richard i

Thanks, you always seem to find kits of the esoteric which makes this thread all the more interesting. richard

Which is? looks like a circus props van or similar. richard

GT3. Yes it appeared in BRM, but it is packed away at the moment in the garage so can not prove it exists. richard

I had half tried this and it was hard to get thin and consistent cuts and to have them stick to the rod at consistent distance apart. I am pleased to see there might be mileage in the rod in the mini drill trick. I guess using a file to make the cuts? richard

I will need to make three of the large vents, 2 can be seen here. ( not the torpedo ones) I have tried building them. I can see that brass rod in a lathe could be turned to make nice ones. No brass rod, and no lathe. I have plasticard but in a turned in a drill end I can see this all going wrong. It is really 2mm discs spaced apart slightly on 1.5mm rod. ideas? richard

I was held up to the window on some non corridor stock in Germany for a pee by my mother in the mid 70s aged about three. I cursed the day my own kids could have done with the same ability when traveling on commuter trains home. All sealed windows and doors. Fortunately later NJ transit double deckers had one car with a loo. Even my wife got good a spotting which one that was to ensure kids could relieve themselves before getting in the car after a day in NYC. No public loos in NYC either so a real minefield of a day with three little ones. Richard

Not as effective as pink all over but then they thought it would be bad for sailors morale. it was meant to make it hard to work out shape and therefore distance to target / direction target moving in for the u boats.

Paint fumes in the house, I feel your pain. I spray in the shed with the heater on, she minds less about that because it is used by the kids rather than her normally. richard

Any one know the colour of tail lamps and side lamps on brake coaches in gcr days. I have a nagging feeling it is buffer beam red but I do not know why. Also the lenses on the side lamps were both red or forward clear and rear facing red? any help gratefully received. richard

To get round tighter curves you could file back the front faces of the front and back wheels to give the wheels more sideways movement. Even tighter you could juggle the frames behind the front and back wheels or fit narrower spacers all along the chassis to give more side play. You would also want to think about crank pin retaining nuts as there will need to be more slop here too. Ultimately you could have a centre driver which is flangeless. Triang did and the 9f on the real railway. however a lot of my answer is: why would you. 600mm is 2ft radius which is what even the rtr folks build their models to go around. Even at 2ft radius on locos with bogies and pony wheels some compromise is normally needed with front steps or drain cocks. Which is why there is a lot of talk of 2’6” or 3’ radius curves on here. richard

Roofs will all get mucky in the same way. Colour difference is length out of works not the company they belong to. I use precision br roof colour which seems to give a dirty grey colour. Even though it says it is for post 48 stock only. richard

These are in the pipeline. Just as a lone modeler building most locos, all carriages and wagons plus the layout buildings etc. it is taking a while. The problem of kids and a job, they get in the way of modeling time. richard

You are right in all observations. If run together the French grey would be more weathered. However, I will run trains in distinct periods as this transition era modeling really plays with my ocd. So the French grey will be set just after the London extension opened with fresh clean carriages with new locos. Or that is the plan. richard

There is a paint shop!?

Why would the real railway not just clear it and make it a cutting just like the rest of the line around it? I do not know. richard

It was at that show it think that some one lent in and said we were “ the worstest operating crew ever” the three of us who were on at the time made ourselves badges which said as much and wore them with pride. If you are going to insult stoke summit at least do it in correct English. richard

Trying to bring several recent discussions together. this is modeling, which this site encourages. No need for some to look away, it is not GWR cream and brown, it is gcr cream and brown, so eastern region, if not ECML . it will please Tony that the roofs are weathered grey rather than the out of shops white. Though the others I am building in French grey will have white roofs, though slightly weathered later when I can do roof weathering convincingly as that looks better to my eye as an overall colour scheme. that comes onto weathering stock. The sides will probably stay unweathered. Outrageous I know. I understand weathering if it is one colour rattle can maroon, but after all the effort to get it looking vaguely neat in panels of two colours I am loathe to cover it all up, besides things were cleaner in 1905. I have avoided lining the edge of the panels red and gold, I just do not have that skill level yet. At 3ft it is barely noticeable, but try and do it badly and it will stand out like a sore thumb. transfers for crests and class classification and glazing still to apply. they ran in mainline expresses of 5 coach rakes so realistic running in a smaller space possible. Other topic photography..... don’t judge the iPad pictures too harshly. richard

The first two painted. they need glazing and transfers, and maybe weathering but that might be a push after spending so long on the livery. richard

Yes thank you Tony, it really was worth the admission ticket price on its own, and that is from a pregrouping modeler. Richard

One of the best n gauge / 2mm layouts I saw was just down from you at the last show I visited before lock down , Stevenage? Milton Keynes? It was not that long, had a small station at one end and ran green diesels but it looked great and drew you in. I watched it for ages, but can’t remember its name. if you went round the show with your camera, maybe you have a shot of it which would illustrate to others what I mean. richard

Different technique this time. No masking. Trusting to a steady hand and a well shaped brush. I think it actually looks a lot better, so must be improving. I will need to wait to practice again as the rest are going into French grey. I actually found it quite therapeutic to do. I feel more coaches coming on in this livery. I have a set of etches for 6 wheelers. I was going to do them in varnished wood, but maybe... I know hattons has its generic ones in French grey, I might get a set of 6 wheelers. I know they are wrong but a feel we need to show there is a market for gcr pregrouping to get the manufacturers to consider making more. richard

He is also producing his gcr suburbans as 4mm stock where previously they were just in the 7mm range. They are roof, sides ends and floor. richard

Taking the advice of others, though no lining pen used or bow pen. Tidying up was by a small brush and a(s) steady (a) hand (as I could manage.) I though using masking tape would help with the narrow waste band panels, but it really did not as it encourages paint up to it so an even steadier hand on the next time. thank you one and all for your advice. It is not perfect but it is much better than I thought possible. roof and corridor connection still to paint. The French grey next to it has not progressed anywhere near as far. richard

The Retford mods.......or rockers. fits for the era in the model. Also mods - modelers perhaps some who are in the group were themselves mods...or rockers if they were around at the time. richard

Depending on the bogies. Brassmasters has a robinson 8ft bogie they have sold on separately. It could be adapted or start with a fox bogie and add/ adapt to look accurate. richard