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James Harrison

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Blog Entries posted by James Harrison

  1. James Harrison
    The mogul is finished!
     

     

     
    HMRS pressfix transfers were used throughout. I came up with a running number by finding the highest GCR loco number (1252) and adding 5001 to it. To make a change I used the 'L & N E R' decals, setting the model in the 1923- c.1925 period. Very pleased with how this one has turned out!
  2. James Harrison
    The next thing to do was to reprofile the cab roof. This was done using a dremel at a low speed; once finished lengths of plastic rod were glued to the cab sides and then a sheet of paper laminated over the top to give a smooth finish.
     
    Work then moved to the smokebox. I needed to build up a new smokebox wrapper, and after efforts to use plastic sheet proved futile I took a length of 0.5mm by 1mm plastic rod, cut it into many 13mm lengths and then glued these around the smokebox (rather akin to how curves are formed on matchstick models). Once they had set they were gently rubbed down and filled.
     
    The interior of the smokebox was removed. The donor model being a 1970s Triang model one of it's features was an opening smokebox door, something I would have liked to have retained but unfortunately it fouled the running plate and splashers after the boiler had been lowered. So it was instead extracted and the smokebox door cut off of it. A piece of plastic sheet was then used to form a new smokebox front and the door grafted onto it.
     
    There are two major areas still to deal with- one is the splasher tops and the other the top and rear of the coal bunker. Once these have been dealt with the model can be primed, smoothed down and filled. Then I can start to look at painting it before adding more fine detail.
     

     

     

  3. James Harrison
    So lets make a start, shall we?
     
    First off, this is the donor model...
     

     
    First step is to release a screw underneath to separate the body and the chassis....
     

     

    Then another screw comes off the chassis, taking the front coupling with it.
     

     
    Out with the Dremel! We need to remove 5mm of the chassis block from in front of the driving wheels.
     

     
    Then we need to do the same to the rear of the chassis, behind the trailing bogie.
     
    Now comes a very delicate operation. Stage one is to cut, very carefully, around the running plate (making sure to leave in place two clips which secure the body to the chassis). Stage two is then to take the body and cut a 3mm strip off of it all around its base. Then the running plate and body can be reunited.
     

     

     

     
    The body is now reduced to the correct height for the loco being modelled. That's the majority of the heavier work done, much of the remainder now is relatively minor....
  4. James Harrison
    The last week or so I've been working on a Kirk kit for a Great Northern 7 1/2 compartment coupe composite.
     

     

     
    Clearly there's a lot still to do but I'm pleased with how it is turning out. I've got it running on Bachmann Thompson bogies (and, typically, now that I'm looking to get some more for another pair of Kirk kits they've sold out everywhere....)
  5. James Harrison
    Most of my locomotives so far have been of what I suppose you could call the 'Big, green and named' variety:
     
    - a couple of Directors
    -a Jersey Lily
    -a 'Lord Faringdon'
     
    I've therefore decided that my next project (make that, actually, my current project) is going to be a more everyday machine. Specifically one of the large pacific tank engines built to haul suburban trains.
     
    A few months ago I bought an A5 off of Ebay. It arrived in LNER green livery (I didn't think any of them wore apple green?), which didn't really suit the loco.
     

     
    So, what to do with it? A bit of research in the relevant Green Bible found a few rather interesting photographs of the mid-1920s, with these locos in LNER black with GCR pattern lining. Which I think is how I'm going to finish this model.
     
    This is going to be quite a quick little project. The loco is sound in construction and sufficiently detailed to please me- I don't intend to make any major alterations to it. It's just going to be a repaint (he says.....)
     
    Anyway, I've already given it a few coats of matt black to start off.
     

  6. James Harrison
    Whilst building rolling stock to go with my GCR locomotives I have recently been thinking about how I intend to operate my eventual planned layout.
     
    My thinking at present is to do as railways do, and keep my coaching stock coupled together on a semi-permanent basis. With this in mind it becomes a short leap of thought to consider that tension lock couplings, although very useful and workmanlike, perhaps aren't necessary when coupling carriages together.
     
