Old Man Phil

I got an interesting suggestion last night....but I told her No. Hehehehe just joking. I was asked about the possibility of using the front end portion of the Body and extending it backwards into a Streamlined P2 2-8-2 Mikado. Something to think about.

The window runners need to be soldered or glued in place and painted Garter Blue with the rest of the cab. The Windows themselves are in a wooden frame which slides in the runners. Can be done later and fitted.

By the way, inspection of the cab etch will reveal that the upper handrail knob mounting hole is missing. Dont know how they missed that, but it's even missing on the instructions and nothing is said about it. Fact is, the cab handrail should be 4'6". In 0 gauge terms thats 31,1/2 mm. The handrail knobs they are using have a 1.25mm base and they recommend drilling through with a 1.3mm drill. I used a 1.2mm drill and a rat tail file to make it a perfect fit. It's up to you.

I was born and raised in Leicester. LMS and Great Central and one GWR Hall a day from Banbury in the afternoon. After School we all went up to the Central Station to wait for it. That was my extent of Western locos in 1955/60. My mum was from Middlesborough so I took her to see her mum every May for her birthday. They spent the week on the beach at Redcar and I went trainspotting at Darlington 57/58/59, Newcastle 59 and Carlisle 60. A 5 bob runabout ticket could show a kid the world. I have a great memory of bunking 52A Gateshead as a 12 year old kid with a camera. Still have the pics and most of the negatives of those great times. 60002 Sir Murrough Wilson coming straight at me.

Hi John, If you make it to The Spring Convention in Kettering next March, you'll see mine running. Incidently, I'm building 2511, Silver King in 1938 Garter Blue. Added Roof Detail this morning.

Good morning all, I thought it was about time I joined in and made a few additions to this Thread. As my name implies, I'm an old codger who's been around O Gauge scratch building for 30+ years. Simply put, I build and sell my locos through a recognized Trader at the Main O guage exhibitions. I've been keeping an eye on this offer from Hachette from the beginning having read a lot of negative reports about the Flying Scotsman. Incidently, i have never seen a 'Scotsman' motorized and put on sale at an Exhibition. It seems that the valve gear is rubbish and wont stand up to too much movement. And that plastic tender and boiler. So, anyway, I was curious to see to see what was being offered here with Mallard. Surprise, surprise. The Body is actually an excellent reproduction and is made from die cast materials, not this other weird stuff, and can be drilled easily. Hachette shot themselves in the foot. First...yes it will appeal to all those fans of Mallard who have always wanted a big model to stand on the shelf and made the pilgrimage to York to 'The Gathering', and will diligently attempt to build it, and second, they never realised what a great favour they were doing to scratch builders by suppyling the main Body parts for the princely sum of 12 Pound 50p, in the first 3 weeks of issue. I know one bloke who went round Manchester collecting as many as possible in the three week period..he now has 16 complete bodies. My idea...simple, buy the Body and scratchbuild the rest. My Trader associate has also joined in and, as a supplier of O gauge accessories, has agreed to modify his A4 chassis to accomodate this Body, not only to me, but for the entire community who dont want to wait over two years and who want a loco that is motorized and will run. I've been busy over the last month and heres what I got to date.