AlfaZagato

You were considering this contraption some pages ago, weren't you?

I'm pretty certain mine is in molded colors.

Not a lot done this week. Bad weather and bad motivation. Finished building the next squad, though. Probably another month or so to finish this box, I'd reckon. If the snow would let up, at least. Then, more wargaming! Natch.

You may want to back off a little on your spraying distance, then. Spray can be touch-and-go.

Looks pretty good, actually. Gloss can be unforgiving. Need to use the largest, finest brush you can.

I only just noticed the black hardware on the horsebox, though you've probably posted about it before. Now I need to go revisit my old N gauge Lima model.

Who's to say it will even be English? I could go for a nice Nord Pacific.

I don't know, are you sure they work? I can't tell...

Train things. I have some OO9 out. My Heljan L&B Manning-Wardle, suitably modified per the pertinent thread, and a Bachman USA Skarloey. I will say, Skarloey is the sweeter runner. I was double-heading do to constant stalls with the M-W. This long shot shows the relatively easy load. Skarloey struggled with it on his own. Also, the little bit of American I have breaks scale. Just after Thanksgiving, I ordered a Heljan 1366 when Rails had a flash sale. Made the thing an actually reasonable price; bill-and-a-half is stupid for a dockyards loco. I ordered Oxford Rail's Toad as well. I only had an LMS brake, for the Garratt. I like both. The Toad is overdone, and very affordable. Having an interior is unfathomable to me when the windows are mere mail slots. I'm happy I read the thread on the 1366 before I tested it. A simple check to see if the wheels had any side-to-side showed none. I proceeded to remove the brake plate as recommended. Following further suggestion, each screw was backed out up to a turn. I also fiddled with the wipers in an attempt to enlarge the contact area. She ran very sweetly after the changes, other than some of the track coming up dud. A recent purchase begets a new track arrangement anyways. Stay tuned.

As promised, more. I dropped $300 on three used Imperial Knights. That is actually a savings of $170(before tax) over buying them new. Wow. I've already performed repairs where needed. I simply forgot to photograph such things. Such is life. These are low priority, though. I need to find someplace to stash them. Like everything else.

Lots of varied work this week. Primary focus at home was the Tau. I finished magnetizing & building the Crisis Battlesuits from the first of my two boxes. These get tucked away in a case somewhere for a few months until it is painting season again. I started building the next box. Back to basic infantry. Only just started, though. These go together very quickly. Again, shake-the-box. I experienced some drama in Dungeons & Dragons. My existing character died. Now, instead of writing 'Jr.' next to the dead character's name, I wrote a new character. New character calls for a new model. Finding the right model took some work, though. I decided to be unique in my equipment. Can you imagine how hard it is to find a soldier with a shield, but leather armor? Lucked out; I equipped a whip as a main weapon on paper, so I modified the mini. I notched the right arm about the elbow. I slight amount of force straightened the arm to a more natural pose for a whip. I clipped the sword the model was originally equipped with. I drilled the molded handle .033, and fitted a length of .032 solder. Putty filled the notched elbow. I think it works. Finally, Friday and Monday saw me complete the last two snap-fit kits I had on hand. Friday was a machine from the anime Eureka Seven. Eureka Seven is set in a far-future alien world plagued by strong waves of energy. Of course the natural solution is giant robots that surf said waves. Why not? This kit worked out to the same scale as my normal Gundam kits, but boy, was it lackluster. Joints are oversimplified, motion is limited, and color separation was pretty bad. I don't know if I want to paint it, or forget it exists. We'll see. Monday was Revell Germany's recent Deutz kit. I forgot how simple automotive snap kits could be. This kit definitely deserves paint. I chose not to apply stickers because of that. Still, the engraving and fit are both pretty good. Looks halfway decent as it is. See the comments below for more. I ran out of file space.

The best question is who's going to make this out of a not-Thomas?

I've always understood gas lamps to burn yellow. It might pay, though to look into what color the gas actually burns. I think color might have something to do with the filaments, too. LEDs are odd to me. I think, as they do not generate heat, you may be able to play around with translucent paints over the white LED to get the color you want.

I suppose No. 4 is for Market Days? You might have overextended your loop.

What was the tank against the cab for? Was that the fuel tank?

I was to say, the Ruston truly isn't too dear. I can understand "broke college kid," but 72 GBP is outright cheap for a new locomotive. Have you seen Model Rail? They tackle one of your designs from Hardy Hobbies.

It has been slow at work. I've used my free time to build my gifts. Guncannon Acguy And VeeTwo Gundam I also reached an impasse with the Tau. Until I figure out which magnets to use, I can't drill holes for the magnets. I can't mount arms & torsos until I drill holes. Shame, really. Does anyone here know the name for square-tipped drill bits? I saw hobby-specific ones for a very pretty penny. Packaging was all in Japanese, so I don't know the name.

Nah, Bachman. Strapping Thomas to the front of Emily.

@Northroader I knew of the French kit, firm is Est Modele. I don't fancy spending that much on a kit, though I've heard it's good. Also, we're drifting. @Sophia NSE That is a quaint little thing. Do you plan on adding some sheet to hide the gap?

Actually, for you more experienced butchers, which of the chassis would be an OK start for a Crampton? Or am I speaking crazy?

If the center is driven, why not a 2-2-2?

"Lead" casting has advanced a lot, even in my lifetime. The Spaniards seem to have a knack for it, too. The best I've seen all are from Iberian companies.

The pre-war 100HP is neat. Do you intend it for the 48DS chassis?

Apologies for skipping last week. The 26th was my birthday. I hopped around some hobby/game shops in Chicagoland, then played X-Wing at the local. Friday got out-of-hand, but that's neither here nor there here, is it? As of Christmas Eve, I putting the Infinity on hold. I plan on using some patterned Plastruct sheet to dress-up the bases. I find myself without a compass or circle-cutter of any nature, though. Except, may, a brace-&-bit, but that would be excessive. The lady in green, named a Kuge delegate, didn't come out quite as I intended. Still, I'm satisfied for now. She is only an objective marker in the game, anyways. I turn, then, to a nagging project in the workshop; building more Tau. Thankfully, these Citadel gaming kits knock together - sort of shake-the-box. I had the infantry squad built in four sessions; Done and away for the season. Next came converting the Ethereal the box comes with into something more useful, a Cadre Fireblade. Simple job. I removed a collar, added arms and a head spare from the squad, and mangled the cloak. Oh well. In focus just behind him is the next stage of the box; Crisis suits. They will be a little more involved. I must add magnets.

Maybe do the rebate in light stone? If not, I would keep it dark stone. Might be too bright if you did the whole thing light.