    Matters came to a head last week when I completed a rake of GCR suburban carriages, and found when coupled together that the RTR tension locks accounted for around 10cm of the length of the rake. Now firstly this is eating into precious space, secondly when is the last time anyone rode in a train with a 5' gap between carriage ends and thirdly it just looks toylike.
     
    My solution, then:
     

     
    Step one: Remove the tension lock coupling and drill a hole through the mounting point of the coupling on the bogie.
     

     
    Step two: Take a length of wire and fold it into an 'S' shape. Secure one end of the 'S' into the hole (I used pliers to do this- glue or a soldering iron would work too). The other end of the 'S' becomes a hook that the holes in the next carriage can hook into.
     
    Result:
     

     
    Much closer coupling.
     
    That's better!
     
    I've actually retained the tension locks on the outer ends of the rake for the simple reason that I intend to retain these on my locomotives, goods stock and the odd carriages I have lying around to use as rake strengtheners.
  7. James Harrison
    I'm very pleased to announce that LNER 6169 Lord Faringdon is now finished (for a given value of finished, of course).
     
    Lining has been done by two methods- the boiler bands by cutting thin strips of paper with a black line inked in, the cab and tender sides with the paint pens (my method with them I think is improving markedly).
     
    If I can maintain this level of finish with my planned models (and perhaps update the better of my older ones to it) I'll be very happy indeed.
     

     
    Ah, yes, this is also my 100th post. I'd just like to say thank you to everybody who has liked, commented on or rated my efforts shown here. Here's to the next 100!
  8. James Harrison

    The D9, part 7

    By James Harrison,

    I ordered some transfers from Quainton Road Models and they arrived yesterday, so were duly applied to my 11B/ D9 to finish the model off. Great service from QRM, by-the-by- highly recommended.
     

     

  9. James Harrison
    Several months ago I bought somebody else's hackbash of Robinson's 4-cylinder behemoth of 1917. It was described when I bought it as being built from parts of a Triang Princess, however it was running on a chassis from a Hall on wheels from a Black 5! A real mish-mash then.
     
    After buying it I replaced the driving wheels and the bogie, and then I put it away for a while.
     
    Over the long weekend I started work on it again.
     

     
    The model in as-bought condition.
     

     
    After replacement of the driving wheels and bogie...
     

     
    .... and today, after a weekend's work on it.
     
    From front to back I have replaced the Triang buffers with some Craftsman Robinson oval-pattern ones, I've rebuilt the front frames to more closely follow the B3, I've built new slidebar frames (for want of a better expression) from plastic sheet, the dome has been replaced with a low-pattern Robinson version from the spares box and the cab roof has been lowered in profile. Much better, I think. It will look better still with frames reinstated over the bogie and to the rear of the cylinders.
     
    Plainly this model is only going to be good as a 'lookslikea' B3, rather than a mm-perfect replica. But to be honest I rather like to think of it like that. It fits with the rest of my collection in that fashion, and given a choice between an imperfect Robinson 4-cylinder machine or none at all....
  10. James Harrison
    I'm having a final push to complete my rake of GCR clerestories. The final pair of carriages are intended to be a brake third and a brake composite- the brake third can be converted fairly easily from the Hornby clerestory brake but the composite will need a little more thinking about.
     
    I've descibed my methods when it comes to building these clerestories before- basically I remove all of the moulded beading, rearrange the compartments as necessary then add new beading in thin evergreen strip- and I think the next stage with this particular model is to work up the interior.
     

     

     

  11. James Harrison

    The D9, part 5

    By James Harrison,

    I'm about half-way through painting the loco so before I go any further I think a bit of an update is in order.
     

     

     
    I began by giving the model a coat of humbrol dark grey as a base and then lightly sanding down and filling in any gaps or marks.
     
