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Progress on the Deltic has been hampered by a week working in Scotland; this weekend has seen the ETS fittings made and painted, the nose-end steps made and epoxied in place (carefully checking clearance for bogie swing and articulation!), plus the airbrake pipes fitted to their adaptors prior to gluing in place and replicating the joining pipework across the bufferbeams. Next step will be filling the existing (huge!) holes in the bufferbeams and adding the bufferbeam gussets, before fitting vacuum pipes and the No.2 end exhauster drains. Steam-heat fittings are yet to be made, but will probably be based on those supplied with the Hornby class 31 plus scratchbuilt hoses and end fittings. With excellent luck and a following wind, I hope to post pics next weekend.

I'll post a pic when I've sorted-out the steps and ETS fittings.

Also note that I closed the RH door on the workbench; leaving it open would have headed-off any comments about neatness & tidiness at the pass! Incidentally I've used Hornby 31 buffers on the Deltic (since the photo was taken). Pull-out the Bachmann buffers and retrieve the springs; razor-saw off the shanks flush with the nose, then drill-out the existing holes to 3.2 mm. The Hornby 31 buffers (3.17 mm diameter shanks) can then be pressed/glued in place, leaving 3.25 mm (including flange) of the shank protruding. That gives a lovely "these shrouds really are fitted over the buffers" look and also provide the top footsteps and side inspection covers. They've got genuine steel heads and are sprung too. Eeeez niiiiice B)

Cheers Jon I've already fitted Markits/Romford sprung coupling hooks (which will have modified Smiths screw-link assemblies fitted after painting; the Romford screw-link is hyawge. I normally fit the Smiths hooks too but there's insufficient clearance available on the Deltic; the Romford hook shanks are shorter and just about clear the bogies!). Pipes and hoses are underway, plus scratchbuilt ETS fittings. As you say, the exhauster pipes are a must, plus all the external pipework on the buffer beams. When I manage to beat the apparent global shortage of 1mm brass strip - even Mainly Trains have run out! - I'll knock-up the footsteps too. I'm also increasingly dissatisfied with the scavenger fan grilles and frames; I think I might extend the project a bit and fit replacement Shawplan items. However, the decals for the Tinsley 20s have arrived...

Mornin' Finding myself with an unplanned day off due to problems with a pool-car tyre and a large crosshead screw (sigh...), I decided to update my blog. Here's my workbench as it stands today: Visible are: 55 002 KOYLI, Bachmann 4-axle drive version, now fitted with phosphor-bronze pickups on all wheels and an Olivias Trains LokSound decoder and DCC Supplies bass-reflex speaker. Now capable of the tear-jerking yowl of twin Napiers in full flight B) and awaiting full buffer beam detail and better buffers. Toffee Apple 31, which will be either 31 005 or 31 018; Lima, fitted with Ultrascale wheels, ModelTorque motor and a scratchbuilt 8-pin DCC interface. Awaiting paint stripping and detailing plus scratchbuilt buffer-beam valances. 37 100; long-term project based on a Lima shell - I work on this when I'm waiting for bits of other projects to dry. 37/7 shell; ex-ViTrains 37/4 and due even more major work than it's already had to become an ex-splitbox example in Railfreight livery. Sidelined for now as I've subsequently switched from the Craftsman windscreen panel etch to the Shawplan version, so major rework is required. I have a feeling that this loco is my Nemesis... 20 034, 1982 Tinsley condition; one of my intended Tinsley pair, awaiting decals and medium-heavy weathering. Heljan TTG 47: awaiting developments in Nottingham! Hornby Hymek: an eBay bargain, to be extensively detailed and finished in heavily-weathered green livery. Already fitted with Ultrascale wheels and extra pickups. "The Coal Rake": various kitbuilt and detailed RTR 16T and 21T minerals; awaiting decals and weathering, plus the other 10 wagons needed to form a decent rake. Hornby Class 31 bogies: removed for weathering from my Immingham 31/1. Lima 9400 0-6-0PT: snapped-up on a whim through pure nostalgia. I haven't owned it long enough to decide its fate yet The current plan is to finish the Deltic and then concentrate on the Tinsley pair. I knew that this was becoming an obsession when I realised that I was ignoring more than half of the average RTR generic buffer-beam detail kit in favour of more accurate fittings, pipes and hoses... B)

Hello Just discovered this thread; good work, fella! I'm also reassured that it's not just me that is being overrun by Derby Sulzers B) The harbour corner is looking really good; I'm looking forward to the 'phot opps' that the completed scene will offer.

Two Thumbs Up on the Duffs; nicely subtle, as always B) On the DAF: There's a howler, unfortunately. The trailer wheels have protruding naves/wheeltrims, hence are overwidth (the platform raves are the widest point - 2.5 scale metres across - to maximise payload area). Wheeltrims to suit dualled tyres tend to be flat. Might be worth considering replacing them with a set of dual inset-nave wheels, or shaving-off the protruding naves and drilling some holes to represent wheeltrims. Are you going for Kuehne & Nagel livery? The colours look very similar

