Revolution Mike B

This is going to be a cracker. Should be ready just in time for the little green bullet trains!

It was a pleasure helping out Ian - I think the three of us make a good operations team, and I echo your words in that it was a great show with some very friendly people. Rhys and I had better get route learning again!

I've been offered one by Hornby (amazing gesture) but I'd already made it from 43188 a day beofre they released the official model!

I'm really impressed with the interaction with us Fran - something which a lot of companies are adopting now. It makes for a trusting bond between manufacturer and buyer, and also cracking models. People don't mind paying good money for great models, but you've even kept the prices down too!

This is the Whatley layout that Tom Silsbury told me about! I want to do something similar in P4

Can you have a look at some MLA wagons next please? We need some to mix up with the Dapol JNAs! Cheers Mike

Tried do do a bit more on the layout but it just kills my neck, shoulders and back after 30 min or so.... Hopefully once the physio kicks in I can sort the backscenes out! Similar situation with this.... ..one of S-Kits' JYA wagons for my Whatley train. The ends weren't quite right so I've corrected them. I've not added any of the fittings yet and there's a bit of filler needed here and there, but I'm quite pleased with how easily they go together. Meanwhile, it's back to these.......

Marco, do you have the measurements for the JNA-A wagons (NACCO)? I need to make up a box and get it cast in resin. Cheers Mike

Yep, 100% well respected and lovely people.

I agree with Phil Parker on this one, and here's my (very) recent experience of the same thing. Company goes to the insolvency practitioner who will go through assets, money in bank etc etc, and then draw up an reason for insolvency. Once this has been done, HMRC will indeed be a priority, along with any SECURED creditors. Any customers will be unsecured creditors and therefore be at the bottom of the pile. Given the fact that the Company doesn't have any assets as such, or cash, this makes things a little awkward as there won't be anything to claim from - we had a Company go under recently owing us tens of thousands of pounds, which almost wiped out our business. *edit* I have no idea where the PayPal / Crowd Funding Money went but if it was in a 'ring fenced' account, then that may have some bearing on the outcome. It's sad news for a lot of people, but this happens many times with business ventures.

Moan, moan, moan, moan.......... Massive thumbs up for Hornby from me for bringing back affordability to the hobby.........and I'm a RIVET COUNTER!

Apologies for the lack of updates again.....I had a little accident in my car resulting in a dose of whiplash that's getting possessively worse by the day! So. before the drama kicked off, I decided I'd replicate the 50 Tour...literately! So both of my 50s are heading for the mini Arlington and having a nice new paint job - some of the paint is still wet in this picture.... I also bought this.... ....and did this.... ....which in turn lead to...... ...and finally this..... They're not perfect but they look way better than the Hornby ones. I may also have them for sale soon! So on to the coaches, and after Dave at Wicor Models supplied me a Railroad BSK for the cost of a Bacon Roll and a Cop of Tea, I turned it in to the Generator Coach..... I'll do my usual Bachmann Commonwealth bogie conversion later. Here's coaches B (the one Ian was in) and A (the one myself, Rhys and Stu were in) - luckily, we were right behind the locos for the thrash from Penzance back to Exeter.... So that leaves me with the layout. Unfortunately, I've had to vacate the workshop as it's been let to a customer, meaning the layout is now stored in the office, and with my neck and shoulders wishing to cause the rest of my body as much hassle as possible, I won't be doing anything else to it anytime soon, even if I do get the use of another workshop as I'm signed off work! Before I took it down though, I did manage this.... A big thank you must go to Eurocell of Fareham for supplying the UPVc fascia board. I wanted something durable and lightweight, and this fits the bill perfectly. Justin made me up some gussets for the supports and he's also supplied me 80 smaller ones to strengthen up the legs! If it looks like the fascia is rising up in the middle, that's because I've set the angle of the middle support at 92 degrees - this will compensate for hanging Tim's Nameplate from it and levelling it back out. Right, that's about it for now...hopefully it won't be too long before I'm on the mend and back at it for the Swansea show where we'll have a new crew member as Graham has joined the team to help cover for Dave.

