Andy Y

Follow up to http://www.rmweb.co....n-silo-presflo/ I'd set off on a desire to be different more than anything else in trashing a previously perfect Bachy Presflo into a twin silo variant. I set off knowing that I'd got no reference material other assumption and guesswork and even the resources to complete the model in its supposed form. Looking back Hornby Dublo produced a Presflo in a slightly bluish green with ICI logos and bulk salt and Dapol some years later in an even more garish shade. That's all I'd got to go on other than Paul Bartlett's reference material to the later life Slate Presflo which was actually more helpful than the pseudo-collectable items of yore in taking a stab at what the colour may have been before age and filth took them to the state shown in Paul's pictures. Trying to achieve a 'is that blue or is that green' shade took some trial and error with garish shades of Tamiya acrylics that would look more fitting on some yoof's Corsa and a touch of black. I was happy when I'd got a shade that seemed to change in tone dependent on the light it's in. I'd never expected to find the ICI logos and had an alternate DIY plan for them until I called Modelmaster to get the lettering. I mentioned the ICI logo and lo and behold I was advised that sheet 4651 contained just what I needed. Brilliant. However it's no exaggeration to say that applying the transfers takes longer than the conversion shown in the previous posting. Out came the Tamiya weathering powders again for pure guesswork on how such a wagon in that usage would have weathered. It's at this point when this blog entry gets posted that someone will step forth with definitive proof that I've got it wrong. Great, do it; I'm ready and waiting with another blank canvas that I can rectify these wild assumptions.

Dear Number 57, whoever you are or more probably were, today I really appreciate what you and your colleagues did all those years ago! I'd had a Dapol Prestwin in the to-do drawer for a year or two and decided a few weeks back to put into the works. What an utter disaster it was and virtually put me off buying any of Dapol's current production of these time-served moulds. The chassis was so distorted that at rest only two wheels would touch the rails, three if a digit was placed on a corner; I can't even remember where I'd bought it so it now lives in the parts bin for its other components. The kit started life under Airfix around 1964 and it's a very different story with crisp detail on decent plastic (if a little brittle with age resulting in a broken brake lever at a late stage) that can still make a decent showing placed next to the current pick of the crop. Assembly is a dream with sharp alignment, positive fit and achievable in under an hour despite the 60+ parts that make this up. The only modifications to date to the kit are the addition of a couple of Cambrian brake wheels (I owe you another thank you Brian!) to the discharge pipes on the roof and the handrails above the short ladder to the platform on one side. The original transfers are somewhat yellow and curled but handily there were appropriate lettering and numbers left over on a Modelmaster 4644r sheet after the Presflo project (I really must post some snaps of the finished article). I accept that the seams in the tanks are more prominent than you'd like to see on a wagon produced last week but in the flesh they don't look as pronounced as they do on the snaps and that some final touching up is needed before a dose of Dullcote. Show me anything as good from 1964 that you can pick up for a fiver if you can!

A sensible response Bob. Can we please make sure the topic doesn't disappear up itself into an argument as opposed to a well argued case?

A bit of Class 60 action from 4mins 45secs.

Surely the intention of this topic is to gain commitment? I very much doubt whether your phraseology would garner much support. As mentioned in my quote above from Dennis they will be replying in due course.

The fonts are downloadable from here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/BRfonts/britrdn_.ttf http://www.rmweb.co.uk/BRfonts/britrln_.ttf Also Gill Sans: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/BRfonts/GIL_____.TTF

It's another mongrel, 33/0 body, 33/1 cabs and you're absolutely right, above the windscreen has been changed to green - I only realised when I looked at that photo for the first time!

I've spoken to Hattons and out of the significant number of locos despatched this week there have been few notifications of any issues as yet. It may be opportune to remind members and readers that the best way of resolving any issue is to contact Hattons directly so that any problems can be addressed as opposed to adding 'me too' content to what has already been posted. Thanks,

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I've not seen the underneath of one yet but if it's the same as other sloppy Heljan couplings the answer is to slip a shim between the two sticky out prongs and the coupling pocket.

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I've managed to do a decent amount of modelling of late Don whilst not being able to do normal maintenance/development stuff on the software - quite enjoyed it.

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Jumping ahead to other bits of Keyhaven that may or may not get built at some point this year I picked up some Presflos with a view to altering them to reflect the twin silo variety that were initially used for ICI salt traffic and latterly for Slate Powder. Paul Bartlett's site again provides useful reference content with various angles of these wagons - http://gallery6801.f...et/c121408.html The starting point was the Crown Cement liveried Presflo with the correct buffer types shown left and the adapted wagon on the right. The principal difference to the twin silo version is just that, twin silos with separate feeds at top and bottom. After dismantling the wagon the hopper bottom was removed with a saw and a replacement with twin discharges was knocked up from 160gsm card.. Although the wagon runs fine I decided to add some cheap weights whilst the top was off. The replacement piping was formed from 0.020inch round brass rod, the handrails from Alan Gibson .45mm wire, the small valve knobs from plastic rod cutoffs, one larger valve handle temporarily removed from another Presflo until I find a handle that better matches that in the prototype images and lastly brass offcuts for the notice panels. When considering the job I thought I'd have to use two wagons to generate enough bits but other than the valve wheel it was achieved from what happened to be lying around. Cheap job, takes about an hour. I may get round to painting when I've done a couple more and sorted the transfers and found a definitive shot in salt livery.

I've carried out some basic modifications to the Mermaid and documented it in my blog - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/blog/1/entry-2733-mermods/

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I picked up a Flangeway Mermaid at the weekend and although it has a lot of positives the big negative for me was the solid panel on top of the chassis - see cnw6847's post which detracted from the fineness of the rest of the model. Given the price at GBP15.95 I'd have expected something a little more but having looked at it I felt comfortable that something could be done to improve it. Step 1 - Separate the wagon body from the supporting frame, maybe it should unclip but I could see glue residue down there so I slid scalpel beneath the body. Step 2 - Separate the tipping frame from the weighted chassis, again there was evidence of clips beneath but it didn't want to budge and I reverted to the scalpel. The tipping frame is clipped to the chassis with two awkward clips on each side, placing pressure on these from inside moves them out sufficiently to remove the tipping frame from the chassis. Step 3 - Remove the weight from the chassis by drilling through the melted plastic peg in each corner of the weight. Step 4 - Replace the tipping frame onto the chassis. At this point I had intended to build up the chassis frame with plastic strip but given that it will be relatively obscured most of the time and looking at a skeleton chassis on Paul Bartlett's site I thought I'd leave it at that. Once the wagon body is replaced I think the result is reasonable and certainly an improvement. The body, and chains, will be fixed back on after the wagon is weathered. The wagon will obviously need that weight that was removed, in this case it will be cut down by 5mm off the length and placed inside the wagon and with additional weight hidden beneath the wagon's load.

That's really quite delightful Mikkel! I really enjoyed that and it brought a smile to the face, thanks for putting the time into doing that.

Keyhaven was an entry in the 2007 Challenge, it's only 48" x 17" but there are expansion plans (but not in a conventional way) afoot.

I did try (see below) but too wide a separation makes the images too separated and different and the brain struggles to re-assemble it. I think a bit more practice would define an optimum but this would need to be graduated based on the distance of the subject matter from the lens. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forumimages/Keyhaven_Stereo_2.jpg

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See forum topic about this image. Edited to change image to improved version.

Hi Andy, I downloaded?