PatB

Agreed with all that. More than thirty years ago I had an RC converted Big-Big Hymek. Twin motor bogies, a taped together pack of ni-cads for power, MacGregor 27MHz radio gear (with a receiver and single servo both the size of small bricks) and a crude, mechanical wiper resistance board speed and direction controller. It worked surprisingly well and created much interest when given an airing on Somerset 0 Gauge Group's test track c1980. These days, with the advent of staggeringly cheap and compact RC gear (~$20 for a 2 channel, 2.4 GHz Tx/Rx combo, ~$5 for a servo, ~$5-10 for a motor speed controller and similar prices for beautifully made and powerful but tiny motors) and the wonders of the LiPo battery, so much more could be achieved for very little money. Ny own interests are currently 7mm indoor but, should I eventually move out into the garden, RC battery electric operation will definitely form part of the plan.

Model like qualities probably somewhat enhanced by a train consisting of a 31 and only four coaches. Almost as feasible to represent without compression as loco hauled West Highland workings but with the advantage of being in easier to model scenery.

Nice weathering work on those opens. I can't see the brake gear mistake but then I'm no expert on brake gear. As long as it's there, ad looks vaguely plausible (eg set up so that dropping the lever would apply rather than retract the shoes) I'm unlikely to notice. Is it the use of a two shoe per side set up without a tie bar between the axleboxes? My own Toad is currently in basic grey with black underframe, awaiting transfers and weathering. I'll have to see if I can get a reasonable photo with the old digital instamatic. The ag imp wagon is approaching that stage and the Y7 chassis and wheels just got their first spritz of etch primer this afternoon. Progress is happening.

Thanks, chaz and N15, for the whitemetal soldering tips. It's more or less what I've been doing but using DCC Concepts 100 degree solder and their flux. I've still been finding it to be very hit and miss whether the solder flows into the joint or not. I was originally using my 80W iron with a light dimmer but found that the tip temperature was all over the place and took an age to recover after every joint, proceeding to overshoot quite spectacularly. Since then I've sprung for a soldering station which is much better at holding a steady, non-destructive tip temperature. I've also found a major improvement from using good old Baker's Fluid as flux, accepting that I need to undertake full decontamination procedures afterwards. I was also very pleased, when building the Y7's chassis that I succeeded in repairing one of the sandboxes (I failed to read the instructions, assumed the boxes to have been cast oversized and had filed off a couple of mm before realising my mistake) by soldering a filler strip of electrical solder to the whitemetal using the 100 degree and then cleaning up with a file. Very satisfying and stopped me kicking myself quite so hard. I conclude that I'm getting better and should become competent with more practice. Given that I've now got some scrap whitemetal to practice further, my abilities should improve. Lovely job on the lowmac. Yes, it does make me think I should dig mine out again after the loco. Something I was wondering about was how to finish the "wood" floor but yours looks as if it's just painted single colour and looks fine so maybe I've been overthinking it. I was contemplating trying to achieve the sort of mottled grey that old, creosoted wood gets when exposed to the weather but I'm very much a beginner in the painting and weathering field so keeping things simple would be a better bet for now. As to a convincingly secured but removeable load, I can think of a couple of ways I might try it if required but which are only ideas at this stage. For ropes I'd see what might be done with fine, round section elastic if I could find some way of attaching it either convincingly or inconspicuously to fine piano wire hooks to catch the rings. Chains might be easier as they would be expected to have hooks on the end and some sort of turnbuckle or over-centre dog for tensioning. That makes attachment to the rings relatively easy but leaves how to achieve a convincing level of tension. My approach would be to use commercial fine chain but, again, see if I could conceal a link (or several) of fine elastic somewhere in each chain run. Much depends upon the level of scrutiny your stock is expected to bear. Given the nature of your layout and the general standard of modelling, I'd assume that it will need to look pretty good from pretty close up. I'd also emphasise that I haven't actually tried either of these, they're just avenues I'd look at to start with. Oh, and apologies for hijacking the thread. Eventually I'll have enough photographed progress to start my own .

Some time back in the 1970s there was a kids drama series screened in the early evening on, IIRC, ITV, about a preserved railway. It was, if memory serves, shot on a just about to open or possibly newly opened West Somerset Railway. I can't, however, remember the name of the series. Even my ~9 year old self thought it was pretty dire and I don't think it made it to either a second series or even repeats of the first one.

I certainly intend to. I'm just waiting to see what else I can knacker before ordering so as to save two lots of postage. An ag implement wagon has gone without hitch (although it did need a bit of Milliput around the axleboxes) and the Y7 is still a while off needing most of its whitemetal fitted, although the backhead, brake standard and sandboxes are in place.

