jwealleans

Coaches varnished, glazed, nearly done. Bogie sides to come from Dart Castings, handles to stick on. I managed to lose a vac pipe from one end of the D 183; apart from that and the handles, pretty well there. I will stick some black paper under the body so no light shines up from the floor. The D 111 will need something similar doing. I also need to matt down where the Araldite from sticking the roof on shows. The EC third needs the rest of the corridor handrails sticking in and then the roof can go on. Horsebox is ready for weathering. Luggage brake awaits spring and axleboxes. I'd like to finish the brake van in time to deliver it at the Ely show. Only some tidying up and weathering to do now. I put this/these together in a hotel room this week - Cambrian SECR twin. Nice little kit, not too problematic to build at all.

The Cambrian 6 plank is a goods wagon, not mineral. The door opens right up to the top of the side. Better to put a sheet over it - either over the whole thing (see my thread for doing this using clingfilm) or tucked inside over a piece of foam or similar. Sheets can be made from black paper or a songle ply of tissue sprayed black.

Well, it'll be a lot less draughty with the lid on. If I build mine as well we'll have matching pairs. Have yours got Bill's bogies? Hard to tell on the loganberry.

As promised back upthread, some HO/OO comparisons: Roco Saarbrucken van with my 4mm scratchbuild. These were common into the 1970s and also almost identical, without brake cabin, to the articulated pair operated by Delacher, one of which is preserved in this country. Roco FS vent van with my scratchbuilt insulated van. The bodies should be almost the same length (IIRC the insulated vans were slightly longer). The height discrepancy can be disguised by adding a deeper solebar (you need to build a new chassis anyway, the supplied one is awful). These are fairly common in rummage bins and I haven't paid more than £8 for any of mine. Both these could also be seen into the 1970s and in small numbers more recently.

Hallo HM. If I were making a roof from scratch, I'd use brass sheet. Roll it to the main arc then form the eaves over some skirting or rod with your fingers. As the body comes away from the chassis it would then be easy to solder and form it as you fit it. In this case I eventually went with the supplied roof, using lolly sticks and elastic bands to get it to the right shape and then epoxy to hold it. HTH. I did promise some ferry wagons, so here you all go: Distinct case of verbal diarrhoea on these and I now find I managed to overlook two complete panels of text when preparing the transfers. I have some more to make up, though, so they'll just fill a bit of space on the next sheet. Quite a contrast with the understated brevity of the Framlingham branch brake van: Edit - spelling.

Fairly lengthy thread on the earlier wagons (but it wandered) here. Search for Jon Hall's work on some of the vehicles you illustrate above as well. I found this picture of the early stages of a stake wagon (which I've now almost completed) along with a Lilliput HO version - not the same wagon, but the bodies should be almost the same length: . 31A had one of these on his Finsbury Square layout but I think decided it looked too small. These ran into the 1970s, from resin castings by Jon Hall: I had to scratchbuild these, but you'd also get these in to the 1970s and the transfers I commissioned are still available from John Peck at Precision Decals More information on my WB thread.

My interest in ferry vans is a fair bit further back in the twentieth century, but I've only found one HO example which can be used in OO with any relationship to accuracy and that's the ROCO FS peak roof ventilated van. Something like this only matchboarded. For 1:76 it's scale width and 2mm too short. I think you can get away with them until the 1970s. I scratchbuilt a pair of German Saarbrucken vans and bought a Liliput (I think) one to help. I posed a photo of the two together when I'd finished mine and the difference is very much more than we sometimes think. I'll try to find the photo.

[pedant mode] I think you'll find he was shot [/pedant mode]

It seems a while but there's been a fair bit of watching paint dry. I've also been preparing some transfers for the latest ferry van build which John Peck turned round with commendable rapidity - far more rapidity than I've found for applying them, so you'll just have to hang on to the edge of your collective seats for those. One of the other things I ordered from John at the same time were some of the small data blocks for NPCCS which he made for me a few years ago. That was all this GN horsebox had been waiting for: The D 303 brake awaits axlebox/springs from D & S, but the body can be finished: I'm also waiting to make up an order to Dart Castings which will include the bogie sides for the D129 Composite. Again, though, the body can be finished and the interior is well on as well. This D183 BC came to me by way of payment for some stock I built. I never tire of saying that these are the best looking coaches to run in this country. Lastly the Ian Kirk conversion we looked at a few pages back. Having the Graeme King roof sections has spurred me into action with this and it will be complete before too long. The way it was built means it will have to be a sealed unit - not the way I like to do it but I'd have had to indulge in wholesale destruction of the original to do otherwise. There will need to be a bit of fettling of the roof ends to get the profiles to match, but you can see what the basic effect is going to be.

Forgive me if I'm displaying my ignorance, but aren't those tipplers rather than 16 tonners?

Pleased to see properly chained containers in evidence, Steve. It makes such a difference. Does the Continental traffic still run into FS?

Fixed axle at one end and a concealed bogie for the other two? Or two fixed and the centre one floating.

Can I hypothesise that in the finest tradition of flash operators, you drove it steadily towards a trailing point where the converging rails brought the wheels back into line and flicked them back onto the track? I can't visualise your track plan to know whether that's the case or not.

This is the Hornby LSWR liveried T9 on the Ormesby Hall layout 'Corfe'.

Given time, it should reduce city-wide congestion.....

Have you read this thread at all?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4mm-Scale-etched-brass-kit-built-LNER-GCR-FISH-VAN-OO-EM-P4-/141209257493?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item20e0ba4615

I'll have to have another look at my photo, Arthur. I wonder if a bit of judicious shading would give at least some of the effect? Still needs the roof fittings and vac pipes but essentially complete. The fittings arrived from Dave Hammersley for the Howlden - 4A6 gas lamp tops, 4A7 torpedo vents, in case anyone else is looking for any - and those have also been fitted.

This week, while waiting for bits, I have mostly been building a pig-ugly coach. I like these NER matchboard vehicles, they're so awful they're really eyecatching. This is a D 111 Lavatory 3rd. A number of these were transferred to East Anglia in the 1930s and this one will run on Thurston and Wickham Market. I have a couple more ex-NER coaches to make up so we have a choice of non-corridor stock to run.

As long as it's not woodchip - if it is, you'll never get it off again.

Hey Pete, Haven't read back through the whoel thread, but have you tried this Limonene stuff? Geoff Kent reckoned it set more slowly and didn't distort plastikard and Mike T is trying it with apparently good results.

Come on, Gilbert, do keep up. Time to practice your Russian.

Pssst, Barry! Yours is a D11, mate. Cabside windows.

Picture 4. Definite wallpaper material.

Can you elaborate, Mike? I haven't either.