Mick Bonwick

Past tense?

Realising that I've just spent an hour's worth of modelling time aimlessly wandering around RMweb.

A wash is a fluid created with a higher ratio of carrier to pigment than normal paint, so there is no difference in that sense. You are able to create your own preferreed shades and concentraions by doing it yourself, but the ready made products will give you convenience and consistency. Every modeller will have their own views and preferences.

Poor lady!

O​In yer bike!

It's this one . . . . . https://www.air-craft.net/acatalog/Neo-for-Iwata-0751-0.35mm-Needle.html#SID=2699

If it's a standard Neo for Iwata CN then the needle is 0.35mm. Expect to pay up to £9 for a replacement. Now I've said that there will be many posts telling you where you can get it much cheaper!

Have you tried ringing him?

Good show, lots of interest, plenty to buy, nice coffee and muffins, space for everything and everybody, helpful stewards, easy to get to, plenty of parking available and if it was closer to home I'd go again. Actually, I might go again anyway - blow the cost of travel!

You could take it that way, yes. You could also think to yourself that I might have a strange sense of humour and make my RMweb posts amusing to read and to be taken lightly. I might not be very good at that, though. In reality I can be found at my demonstrating table nearly all the time. If I leave the table for any reason (and I expect you know what the main ones will be) there will be a note explaining why in plain view of all who care to look.

Until fairly recently my visits to model railway shows were limited to a couple a year. My needs were satisfied by what I saw (and bought) at those shows. This has changed and I now visit significantly more, as a demonstrator, a layout operator and paying member of the public. Not all at the same time, you understand. The effort involved in organising any model railway show must be immense and is not something that I would ever want to get involved in. I value my sanity. On the assumption that a forum can be used for people to state their views and then be prepared for others to agree or disagree, then I have some things to say about this particular exhibition. This is not my first post on RMweb, as the observant amongst my readers will notice, so feel safe from criticism on that count. No show will ever satisfy everybody and there will always be something that does not agree with individuals' ideas of what they should be getting for their money. If I had gone to this show as a member of the paying public I would not have expected to be able to buy a hot meal. It's a school, and they're not known for their ability to cater for meal provision outside school term dates. I would have expected to be able to buy refreshments and, in fact, that's what I did albeit as a demonstrator. I was provided with sandwiches as part of the demonstrating task, but I'm greedy and wanted more. I have to say that the lemon drizzle cake stopped me dribbling for a while, at least until I went to get my second piece. Towards the end of the first afternoon the number of visitors dwindled, as you'd expect at any exhibition I think, that has certainly been the case at the few I've attended. I therefore took the opportunity to have a walk around and look at layouts, traders and society stands. What I found was a well balanced array of layouts from small to large, excellent to good, and well presented to only just good enough. There were not too many traders, but I have since discovered that no less than three of these cancelled within the last week or so of the exhibition, and that is not something that I would expect to be covered by any exhibition manager or his team. That would not have altered my view at the time though - not many traders. Hindsight - ain't it wonderful? Oh, and if anybody reading this wanted to have me demonstrating to them and found I wasn't there when they wanted me to be, I'm sorry if I let you down. But it's not my fault - you should have come earlier! Some people just walked past 'my' table without a second glance and that's good because they weren't there to talked at. They just wanted to look at trains, buy some more stock, keep the children entertained ( I don't believe in the use of words pertaining to the offspring of goats ), meet friends and generally pass their leisure time in a convivial atmosphere. There, I've had my say. Now I'm waiting for all the criticism. I know there'll be some. Oh, there's more. I'm going next year, too.

Try looking on the Peco website. There's quite a lot of information there. http://www.peco-uk.com/prodtype.asp?strParents=3309,3322&CAT_ID=3327&numRecordPosition=1

Not strictly true for all airbrushes. I use an Iwata Eclipse and an Iwata HP Plus and they can both be controlled by depressing the trigger by various degrees to vary the airflow and then pulling it back to vary the paint flow. The same is not true for squeeze-the-trigger-type airbrushes though (such as the Neo for Iwata TRN1/2 and the Iwata Revolution TR0/1/2). With these the airflow is created before any paint can be made to flow.

You need to update your radar, then!

You haven't mentioned the use to which you'll put the airbrush - respraying O Gauge diesels or weathering N Gauge coal wagons? There are many things which govern the right answers, for you, to the questions about price, reliability and quality. Cheap and good quality are often mutually exclusive. You don't mention whether you are a beginner, either. This will have a bearing on what is suitable for you. You will get many answers to your questions on here, and a lot of them will contradict what others say. You might like to consider talking to a professional retailer to see what they recommend if, at the end of the day, you still can't get a clear idea of what to choose.

You could also check that the needle chucking guide is fully screwed home. All of your symptoms can be caused by this. https://airbrushes.com/NEO%20IM-Long_REV3.pdf

Result!

Have you checked the quartering on the centre axle?

The shape and size of the trim strip differed according to year of manufacture as well as model. It's definitely a Simca P60, though. My father had a Monthlery Speciale from 1962 to 1966-ish and that had a narrow straight strip running the whole length of the side. I think . . .

I know I'm taking the risk of being accused of advertising here, but the scenic detailing workshops on 4th and 5th November still have vacancies and the weathering workshops on 16th and 17th September are fully booked. The museum has decided to add another set of weathering workshops on 25th and 26th November, such is the demand for this particular event. More details can be found on the museum's website.

You've every right to be happy, Darren. That's a good result, and if I ever get round to doing any lining I'll be pleased (and surprised) if I achieve that.

I can vouch for these courses, but it has to be said that my opinion is a little biased. The scenic detailing course will give you the opportunity to practise the application of static grass, scatter materials, plastic CD cases (!), rubberised horsehair, seafoam, postiche and other such materials to a small piece of extruded polystyrene, thus creating a section of scenery that depicts grass, path, shrubs, hedge, puddle and weeds. And you can take it home with you. The weathering course is in two parts, one using an airbrush and one (not surprisingly) without an airbrush. Either of these will give you the opportunity to weather your own stock using a variety of tools and materials that are all supplied by the museum. You will have the chance to learn basic techniques and make relevant choices on equipment, materials and tools. Practise involves enamel and acrylic paints, pigments, washes, filters, pastels, oil colours and probably some other stuff I can't remember. Whichever you choose I don't think you'll be disappointed.

From very subtle to very dirty. Nice effects, Martin. Were you able to use the same colours effectively on the underframes?

Excellent. Diarised!

Need to know more! Details please, Martin - these look very good. What scale are you working in?