I completely agree. I had no hesitation in parting with a few hundred quid to some complete strangers, and then waiting a couple of years for the Pendolino to arrive and had complete confidence in Ben and Mike, who I now class as friends. One thing that puzzles me though is that if they can deliver well thought out and produced models alongside their proper jobs, how come it's been such a task for someone that does it as their main business? I'm still scratching my head!

I must seriously be missing something here? IP can be used to protect anything designed, or manufactured by DJM, however; this would simply be a replica of the real thing, to which it would be impossible to own the IP for. I guess it stops people from taking the design / drawing work and using it for their own good, but then surely any sensible person would create their own designs / drawings to insure accuracy! As far as I'm aware, the only way this would be possible is to approach, lets use a class 68 for this purpose, Vossloh / Stadler and ask for exclusive rights to produce the model under licence, which I believe a well known manufacturer started to do with a Hitachi train. Due diligence isn't rocket science and one should always look in to the bigger picture when starting up, and running a business, regardless of they business type, otherwise you leave yourself wide open to failure...........

Why have I never seen this before? Cracking idea for a layout!

It's funny Rich, the livery really suits the power car and makes it stand out in model form, even more so than the Swallow / Exec versions. Personally, I just don't have the budget, or the space to go down the 70's / 80's route but with the help of my friends, we can do a pretty good late 80's early 90's effort - something I'd like to do for half a day, possibly at Trainwest

Apologies for the lack of updates lately, but quite frankly, there's not been any work done at all on the layout since the last one! I have however, finally, after seven attempts, finished off Sir Kenneth Grange This is probably the hardest bit of modelling I've ever done, even though most people would find it a piece of cake. I couldn't get the paint right and no matter what I did, it still looked garbage. It's not perfect by any means but it looks ok from a distance when it's whizzing around so I'm happy to let it loose on the layout. And here it is again waiting to leave Oak Road - Paul RHB kindly photoshopped a background in for me and it makes such a difference... I've not heard from Steve Flint yet (but I've not chased him either) so I'll be making the preparations for the Swansea show in September in the very near future. I've got a load of people to add to the station area and some more cars for various locations. A new backscene board is underway and I've planned the cottages ready to be laser cut by Justin (I just don't have the time to make them from scratch), and then it's trees, trees, and more trees! There's also a possibility that we could be heading to Trainwest next year which will give those of you in the West Country another chance to see the layout, but this time in a finished state!

I'm already half way through the Royal Train Keith. I did ask the station guys if she was coming in on the Royal Train but they didn't know. Gutted I missed it.

Things have slowed up a bit on the MK3 lately due to work and a number of other projects, but here's the almost completed coach, shown at the Stafford show earlier this years using the excellent Netherwood Sidings as a backdrop. All that's really left to do is correct the gangway ends and add the roof vents along some couplings.

You shouldn't have any trouble putting the kit together Matt as they're very simple to build. Just watch the bogies as the axle holes don't line up making the bogie twist. Cheers Mike

There's no BT boxes in the car park at Castle Cary - they're out on the road

I have thought about it Paul, and I've also had some of the pull out type, crowd control barriers on my radar.

8ft

So after 4 hours............I finished putting the station light locators in! I need to do a bit of work to get the light bases flush with the platform. Here's the real thing...... ...and finally, a 150 ready to depart for Weymouth

One of the jobs I've been meaning to get around to is fitting brass tubes in to the platforms to locate the lights in to. I can't glue them in permanently because they're so fragile and get broken easily by little hands, or clumsy people trying to take pictures or holding themselves up with their hands (or elbows) on the layout, so I needed a practical solution. Luckily, the Albion Alloys thin wall brass tubing that I used for the posts slots perfectly in to the next size up, so I've cut some up in to platform height lengths and glued them in. One day I may even get around to making them illuminate!