NoelG

Tried two sample variants of louvered side vents for the GSV. Not entirely happy with either. First on left a) is scratch made from overlapping styrene strips glued together, the second on right b) uses off cuts from CD jewel case. Obviously both options will need a thin frame around them. Any visual preferences for either or suggestions?

Back to the GSV. Ok how to make the louvered side vents for these. Two options so going to try both just for the heck of it because I plan to do another GSV 3173 in the future, so may as well figure it out now. Make from scratch using strips of styrene Use the sides of plastic CD cases Cut strips the same way I used to cut balsa strips and assemble them on sticky masking tape before gluing from the back Glad to see my old balsa strip cutter still works OR, use the ribbed sides of plastic CD case. When painted up these may more than pass the duck test. Will see what the styrene versions look like tomorrow. Next up start the roof details and under frame mods

CIE 141 class cab ride. Camera position raised inside cab for better visibility forward out over cab windows. Cab interior also added. It's a bit of mad fun and a distraction for working on the layout and workbench, but I've had a lot of fun messing about with this.

Ok, version 3 - GoPro Cab ride behind the cab of a 141 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnSjm70RMlc Doesn't my little camera platform remind you of nuns habits in the 1960s - Black'n'White in a Black'n'Tan era

Nice build. Colour looks pretty good to me Kieran. Leslie's sample colour in his publicity shot was indeed too bright, but your's looks spot on. They are pretty impressive for resin which obviously restricts them from C-Rail levels of finish and detail. Yours look much better all round. One of the things I dislike about resin is the amount of fettling and preparation needed. Loads of flash on small parts that are a pain and time consuming to remove. Not a criticism of Leslie's kits, rather resin as a medium in general, but when there is no RTR alternative, they are very welcome and do nicely.

A bit of fun with a short video clip taken from a moving model train. The quality is not great due to poor lighting and I accidentally had the camera on LQ mode. A whole new perspective being down at that eye level when you become a 1/76 scale version of yourself looking at the trains go bye. I popped it on a flat wagon in the middle of a rake of Irish Cement wagons (IRM's finest). I had expected loads of camera shake especially running over points but it was much steadier than I had expected. After I 'green' up the layout over the winter will take the GoPro for another ride, perhaps right behind a 141.

Enterprise looks great. Very nice job on the rebuild and finishing.

Irish Cement Wagons. 1st three very lightly weathered, 2nd three moderately weathered, last three still pristine

The second batch of IRM Cement bubble wagons arrive on the layout this evening. Just a little more weathering for these ones, but not filthy. Next up will be to give parity of esteem to the rake of pristine IRM ballasts behind - weathering beckons for them.

Got three more bubbles lightly weathered. A little more grime added this time and some weathering powder mixed with water and decalfix administered using a cotton bud before air brushing the grime and then the concrete (i.e. for very barely visible vertical and weld seams streaking) IRM rolling stock is taking over Woodvale Junction. I put a little more grime on these three IRM Cement Bubbles but tried to avoid going too heavy. It is fun experimenting and learning as I go. Still scary on such fab models. Have to be ultra careful handling these as there are so many added bits that are so easy to knock off when handling for painting. Before air brushing I lightly applied some weathering powders mixed in water and decal fix, using a cotton bud to accentuate the weld seams and add some barely visible vertical streaking. Looks a mess at first, but then you use a cotton bud to wipe off or reduce the surplus. After air brushing grime and cement later it looked less messy. Before air brushing grime and cement

Busy early morning goods traffic at Kingsbridge's Woodvale Junction. B121 about to depart with some empty beat wagons and a few vans, as 190 arrives hauling recently acquired IRM cement bubble wagons. B188 and B165 recently weathered with a heavy rake of IRM ballast wagons waits for the road to clear while a fuel train behind overtakes the slower ballast train on the down loop. Later B121 double heads with 190 to haul a heavy train of IRM cement traffic in that era when B&T and Supertrain livery co-existed for some years. B188 + B165 wait as another Irish Cement train pulls into the up loop in preparation for being passed by an express passenger service on the up through road. I'm just loving this hobby once again. Choo choo!!! Apologies for the volume of posting these past few days, but lots going on in the workshop, and have been reinvigorated by the new IRM wagons and the final end of summer!

Hi Kieran Thanks for the 'like' above, but aiming for - No way, but a gentler hybrid look perhaps! I know that's prototypical but I hate the look of fifty cement wagons as they looked near the end of their days. You can't even see the lovely two tone blue Irish Cement logo. I'm aiming for light weathering as they might have looked in their first or second year after they got that blue livery, and when they tended to keep them cleaner. Visually I just prefer bright smart looking models with just light weathering even if not absolutely prototypical. After all they are my toy choo-choo trains! All the best Noel PS: I have used photos like that to try and get the chassis sides and top surfaces dusty and closer to that.

Scary evolution of bubble weathering - so far! I was terrified I was going to completely ruin these fabulous wagons. Stage 1 - Pristine out of the box (I half wanted to keep them this way) Stage 2 - Light dusting of frame dirt and more on chassis to get rid of the black. A little grey power on RHS wagon as an experiment Stage 3 - Mixed up some grey from Vallejo white + a few drops of black Vallejo paints are a total joy to use, they just flow so well through the air spray, mixing is quick and easy and cleaning the air brush afterwards take less time than after using either rail match or Tamiya.

