Jack P

Apologies for the long time bump - but in your research you didn't happen across the length of the Stewarts Lane Turntable did you?

Guys, you can thank me - I recently bought all the pieces to assemble an E1. I'm sure that was all the project needed to be nudged back into action! On a more serious note, that's very exciting. Looking forward to hearing more towards the end of the month.

It certainly looks like it slopes down, but perhaps that's an illusion and the whole siding is lower than the running line? You're making good progress, with all the essentials (coffee, beer and smokes). When's that artic twin set headed my way?

Those locos all look the business, the U especially. How would you compare the Kitbuilt I3 to the OO works I3?

Another little bit completed last night. The brakes that come with the kit are a bit basic, so for the rebuild I substituted in some Mainly trains ones for the N/U. Yokes made from spare bits leftover from the SEF chassis that comes with the 0-6-0 R1 (replaced with a Branchlines version) Everything is a bit messy, this is partially down to the delay in getting replacement fibreglass pencil refills. Once these arrive i'll tidy up errant solder as best I can. The rods on the yolks need to be trimmed back and I need to figure out what arrangement i'll be using for the rods that capture the top of the brakes through the frames. Some of the bits plonked together for photos. Getting there. Once this is done, I'd like to finish off some of the other stuff i've got lurking in boxes, but i'm not sure what yet. Both the L and the E are good candidates, but they would both benefit from wider chassis. I'll investigate this later.

Thanks for the info folks! So the actual bogies are ok, just don't use the supplied compensation bits?

Fantastic, what a time to convert to EM!

Feels a bit like 1 step forward, 2 steps back at the moment. Wasn't really happy with the slide bars and crossheads from the get go, and in hindsight I should've tackled them when I was doing the draincocks, but I didn't. The issue came to a head when I realised that the crossheads were twisting on the slide bar. That wouldn't do. I cut the back off the crosshead and replaced it with some square brass tube, with one of the side removed, then using some scrap etch, I made some new slide bars. This also meant I could get the depth, length and end profile correct. Guess which one is from the kit, and which are mine? While I was at it, I decided that the WD handrail knobs would look much better with the draincocks, so i've removed them and will re-do them when they arrive. This is the state of play at the moment. I'm just trying to decide if there's really anything left to do on the body - if there isn't then that can go in for painting. The brakes have been re-done also and just need soldering to the new yolks, once that's all done the chassis can be painted too, Really just waiting on wheels and track now!

Hello chaps, apologies for the intrusion. I picked these up recently, and wanted to know if one of you could advise the appropriate livery for 1947 condition (if they were still around then!) Thanks in advance!

Fantastic Mike. Lots of unique locos here in New Zealand. This one kinda looks like someone tried to build a diesel onto a bogie.

The only possible issue I could see with that is extending the wheelbase by the same amount. You'd need inaccurate-accurate rods to fit the new wheelbase and you might run into other issue with spacing of bits on the footplate. All of these small allowances might end up leading to something looking wrong, or compounding the issue in a more difficult way etc. As you say, most people draw the line somewhere, and I suppose it depends on how important it is to you.

It appears that the D has 2mm axles, which run in square top hat bearings w a gear wheel that is just a press fit onto the axle. There really isn't anything wrong with the Dapol wheels, but finding replacements on a 2mm axle is difficult. I've just been on the phone to Ultrascale, and am looking into having David cut me a new gear wheel and bearing that would suit a 1/8th axle. This would allow replacement wheelsets in EM/P4 to be fitted - is there anyone else out there that would be interested in some of the bits to complete the 'conversion'? If so, drop me a PM. Nothing is set in stone yet, but it would be good to know if i'm not the only one out there.

Looks Fantastic in both B/W and colour! The crispness of the Connoisseur kit is fantastic, unmatched by the other offering!

My Partner suggested that it looks like an air fryer, I'd definitely prefer the smell of the air fryer! It is indeed a 3D printer though, The Phrozen Sonic 4K Mini, a smallish, very high resolution printer. There should be enough build volume to do things in parts if needed, a long coach could be done in 2/3 parts sectioned at the panel lines. First print will be the LBSC J1 my friend designed, it's a full loco inc chassis and uses its own gearbox designed to take the gears from a HL roadrunner. Just waiting on some resin and a wash'n'cure station and then we shall give it a go!

