MikeOxon

The reference books all seem somewhat lacking in any information at all about Farthing! I think you may find that, before absorption by the GWR, the line from Swindon to Salisbury was built by the Swindon, Farthing,and Salisbury Railway (S.F & S.R). I'm sure a little research on your part would reveal the precise liveries used on all their stock and I predict you will find exact matches to their lettering styles in your current stock of transfers There are even rumours that, like their neighbouring line to Andover, they took an interest in Fairlie's patent. Mike

There does seem to be debate about the shade of grey

My apologies for the partial quote - always dangerous - though I was only sparing my typing fingers! I only intended to indicate that there was some evidence for dropping the punctuation, as early as 1901. I suspect that there was much less consistency in such matters within the smaller companies, where much of the stock was 'bought in'.

According to GWW (1st ed.,p.249) the full stops were no longer used by 1920. On the following page: "by 1901 Brake Van no.9 had been re-painted ....... and the full stops in the initials were no longer employed"

You're on a slippery slope, Mikkel. Next thing is that the M&SW will get running powers from Swindon, through Farthing, to Salisbury and all sorts of strange things will start to appear. Then you won't be able to resist building an Adams radial..... once corruption sets in, it's very hard to hold in check Mike

it used to be like that - they're all different shapes now and cost around £5 - if you can find the right one! Mike

He sounds great! All you have to do is provide the stimulation to satisfy his enthusiasm and interests Mike

Don't forget that if you bought a Silhouette for railway modelling, it has many other potential uses as well! The rectangular diaphragm washer in my loo cistern failed yesterday. I scanned the old torn one, copied it with the Studio software, and cut out a replacement with my 'Portrait' machine - quite a complex shape with four holes of different sizes. Works perfectly - quite a relief Mike

Very nice indeed. Please poke your macro lens into the cab, so that we can see your backhead detail! Brilliant use of a guitar string, too Mike

I know the frustration when things don't fit! In such cases a millimetre may as well be a mile I'm glad you have a solution and look forward to further posts. Mike

That's an excellent example of creating a striking picture out of the commonplace. I think it is a very well-observed composition Mike

I wish I had such delights in boxes tucked away! I do like the undulating eaves line along the rake - something so often mentioned in reminiscences of the old GWR. I'm never sure about painting the roofs brown below the rain strips. I've not noticed it on photographs and wonder where the practice comes from? Mike

Surely, Mikkel, you don't expect to find horses in the carriage builders paintshop? He can't deliver this one until some new wheels arrive, following an unfortunate incident on the shop floor, which we had better gloss over. Perhaps Charles R. Dixon does a line in shiny new wheels?

I've been re-visiting your blog for another look at your beautiful Dean Goods. I hadn't noticed the details of the livery before, with red frames and garter crest, which led me to reading back through your thread. What a minefield GWR modelling can be - I'd never encountered 'wide' and 'narrow' frames,1903 livery variants, etc., etc. I am amazed that anyone ever dares to make a model at all, when there's so much to get wrong At a much more basic level, I have an old 'Mainline' Dean Goods, with garter crest on the tender, and now feel that I can paint the frames red to match my other (earlier) locos. 1903 is a bit late for me but, as this model has a Belpaire firebox, then I'm going to have to take a good chunk of 'modeller's licence' whatever I do! With an RTR model, one has to make the best of what's already there but, of course, when scratch or kit building, it's good to do the research to avoid mistakes, wherever possible. Mike

Thank you bgman. I've looked at the BGS website and noted that they do lamp bases. I've got too many 'pending' tasks at the moment but may choose this 'solution' I do have one BG model - an old K's Milestones kit of a Gooch single - and dream of providing it with some track .... one day! Mike

Thank you for commenting bgman. You create another worry for Sir John and his frisky daughters! He's already had to warn them about shifty Charles R. Dixon from Farthing and now you raise other temptations. Fortunately, the flesh pots of both Bath and Farthing are well-removed from the Cotswold tranquility of North Leigh - though he's pre-occupied with keeping an eye on the gamekeeper at the moment Mike

That motor installation looks neat. How does it drive the locomotive? Is there a shaft to the engine and, if so, what do you use for universal joints at this scale? Mike

I've been starting to get my 'painting eye' in, by working on some of my 19th-century vehicles, before I attempt any people. For the Victoria carriage, described in previous posts, I first spayed the entire vehicle with red car primer. After that I painted the undergear, footboards, and folding hood with black acrylic. I chose Crimson Lake as the main body colour and painted all the relevant panels with Humbrol enamel (now RC403, though I used an ancient tinlet of HR116 - these paints seem to last for ever, providing the tin is well-sealed.) Once this was dry, I used Grass Green enamel (Humbrol 80) for the leather seats When I first put this model on the carriage-truck, I though it looked a little dull, so decided to brighten it up with some gold lining. It's easy to lose sight of how small this model is (at least in a 4mm modeller's eyes) but I found that 'extra fine point' pens, of the type intended for Birthday cards and the like, provided a fairly easy way to add the touch of brightness that was needed. I simply ran the tip of the pen, very lightly, along the edges of the mudguards and the hand-rails by the driving seats. I think it has given quite a 'lift' to the model and the photo below illustrates its small size alongside the pens that I used! It always surprises me how important a small bit of detailing can be in the appearance of a model. There's still some re-touching to do, and I must find some replacements for those rather very bent wheels Mike

There does seem to be a small 'time-warp' problem, since Blanche is a gal of the gay nineties, whereas your party made reference to something called a 'gramophone'. Perhaps a development of Mr Edison's phonograph?

You encourage me to get on with painting my sets of these figures. Blanche would have loved your party but complained very petulantly that she had nothing to wear - plain grey primer just would not do Mike

It's a 'stilts' party

A very nice example, too. I think many of us like to dream of a pre-WW1 age when everything about the railways was clean and bright - whatever the reality might have been. So, I too have white roofs on my GWR coaches!

I've used Maplin pcb connectors, such as YW11M 4-way 0.1 inch plug and HB58N latch housing for connecting locos and tenders. Also, try Peter's Spares - eg Hornby X6113 loco-tender plug and wire Mike

Once again, Thank you for describing your method in detail. I intend to start some detailing of buildings myself, soon, so this will be very helpful. Mike

It's a very nice atmospheric photo but I am distracted by the sloping columns,while the platform slopes the opposite way. I'm not sure how that's happened but it can be straightened up with Photoshop, which I think improves the pic! Mike Mike