Hroth

Normally, there's only one dogeared example when I drop in to sample the GBL offering at my local Sainsburys.  But today?

TWO!

Don't know if another shopper saw it and decided that it was too dull, or if the shop had a rush of blood to the head and marked 2 instead of 1 on their weekly orders....

Of course it would have been unkind to split twins.....  *evil grin*

One could end up looking like the photo on page 3 of the mag!  (And the other as the one on the bottom of page 6.)

So we've just got the Peppercorn and the Class 47 to look forward to (and perhaps a "Locomotion"...)

I'll be popping down to my local pusher Sainsburys to see if I can score buy one this morning.   Its something that can go at the back of a shed scene, esp grimed up with puzzled fitters prodding about at the motion...   Agreed its not as glamorous as a BGE* but it'll do, esp when you think about how much a working model, or even a "needs fixing" example costs!

*  Big Green Engine

You don't have to. Just tick a box on the category you are looking at eg Diesels-Farish and used locos are excluded.

And its a lumpy, buggy method.

Sometimes ALL the listings vanish......

Secondhand should be categorised under its respective gauges, rather than being lumped in with new stock. It doesn't have to be done by manufacturer, just "Locos/Rolling Stock/Misc". Computers are GOOD at that sort of thing!

They are not alone in this.Rails are also at it.But you have to think that somebody out there is going to fall for it,otherwise they wouldn't do it.A quick trawl through e bay is a good reality check as to what really ghastly rubbish is out there.

Well, they're pricing to the ebay standard nowadays (just like all the charity shops do).

At least with Rails, they have the grace to clearly label it as rubbish ie restoration project/needs attention.  However, I do wish Hattons would separate new and seconhand listings completely so you don't have to wade through the dross if you don't want it!

Boiler replaced not quite as straightforward as I thought...the Perspex tube and the plastic used by GBL have a strong dislike of one another.anyway nothing epoxy couldn't cure...I'm as ever falling into my favourite trap....working on a number of models. Still have the county in the works....western finished...producing bits to convert the peppercorn...should I ever get one...to a thompson.....I feel a bit like the North British loco works....hang on didn't they go bust!,,

The plastic GBL use for their mouldings is atrocious - it can't be recycled as such, as its a homogenous colour, but it must be the cheapest, nastiest styrene they can get hold of! It was a hateful task cutting through the J39 running plate (and remove the internal boiler stiffeners) to insert a Hornby Jinty chassis....

(It lurches around beautifully now!)

Dunno what the fuss is about.

If Hattons are too dear, then its your perogative as a fickle customer to shop about and buy off whoever is currently undercutting their prices.

Popped into my local Sainsbugs this AM and liberated their LN, complete in all its dogeared cardback glory!

If anything, the livery application is even worse than that in the photos in post 5459.  Not only is the lining a bit wavey, but the paint is missing on the top-left corner of the firebox!  In addition, the nameplates are falling backwards off the splashers.....

As for the bright "copper" water feed pipework, it looks as if its been pinched off a Triang "Sir Dinadan"!

Haven't decided how to treat it but some sort of complete repaint is on the cards.....

Perhaps just paint it black and hide it amongst the Patriots and Royal Scots? 

Pedantry point: slide rules were a type of mechanical calculator, not something used (normally) to measure things. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slide_rule

 

Of course they would have been very useful for converting measured dimensions on the prototype to 4 mm scale...

Yes, basically a set of logarithmic rulers - far easier to use in the workshop or at the drawing table than a log book.  When I was learning to use my British Thornton sliderule at school, I always remember the teacher saying that it was an AID to calculation, that you should always have an appreciation of the approximate number you were looking for and its magnitude.  Not like nowadays when people punch godknows what into a calculator/computer and don't check the output!

The railway engineering world was quite odd in the UK - there was quite a lot of ideas swapping and cultural exchange.  And Swindon was the go-to place for innovation, especially in the period 1900-25.  I'm surprised that the GWR managed to keep things going, what with all the staff poached to sort out messes on other railways and always lending their locos out to show how to do it.....

