Bluemonkey presents....

Yeah go on @chuffinghell, dare you.

Yes. I think the tool box on the shunters wagons are deeper than the Cambrian one as there are two on the single wagon. Careful cutting means you can keep the strapping on all four sides. Remember though the prototype had a metal tool box I am using the wooden one to produce slightly different minor details one to my previous build, so if I keep it I do not end up with double vision.

Thank you. Not that brave I have a stash of Archers mixed rivet transfers.

@MrWolf the pony is a Cambrian C37 Gloucester Bogie kit. I have left most of the parts off and made my own. Rivets now added and waiting finish spraying. Looks better when completely finished, honest. As for the loco itself coming on nicely. Footplate extension now firmly in place, rivets added and coal bunkers installed. Surprised myself by creating the rounded corner and making the nice fluted lip. Not that it will be noticed once complete and painted. Need to drill out holes near the cab for the brass whistles but other than that ready for priming, I think, will require a further once over check just in case. Incidentally the large hole in the floor is where the Hornby block chassis and wheels just show, as you can see the base of the coal bunker is curved for wheel clearance. The smaller hole is for connecting the crane to the loco to allow it to be rotated.

You could compromise and tie the trees up with wire

Welcome to rmweb . Interesting plan, good luck with your project . I am sure you will have many supportive followers that can assist with the odd dilemma, as you have, thanks .

No just mainly from memory of my previous Hercules build. The pony is a Cambrian diamond body with extra plasticard to form the reinforcing plates. I used pictures from Russell books for the Hercules tank build.

Getting closer. Most of the major construction complete so just some details to add to the loco and then the crane element, oh and rivets! May even get it finished before the plates arrive. One of my favorite jobs is handrails or (to come later) guard and guide rails

here we go a little more bashing and bodging and it is taking shape, possibly. not fixed as yet to ensure crane location is at it's easiest whilst allowing to add the internal coal bunkers and details.

Some progress today. I had forgotten how fiddley the Cambrian travelling crane kit is and I'm not even making the whole thing. Junior has been in action again! Chassis reduction to accommodate the rear bogie. Surprising how an afternoons work appears so little when captured in a picture. How to attach both the bogie and the crane so they clear everything and any opportune is always an area that needs a lot of consideration so that is what I will be doing for a while as the filler for the dome area and roof harden off. For your consideration and comments as always; (picture a little dark but those are the times lol. That meant as Guinness in on the menu tonight. By-the-way what a wonderful virtual event the World of Railways guys have put on once more. Thank you to everyone involved with the production as it is fabulous and a great way to support the hobby through the difficult time we face world wide. Thank you.

Thank you, I think the dome removal was more luck than judgement though. Used a junior hacksaw slowly. @Mikkel Shhhhhhhhhhh its a secret. Don't tell anyone but I am thinking bash building another pannier crane tank.

So the plan was for the pannier to be my stealth project with potential for selling rather than building for myself but I am enjoying it more than I anticipated so we'll see. Besides the nickname of stealth is more inline with streamlining anyway. Switch it around. Progress is steady; Pannier now 'naked' readying for filler. Handrails removed, various detail fixtures removed, transfers removed and rear buffer cut away. Cab windows cut and filed square rather than round. All removed items have been salvaged as best as possible, just incase another project calls. Although preformed handrails with knobs will be a benefit (possibly) for the pannier kits I have in stock. I have checked the original chassis and it will not allow me to make the space between the tank and footplate open so this will remain in place rather than mess everything up especially as it is unlikely to be very obvious once complete.

Don't forget the bash stuff as well that is especially good.

Few hours later we have a nice little 1907 Gloucester type 15' WB 6.5 plank open wagon from Cambrian complete with aquarium plant weight for added weight. The body is still separate from the wheelbase for ease of painting. Lovely casting details inside the wagon. I have another kit and two for the 16' so may put these into service next year .

Of course I will be finishing the male and female Mk IV heavy tanks as well

Finally plucked the courage to complete the WW1 Whippet tank transfers (Firefly and Fanny Adams). I say this only as the red and white markings are complete single transfers and was for me a little daunting as if it is wrong the whole job is ruined. I think I got away with it and very pleased with the overall job. Plenty of Microsol to soften the large transfers helped a great deal. The transfers supplied I feel are a little over scale but I have nothing else and after some inking they have settle in nicely. Well at least to my uneducated eyes. Sadly the light has reduced the actual depth of shade and colour on the tanks especially the tracks. I used multiple layers of for colours, dry brush metallic twice and a few washes of two inks. My new project returns us back to the railway in earnest. I plan to butcher a King Class into the streamlined version of King Henry VII. Name plates ordered from Narrow Planet but I forgot to place an order for the number plates! This will have to wait now as they have quite a lead time. My stealth project is lurking for the sharp eyed. I decided to leave the cattle wagons for periods when filler and suck like are drying as well as an other open wagon to build for a WD coal to go alongside the Mink, transfers also from Narrow Planet. These were an unexpected surprise I discovered when ordering the plates.

Nice work Chris looking really good.

I have used the same method as @Ben Alder works a treat. When I ran out of wine I used kitchen foil and foil sweet wrappers (Christmas sweets). Kitchen foil can also be used for representing very thin sheets of metal, if you are very careful and don't need them in high traffic areas. The painting is key though.

Your first was excellent. Keep well and warm, best have a wee dram to ensure full recovery.

Could be very useful. The left hand side of the colour blobs is straight from the bottle and brush (without much care) so you can see how thin it is. You can spray with a 2mm airbrush directly from the bottle. Even though the paint is thin the colour is still strong. It may take more layers than you would normally use though that would be the worry.

Thank you. Yes you are right, I should really have explained apologies. The paint is a mixture of Colour and Air from Vallejo. The 50/50 is a mix of the two paints directly on the sheet, hence the heavy thickness. The Air products are very thin so I have tried to show from one coat to what a couple of coats could look like. It's the light and angle that is making the paint look more shiny than usual. The sheet is half primed plasticard. It's actually the base of one of my station buildings.

£3.50 per pint. In the pubs around here that is a good price.

been a little lazy really but have the final results of the paint match; Got a little painting done of those funny whippet tanks;

IPA just under £7 per 1ltre. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IPA-Isopropyl-99-JERRY-CONTAINER-1-LITRE-Isopropanol-1L/232521119280?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 Never been brave enough to buy/use any as I dont really know what I should be doing with chemicals, always happy to be educated. Foil wrap of fizzy wine can be flattened out to form weigh bridge plates or something similar. I often use double sided when spraying great 'helping hand'.

Just check my paints and arghhhh I have the model colour 70826 German Cam Med.........Sooooooooooo close!