    The first part of the model to see any colour were the frames, and following the colour plates in John Quick's excellent book on Robinson loco liveries I started with a coat of humbrol #73, matt wine. This however looked too bright so the following evening I washed over it with revell #85 matt chocolate brown. Of course this then made it too flat and dark again, so I today gave it a final coat of humbrol #73. This time I think I achieved a shade pretty close to what I'm aiming for.
     
    I gave the boiler, cab sheets and tender a coat of humbrol #105, olive green, to start. Then I worked over this with a coat of humbrol's 'Railway Range' brunswick green (#35, I think?). It needs a second coat yet.
     
    The black is simply humbrol #33 matt.
     
    There's still a mass of work to do on the finish of course but I think it looks encouraging at the moment.
  12. James Harrison

    The D9, Part 4

    By James Harrison,

    With work almost finished on the locomotive, attention turns to the tender.
     
    I decided to make use of the Fowler tender and see what I could about making it GCR-esque. There are a couple of fairly big differences in the 2 designs that make a completely accurate conversion difficult, if not impossible. The bigest of these is that the frames of the LMS tender are about 3mm taller than those of the GCR type.
     
    Wishing to keep the conversion as simple and easy as possible I decided there would be little I could do about this, so I concentrated above the running plate.
     
    I began by cutting away the body above coal rail level and filing and sanding down until the tender body was 15mm high all round. I then cut out some new tender sides from 0.5mm plastic sheet, 20mm in height. These were glued to the existing tender body. Then some 0.5 x 1mm plastic strip was glued edge-on along the tops of these new sides and the gap below filled with model filler. A circular file was drawn along the sides to create the flare. Then new bulkheads were measured up and cut out- the one in the front given an arc to the top. Finally new coal rails were cut (5mm in height) to complete the impression.
     

     


  13. James Harrison

    The D9, part 3

    By James Harrison,

    Part 2 of the Saturday Update!
     
    The D9 has come along in leaps and bounds this week.
     

     

     
    I've added side frames in 0.5mm plastic sheet. I then took a piece of balsa wood and carefully cut and filed it down until it fit between the frames, and glued it in place. I cut beading for the splashers out of 0.4mm plastic and set it in place with solvent (I found that the solvent was especially useful for softening the beading, when I cut it out of the sheet it had distorted but the solvent allowed me to gently coerce it back into the right shape). I then sculpted the beading into the splashers with some filler. Boiler bands were added using 0.5 by 1mm plastic strip (probably too thick, but it looks the part). Boiler fittings are brass catsings by Alan Gibson. The running plate under the splashers was reinstated using some plastic L section. The handrail is 0.45mm straight brass rod, gently bent over the smokebox and then inserted into brass handrail knobs. With a little practice this method looks to hold great promise.
  14. James Harrison
    When I wrote about my third attempt at some Robinson stock I was asked if I could get a couple of more detailed photos to show what was involved. Now I didn't get all four of the carriages down to photograph, like I said I would, but I did manage to get down the last carriage I rebuilt and get a few more detailed photographs of it.
     

     

     
    The simple black line is sufficient to suggest matchboarding at normal viewing distances.
     
    Next up is my latest locomotive, the B4 'Immingham' class. Since I finished the model and showcased it here I've made a few little changes. I've improved my technique with the cab lining, just going over it again with the paint pens and this time adding the black outer lining. I've repainted the safety valve covers in a brass/ bronze hue, two reasons why: 1) The GC did the same and 2) to my eye it just plain looks better. Not visible in these photos is that I've made an attempt at painting the cab interior. On my 'when I get around to it' list are a set of running plate steps between the leading coupled axles, a proper smokebox dart and brake pipes, couplings and so on and so forth.
     

     

     
    Finally, I've started another project. Take a pair of 2P bodies and create ? - I'll let you have a guess before I reveal all....
     

     
    The cab is the easiest bit to alter- cut away the roof overhang, slightly enlarge the side windows and merge the spectacle plate windows.
     
    On the running plate we cut away the raised section, and the splashers with it.
     

     
    Then we cut out part of the boiler on the second model between the first and second boiler bands back from the smokebox, and splice it into the first body between the boiler barrel and the firebox.
     

