greenglade

This may be a silly question but why do you feel you need to glue the valances on? they are a good fit and the screws hold them perfectly, any gaps can be filled although the only gaps I had were at the front and back joints. \regarding cutting the valances I'd do that after they have been fixed in place. I've been progressing with my own build...did the cab roof over the last couple of days...lovely casting and etches, she's going to be a nice model. I have ordered a set of backhead fittings from Laurie Griffin to compliment the kit as i intend to put a lot of extra detail into this area. here's a picture of the cab roof, still needs cleaning/tidying up but it's getting there, I have built it so that the vents work, kit suggests gluing then open or closed but the kit parts can easily be used for working vents. regards Pete

that's the same as I use....no issues with soldering after a good wash, I also give it a good polish with just steel wool when dried, that's after the initial scrub with steel wool and paint stripper together. comes up a treat... Pete Pete

Hi Rob I agree about the wire... but i wanted to find a supplier who wasn't too expensive so I can have a stock of different sizes.... i found such on ebay and iirc bought 0.4, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 1.2 and 1.5....I already have a variety of other sizes in single core wire that can be stripped...BTW what did you use for the dial faces?? Pete

that's looking very nice...funny as I spent a little time myself this evening doing some scaled down test prints of Mallards various gauge faces on photo card just to see if the detail still shows through...looking good so far...yours look great...have you turned up new dials and what about the water gauges etc...are they cast brass or painted? I also ordered a number of reels of copper wire for doing the pipework.... I suspect enough to do hundreds of mallards....... I like the opened firehole door detail too... Pete

That certainly looks up to the Job John..I haven't decided on my set up yet...same goes for chassis suspension, I may do a simple semi rigid job or even leave rigid.....we shall see....i do have a set of Martin Finney horns/blocks that I could use... I did get them out to have a look but still undecided...they are primarily destined for Martin's kit of Gresley's A1 which has been sitting under my bench for a few years along with the Premier components sets and a full set of Slater's wheels.. Still they are handy items to check against the Mallard kit as she progresses....btw if you do use a blow torch be very careful...as a rule in the larger gauges any heating of the main frames is to be avoided at all costs....even 1/8th thick steel frame plates which I'm currently working with will warp very easily when heated...better safe than sorry. Pete

Hi John no I didn't tin the laminates...my reasoning being that this may distort things by some of the tinning possibly by not heating up properly. My method was to brush on some bakers fluid between the laminate edging, assemble using the bushes to ensure the parts are aligned and then run solder along the edges, checking along the way that all is lined up nicely. This would seal the joints and also allow some solder to flow between the laminates where it got hot enough, thus no lumps and bumps...finishing with a file over the edge to tidy things up.End result is the frames look one piece along the top...bottom has various discrepancies which may be there for a reason. Certainly the discrepancy around the bogie wheel arch is there for the mudguard to sit in so I won't do anything about them until I know if something is supposed to fit there...it may be that they are for fitting spring hangers and lower stays...they certainly look like they are part of the design...if so I'll be even more impressed with this kit. The frames seem very strong and are looking the part...I have the advantage of being able to compare them with the 5" gauge A1 (4472) that I'm also building as it's frames are at a similar stage...all is looking very good so far... Pete

hmmm.. i did post a responce but it seems to have disappeared..lol basically I was saying that the Mallard bushes are fine...they have a little burr around the edges that soon disappears once you push the axle through.... Here's a picture of my build to date....I used the metalsmiths axle alignment tool for checking that the bushes were correct and also that the chassis was square....this was proved but fitting a set of Premier Components A3/4 rods....all looking very good so far...hope to fit the other chassis parts later today, just need to check the mudguards against full size as they look a little wide to me...also hope to get the chassis cleaned up as this hasn't been done yet. Picture of chassis with alignment tools fitted to check that the kit has the correct axle spacing for using Premier rods....all fits very nicely. Regards Pete

difficult to say until we see them John...i suspect they will follow the already good standards set but will wait to see what we get....iirc the wheels for FS were good but the axles had issues...I don't have any personal experience as i didn't subscribe to that model...slaters are generally very good though Pete

that looks good John...i'm looking forward to receiving mine...... Pete

Hi John I would like to think that there's a reason why the chassis has been built so far before the overlays go on......it's a good way of hiding the stretcher joints with I hope scale like rivets and bolt etches on the overlays....there are a number of other fixing points along the chassis that i guess would also need their parts fitted before the overlays......i'm looking forward to the next 4 issues being delivered.....I'm at roughly the same stage on my large live steam model A1 ( more or less identical frames), erecting the frames now so it's an advantage to check how accurate the Partworks model is.....It would be nice to see Gresley's famous 'star-stay' appear, the 2:1 gear stay already fitted is pretty close to prototype and the vacuum cylinder stay is there although much simplified, looks like the two holes in it's etch are there ready for the cylinders to fit too ... Pete

very interesting and the reason why I said before, here and elsewhere that it's too early to criticize any part of this model until we know more about the designers plans...going by this info it seems he/she is ahead of the game and perhaps we are in for a real treat building this model, I have to say that so far I see no reason to doubt that this will be a fine model and runner......however we still have a long way to go......looking good though.... Pete

Hi ross yes...squadron green...i haven't sanded it down yet....will do before the next issues arrive.... Pete NB: err i think i should be calling you John going by the other forum....hope I have that right...

