HSB

The Fleischmann Warship is basically the right length but overscale in width and height. The wheels actually scale out at halfway between the correct diameters for the Warship and the V200.

British H0 models were first produced commercially around 100 years ago by Stewart-Reidpath. It was originally called 00 and ran on 16mm (5/8th") gauge.

The boilerhouse now has a roof on.

The windows in the left-hand wall have now been glazed and the boiler house has now been glued in place so this end no longer needs to be propped up against the mock-up which can now be dispensed with. The final five windows for the front have also been assembled and painted ready to be glued in next week. I have temporarily pushed the front and back into position to take this picture:-

Normal size for wagons in steam days was 3' 1 1/2" or 3' 2" although this would reduce slightly every time the tyres were turned down. In model form this is usually rounded down to 3'.

I use Code 88 wheels for H0 on PECO Code 75 track without any problems. I see no reason why a Code 72 wouldn't similarly work in TT.

They have a set of standards for using their finescale wheels for 12mm gauge. I was planning to experiment with some but most are marked as 'out of stock' at the moment.

All the windows in the rear wall have now been glazed and all the windows in the main left-hand wall have been fitted but not yet glazed.

I would be very tempted by an 08 IF they were going to do one with sound. The argument that it's too small for a sound chip and a speaker is nonsense when Graham Farish already do one in N!

The first order for these shunters, which later became the Class 11, were for the MOD and were later sold to Dutch Railways who subsequently ordered more new ones. Roco do a model in H0.

A little bit more progress this week with a roof in place on the extension and the brickwork on the lower platform and steps painted. I've also assembled and painted a few more windows.

I first became aware of jeff Beck when he was in the Yardbirds and, as a guitarist, I always found his playing inspirational. Unfortunately I never got to see him perform live (by the time I got to see the Yardbirds live he had already left and they were down to a four-piece). I do still have several of the Yardbirds singles he played on plus the Jeff Beck Band album featuring Rod Stewart on vocals. A very sad loss!

The workshop has now been installed with a path from the road and the surrounding vegetation now complete.

I've been able to finally glue a few walls together so this end of the building is now freestanding.

We've done a bit more on the layout yesterday and today with the doors which will access the loading and unloading platforms now fitted and handles added made from bent and filed brass wire. I've also started making a roof for the lucam while Rod has been working on the footsteps up to the lower platform. We have now decided these will be at right-angles to the platform rather than alongside it and will be shortened.

The 3mm Society have finescale standards for 12mm gauge which I'm planning to experiment with in the near future.

We've only managed a couple of sessions this week. mainly because Rod has been having back problems, but today I at last got around to building some supports for underneath the lucam. I've also now got all the windows in the rear wall glued in place but yet to be glazed while Rod has been working on some steps to go against the loading platform.

It's something I'm waiting to check out when I get the items of rolling stock I've ordered. From the photos I've seen they seem to be quite well proportioned despite the use of NEM standards which will automatically make the frames further apart than they should be. Hornby seem to have done a pretty good job of disguising this if they are otherwise correctly to scale. SK has made a big thing of saying they are to correct 1:120 scale so I wait with anticipation to find out for sure.

Now you should be able to see it. I'm struggling with Clipchamp which isn't as easy to use as the video editor with Windows 10!

I've now uploaded a second bit of video I shot on Friday.

Here's a bit of video I shot with two trains moving at the same time.

Yesterday our friend Tony Warner joined us for a pre-Christmas operating session.

It's a while since I did mine but I seem to remember the roof unclips from the sides by prising the tops of the sides out slightly. The bogies are completely wrong (they're the ones off their continental coaches). I used Easybuild bogies which come with metal wheels.

We managed to fit in a short session this afternoon in which I glued in a couple more windows and glazed a couple more. I've also touched up the paint on the lucam after my alterations to the window while Rod is making some steps to go on the front of the loading dock.

We're still slowly making progress on the brewery and last week I managed to find a length of wood in B&Q which was just the right width for the lower loading platform. Rod has been working on this, cutting it to length and sticking some plywood strips he had to the bottom to raise it to near the right height. A final surface will bring it up level with the door but we have yet to decide if it will represent paving stones, tarmac or concrete. The walls will be brick. I have been assembling and painting windows with a few more stuck in place awaiting glazing. I also decided to fit a cut-down Grandt Line window in the lucam instead of the resin sash window I was originally going to use but was never really happy with. This has meant enlarging the hole slightly but I think it now looks about right.