Monkersson

I would put myself in the 'modelmaker' category as I enjoy modifying/repainting/building kits etc etc, but wont ever look down on someone who just likes to collect models, or indeed read about them. However what I have noticed over the past few years is a rapid rise of the 'I want it now, for nothing, exactly as it was on xxxxx and if not then the company should fail for ruining my life' brigade. Those people grate on me. Ok, being a bit dramatic there but you get my drift. I also get annoyed by people who continually make a fuss about a model not being as they want it, but do not want to learn the skills on how to achieve that. Another group who annoy me are those who continually moan about the cost of this hobby, it is only as expensive as you want it to be. If you cant afford or don't want to spend on the latest super-detailed sound fitted £200 loco then buy a cheap 2nd hand one and learn how to turn it into the expensive one. Have a look at any other electrically powered scale miniature hobby and you'll see that model railways are nowhere near as expensive in comparison. The final (I think!) group of people who annoy me are those who say the hobby is dying. I've been hearing that for the past 40 years. I remember going to a railway club for the first time aged 10, 40 years ago, to be told 'this hobby is dead, it wont be around next year' from one of the club members. If the hobby is dying, why is there constant innovation, constant improvement of models and materials, a multitude of new manufacturers. Of course when you ask those who preach doom and gloom, they never answer... Is this hobby a luxury, of course it is, any hobby is a luxury, from reading to private plane ownership. Having free time and money, is a luxury that not everyone has, sadly.

I cant see a problem with what Hattons are doing asking people to ship their trunks items. Maybe they need the space occupied by the trunk storage to move things around in their warehouse to allow them to do their stocktake. I, like many others, have saved a fair amount of money by being able to put items in a trunk whilst I built up enough to ship either for free or when I required them. Rather than being criticised, Hattons should be applauded for offering the trunk service.

I do! Well, I will when I finish it! I have a mish-mash of most manufacturers products rubbing shoulders (not just with 47s), all are detailed to a point, repainted etc but have a consistent finish. I can sometimes find it quite hard to tell which is which, even close up! What I like about more modern tooled loco's is the drive-train, almost always consistently smooth - I'm not into DCC Sound, and I disable any lighting on my stock. I've done quite a bit of work on Lima/Hornby/Mainline pancakes so they run smoother - low speed is important to me as its an end to end layout I'm building. I'll happily run the latest 47 alongside 30 year old tickled Lima's, by the time I do what I like doing to it, it'll will be quite indistinguishable from my others

Model Railways, the next conspiracy theory subject!

I have 3 Lima 47's and a Heljan 47, all detailed/resprayed/weathered. I doubt they'd stand up to the latest Bach 47 (and probably not to the current one) but they look exactly how I want them to so I wont be replacing them with the latest release, however that doesn't mean I wont buy one to supplement my fleet - I'm looking to do a 47/8 in IC Swallow like the one proposed. I do have an existing Bach 47 I picked up cheap waiting for a respray into RF Grey. There seems to be a 'must replace my old models' pattern when a new loco is released, which is great for the manufacturers, and great for those, like me, who like to fettle models to their own preference

I was speaking to my uncle about this thread, he worked on the Subway from the mid 50's and he's never heard it called that, though the Glasgow Trams where nicknamed 'Shooglies'

I might get shot here, but I find modelling US Railroads much less 'restrictive' than my usual UK and German outline. Main reason is lack of familiarity. Although I am probably even less familiar with German outline! Even though I say to myself that 'if it looks right, it is right', I can sometimes get really hung up on insignificant details, whereas with US outline, the lack of cab interiors in some loco's doesn't bother me! From looking at pictures (Fallen Flags website) it seemed that anything goes was the order of the day with rolling stock! The freight stock in any given formation (on manifest services) could come from any of the surrounding railroads, and indeed further afield. I've been slowly building up stock for Chicago based urban Rock Island layout, set in the mid 70's, around 8ft by 15in. Reason, I like the red body/yellow nose livery! I have 2 loco's RS-3 and GP35 (I think) by Atlas and Athearn respectively. The Athearn loco is a ready to roll DCC plug and play, the Atlas is from the Classics range and the DCC chip is incorporated in a replacement circuit board that needs soldered in place - not a huge deal. Wagons are mostly blue box Athearn and Roundhouse products, but some others are there too. All couplings are Kadee, which either came with the stock, or I'm replacing with. I'd say I have 70% boxcars vs 20% powder/grain hoppers and the rest are gondola's and tanks. No cabeese though, need to get a couple. There were still a lot of 40 and 50ft long boxcars in my chosen period, and a mix of short/full height access laddering. If you are aiming for the higher end loco's, keep in mind that that some Walthers loco's are very old tooling, but a simple look of a picture will tell you that. Likewise some Atlas products are old tooling - though these are in the Classics range as touched on above (even older Atlas products can be quite crude too so keep a keen eye, and a google search will help). As you mention, Bachmann are a bit short on detail (though their newer Amtrak loco's are quite incredible). Some P2000 loco's suffer from split gears - there are replacement axles available though, and its easy to swap them out. Scale Trains and Rapido loco's are works of art! Bits and pieces can be quite hard to source, but you'll be able find/order them at the importers mentioned up thread. Have fun!

