Freight Connection

Hi to all Thanks for the support, especially to Barry at Widnes Model Centre for the call to help. As Barry said there is / was no fee, but a donation was made to a fellow depot fitters Lands End to John o' Groats cycle ride this June thanks to the layouts owner. Just some final wiring to sort Monday, I may ask for some advice re Fleischmann points / solenoids if a minor issue can't be ironed out. Will also put up a pic if the owner agrees Kind Regards ... Ste

Good luck Dave Have had a lot of pleasure following this thread. I never planned on moving but portable boards made it easy. Echoing what Tim said, I'd be very proud of achieving modelling of this standard. Steve

Very neat Duncan, thanks for posting. Some interesting pics on Flickr of its sad demise some years later ( Albeit in its final livery) after an accident near Blythe Bridge. Kind Regards Steve

Would echo all of the above, good advice.... These hoods were done as one complete transfer per side. I put them together on Paint, and printed out on an inkjet. As Tony mentioned above I also adjusted RGB settings to match the blue paint I was using. As for definition, my home ink jet was at its limit with the smaller yellow text. Steve

Will be watching with interest, as will many David. Westbrook and Ring Road were big influences as I got back into the hobby, and I loved watching Cross Street progress. Especially looking forward to seeing your architectural work again Kind Regards - Steve

Can only agree with the comments over the previous pages David... The photos seem so well and evenly lit, the scale of the greenery and the sheer number of trees...All so life-like. All the best - Steve

Thanks for the memory jog Ben... Bernard's ore tipplers also in the pipeline I believe. Kind regards - Steve

Good luck Jez.. I always enjoyed the sheer scale of the buildings on Lackenthorpe. And it will always be there for others to browse and enjoy. Will of course be watching this one as well. Steve

Received the KFAs this morning, just superb. Layout in storage until January prior to a house move. So I'm looking forward to getting set up again. Thank you Ben, Mike and all involved. Steve

Thank you very much Will look up some examples. Stephen

Good Afternoon... Regarding 1980s Speedlink services I would like to model a couple of the wagons that would've carried the lorry cabs, as per the picture below. Have had a look around without success, could a kind soul point me in the right direction for the rail wagons used. I model in N, and am quite happy to kit bash if not commercially available. Credited to John Dedman - Traction mag Kind Regards - Stephen

Oh very nice.... I looked at the differences you mentioned on Paul Bartlett's site last night. A quick read of the NGS instructions this morning and I now understand the yellow banding variations you have there. The wear and tear on the Shark looks good, I still have that kit to build. Was then going to batch paint all the engineering stock together ( Turbots & Limpets as well ) Everything in storage presently at Warrington prior to a house move. But these pics give plenty of food for thought. The last modelling I did prior to packing was to convert 3 Farish POAs to Limpets.... And then the NGS ( ex Parkside?? .. possibly ) Limpets came out. LOL. But will be interesting to compare them once I set up again. Thanks again for posting the Pics Duncan Regards - Steve

Will watch your kit #11 build with interest Duncan. Hopefully Paul there will be some more on the horizon, this short run was briefly touched upon in the NGS newsletter this month. The next batch are apparently waiting on bogie securing pins and etches. I only bought two of the Bachmann models originally and so am looking forward to building the kits. The etches look fiddly, but plenty of completed examples on the net to look at. Kind Regards - Steve

Well done with the layout article for the NGS journal Nigel. Enjoyed reading it this morning, great pictures as well. Regards - Steve

Some lovely work on this section of your build Grahame. With time limited at the moment, I at least try to drop in here regularly. The castings have added a whole new feel, superb.. And a nice High Street article in the Journal this morning to match. With thanks for all the updates Steve

Hi Graham, I noticed when i first set them on the track they didn't seem to roll as far you would normally expect when you pushed them off. Just had a look at one pair at random and noticed that two axles spin freely as you would expect with any model, the other two aren't as free and stop quickly... The blocks are noticeably closer middle to top on these two axles. I don't envisage a problem on the type of circuit they will eventually run on my layout, but i can fully understand why the increased drag would be giving you problems here. Only a quick look i know, the moulding is very flexible and I don't doubt you won't sort it eventually. And like you say...Beautiful wagons Good to read Ben's reply re the 0.5mm, car carriers not presently in my plans but these twins always appealed, and have been a lovely addition. Cheers - Steve

Yep, we all know how cruel a camera can be.... But that looks spot on Simon, nice work on the legs too. Steve

Good evening to all, Just a few pics to show this weeks efforts.... A slight rework to try and introduce creasing to the edges and sides of the Cardiff Rod Mill Hoods, wagon label also slightly smaller. End fittings not precise I know, but have to stay clear of the Farish wagon as I also want it to carry coils under sheet canvas N Gauge Cardiff Rod Mill SEA ex SPA hoods. Just worked some liquid poly onto the sides with a makeshift plasticard comb and filed curves into the top edge to get rid of the boxy look.. Limited funds in the 80s meant I never got round to getting any class 20s, picked a couple of Poole poor runners up last year to go into RF livery, grey and red added this week These PG / NGS kits are a joy to make, another coat of matt needed. Got some Oxford Land Rovers last year to sit in the OCAs, these can sit in the warwells until I get some flats.. Thanks for looking as always - Steve

