 10 mins in IPA and the paint literally fell off and bar a tiny area where the bauxite had blistered (I think from the previous owners abandoned attempt to strip it), it wasn't far off the original Dapol Trump orange. I brush painted a Bauxite base and the usual weathering. Many of the brass details were missing, so a pair of Slaters lamp irons have gone on the ends and I made up the brass doorway handrail you can see. I have 2 of the side lamp irons still and will bodge the pair that will be largely obscured by side lamps. Eventually I will replace it with a brass kit from the stash but its a nice side project in the meantime.

I was involved in a pro tennis tournament during the first lockdown for 6 weeks. One player, Billy Harris, played 42 days straight, which is pretty impressive. Even more remarkable was his 42 consecutive Spoons fry ups. Breakfast of champions, evidently.

Or tall. If you scroll the photo down so part of the offending skirt is off the bottom, it looks about right!

Various Dapol O gauge sound versions have taken months to appear recently, so yes, they are guessing.

Resurrecting this thread as have a question arising from my 7mm build. Does anyone know why they were fitted with tie bars given they are unfitted? I wondered if it was to counter the extra stress on the underframe when using the end tippers at Fowey?

Just occured to me, I wonder if its to do with them being operated on end tippers at Fowey? That would probably have put additional strain on the underframe?