GMKAT7

Hello Annie, Sorry to hear about your accident but glad you enjoyed your later bike and sidecar experience. My brother ended up in the metalhead club later in life, after riding in Goa without a lid (crash helmet). It was self-inflicted and still gives him gyp many years later. And I thought metalhead meant rock fans. Apologies to Rob for derailing his thread with motorbike tales. Cheers, Nigel.

Good afternoon folks, Another motorbike tale from days of yore (early 1980s). My brother was a member of the Griffin motorcycle club in Coventry. Having a RD200 for a learner bike wasn't enough for him, so one of the old hands persuaded him that he could have a bigger bike with L plates if he rode it with a chair (sidecar). Unfortunately the Z650 he acquired was a kit of parts, so needed a rebuild from frame up. So, as a consequence, our Dad's Mk 3 Cortina spent the winter outside, whilst the Z650 was cosy in the garage. The end result was that Dad's yellow (!) Cortina turned orange and the Kwaker still couldn't by ridden on L plates even when finished 😂. Edit: The couple that lived next door had no children but a dog. Mister had a Triumph motorbike with a sidecar. Usually Mrs went in the chair, but when they took the dog with them, which was quite often, she ride pillion because the dog had the sidecar 😅. Cheers, Nigel.

Good morning gents, Many, many years ago I owned a Moto Guzzi Co-Uno, 125cc bike built at the Meriden Cooperative site (previously Triumph Motorcycles). It was the brainchild of Tony Benn, to keep Meriden producing bikes at the time. Being cheap and not so cheerful it broke down frequently, with an aversion to wet weather. Having konked out at college in Derby a friend from the railway said he'd have a good look over it to see if he could fix it once and for all. Being towed from Derby to Long Eaton behind his RD400 was an experience I didn't want to repeat. But not as bad as riding pillion when he opened it up on the way back to Derby. Nearly new underpants time 😖 Cheers, Nigel.

Hello Tom, Thanks for the information about price at Rails, will be putting in a pre-order. Edit: Pre-order now placed with Rails for a RR/Centro original DC-ready version. Free P&P too :) 2024/25 is looking busy/expensive now 😅 Cheers, Nigel.

Good morning folks, Having been involved with the 323s from Reggie Railways service introduction up to 2006 this is a fantastic surprise and will be one for the collection. Just got to work out when the Centro one arrives and how much? Cheers, Nigel.

Good evening folks, All of my swastikas are from an Xtradecal sheet, with only one or two exceptions. As noted above, Airfix kits do not include them and neither do Revell, which was Revell of Germany (banned emblem). I have a couple of Academy FW190 kits, so will check tomorrow if they include them or not. Cheers, Nigel.

Hello Gary, Looks like it is good news then for drilling out holes in your product. Cheers, Nigel.

Good evening Gary, Best wishes for your new business and the forthcoming models, especially anything SECR that emerges (Sheppey Light articulated coaches hint hint 😀). One question please - is your resin/material the same as Hardy 's Hobbies used? The reason for asking is that I had one of their industrial loco bodies that fractured when opening up handrail holes in the cab/bodyside and was a PITA to fix. Cheers, Nigel.

Good afternoon folks, As per my post yesterday, some of the 'dark side' models. Mostly FW190s or Ta15s plus the odd Me262 and Bf109 in the collection. These were built when I was in a 'wheels up' phase, so sit on Airfix/Frog stands. All 'hairy stick' painted, so the mottling is not correct but I have no dedicated space for an airbrush. I find myself drawn to the late-war Luftwaffe schemes, which are so varied, as a contrast to the uniformity of the RAF day fighter colours. All have swastikas on them, since that's how our gallant lads met and fought them. Cheers, Nigel.

Good morning folks, In line with Northmoor's comments about neatly arranged papers, a former design office colleague of mine used to leave his pens, pencils and drawing instruments left neatly arranged on his drawing board (yes, it's that long ago!) every evening when finished work for the day. Somehow (no names, etc) his design stuff was all rearranged from the 90 degree angle to the board edge they were left at. Naturally this caused some scowling and Anglo Saxon the next morning. Eventually he gave up mentioning it, at which point it stopped happening. Little things, little minds, etc. I also, later on, had two colleagues who used the tower block filing system. But, they had done it for so long they knew where in the piles (4 ft plus in height) where something was! Cheers, Nigel.

