jessy1692

Ah yes Harlow Pines up near the playground at the top, know it well. The cemetery up there is still quite well looked after but the Chapel associated with it is in a terrible state and falling down which is a great shame. A friend of mine tried to buy it but the present owners just seem to be letting it fall down. The no centre door 2nds may be a bit tricky as I think it would involve A LOT of cuts, there is a topic somewhere with pics of a lot of people's cuts and shuts, Clive Mortimer is the probably the most prolific at these things and looking at the amount of cuts it seems a tough one! I have 3 2d TSO's, one is original I picked up for about 3 quid and the other 2 were created by cannibalising an FO to give up it's windows, be careful here as Airfix coaches seem to have differing thicknesses to the body sides so takes a bit to get them looking flat.... Worth doing though if you are tight like me and won't shell out 20 quid for a true TSO! The 2d BFK conversion is a good little project, I think this is my favourite one of the lot until the spurious 2d RBR comes out the paint shop. My mainline RBR is pretty much straight out the box at the mo but with a bit of weathering and flush glaze itl sit in the rakes pretty well without a repaint.

Afternoon Alex It is indeed a dia 72 boat 1st, well spotted! All the Mk1 oddities are cut and shut Hornby/triang Mk1s, the lounge 1st has a set of blue pullman windows in for the lounge section. Not quite right as I think the prototype ones are a bit deeper but itl do for me. Off top of my head the cut and shuts we have done are BCK, BFK,LFK Dia 72 FO and also the boat 2nd variant too but that's in green. Iv just got my delivery of bogies so I'll be getting the RMB & BFK onto commonwealths and finished soon. I know the top end of Otley Road very well, my grand parents used to live up there too just a little further down from the cemetery off otley Rd. It's not a bad place to visit isnt Harrogate! All the best James

Evening all, thanks to the weather being perhaps a little too good at the start of the week I managed to get the 2ds weathered down and varnished up on Monday and took them up to the layout on Tues morning to join the glazing queue. My Dad has been working away on the glazing and we have a pretty good ECML 2d rake sorted now, got a bit of time after work to get a few laps in, I have to say I'm pretty chuffed with how these have come out and deffo worth the effort to make the home made BFK and TSO's and the seemingly endless white lining! We had a few bits of 2d's left over from the donor BSO and FO we used to make the TSO's and BFK and it was just about enough to make a 2d RB as I'm calling it. This is just about ready to hit the paint shops and should be an interesting addition to the rake and frees up my mk1 RBR to slot into the MK1 rake when I fancy. Looking forward to getting the last few coaches over the line soon, just awaiting some more lining and bogies. Next up may be a Gresley buffet as per Clive's chopping method but I'm itching to get going on my 009 Barber kit, deffo a project for when the nights draw in more. Cheers James

Agreed, I sent them a message on Facebook about 2ish our time and received an auto response to say its outside their business hours ( 6am ish Canada time I guess) but got a response in about 10 mins and all sorted, great stuff.

Thanks for the heads up, quick message via Facebook and updated from failed to processing now, all due to domain change. Cheers James

Morning all, iv had a big push on the coaches over the weekend to try get some over the line to the glazing stage. As of last night I managed to get pretty much all the mk1s apart from the RMB & BFK weathered down and varnished, I'm just awaiting commonwealth bogies for these and they'll be on the way. Oh and buffers needed for the CK but I van add then when I get a new pack. The mk2d's are very close behind, hopefully I'll get these varnished today after work so they can follow on to the glazing shops at the layout. I also acquired a Thompson full brake too for a bit of variety, this has been mucked up and renumbered. There is still an FO and a TSO needed a little more work but I'll be glad to get the bulk of them done. Oh and my Dad has made a spurious 2d RB which will be heading to my paint shops soon.. The end is nigh! Can't wait to get back to doing locos again. Cheers James

Good to know Stenson stuff is the best in my eyes, but I have used A1 models ladders for TTA'S as well for a bit of a cheaper option. For my TEA'S I got some SKits ones, mail order only but they are good, I have pics of the price list somewhere. Drop me a pm and I'll send on. May be a bit out of your time frame but maybe of use. Cheers James

Colonel Fell was as also involved with DHP1 too. As to why it was built the only thing I have found was it was a RR test bed for engines and their hydraulic torque converters and perhaps the last chance for Fell to test his multi engine concept? Hydraulics perhaps enabling greater flexibility over gearing etc?

