BernardTPM

Oh, that IS an early one! (moulded frames round the windows, for those not in the know). My first Mk.1s were (still are) like that too, Simon.

In 1972 they appeared in GWR chocolate and cream, Southern Railway green and LMS fully lined livery. The last was technically correct, of course as the CR became part of the LMS.

The Mainline/Bachmann PI LMS coaches are in near Caledonian livery in their 'Railway Children' set. The compartment side is as near as makes no odds on the Composite and they're even the right length. Although a Composite of the same style was built, none were preserved, but as a 'near enough' they wouldn't be bad. The Triang/GBL loco isn't exactly 100% after all. There is/was an article somewhere on RM Web on improving the Hornby Grampians, retaining the best bits (the sides in the recentish version).

I agree, leading to: which I did wonder about too. It was hard to find ANY pictures of the Hornby Dublo version.

Pictures of both versions: Hornby Dublo: http://thumbs.worthpoint.com/s9r53PRQk_C3iowV-ZfC7jKgRxw=/400x0/images/images1/360/0412/02/360_f956a085ea41ff3aa57ae899f20d1f32.jpg Tri-ang: http://thumbs.worthpoint.com/-j4fxSV8ukAXcawXxDKQYk0PihM=/400x0/images/images1/360/0512/27/360_6f6dd3d8c094bfd93da76ec7efffff28.jpg

Two different models. Tri-ang also did them in their TT range.

There's one in W H Smiths in Rhyl today, so if someone could buy to stop me from doing so, that would be good for my wallet.

These must be coated sheets then. They don't scratch as easily as styrene and, of course, they aren't fogged by styrene solvent. I had some 5 thou'" sheet that had been used as double glazing from the early 1970s until we got proper double glazing in the early 1980s and that was very scratch resistant, despite its age and previous use.

For glazing I'd look at getting some thin polycarbonate sheet. It's much more scratch resistant. It's certainly available in 10 thou."/0.25mm. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clear-Lexan-Film-Polycarbonate-Plastic-Sheets-0-25mm-0-50mm-0-75mm-A4-A3-A2-/171513429467?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item27eeff3ddb

I expect you can guess I've been looking for '70s figures too (1972 to be precise). Trouble is I need mainly general public figures so I can see a lot of styrene and Milliput remodelling will be happening!

Could that be one of the Phoenix 4mm range? http://www.forty-third.co.uk/76_phoenix_figures.htm

Useful stuff, Milliput

The stuff I used was very thin, about 5 thou."/0.125mm. The thinnest I've found recently is 10 thou."

I used to use a small rectangle of thin polycarbonate to 'glaze' the engine room windows on old Farish models, fixed with gloss black paint - basically floated onto the surface of the paint. Having dead flat surface it looks like glass.

Though I've never found a photo of the fan and associated boss for the UK Universal where the boss is visible on other AW locos it does appear to be like the spinner of an aircraft propeller. On the basis that the cooling units all had a great deal of similarity it would seem reasonable to assume the fans would appear similar too. References in the Armstrong Whitworth diesel book: 1. p13 drawing of UE1 & 2 2. pp19 & 20 photos of 1700hp mobile power house 3. p57 drawing of UE3-5 4. p64 photo CM210 5. pp105 &105 photos of Ceylon/Argentina export Universals 6. p108 DT51 1200hp 7. p133 DT19 'Cometa'

They did initially - the first two N gauge Mk.1 coaches they produced back in 1980 (SK & BCK) had raised frames round the windows (these were the original type with separate strips for the window area only rather than all-clear bodies). These two were the only ones they did like that though and subsequent models, starting with the RMB, only had raised marks for the door lines and handles, not the window frames. The construction was very similar to the Hornby 'shorty' Mk.3 that appeared a few years earlier ('77 I think). Again the original coaches had raised frames, but when they altered the standard trailers to an eight window pattern they didn't bother moulding frames (though they had already done so for their TRUB). Certainly there were occasions when there were unprinted parts round the raised frames on the Farish Mk.1s, so that might be why they dropped them quite quickly.

They still have the same factory in Margate (I'll grant they don't actually make much there now) and their catalogues are still numbered in the series started by Triang. Their models are still prefixed 'R'. They still use the same type of coupling and some of the Triang bodies are still in production. Ownership may have changed but there is still a clear lineage.

Somewhere I have/had some near immoveable lumps of metal for making N Gauge tube train bodies. Injection tools are a bit like icebergs - the resulting bit of plastic is a small fraction.

Isn't that a Ford Sierra prototype?

I bought one of these when they first came out and was disappointed to find it was the wrong length. While I could appreciate that the one moulding was representing (at that time) two slightly differently detailed (though both the same length) vans, the length difference is so small it surely couldn't have made any serious difference to the performance even on sharp curves. Given it was all-new why do it wrong? A shame as the door detail is pretty good.

The worst thing about the BMC 1100/1300 was how it rusted. The worst thing about the Allegro was that it didn't rust!

The 1300 didn't appear until 1967, so should be a Mk.2 model with the revised tailfins and grille.

It's the opposite way round; the underframe is several years newer than the chassis. The bodies were replacements for the previous tinplate wagons in the '50s whereas the chassis there dates from the '60s.

Being a fan of the handsome 47xx, I rather like this one!

Glad they were useful! I've only recently got a scanner that can do slides, but I'd remembered reading this thread earlier, so when I got the particular film out I thought I'd do these two too and post them. I guessed this must have been under that later section shown in the aerial shot, otherwise the strange roof wasn't explicable. I wonder if anyone else ever bothered to photograph them before demolition.