Kelly

It is good news that Chris Evans is leaving. Though I wonder how much of the show being able to get going again was down to Evans and le blanc money and influence. Matt works, Rory and the other Chris work. Sabine was always going to work. Eddie Jordan definitely didn't work. Will be Interesting to see what changes will get made before the next series airs. Though I also wonder if they'll wait for the new three idiots show to air and take something from how that goes.

I have countless types of pliers and cutters due to my jewellery hobby, as well as all kinds of interesting mandrels and bail forming (for making the looks on wire pendants for the chain) types. Though I do try to keep the uses separate where possible as the jewellery tools are somewhat more expensive than the equivalent model railway items (for some work I even use the cheaper model railway types and keep the more expensive items for more delicate jewellery work).

If you can find it, what works well for such things is a thin strip of nylon, with a bit of double sided tape. Its what I use when working with wire for jewellery to prevent tool marks.

It was iirc, just a rebadged Indian car rather than what it was being labelled as another Metro/Rover 25 type car.

As a chronic back pain sufferer (amongst other things), he has my sympathies. Hopefully a buyer who shares the vision to take the company forward can be found, and not a buyer who will sit on the product lines with little effort put in as that'd be a real shame with the valuable resource they provide.

I suspect they'll have their own anonymous driver of some description. IIRC TG was banned from testing Toyota and other makes of cars due to comments and actions on Clarksons part for a number of years, the same being true for a few other manufacturers. Some manufactures refused to let them test their cars due to the shows growing bad reputation for the stunts and fearing bad publicity as a result.

It could do with a few elements perhaps of the old top gear (pre-Clarkson). Like features on sport (such as rallying, including the presenters taking part perhaps in such (Chris Harris is certainly able to do this, as is Sabine)). Making it similar but subtly different is what is needed. That and a better writing team for the challenges!

She also presents the German top gear so could have commitments for that making it difficult for her to present each episode. Eddie Jordan doesn't really work I find. He's fine giving opinions from the pit lane of f1, much else... Nope.

Both the shows you mention are good, for very different reasons. I doubt the Fast N Loud format could work here, we just don't have the customisation market like they do over there, or the funds for someone to produce it probably. Chasing Classic Cars could work i guess, but again doubt there'd be the interest to stump the money as classic cars restored to such conditions are very expensive.

Don't forget minimum wage and other items went up too. So your figures are a bit simplistic, as there'll be executives on £150k+ and some on a minimum of about £25k. Your figures for stock don't really add up to anything meaningful when items range from pennies to £250+. There could be 1000s of cheap items sitting in stock (perhaps track etc) or 100s of more expensive items (multiple units and the like). Though as you say it is still a large amount of stock to be sitting on, especially with the move to bigger warehouse etc and likely increases in costs incurred with that. Oil prices might have gone down (though that doesn't mean the final price has gone down (look at petrol/diesel prices slowly rising in recent months from around £1/l to about £1.10/l), many other factors are at play. Likely that shipping costs outside of oil prices have gone up significantly, stuff like dock handling charges, tug charges etc. Streamlining the ranges would seem a good idea though. Plenty of items in the ranges many won't miss I'm sure. It should also be considered that in recent years the airfix range has been expanded and a lot of newly tooled kits have been released (with quite a number of them being excellent models). The same is true for the corgi diecast ranges no doubt.

Interesting, thanks Would be interested in any other similar types as threads in a similar manner.

With Bratchell Models offering a 455/8 and 455/9 (OK, they're not RTR, but are painted already), Kernow (or anyone else) would have to be really sure they'd get their investment back, and in these troubled times they might not wish to perhaps. They might well be better following on with a 4REP to complement the 4TC and other similar units.

It is nice to see more SR 'units' (I say 'units' as they're unpowered...). They do on the face of it seem expensive, until you consider the fact it is a commission/limited edition and the new tooling. Hopefully it'll lead to other SR/BR(S) EMUs in the future!

Those bi-planes look great I always struggled with the stringing, until I started using stretched sprue for it (this was years ago). One of these days i'll make a start on the Vulcan I have in the pile, I kind of regret selling off all the unmade plane kits I had a few years back due to space and moving restraints.

The key will be how it is for the following series and if they learn from any feedback they're surely getting. Though filtering out the Clarkson fanboyism feedback is probably not an easy task...

