Woodcock29

Back to the subject of transfers, I can say that I have had great difficulty at times in recent years with HMRS. Both in the sense that some old transfers (some even PC in origin) I've either accumulated over time or that I have acquired from deceased estates have given up there ability to stick (both Pressfix and Methfix) and also new HMRS sheets purchased in the last few years. In the case of the new sheets I've found both difficulty in releasing lettering and sometimes in getting it to stick. I've even had lettering come off very quickly and not stick! Methfix has always been my preferred option as I find it far easier to line these up than Pressfix which I can't see so well. I've made up new batches of meths/water at times so that is not the issue. At times I've had to resort to the old method of applying transfers using varnish - which I expect some of you will remember back in the 1950s/60s I think when my father was buying transfers. I've never found it necessary to apply HMRS to gloss surfaces as recommended for water slide transfers but maybe I'll need to try that? In the past I've found they have always stuck well to satin finished surfaces. Through the 1980s - 90s I built a lot of goods rolling stock and locos with virtually no issues in the lettering stage except where I didn't line something up! One question to ponder is whether the painted surfaces are part of the issue. I have noted the questions raised in recent times over the use of Humbrol paints which are either extremely thick or won't dry. Matt black (33) being one in question although I've not really had any major issues but don't generally use matt black, mostly I use a mix of satin black (85) and brown (186). I don't tend to use a lot of Railmatch or Precision because of the difficulty in obtaining such in Australia. Mind you I now have more of a supply of those paints given I visited the UK last year! Andrew .

Thanks for those comments Tony. I have heard of this method or similar but as these were originally insulated drivers I'll have a go at removing the brass plug which goes through the insulating ring on one first. The version I have heard of for insulating non-insulated Romfords was to cut through every second spoke initially then repeat for the others after the araldite has set. Not very different really! Andrew

Jesse Just a suggestion - before fitting plastic card roofs to vans fit a piece of plastic or brass section between the top of the two ends - it stops the sag in the centre of the roof - no need to guess why I needed to start doing this! Look forward to meeting you later in the year in Sydney. Andrew

Doug does raise an interesting point about the difficulty in disposing of deceased estates, particularly where bits from a variety of kits have all got mixed up. I actually purchased quite a range of kits from the deceased estate in question 4-5 years ago. Including seven D&S GN 6-wheel coaches and a 12- wheel GN dining car (Sheffield stock) - all at bargain prices. The Dining car had a lot of bogie parts missing including the etches but luckily I managed to get replacement parts from Dan a couple of years ago. Such estates can be like an Aladdin's Cave. If I lived in Melbourne I would certainly have volunteered to go and sort the kits and RTR loco parts out. Photos of most lots were on the web but of course it was very difficult to see what was in each job lot. I purchased one box purely for the parts for an N1, presumably either Little Engines or McGowan (most of the superstructure- footplate, tanks, bunker, cab, boiler/smokebox and an EM gauge chassis built as a split chassis - of course I only discovered this once I had got it - the remainder I have to source but that's no big deal. The three insulated 22mm Romfords had been shorted out with brass rod inserted into holes - I'm going to have a go at drilling the brass rod out - should be possible as the brass rod is softer than the surrounds, otherwise I need to source 3 insulated 22mm Romfords. Also in that box I got a badly built Craftsman A5 (now in bits), a Scratchbuilt L&Y 0-8-0 and an old Ks J72 - what will I do with the last two - who knows? More recently I also purchased a part built V4 from this estate - not really suited to my location and period, but what the heck at that price! The body and tender are built fairly well. The chassis needs to be completed and the body sat further down as it sits a bit high - it will need a new set of wheels but at least the chassis is to OO width. Also a set of Mailcoach East Anglian resin coach sides and plastic body parts - again not really suited to my location but I already have a streamlined B17/5 built back in the 1980s! I also acquired a mix match of wagon kits and bits and pieces - just adds more to my extensive list of projects to undertake! Over the last few months several members of the BRMA here in Adelaide have been disposing of a deceased estate from one of our members - fortunately virtually all RTR so much easier to sell and most has gone to our members at prices so it would sell. Anyway back to the second-hand Bachmann WR ROD I got from the estate here in Adelaide - I'm converting it to an LNER ROD version including with a flowerpot chimney - you don't see many RODs running on LNER layouts with flowerpot chimneys! I've shortened a spare Bachmann J11 chimney I had after I fitted a brass original to that loco. Again its a bit early for my period but so what some must have retained their flowerpot chimneys to the mid 30s. Andrew

Thanks Andrew I think they could be most useful, especially for adding rivets to the front frames of a Bachmann O4, although I suppose they're actually bolt heads in this case! Or in your case an O4/8, one of which I have to build in the near future. I'm currently finishing off my second O4/3 conversion from a Bachmann WR ROD - the most suited starting point for a former ROD engine as it has the correct cab roof and the correct wide section for the footplate. Andrew