Hello IRC, I was thinking about the locos named after Welsh counties, such as 56032 County of South Glamorgan (and it's Welsh equivalent spelling). I recall that there were 6 Canton locos named after Welsh counties at the time, but I am trying to recall from 40+ years ago 😂 Cheers, Nigel.

Good afternoon Cavalex, I know that it is subject to the level of sales for the first batch, but is there any chance of a Cardiff Canton 'namer' in any second run please? Apologies if you have been asked this previously, it is outside my normal run of railway interests but having worked at Canton in 1982 I was used to seeing one or more on the depot. In fact one (can't remember which one now) spent all of its time parked up close to the Main Shed office. It was the first time I heard the term 'Christmas tree' applied to a loco. There were only six I believe, so expect demand will be limited. Cheers, Nigel.

Hello Polybear, As Bill and Ted would say, most excellent! Cheers, Nigel.

On dear, what have Accurascale done? The Panniers will be increasing in number! Sorry, Sqdn Leader, it can't be helped 😂 Cheers, Nigel.

Good morning Accurascale, Woohoo! I have 2 Bachmann 8750s and 2 reworked Hornby 8750s but am going to order a 57xx for my BR WR collection. These I will keep, along with my Bachmann 64xx, 94xx and Rapido 15xx. Just got to decide which one🤔 Edit: Looks like it will be 7714 ordered, but renumbered to one further South than Birkenhead. Just a little bit of checking of BR allocation info to do. Cheers, Nigel.

Hello folks, Thanks for your comments/likes. To my mind Spitfires are like Panniers, you can never have too many 😂. However, I do have a growing collection of Hawker Hurricane/Typhoon/Tempests either built or in the stash. Plus more Spits! The 'dark side' is represented by a number of FW190/Ta152s and Bf109s, which I will post later. After a 40-year plus gap I started building aircraft kits again in 2009. Retirement means that I can spend all week doing it now 😃 As with the railway models on this forum, the builds on this thread are always inspiring. Cheers, Nigel.

Good morning folks, Having been a long-time lurker on this part of the forum, but having posted on TNMers about my 1/72 aircraft stash I thought I would post some of my WW2 fighter builds. First up, my Battle of Britain Memorial Squadron (not Flight, there are too many of them). This is my tribute to 'The Few' and as such they are in pristine finish, as they would be in the BBMF (only expanded). All Airfix Mk1a kits, built OOB, but with Xtradecals/other markings to give a variety. The PR version is too pink, should be more of a grey shade, but I copied a model so it went wrong there. Secondly, my Spitfire MkVb collection, predominantly Revell but includes a SMER/Heller version or 2. All OOB again, but the decals are mostly from an Xtradecals sheet including a large number of aces and presentation Spitfires. Thirdly, my current Desert Air Force collection, including Spitfire and Tomahawk 1b types. I have others form 'the dark side' but I will post those later. Cheers, Nigel.

Good evening folks, True confessions time. Lurking within the bottom shelf stash are (whisper it if Sqdn Ldr Hunt is about) Panniers! Four of them are 8750s (2 Bachmann and 2 Hornby). They are kept company by a 64xx and 94xxx (Bachmann) . Other than the 64xx they are in black. I also have a 15xx in NCB livery living with the LMS and industrial locos. This is in Coventry Colliery maroon, so may appeal more to Red Leader (or possibly not). As an act of contrition I have a number of models of the products of Horwich, Derby and Crewe, including Crab, Compound, Jubilee, 7F, G2A and Princess classes. Having worked in Derby and Crewe for the big railway it would be rude not to. Plus a 3F in both tank and tender engine form, again in lovely LMS black. Cheers, Nigel.

Hello Happy Hippo, I confess to having tidied up pre-photo but there is a creeping untidiness in the right hand corner. Plus, there are paint splodges on the cutting board and table cloth, I am getting there 😆 Cheers, Nigel.

