60800

Morning all, there is one major thing that everyone is forgetting and I'm rather surprised no-one has picked up on. The side on view of the smokebox casing is also incorrect. Hattons has stated that they've used available drawings for this - if the A4 GA works drawing has been used they will not get it right from that as none of the A4's actually had their casings built to the drawing. Every single one was unique but none were as per the drawing. I should know because I spent two years researching the things for my profile drawings. Worked and modified from the GA as provided by the NRM, this is how it should be - the actual curve of the casing is shallower and less pronounced than that represented by both the works drawings and Hatton's cad. The top portion of the casing underneath the chimney should also be dead flat from the rear of the chimney casing to about 2/3 of the way down the chimney. The section where the nose casing dogs into the bufferbeam is also wrong and not pronounced enough. Unfortunately I can't line them up properly as my phone does not have a photo flip function EDIT: Even more info added

I don't know if I represent a majority or a minority, and I do understand the above alternative argument. I had to think for a while before posting as I didn't want to come across as someone just wanting to sit on the sidelines and let everyone else pay for the R&D, in fact far from it. I've been hit by a few pre-orders recently and that, combined with the start of Christmas shopping has left me in the position of needing to pay for something where payments to an unexact amount will keep randomly appearing whilst I'm paying for presents, other items I have planned / ordered and a holiday deposit etc. I want to pay for it and squeeze a 92 in somewhere, but I ideally want to start paying for it in full around late December and would happily pay the first installment now If a more set price was given, but worry that by that time, my order / expression of interest may be void, regardless of the email staying that the invoice will stay for the duration of the project. The fact that the invoice will stay means nothing to me, as it's what happens in the R&D and Dave's costs / income will be what affects how long I have got until I get my last window to pay. I hope this clears things up from my view, the only criticism being the time of year that has been chosen to announce this and the start of payments. Cheers, 60800

Hi Dave, Do you have a set date for when the first invoice needs to be paid by, or indeed a list of the invoices and their relevant amounts payable over a certain timescale? What i'm basically asking, is if it is possible to pay the majority of the invoices once an EP has been seen and a firm price set. Cheers, 60800

Funnily enough, no. Everyone who attended was just happy enough that 43185 was back in the Swallow livery and I'm personally not bothered. Sir Kenneth noticed the bodge behind the handrail just aft of the cab door but honestly wasn't fussed. Very good day all around, especially when the BBC arts department stepped in and got him to graffiti it! It was water soluble spray paint of course haha

I've mentioned this to the 125 group this afternoon, with the response that it would definitely be worth looking at, even for them with a marketing standpoint. Let's wait and see what happens, although typically someone will announce something just as I finish my repaints! Cheers, 60800

My apologies for the lack of an update until now, but rest assured there is progress. The two aforementioned books have been ordered (only one has arrived so far) and a body and floor for 81002 is on the way. I'm waiting for the second book to arrive so I can compare references before cutting plastic. A donor loco for 86213 is here and the body for 86101 is on the way. That 84 is absolutely stunning and if any of mine end up anywhere near as good then I will be more than happy. Just as an aside, a space has been set aside in the plan for the new loft layout for a slightly squished version of Barrow Hill. It finds itself wedged between Grosmont and Loughbrough (themselves surrounded by Nottingham) so I have some scenic trickery to devise Cheers, 60800

I was thinking along the lines of using the 86 cab as a base to chop bits out of and reshape, but if there's nothing else useful on an 86 body, I may as well just scratchbuild everything. I'm tempted to get the window frames, grilles, jumper boxes, roof sections, chassis and body sides laser cut by York model making. Make it more of a jigsaw than a scratchbuild Cheers, 60800

Thanks for even more excellent information everyone, especially the drawing. I've purchased the Model Railway Constructor plan book 3 and the Marsden and Fenn book, picked up for good prices too. Depending on information and parts available, If class 86 and 87 bogies can't be suitably hacked about, I will be looking at 3D printing the bogies, although my cad skills aren't presently the best. If I go this route, I'll look at the legal side of things to running a batch off strictly to order for anyone interested. I'll use class 86 cabs throughout, changing the nose rake, window spacing and cab side curvature where necessary, having read that the 83 is the easiest to do this way. I have no idea what I'll do with the pantographs so far, but I definitely won't be sticking with those from the donor 86's in the long run Cheers, 60800

Thanks for the heads up, I'll fire off a message. Cheers, 60800

Thanks for the replies everyone, I'd been looking at trying to get hold of a trix or lilliput 81 body but have had no luck so far. Does anyone know if the resin bodies are still available or if the DC kits 81 is still available from any outlets as, although a search brings it up on their website, it is not available to purchase Cheers, 60800

