Ruston

Look, I do O gauge! I don't do OO! Oh sod it! I need one of these and a shunting plank to run it on. The fitting out of the shed for the new O gauge layout has stalled due to the cold and a spot of ill-health so a bit of back to basics OO with tension lock couplers and all can't do any harm, can it?

Correct, I don't understand it and this is why... Locomotives and stock start off clean and shiny and become dirty and worn through use, damage, the effects of weather etc. and, unless they are cleaned or recieve maintenance and works attention, they become dirtier and more worn and damaged over time - the apperance of these natural and work-induced effects do not become more subtle over time, they become worse and more pronounced. Leave something out in the elements for long enough without attention and it will lose its paint and become a rusty or rotten heap. Obviously a plastic or brass model that's sat in a box in someone's shed or cannot rust and isn't going to get covered in oil stains or coal and brake dust so we apply these effects artificially. Some of these effects aren't 100% permanent, such as powders, and can come off to some extent with handling. So, if anything, they become cleaner in parts and, whilst I agree that some of the effects can become more subtle, a model cannot "weather itself" over time because no more dirt or rust can gather if it's made of plastic and kept in a box and we don't apply further artificial effects- it can only become cleaner in parts or the effects more subtle. So I don't get the idea that this is 'active' weathering. It seems to be unfinished to me, especially if a lot is applied, such as on the Western's windcreen in the original photo, and the customer has to wait for it to become more subtle by handling the model or waiting for gravity to help out. Why not just finish the model with the required subtle effect to begin with and handle with care?

Barry, I said it was black simply because that's how it looks to me and and the stuff on the windscreen looked nothing like the dirt I have ever seen on any diesel windscreen. I do all my own weathering so you've not lost a customer in me but if I can see these things then so can others, who may be potential customers, and they are also likely to make the same judgements when they've only got the same photos to go on as I have. If you post poorly photographed and unfinished work then expect criticism because if it really did look like it did in the first photos I wouldn't pay for it, even if I didn't do my own weathering. I wouldn't normally criticise any modeller's work but when you're charging people their hard-earned for a service I don't see any difference in criticising that service and the criticism that is given on this forum to RTR manufacturer's new releases etc.

Well it's certainly dirty but everything appears to be weathered with just one colour - black. Where's the dusty colour on the wheels and lower body side of the Western and what's with the coal dust on the windscreen?

I hope that with all these Sentinels being bought we'll start to see some new industrial layouts being posted in the UK Standard Gauge Industrial section of this forum.

On the prototype all but the sliding windows at the sides have a black rubber channel to hold them in so I expect if you paint this on the windows will look much better.

If a fitted head was required, would the NCB engine crews shunt the train into order? It's just that I read somewhere that when vac-fitted minerals were introduced there were delays in making up trains because the NCB shunters didn't "do" brake pipes (presumably the BR guard had to connect up all the pipes himself?). So would NCB engine crews go to the trouble of shunting fitted wagons togther, or would the BR crew and engine have to do this?

The Vac-fitted one finished.

As no one replied in answer to the question about vac-fitting a 7mm wagon, I've bodged it using scrap box bits that have been left over from other wagon kits and Ambis brake levers that are left over from another project. It represents one that was converted from unfitted in 1966-68. The differences being the axleboxes (tho this isn't neccesarily always a prototype difference but it's on the wagon in the photo I'm going off), brake gear layout (shoes on both sides and Morton lever), bracing bar between the axle guards and, of course, the vac cylinder and pipes. The rest is Parkside as per the kit. I'll add instanter couplings, the rest of the vac pipe under the wagon and the appropriate livery to finish it.

Here's one I've almost finished. It's a PECO kit but I've scratchbuilt the top flaps and a fabricated end door. I've also given it brakes on one side only with clutch type lever on the side with the brakes. It's only lightly weathered when compared with my previous efforts. I guess this one has had works attention, a repaint and re-lettering quite recently. You'll notice that the wheel on the far side right is shiny. For some reason the blackening chemical wouldn't touch this wheel but blackened the others well enough.

No, I didn't think it was neccessary as they're not going to be handled. If any of the paint does chip off I'll just fill it in with dirt and/or rust weathering.

Now it's a standard 1/108.

