longchap

Hello Mark, I’ve enjoyed your extensive and inspiring autocoach upgrade very much, as I have a couple examples in the never ending queue and I’m sure your inspiration will also extend to Dapol’s 2024 release. Also good to see the commencement of your 14xx / 48xx conversion and I’m sure that the High Level Kits chassis will transform the old Airfix/Hornby clunker. I’m just picking up my well advanced Small Metro kit build (no modelling here in the hot summer months), which was included my first etched chassis build, including a High Level gearbox. I’m very impressed with HL’s instructions, although I did need to read through them several times to make sense of where all the detailed descriptive information fitted into the illustrated diagrams. Once understood, everything fitted together faultlessly and the completed gearbox ran sweetly right away and with almost silent running. An excellent product. I also have the Poppy’s jig, which worked well for me in helping get the frames finally soldered up squarely, having first started by soldering the front and rear spaces to one side of each frame, although you need to work out ingenious ways to support the frame spacers and other small parts when soldering. The use of timber offcuts can provide great assistance here and after also attending the Missenden Abbey chassis building course early this year, I now keep a couple of wooden blocks in my loco building toolbox. As well as GW Models superb rivet press, I also find their wheel pullers and wheel press / quartering jig useful. Enjoy the build and don’t rush headlong into it until you think you understand most of the process. When I found I didn’t, the advice from Missenden and on here (including the Small Metro build thread) was invaluable. Looking forward to your further progress. Bon courage, Bill

. . . or beer! (I have an 'ale wagon' from Dapol)

If you designate them 'sheep wagons ', you can consider them full or empties as desired 🤗

It's a great project to get stuck into and from one of my favourite model rail magazines from the 70s. I thought I'd tackle the more difficult driving car first, so the trailer should be a breeze by comparrison. As usual, I got intrigued with reseach and have enjoyed adding as much detail as practical, while learning more GW history. I'll clear the baseboards tomorrow and tidy up in readniness for wiring the second of the two branch boards, then assemble the control panel and then the fun can really begin. Sounds like a doddle !

Thanks Graham, it's good to be back 😁

The sunshine we had this morning, reminded me of enjoyable past summer activity, as I pruned some adventuristic climbing roses back down to manageable proportions, while contemplating the winter months ahead. The colder seasons means a return to indoor activity, particularly the railway, so I ran through the strict priorities, then contemplated throughout the afternoon on what I really wanted to do! Like most of us, there are a couple of projects to finish, mainly a coach kit bash into a Clifton Downs set and of course the motive power to move it. The driving car and the Metro tank are well advanced and will be back on the bench next week, while a Pannier, now without top feed equipment, waits in line for the paint shop. However, before I dive back into any of the above, I want to clear the baseboards and complete the layout wiring and control panel, so I can fully test the trackwork and finally run some trains. This is particularly important following today’s communication that Swindon are sending a couple of railway inspectors to the Newton Regis branch at the end of the month, so I better get moving and meet some progress targets! Don't panic, but tidy that bench now !

@McC Is ordering from the Dublin office still going forward for EU residents? I thought the process was soon ceasing, although I hope not.

Thanks Andy, I'll take a look, hopefully when I have time over the weekend.

My Manor arrived a few days ago and I finally managed to find time to open the box today and at first sight, it looks rather good: However, a question for @McC , is there an easy cure for the left hand cab handrail not meeting the roof as discernable above and more clearly seen below and is the cab roof gutter supposed to look that wonky, or is it damaged? I'm really sorry to appear picky, but after waiting for so long for this loco and with an almost 300€ price tag, it's a shame to have such a noticable error. Oh and by the way, a big thank you for your team in Dublin who packed the box really well, with plenty of carefully placed padding.

Thanks for the above posts Neal regarding breaking into the loco and probable sound upgrade. I opened the box today to check everything is there and in one piece and apart from the LH vertical cab handrail stopping well short of the roof, all seems okay for now, but I need to look a little deeper. As this is my first sound loco and I've not fired it up, I'm interested just how feeble it is and so I wish you all possible sucess with your upgrade. Best,

My Anthony Manor arrived last week and remains unopened in the railway room. I have been very busy with the wine harvest and a trip up to Normandie, just back today. I never knew I had such patience! Hopefully, I'll open the box tomorrow

If they are posted alphabetically, then likely yes. Sadly, I'm toward the end of that list 😭

Being happy to wait patiently for my copy of Anthony Manor to be shipped from Dublin, I am pleased to have had Accurascale's email confirming its shipping, so can now await its arrival with increased anticipation. Hopefully, @Neal Ball has had a similar email.

There must be a typo there Neal! Only another one? Yippee and I checked that mine is being sent from Dublin, so no Brexit tax!

