Northroader

Thanks for the info. I'm not one of these gifted people who can get white metal parts to come together by waving a soldering iron at them, the times I've tried its ended in tears. Nor yet superglue, usually I get everything but the parts I'm joining to stick, including fingers! Gel is a new one to me.... Maybe? I usually go for 24 hour Araldite held in place with Blutack and rubber bands until it sets, which I've found the safest way for me.

They look really good. It's a pity no-one has ever come up with a real clinching paint sample or argument what they did look like, yours is as good as anything else, and the detail, lettering and darkening give a very good effect.

Lovely work to produce a great model. one thing crossed my mind looking at it, I remember you soaking the original kit in a bucket of carlsberg to make fall to bits. And after a lot of painstaking fitting of the bits it's now back together, but I missed the part about how the white metal bits joined, sorry if I wasn't paying attention. what did you use?? I couldn't spot it on the workbench blog either, another great way to enjoy an evening at the fireside.

hello, it's me back, I've had a bit more time to look thru your blog today, and I'm really impressed with your work, such as the way you can get a 2P to turn into a U2. Your details of wagon weathering are good, one thing I usually do is to daub on a very thin wash of Matt black with a load of white spirit in it, then wipe off straight away with a tissue or rag. This leaves the corners darker and in particular the grooves of the plank joins. you need to be careful that the spirit doesn't attack any previously applied paint and leave light patches. To finish off I use chalk, the pastel stuff from an art shop. Black, pale brown, umber brown and sienna brown also possibly grey. I rub these, one at a time, on some emery paper, to get powder, then sprinkle over where I want, such as the light brown to fetch the axle guard area up, sienna on brake blocks, black for streaks on roofs, then brush in dry with an paintbrush, sideways across the roof. the gain is if you don't like it you can wash it off with water, which you can't with paint. early in your blog you say you don't like Matt varnish, I presume Humbrol. I was having trouble, either it would dry with shiny patches or it would dry with whitish streaks. I sent my tin back to Humbrol with a moaning letter (not like in Hogwarts) and got a very nice reply back with said tin and a card to which they had applied some varnish out of the tin, perfectly flat. The secret is to stir very thoroughly with a spatula, very thoroughly. They didn't say, but I think what give the flatness is very fine particles, rather like talcum powder, which are in suspension, and have to be really mixed in well before you start to paint. anyhow hope this is of use. seeing all your Irish stuff and links has got me thinking, even if I am busy with other lines right now!

That German plane just doesn't look right, does it? No wonder they lost the war. I came across your blog this evening, and fascinated by your output, both the quality, detail, and choice of prototype. I dabble in Irish railways, with a short NCC train and some more in MGWR and GSWR, and in 7mm scale, only standard bRitish gauge rather than 5'3", so I can use the stock on my layout with other stuff. it looks as if you're doing the same, very sensible. Keep up the good work, this is a really useful blog.

You've got lovely track work and the ballast has set it off a treat. now it's weathering and weeds. I think Ballasting is easier!

Crikey, to get all those assorted bits to come together, and run, and start to look like a Caley loco, Steve, you're a genius. I'm assuming your abortive trip to the model shop was for brass tube? I checked out my stuff but I ain't got none the right sizes, sorry. Keep up the good work.

I have a 0 layout with tight curves. I presume you're using 3link couplings on the pull moves, and buffers on the push moves. I try not to allow the buffers ever to touch, as it gives the grief you're getting. Instead I use a single long coupling link, long enough to keep the buffers apart on curves, and modify the draw hook with the slot for the link facing both ways, so the link doesn't ride up when pushing. The link might need to be slightly wider to allow for being at an angle to the draw hook, but then you have to stop it riding sideways past the hook, which can mean a dumbbell shape. Otherwise another answer I've since found to work well is to solder a short length of brass rod across the free end of the link in a T, which prevents the link over- riding. The British coupling is a damn nuisance. The other alternative is to fit the American type kadee knuckle couplings, which will perform well on really tight curves, if the mounting box is free to turn as well. Anyway, it's nice to have some action on your layout, however you do it. Good luck for the future.

I have done it putting an oversize piece of .060 plastic sheet on a curved stoneware mug and placing under a grill. You have to take it out before it starts to go like Welsh rarebit, and the ends and sides curl up, which is why it's oversize. then trim and smooth. Probably on reflection your way is more controlled.