Hmmm... I think I've messed up. I've seen pics of those but not realised they were rebodied. I've read a bit more now and have realised that you got wagons with no top flap but with double brakes and bottom doors and wagons with a top flap, single brakes and no bottom doors but not until later, when they were re-bodied did you get wagons with no top flap, no bottom doors and single brakes. It seems that the re-bodied wagons also had the brake/body arrangment the opposite way round to the originals so I can't really say it's a re-body and if they started to re-body them in 1968 then that's later than I wanted to set my layout. I suppose I could have a go at hacking the body to put top flaps in. Or just forget about it and lose it among my other wagons. Thanks to all who answered.

Is there some sort of idiot's guide to them? I've got several books about wagons, including the 'half million' book but it's still not clear to me what body styles go with what arrangment of doors and brakes... I want to number one of my wagons (kit built) but am not sure what diagram it is to be able to look it up in that book. It's the PECO 7mm kit but I've scratchbuilt the end door as the fabricated type, instead of the pressed steel type as supplied. I've also altered the brake gear so it has brakes on one side only. The kit has bottom doors but I'm going to cover these over so up to now I guess it would be a Dia.1/108 only my problem is that it doesn't have the top flaps over the doors - so what diagram is it now? Also, I was just wondering if anyone had modelled a Dia. 1/116 wagon or if there are any photos of the prototype? It would be interesting to see how the aluminium bodies weathered and would make an interesting contrast to the usual steel-bodied weathering. Thanks

Have you provided a crunching sound to represent an inexpericenced driver getting used to the crash gearbox?

That sounds really good. Although I use DCC control I only use it to make the engines go - I don't have lights or anything and certainly no sound and so know nothing about how it works so I have some questions about this, if you wouldn't mind answering them? Does the start up sound come on automatically when you select the loco, or do you press a function key? Similarly, the gear change - does this sound happen automatically at a certain speed or speed setting on the controller, or is that done by the operator? The sound of the loco running light engine is different from when it has a load - how does the loco/controller know it has a load, or, again, is this something the operator has to do with a function key? Thanks

^^^ Obviously pre-elf n safety days. That half scale model one isn't even strapped down onto that 16-tonner!

The instructions were in the box after all! They had stuck to the inside top of it. So, after running it for 15mins in forward and 15mins in reverse on the rollers with straight DC I had the body off and fitted a decoder. Then I had a go at painting and weathering. I removed the oil lamp by easing it out with a pair of snipe-nosed pliers and filled the hole with plastic rod, shaped to fit exactly into the square hole. I gave the bodyork a coat of matt varnish to take the shine off and painted the wheels and rods. The rods have been given a touch of weathering where the driver has spilt oil when lubricating them. This was done using a mix of red-brown, gunmetal and satin black. The running plate has been painted with matt black that has a touch of white added and a touch of weathering powders brushed onto the running plate. The shiny silver hand rails and bonnet handles have been painted over with rust. The buffers have been painted with a rust-coloured mix and the same mix of as on the rods has been applied to them. I am currently painting a driver figure and will add the oil can that came with the loco as soon as that too is painted. I also painted the jack but I feel this ought to have been a seperate item with the toolkit, rather than being moulded on to the running plate.

Yes I do have the loco. I have opened the box and in a recess in the foam there is a plastic sprue with tools and a sheet of brass nameplates and works plates. Removing these and the top bit of foam reveals the loco in it's wrapping. I have taken the loco out but found no instructions in there.

I'm a bit confused. Does this mean that to fit a decoder I have to dismantle the whole thing and actually cut the bodywork? Or is all this to do with DCC sound? All I want to do is to make it run on DCC. I have no intention of adding sound. I still don't know how to take it apart as the pdf link only showed a sort of multi-coloured cross sectional diagram of where it is supposedly possible to fit a decoder.

I was just wondering if anyone had modelled a Dia. 1/116 wagon or if there are any photos of the prototype. It would be interesting to see how the aluminium bodies weathered and would make an interesting contrast to the usual steel-bodied weathering. Another thing - is there a conversion kit available in 7mm to turn an unfitted 16-tonner into a fitted one?

7mm.

Mine should be arriving on Monday. I suppose couldn't not buy one as it was my suggestion of a Fowler that was taken up. I have to say thanks to Chris and Ixion for producing this and to all the frothers out there who post pages of wishlists all I can say is ner ner ner ner ner!

Why leave out rule number one? It looks great anyway.

I've just finished another one. A Dia. 1/108 from a Parkside kit. I've tried to make it look like the body has been patched and the new metal left unpainted, save for the lettering patches and end stripe.