Andrew Please tell me more about Archers rivets. I presume you got them from the company in the US. What size did you get? I have a distinctive need for applying rivets to several models but always shy away from just using squares of micro strip which is what some people seem to use. I tried it not long ago when building a fitted 10' w b LNER Cattle wagon from the Parkside kit and thought they looked enormous. Andrew Emmett

Not sure which suburbs Terry there was nothing down south, except the odd drop and I don't think even that reached the ground and that was when I was partaking in Gilbert's pastime yesterday out on the golf course. Still might get more later today and I bet that comes when my wife and I are out on the golf course this afternoon, I was starting to forget what rain looks and feels like. Thanks Gilbert for persisting with your photography, love the new views and the variety on the ECML at that time. Must do my order to Andrew at Wizard Models now - mostly Markits wheels. Andrew

Hello Tony There is at least one layout being built based on Potters Bar (in France I believe) set in the 1930s and possibly one other. Can't remember the details at the moment though. The one I mention first has been seen on the LNER Encyclopaedia Forum I think - but no recent updates. Looking forward to catching up later in the year. Andrew

Fantastic news indeed. I used Dave from about 1982 I reckon and being in Australia without his range it would have been nigh on impossible to have built all the models I have. His range was just enormous I also used to get a lot of wheels through Dave. I echo John's comment above about the etched lamp irons (I'm still wondering what to do with the etch I have as they are so overscale) But the rest of Dave's Mainly Trains range that I purchased was just fine. In particular his scale J52 chassis is going under an old Ks J3 kit I picked up for a song. Andrew

To my knowledge the Bachmann O4 has only been produced in two versions, namely as an LNER/BR O4/1 and in its GWR/WR ROD guise, although there have been a number of different loco numbers for each. Both versions produced by Bachmann have the same tender which is an ex GC tender which has had water pick-up removed, which is then the essentially the same as the tenders fitted to the RODs. The Bachmann tender is based on the tender attached to the preserved 63601, which I understand to be GC tender No 6202, evidenced by the tender number plate on the front coal plate. This tender would have had its water pickup removed post WW2. Firstly let me say I have acquired one way or another six Bachmann models - three O4/1s and three RODs and that they can easily be disassembled to separate the cab from the boiler and the footplate/splashers, ie into 3 parts. I converted my first Bachmann O4/1 into No 6202 (late 1930s) by modifying the tender to one with water pick-up. Note there are a range of other detail matters that need attention. Most of these details were covered in articles by Graeme King and I published in the GCRS journal 'Forward' in 2010-11. Subsequently I used a Bachmann WR ROD to make an O4/3. Two benefits come from using this version, firstly the footplate shape in this subsequent production by Bachmann is more accurate as the wide part over the cylinders is the correct length and secondly the cab is correct as the rear angle iron on the roof is set further forward to allow a rolled up canvas sheet to be held on the rear of the roof (in its earlier ROD life). I actually used a Bachmann LNER O4/1 boiler on this model to save having to change the WR features. A third model was converted onto an O4/5 using the Bill Bedford 3-D printed boiler and cab. Currently I'm converting one into an O4/3 with LNER flower pot chimney using a shortened Bachmann J11 chimney (I fitted a brass Robinson chimney to one of my Bachmann J11s - hence the spare J11 chimney). Interestingly with the production of the LNER J11 Bachmann now have the perfect tender to fit to the O4/1 in its LNER O4/1 guise as that tender has water pickup and also now has separate brakes in line with the wheels so it is an all round far superior model - so why don't they fit this to the O4/1? Of course Bachmann has announced earlier this year the production of an original ROD version with Westinghouse brakes and other original features. It sounds like this version will have a new footplate without the solid mass between the frames. If only we could get spare parts - they should follow Heljan's lead in this respect (spares for the O2/3 being available)! Andrew Emmett

Congratulations very well deserved Tony. Looking forward to catching up later in the year. Andrew

Congratulations Tony Looking forward to seeing you and Mo later in the year Andrew

Andrew Good to see Frank's J3 has got the correct yellow shaded transfers at last. I had some input when I saw the photos of the initial paint job seen on the Clayton thread. I saw the unpainted loco at Shipley during my brief visit in May last year. Love the look of all the wagons as well . Andrew Emmett

Hi Everyone A most interesting question - I don't think we've conversed on this matter Graeme. Looking also at the Gresley Observer Pictorial Supplement on the P2s you would have to think that maybe at times the background was another colour, particularly 2002 when first rebuilt with streamlined smokebox in Oct 1936. I can't recall ever seeing a colour photo of a P2. I think there's safety in having them black on a model. I only recently got a nice pair of plates for my 2001 from Fox - the so called brass plates provide by Hornby were like nothing I've seen before! Andrew

Tony I can thoroughly recommend Emirates as well - used them on my last two trips to Europe/UK Andrew

Thanks for this Tony - I've always loved looking at lists of locos on layouts and of course I've seen quite a number of yours so it makes it all the more interesting. Looking forward to catching up later in 2018. Andrew

