Jintyman

I'd like to thank all who have followed and contributed to my threads over the last 12 months. Hopefully I can make it worth your while visiting in 2018 too!!! Might even get the [platforms done before Andy comes again Wishing everybody a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. David

Haven't you got a fire alarm then????? You'll be getting Minerva withdrawals if you're not careful Jinty

Hi bgman, If your ESU decoder is a V4 decoder then you have the 'Autotune' feature built in the decoder which sets the motor gearbox parameters for each particular loco. If you search the forum for the ESU Autotune, I'm sure you'll find something relevant. I have turned towards Zimo myself now rather than ESU, but I found that feature helpful. Jinty

You won't be disappointed Andy. Jinty

Fowler Jinty47357 worrying an Ex LMS van Jinty

Sorry but some more gratuitous pictures, this time San Cheng/Tower Models Fowler 3F 'Jinty' in BR Black with Late Crest. Jinty

Thank you for the kind comments. Well there won't be a video this evening due to some domestic issues, but I'm sure Mr Fitness will assist with his loco in a video tomorrow evening. Jinty

I actually prefer the colour rendition......................... Jinty

D5198 idling away in a rural backwater......................................... Jinty

I believe they did after reading on the GWR.org site about them. The singles had standard couplings on them whereas the pairs had like a solid bar between them. Jinty

So here is the Heljan class 25/1 finished!!! I've gone over the body and roof with various washes and wiped and streaked them accordingly. Then I've picked out some details with various colours of wash and again wiped/streaked them. Once I was satisfied I went over the whole locomotive with a few colours to tone everything down so it wasn't so stark as in the picture in my previous post. I then removed the Maskol off the cab windows and added some fuel staining/leaking and some grease and grime. Here are a few pictures....................................... I'm going to hopefully do a video of this loco tomorrow evening. Jinty

Talyllyn's Jinty now has her plates fitted from Narrow Planet. Smokebox number, Shed Code, Vulcan Works plates and Tank Capacity plate on the rear bunker. All excellently produced by Narrow Planet, no connection just a satisfied customer. Here she is dressed......................................... Next up is some subtle weathering for a reasonable condition, workaday example. Jinty

They certainly do Paul, the kit is excellent as usual from Jim........ I'm certain Coachman would really enjoy building one of Jim's kits Jinty

Ahhh, are you saying that it should be a bow ended vehicle? Jinty

Something else across the WB. A Heljan class 25/1, as seen previously having had the yellow ends correctly repainted down to the bottom of the ends, rather than stopping short by the white line. It's now been fitted with a Zimo MX696 decoder loaded with a Paul Chetter class 25 sound project. Switchable tail lights, cab lights and headcode lights. I've made a start on the weathering, next is a gentle blow over with the airbrush to tone everything down. I'll do a video once it's been finished, be a change from Tractors!! Jinty

Brrrr it's cold outside....................................... Here's a little aquisition from that famous auction site which only just made triple figures!!! A couple of the springs on the bogie sides have come adrift and one buffer has fell off, so it will be a case of soldering the bits back together and painting. It is a flat ended version of the B'set coaches, does anyone know the diagram number off the top of their head before I trawl through Russel's coach book? I'm thinking of a faded and grubby crimson livery, as it will look different sat next to my Maroon Lionheart set. I also have two Scorpio Bow Ended B'set coach kits to build, so it will be a swap around vehicle, or maybe just a single coach working (Sunday service!!). Jinty

For some reason it didn't feel three foot lower when I climbed it in the summer!!!!! Like the Xmas Greetings Andy. Jinty

The X-Trail is another good off roader, maybe not quite so much a serious vehicle, but very capable. The old nail (Mitsubishi Shogun Pinin) is a very capable vehicle, seriously capable and not bad on the road. The day was helped by some decent All terrain rubber as well. Not many 4 x 4 vehicles this size with full high and low range and diff locks as well. It's demise is the old wire worm, i think this will be its last winter! Ha Ha, secret weapon!! That is a 2 million candle power LED light bar, it turns 'off road' tracks back to daylight when it gets dark!!!! Not a lot of use in the snow as the snow blocks it up (as can be seen in the picture), but in other weather conditions it is superb, although I still need to put some matt gaffer tape along the back of the bull bar to stop the reflections!! I'm looking for a Land Cruiser 3.0 Colorado this coming year as I think that all the Land Cruiser range are just about the best 4 x 4's around, and very useful when serious off roading! I can't speak for the 2008, but the X5's are awful off road vehicles, much more use as a Chelsea Tractor! I hope you have a safe journey next week Paul, hopefully it should of cleared. Thanks Andy The Suzuki Jeeps are another very capable machine off road, they even use them for trialing as they're so good! Sorry about the Andy. Jinty

What you need Andy is an old nail like mine............................ Felt like carp this morning, but decided to take youngster out for a snowball fight on the Denbigh Moors. Got up to the Sportsmans Arms quite easily, here is the old girl outside the Sportsmans. We decided to take a walk up to the old house, "Gwylfor Hirraddug", but got about 100yds and we were up to our thighs in drifted snow, so turned back. A good afternoon was had in the end, and we managed to pelt our son with snowballs, he just didn't realise what big kids we were!!!! Jinty

Congrats Andy, lovely painting. So not only are you a talented and fast paced modeller, you knock out a few canvases as well to relieve the down time from model railways. More power to your elbow. Jinty

Glad to hear you are on the mend Simon, I wasn't aware of your impending procedure (teach me to read more thoroughly!!!), so glad everything went well for you. Jinty

I reckon it'll be laid, wired up, ballasted and ripped back up by Christmas!!!! Jinty

If they are not available from the Website shop, then an e-mail to Steve will usually help in getting some custom numbers made up. They just take longer to do. I use the 'Contact us' facility on the Railtec website. I've seen some comments about no response from Railtec to e-mails, but I've always had a response and excellent service. Longest I've had to wait is a week, but they do get busy. No connection, just a satisfied customer. Jinty

Grubby OAA................................................. Jinty

Black 5 and Jinty now sound fitted and undergoing a little test on Talyllyn. Some touching up and then some detailed weathering on both locos next. The Jinty has already been glazed with 0.5mm PETG which I've been able to buy in A3 sheets for a good price, and it is just about as near to glass as I've ever seen of a plastic. If you'd noticed the Black 5 and the Jinty had little jumps over the trackwork, I checked the back to backs on both and found they were all about 0.75mm too wide. I knew it wasn't the track as all the other locos run faultlessly over it. I will try and close the wheelsets up if I can. Jinty