Cleefy

I just downloaded the instructions for the Comet chassis and they say it has a 40mm wheelbase that suits the Hornby model as opposed to the 38mm wheelbase of the Bachmann and - as far as I can tell with my rudimentary measuring - GBL models. Dunno what to do at this point - attempt a fettling? Smaller wheels? Make a half-decent static model from the two flawed ones I bought, use the other for painting practise and knock the idea of motorising it on the head? I'm tending towards the latter as I have other candidates I can be buying a chassis kit for until the situation with Comet resolves itself one way or t'other.

A chopped down tree for... something... Edit: dammit, Metr0Land!

As someone who isn't going to be buying a King from anyone, it's going to be interesting to sit back and watch this one play out. New kid on the block vs grizzled vet. Cue the music...

Yep, the 'wonderful model for your collection' spiel gives it away. Stevie Wonder? Gostuditis unfortunately appears to be conatagious - apparently this, with its dust, smears and tarnished coupling rods is 'like new'.

I bought a Compound with the thought of sticking a Comet chassis underneath it. Thing is, it's just one more on a fairly longish list of other GBL locos and cheap RTR bodies snaffled from Ebay for the same purpose - I saw them as a way of getting some kit-building under my belt without having to suffer the expense of full loco kits or faff about painting and lining. Of course, Geoff's recent announcement has thrown a different light on my plans - I can't afford to panic-buy all the chassis kits I'll need even if I leave the wheels and motors until later, so I guess it's a case of prioritising now and hoping he finds a decent seller in the meantime. I realise I sound like I'm complaining, but FAOD I would do exactly the same in Geoff's position and I genuinely wish him all the best. And sorry, GBL, but unless you pull a real doozy out of the bag, I guess we're done for now...

Same here. Before reading this thread I was getting along just fine not even knowing what a return crank is, let alone at what angle it should lean. Ignorance? Certainly. Blissful? Most definitely! My apologies to Tony and anyone else who might be mortified by my cavalier attitude to Walshe... Wealsche... Waelsha... gubbins ;-)

*raises hand for a class 120*

"Langley Models ref E/B1 LNER/BR B1 4-6-0 body/tender kit made up" Made up as in imaginary? Or do you mean it's been built? In which case, given that it's "sold as is, no returns", might it not be an idea to let us see the f&%$ing thing?

I never thought that putting my Lima 9006 up on the 'bay would be worth the effort. Now I can see where I've been missing a trick. Simply stick the wrong nameplate on (taking care to botch the job), paint the undercarriage green and *boom* suddenly it's worth £35!

"OIriginally (sic) supplied in LNER livery" Scribbling out LNER with black crayon and plastering a BR emblem over the remains hasn't really altered anything in that respect.

Working and a really nice runner, despite having some minor faults/missing bits. Not that you'd ever notice, of course...

Ah, thanks - I'll bear that in mind when I get near to completing my current kit Having watched Tony's videos I did think that I'd probably get on better with white metal kits overall once I was confident about soldering them. I just had a quick look and parts 1 & 2 are cheaper from Activity Media themselves, £12.99 each as opposed to £18.99 and £20.99 from Amazon. They're also doing part 3 (painting and lining) for £9.99. http://www.model-railway-dvd.co.uk/ Usual disclaimer, no connection to the company other than happy customer.

I'm pretty sure SE Finecast sell the motors and wheels you'll need to complete their kits and they're very helpful to deal with. However, as a fellow novice bodger I was advised not to jump straight into a white metal loco kit due to the material's low melting point. Now I'm sure some will say it's not a problem as long as you're careful, but I'm not that brave so I'm currently having a go at a brass kit and once that's done I've got a couple of SE Finecast's white metal wagon kits to have a bash at - a lot less costly should I inadvertently put my soldering iron through them!

Lousy timing for me personally, with my bike costing me £300 yesterday Still, kudos to Hattons at least for giving me heads-up so I had the chance to nix my pre-order. Hopefully their ltd. edition status won't inspire a buying frenzy...

Apologies for another 'me too' post - on returning to the hobby I never intended to get into kit building, until one day I saw Tony's kit building DVDs going cheap and idle curiosity got the better of me. Now I'm working my way through one of Mike Edge's shunter kits and loving it. Well, mostly - admittedly there has been some frustration due to my own lack of ability, but I guess it helps to build character if not the kit itself! So again, many thanks Tony for setting this particular neophyte off down the road of kit building. I have a long way to go and no idea how far I'll get, but if there's one thing of which us biker types are aware, it's that the journey is the reward

21 locos. 1240 of your Earth pounds. One photo. Of some of the locos. And some others which aren't in the listing. Form an orderly queue, ladies and gentlemen.

I doubt it, otherwise he would have done and listed it as 'mint' and charged an extra £40...

Sadly I doubt it - whilst he's not quite up there with the usual suspects who take the proverbial, he's got form and I've got him excluded from my saved searches. The current catalogue on the DPS website has this very loco for £85 + £4.50p+p for anyone wanting to save some money, support a worthy cause and be protected by the distance selling regs to boot. As for making typos, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to this little treasure.

Class 58s in their original guise are the absolute upper limit of my eras of interest, and as such I wouldn't mind a Heljan one despite their various issues. However "wouldn't mind" doesn't translate into "am willing to shell out £165 for" in my case, regardless of how rare they might be.

I reckon "FLOATER" would work better, and on more than one level

"LOCO FEATURES REPLACEMENT BUFFERS, WHITEMETAL BUFFERBEAM PIPEWORK / WIRE HANDRAILS & WIRE LAMP-IRONS" and some sort of experimental suspension system, judging by that ride height - unless I've forgotten just how bad the old Hornby duffs were?

As is this from the same guy. Apparently both house and church are '00 guage' (sic) so the question is, is that a very big house or just a very small church? And what the hell's going on in the windows in pic 4 (OK that's two questions).

Tudeybabes reaches a new low. The USP for this? It has been signed "in the Derek Lawrence, Larry Goddard style". Signed by someone whose initials are WS, but that's just splitting hairs, obviously.

I wonder about this and I can think of three possible scenarios: a) they have done no research whatsoever and genuinely think that's what it's worth b) they've done minimal research and only encountered the gostudes and micmcns of this world and believe them to be bargain basement sellers c) they've done proper research, have realised that the gostudes and micmcns of this world are taking the proverbial but at the same time aren't quite ambitious enough in that respect I know which theory I lean towards

"Would make an ideal winter project." By throwing it on the fire, presumably.