EKR

Great believer in mixing 50/50 meths shellac with pigments. Very fast drying. I’ve also used them in an old airbrush as a tonal wash.

Spirit stains can also be used with the mix.

I would guess Stokes got lucky as a dissolved 78 would last him for years....

As someone who has a large collection of them, I use fibre needles only once due to the high wear on the tips.

Remember 78’s were massed produced and a variety of “fillers” were added to bulk the mix and reduce costs.

Yes you can paint over it, but do give it time to dry fully.

Going over it too soon can lead to crazing when the top layer dries quicker than the bottom.

Also avoid 78’s as they often used coal dust in the mix....

Should add I’m loving your builds.

Really excellent stuff.

My reply was tongue in cheek lol.

Castor oil and liquid para would be just the thing for trench warfare.......

You missed the word "liquid" above parafin......

Try Parliamentary Trains for early LNWR.

Www.parlytrains.co.uk

Think they’re 0 gauge though.

Great photo of the cement works.

Love all the barrels and bits lying around.

Just what is that building in the middle right?

Deserves to be modelled.

Thank you for those excellent photographs.

I often find the “works” more interesting than the operational side of these heritage lines.

For the last six years I’ve been using an ordinary brass suede brush (timpson’s variety) to keep my bits clean.

Haven’t had to replace any despite above average usage and I’ve never had to file a tip.

Most important is to clean before switching off.

Thanks for the link which I’d missed.

Well worth reading.

I love your characters.

They look suitably deranged for an imaginary railway

What have you modelled them from?

Also how is the Gainford extension progressing?

Please don’t stick it down or they will lose interest quite quickly.

Just get a couple of large plastic tubs and put track in one, vehicles and fixtures in another.

The childs greatest joy will be in creating their own worlds around chair legs, under tables, across landings and into other rooms.

Also bigjigs items are interchangeable with brio.

In one of his previous posts Jazz mentioned "Steel Piano Wire 0.51mm (0.020" 25SWG)"

Can't remember the exact post though. HTH

Up early George.

You couldn’t wait to get stuck into the wrapping paper

My granddaughter is currently trying to eat hers...

Bodge fix is to make a number of saw cuts in the warped piece of wood and introducing a number of small wedges to correct the bend. Depending on the severity of the bend slight over correction might be needed.

Replacement would be best but may do more damage....

Good luck!

Thanks for keeping us updated with your progress.

I’m sure it’s a subject many of us are interested in.

Just not certain of how much use I would make of one.

Oh and good luck

Check the size of the items you want to clean before you buy.

The internal basket will be your limiting factor.

Peter's water filler looks very smart, but you could cover it with coal

I thought the castings were surprisingly good, except for a few small holes.

Like you I filled them with low melt and they walked away.

Must revisit the filler handles though.

George if you look on one of Giles’ posts, he made a small brass stamp for making cobbles in Daz.

Basically a number of squares using brass strip on edge.

Sometime last year. I’m on my phone so can’t ref atm.

Thanks. It’s a nice solution to the problem.

Will save it for the next one.

How did you handle the front wheels Ken?

The supplied axle box needed some work.

Peter used a compensation beam and I sprung the middle wheels, but your photo isn’t clear whether you used a solid chassis or not?

Inquiring minds etc., who shouldn’t drink before posting

Don't be afraid to use sandpaper.

It's probably an anathema to engineers but damned useful as a flexible file.

I started using 320 grit wet & dry since I had several rolls in the workshop.

Rough enough to cut, yet fine enough to avoid serious scratching.

A quick wipe with a garryflex block will remove any marks it leaves.

Also watchmakers screwdrivers make good solder scratchers if you don't have any scrapers yet.

Agreed

It's good to see this again.

The timeless air and the subtle colouring make it one of my favourite layouts.

A welsh Adlestrop.

The advantage of a small gas torch is that disassembly becomes much easier.

Remember anything that can be soldered can be unsoldered.

If it doesn't look right, or isn't on square take it off, clean it up and redo.

Doesn't take long.

Learning to tack solder first can save a lot of simple errors.

Also in future always build the chassis first to ensure good runnning. This is not to make life more difficult, but sometimes adjustments are required concerning wheel/motor clearances and it is much easier to do when unassembled.(Don't ask how I know).

A final note, there are lots of postings on this website by talented builders with copious photographs.

Just do a search for Sandy, Jazz, N15 etc. Worth any number of text books.

Would a prolonged soak soften the fish glue?

Or even a hot water soak?

My only knowledge of this type of glue is from woodworking.

Once dismantled a chair by suspending it for a day over a warm radiator. Just pulled the joints apart.