Vicar47

What's the differnce between Green Stuff and White Stuff - apart from the obvious? One ebay advert describes each of them as perfect! Dave

Getting the paint off certainly improved the detail, especially of the little hatches and covers. I think, like you, the fit gets better too. The fit seems very good, so perhaps BR blue had a bad one. Drilling the holes is not that easy. Is there any way we can find out what holes we need and the appropriate diameters?

Greenglade, Old man Phil Thanks for your advice. I took a spare front end, stripped the paint with nitromors, polished the metal with micromesh and sprayed with Alclad primer. Then I compared it with an original. The difference is very clear. Everything is much sharper. Well worth the effort, and, probably the£10 for the nitromors!

I'm a newcomer to building loco kits, but with enough modelling experience not to be too phased to attempt it. I've been pondering the first four parts and was wondering about painting the beast. Does it make sense to paint the body before adding bits like the hand rails or window frames? What colour are/were the handrails anyway? They look brass in some pictures and steel in others. I see, Phil, that you've stripped off the paint on the body. I thought it seemed a bit thick, too, although it seemed to vary, one smoke box being fine, another having paint runs. The stripped parts can certainly be given a better finish, although there's a risk of sanding some of the rivets a bit flat. Any comments much appreciated.

I emailed Hachette this morning about the missing screws. Thye replied in a very short time as follows Thank you for your email, kindly be advised that the srews will be supplied in issue 3 Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require further assistance. Yours sincerely, Florence Kouveld Customer Care Sounds fair enough to me.