Brian Kirby

Ooh, that's right Bernie, i'd forgotten about the HO Mk2Bs, so they did those twice too. I had been racking my brains on the particular order of releases, but this was 30 years ago or more, now it's ancient history ! Two other significant watersheds, were when Lima went from shiny wheels to blackened wheels, then the motor bogies changed from single to double reduction gears for slower speed control. I still use a lot of the double reduction version for my DMUs. Larry has just mentioned the various radiator castings, then available as spares, we used to sell them of course and we had a card display to help us non-bus train enthusiasts work out which was which. In a similar vein, i clearly remember a small Anbrico display case, showing all the various DMU engine castings, etc. that were available for scratchbuilding. Now they would be really useful today, i wonder if the patterns and moulds still exist? Even though i wasn't a bus fan, i remember being very impressed by the quality of the TPC books, very good reproduction and the book covers were always very smart. My favourite cover was the all-black one, would that have been the Blue Triangle book ? It seemed to be inspired by Pink Floyd ! Cheers, Brian.

Back on the King's Cross thread, most people won't know that there was a strong connection between the KX shop and Lima Trains. In the late 1970s, the importer/distributor for Lima in the U.K., was Messrs Eisenmann & Co. in nearby Clerkenwell. Their first British models were the HO LMS 4F and Class 33 diesel, plus Mk1 coaches and a small range of wagons. These met with a mixed reception, although they sold moderately well. Lima/Eisenmann learnt the scale lesson quickly and re-used their research to produce a 'OO' version of the Class 33 as their first 'OO' model. Now Eisenmann, acting as agents for Lima, needed ideas for new British models, so we were the nearest place to seek advice. We told them that the modelling public were crying out for a 'OO' gauge Deltic loco, perhaps we were swayed by the fact that the real locos were still running across the road. The 33s and the Deltics were initially released in a rather pale rendition of Rail Blue, but this was corrected in later years. When the Deltics were first delivered, they sold literally like hot cakes, we just couldn't stop selling them by the crate load. Then a lot of customers started to slag off the estabilished Hornby diesel range by comparison, convieniently overlooking the fact that the new Lima Deltic was half an inch too short, with seriously under-length bogies, so as to fit a standard Lima mechanism, but nobody cared about that then. Following this, the Eisenmann boss (DW) said they wanted to produce a DMU, so Tony who commuted every day from West Drayton via Paddington, suggested a Class 117, then i suggested that they could later produce the 119 Cross-Country sets using the same chassis, but this latter idea never happened. What did appear were two types of DMU vehicles, one powered, one dummy, but sharing a common DMBS body to reduce costs. The centre trailer was added a couple of years later, after encouraging sales of the originals. Also around this time came the suggestion for the Lima Western and Mk2B coaches, along with the 08 shunter. For steam we got the dreaded J50 and GW 94xx, both of which came with appalling mechanisms, very cheap and nasty, but the bodies were quite good. The GW King appeared at the same time as the Hornby version, so they went head-to-head, as did the two Western diesel models. KX colleague Bert Collins suggested they do a LNER V2 (he was an ex-ER fireman) and Tony Dyer suggested the LMS Crab, alas the V2 was never produced. From memory, the Warship and Classes 50 and 87 came later. I used to dread the big blue Eisenmann van turning up to deliver, it always involved 40 to 50 huge boxes, which would swamp out the shop, and the driver was a right misery guts. The 'O' gauge range was the worst to handle, because it was heavy and bulky, but it all sold very well with cheap prices. Another loco type planned was a 'OO' Class 25/3 and KX staff member Mike W was sent off to take profile shots at Euston and other places. This model was cancelled when Hornby beat them to it with their early 25, although i think both would have sold well. I've still got the pics that Mike took of 25 313. The KX shop closed in 1988 and Eisenmann handed over the Lima ditribution to RiKo in Hemel Hempstead, so the connection was broken. Happy Days. Cheers, Brian.

Regarding the Mopok sides, yes they were very high quality with excellent artwork, but i went off ALL printed coach sides as a whole. Quite right, you would achieve excellent flush glazing with a printed side, plus the tricky main livery was ready applied, but they seriously lacked relief in the door department. Some other kits used to supply etched hinges and door handles to glue on, but it was all rather fiddly, another improvement would be to score on the door lines. The door droplights should have been recessed as well, this was most apparent on the ABS BR suburban kits, of similar origin. Apart from the delicate construction required, what to do if damaged in service? Any paint touch-ups on the printing would show up a mile away, plus every vehicle would have the same finish, but at least the windows couldn't fall out. The Mopok and PC printed kits were good for their time, later followed by Southern Pride, but they've been mostly superseded now. I remember the day at MRM KX, when either the Lima CCT or GUV first appeared (whichever came first?), and Tony Dyer (ex Mopok) said "well that's the end of the kits, now it's all ready-made" (in so many words). Cheers, Brian.