Nice one Graeme - now I really must get on and finish the plating on Woodcock's bow-ended tender. I presume yours is all done in plastic sheet? Andrew

Hi Everyone Jonathan I'm most interested in your comment that Nick Campling has been saying for years that LNER wagon grey was close to GW wagon grey. I've painted most of the LNER unfitted wagons I've built in a mid-lightish grey - mostly using the old Gloy LNER wagon grey which I got probably 35-40 years ago. That colour appears to be very similar to Railmatch LNER wagon grey - I got a bottle of that in the UK last year but haven't actually used any of it yet. I also have some Precision LNER wagon grey, obtained from the estate of one of our BRMA members a few years ago - again I haven't used that but based on the swathe of colour on the lid it appears to be more of a mid to dark grey. I guess in reality the colour varied quite a lot as we have heard many times that old paint residues were tipped into a bucket/bin and used on wagons. I have picked up quite a number of kit-built LNER wagons second-hand over the years from a mate here in Adelaide and he has painted most of those a mid-dark grey so I actually have a vast array of grey colours amongst my stock of LNER wagons. I have had a quick look through David Jenkinson's The Big Four in Colour and from the few glimpses of LNER unfitted wagons in there they appear to be a mid grey which presumably would weather to a lighter colour and or else they have been a darker grey and have now weathered to a mid grey? I wonder which paint I'll use next time I build some unfitted wagons? Andrew

Hi Graeme In Yeadon Vol 2 on the A4s and W1 on p74 there is a reasonable photo of the top of the 1928 tender attached to 4489 when painted in workshop grey, and presumably named Woodcock, that shows the 3 sided round corner shape of the opening - its also actually quite large. The water filler is hard up against the rounded apex at the front of the opening. I guess that is not conclusive evidence of the shape fitted on a P2 tender but one would wonder why it wouldn't be the same shape. In Yeadon Vol 9 on p83 there is a slightly elevated view of 2006 which shows the fairing in place at the back of the tender and the appearance of the hole here would tend to suggest to me that it wasn't circular although its precise shape is unclear. In another photo again of 2006 (taken by ER Wethersett of 2006 departing north from Waverley - this copy of this photo is in a Gresley Soc Photographic Special Edition on the P2s) looking down from the front the hole is visible but again its precise shape is unclear. However it is possible to conclude that the back of the hole is relatively straight and in line with the back of the tender suggesting the shape was the same as on an A4 tender. Years ago I bought a Crownline detailing kit for an early A4 and it included a brass etch for this cover with this shape of hole. It has recently been removed from a very old early Hornby A4 and is soon to be fitted to my green current model Hornby A4 now named Woodcock. I will have to raised the height of the filler to be level with the front of the opening. I can provide further info by email if you don't have these photos? Having written these notes I have now found an even better photo of the top of the tender of 4489 which clearly shows the shape of the hole for the water filler - a photo of 4489 leaving K+ on the press run of 30 June 1937 - in The Gresley Observer 80th Anniversary Supplement of the Coronation, West Riding and East Anglian. Now its time to go outside and do some airbrushing - its going to be a warm 33C here today but is now just a balmy 25C. Andrew

Graham Many thanks for posting these photos. They're wonderful - I will certainly have to arrange my next UK trip, whenever that might be, around an exhibition you'll be showing Grantham at. Love the O4 temporarily seen as an 0-6-0 - appears to be of Ks origin. I've still got an old Ks kit unmade that I could do this to - I have a track awaiting a hoist/shearlegs at my loco depot. The van train is gorgeous, mine needs more old vans in it as currently I run a separate horsebox train to the station on my layout that is adjacent to a racecourse. My van train is mostly bogie vehicles but having received a parcel from Dan Pinnock yesterday that includes a GN CCT plus more horseboxes there is hope yet!. Andrew Emmett

The Quint is coming along nicely Graham, makes me want to start on my Louth Quad but I've got lots of other projects to work on first. Andrew Emmett

Hi Frank I reckon that footbridge is going to look spectacular when built. One of the guys who visited Shipley with me last May has been trying to get me to install a long footbridge on my layout but I have no interest at the moment! Maybe never? Andrew Emmett.

Steve My apologies for missing your PM. I note I made an error in my earlier post it should have been Nick Easton not David Eastern. I have sent PM with his contact details. Andrew

Tony In my view the expansion link is too long and the die block might be marginally too low (on the Hornby A4s the die block is set much higher up). I've been thinking about modifying mine by shortening the expansion links but as I have 9 (3xLNER A1,1xLNER A3 and 3xBR A3s) its not a small task. The Hornby B17 also has expansion links that are too long. On my LNER one I shortened the section at the bottom, which interestingly also was angled forward when it should have been backwards. I actually changed the expansion links from one side to the other to correct this aspect as well. It looks so much better now, but did entail dismantling a fair bit of the valve gear bug then I've always loved playing around with valve gear. The photo shows I need to complete the weathering of the valve gear and chassis! Andrew