  15. James Harrison
    I've reached the point with the Gorton Mogul where to continue I really need to think about lining the model out. The way I've decided to do this is to try a method I've seen described on RMWeb previously- to scan the model into the computer and then use Photoshop or somesuch to produce the lining to print out on waterslide paper. With an order placed today for said paper, there's nothing more I can do at the moment. So I'm looking at the next project on the to-do list.
     
    Specifically, this is a conversion of a Triang 2P into a small-boilered D9 (GCR class 11B), the first of which were built in 1901 and the last of which were rebuilt into large boilered form in 1927. Most interestingly from my point of view, the last small-boilered examples ran in GCR brunswick green right up until rebuilding in 1927.
     
    I'm using the Charles Reddy drawing for the 11B in as-built condition which can be found in the SLS book, "Robinson: The Harmonious Blacksmith", which I have found time and again to be a most useful resource for scale drawings of GCR locos.
     
    Before I begin the build proper, I've noticed a few large differences between the 2P and D9.
     
    1) The cab roof on the 2P extends too far back. At the same time, the D9 cab is notably bigger than the 2P.
     
    2) Whilst the overall length of the locos from the rear of the smokebox to the cab handrail is identical, the D9 boiler barrel is shorter and the firebox longer (this also ties in with the difference in cab lengths).
     
    3) The smokebox of the 2P is too long.
     
    4) Obvious difference in treatment to the wheelsplashers and running plate. This is probably the easiest bit to rectify!
     
    Aside from these there are of course various smaller differences- chimney, dome, safety valves etc.
     
    In addition to the Triang 2P donor loco, I also have a pair of 2P bodies to hand which are left over from my abortive 2P- B5 conversion of a few months ago. I can, therefore, use parts from these to lengthen the firebox to scale length. If I didn't have them to hand I suppose just using the 2P boiler as it is wouldn't be too noticeable a difference, however of course there is the issue that the cab needs lengthening and you could well end up with a firebox that looks quite foolishly short (!)
     
    The parts list for this project runs to:
     
    - Triang or Hornby 2P;
    - Spare body for the 2P;
    - Chimney, dome and safety valve from Alan Gibson;
    - Plastic sheet.
  16. James Harrison
    I think with the Gorton Mogul that the finish line is coming into sight. Here is the model after a second coat of matt black paint:
     

    Work still to do on the model basically runs to lining (for which I'm going to attempt a new method- I'm going to scan the model onto my laptop, then use photoshop to trace around the outlines, then print those lines onto waterslide paper- this is just waiting on a copy of photoshop, the special paper and varnish) and handrails (another new method to try- 15amp fuse wire which should hopefully be a bit more maleable than my previous attempts in plastic rod or brass wire).
     
    In other news, I've acquired another member of the 'waiting to go through the works club'...
     

     
    ... A Great Central 'Immingham' class locomotive. I actully built one of these from a Hornby loco not so very long ago, but particularly the area around the cab has always struck me as being off in some indeterminate way. My plan therefore is to use this model as a master to build a replacement cab for my first B4, then repaint it into LNER lined green and give it etched brass 'Immingham' nameplates.
     
    Finally, for a change a model that will have absolutely nothing done to it whatever:
     

     
    My Bachmann 'Pom Pom' arrived! I'm very pleased with it- and I'm equally pleased to note that the pair of Pom Poms I built last year are just as good as it (so neither of them need replacement to match)...
  17. James Harrison
    Meanwhile work continues on the neverwazza!
     

     

     
    Since last time quite a lot has gone on. The new boiler has been firmly fixed into the running plate (twice, as it happens- the first time I then dropped the model, and broke it).
     
    I took a tracing of the Robinson cab cut-out from a drawing of the B5 class in one of my books of loco drawings, and then transferred it onto the cab sheets, which I then filed down to the new shape.
     