Looking at the photos, it seems that the livery application is a tad slapdash, and the boiler underfilling is reminiscent of an old Triang Princess! (I won't even comment on the strange speckled hump in the tender...)

Looks like another "Last Days of Steam" repaint coming up!

Maybe Hornby have realised their mistake and that they should have been making a B16/3? 

Nahhhh....

It's a halfway-house to a new attempt at a  detailed B12/3 - just need to stretch the boiler and add another pair of drivers..... 

I'm surprised to see that Hornby staff in the UK build the models from the first shots. Surely one of the things they're interested in is how well the factory puts the bits together - after all its those factory staff who will eventually have to put together the several thousand production models so an early idea as to how easy that is for the factory should be a factor in signing off the first shots. Does anyone know what Bachmann, Dapol etc. do?

I suppose the point is that the model is the sum of its parts, and a view of the pre-assembly parts and the effort required to assemble them to a rtr model is essential in the development process. Incorrectly moulded parts that don't fit or are even missing essential detail can be corrected more readily at this point rather than after a completed sample (decorated or not) is emitted by the factory in China, its not like they can pop down to the toolroom and get it sorted, is it!  Its good to see that Hornby pays this amount of attention to detail in the manufacturing process.

Apart from all that, all those bits and bags on the workbench looks just like one of the more complicated Airfix kits - now only if they went back to the Triang CKD format...  Not to reduce price, but to allow you to have essentially a rtr model that you "built yourself".  Such fun!

For certain reasons (ok, a Terrier and probably Manston) I coughed up for a club membership mid-June.

The "introductory mailing" arrived this morning. Not impressed!

They may as well not bother as I'm sure they know that people only join for the general discount and perhaps to get access to a particular club model.

Arrivals:

Platform 1:  Lord Nelson - Delayed.  (Frogs on line....)

sowwee....

I'm popping into my local Sainsburys on Friday (today!), who always have ONE copy of the current GBL offering, usually with a torn and battered card backing, to see if they've had the LN yet.  I suppose the late running of this model is an attempt to emulate the characteristics of 1:1 railway practice.......

I've been very happy with a number of the GBL offerings, mainly because they provide cheap replacement bodies for some of my locos that have seen better days and because they make excellent subjects for experiments in weathering before I attack a valuable (ie working) loco.  The Western, in particular was an easy conversion as GBL almost exactly duplicated the Lima plastic chassis (though in diecast metal) and it was easy to fit a spare set of Lima Western running gear onto it.  Given the inaccuracies of the base model, its a cheap enough way to double my stud of Western diesels!

I've missed a couple of GBL replicas that in retrospect might have been useful, but I'm not paying ebay prices for those now!

(edit for additional guff)

The Ivatt tank is posted on the GBL as the next issue after the 'Nelson'.

Thats a useful little engine!

I could do with a couple of those...

I'm always wary of April magazine issues. Editors feel duty bound to slip in a jokey article/review in honour of the season, and they're mainly the most atrociously cringeworthy efforts possible.  Its enough to make you want to bin the things unopened when they come through the door!

A   Q1 would have been far more welcome by me than that Eastern monstrosity of similar proportions  a few issues back.

 

Keith.

A Q1 is all very well, but where do you put the key?

Nods to WA Stanier and leaves, pursued by a (Great) Bear......

I think we are referring to various types of plastic foam, though the end result and the cause is the same - chemical reaction/plasiciser migration. Most of the packing is expanded polystyrene (ceiling tile material), which, besides its instability, is also inflammable and gives off toxic fumes when it burns!     ). Other foams also break down over time and, as suggested, pressure probably speeds up the process.

 

I must go through my stored treasures, though any foam is going to be the more modern stuff, which I think (read 'hope') is less affected.