Just to catch up on a couple of earlier points: Horsetan Said: "I think his was one of the few premises in "Fitzrovia" which still had an outside bog. And I remember you expended a lot of effort in repainting the interior to get rid of the cigarette stains (Nigel smoked a fair few every day, as well as being a diabetic)". ----------------------------------------------------------------------- BK replies: Yes, the facilities out the back at "The Booking Hall" were rather primitive, especially for the West End. You wouldn't want to sit out there and read the paper, well there was no light anyway or loo paper. Perhaps we could have used the surplus Bottomley prints? :-) ! He never had a proper cleaner and the old hippy never bothered to keep the loo clean, it was all pretty disgusting. The same went for his shop, a bit of a flea-pit, dusty shelves, dusty carpets, dusty stock. As you say, there were various items of damaged stock chaotically dumped downstairs, amongst all the mess were things like a "solid-state" and totally seized DJH WD 2-10-0, which i managed to take apart and rebuild for him. Add to this, the fact that Nigel was a chronic chain-smoker, so after awhile all the stock stank of nicotine and went yellow. Two of us volunteered to repaint the shop in it's twilight years, we had to use special anti-nicotine etching paint to get through the grease to the wall proper. Before Nigel had his own shop, he used to be receptionist/shop manager for the Crownline/MTK/Jidenco triad in Maidenhead, although he was the only member of shop staff, all the others were bashing away out the back. I first knew him when he came to KX every week for trade supplies. Before this he had also worked at MRM KX for about one week, before being sacked by Ted Morris for poor time-keeping, a tradition he carried on at The Booking Hall. The shop went bust around 1998/9 and he ended up being locked out by the landlord. Sadly, Nigel passed away about 6 or 7 years ago, he was only in his fifties. BTW Ivan, your last Booking Hall topic happened on several occasions, frequently on saturday afternoons ! Cheers, Brian.

I can't speak for Paul, but in my opinion, that may cheapen the product and undermine the quality. Apart from being an important historical text book, any future volume will need to be a proper spine-back book with artpaper, so it can be laid flat for closer study of pics and drawings. That's a slight problem with Dave Larkin's otherwise excellent "Working Wagons" softbacks, they just keep springing shut all the time! Perhaps Paul and Co. could follow Nick Campling and David Jenkinson's example, they published their famous joint LMS and LNER Carriage book in the late 60s/early 70s, but it was more recently re-published by spliting up the contents into three separate volumes, these too were a mixture of photos, text and drawings. Cheers, Brian.

Wouldn't that be Mega Models in Rathbone Place (or Street), they were also infamous for selling a less than perfect ready-to-run brass LNER P2, and maybe a V2 as well? I believe this shop had a connection with Mek's Models in Mackenzie Road, Holloway, which had opened earlier and sold secondhand. I only went to either a couple of times, i didn't like the people involved and they only lasted a couple of years. I always liked the Mopok range, they produced some useful parts, although i wasn't so keen on the printed coach sides, they used to produce transfers as well, which covered the various CCT and GUV kits, plus the GWR Hawksworth's, including the Dynamometer Car. Tony at KX used to speak of his earlier involvement and the various associates, i seem to recall the latter address being in Glossop, which ties in with the previously mentioned North Derbyshire. Didn't Adrian Swain use up all those spare BR castings on his own ABS BR Suburban coach kits? These were in the style of a Mopok kit, but without the wood! Again the sides were pre-coloured and printed on clear vinyl. The chassis/floor was a folded 'U' shape in tinplate, with a pre-shaped acetate body and cast ends, cast underframe and details, plus Tri-ang Mk1 bogies. Once you had made the interior, it was then sealed inside for life, fingers crossed that no seats came loose. It was a devil to get the printed sides stuck on to the acetate neatly and putting the guttering on was even trickier, you never saw many of these made up! Another odd thing was that the kits came in cardboard tubes, so they were difficult to store or display, but the contents were well protected and the the tube could be easily opened and closed to examine the contents. Because of the pre-coloured format, there must have been about twenty kit variants, covering long or short, and liveries in crimson, green, maroon, lined maroon and Rail Blue. If carefully made, they could look excellent, at least for their time. I've been thinking about the "BR Wagons Vol.2" dilemma, the original volume was published in 1985 and covered roughly half of the fleet and their history up to the early 80s. So if a second volume was published now, should it be done in the same style and up to the same period, or should it carry on to recent times with departmental conversions, etc.? Presumably Volume One is now long out of print, so you'd have to reprint that as well to satisfy new demand. Maybe Paul's right and the whole thing needs a re-think, with a new separate book for each former chapter or group of wagons, expanded and with more detail, to accomodate the more fastidious? You could end up with a series of half a dozen books? Had Trevor already done the drawings for the vans and hoppers, etc.? Cheers, Brian.

