JamieR4489

I finished building the horsebox so I went to spray it and found that I'd used up a rattle can of etching primer. No problem, I've got another. I obviously didn't shake it well enough, though... I started spraying one side but the finish was utterly rubbish. There were loads of lumps and bumps so I had to strip the side and start again. In my haste to get it done, however, I plastered the paint on way too thickly and obliterated the panel lines. So I stripped it again Finally, I got a decent finish and called it a day at that. This is what one side looked like You can clearly see the horrible texture. This is the side that had to be stripped. It still needs quite a bit of work. Thoroughly fed up with the horsebox, I opened up the Long Tom kit and started doing a bit of research. I had no idea how much of a minefield the class was! Eventually I found a loco that had the right tender, chimney, boiler pitch, firebox, buffers, etc; It will be number 3409. This loco was fitted with a Craven's variable blastpipe which looked quite interesting to model but this was removed several years before the LNER was formed. The parts are all just perched in place as I want to get the chassis working first. I've ordered a High Level Kits Slimliner+ 54:1 gearbox as there isn't a lot of space between the frames. I might have to thin either the latter or the gearbox. The motor will be a Mitsumi one, courtesy of CCtrans (John Isherwood) and a 6'6"+6'6" tender chassis has been ordered as I don't like the idea of having to put the wheels (on pinpoint axles) in whilst building the tender, especially as I'll be using Gibson, steel-tyred wheels. Jamie Edit- The tender had been glued together by a previous owner so I pored some boiling water over it and now it is back to a kit of parts.

For people waiting for the new V2, Bachmann have got the CAD for it: http://news.Bachmann.co.uk/2019/08/product-availability-update/ Jamie

48773 with an old late crest showing through the paint at Highley 1/8/2019 Any other vehicles with an old paint job showing through the new one?

91110 at King's Cross 10/4/2015 91111 For The Fallen at York 15/8/2018

I had a fantastic day at the Severn Valley today. It was the first time I’ve been since I was about 10 so I didn’t remember much about it. Locos today were Taw Valley, 4144, Raveningham Hall and 43106 was top and tailing with the prairie (one trip from Bridgenorth to Kidderminster and back). I heard the guard on one train saying that 75069 is having bogie repairs. Something to do with the fallen tree last week I think. Jamie

King Edward II at Toddington 28/7/2019

Tony, At the weekend, I made a start on the horsebox you gave me (thanks again) and it has definitely been the most challenging kit I've ever built! It looks very messy at the moment but at some point I'll give it a good clean up with a fibre-glass pencil. Regards, Jamie

With the J6 out of the way, I made a start on the D&S horsebox at the weekend. This is where I'm up to now: It just needs the brake-gear finishing off and handrails, roof and white metal castings fitting. Jamie

29 is back in steam

Evening Tony, I've got the J6 finished for now (it still needs crew and lamps but I haven't got any to hand at the moment). The balance weights in the end came from a Markits 4F detail pack. Excuse the poor photo plank. Regards, Jamie

I'm calling the J6 finished for now. It still needs crew and lamps but I don't have any of those ready at the moment. Jamie

Thanks Manna, I've had my eye on a J6 for a while and I didn't think it would look good if I tried to scratchbuild it. The balance weights arrived today (Markits products for a 4F) so I'll get them fitted soon. The cab and tender sides and front bufferbeam have been gloss varnished ready for transfers. Jamie

And another one kicked off the last post. Next it's transfers and balance weights. Jamie

The J6 has been painted in my weathered black mix and the bufferbeams and cab details have been picked out in the relevant colours. Excuse the rather poor photo plank; It's just a stand from a GBL model which has been painted. Jamie

34081 92 Squadron at Wansford 9/4/2016

Precision Paints does Marlborough and Garter blue. For my Coronation set I just mixed various Vallejo and Humbrol paints together. Jamie

Thanks Tony, Jonathan has given me another suggestion so I’ll give that a try first and then look at buying some. Regards, Jamie

Evening Tony, The J6 has been primed and is now running very sweetly. As I'm sure you know, the kit doesn't include balance weights so I was wondering, where did you get yours? Regards, Jamie

I primed the J6 yesterday so the next thing to do will be to paint the loco and tender bodies. The balance weights need to be added and then there'll be final painting of the chassis. Regards, Jamie

I was half expecting to see a picture of 45015! 48305 and 92214 at Loughborough 22/10/2016

I received some screws from Chris at High Level Kits today so I have managed to progress with testing the J6. As I predicted, there were a few shorting issues with the body but these were solved with careful filing and putting tape on the inside of the boiler and firebox. The loco had its first test run this afternoon and I'm pleased to say it went well. The loco is a bit screechy intermittently but I think that's because I haven't properly lubricated the chassis yet. Here you can see the loco in action: The next job is to attach the coupling rods permanently and finish off the brake gear. A goalpost coupling also needs adding to the back of the tender and the pickups need tidying up. Regards, Jamie

I think the reason for the bogie being so far in front was because Thompson wanted the middle cylinder to drive the leading driving axle, whereas Gresley always drove off the middle (in the case of locos with six driving wheels) or the second axle (in the case of the P2s). This pushed the middle cylinder further forwards. Jamie

Thanks for the kind comments, Manna. I think it was mostly due to your thread that I started building locos. My first scratchbuilt locos (J3 and O1) were inspired by the ones you’ve built. Regards, Jamie

Evening Tony, I've been doing loads on the J6 lately and this is where I'm up to now: It's going to be 3591 of (I think) Hitchin shed. The chassis is almost working; I'd got to the stage where I was testing it under its own power but I had a few motor issues and in all my fiddling to sort the issues I lost the grub screw for the gearbox. I've emailed High Level Kits for a replacement so hopefully I'll be able to continue testing soon. I got to where I am now in the space of about 3 weeks and the body and tender are now finished apart from adding small details and cleaning up excess solder, etc. Regards, Jamie

It's been a long time since I last posted on here but I've still been doing lots of modelling. At the end of May I went to Sheringham for a week and this allowed me to do a bit of research on the North Norfolk Railway for my Weybourne project. This did mean that I couldn't do any modelling for a week however it was my birthday and a few models turned up (Bachmann C1 and D&S NBR horsebox). I'd been doing quite a bit on the signal for Ramsey and although it was ready for the exhibition at Soham it wasn't needed as the old signal was coaxed back into life. I bought a Nucast Long Tom kit a little while ago as well so I have that to do after the J6 and horsebox. Speaking of the J6, I made a start on the tender first just to get a feel for chassis building and soldering large white metal castings. No problems were encountered so I made a start on the loco chassis. I had a few issues with the motor but those are now sorted. Unfortunately I lost the grub screw for the gearbox so testing was put on hold and a start was made on the body. After about 3 week's work this is where I am now: The loco will become 3591 as I found photos showing both sides of the engine and it towed the asymmetrical wheelbase tender provided in the kit. I haven't deviated much from the original kit although I changed the chassis fixing points slightly and used the wire provided for the ejector pipe to make the vacuum pipe running along the right hand side of the footplate valence (3591 had the ejector pipe on the inside of the boiler). It's now at the stage where I'm mostly just cleaning bits up or making very small details. Hopefully I'll be able to get the chassis running soon and I think there might be some shorting issues with the body that I'll have to sort out. Regards, Jamie