Morning all, I'm currently planning on a long term project of producing a member of each of the AL1 to class 89 fleet(s), specifically those preserved by the NRM and ACLG, including the 86's that have recently been sold. I'm wondering if anyone has a set of side and nose on drawings of any of these classes. Of course, Bachmann's 85 will be used for 85006 and there is the golden arrow kit of 89001 so that is these sorted. I plan to use the cabs from Hornby 86's and Bachmann warship chassis as a base, suitably modified of course for the 81-84, and possibly the 86's. I'm unsure what to do with motor situation on the 87's so I would be very grateful for any advice on this and pantographs. Cheers, 60800

Hi all, late night update, Electrical power has returned to PC2, so all is good. The culprit was the PC1 to TC1 joint module - the socket had been pulled ever so slightly in so that at least 2, if not 4 pins had disengaged. A bit of gentle persuasion and voila, PC2 sparked into life. Cheers the info, clocking out now, 60800

Hi Gordonotron, I'll give that a try when I get home. I've only cut it down to a three car set thus far and the pins looked to be fine, although I'll disconnect it all again to check. Cheers, 60800

Afternoon all, Has anyone had any issues with their PC2? Mine randomly died on a corner and is now electrically dead. I'm currently away from my set but does PC2 have a speaker fitted? If so, it hasn't worked from the word go. I've tried PC2 on different joint modules, so unless a crucial wire has become disconnected inside PC1, the fault lies within PC2 or it's connector. Without taking the body shells apart, a shine of the torch shows no broken wires in either power car, so I'm quite confused. Cheers, 60800

Very happy with mine, arrived last night but it does require a bit of persuasion to assemble. Whilst I'm still with the same layout, a signal, tunnel mouth and a building need moving. Very surprised about the sound, erm I think I need some ear defenders as it was about as loud as the VC-10 I was stood next to a few weekends ago. I haven't started with the full startup sequence yet as I don't think the foundations of the house can take it! An amazing job done by all on this project and the engineering is just astounding, I must admit that when I saw the wheel flanges for the first time, I was a bit uneasy about running it fast over my point work but it honestly is a work of art. I don't know if I'll just buy a powercar or a set, but I cannot wait for the Prototype HST. To whoever first put it down on paper that the APT-E was to be produced in 4mm scale, Thankyou. Thankyou for producing what I remember being the silent (mostly green) silver bullet that I saw at York as a kid, half hidden under those tents Cheers, 60800

I got a reply via Facebook; Hi Joseph the pictures are quite cruel with respect to the wires and they are in fact not that noticeable in the flesh. We have however, looked at making the wires thinner and further up more underneath the lamps. I will however pass in your suggestion to the design engineer and get his comments. Cheers, 60800

Just a suggestion, but the appearance of wires underneath the lamps is very ugly. Why not do away with the external wires and make the lamp irons out of metal, thus making them the contacts, having the LED for the lamp soldered directly to the lamp iron and the connecting wire soldered to an exposed piece of the lamp iron hidden inside the body? - 60800

Stored whilst the other one is being finished. I haven't had a poke around the other one for well over a year, so have no idea what stage it's at I'm afraid Cheers, 60800

Cheers for the info, looks like my wallet is safe for now, although I am tempted by the BR blue one, it being a survivor and all! Cheers, 60800

Well that's a bonus for a start then, I just hope she was recorded in times other than her last few months of service when she was really struggling. D5061 really has been carrying the railway on it's shoulders along with Sybilla. I don't know the differences between the 24 and 24/1 at all, so don't know which variants either of the NYMR's pair are, and can't seem to find any info on it either Cheers, 60800

Evening all, Please excuse me for my ignorance, especially having worked on both of these locos in the past, but can the NYMR's D5032 or D5061 be modelled from this first release D5000? Cheers, 60800

So then, how do we know if we're one of the lucky first 250 or 300? Pre-ordered but it doesn't say anything in the email. Really pleased with the S-stock announcement as it's finally given me and my dad the excuse to build an underground circuit underneath the layout

Excellent news, but I'm rather disgusted to see that it took 42 posts for anyone to mention toplights! I know nothing of GWR stock until you hit the region Mk1's, so if anyone could tell me how applicable these could be with regards running behind models of the three preserved kings in their current representative guises, it would be much appreciated, as this stock does look rather tasty... Cheers, 60800

This may sound a bit odd Kit and Shane, but just down the road (or rather more across the airfield!) is the Shackleton Preservation Trust, actively restoring Avro Shackleton MR2 / AEW2 WR963 to flight status, hoping to have her growling over Coventry in around five years. There's also the Midland Air museum right next door with a beautiful Vulcan (B.2A XL360 for anyone who's interested). Both the museum and the SPT have volunteers knocking around (the SPT especially) practically every Saturday and I wonder, if asked, if a few of them would be willing to help out with your stock at Coventry? I imagine that most of the skill sets are transferrable and they have the capacity to get big jobs done fast, for instance repaints. Cheers, 60800

The project is currently at a halt as there have been no more discussions since. Yes, the walls do have ears and it's the potential purchasers that I hope would be listening in to make suggestions as to how they would prefer the model to be delivered Cheers, 60800