Good morning folks (again), As an update to my earlier post about storage/L space and the ability to fill it, I have attached some photos of my version. First is the rolling stock storage. Starting at the bottom, we have BR WR & LMR, next up is BR SR, ER & SECR (Sheppey Light related), third up is BR WR & LMR coaching stock/NPCCS, next BR SR, ER & SECR coaching stock/NPCCS, followed by BR wagons (all regions), then private owner/LMS/Industrial locos and wagons. Top shelf is the kit built stock, mostly Cambrian/Parkside/Ratio wagons/NPCCS with three whitemetal loco kits in the 'tuit' pile. A lot of these have been acquired from shops/shows/eBay as secondhand and I believe there are still bargains out there (most of my LMR and a lot of the WR stock was acquired that way). However, some recent announcements will achieve the 'stash-full' state, so some pruning may be required (not really :)) Second is the 1/72 aircraft stash (again mostly eBay or shop bargains) and the box of built models - mostly WW2 RAF single seat fighters, with some FW190/Ta152s and Bf109s. Third is the Desk of Doing. Currently home to a Mk1 Spitfire and Mk1b Typhoon in the next build phase, along with a Cambrian LMS D1663 unfitted van. This needs weight adding inside and then painting/brake levers adding. Entertainment provided by CDs, currently The Smiths. This will be given up at Xmas and Easter when my son comes home from Durham, so it will be back to the kitchen table then! Cheers, Nigel.

Good morning folks, I found moving house is a great driver for 'having a clear out ' (no sniggering at the back). Moving from a 3 bed house to a 3 bed bungalow meant no loft automatically. So, most of my railway and modelling magazines went to the 47401 preservation project at Butterley, with the exception of some Backtracks, Steam World etc. Even the MRJ and GWRJ collection went. Along with a whole load of 'stuff ' in the loft and garage that might have been 'useful ' one day. Now 8 years in from the move, the garage has been converted into a fourth bedroom with additional wardrobe space built in. However, these are now filled with my son's and wife's clothing, with a set of shelves allocated for my model railway stock. At least it contains the Desk of Doing (name courtesy of Mr Sheepbloke NHY581). My 1/72 aircraft kits have to share one top shelf (built and stash). So, I guess L space has caught up with me! Cheers, Nigel.

Good morning folks, Big thank you to Rails for good customer service. I had a defective Rapido W&U tramcar which I had to return. As well as the return label being emailed to me I also had a phone call from Shane, who had responded to my original request to return the model. He rang to confirm he had sorted out a replacement and checked it over to make sure none of the same three manufacturing faults were present. Looking forward to the replacement arriving this coming week. They also honoured the original pre-order price for the Dapol B4 coming this week as well 😁 Cheers, Nigel.

Good afternoon folks, At the beginning of 2020 I was part of an engineering team parachuted into Bombardier to support the assurance, and thus client acceptance, of an Aventra fleet then being produced at Derby. As 'blood-sucking ' consultancy staff we were brought in to provide the engineering expertise that Bombardier couldn't resource in-house. Some eight months later our contract expired and we moved on again. With this work and support on ETCS our company dragged in c£1m in fees. As I understand it from other threads on here, that fleet is still not in full revenue service, so presumably there are contract penalties in place that will impact now on Alstom. One of the permanent Derby staff confided that each Aventra vehicle cost more to produce than the contract sale price. And this figure was not tens of pounds but something with more noughts after it. So, something was off three years ago and seems to be coming home now. Doesn't help the poor souls there facing unemployment. Cheers, Nigel.

Good afternoon folks, When I was involved with the 158/159 PRM and refurbishment modifications in 2015 onwards the lead ROSCO (starts with P, ends with k) advised us as the design consultancy that they were looking for another 10 years service out of the modified units. So that would take them to 2025 plus, and make the vehicles 35 plus years old given their 1988-1990 build dates. Something needs to replace all the 15x units. Given the recent East Coast 10-car order, expect a contract for 'Cheap As F***). Not good for the Derby employees or our local economy. Cheers, Nigel.

Good afternoon folks, The 'great unwashed ' attendees at model railway exhibitions also have twins/doppelganger types who attend real ale festivals too! In fact, there may be a crossover between the two, since some of the beer festival types also attack all passers by with their backpacks. They also resemble the once numerous 'bashers', who seemed to travel the NE/SW route every weekend in search of Peak haulage and smelt as though soap was a deadly chemical 😂 Cheers, Nigel.