jwealleans

Some handy pictures of that very square Interfrigo van here.

No problem Arthur - it's the top link in your signature and these vehicles are about half way down the page, for anyone interested. My mate 31A also identified the 6 wheeler as Great Northern. The other GN coach, the D 183, will appear sometime in this thread anyway, so now is as good a time as any. This is what it would have looked like in its heyday:

It was the centre W iron and the vents over the doors which made me think Great Northern, TBH. I'm sure we'd all like to see the rest as well, either here or in another thread.

If they're yours, does that make them I's?

That's what this thread needs: more pictures of old pilots.

Lovely picture. Great Northern/ECJS?

It's been a bit hot in the workshop this week so I haven't done much soldering. There has been a little progress, not terribly visible: BFK is now affixed to its underframe so we can safely tow the set round. It may well go for a first road test on Monday evening. I have done some more to the GN BFK and it now only needs minor finishing; handles, end jumpers, another corridor connector and the odd bit of paint.

Can't speak for Graham, but if the holes are etched in they're often on the beading, which is correct. If they're not and you have to drill them yourself then it's easiest to go right in the corners of the two panels, which gives the right spacing for the MJT handles.

Is it true (may be an urban myth) that some high precision measuring instruments are made with steel salvaged from the German fleet at the bottom of Scapa Flow as it's been at a depth sufficient to bew shielded from the contamination created by all the nuclear explosions since 1945?

I thought they were MJT without looking too hard. The holes are in the same places I make them for MJT ones. They do look fine on the 6 wheelers.

Now those rainstrips are a proper job - I just stick 20 thou square strip above the doors, slightly chamfered at the ends. I don't add grab handles until after paint either - makes lining so much easier (not that that's a consideration here). I can let you have the dodgy used tube from my drying room if you're short of one for that light.

Er... si je peux? 'Camion', pas 'cameon'. Deux sur dix... venez me voir a la fin du lecon.

You can glue them, but once you've learned to solder them you'll find it's quicker and stronger. It's worth taking the time to learn.

Is that a figure of speech or has he put even more lead into it?

Mick was asking about that horrible looking Thompson pacific, I think?

Go back a couple of posts, Mick, to where it first appears. It's a PDK.. I've seen some of those wagons before. Those DUHA loads do look very good indeed.

If 2001 can be run on a french layout (it did go to Vitry for testing) I think you can get away with it almost anywhere.

I use 0.7 for mine. I don't know OTTOMH what the size of the real thing is. Is it me or do those in that coach look slightly low?

D77 Picnic Saloon? Here.

So what do you use with your custard?

Quint keeps on growing... Made up the body of the BFK tonight - just hinges still to do then it's on to the underframe.

Try factoring your time into the equation, Gilbert. I freely admit that I enjoy building kits. So for whatever an MJT coach costs (I'll take your getting on for £70 as a ballpark) I get upwards of 20 hours of building time, if you do a proper interior and weather it, without adding in the time spent researching and at the end of that I have an asset, the satisfaction of creating it and all the pleasure of running it on a layout to come. How much does 20 hours of golf cost? If I pay £48 or whatever the going rate is for a Hornby RTR, all I need to do is take it out of the box, maybe weather and add passengers (a couple of hours?). Then I'm at the running it on a layout stage. There's far less creative process involved and (personally) I get far less satisfaction from it. And at the end of the day it's highly unlikely your formation is accurate unless you go down the kit build/buying route. 'Better' is subjective. I'd love a Larry Goddard or Dave Studley paint job on the coaches I'm building at the moment, but I'll do it myself because I can achieve a standard which satisfies me and at the end of the day it's mine. I never thought I'd see the day when a Hornby coach cost more than a D & S kit, but now it's here I know which I think reflects better value. I appreciate that if you're not so confident soldering or painting and if you have the highest standards to match in what's already on the layout, it can be a bit daunting. This goes for anyone who's hesitant about building kits. Pretty much everything, they say, is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. If you're prepared to perspire, most people can get close to 99% of the best. It's that 1% which keeps Larry (and Ian, and Dave) at the top of their profession.

More to the point, will it pull more than 55 of coal?

Well, it keeps on growing: I shan't be able to manage an overall shot like that much longer. Progress will slow now as the Test matches are upon us and it's getting too warm to spend time in the workshop of an evening. Built up the body of the 3rd class dining car this evening. In other news the D96 was teaked last week and I managed to cut out the interior over the weekend while I was away at a show.

Three fairly new Roger Smith, two using a single ply of bog paper sprayed black. All stuck to a piece of foam using PVA.