Love that tug, looks great fun to ride about on. Great work as ever James

Well another month gone who knows where! I have been a tad busy last few weeks tbh with other stuff and a trip to East Lancs diesel gala last week which brilliant, wish I could have gone a second day. As I'm manning the Fort and child by myself this week I'll be cracking on with these blooming coaches. This morning I was up early so cracked on with the final lettering and numbers. Frustratingly I'm needing a pack of lining from model master to finish off the last 3 2ds. I ordered it 2 weeks ago and still nothing, I shall be chasing tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have most of the mk1s about ready for varnish in the next day or so and same for 2ds. The end is in sight! Best order some commonwealth bogies... Cheers James

Thanks mate, had a feeling it may be an engineers wagon with that numbering. If your Tatlow volume appears from hiding I'd be interested to see what it is. Cheers James

Evening all, a good mate of mine has found this in his Grans garage, out of curiosity would anyone have an idea what it was attached to originally? Cheers James

Cheers Andy, the sides are at my house for the transfers but all the cuts were done up at my Dads at the bench n I did have the plans out so I think they are OK but I'm sure I googled a pic n spotted I'd maybe got an extra one one side... As you can probably tell we did a load of chops from tri ang Hornby stuff so we had plenty of bits to make up the variations, raw materials were cks and bsks too so I'm sure you could do the same from some Lima ones, however I think they will be rooves and sides moulded together if they are like the oo ones so maybe more work? Good luck on the project, be interesting to see it Cheers James

Evening Andy, I'm currently slowly going through adding transfers to my tri ang bashed mk1s and have done a bfk. It's a while since I chopped it but as near as I can remember it was the 1st class spaced windows from a ck, plus another couple spaced for 1st and then I cut up brake ends as well to give the correct door configuration. Mostly done as best guess but I think I may have ballsed up and got an extra window in the no toilet side? Managed to dig out the pic I took before fulling and painting, hope it gives you some idea of the cuts? Probably easier starting with an fk like you suggest. Also I'm sure Clive will be along soon to give you some pointers. cheers James

Morning Mike, I think I'm about 2/3rds the way through the striping now, been a grind tbh but it is well worth it. I did consider a lining tool but the slightly thicker model master stripes helps cover over some errant bits from poor masking. Also the pre formed corner pieces helps keep that job easy. I tried to be clever and ordered some tape off ebay that was 15mm wide to try simplify things but found it to be no way neat as good as tamiya stuff so reverted back to that for final push. Another order in with Railtech today for more yellow stripes and buffet lettering and another tin of blue on the way from Howes, perhaps this is the end of the beginning! Lots of flushglaze to do soon though....

For what seems like weeks I have been on with the lining and transfers for this batch of coaches. Slowly but surely getting there now. Iv been a little distracted doing some decorating for a mate but finally got the last 3 mk1s masked up ready for blue and the last 3 mk2s are just waiting for a final coat before they can join the lined up line up. Cannot believe how much blue iv gone through on this lot but its worth it, also the small fortune spent so far on transfers too! Still, more fun than just opening a box .. I keep telling myself after 24 coach sides and counting!

What a model! I'll be following your lead ar somepoint I'm sure Martyn. Love it. All the best James

Oh yes lots still to do with my stuff but moving on slowly at the mo. For the PWA's one of the best upgrades is the fast freight bogies from Stenson Models, excellent mouldings and a doddle to build. You can do a fair bit with the basic model Plenty have been tarted up on here, Jon Hall also sells the trusses if you fancy a different option too. Cheers James

Looking very smart, I'm nearly about to embark on a big flush glaze session with my mk1s and 2ds. Good to a see a few UKF vans in the background too! Cheers James

Thanks to Clive iv been busy depleting the supply of Hornby shorties today... Looking through this lot is making me want to backdate the layout a bit for more coaching stock, must resist and get the mk1s and 2ds done! Top work Clive, at least maroon is an easier paint job than blue and grey for these. Cheers James

Evening all, painting has been progressing between work and dodging the rain. I had to order in fresh supplies of blue this week as I underestimated how much these would take. Nearly everything has had 2 or 3 coats of blue. Just the Hachette TSO's lagging behind now needing masking up. Should be somewhere near done by weekend. Cheers James

Evening all, been a pretty stagnant few weeks on the modelling front from me for last few weeks, just very busy at work and home with one thing or another. Thankfully the sun came out today so the paintshop has been in full swing getting grey onto a lot of the mk1s and 2ds that have been desperately waiting finishing. 8 2ds now drying off awaiting masking 3 tso's (2 of which were FO's), 2 FO's a BSO and a BFK conversion. Mk1 roll call is 3 tso (just ran out of spray for 2nd coat) 1 LFK 1 BG, 1 BCK, 1 BFk, 1 buffet and I think a BCK rounds it up. Feels good to be shifting things along again, now let's hope the weather holds and the masking tape gods are with me! Cheers James

Very nearly, looking at the end it looks to me to be one of the lagged conical ended ones. Bogies a good match for Stenson ESC1's though!

I think I have seen it on a stall and flicked through for any pics, may be wrong though but I font think it had much new info on Barber..... pretty sure it's not in my Dads library I may be wrong though on all accounts! Could be a very informative read, I love the fact they go from lawn mowers to trams and locos and a few things in between, almost as if Greens were never sure what they should be building!

Excellent Jon! Love it, can't wait to get onto mine whenever I get chance, life is just getting in the way. I'm tempted to do mine in the later life state with the external regulator levers that was cobbled together and I think it was a darker green by then. Let me know what green you pick for the bright 'greens' green, itl really stand out. All the best James