Hi Ross early days yet to say how well the chassis fits the body but so far looks pretty good..picture just to show what's involved so far. The chassis itself is a good fit, holds itself insitu without screws, you can see two of the future mounting points at the rear , the bent over tabs that will join with the trailing frames have elongated slot's in them for the two screws under the cab. The chassis is currently slightly deformed in the middle due to being compressed too much by the locating lugs under the body, this occurs no matter which side of the lugs you mount the chassis, i suspect the final resting place will be to place the frames to the outside of the lugs but which ever it is will need a little material removing to ensure the frames run parallel, of course the thickness of the paint doesn''t help here...i'll tackle this later when more parts have been assembled. Another point to note is that the elongated holes in what on the full size would be'the stiffeners' between main frames and trailing frames could do with being elongated across the other axis, they are spot on for for and aft positions but look like they will need adjusting for width to keep the frames running parallel, again i'll leave such things until more is known about the designers intention...having said all that so far the model is looking very good. Pete

I'm here....i can show my progress to date...I posted this yesterday on the FB page... cab handrails have been made but not fixed yet until painted...boiler handrails are removable for painting...gaps in valances have been filled but not sanded down yet..oh and chassis is out of sight under neath...so far I'm impressed with the quality of the kit...details like the swiveling ash shields on the cab windows give some idea of how much detail this kit is going to have....let's hope the good start continues... Pete

.i'm a member and it seems active still to me...last update a few days ago..perhaps something wrong in your settings although I don't know what...not that computer savvy myself.... Pete

sorry to hear that, perhaps you got a bad one?....mine is very good, in fact i'm pleasantly surprised by how well it fits, perfect joins between the boiler and valances. What gaps there are (front of valances to nose) are very small and easily dealt with. Not only that but i'm impressed with the level of detail, windows are a delight...far better than I had expected... Pete

There are cheaper alternatives to nitromors...I used B&Q own brand 'varnish /paint remover' worked well and only £2.98, it also did a good job removing the lacquer from the etches for those who wish to solder their models together. Old man Phil...nice pictures..regarding the windows, sorry i should have explained myself more clearly...i was referring to the brass etch that needs fixing to the spectacle plate, these are brass on the prototype and thus will look nice if left unpainted. cheers Pete

Hi Vicar47 I think you'll find that most experienced modeler's will strip the paint off, it's amazing how much detail is covered up with that thick factory applied primer. It comes off very easy with paint stripper, no need to sand anything....use stripper, clean off with water( may need to do this a couple of times) and then buff up with some steel wool. The handrails for Mallard should be polished steel, so silver in colour, personally i'd leave these off until the end although dry fit them now so it's a simple task to fit them later after the body has been painted and even after the decals. Windows... I'm still in two minds about....could leave them off for now but since i'm soldering all of the parts may be best to fix now....I will probably paint them with the body colour and then scrap the paint off to give a nice polished brass look, not really looked at this yet, need to check the prototype. Handrails... I may use a metal solution to make them bright silver, I think the likes of Frost Restoration may be able to help here, I've used their chemical black solution on much larger models which is very good. Pete

Dan Hatchette are aware of the problem with the missing screws, i suspect they will ship them with a later issue. Regarding removing the lacquer I found paint remover worked very well, I used B&Q own brand Diall varnish/paint remover, caused no damage or discoloration to the cab parts. I will use the same product for removing the paint off the body sections as it's far too heavy a coat, only to be expected from mass spraying of parts. Pete

Hi I have used most makes of cyno in my work, some good and some bad..I would recommend that you try one of the ZAP range. Go for the medium thickness for most jobs, it's also worth having a thin variant for some small detail parts. You'll find ZAP at reasonable prices on eBay.... Pete

I emailed Hachette.. this was the reply Dear Peter Thank you for your email . Thank you for notifying us, we are investigating this matter and awaiting feed back. As soon as we receive feed back we will let out customer know what is happening. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require further assistance. Yours sincerely, Maggie L Customer Care I was impressed getting a reply in less than 2 hours.. Pete

thanks guys....has anyone found issue 2 in the shops yet or is it too early....WHS staff say issue 2 is usually a couple of weeks after 1 and then the issues go weekly as advertised...having not done this before it's all new to me.... Pete

Part 1 arrived in this mornings post.. no sign of the fee gift though, perhaps it comes from a different source, I have sent an email to ask the question... Pete

Don't think you'll have much trouble removing the skirts Steve... Pete

not yet Steve...letter said first delivery should be early sept so I guess this week... next delivery consisting issues 2 and 3 will be 28 days after that.... not very good... means subscribers will be many weeks behind general release at least for a month or two, hence why i bought issue 1 already and will probably also buy 2 and 3, will keep the subscribed issues when they arrive as spares. Pete