The Fatadder

I was just thinking the same, one of those small things you don’t notice but once you do it really bugs you

Have sent a pm, would be perfect for my 153/ half a 150 pair given the latter is powered

I’m hoping they list the body eventually, for an auto coach conversion

finally got my new display case on the wall (all be it missing its door which needs regluing before it can be reattached) nice to get a lot of the stock that’s either not dcc fitted (steam) or not period correct for Wheal Imogen.

The current state of 37057 after a fair bit of time yesterday evening applying transfers for the OHLE stripe, bottom yellow stripe and the OHLE flashes. Once the new transfers arrive for the numbers / EW&S logos it will be finished off in the week and can be reassembled.

Probably the same reason they lack the ability to actually design anything to a decent standard of accuracy, they just lack the skills for the job....

Yet more rework on 37057 this evening, followed by a coat of satin varnish to successfully blend it all together. I am finding the EWS red is very easy to scratch (I’m assuming either I got the paint mix wrong or it’s too old paint). Either way it’s looking good now. This was followed by fitting the nameplates (Extreme Etchings removed from the old body), picking out the handrails in silver and the windscreen grommets in black. I have now ordered the transfers for the numbers/ logos with the usual Railtec custom offering. Thanks to @railtec-models for spotting the typo in my requested loco and letting me know so I didn’t end up with 37056! I already have the Railtec OHLE and lower reflective stripe. Next up work moved to the ends, the previous model was (too) heavily weathered to hide the mistake with the lower reflective stripe. So the noses needed the majority of the weathering removing. A cotton bud in IPA did the job nicely, leaving a little dirt around the detail. For 1999 the roof and chassis were dirty but the side / ends were pretty clean. the final job this evening was to paint the black bars on the cab side windows in EWS red. I have cheated a little here and used Vallejo burnt red, it’s pretty close to EWS red after a coat of clear and avoids the risk of damaging the glass (as the acrylic paint will just rub off the glazing)

with some buffers fitted and some more black paint on the underframe, there’s not a lot more to do on the car carrier until the transfers are ready. makes a bit of a contrast between a green 47 and intercity mk2s

A little update on 37057, I managed to get out between the showers and spray the EWS red on the model over lunch today, annoyingly the Tamiya masking tape has been a bit of a failure leaving an imperfect edge. So yesterday evening I set to work trying to save it, touching up a couple of the impacted areas by hand to deal with the bigger marks. This was followed by taking a length of Tamiya tape and cutting along the centre line with a fresh scalpel blade, masking the damaged areas of the stripe and again cutting in with a 0000 brush. Looking at the end result I think its done the job, (or at least based on past performance I think it will have once it has been given a coat of varnish to blend everything together.) But before I can do that I need to order some transfers from Railtec

roof/ends sprayed last night, will sort out the underframe painting later and reattach the bogies and buffers at which point it can go back in the stock box until the transfers are ready

a little rework on the car carrier this evening, cutting in the corners of the white band along with minor repairs where I was unhappy with the masking. It’s now ready for masking up and spraying the black roof / ends.

Depends on your definition of easy, it will have 4 holes in the body for the light to pass through. Not the most difficult job, but does take some effort to get a flush finish. I haven’t removed the CDLs (I’ve been adding them to batch 1 intercity bodies), but I have filled windows on some that I’ve converted to 2ds and it takes a lot of time to get it fully flush

Looks like the earlier version of the tank that Rainbow released (running on leaf springs)

Some successful spraying this afternoon, with 37057 now in ews gold and the GWT motorail van resprayed in a different (more accurate) shade of blue. the latter needs a bit of cleaning up along masking lines before I move on to the ends / roof masking. I also need to touch in the curved corners to the white panel by hand. A job I’d be doing now if I hadn’t left the paint in the garage!

Is the match truck based on a revenue earning wagon or a specific (or worse generic) build for the crane? mine will be redundant once I convert the crane into the GW version, but if there is something useful it could be converted into that would be a bonus

Next some work on the other side of the building, the raised area for the two tanks has been removed (the joint with the building had bowed upwards) and won’t be refitted until the building is in situ on the layout. windows have been added along with another door, I decided to reduce the number of windows vs the original build as one was located pretty much where I wanted the ladder to go. This was replaced using leftover evergreen sheet from the original build 16 years ago! more leftover sheet was used for a repair where the original middle platform had broken off and for the end (where there was a big gap due to the lower second building). a new platform and I beam support was added from plasticard, which of course still needs ladders and barriers adding (after painting). The final job for now was to scribe on the panel lines in advance of painting and detailing. As with the other building I want to rebuild the roof with a contrasting material (more rounded), though I still need to find something suitable. its a big and imposing structure, the aim is to have quite a contrast between this and the more rural scene the other side do the tracks. moving onto a new loco project, earlier in the week @Southwich directed me towards a cheap 2022 Kernow 37 body missing its ends. Annoyingly it was a split box (given I have spares for a centre box) but I put in an opportunistic best offer and moments later owned another 37 project… the intention is to use parts from my current 37057 to build an upgraded model. Given the price I paid I’m not too worried about recovery of the old body which will be providing the nrn pod, plates, along with windscreens and roof grill for 902. the model was stripped last night and rebuilt this morning. Work included fitting the roof pod, plating over the boiler port (I used some half etched stainless from my scrap box and my rivet press to add the detail). On my original 057 I had to fill a bodyside cutaway step on one sides tumblehome, on this one I needed to do the opposite and cut out the step on the other side! it’s now primed and drying ready for a coat of EWS gold tomorrow weather permitting