Not much to update with at present. I've gotten the first board painted however (in plain white emulsion) to protect it from any damp in my flat (my flat being an old 60s/70s council flat is prone to condensation/damp) as best I can. Next stage will probably to give it a spray of a green colour I probably. I've been playing about in Templot trying to see how curved boards to add a 90o at one or both ends might work out. Being P4 this means said boards will likely be rather long. It'd be impractical though to have a curve board attaching to the end of the crossover unless I hide the second set of tracks joining back to to the others under scenery perhaps. It'll take some thought i think, but it would allow at least a traverser to be placed at a 90o angle and easier to set up in my flat. Though it could well mean losing the hidden sidings, but they might well be able to just not be connected with the curved boards attached, and used to have stock ready, though how that'd work i'm not sure, it would be quite complicated for those to join the curved boards though. Again a bit of thought and playing around in Templot needed I think. In the next couple of weeks I'm going to make a start on the first P4 point, though it likely won't be used on the layout as I've used mostly B7/1:7 points (kit is a B6), but it will be fine for another smaller plan I have, which I might work towards getting set up sooner than this one in some respects as a test bed.

Your efforts continue to be impressive, well done As I've previously said, N isn't my scale/gauge, but I have an interest in the technology being used here (3D printing) and am impressed by the outcomes so far. Hopefully one day it'll be more suitable (and cost effective) to consider 4mm, but I suspect that is a long way off, until then I'm going to look to try my hand at new bogies/cabs etc for what I need, as that is likely doable at least.

I don't know why but I found the US top gear amusing, just from the sheer stupidity of it. Sometimes you need stuff that is stupid and dull to pass the time with (I've yet to bother watching nu-Top Gear).

And then you stop it being visible to the disabled or children. So not a very ideal solution, but then neither are barriers.

They don't offer online ordering. You'll need to write or phone them. Better yet see them at a show (they usually do ExpoEM, Scaleforum, Chatam and Ally Pally to name a few). Dave and Mick (who helps run the stand with Dave at shows) are both very friendly and helpful.

Are you using Peco code 100? that might account for the derailments perhaps. It is a very interesting period to model, with lots of historical possibilities (bombed out buildings, units etc, armoured trains (they armoured an N as well as some on the RH&D)). Keeping curves and points are 'flowing' as possible is the best way to try to get better running in many regards. Before ripping up and starting again though, give a package like Anyrail a try and knock up a few plans to see what fits and so on. I've found it helpful to do similar for my own layout (though that is P4, so I've been using Templot, but I'd not recommend that option). A fiddle yard->terminus might work better and allow longer trains with careful thought perhaps.

I really dislike barriers personally, as people seem to use them as a place to congregate and chat whilst leaning on them, blocking access to others I've found, particularly at larger shows. Equally perspex screens are not pleasant to view a layout through, they can often distort the view, especially if they've been scuffed in assembly/break down a few times. Barriers can also become a mobility issue, when in a scooter/wheelchair they restrict space that is often already tight further making moving to see a layout that much harder (not helped by afore mentioned comment about congregating viewers). It is always going to be a difficult issue to address though sadly. So for big shows, barriers are probably a neccessity brought about by too many inconsiderate people spoiling it for the rest of us. Some shows expressly avoid use of barriers though and they seem to manage it well enough.

They'd be able to apply for Spanish citizenship is the big difference, anyone else planning to relocate there would be treated like anyone outside the EU and thus would require a Visa (the same would apply to any EU country or anyone from an EU country moving to the UK). Though it is rather a unknown as to how it might work out. There are suggestions that the bigger EU countries would become rather anti-british if we vote to leave, and thus make life difficult, of course until the vote that is speculation really and going way off topic.

Good luck with it all. But I'd seriously consider not putting any money towards spain that you cant get back until after the 23rd to make sure you know what you're getting into, if the brexiters win it could be very costly or complicated to relocate there.

He;s taken on so many ranges is perhaps the trouble. So much variety of items and so much to sort through, it might be that the slaters 4mm stuff isn't in a state he can sell atm, or is in a queue behind other items he's trying to reintroduce. He has stated he spends some of his time working on 12" to the foot stuff, so that might impact a bit i guess.