Agreed. A very nice kit indeed and has the distinction of being my first successful completion in etched brass. My first attempt, a Connoisseur LNER Lowmac, languishes in a box and will remain there until the day when I can face its blobbily melted whitemetal castings and broken buffers.

Bet the bubbles were pretty good though.

The Connoisseur Toad E is also an offender but I only found out after mine was built and the roof painted. I've decided that I can live with it, at least for the time being, as long as I don't number it as any van which I've seen in a photograph to have straight, angled rainstrips. It does, after all, still look like an ex-LNER brake van and will be just as much fun to shuffle around on a shunting plank.

I guess whether you sweat small details depends on the intended purpose of your modelling. If the object of the exercise is to produce a perfect representation of a real place and time, with all vehicles representing a prototype which actually existed, it matters. If, like me, the aim is more towards creating an impression of a railway, much of which is fictional anyway, if your variant of a vehicle is, at least, plausible, and is not actually in direct contradiction with available historical records, it probably doesn't. Or, at least, the extent to which it matters is up to the individual. Considering how long was the working life of most railway equipment and how many different repair shops were involved in its maintenance, what is plausible in any given wagon type can be pretty broad. Mind you, given that my original efforts in 0 gauge were heavily reliant on the products of Triang, Lima and even some repainted Hornby tinplate, maybe I'm not as discriminating as I should be . That said, I am going to try and make my Y7 a reasonable representation of members of the class which ran on the North Sunderland Railway so it won't be going together quite as supplied.

Aren't those Pola platform canopies and seats? And those brick arches haven't been sufficiently anglicised either.

I've certainly no doubt that there are a few turkeys out there that would put me off etched kits for life if I tried one at my current stage of competence. I went with Connoisseur for my first efforts because of a couple of good write ups on the net and in magazines (Phil Parker's build of the Y7 in the December 08 Railway Modeller springs to mind) and also because I was able to get a good look at the instructions before buying. I'm sure that other manufacturers are equally good but I'm less than certain about which ones. However, having had a couple of qualified successes, I'm less worried about solving the odd problem as it arises. A minor point about the Y7 is that, being an early kit, the instructions supplied are a bit basic for the beginner (ie me). No problem, though, because the much more comprehensive instructions for the very similar "Nellie" starter loco are available for download and provide most of the necessary supplementary information.

Soldering is definitely worth having a go at, because it's a hugely useful skill to have in your repertoire and also because, when you do get it right and the solder flashes neatly along that seam in an almost magical fashion, it's tremendously satisfying. My manual skills are somewhat......er......basic. However, having read Jim McGeown's various booklets which can be downloaded from Connoisseur's website, I decided that etched brass looked pretty doable and bought a couple of Jim's wagon kits, a cheap 80W soldering iron (probably overkill, but the general consensus seems to be that more heat than you need is better than less), a roll of 145 solder and a jar of suitable flux. Following Jim's comprehensive instructions everything went together fine. Whilst I wouldn't make any claims to perfection for my first efforts, they are far from scrap and it's amazing what a coat of etch primer will hide . I was sufficiently encouraged that I'm now building one of Jim's LNER Y7s and looking with great interest at Agenoria's new Manning Wardle 0-4-2T as another suitable power unit for a freelance northern light railway. For me, the great thing about etched brass is that it is practically impossible to destroy most of the kit components. I'm a messy git and, when working with plastic and solvents, tend to apply obvious and permanent fingerprints to every finely detailed surface. Great for providing future owners with a means of identifying the model's builder but less good for realism. With brass, that's just not going to happen. I do still have difficulty soldering on whitemetal parts without melting bits of them (no, I wasn't using the 80W at full heat) so Araldite still plays a role. However, I am improving in this regard, especially having become sufficiently enthusiastic about this construction method that I've sprung for a basic Hakko soldering station from DCC Concepts. Not essential at all, but awfully nice to use.

Hi there. Just joined RMWeb and found your blog. Any updates? What prompted my reply was the mystery plastic bodied Y6. I think it might be a Highfield models kit. Way back in the late 70s I had their catalogue and seem to remember a Y6 kit. Their kits were very basic sets of vacuum formings in a gingery brown styrene sheet. Pretty much sides and ends, with a flat sheet to form for the roof. I had a brake van (possibly NE but I can't remember) which was built around a Triang 16T mineral chassis, and a pair of Midland non-corridor coaches built on cut-down Triang coach underframes and bogies. Yes, I know, coil sprung bogies on vintage stock. In my defence I'll point out that I was 12 at the time and so less discerning than I am now. Anyhow, the body of your Y6 has the air of Highfield's vacuum forming.

Hi, I'm in Perth's eastern hills, nominally working in 7 mm with an interest in British light railway and industrial prototypes. No layout yet though, and no real prospect for the forseeable future.