Thanks for the post Dave, Re the scrap bits in a short engineers train, if you get the chance take a look at Mudmagnets Workbench on the forum. Page 1 has a really nice pic of some bits and ballast piled into an OCA. The drum and pallets obviously available in N as well. Saw it sometime ago and always thought i'd like something along those lines. Regards - Steve

Lovely work as ever Grahame, What paint or primer did you use for the grey road surface? I've had a scan through and so apologies if i have missed it. I started with white and yellow watercolour pencils on the strength of your book / articles ( I think ) and loved using them, and the result with these pens looks ideal... Looking forward to seeing your repairs and weathering close up as it's something I've never really mastered over the years. Steve

I know what you mean, i looked at so many pics in so many lights. Changed the palette on Paint so many times, and then realised the blue on the stripes was different again. In the end i ignored my own advice and just printed one out. Happened to have the Revell here, didn't want the faff of changing its tone. I got a Halfords green incidentally the other week for some TEAs after advice on here Thanks - Steve

Good evening to all Iv'e just copied this over from a layout thread in the hope that anyone new to this will benefit, of course there are lots of methods..And there may well be very little here for seasoned modellers. It probably sums up the mistakes I've made over the last few years. You can't beat decent commercially available transfers i know but for one offs these are ideal... Lorry sides, shopfront signs etc ( Stickers also an option ) Do all your trials & fits in grey scale / low quality.... Saves your ink Do your text and art in the largest res you can manage, then shrink them down at the end My printer floods transfer paper on fine... I printed these in normal / standard When you seal in the finished transfers with lacquer, just mist the first coat on. Otherwise you'll run the colours. I use Halfords ( Or any I suppose) acrylic... You can get 2-3 light coats on quickly. Don't make your 2nd and or 3rd coats too heavy. The transfer below was placed onto water, you can see where the water has crept in at the edge. Yes I sealed it, but then I had to cut it out. Otherwise I may have struggled to get it off the backing... The top went as well and has been re airbrushed ( But it's a faff ) Therefore.... Place your transfer face down onto tissue, ' Paint ' a small amount of water onto the rear, and push it towards the edge, don't flood it over. Leave it for a minute or two and your good to go. Don't flex it, just make sure that gently between your thumb & forefinger that it wants to move. Any creasing will leave a big white line... Also, flooding the face of these immediately leaves the colours looking less vibrant. I use a film of Decalfix underneath ( I know some don't get on with it ) But it does pull it all down tight. Just two pics to show the point, subject model / era unimportant... Transfer is complete hood side, rest is paint This one was moistened only on the back Thanks for looking, any extra advice always gratefully received Steve

Good evening to all, Just a note to mention the pitfalls of printing / fitting your own waterslides, and a few other pics left over from the build. It probably sums up the mistakes I've made over the last few years, and is probably more suited to anyone starting out with these. You can't beat decent commercially available transfers, but for one offs these are ideal... Lorry sides, shopfront signs etc Do all your trials & fits in grey scale / low quality.... Saves your ink Do your text and art in the largest res you can manage, then shrink them down at the end My printer floods transfer paper on fine... I printed these in normal / standard When you seal in the finished transfers with lacquer, just mist the first coat on. Otherwise you'll run the colours. I use Halfords ( Or any I suppose) acrylic... You can get 2-3 light coats on quickly. Don't make your 2nd and or 3rd coats too heavy. The transfer below was placed onto water, you can see where the water has crept in at the edge. Yes you sealed it, but you have to cut them out afterwards, otherwise you may struggle to get them off the backing... The top went as well and has been re airbrushed ( But it's a faff ) Therefore.... Place your transfer face down onto tissue, ' Paint ' a small amount of water onto the rear, and push it towards the edge, don't flood it over. Leave it for a minute or two and your good to go. Don't flex it, just make sure that gently between your thumb & forefinger that it wants to move. Any creasing will leave a big white line... Also, flooding the face of these immediately leaves the colours looking less vibrant. I use a film of Decalfix underneath ( I know some don't get on with it ) But it does pull it all down tight Hopefully there's something above to get somebody started... A few pics remaining from yesterdays post... I ditched the side strips after this one, made it look too much like a metal box I thought, I also thought this hood was too high, 9mm or just under seems better. Tissue paper top then fitted with PVA, kept just shy of the edge to avoid flicking up. Attempts at making the cover looked creased, not the best i know ( A cast resin version would be ideal here) Thanks as always, for looking Steve

Phil I'll put the rest of the pics up tomorrow night including the full size for the decals Some pics as well to show the pitfalls with home decals / bleeding at the edges etc Paint colour / MS Paint settings etc Steve

Thank you Phil... I seem to be in an all things metal mode lately... Couldn't remember where i'd seen some Blackadders and then just realised it was on your thread. Going to pick a couple up and carry on the ASW theme for a bit. Regards - Steve