Thanks Keith, The availability of RTR points and Wayne's kits were definitely a contributing factor for me. I do still plan to build my own points - but it will be nice to have a baseline of track that functions well. I had a cursory look at the H and the M7, with replacement wheelsets there should be very little modification required to get them to fit back inside the respective bodies, as the Hornby wheels have rather wide tyres. Both are on my list, and i'll post updates in due course. Thanks Tony! I have of course been spurred on by the excellent work of other members that I've been able to witness (stood on the shoulders of giants!). I've come a fair way, but there is still a decent chunk to go yet!

NZ went back into lockdown recently due to delta finally reaching us. This was fortuitous in some ways, I had ordered some etch primer for the W's body. The Lockdown impacted postage (primer still hasn't arrived) and so i've been sitting here twiddling my thumbs, waiting. Naturally once I was happy with the remediation work on the body, this turned my focus to the chassis. This was my first etched kit, and there are a lot of thing i'd do differently on the next one. One of the main areas was the valve gear, I'd put the radius rod on backwards and the nuts/bolts I'd used to secure everything were very prominent in all the wrong ways. I'm sure you can guess what happened next; Wheels and rods came off. DLT's pickup arrangement was able to be removed as one unit and should hopefully slot right back in. I noticed that the wheels were actually incorrect, and had 18 spokes instead of 17. No one offers a plain rim 5'6" 17spk wheel with 14" crank throw (pin between spokes). The closest AG wheel I could find has the correct number of spokes, a beveled rim, and 13" crank throw. Not perfect, but an acceptable compromise until I can 3D print my own wheel centers. Some progress over the weekend saw amendments made to the motion bracket. The first iteration that came with the kit puts both parts in the wrong place, the front one is too high, and the rear one is too low. After some modification, they are now in the right place Like most Maunsell Locos the motion bracket should be a hefty great casting. I added some details to try and represent this from brass T section and rivet strip. On theme with the rest of the build, I added a representation of the internal valve gear in the gap between both brackets, much better than a bit of brass strip painted red. You cannot see this at all, even glimpsing it is difficult. So it's pretty freelance in terms of what should be there, but it's better than nothing. I also added some brass spacers made from leftover etch, at the front and rear of the chassis to help with body fitment and keep it all square The chassis really needs another dunk in paint stripper to get the rest of the stuff off between the frames - everything looks quite messy at the moment, as there is lots more cleaning up to do. OH, and this arrived..

Thanks Dave, Very high praise from you indeed. It's all just bits of brass rod/tube and copper rod. The other bits are spares from Markits clack valves and the bracket from an Alan Gibson Westinghouse pump - all just kicking about in the spares box. Another quick update, some some odd reason I never finished off the cylinders on version one - I left off the draincocks. I wasn't too sure about the flat etched ones that came in the kit (i'm starting to see a trend here..), armed with some 0.5mm wire and handrail knobs, I decided to have a go: Some WD handrail knobs would've actually been much better, but I don't have any in stock at the moment. As has been the case with other details, these aren't 100% accurate, but I think they look much better than nothing there at all. Oh - I also joined the EMGS tonight. I think the winds of change may be blowing...

One of the great mysteries of human life.. from memory you wrote that you use an etch primer once blackening is complete? Maybe a varnish over the top? Where did you get the brake block hangers for the G6? Or did the kit come with them?

Work has progressed on the W. Slowly ticking things off the to do list, recent activities are detailed below. Previously, I devised a method of making the cab roof removable. There were some issues with this in practice though, not least that it kept chipping the paint off. I decided to make a much more simple roof that slides into place. You can also see the cab locker and cab door have been blackened. I made a new brake standard, as the whitemetal snapped, and was located at (scale) head height. I really wasn't overly enamored with the WM castings of the bogie brakes, so I set out to make my own They still aren't perfect, the square rod really should have the actuating linkages at the ends. But I think they are a vast improvement over the WM ones. A few final details to add with fuse wire and detail solder The pipework under the cab also came in the form of WM castings: They were the same on both sides, and honestly, just not right. I had a go at making something closer to the prototype. The more I thought about this though, the more I hated it. Almost there, but not quite right. Thus, version 2 I'm much happier with this, still not 100% right, but a lot better than it was. lots of the details will be hidden in the gloom when it's all painted, but it adds dimension. A confession though. This injector (?) on the left hand side was probably removed in favor of a smaller one much like the other side. This makes it all a bit anachronistic. My justification is that it looks right, and there are few photos of these locos in 1947 - so maybe? I spent the weekend working on a photo plank (about time!?) moving forward, this will serve as a nice backdrop for photos. A few more gratuitous photos of the SECR D. Including a close up of the 'Wooden' cab floor. And a few more miscellaneous photos That's all for now!