To be honest, I don't know how many Panniers are. I've lost count of how many I have, including some kits, but certainly not enough 😉

What a lovely basket of Panniers; well done that chap 🙂

Absolutely no modelling lately due to a bunch of old car people staying to take in the village race weekend, so a collection of old cars scattered around the courtyard, with much fun enjoyed by all, including Bella cat and I got a trailer for my little Austin reserved for collection a little later. My old pal Bernie (Citroen Traction Avant) managed to get our Austin 7 Ulster going, following an anoying electrical gremlin and we had a brace of similar others staying with us, then we found this lovely race prepared Renault parked outside our wine bar which looks rather fun. We have a few days between visitors next week, so hopefully can get the Metro chassis painted.

Featuring a weekend of what makes you feel happy, followed by how to get your chassis black Workload had recently increased from very busy, through extremely to simply having to escape for an evening with friends, wine and music to avoid insanity, while we would get back to work on Sunday in preparing all accommodation and gardens for our busiest week of the year and 15 000 visitors to our charming village. Thankfully, Saturday saw us out with friends, more than sufficient wine, song and dancing and then we met this group of boisterous Australians. It turns out they’re a touring post-punk all girl band from Melbourne and their driver was a luthier, also into old bikes and cars and we got on well. So rather than working on Sunday, we enjoyed a lost day with the “Moody Beaches” and some more good friends at ours where the laugher, music and chat was so very welcome and we made some interesting new friends. The guitar maker played a couple of my guitars, unused following a bad broken wrist a couple of years ago and together with the girls, have inspired me to take them up again. All round, a very enjoyable lost day! As for modelling, I’ve finished my experiments with chassis blackening and now have my way forward. After experimenting with application technique with Super Blue, despite on-line forum advice of this product being good for nickel silver, I’ve found it unsatisfactory for the Metro etches, as it wears off rather easily. Chemical blackening, looking okay and would be even better when weathered, but . . . I’m so glad I experimented and the sample shown in the previous post of metal etch primer, followed 24 hours later with matt black for metal surfaces, stood up well to abrasion testing, so will be adopted. I’ll post a photo of the chassis once painted and reassembled, hopefully before too long, but not before we get through the next couple of weeks. Have fun 🙂

Ta Da . . . Nod nod, wink wink, say no more. Although I did try a Plan B, just in case . . . Etch primer and a day later, matt black, which looks okay, but will do an abrasion resistance test in another day, plus try out the Super Blue on the reverse side of this spare nickel silver etch.

I’ve only just spotted this thread, following a nudge from Neal B’s H-o-T and I’m absolutely delighted with this news. I’m wondering what the sound file will include, as I cannot readily find any information. Any ideas anyone? It would be cool if it might include appropriate loco sounds as well as autocoach ones such as gong and doors and steps being used.

Well spotted Neal. I'd often wondered if Dapol would do this, after their fabulous 7mm autocoach and it looks rather splendid. I wonder what's in store for the sound profile? Might it include appropriate loco sounds as well as autocoach ones such as gong and doors and steps being used? This will probably be my first pre-order for quite a while.

First photo's top left figure looks suspiciously like that Manor fireman from the other manufacturer, but with a better looking paint job and that's before it's even painted ! Nice looking crews Neal and I'm glad I too ordered a goodly sized number a few weeks ago.

Thanks Rob. I made it to the nearest gun shop a few days ago to find they only had one blueing solution and it was for use on steel and the chap insisted that it would not work on any other metal, so at 26,50€ a pop, it seemed like an avoidable expensive experiment, so I’ve set about a more extensive search for my original bottle. Nothing yet, but am resisting the urge to order another Super Blue on-line, as I prefer chemical blackening to painting for chassis. Back to some little progress, as I've everything in primer now and all holes drilled for handrails and whistles, so it's said handrails, lamp irons, front spectacle frames and fire iron hoops to fettle and fit, before the airbrush comes out to apply livery colour, but only when these high temperatures and humidity levels become realistic to get acceptable results, so maybe some weeks yet to wait. This is likely to be hopefully my longest ever loco build, as I started it back in March and have several others in the stash. The roof is one of the simpler body parts, yet illustrates how even a small part can take two days to prepare for colour coat. First task was to fill the original rectangular whistle rebate, wait overnight for it to set, roughly sand, apply a thin mist primer to help guide the final fine sanding the next day with 800 grade wet and dry to a perfect roof profile, then drill out the two 0.9mm holes for the brass whistles and the four 0.5mm holes for the handrails. The roof, tool boxes and tank fillers will all be sprayed off the loco and fitted once the livery is applied to the body shell. Meanwhile, I’ll fit handrails, hooks and lamp irons before spraying and hopefully will soon find the chemical blackening fluid for the chassis !

I would say félicitations to the bow pen and am actually looking forward to trying mine and plan a comparison test with the easi-Liner, using a pot of Precision Paints lining gold enamel. Well done Neal.

Fortunately, we're all different to various degrees, which enables us to learn from each other by sharing our ideas and methods. Thank goodness for all our differences, which makes life more interesting. Vivre la différence ! Great work Chris, as usual. Thank you.