Spitfire2865

Wow, what luck!

I was also hoping they would give us a half cab in LMS for the first run. Are they even considering doing a MR livery run?So they will do a half cab LMS at some point?

Theyre really going to cancel bids from certain people? I can understand being hesitant but thats just ridiculous. Yes, we chose to sell it on a public internet auction site, but if you buy it, we may decide not to sell it. That has to be against ebay rules?

Wow. 2 updates in one day! And I have photos for you all. I had a dentist appointment today so I was a few towns over, and I was close to a model shop which has stock of almost anything you could imagine to do with US railroads and modelmaking. If its over 20 years old, he probably has it. Well, I stopped by and saw a small handheld controller with a phone cord jack on the bottom. It got me thinking about a fun little controller. So I talked to him and I found an old cab control unit. It worked and I was quite happy to walk out with it, even if I left with less money than I hoped to. It has a momentum option which works very well, as well as 5 throttle options. Run, coast, service, quick service, and emergency. Essentially go, go, slow down, Slow Down!, and STOP!! I just had a nice half hour playing with it and a length of track on my floor. I did NOT know a Hornby Pug could go that slow. So yeah. Also I brought my Hornby Hogwarts Express home and had a go running that with the new gear. Works well, and any problems were caused by bad track. And then, at my grandmothers house, I found an old DC transformer which works perfectly for the controller. The company was located within an hour drive from my house. Oh when things werent made in China... So yeah. Today was a rather productive day off. I did more on my kit, I bought a new controller, found the perfect transformer, got perfect marks from the dentist, and had a great dinner. I love meat pies. Oh yeah. Heres my other Hornby loco I originally got the Philosophers Stone train set when it came out. My dad brought it home from a business trip to London years ago. The loco served me well, but finally died about 6 years ago. It sat in a box for about 4, and then I contacted Hornby about it, sent them it, had them ruin it somehow, got it back, complained about un-satisfaction, and got a newer replacement. I just hate the stupid light on the smokebox...what were they thinking? Well, I wanted to try it out with the new purchase and it runs beautifully. I love slow speed running. Wow..lot of talking. Goodnight!

Yeah. Im.building packing in many shaped layers to fit around all underframe bits

Yes? One is rocking, one is solid. Since I posted this. Ive added horsehooks, inside V hangers, and Ive started packing the floor to bring it up to correct height. Im just nervous about not getting the right height.

Ok. So quick update on my day off. I started today with finally soldering the bearings in place. They went in fairly easily. A little issue with half desoldering a bridle bar on one W irons but that went back on with a quick touch. Once the bearings were all in, I grabbed the axleboxes and with a few turns of a drill bit, opened up the holes enough to fir over the bearings and superglued them on. Heres a loose fit of all parts so far The body was superglued together and the plasticcard floor was cut and fitted with even more glue. A little frosting around the edges occurred but hopefully paint and a heavily weathered interior will hide any imperfections.

What do you need? I can do opens in bass wood. Or vans possibly. Check out my workbench if you want. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/83255-spitfires-workbench/

Knew all that. Bearing holes all opened up for bearings. The axlebox should be flush? So should I solder the bearing to the w iron? Then just glue the axlebox on?exactly how much packing needs to be added? And how the hell can I fit sprung 3 links? The headstocks have been opened up for smiths 3 links yet I discovered the w irons get in the way.

I did the same to mine and its amazing it actually works.

Take it apart, fiddle with the bits, put it back together, pray. Really It may just be a faulty unit. Thats unfortunate. Good luck though.

If I have anything to say so far, its watch out for the body castings. They arent perfectly square and Im not sure what to do about that. And the brake gear is far too ignored. Very little on the actual assembly of it.

My next kit arrived! A Midland railway long low-sided goods van by 51L. I bought this kit not exactly knowing how I would put it together, and when it arrived today, I was excited yet intimidated. I knew the W irons and brake gear were brass but I didnt really think. So seeing the kit, I rode my bike to the local Radio Shack to buy a soldering iron, solder, and flux, because I was not prepared at all. I ended up buying a nice variable watt iron and I soldered the W irons together. Im rather proud of my first attempt. Ive learned that I have no damn clue what Im doing and my success tonight was due only to dumb luck. I also folded up the brake lever guide because I could. Oh, heres a bad picture of the new iron. Im now exhausted. More work tomorrow.

Very nice. Whats that hole on the end?

Whys the LMS liveried one have the only full cab? Or the BRs have the half cabs? Reliverying is in place for anyone who wants the opposite.

Thank you. The kit was made by Testors, an enamel paint company here in the US(doubt you have them over there). I love their paints aand I saw they had a kit of one of my favourite planes for cheap so I bought it not knowing how sparse it was. It certainly is a challenge.

I just realized the v hangers are recessed. Thats odd.

While I wait for the kits to come in the mail, I got my plane out again for some more work. Nothings changed with the outside. The interior is all plasticcard except for the headrest which comes from the mounting block for tension locks from a slaters kit. The rear bulkhead is in place, and the center block is where all the electronic bits went. Im not going to model the front bulkhead as you cant even see it with the pilot there. The pilots seat in primer. The original kit gives two benches to pass as seats. They were supposed to mount to the inside walls but since thats a little hard to get to with the cockpit insert in place, Im going to mount them to the floor with blocks to raise it to the correct height. That way, the entire cockpit is one piece. The rear guns were horribly wrong in the kit. So I ignored the instructions and followed photos. Gluing the guns together, adding a bit of bulk to it with a bit of plastic, and a small shield which still needs to be cut down. Next I need to figure out how to build the gunners harness. Maybe even find some replacement 1:72nd figures...not a big fan of the kits included ones.

Wow. Hornby has gotten a lot better. That underframe detail is amazing for a RTR. Hell, better than most kits offer. The plank painting really makes it pop.

Theyre nice. Id just hate painting each plank a different color. Haha

Not a very good place to stop. That beautiful loco is fouling two points.