Irish_R_M

I've seen no evidence of pre-TOPS with just brackets only, but that's hardly definitive. As for producing the shot blasted appearance, you could use the rock salt method, and overspray with dullcote or matt varnish so you've a hit and miss shiny/matt appearance. RM.

Bob, Thanks for the kind words. This video should assist in explaining far better than I could. If you want gunk around the hatches, I'd suggest ak interactive weathering powders, and some texturising fluid. Ak work well with rtr stock. Some other weathering powders I find require a spray of a varnish before they take to the surface. I hope to be able to do some work on general weathering techniques with airbrush, by brush, washes, and powders in the coming weeks, from the cheap and cheerful alternatives to top of the line products. Just a touch busy with the *censored* project at the moment.. RM

Cheers Jinty, must investigate further, first look at the spec is ticking lots of boxes! RM.

@Jintyman I have to enquire about the rust wash - enamel, acrylic, gouache ? It's quite effective! The weathering beneath the solebar is wonderfully subtle and really well considered, top job! RM.

@hmrspaul has the photos of the prototypes, with all the quirks and oddities you could imagine, so why not! RM.

My first name is Richard, the lads already have derivatives they prefer...

John, My fault, dumb cad issue. Red on screen is rendered in black, I forgot to change it so it rendered as red on the graphic plates. Consider me "damn good thrashed". Fran has taken a bush off the roof of HQ for my punishment thrashing... (you should see him wield a scissor lift...! ) As for the couplings, they are "push fit - stubborn type" if you want to avoid gluing. However, I'm kinda disappointed that nobody has spotted the Easter Eggs throughout the markings though... oh well... RM

There's remarkably little in the way of photographic evidence of the Cawoods containers to the west of the Irish Sea. Some sources suggest they landed the containers at Drogheda or Dundalk, neither a destination of choice of the "gricer about town" back in the mid 80's, early 90's. Still scouring obscure photos of container yards of the era in the hope of seeing one, even better if @Irishswissernie can save me a headache! RM.

I really enjoyed it. Only point I got upset about was the "jaunty music" used for the sequence with the recording chap. I thought "folsom prison blues" would have been more appropriate, given its rhythm and railway links. RM

It's "placeholder CAD" as there's scale engineering to sort out and a fair bit of complexity to get it operationally correct, have the required visual fidelity and operational robustness. RM

Andy & Phil, It was refreshing and nice background listening to whilst working this morning. It was all very easy going, not forced, and has the potential to tackle slightly spicier topics that would probably break servers here. As long as you don't do LBC type phone ins... "Go ahead Caller, tell us again why S Scale should be the "New Standard"...." RM.

The Manufacturers drawings designate the TPE as T1 (universal access friendly coach), T2 (bike spaces), T3 (standard open) and DT (funky shaped cab bit) so it tallies with 159220's post, albeit his nomenclature is a bit more technical than mine. RM

Be all up for that, less sodding drawings to do!! RM (only messing, I'll do em proper)

I had pints with Paul O'Connell once, we both survived. RM

See every day's a school day, but I wasn't concerned about that element at the time in Beamish - Where it was brewed, and the resultant political, social, architectural, and economic consequences it had - drinking ale was mind blowing enough, for me. But, as a conservation architect by trade, It now behooves me to do a bit of serious research before I innocently point to a strange pump/tap and decree "pint of that, please" in a casual manner. This rolling stock surveying business has taken an unexpected, and interesting twist!! Thanks Mark, as ever. RM