It transpires that I was the first person to request an Ultrascale conversion kit for the ViTrains 37. I'd had issues regarding DCC and the traction tyres, and the allegedly-RP25 flanges just didn't look right and caused intermittent problems on my modified Peco Code 75 pointwork. I lent Ultrascale my 37/4 for evaluation, and in return they have kindly supplied the first-off Vi 37 conversion kit free of charge, on the condition that I report on my findings. Hugely appreciated My development 37 is in the process of being lowered on its bogies (sort of... Watch this space), having a more user-configurable lighting system installed, having the new Shawplan Extreme Etches windscreen panels and roof fan/grille fitted and having the chassis casting "tweaked" (ha ha, where's my angle-grinder gone?) to allow fitment of both standard and bass-reflex speakers. I'll post pics of the whole project as it progresses, but I'll fit the Ultrascale kit this weekend and post before'n'after pics here if all goes to plan. Cheers, Ultrascale - the first report will arrive next week

Crikey, I must update this more often! My current workbench projects - alongside the complete "re-scenicification" of Southwich - are as follows: 37 100 37 883 (currently on hiatus as I can't stand the sight of the damned thing - ViTrains 37/4 donor bodyshell; 'nuff said) 25 279 redux (found a 'cratered bodyside door' shell to replace the existing '2-inch proud bodyside door' one) 25 027 redux (too faded; Bachmann replacement chassis to be fitted) As-yet-unspecified Hornby/Bachmann hybrid 2.5-window 25/2 47 278 with Stratford Silver roof 821 "GREYHOUND", in commemoration of my recently-departed 45mph Couch Potato (RIP, sweetheart) Wagons - too numerous to mention; vans, Engineers' stock and mineral wagons Volvo F88 artic (long-term; still researching a period livery) Dodge Commando BR tool/mess wagon (found an ex-Commando body serving as a shelter at my friends' shooting ground - tape/clipboard/sketchy mission imminent) Need to get my priorities straight, clearly... Watch this space.

Lovely 31! Really good weathering job; reminds me of sitting in a BRUTE at New Street and watching the blue 31/4s depart for the east, while the rest of the enthusiast fraternity were watching Hoovers Thanks for the memory. I have a Hornby SD 31/1 with headcode panels which at the moment just needs some more weathering (I've got better at it since I augmented Hornby's factory job) and some tweaking to the CVs to dim the lights a bit, and a Lima skinhead which cost me ??18 on eBay and had never been run. I prefer the Lima shell, I think; something about the subtle angle of the cabside window panels looks better than Hornby's version. Guess I'll find out for sure when the Ultrascale wheels arrive and I've fettled the shell! 25 244 looks great. My own Hornby 25/1 was my first ever refinishing job, and is on that long, long list for a Bachmann chassis and a respray (too faded; it looks like a 70s Panda car!). And a Shawplan scavenger fan grille to replace the A1 Models drainage grid currently fitted

Those 25s do look good - nice and subtle. I've built a Bachmann 25/3 with similar mods but a few more tweaks to the chassis. Without major rebuilding, we can't correct the fundamental Bachmann errors (windscreens too sharply raked back, with correspondingly shortened cabside windows/too steep quarterlight angle, plus the effects on the size of the windscreens themselves; and of course the two versions to date of the triangular bodyside access panel, one set in a deep trench and the other standing 2" proud of the surrounding bodywork. The Bachmann 25/1 suffers similarly). Hopefully Bachmann will give the model a decent shell and underframe moulding before too long; the chassis remains one of the finest-engineered units available today IMO. My two 25/1s will use much-modified Hornby shells on chopped Bachmann chassis and underframes, although they trail a pair of 37s, a skinhead 31 and a discy 40 on my "to do" list... I've got as far as detailing one shell and acquiring another raw one. The layout extension looks impressive - I'll be following your progress

Hello again Just to prove that I am still alive, here's my first post to my new blog - here's hoping that it's all working as it should. I have to confess a certain aura of the Luddite when learning how to conform to the new order; I find it quite complex compared to the previous RMWeb but I'm sure that I'll get used to it in time. I've decided to blog my "locomotives" thread and "layout" thread separately; "Southwich" is still very much alive but somewhat denuded since I decided that my modelling skills have improved since building Phase 1, deciding that I couldn't live with what I'd already built and tearing some of it back to the boards. I'll start the "layout" blog, er, when I start the layout again Right, back to traction then My current project is 37 100 in early-to-mid-1980s condition in Rail Blue with deleted water tank and rebuilt No.2 nose end. I'm using a Lima splitty 37 shell as a basis (a personal challenge, deciding that I wanted to see if the Lima offering could be fettled to stand alongside my Gen-2 Bachmann 37/0 without being outclassed). It will be mounted on a much-modified ViTrains chassis with customised lighting and - hopefully - lowered on its bogies by 1.5mm. Current progress has seen much filler, Microstrip and Shawplan etched detail added; the unique No.2 end (with non-standard marker lamp positions) currently looks like this (cruelly enlarged and not yet finish-sanded or cleaned-up): 37 100 was an oddball in a number of ways, for a number of years; it carried Rail Blue into late-1990 (with the late-80s addition of an orange cantrail stripe), and also managed to avoid being fitted with HI headlights until it was repainted Triple Grey. Thanks to Brian Hanson for his Fotopic album of images of 37 100, taken at Barrow Hill prior to the HNRC 973xx rebuild - it has been of much help. Finally (for now), I highly recommend Squadron Green Putty, a model filler sold ready-mixed in a tube. It has an almost perfect consistency, dries completely in about 30mins and sands beautifully. It's not really strong enough to fill deep gaps and holes (although I got away with filling the original lamp apertures on the Lima shell with it) - I'd still recommend Milliput Superfine White for those areas.