Latest Bachmann 37 body left in 99% IPA for about 3 hours soak glazing was left in place while it was soaked, the removed (without damage) as part of the clean up.

After a bit of work this evening here is the left hand half of the building. Window frames added, shortened the height of the metal sheeting in the right half, new shorter grill, window sills added, first weathering coat distressing the rendered finish, sliding door shifted to the end and a new exit door added to the front. it still needs gutters adding and a new roof. it will also need the windows weathering with a ton of clay dust Moving on, I’ve started repairing the main structure of the other part of the building with the first two joints currently drying.

The other option for improving the buffers on these (along with improving the rest of the underframe) is to mount the old Triang tanks onto a Bachmann TTA chassis. It is many years since I did the conversion (and ive since sold them on), but from memory once you cut off the Triang fixing clips it was pretty much a direct fit glued onto the Bachmann chassis.

After shortening the left hand half of the building by 35mm, I think this gives a better proportion between the two halves. I don’t know what the max single span ladder height would be under 1990s H&S rules, but comparing a CDA with the photo of the real thing along side a real CDA I think it’s getting there. I may need to take maybe 10mm off the bottom of this side, but I’m half tempted to wait until I can see it on a baseboard before making the cut. At any rate something needs adjusting on the RH half as it’s not sitting flat anymore!

does that change happen on April 1st? RM website still shows signed for (1st or 2nd) as £50 compensation and standard 1st/2nd class as £20 still not as good as tracked 48, but proving useful to me as I have a huge amount of stamps to use up

For the layout extension I want to make use of the last clay works building that was left over from my old Blackcombe Torr layout, (this will mean that once the extension is built pretty much everything from my first exhibition layout will have been rebuilt and repurposed as part of Wheal Imogen.) This building is based on a structure at Goonbarrow, and has been in storage in the loft since Blackcombe was dismantled several years ago. During that time it has suffered somewhat, with damage to the roof and ladders (with a side platform completely missing). Looking at it closer something doesnt look quite right with the proportions of the building on the left in particular looking wrong (with too much of a gap in the middle between the two sets of windows. I have separated the two halves of the model, to start investigating exactly how I am going to manage this, my thinking is to cut an inch, maybe two inches off the bottom, before redoing the windows (finally adding the missing window frames). Other work will include scribing on the missing panel gaps, adding the contrasting perspex panels, gutters / lamps etc and of course some weathering. It will also need a new roof and replacements for the missing platform and ladders. I will be replacing all of the pipework for the two tanks with new 3d prints (along with adding the missing valves etc.) The first step however will be returning to photos of the prototype at Goonbarrow to confirm the height of the main building.

Larrian CEO in an interview with gamespot last week, along the lines of “we will continue to work on quality of life fixes for the game, and then move onto our next project which won’t be BG4 or D&D licences, nor will it be Divinity Original Sin 3” He also said the next project will follow the same approach as BG3, releasing in early access once a sizeable chunk is finished and using the feedback from that to direct how they finish the game. So no doubt what ever it is, it will be a long wait. There was also mention that the characters and plot is now considered part of D&D lore, and remains in Wizards of the Coast’s ownership, so the potential is at least there that someone could pick it up. The worry would be that whoever did pick it up is just trying to cash in on Larrian’s work and releases a pile of rubbish

Finally completed Baulders Gate 3 last night, one of the few games that has truly lived up to my expectations. Had the disappointment earlier in the week with Larian coming out saying not only will there not be a sequel, the much hinted at DLC also wont be happening. To be honest given some of the end game dialog strongly hinting at continued adventures I am quite glad that I had herd the news about the future before getting my hopes up. From the sounds of it there is still a chance that BG4 will end up picked up by another developer going forward, whether they can live up to this standard will be another question though. Really liked some of the little nods to the original series throughout the game, makes for a very nice touch!

that certainly makes sense, doesn’t help most of my knowledge of this sort of thing developed for Brent…. Given the semaphore signalling and point rodding at Goonbarrow the concepts would be similar.