SR71

I'm inclined to agree that none were delivered beyond the prototype with them. If the other is the intake then it's probably the first instance of Exhaust Gas Recirculation on an IC engine. It would explain the odd double ended exhaust the they ended up with, I guess, just to separate the inlet from the exhaust. If it is the inlet (I can't see one elsewhere) I wonder what they did with it after the changes?

I'm building a Worsey etch of one of these. Currently there is one under restoration at Boston Lodge but mine will be generic. One thing I'm having trouble is the exhaust arrangement. They were built with two stacks mid way down the bonnet. These were soon replaced with a silencer mounted to one side. All of the reference information I can find indicate an inline 4 cylinder engine e.g. https://ks4415.blogspot.com/2021/04/ With four exhaust ports down one side what was the stack on the other side for?

Catching up this morning you've posted some fascinating pictures. With the mixed gauge trains were the narrow gauge rails centered in the standard gauge formation? In one of the pictures you posted it looked like the narrow gauge and standard gauge shared a common rail with then two further rails one for each. If that was the case how did they manage the offset pull on the couplings? The wagon used to convert doesn't look to be especially heavy but with a full train behind it I can imagine the side forces on the couplings and wagon would soon build up.

This weekends progress. Having had cold feet on soldering for a couple of weeks I couldn't find the project I wanted to work on so a started on getting this together.

Just watched the highlights. Seeing comments from those that watched the full race they must have been edited poorly. Plenty of passing but not much racing. I was bored. And I watch a minimum of the pre/post race. Crofty can go back to football where he belongs. Sky isn't even a consideration while he's there.

Good show, spent an enjoyable morning there yesterday. Hove park's LNWR Swifsure with correct compounding arrangement was something to behold. Sadly I couldn't get a picture that did it justice.

The world is not enough - Garbage

'won't it be great seeing them go down the strip'. Could be anywhere, I got bored halfway around. Accelerate, brake, turn, accelerate, brake. It's like a poor indoor go cart track https://youtu.be/BKqn7JU85I0?si=wg68-DmlfnR9WP3b

I don't support Ferrari but I think not only should they get the grid places back but also an increase in their budget for the year to cover the additional costs incurred as a result of the circuit owner (or whomever is responsible) negligence. Imagine (or rather try not to) if it had lifted right up and someone was following closely behind

Fat bottomed girls - queen

Well the diamond crossing idea takes a set back. I picked one up cheaply and have given it a try this evening. What I knew to be probable turns out to be the case. Quarry hunslets beach on set track diamonds Not a great revelation for most I'm sure! So that leaves me with several options; 1) Go DCC and utilise stay alive. Not something I've experience with and probably shouldn't start with on a tiny Hunslet? 2) Build my own 'electrofrog' crossover. 3) Change the track layout again. Something else to ponder. O, it must be tea time...

Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks

Green manalishi (with the two prong crown) - Fleetwood Mac

Reading @Barclay's thread last week alerted me to more products from AK interactive. I've been using their weathering pencils for a few years but these are washes. Particularly I, at some point, want to give my quarry hunslets an oily wrag look to match pictures from near the end of their working life. It's different from the late BR look of neglect. They are clearly still cared for and given a quick wipe down but with dirt building up in the less easily cleaned areas. Barclay pointed me towards the fresh oil. So I found a victim in the scrap box. A suitably poorly weathered mainline coach. Someone has lobbed an air brush at it (more of which later). I added weathering pencils to a section before trying the wash. Wash applied by a small brush, a lightly loaded big brush would be better. It looks oily but has two issues; 1) the working time is short. If you go back on yourself you get a double thickness and increased emphasis on any brush marks. 2) it shows up all the surface imperfections. That air brushing? It all stood up like a rendered wall. So I thought I'd try again and cleaned a section of the coach side of it's prior 'weathering'. Then applied the wash without any pencil. It does make it look oily. But you need to pre plan your brush strokes. You could air brush it but I think you'd end up with a gloss panel slightly browner than you started. The brushing gives the oily steaks. It can then be toned down with pencil. Wash on the grey is where I ran out of plan/time. Next I think is to try it with thinners to see if it increases the working time and makes the streaks more manageable.

@ejstubbs Not seen quali yet but they changed the rules in the week to stop a repeat. Once I've seen quali (and I'm not dodging headlines) I'll find the article.

Someone's first attempt at modifying a toy train. It's so hard to get a consistent finish with the little tins of Humbrol. They clearly didn't mix the paint properly when they did the cylinders to get a gloss finish with the satin/matt paints.

For reasons best known to itself my phone camera has decided it will work a little better but only with a Vulcan parked behind that's waiting a repaint. 2 coaches done.

After a prolonged absence the parkside kit is back. I was never happy with the buffers but picked up some MJT ones at Uckfield. Ready for a wash and prime. I just have to remember what colour I was going to paint it!

I think the BWWMRC chairman who was showing Francis around might be a little upset if you told him he was as old as the others you list. There are plenty of younger people interested but you have to be selective about who knows. 50 years of TV and the press treating the hobby as a freak show means that being public about it can be detrimental to your career and relationships due to the innate social prejudice. I'm really pleased to see this program in particularl bucking that trend.

Room to move - John Mayall

Are the books leaning on the shelf or is the shelf graded to match the loco? That image is messing with my eyes! Love the build, hope to see it running one day.

It looked like the valve gear was clashing but that last video shows you have bigger concerns. The gear shouldn't spin on the axle like that. If you've spun the gear on the axle and the jump happens at the same point in the rotation it's almost certainly valve gear / motion related. It doesn't look like the gear is slipping in your other videos so I don't think that is the cause though it may have been caused by your problem. Trouble is even if you do find the cause that slipping gear is going to stop it pulling much. I don't know the history of these models so it might be worth searching to see if it's a known fault?

Can you film the same as above but running a bit slower/longer and keeping the camera more in one place. It looks likely to be an issue with the motion. Edit also looking at the other side too. Having just played at 0.25 speed the motion this side looked ok.