    New splashers have been fabricated from 0.5mm plastic sheet- I've followed later Robinson practice in having one long splasher rather than the layout shown in the book which was an awkward combination of early (individual splasher) design and later (long splasher) work.
     
    The cylinders have been altered too- usually I just buy these in as spares from Bachmann but at about £15 a pair they get quite expensive. This time I decided to have a go at altering the original cylinders- this decision was influenced not only by price but also by the fact that to fit entirely new cylinders would have been just as much work as to alter the existing ones. So I set to work. I had to cut away the tops of the cylinders, then file down the backs and remove a fair bit of material from the inside faces. Then on the chassis little lumps of cast metal had to be removed. Then I had to ue some plastic channel to reinstate the passageway for the piston rod, and then when I refitted the altered cylinders I had to fix a little pice of plastic sheet above them to get a good positive fixing.
     
    Now the next big job on the loco is to sort out the new front frames.
  18. James Harrison

    The Neverwazza

    By James Harrison,

    Whilst I look for "City of Lincoln" name and numberplates (I've found the nameplates at Kings Cross Plates but can't find the numberplate at present), I've started on the Gorton mogul.
     
    The first thing I had to do was cut 7mm off the firebox of the D11 boiler to get it to fit the 43xx frames.
     
    I was then able to remove more metal (from the firebox top and the front end of the boiler, and the underside of the smokebox) to get it to fit over the motor in the 43xx (a massive metal lump...) By cutting away most of the firebox top I could seat the boiler almost 1mm lower- now it'll be case of fitting a piece of plastic sheet over the hole!
     
    So, in any case this is what I have at present (just loosely fitted together)...
     

     
    I have decided to retain the 43xx running frames as I feel it unlikely that given the aesthetic treatment Robinson gave his designs c.1910-1921 that the loco had it been built would have seen the light of day with a flat running plate and individual splashers, perhaps more likely it would have had a family resemblance to the D10s, D11s and B2s. Hence my finished model will ultimately have a raised running plate over the drivers and a continuous low splasher (this last much akin to the B7s).
  19. James Harrison
    Not all of my progress this week has been of the 'sat at the table doing modelling' sort.
     
    My GCR all-first has had its roof reinstated, after I removed the ventilators, blocked out the clerestory lights and fabricated some small vents for either side of the clerestory. It is now sat on the table waiting for the first coat of paint to dry before I can go over it again, touch in the teak effect and add the transfers and varnish.
     
    My neverwazza Gorton mogul has gained a boiler- a whitemetal lump from a BEC D11 kit- and I have written to Dave Alexander enquiring after his GCR tender kit. Thus the neverwazza will hopefully be the next project to be tackled on the bench.
     
    I've also put in an order with Alan Gibson for some of his GCR boiler fittings, which will come in use when my Bachmann J11 turns up and I get around to a D9....
  20. James Harrison
    Before Christmas (if I'm honest, long before Christmas...more like November...) I briefly mentioned I'd been reading "Great Central Steam" and been quite taken with a drawing of a proposed but never built mogul mixed traffic loco. I then said that I'd gone out and bought an old Mainline 43xx as a donor model to convert.
     
    To be honest although filled with enthusiasm for such a project (I think, much like the B5 Fish engines, it would have a certain elegance about it) I kept being put off because of a lack of anything suitable for a boiler. I was going to use the boiler from a Dapol Schools sitting in my bits box, but I wasn't convinced this would work.
     
    Well, I've just been on that well-known internet auction site and been able to pick up the boiler from a whitemetal Director kit. Perfect! Just exactly what I need. So, when I get the all-first clerestory off the bench (hopefully sometime this week- I've spent this afternoon finishing off the interior and the teak effect), I'll be turning my attention to this neverwazza.
  21. James Harrison
    Well, halfway to completing my planned rake, at any rate.
     
    The all-third is finished....
     

     
    And the all-first now isn't too far behind...
     

     
    A little more work on the interior and then I can start on the roof.
     