Howdy Rob! Always nice to meet people that are local through RM, it's pretty uncommon! I did wonder if you'd break the 'like' button, It was nice watching your journey through the thread. I've actually recently discontinued my membership at the club. The guys there are great, but I haven't been in so long, and when I do go, nothing runs properly. The track is difficult to manage and my choice of couplings/minimum radius makes things difficult. I'll drop you a PM and we can discuss further, would love to have a chat at Railex! (c'mon Aunty C!) Hey Jack, Thanks so much for your kind words! The 0395 is still lurking in its box. There's still lots left to do, new footplate, cab, etc. I've got the tender from Brassmasters. Honestly, it's pretty out of scope for central/eastern and there's a fair bit of scratch building required so for the time being it's languishing in the 'to-do' pile. As for my modelling timeframe, It's broadly 1947. To be more specific, if I can find workshopping notes and have the choice of multiple dates within 1947, I try and match things up to August.

Wayne, apologies if this has been covered before - but do you intend to produce any P4 turnouts?

That's exactly right! This loco had enamel and lacquers on it plus a layer of etch primer. Took the whole lot off. Going to give it a go on a plastic loco (spare body) and see how it goes. A friend of mine suggested it, he uses it to strip Model Car bodies, and it doesn't hurt the plastic.

I was recently reading Rays build of the W. He used a Loadhauler and a 1424. I used a similar motor with a flywheel and a roadrunner+ box in mine. The new HL motors are significantly shorter, so I can't imagine you'll have any issues with that.

Dave's just being kind. I made a real hash of things and he's been given the unenviable task of rectifying my mistakes. What an amazing job he's done too. On the back of his fantastic work I've gone back and stripped the chassis for some remedial work. Previously I'd fixed the brake gear in place, this manageable (albeit still not ideal) with Markits/Romford wheels, but a real PITA with Gibsons. I went back and made this removeable. The join in the pull rods is hidden by the spring hangars of the rearmost wheel. Further work will wait until the body is back. I'd like to do some of the brackets that are present at the top of the chassis. Nick Dunhill's been posting his incredible O gauge version on facebook, which has suitably spurred me on. I really need to work on my ability to CAD, being able to produce my own etches and 3D prints would be hugely helpful to the process. On the back of this, I really wanted to revisit my W. I had considered just leaving well enough alone, and buying a new kit - but in the end opted for stripping and altering my existing model. I'd like to add a left hand drive W to the fleet at some point too, so there will eventually be another W. This was my very first etched kit, and there is plenty of room for improvement, some of the work so far: The loco had bath in some Tamiya lacquer thinners. Stripped down to bare metal I started taking it apart. The rear bogie and frames above it have had some rudimentary detailing. New doors fabricated for the cab locker, cab door refined (only closed on one side). The chimney has had rivets added with super steel epoxy and the smokebox wrapper was removed and reapplied. I re-bent and reworked the ejector pipe, removing the large nut that I used last time and reprofiling the bend at the rear of the smokebox. Not happy with the whitemetal castings for the pipework under the cab, I've made my own. It's not exactly right, but I think it's an improvement. Finally, you can see the angle iron at the back of the firebox where it butts up against the cab. I used some scrap nickle silver etch to represent this. Last but definitely not least. I had a bit of a mare with my D class from Rails. Unfortunately, it was sent to an old address, and the current residents have not seen or heard anything. When I reached out to Rails, they advised they were fully sold out and could not offer a replacement. ARGH, Panic! (The folks at rails have advised that if they have any that become available they will let me know) After some skillful negotiating, I've managed to procure one from a friend. He bought 4 of them, but really is only interested in the SECR and BR versions. Enough fluff - my SECR D, after some tinkering. Of course I wasn't content to leave it as it was. The main modifications are the front buffers, swapped out for some gibson SR standard versions. There's also a narrow planet SECR plate at the base of the smokebox. She's been fully repainted, with the cab finished in cream. I even 'teaked' the wooden floor - No photos of this yet, as I only quickly snapped these pictures this morning. I need to use a better camera. 1740 was a St Leonard engine in 1947 so suitable territory for me. If i'm able to get my hands on another one or two of these, i'd like one with the square cab windows, just for a little more variety. (If anyone has a SECR D they are less than enamored with - reach out!) That's all for now!

I spoke with Colin Last night, he is alright, and has a backlog of emails/phone messages to work through. I didn't pry into why/what's going on, but if i'm honest, I'm just glad he's ok!