Well it never bothered me, after 27 years my copy of "An Illustrated History Of BR Wagons - Volume One" is rather well-used, with oil and paint stains, plus crumbs of cheese sandwich held in place by soldering flux, although some people like to keep their books in mint condition, mine aren't, they work for their living. More common, but just as irritating to some, is when a photo is printed in reverse, with tell-tale semaphores pointing the wrong way. I keep having a recurring dream, i walk into a fantasy bookshop and there on the shelf is Volume Two, covering vans and hoppers, but when i reach the counter to pay, it's turned back into Volume One again ! On a serious note, please Paul, please do something about Vol.2, i know spare time is precious and you BRHSG boys have all gone your separate ways, perhaps a project for retirement? Back to King's Cross, here's a quick Christmas story circa 1977, about the night i nearly accidently burnt down the KX shop. When the decorations went up, we always added a working layout to the shop window display, for the festive season. We used old secondhand stock, so as not to damage new stuff, the same usually applied for track and controls, all a bit of a lash-up. Off went the loco and train on it's 10,000 mile December run, there'd be a few derailments, but we could usually hear it, except when we were busy. Late one afternoon, we were very busy, couldn't hear the train, then we all went home. In the morning Tony and i were the first to arrive, we looked in horror at the shop, it was full of grey smoke! We quickly let ourselves in and saw the smoke was eminating from under the window display, the plug was pulled out and we retreated outside. With the front door open, the smoke gradually subsided, so we went back in and opened every window in the building, before any directors arrived. What had happened, was the little train had derailed the afternoon before and was shorting out the track, the controller was one of those old Hornby-Dublo types, with the tram handle and big red light. That controller must have been cutting in and out all night long, eventually getting so hot, that the wax on the transformer was melting and creating the smoke. After an hour the shop still stank of this horrible smoke, then David Morris arrived and said "What's that disgusting pong?", luckily nobody let on. It was all my fault, it was my responsibility and it could have been grounds for instant dismissal, so i've always been grateful to Tony and the crew for that. Ironically, our test-track controller was a H&M Safety Minor, they were transistorized, so no resistors and it never even got warm, that was left on all year round and through holidays, but it's still best to pull the plug out for safety at home. Cheers, Brian.

The King's Cross shop was like a crossroads in the model railway hobby, it was a great meeting place for kit manufacturers to discuss and then collaborate on various ventures. Examples are the original East Coast Joint Models kits for the LNER L1 and V4(?), devised by Nick Campling, body castings by Adrian Swain (A.B.S.), chassis possibly involving Tony/Kemilway, later it sold under the ABS label. Another was the Kemilway 82xxx, Kemilway chassis and cast body by Dave Pearson (Craftsman Kits) who worked at the Reading shop, instructions drawing by Bob Heaton in the KX shop. As Roy has mentioned, Adrian Swain did casting for lots of firms, especially bus kits, he would drive up from Poole in his Ford Granada estate (with the exhaust pipe nearly touching the road, because of the weight), with different box loads for different people, including Danny Pinnock of D&S Kits, before he cast his own. Adrian originally worked on the Concorde project and when paid off, used the money to start A.B.S. Models. We often teased him on "where on Concorde would they use whitemetal castings?" ! We would also see plenty of well-known railway authors in the shop, like Colin Walker, George Dow or David Jenkinson, they were all great sources of information. DJ was always popping in, on his way to or from York, lovely chap, very chatty, especially on pet subjects like Midland coaches or he'd give us all a quick mini-lecture on LMS Crimson Lake ! I also remember a rather upset Paul Bartlett (our own HMRSPaul here), when as co-author of OPC's "BR Wagons Part One", it had just been printed with one detail photo upside down (an axlebox and spring), it must have been very annoying and frustrating. BTW, it was LNER coach expert and author (Major)Nick Campling who re-sprayed various Lima Deltics and others, however i think the prototype Deltic shown above, was converted and painted by Malcolm Stewart. Poor old Nigel at The Booking Hall got stuck with those Bottomley B&O Coronation prints, years later he still had reams of them in his basement. Cheers, Brian.

