Camperdown

Been there, done that. Usually where there are several, small, identical parts, only one is numbered on the diagram. Once you've found that and clocked the shape of the part, you need to hunt for the others, and they might be on a different fret. Cutting out the running plate, say, which is needed early in the build, releases a whole load of other parts. My method is to cut out all the orphan parts and put them in sealed envelopes, each labelled with the part number. Not perfect, but I've not lost a part yet.

Making a start is always the hard bit. As you say, the basic shape is fairly plain, although an awful lot of hoses and assorted gubbins hangs off it. Depends on how much detail you want to add, of course. I was going to say that it might be difficult to find an appropriate solvent to join the plastikard to the Lima body shell but you've solved that. Adding detail to the plastikard should be straightforward.

Searching "crown pinion gear" on Aliexpress seems to bring up plenty of nylon ones. The crown wheels seem to come with an additional pinion moulded on, but you could cut that off.

Talking of which, what's the collective's view of the best way to ungum an old Portescap?

It's a matter of taste. Very few people can write an entertaining story over 5000 words or so --- Iain Rice was one, but the fact that we all remember how good he was, shows that the skill is quite rate. Too many articles in the model press are of the "I cut a 20mm piece of plastikard, then I cut a 10mm piece" variety. Photos with good captions, or better yet, good, annotated photos can generally tell a story better. We should also remember that forums like this now supplement what only used to be in your monthly paper magazine. That's probably the significance of the comment on modern readers.

I also recall him commenting live (at the Victoria Rooms, Bristol). The photo shows the speed controller (rheostat) which was strapped to the middle of his tummy. No idea why, but it was quite a distinctive way of operating.

I use exactly the same keeper plate system, with the small difference that I place the screw holes longitudinally, rather than transverse. I make the screw hole separation a multiple of 0.1 inch, so that the hole spacing matches the veroboard to which I solder the pickups. The veroboard is glued to the keeper plate.

Rivets on black painted frames are completely invisible, and if behind the wheels they can be a pain as they can catch on the back of the crankpin, if clearance is tight. So my advice would be to just leave them out. At the front, near the cylinders or bogie, or at the back near the pony truck, rivets --- or boltheads, anyway --- can sometimes be visible and quite distinctive. But behind the driving wheels, never. Looking forward to the rest of this tread. Good luck.

Very nice. Looks like a fun kit. I didn't know that Academy were tooling kits for Airfix.

Very sad news. I just met Iain the once, at some exhibition when he had a Riceworks stand. He was very helpful in rummaging through his box of casting rejects, looking for bits I could use for the 3F I was building at the time. Some years later I heard he had built an Indian BG 4-6-0 (Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway A-class, in 16.5mm gauge I think) that later appeared on ebay. I was building my own Indian (NWR) 4-6-0 at the time and he responded to my email enquiry with some very helpful tips. A truly inspirational figure. If his autobiography ever does come out, I for one would buy it.

Looking forward to reading this? Where did you source of the etchings, and what's your plan for boiler fittings, etc? (Asking on behalf of a friend. I realise the answer may be in another thread but it would help if there was a link or some background here.)

I can't tell what driving wheels you have there, but I think that having the full 30" stroke, i.e. 15" crank throw, adds to the character. Anyway, good luck. Just a repaint and straightening out the handrails would improve the body.

The writing seems to be reversed. Last two lines seem to be GW 44XX / (c) 1995. No idea what the top line says.

Very nice. The motor is K's, I think. Anyway, good luck with the rebuild. GW 4-4-0s are tight for motor space at the best of times.

Too much like hard work, cutting out 1mm frames. Usually I use 0.018in N/S, or sometimes 0.015in (in 4mm scale). The prototype is normally 1in or 1.25in, which is 0.013/0.016 in in 4mm scale. My latest build is 0.5mm tinplate, just to be a bit different.

I can quite understand your reasoning. For my money, weight diagrams or modeller's drawings don't cut it. GIve me a proper, dimensioned GA every time. The fact that there are lots of GW kits also helps the scratchbuilder. Not just many types of parts available, if you don't fancy turning your own chimney (say). But you can buy a tender kit to go behind your scratchbuilt 4-6-0.

Lots of detailed loco drawings in the early Great Western Railway Journals (see ebay). A couple of drawings are also reproduced in the two Guy Williams books by Wild Swan (4mm Engine / More 4mm Engines).

Very nice. Peter Denny described scratchbuilding one in Model Railways, I think. What do you do for boiler bands? I see them marked out, but nothing there. Are the dome, smokebox door and tender springs 3D printed or resin castings? And how does the material cope with grit blasting?

You could also found room for a Goldsworthy Gurney steam carriage. The complete engine from one is somewhere in the Riverside Museum, and Grace's Guide has a detailed drawing. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Goldsworthy_Gurney:_Steam_Carriages

PDK (ex-Crownline) advertise a 72XX. "Etched brass kit with whitemetal boiler/firebox and brass detail parts. Nickel silver beam compensated chassis (can be built rigid)." I see some beam compensation on your chassis fret.

AFAIK, there have never been any commercial models of EAR locos. A couple of live steamers have been built. The NRM has a 7.25 in gauge steamer that has been on display at York. (They could have had one or the real 59s if they'd wanted.) There have been some OO kits of the LMS/LNER Garratts, and perhaps your model includes parts from one of those? Anyway, it's a very interesting model. Rather a garish shade of red, but perhaps that's just the photo.

Irish standard gauge (1600mm) comes out at a nice round 32mm in 1:50 scale. Also used in Brazil. Russian railways (1520mm) are another nice round number of mm.

"The issue with that is my lack of fluency in other languages" Plenty of English language metre gauge in the British Empire. As noted, East Africa (Kenya/Uganda/Tanzania) was MG, and there was also extensive MG mileage in India. The French and Belgian colonial empires used metre gauge in Africa and Indochina (Vietnam). If your tastes are more modern, then there are the successor lines in former colonies, plus some lines in France/Spain/Germany.

The one that was installed at Holloway Road tube station seems to have been a spiral moving walkway (no steps). Google will find you some images. There is a Japanese company that currently makes spiral (helical) escalators. I realise it's probably too much of a stretch to make one in 4mm scale though. The steps seem enough of a challenge.

Better still, a double helix spiral escalator. Or is that too ambitious?