thegreenhowards

It’s a brake thing. W11 can’t work the vac brakes on the coaches.

I’ve been making progress on multiple fronts today. First up is the SR Q which is nearer the finishing line. She needs some paint scraping off the brass bits, or some brass paint and the cab needs fitting out, but otherwise she’s just about there. I have a problem with the transfers on the tender. The Halfords Matt lacquer I used to seal the transfers and tone the gloss down has reacted with the carrier film. Hence I have crinkling in between the letters of ‘SOUTHERN’ as below. It’s not too noticeable from normal viewing distances, so I may live with it, but does anyone have a solution? She will run as first preserved to start with as I’m fond of the loco on the Bluebell. Then weathered a bit to represent the newly in service look for use on the club layout. I just hope nobody notices that my steam reverser is not correct for the new in service loco! Andy

Looking good Gilbert, At least they’ve all got numbers this time! Andg

Many thanks @Bucoops, Duly acted on. And the ‘3’s arrived from Fox. I think she’s now ready for weathering which means firing up the airbrush - at least for the roof. That is something I rather dread as it always goes wrong!

Mine was! I have two Bachmann Deltics which is plenty for my layout. I bought the AS one because it is so good rather than because I needed a third. While that money could have been spent on something else, it would probably have been something non model railway like a meal out or (part of) a new bike. Andy

Thanks, it’s a D.407 lav third. A number would be great. I like to get these things right if I can and I deliberately only put this number on one side in case someone came up with a correct number! Regards Andy

Well, after Jonathan threw down the gauntlet, I decided that I had to give it a go. So I dug out my bow pen and tried lining for the first time on a coach (previously just done one side of a loco). It’s not perfect but I’m quite pleased with how it’s come up. While the cruel close ups look a bit rough, it looks fIne from 3 foot and I plan to hide some ‘wobbly’ bits under weathering! I’m not sure I’ve lined the rights bits. I based this on the photos from Mangapps farm which @Bucoopskindly put on here a couple of months ago. If anyone thinks I’ve got it wrong, please don’t hold back. I also had to guess the number as I’ve not managed to find any details of the numbering of these coaches. I’m confident it should start with a ‘6’ denoting a coach owned by the GE section in the post 1925 numbering scheme - the rest is fiction. If anyone wants to correct me, I’d be very grateful. Otherwise, I’ll work on the basis that if none of you know, it’s unlikely anyone else will! The ‘3’s on the doors are waiting for an order from Fox. Andy

I’d fully agree that the new boys are engaging with their customers in a very positive way. I suspect that’s much easier for a small company but no less creditable. I think the key issue here is competition. It’s great to have such a range of manufacturers building 00 gauge products each driving the quality standards up and providing (some) checks on price. I do think Hornby and, in my experience, particularly Bachmann have raised their standards recently. New models such as the Bachmann V2 are superb but I won’t be buying while the price is over £200 - the new boys seem to manage the same quality at a more reasonable price. I speak as both an OO and O gauge modeller. As @RichardTstates above, any form of competition in the other scales would be very welcome. Heljan O gauge diesels and rolling stock are very welcome, but they’re not as detailed or accurate as many of the new OO models and cost a lot more. Obviously, this is partly due to their size and weight. But I think a lot more is down to the market size (meaning overheads are spread over a smaller number of models and limiting the scope for lots of different versions of the same class) and the lack of competition. I really hope Accurascale do a bit more in O gauge - it’s a growing market and will grow much more quickly if the models are more affordable.

I’ve only bought two 00 gauge locos this year and one of those was the Deltic which I really bought in 2019. Trouble is I’ve bought several 0 gauge ones, and they cost a lot more. Also more difficult to hide the boxes from SWMBO!

Surely you’ll invest in an Accurascale Class 30?!

Lovely loco and she looks great on the video coming round that gentle curve.

I did some priming yesterday. First up was the Q class which I don’t think I’ve shown on here before but most of you will have seen it on Wright Writes a couple of days ago. It seems to have come up OK but inevitably needed some rubbing down and a couple of gaps filling. Also, I realised that I’d forgotten the boiler bands so they had to be added hurriedly with insulating tape. I think it would have stuck better to the bare metal! Thankfully the tender and GCR milk van needed very little work and have just had a very light sand. These will all get a light top coat of etch primer today.

Certainly not…especially as the coaches look interesting (hint, hint!)