Hi Ivan (Horsetan), Victors was always the American and Continental stockist, we at KX did all the British stuff. Much to Bernie Victor's annoyance, by the 1980s we doubled the size of the KX shop and we were also selling American and Continental lines, including the higher value Japanese and Korean brass. The best bit was when Victor's tried to fight back with a full page advert in the mags, which said "we are near King's Cross station", but they forgot to put their name and address at the top, and all the customers came to us instead ! Once we'd twigged this, Dave Morris went running up the hill to show Bernie and thank him ! Pure magic LOL. The KX nameplate range was sold to someone in Bounds Green, i think it's the same aforementioned person last heard of in nearby Winchmore Hill, or else it has changed hands again? The plate range was requiring a re-vamp, since new competitors were using modern technology to etch right through the surrounds, with just little tabs to snip through. We were planning to change the format, but the KX range was so huge, it would have taken years to modify all the artwork. Bill Peto used to delight in telling us that many of our Bulldog and Star plates had the wrong letter spacing or radius arc, quite a few were altered thanks to him. The present day Marno firm is a former W&H customer, who lives nearby, apart from that there is absolutely no connection. Cheers, Brian.

Yes Roy, Dave went off to try his hand at lorry driving, with a view to starting his own haulage business, but the poor man suffered a severe stroke c.1990 and has been handicapped ever since. I went on to do a lot of painting and building for W&H in the 1990s, and heard all about the "vast" warehouse in Hastings, but i never got to see it. The Marklin stock did become a huge financial burden, they got saddled with multiples of very expensive locos, etc., that they couldn't sell quick enough. At the time, W&H were importers/distributors for many ranges, so of course they were obliged to carry significant stocks of everything. Back at KX . . . , there were only three volumes of A.G.Thomas's Private Owner Wagon sketchbooks, one red, one blue, one green, so how many signed copies has Roy got? !!! Cheers, Brian.

Being ex- KX staff, i have to add that both MRM (KX) and sister company EAMES of Reading, were still going concerns when they both closed in 1988, so often people assume that a firm has gone bust. The reasons for closure, were that the York Way premises and the entire block, including the famous Bravington's the jewellers, were required for the original Continental station scheme, to be built on the east side of King's Cross station, roughly parallel with the MET and Widened Lines. Of course this scheme was later cancelled, but it resulted in the entire block being semi-derelict for 20 years. By sheer coincidence, the site of the Reading shop was also then required by the local council for road improvements and was eventually demolished. The directors did seriously think of re-locating the MRM King's Cross shop to Old Street, near The City, but none of the staff were keen, it would have been rather dull compared to cosmopolitan King's Cross and more difficult to get to. Around this time, the founder Ted Morris passed away and director John Gauld was due to retire, leaving David Morris to run the whole empire. I resigned in March 1986 and Dave fancied a career elsewhere, so the whole thing was wound up in 1988. By contrast, a few years later, W&H in New Cavendish St. went bust in a most spectacular way, as did The Booking Hall in 1998, but that's another story ! Cheers, Brian.

Hi Everyone, Another member has brought this thread to my attention, as Roy and Bernie mentioned, i worked there full time from 1976 to 1986 and before that as a saturday boy for a few years, who needs university when you could work here! I'm currently racking my brains, to work out who Captain Kernow was, i vaguely remember a 1334 loco being built. As Roy has probably already said, by my time, most of the production had been switched to sister company Eames of Reading, which was another Aladdin's Cave, sadly now demolished. Eames bought "OO Scale Models" of York Way and it became MRM Co.Ltd. (which stood for: Model Railway Manufacturing Co.Ltd). Bob Treacher, now owner of Alton Models (or AMRC)used to work at EAMES and famously he once had a customer claiming a discount "because he was a member of the Eames family". Sadly, the customer didn't realize that EAMES stood for "Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Supplies". For the record, Tony was Tony Dyer, the directors were Ted Morris, John Gauld and Ted's son, David. Alan Brackenborough was based in Stroud, although we later gave more and more work to a young Larry Goddard of this parish. RMweb's "PMP"- Paul Marshall-Potter was also full-time for a few years. There are loads of funny stories to tell. Cheers, Brian.