    I've also made a couple of decisions about when it comes to the brake thirds. One of them I think I will keep in the Hornby 'as manufactured' configuration of a long(ish) guards compartment, side duckets and 5 third class compartments. However, the other I think will come in more some more drastic surgery and will in all likelihood emerge as a model of the brake third clerestory in Volume III of George Dow's 'Great Central', that is as a 4-compartment carriage with a pair of lavatories.
  22. James Harrison

    More Clerestories

    By James Harrison,

    Work on the next pair of ex-GCR clerestories continues apace.
     
    Starting with the basic Hornby bodies, the first step was to dismantle the carriages. There is a screw through the carriage which when removed loosens the roof, and it is then possible to gently prise it free from the body. You can then access the interior of the body and using pliers or tweezers gently squeeze the lugs holding the bogies in to release those. The buffers can be gently pulled loose just with the fngers- no need for tools on them! That just leaves the glazing. I tried to remove it in one piece for re-use when I rebuild the carriages, but unfortunately it proved to be too flimsy and secured too firmly, and it cracked and broke. No matter, I have some clear plastic sheet I can use for new glazing eventually.
     
    Work can then commence on the conversion. Now on my last conversion I had to replace the beading and as it is my intention to run them as a rake obviously they all have to match. This means what I did on one carriage has to be done on all of them... the beading was removed by gently running over the carriage body with a stanley blade (the beading lifted like orange peel) and then smoothed down with a file and sandpaper.
     
    On the roof I removed the ventilators along the top of the clerestory and the rainstrips on same. This just leaves the rainstrips running on either side of the roof.
     
    Surprisingly I found that the pair of donor carriages were completely unweighted. This is a surprise because the last carriage I converted had a pair of substantial metal weights running the length of the carriage. So in both carriages I placed a pair of 5 gramme metal weights, one above each bogie.
     
    So far work on both carriages had been of an identical nature, but now the two separated to follow different paths. The first carriage had its floor painted blue, and the internal walls painted teak. This will ultimately become the all-first. The second carriage had its floor painted red and the walls painted stone. This will ultimately become the all-third.
     

     
    So here we see the work carried out inside the two carriages; floor painted, walls painted, weights added and compartment partitions (see below) fitted.
     

     
    First phase of work carried out on the carriage exteriors. All beading removed and smoothed down ready for replacement.
     
    When the carriages arrived there were bare shells. I like to fit interiors, even if they are fairly basic. The first phase of this is to fit compartment partitions. I used some 0.5mm plastic sheet and cut rough rectangles to measurements 29mm by 24mm. I then test-fitted them, filing down the corners as necessary to get them to fit down securely. You need to give them a slight curve to get them to slip easily through the tumblehome, however because the bottom of the partitions will be covered up by seats you can remove as much material as you please (within reason!) without affecting the eventual appearance.
     
    I then started to replace the beading. I used evergreen strip of approx. 0.5mm by 1mm. Pieces have to be cut to lengths varying from 2mm to 185mm, and the best part of a pack of the stuff goes into a single carriage (out of 10 360mm lengths in the pack, 7.5 go into one carriage).
     

     

     
    So this is the stage we've reached now- one carriage has all of its beading replaced whilst the other is waiting on more plastic strip. Whilst I'm waiting for that, I can work up the interiors of both carriages (adding the seats) and repaint the exterior of the all-third, and work some more on the two roofs.
  23. James Harrison
    A week into 2014 and already I've finished the first of the year's projects....
     
    .... the new B5 has joined the loco roster!
     

     
    I'm very pleased with this result.
     
    In other news, work continues with the pair of GC clerestories. I've sanded down the beading and started on the interiors. One of them now has a blue floor (this will ultimately be the first class carriage) and the other has a red floor with cream walls. Both need partitions and seats adding, which will be the next job.
  24. James Harrison
    The B5 'Fish' engine has come on in leaps and bounds the last few weeks. Now all it needs to finish are a crew (sitting in the bits box) and some footplate steps (always the parts I struggle to make). There would be a photogrpah at this point, save for the fact that I foolishly let the batteries in the camera go flat....
     