Ok take 3 - added some grey to the top of the tank and a little power on the top surfaces of the chassis frame Kind of trying to make them look like their first year or so in that livery with minimal dirt Note entirely happy but still newish to this weathering malarkey so will probably now do the full rake looking similar to this first pack. Thank you team IRM for truly superb wagons. Video clip in due course.

Got two more Murphy Model 141/181s lightly weathered last night. Just enough to get the pristine finish removed and dull the shine off them. In the B&T era they kept the locos fairly clean anyway. I've finally figured out a quicker way of masking off any bits I didn't want paint to go (e.g. windows, wheels, pickups, etc) I just loved the B&T era.

They are very nice coaches. Apparently they are selling well so it seems likely RPSI will release another set in the future with 3 standard coaches making a rake of six.

As a relative novice I dared risk a very light weathering of some of the new cement bubble wagons this evening. I have to admit to being scared witless I might destroy these fabulous wagons, but have tried to keep the weathering minimal. First some frame dirt on the black chassis and barely a dusting on the bubble just to remove the pristine look, and then some powder. Will look at it again in the morning in natural day light before deciding what if anything to add. Perhaps a little greyer on top. Left two wagons had a light dusting with air spray, the third wagon on right has had a little weathering powder added.

Got itchy this evening and took first steps towards very lightly weathering a pair of baby GMs, four mineral wagons and three cement bubbles. Will try some grey dust on the tops of the bubbles tomorrow after I get some more work done on the GSV.

Chatted with Paddy Murphy today and he has a fix for the RPSI cravens that will be available soon. It's a thin sprung brass shim that sits between the bogie and coach floor. The RPSI coaches were built with the same tooling but in a different factory.

IRM Cement Bubble wagons arrived on the layout this evening. They are stunningly sublime. Stephen, Richie, Patrick and Fran take a bow. The detail is up yet another level Looking forward to 'gently' weathering these The detail for model wagons is just beyond belief. Look at the reading on the pressure gauge below. And the underside . . . words are insufficient. Well done team IRM - class product. PS: There was no cement inside any of mine

Sure, to be specific my general point is if possible avoid less than 2ft radius, but agree if a few tight bends needed (e.g. 3rd radius) then they can be visually disguised with scenery and semi scenic breaks to make 90 degree turns. When space is tight there isn't always the room for transition curves, but I agree they look better (i.e: transition - 'you can change the radius of a curve gradually but the change works best if it is a constant rate of change'). "I'd argue that 'abrupt angular kinks' are a result of careless track laying" Agree 100%

Hi Tony There are no rules as such. Most layouts are nearly always constrained by space so scale track arrangements, distances and scale radius are not possible and compromise is needed to make a scaled down version look right. The track numbers may not be to scale but with clever placement of scenery and good ballasting it can look like the real thing. You do not need to pay attention to manufacturers set track radius, but a few tips if possible. Laying flexitrack try and keep to 3rd radius or higher if possible constant radius throughout a 90 degree bend is best if possible. 1st/2nd radius curves can often be used out of sight to fit a tight bend in a hidden section (i.e. Behind back scene after going under half a virtual bridge or tunnel entrance, or under upper base boards or hills at corners. Set track points and curves force wider gap between tracks. Avoid all set track like the plaque. You can change the radius of a curve gradually but the change works best if it is a constant rate of change. it is nice if the radius of track work joining points initially matches the radius of the point for a visually smooth join which can tighten afterwards. There is nothing worse looking than abrupt angular kinks when one point joins another or track joins a point. I've seen more than a few fabulous layouts ruined by this. Dry assemble the track using tacks to see if it 'looks right' and curves flow into each other with constant radius at joins, or at least constant rate of change in curves. You can tweak and make adjustments before committing to ballast which will fix it forever. If you are forced to have some sharp bends, try disguising them with partial scenic breaks like behind a few trees, buildings, bridge, etc. If laying twin track around bends ensure track gaps support your longest rolling stock (e.g. Coach ends over hanging track don't snag other passing coach ends) Hope these few suggestions help. If it looks right it is right, don't be constrained by numbers.

Oh don't get me wrong 33Lima, I'm a fan of all forms of sim and quite impressed with the video clips especially these ones. And I fully agree with you train sims are "as an equally valid outlet for anyone interested in railways, including railway modellers". I do find the realism and sounds a little disappointing when compared to the experience given by flight sims such as old MSFS or X-Plane.

I remember one landed meters short of the threshold in Cork about 28 years ago during winter. Luckily it had not rained for weeks and the ground was hard enough to stop the main gear digging in, therefore avoiding being ripped off when the wheels would have hit the end of the rwy. Could have been very nasty had the ground been its usual winter soft. Nowadays most runways have hard filling under the grass for at least 150m each end.

Thanks for posting all the videos. Those train sims seem visually reminiscent to where flight sim 98 was. It's a pity there is no rail and track noise and no loco suspension movement. The trains move like they are on laser rails. I suppose compared to flight sims it's a tiny market hence limited realism. The first flight sim I used was sublogic on Apple II back in 1980 with juddering green wire frame grid world.