I like this idea, i suppose you've only bought the short all 2nd as a donor of two inside ends and some compartment sides? Very clever. Of course apart from the re-positioning of the side window layouts, you'll also have to alter some for the ones that lost their doors in the "refurbished" or second rebuild condition. I always fancied doing an original 1500v dc version with a diamond panto on a middle coach or else a first rebuild to Kv version, if i can get my head around what needs to be swapped, theorectically it should be easier than doing this one, i can keep the bogies for a start. These units have to be the Ugly Ducklings of the EMU world! Cheers, Brian.

Having been slightly critical of the Heljan DP2, and to give balance and positive input, i am delighted to say how pleased i am with my newly arrived Bachmann 85. Runs well, good livery application and it looks good to me. I like Cav and Jim's weathering jobs, nice greasy splodge on Cav's buffers, whereas Jim seems to have done something clever with hollow buffers. Sound wise, did all the early AC locos ( Classes 81-85 ) run with the motor blowers running continuously or was it just Class 81? I remember on Classes 86 and 87 the blowers would run under power, but turn off at idle, presumably when things had cooled down sufficiently. Roll on the other Bachmann 85 variants. Cheers, Brian.

Have just taken delivery of my first Dapol 22 D6331 and i am mightily impressed, it puts my Silver Fox/Bach 20 chassis conversions into the shade. Not cheap at £125, but it looks good from every angle and runs well. The detail fanatics will love the component sprues and extras, although the option of adding the "bogie lift ring fillets/eyelets" looks challenging, i can see a few of these pinging their way across the carpet, when held in tweezers. Two little mini niggles, the rivets/bolts on the windscreen frames are a bit heavy and a roof fan would have been nice, but i'll forgive 'em, both are easily cured. I give this loco the total thumbs up, ( 98.5% happy ) and will be buying more. Comes in a nice box too. Cheers, Brian.

I'm still very pleased with my first two Baby Deltics, although we have all been made aware of certain detail faults. One of the naughtiest mistakes, albeit not immediately obvious, is the radiator roof fan not lining up with the square side radiators. My ancient Ian Allan drawing book and a good square-on broadside photo in my picture album prove that they should line up, whereas the majority of other photos are taken at various three-quarter angles. I'm not too bothered, i could always replace it with a suitable open etched one, in the correct position. Now we come to an intriguing conundrum, the drawing/artwork on the Heljan Baby Deltic instruction sheet and also on the separate spares sheet, show the roof fan and side grilles not in line, like on their model? Where does this interpretation come from, are Heljan singing from a different hymn sheet? Cheers, Brian.

Well i've just compared my blue one with various side-on photos ( Don't ever place all your trust in drawings, they are often wrong and stock was often altered as finally built ). The middle of the engine room windows correctly line up with the bottom of the cab windows and look to be the correct size. The ventilation grilles are all in the correct position. If we really do have to split hairs, the pair of vertical grilles are a fraction over-height and ever so-slightly too close together, but it's nothing. The blank engine room door is also possibly half-a-millimetre too high, but it's not obvious and would only be noticed by studying photographs. We are getting into the realms of OCD, with this detail nit-picking. The body is the right shape, everything is near enough in the right position and most importantly, this is the best looking Baby Deltic model so far produced. Ignore the nit-picking and enjoy. Cheers, Brian.

I had very slight reservations about the headcode boxes, but i bought two, and they look very good "in the flesh". The headcode box may be ever so slightly shallow, but it's very border line, i agree with others, it's mainly the size of headcode characters and the fact they are set rather too far in. I'm Mr.Fussy, but i'm 9.9 out of ten happy with mine and will definitely buy one or two more. With these and the excellent Co-Bos, Heljan seem to be on a winning streak. Credit where credit is due and it's nice to make positive and complimentary comments for a change, i have been known to criticise some things . . . Cheers, Brian.