Really good looking layout. it all takes time, but you've stuck in and made a masterpiece. well done.

Yesterday after tea my pen pal from Cape Town rang. Ach, he says, we're having a terrible winter, really cold. What do you call cold? I asks. Oooh, about 15 degrees, he says. After ending the call, I went outside, overcast, windy, occasional showers, and looked at our outside thermometer. what was the reading? Yeah, you guessed right!

You could do a single with the boiler some of them finished up with, parallel dome less barrel and raised belpaire firebox, with would look distinctively different, but I suppose that might be after North Leigh's bedtime?

Regarding the "metallic" paints you're using, a trick I found out when doing plane kits for my son was to mix the aluminium paint roughly 50/50 with light grey, mainly with the object of reducing wear with handling, but I found it gave a much smoother finish. Now I've spread the habit to my railway models, so that copper gets mixed in with something like orange, with a soupçon of rust to taste, and brass gets mixed with straw paint or something similar. the effect is to reduce the granular appearance, and still retain the metal look. Try it on the next copper cap loco you're building?

I don't have any axe to grind with printers, generally or in particular, as I'd be totally lost without mine, just saying how it happened. The tip re using clear varnish makes sense, must do more of that. Looking around the loft, I notice that some print- outs I did for posters which are mounted behind Makrolon don't have such a degree of fading, so protection should work. Fading is a fact of life, what about BR rail blue paint for example? You never see any mention if modellers ever cover their layouts with dust sheets when not in use, I suppose if we regard them as works of art we should?

like I said I'm new to this game, I ain't yet worked out the etiquette of "like, informative, " and all that, or you could have all you want, matey. Then there' s putting pictures into posts, and stuff like that, so starting a blog is a long way off yet. probably just as well, it would start " hey, guys, I've got this great idea for a line"' and five years later "guess what, I' ve started putting some track down....." , Duurr, yawn , snore, zzzz. Thanks for the encouragement, though.

I'm a Johnny come lately to this site, rmweb is a total labyrinth with great goodies tucked away. it's nice to know you've got baseboards which have a history and character all their own, due to alterations,change of use,new ideas and so on. A line I'm working on at present has similar boards with a tale of their own. One iron I have in the fire is a b.g. Layout, also terminus to fiddle yard in small space, so I must follow your work carefully, although I'm working in 7mm rather than 4mm. I'm also planning a traverser run-round tucked away! (Great minds and all that) One trouble with minimum space broad gauge lines is that the points are such a hell of a length, so I'm all for ways to lose them. I've done some track, I read somewhere that vignoles, flat bottom, rail was also used on longitudinal sleepers besides bridge rail, so I'm using some ordinary rail, soldered onto copper clad sleeper sTrip from Marcway. the rail goes on the transoms, and then the lengthwise bits are cut to fit between the transoms. this way you can get the gauge set easier, and lay track panels as units on the board. beyond that things are in a state of flux. I've got a goods wagon fleet which I'm happy with. (One of the great things about being in the broad gauge society is the great kits and information that's available) There's four six-wheelers about half way through, and two engines with running chassis and superstructure to finish, so slowly getting there. Anyhow, best wishes for your progress, I'll watch with interest.

Very interested in what you're doing, the main stumbling block when I do it is I use an ancient Epsom ink-jet, and although it looks great when printed, the colour fades terribly fast. I did some nameplates, simulated brass with red background, and they lasted no time. Before you say it, this was done with Epsom ink, horrendous price, not the cheap stuff I'm now using. I bought some commercial brick paper to be used for platform sides, which you'd expect to be more stable, and this has taken on a pinker shade after a year. so keep those lovely models away from strong light. The computer is giving you an exactitude for lining out and lettering which can't be done by spring bow pen, also an evenness of cover matching anything using airbrushing, but the test is whether your inks can be as permanent as enamel paint. One thing I've discovered going round shows, is that you can be diplomatic as you can, and still get punched on the snitch if you say anything about the colour of the loco, sorry.

this model reminds me of a station I used to use a long, long time ago. It's got great potential. bottom left hand corner of the final picture, didn't the bay's finish in a sector table? One of the very few places where you could see a prototype of this feature. Good luck with the progress of your line.