And?

I'd have given him bgger all for that

I just chipped mine this evening, I took my time levering out the chassis which came out with no broken parts Nothing wrong with the design at all

Haven't had a problem at all with it, over enamels and acrylics from many sources! I spray on multiple light coats, say 3 one day, and another 3 the next day. I don't know if that helps

If a person is off line for a few days and in that timeframe, Moloco, or any company, announce and sell out of a new product, that the person was unaware of in the first place, how can that company be tarnished with applying annoyance, irritation or stress? Have a look at Moloco's website, their business approach certainly hasn't harmed them Personally, I think it makes sense. If you miss out, you miss out, its not going to change your life. Chances are you'll get it eventually.

Not having money to buy food is stressful. Not being able to access medical treatment is stressful. Not being able to visit a dying family member in hospital is stressful. Not being able to buy model trains is not stressful in any way. Annoying, yes, maybe even inconvenient. but not being able to buy a model train stresses someone out, then they need to take a look at themselves.

Seriously? What is stressful about not getting the latest model?

A lot of the skills involved in modifying/repainting are transferable too, my partner damaged one of her late mothers ornaments and was quite distraught. I was able to fix the ornament by adding small amounts of filler, mixing and touching up small amounts of paint and applying a new varnish to blend it all in. Its not perfect but its better than being consigned to the back of a cupboard

Its always someone else's fault these days!

There always will be other things grabbing our time away from how we want to spend it, however a lot of people here seem to spend hours at a time moaning about the latest release not being in a certain livery at a certain time, or doesn't have a very easily added detail/modification, rather than learning how to do modifications/repainting/renumbering. The most recent (and ridiculous) is someone calling for the Hornby HST to be retooled by Accurascale because the couplings on the power cars aren't close enough.

No delivery dates are realistic these days, there are far too many variables in many sectors to disrupt any date. Accurascale have said that they'll give updates when they have an update to give, until then we just have to bide our time

I've no doubt Accurascale would do a great job of the HST, but what leaps forward can they make to Hornby's rendition, coaches aside? The only improvements I could see would be slightly finer mouldings, better bogies and underframe. Thats about it really, would be a nicer model but not the leap forward that the 37/55/92 are? This isn't an attack on Accurascale's abilitiies. The power cars don't seem to have been festooned with a myriad of detail differences that you find in a fleet of stand alone locomotives of that era. The lack of close coupling is something you could sort out yourself. People may bleat on about Hornby's HST being a cash cow, why shouldn't it be? If it brings in profit for Hornby then great, they need the revenue to survive.

You do realise that it isn't life and death don't you? You don't have to buy it, nothing will happen to you if you don't get one. If you really want one, adjust your spending, if you can't, do without. This hobby is only as expensive as you want it to be, there are plenty of 47's out there from Hornby/Lima/Heljan/ViTrains/Bachmann, but if you want the latest fully-featured version then make the changes you need to make and quit moaning

Johnson's Klear, or as its known Pledge Revive It. Give a great sealing gloss coat ready for decals and further varnishes

I cant help with the plating but a few pointers with paint and spraying... I work mainly with enamels for my model railway stuff, Railmatch and Precision are my go to, though I am hearing good things about Rainbow Railways fledgling range. The key to a good paint finish is patience! And preparation. Prepping the surface of the etched sides is very important. Clean the finished shell well with something like CIF to degrease, rinse well and leave to air dry. Some people swear by etch primers, its not something I've used, and had no problems. My preference is the Halfords range of primers - not the plastic primer though. Normally I use grey or white primer, but recently I've been experimenting with a black primer with good results - the van below was primed with black primer. As John says above, make sure the paint is very well mixed, thin enough to drip from a cocktail stick, thick enough not to run. I always use a thinner rather than white spirit to thin the paint. Spray your first coats in a consistent manner and ensure you get full coverage. To do this I'll do one side straight on, one end, the other side, the other end. Then I repeat with the airbrush at an angle pointing down. Finally I repeat but at a 3/4 view, ie side and end. All of it 2 or 3 light passes at a time, this allows the coverage to slowly build up. I generally stop once I start to see the colour building - not fully opaque, but a level coating. After 24/48 hours, repeat all of the above but with the bodyshell inverted. Finally once all done and after another 24/48 hours spray in the parts that where trickier to reach. I would be tempted to paint all the cars in the unit to ensure a paint match, but that may be too daunting for a first timer Once fully painted, gloss coat the shell with your choice of clear coat - I use Johnsons Floor Wax, it can be brushed on as it levels out when dry. After applying decals, varnish all the cars in the unit, that will give a consistent finish M

Great to see some proper modelling going on!

I've powered 4 sets of Pacers with HL gearboxes and the single axle drive moves itself and the trailer car with no problems, they are well weighted and go round approx 3rd radius curves with no problems

I think that 90 needs it windows cleaned before anything!