I've kept quiet about VEPs for a few weeks now, i thought i should "see one in the flesh", before making further comment. The other day, whilst buying some other Hornby coaches in my local model shop, i asked if i could see a VEP, since none were on display. There was a minor grumble, since to remove the tissue-wrapped coaches from the box, involves breaking the sellotape seals to open the white card cover, thus despoiling and violating the packaging for the next potential customer. ( Memo to Hornby: How is a shop to display this model or a customer to view it, without damaging the packaging? ) Apart from that, the product is beautifully presented with top notch artwork on the box and the Blue Veppy is very nicely painted, the sides and reversed bogies do look attractive. However, having prior knowledge of the faults, the body immediately looks squat and the cab fronts just don't do it for me. I so wanted to buy two or three of these, plus blue-grey ones, i even figured that if the bodies were wrong, it could be a useful 4 x chassis and roof to rebuild with MJT ends and sides. This idea was kicked into touch, when all the reports of bad running emerged. The shop staff were probably hoping that with the seals broken, i'd feel obliged to buy it, but i politely declined. I think this model falls between two stools, it's probably not going to work properly on a kid's train set and it doesn't look right to old fusspots like me. BTW, If you want free running trailer bogies, why not chop off the nice sideframes and re-mount them on Southern Pride nylon pin-point bogie frames + new wheels? Cheers, Brian.

My first Co-Bo arrived this morning, everything intact, although mine also ran backwards. I've done the reverse pole mod, be careful taking the body off with all that nice underframe detail and watch out for the end hoses catching the body. The tricky bit is releasing the catches and getting the individual wires out of the white plugs. All o.k. now, but also watch out for the thin strips of sticky grey foam dropping off the ends of the chassis, they block any escaping LED light from the cab and are easily stuck back on. Still love the model, it's a total babe, if an ugly duckling can be a babe? Looking at early period photos of double-headed Co-Bos, they nearly always seem to be coupled Co-end to Co-end, with the Bo-ends leading. Perhaps the Co-end was noisier with the radiator roof fan right behind the cab and disliked by the crews? The exhaust ports seem to be in the middle, so would make no difference. Cheers, Brian.

Here's the other ex-maroon printed coach, this is 3084, now blue/grey on Western Region circa 1970. Again built at Doncaster and also an Open First, it didn't last long in this livery. The toilets are at each end, with luggage racks opposite, i have represented the luggage window bars with black tape on the inside, although i haven't yet worked out a neat and tidy way of modelling the shelves. Like it's sister 3083, it has the strange half-height curtains, i've also tried to represent the striped fabric on the seats. Cheers, Brian.

I have to add, that S.A.C. has done a nice job on modifying the bogies and yes, they all seem correct now. I was also impressed by Gareth's vid of the plain blue unit on his club layout, the VEP seems to be running nicely with no discernible wobble, rather stately progress in fact. I'm still of two minds about getting one (in blue), i can cope with all the mods and if the bodies don't match other types (rightly or wrongly), i can always run the VEPs singly or with eachother, which was certainly more typical in their early days. The mixing with CIGs, etc. became more common in later years. Perhaps i shouldn't bite off my nose, to spite my face ( or cabfront ) ? Cheers, Brian.

Excellent work there Kintbury Jon, that's a huge improvement. Strangely, as supplied the NSE Vep cab front looks better than on the plain blue, perhaps an optical illusion? Your black window and gangway edging has certainly sharpened things up even further and reduced the amount of yellow towards the corners. Replacing the corridor partitions has transformed the side profile and now the lighting comes into it's own. Your night scene looks terrific, a few sparks around the pick-up shoes would be even better! Well done. Cheers, Brian.

Here are both sides of the Craven Open First 3082. The real vehicle was fitted with venetian blinds, so i decided to model one side with the blinds up, the other with the blinds down. From memory, i formed the bottom sharp curve by forming it over some brass rod. Putting the separate vinyl window frames on was good fun ! Cheers, Brian.

Thanks Paul, The rubber mask is Humbrol Maskol carefully applied to the clear window recess, having previously added door detail for relief. I masked the windows as a square and restored the window bar colour later, i decided it was too fiddly trying to mask around the bars. You also have to remember to mask off the inside of the clear sides with tape or newspaper (or screw the roof on), to avoid paint spray or mist spoiling the inside. The SP Craven kits are different animals, being a plastic shell, but with etched brass sides. I've done the first-class 3082, also in blue-grey as W3082, i'll dig out some pics. It would be nice to do W3081 one day, but alas there is no kit and the different windows will be tricky. In the next two pics, you may notice that i have modified W3083's interior, having realised the middle partitions had glass uppers. Notice the unconventional seating layout, as many will know, this coach had experimental rotating seating (except on end seats), so i have tried to reflect this by turning a few around. This coach had a teak interior trim ( typical Doncaster ), the printed red on the side walls is near enough, especially when the roof is fitted, things get a bit dark. The other pics show the completed coach, it must hold the British record for the number of first-class stickers, 24 in total ! Another oddity is the half-height curtains, i painted these on the inside. I will show it's sister coach W3084 later. Cheers, Brian.