    So the question of course has to be, what to start next?
     
    I would rather like to make a start on the planned D9, but I still need to order the appropriate boiler fittings. Otherwise I've got an A5 and a B3 that would make for 'simple' quick projects, except that the A5 would be jumping the queue and the B3... well having just finished a B4 and a B5 I'm rather tired of big 6-coupled locos for the present.
     
    The new D10? I already have one, and a pair of D11s, I'd like to get something new finished before adding a fourth to the roster.
     
    I could go for the Met E or F classes, but again I don;t have the right boiler fittings yet!
     
    That leaves the nevvawazza Gorton mogul, except I don't have anything appropriate for a boiler yet...
     
    .... Excuses, excuses....
     
    Luckily I have plenty of rolling stock to get on with whilst waiting for my lack of bits/ materials situation to resolve itself- so the next project will be....
     
    *drumroll*
     
    A conversion of a pair of Hornby clerestories to GCR all-third suburban stock. This should make a nice relaxing change to constant loco-building.
  25. James Harrison
    Time for an early Christmas present I think- my planned build programme for 2014!
     
    I'm quite happy with how much I've managed to build this year- I would have liked to get further along with my carriage rakes but on the other hand all of the locos I had planned did get built in some form or another, and a few unplanned ones too.
     
    So, first off will be the overflow from the 2013 programme- four GCR clerestories and a pair of GCR full brakes, from Hornby clerestory stock.
     
    Keeping with the rolling stock for the present, I'll be adding to my rake of Robinson mainline stock- this time it will be an Open Third and a Restaurant Composite, again converted from the Mainline/ Bachmann LMS carriages. Unlike the compartment stock I built this year, these carriages will need a lot more in the way of work to convert them- both will need their sides substantially hacked up and replaced.
     
    I've also got a couple of Ratio Midland suburbans to rebuild into GCR suburban stock, and two more kits from the stable to build and convert.
     
    Finally I have a couple of Ian Kirk kits for Gresley stock- namely a 1921 GNR cabriolet composite (3.5 1st class compartments, 4 3rd class) and a 1938 buffet car- the former being my favourite carriage on my local 'big' preserved line and the latter giving me a more unusual piece of rolling stock.
     
    The above will give me: two rakes of five carriages each of suburban stock (one set clerestories, one set arc roofs), a five carriage mainline rake of the correct set-up for a Marylebone express circa 1926 and a few spare carriages.
     
    On to the locomotives! (This is what everybody really gets excited about....)
     
    I think I'll start off with listing the models I've bought this year as 'projects'...
     
    There will be a Jaycraft resin 'Director'- this will give me a second D10 and, in all, four Directors of both GCR classes- Sir Clement Royds, Butler Henderson, Jutland and Purdon Viccars.
     
    There will be a semi-scratchbuilt B3 'Lord Faringdon'- bought off of ebay described as being a hacked-about Triang Princess. I've already replaced the driving wheels and leading bogie, I will be adding new steam pipes, handrails and repainting into LNER green.
     
    There will be a kitbuilt A5 'Coronation' tank. I bought this just last week, again on ebay. All it needs really is a repaint.
     
    New announcements!
     
    I will be building a Robinson D9 with 4' 9'' boiler. This will be built from a Triang 2P.
     
    There will be a new D6. I'll be building the etched brass chassis that came with the Ratio Midland 4-4-0 kit that I used to build my first attempt, and I'll be building the body around a Triang Jinty body.
     
    I will be building a Metropolitan 'E' class from a Triang M7, and an 'F' class from an M7 bodyshell on a Hornby generic 0-6-0 chassis.
     
    If time permits I'll be building a neverwazza- a Gorton mogul design from 1912, from a Mainline 43xx.
     
    I've also started buying in parts for a 'Sam Fay'- this will appear either in 2014 or maybe slip back into 2015.
     
    And I would really, really like a 'Hush Hush' still- if Dean Sidings do a resin kit for the watertube boiler version I'll be picking one up at Stafford in February....
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