 

Rubber will also show a similar effect. It goes hard and brittle, coupled with an undesirable tendency to stick to things (especially if it's not wanted of course!). Old wiring and Dinky Toy tyres are particular victims.

 

Apparently vehicle tyres require to be replaced after a few years......

Hmmm - perhaps you're right.  I'd interpreted "foam" as the thin soft flexible stuff, rather than expanded polystyrene.  Perhaps the solution is to loosely wrap the model in whats called "archival, acid-free" tissue paper before placing it in a expanded polystyrene cradle, or in one of those wrap-around plastic clip/sleeve assemblies that are popular at the moment.

As for dinky tyres, they're just exhibiting prototypical behaviour.  Perhaps in line with modern practice, they ought to have a "discard by" date code embossed on the side?

Now back to GBL.

I've fitted a Lima motor bogie/trailing bogie to the diecast GBL Western chassis, after a bit of drilling, grinding and fitting. Had to remove some of the roof stiffeners for clearance, though with no external modifications...

It goes like a bomb, but stopping from full chat is fun, especially if there's something in the way like a wagon or a buffer stop!

Foam is unreliable stuff.  Its also used as light-trap material in all sorts of (mainly) 35mm cameras.  There's nothing more depressing than opening the camera back to find strings of sticky mush where the foam used to be...  I suppose its possible that the failure mode is when the material is under compression.  I've also experienced it with a Zenit UPA5 portable photographic enlarger where the case was lined in the stuff to hold the enlarger components in place.  What a mess!

Foam for long term storage: just say NO!

edit: (Just found a link to a pic of a typical UPA5 foam disaster !  http://www.submin.com/general/collection/accessories/zenith_upa5m.htm )

Popped into my local Sainsburys this lunchtime and snaffled their sole copy.  I don't know how many they get in, but there's always only one when I visit! (the card backing is usually sadly mangled too...)  It looks a bit better in the flesh, though it still seems subtly wrong, no matter how you look at it. And the cylinders need gluing into place!  Anyhoo, its going to be a 1963-4 vintage loco, minus nameplates, as dirty as hell, weeks away from the scrapyard.  Static diorama fodder, naturally.

OR

Stretch the firebox, stick a pony truck under the cab and, voila!  Hawksworths "Pacific".......

Whooeee!!!

Is it just me, or is the cab/firebox relationship completely out of whack?

I had a look at County of Chester on wikipedia (  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GWR_1000_Class#/media/File:Bristol_Temple_Meads_2_geograph-2423243-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg) - they look completely different locos.  Is this one of the worst GBL renditions so far?  It looks like they pinched the boiler off a Manor!

So...."bracken" (ICI code 9427) would pass for golden ochre, then?

Possibly, if you weren't too fussy* - having had a look at the images offered by goggle when I searched for "Western diesel golden ochre", its as good a stab as any!

* Blind man on galloping horse caveat......

Probably the sort of paint used on Allegros and mini clubmans in the early seventies.  :-)   I picked up the Rover Brooklands green and vauxhall Burgundy Red tips from an article in a gauge O guild magazine (about 2001 or so ) that a friend who belonged to it gave me.  They seem to work well.  Another suggestion was Lada Adriatic blue for prototype deltics and Lada cream for BR cream.  However I can't  find the magazine at the moment to see what else they suggested...

Yep - I was going to reference the "egg yolk yellow" that was on my fathers Morris Marina, it was L reg so that pins it down to 1972-3.  My mother HATED it!

I think the tin of "touch-up" paint has long congealed, if its still at the back of the garage.....

Just googled the Marina - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Marina

The second pic down on the r/h side of the article IS that awful colour!

I know! 

I've two lists now, one of the remaining few and the other of the many I want to get rid of.

To keep your list tidy, each time one comes out, use this command to lop the current issue off the list and create a new list.

awk '{if (NR!=1) {print}}' currentlist.txt > newlist.txt

You are using Linux???? 

( I know its using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, but thats what computers are for! )