Yesterday’s hot weather allowed me to spend the afternoon under a sun shade in the garden finishing off another project. Here is my 7mm Maunsell Q. I bought this part built at the Kettering O gauge show in March for a bargain £100 ( including wheels but no motor). it’s somewhat out of region for my normal interests but as I work as part of the Maunsell Locomotive Society at the Bluebell it picqued my interest and I can’t resist a bargain! The tender was built and the chassis for the loco was well under way. I’ve built most of the rest. It initially went together quickly but it’s taken some time identifying the last few parts and one or two small bits seem to be missing. In particular the ‘turret’ which fits in front of the cab is missing - hopefully a friend is going to 3D print this for me but it can wait until after painting. Plus I’ve spent a lot of time on ‘wiggly pipes’. This has joined the paint queue and will be sprayed with my GCR milk van as soon as the weather cools a little. Andy

Yes, I’m still plucking up the courage for that!

Now I’m home I’m trying to finish off a few projects on the workbench. I’ve tweaked this GER 6 wheeler which will be finished in early LNER livery. I’m not very happy with the teaking this time as it seems a bit too uniform and I’m not as keen on the Railmatch LNER coach teak as the Precision version which I’ve used previously. I followed my normal process with painting each panel separately in different shades of brown before going over with a thin teak top coat. I’m considering stripping it off and starting again but I’d be interested to know what others think.

I’ve found that even if the paint is slightly damaged underneath, the new transfer effectively hides that damage, so it’s not really evident. This relies on keeping the damage to the area which will be covered by the new transfer, so go carefully.

Good luck with that! I extended mine to 14 roads by squeezing the track spacing slightly, but I still keep buying so have resorted to cassettes and boxes of loose coaches! NB. This is my OO which is ‘transition era’. My O gauge stock which I normally show on here is 1980s WHL and If I ever get to the same storage problems in 0 gauge, I’ll be divorced with my bank manager banging on the door!

Can’t afford to do that because one never knows when the next coach worth seeing is going to appear!

You may shudder but the milk van I showed yesterday which I built whilst on holiday with very basic tools had the tumblehome formed on the handrail leading from my room down to reception. I did get a couple of funny looks!

I love the photos of the 1230 KX -NCL stock. The ex LNER stock is beautifully finished with some nice weathering on some (as already noted). Even the Kirk (?) BSK at the back looks presentable. The Mk1s, however, seem to have gone awry in the numbering department. The FK has a CK number. the SK has no number and the next one seems to have the number too high. Sorry if you already knew this, but perhaps one for Tim’s list? Andy

I’m sure rolling bars would make the job easier, but I’ve always baulked at the price for something which I’d only use occasionally. So I use the handle of a kid’s beach spade which is about 15-20mm in diameter and just press the brass down on that until it’s the right shape. It works for me. Andy

Nice Mick, They're rather cute aren’t they?! What do you use yours for as I thought you were post war and they must have been on their last legs by then. Mine will be used with an NER milk van (old vac formed kit) on our club 1920/30s Minories style layout which has a milk dock (artistic licence?) . Are you suggesting that the LNER Teak paint is a good approximation for coach brown or were you going for a varnished teak look? Do you happen to know where this bit goes? - c.12mm diameter - it was left over and not mentioned in the instructions! Regards Andy

I thought I’d show what I’ve been up to on my holidays. I took a D&S kit and a basic tool set with me and did an hour most days during my ‘siesta’. This is the result. It’s a 7mm GCR milk van. I’m pleased with how it’s turned out although one or two more tools like new bending bars and a dremel would have helped! It’s missing the door handles because they weren’t supplied and my 7mm spares box isn’t as well stocked as my 4mm version. I will give Danny a ring or failing that make some. But either way they can be fitted after painting. I’m now home and finished off the roof yesterday and cleaned it ready for painting today. Apologies for those who follow Coulsdon Works and have already seen it. This will be painted in LNER coach brown. Tony, could you remind me which car paint colour you used for that? Andy

I found it very hard drilling holes in the roof with my hand pin drill whilst on holiday. But I’m home now with access to a dremel and that has enabled me to finish the roof off and attach it. So I think it’s now just about finished apart from cleaning and painting. I seem to be missing door handles, so I’m going to have to make them from wire and attach after painting. I have one part left which I can’t work out (below). It looks like a lid and is 12mm diameter but I have no idea where it should go. Any ideas? Andy