SR71

Having come into Brighton not knowing there was football I can confirm the above. Stood up the hill and with all the chanting and jeering going on I'm waiting for either; A) The musketeers to start volleying fire. Or B) hear the bugal call for a cavalry charge.

If you are going to damage the track anyway as a last resort before doing that could you wet and dry the inside edge of the rail to open it back out through the tight spot? How much is it tight by?

I remember that people thought Lewis was wrong to leave the successful McLaren for the struggling Mercedes... There have been a few exits from Mercedes in recent times. Have any gone to Ferrari, would Hamilton's presence be a divining rod attracting others to join? I had thought Mercedes planned to exit prior to the last rule changes but then the pandemic messed up the plan. It could be that they are still planning a withdrawal.

Saw this video earlier today; Could I also ask a question at the same time. Does anyone have reference pictures of both sides of a 2-HAL unit? I have seen some from a distance that suggest a corridor with a big window between each of the doors on one side but all the close ups I have found show a door per compartment with 2 windows between doors. Books I have are unclear on the issue...

I've been watching your videos leading up to this one. It's very impressive, particularly the effort you've gone to to get proper synchronization. I would ask, though, that you do your test runs somewhere that doesn't trigger my phobia of models plunging off the edge of tables quite so much! With it getting harder to run indoor live steam at shows several of these would be really captivating. Will the batteries outlast the water? And what happens if you were to stop on a quarter - with the magnet by the reed switch?

Saw this on the PC when originally posted. Looking at it now on my phone I see what you mean. Sign writers don't have 4 arms (though to do what they do I'm not sure I believe that) it's two pictures on top of each other where the sign writer lines up top with bottom.

Those old Airfix kits really do come up nice with the addition of an etch ladder. Top work all! 👍

The 4-4-2 needs some drilling and tapping as the next stage. Too cold and dark in the workshop for that at the moment. So I've been working on the computer for the EMU. Results of today's labours; The blue won't be there in the end. It's just a vibrant colour to remind me to finish it before the final version.

Yup, there was something about AI articles on radio 4 a while ago. When what you want is clicks bard etc. can churn out articles like that which are broadly convincing much quicker than you could type them. The few junior journalists are pitched against these bots so there is no time for them to research etc. If they do they won't earn very much.

I read the Grauniad article. They clearly didn't go to the Bognor MRC show this weekend. Packed on Saturday morning with queuing needed to see all the layouts. Usual word count journalism. The other articles popping up will likely be AI generated as a lot of lesser articles are now.

I was reading yesterday about the exodus at the FIA. It may not be any of the teams that are the focus this year as it seems to be people brought in to enact reform after 'that' championship. It suggests we could again have more bizarre and inconsistent stewarding this year. As for the championships I have it in my mind that red bull have previously struggled to achieve successively over more than three years but I can't recall if that was always assisted by rule changes...

Close. It will - hopefully - be electric but when putting it together I felt it needed some flailing clockwork control arms. The ol... contemporary guys at the club spend their efforts electrifying their O gauge models to get rid of them. I like seeing a bit of clockwork, although in this case aesthetic only.

I'm not sure if this is confused or not in the above but worth clarifying in case anyone reading gets the wrong idea. A Westinghouse house pump being fitted can be for for air or vacuum brakes. I had a period advert for them (can't now remember where) that showed the same pump would do both with a slight change. Found it; https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im18880106E-West.jpg

Probably but one uses what one has to hand. Also my interest is what Hornby might have made rather than to make a model of a particular prototype. I try to use all Hornby bits as much as I can and dug up from a field N2's are still very plentiful fortunately. Giving them a new life appeals to me.

I would... But I haven't done it yet! The photo is still a collection of unrelated parts but I have a plan of sorts to connect them.

Well success with the bogie on its test run. No developments worth a picture. I will aim to build it up through the beginning of the year. But for now I'm distracted; Plenty done on this already and heading for test assembly.

I was going to say replica box but the listing already states that. Other than that the photos seem to have some kind of filter that makes it hard to determine exact condition and observe anything else.

Down down - Quo

Happy Christmas. That tank wagon looks spectacular, well done!

Understood. In the UK you can get U-Pol in a tin which will air brush. Friends who run 16mm live steam do this and get a really good finish. I can't say more than that as to how they do it as I'm not an airbrusher (yet).

I think you should be able to get etch primer out of state if you can't get it locally. Our fabricator in Pamona always has to deviate because they can't get the specific paints due to California legislation on VOC's etc. Our fabricator in Tulsa never had any problems though. In the UK I use U-Pol etch primer and checking the website they have a North American presence. I've never used phoenix primer, is it special in some way?

From professional experience you will likely struggle to get paint shipped across the sea (don't try air!) these days. And then add California which has a lot of additional restrictions on chemicals that can be used and is worse still. You will be better talking to a friendly car restorer to see where they get their paint mixed. We used to get asked to ship our equipment with touch up paint but in recent years clients have struggled to find a shipping company that will take it. In order to ship the paint they would end up putting it in it's own container and sending with shipper that will take hazardous cargo. They can't get insurance to ship it with the main equipment because they have to include the consequential loss of the entire ships cargo. In modelling terms we were sending a lot of paint but it's not a containers worth. After several instances of paint being left behind, and then having to be disposed of as hazardous waste, we now recommend touch up paint is bought locally. Modern paint mixing has very good repeatability meaning it can be used without it looking like our equipment has measles. If you want to know what to ask for have a look at RAL codes, however I hesitate to offer suggestions as colour is very subjective and everyone has their own perception of what is right.

If you have ghosts - Ghost