MrSimon

Thanks Simon, I was taking a bit of a punt putting it under the van TBH - it had been destined for a Parkwood Highfit until I saw it in the book with a 10ft chassis and I thought a van might be a safer bet... I’ve got another van body I could use, it’s the NGS one with the vertical planks and either ventilated or unventilated ends - I’m guessing that’s nothing like the LMS banana van? It’s not stuck down yet so still plenty of time for changes. How similar is the LMS banana van to the PECO one is previously used as a basis for a load of other banana vans? Is there an LMS BV kit available? I’ve got another of the LMS 9’ fitted chassis in the box - if they don’t really go under much I can see why they’re in stock and the 10’ has been out of stock for years! Thanks for your help Simon

Hello everybody! Bit of post came yesterday: Obviously had to give it a run, with some other bits... The blue 156 has gone back in the box until I source some NORTHERNs. The 142 is next on the repaint list. I’m please with the 92, but need to see if there’s a way of turning out the lights in the cab... There’s also been doing some 2mm over the Bank Holiday weekend. Finally got the brake shoes started for the 060; I was going to go further then I realised I needed to fit and quarter the wheels before being able to solder on the brake shoes... This it almost done, I just need to think about loading it before finishing it off, so it’s as good as done. LNER fitted open. I also had a LMS HIGHFIT on the go but I bought a 9’ instead of 10’ chassis, so I whipped up a van body: Seems a strange place to put a brake lever to me, but who am I to argue with the LMS?! Lots to do! Simon

Looks great Matt! What did you use to finescale it? Is there a kit or is it a combination of kits/scratchbuilt? Thanks Simon

Hello everybody! Hope everyone is well after the Christmas break? I had a dreaded attack of the transfers over the weekend and started numbering units... (transfers being the thing I reeeeeally dislike doing for those new to the thread) The whole 108 was numbered, and two middle cars were lined too... there’s just a bit of painting (including the roof and the window bars on this coach) and it’s complete - ready for use on Croft Spa when exhibitions get started again... The railtec numbers sheet is a boon - the plain blue 156 is numbered (vehicle and unit number) which I never would have bothered doing with a set of individual numbers. I think I just need to find some NORTHERN’s, but it can always run without. Here’s a blast from the old days (2015, page 12) with massive thanks to @Robert Shrives of this parish for the spare glazing strip I finally fitted the Dapol glazing to the new windows on the 155. Other than weathering, tidying up the paint on the lighting clusters, and numbering the fronts this unit is done! Lots to do! Simon

Thanks Dave! Hope you had a very Happy Christmas! It’s been a crazy year on my workbench, not least having to keep clearing it for work calls, but I’ve really enjoyed exploring 2mm more and keeping the N for running. For the last few years there’s been a rail tour at Christmas on Gresby, even though Gresby’s in storage I could still run the tour. Today’s stock includes five of the first six wagons for the Gypsum train (with a substitute class 66 after the GBRF one failed), a DMU I can’t remember detailing, the Pipe Train, and the first run of the Fragonset Club Train with the new Mark 2s. Let’s see if anything else will make it to the workbench before New Year! Simon

Morning everybody! Two more 2mm wagons finished this morning: Two ex-LNER fitted vans, one I started probably 12-15 years ago! The planked side one is BR coloured, the other is LNER bauxide. I need a bit more powder on the door of the ply sided one after the marking started looking rude when I varnished it... Oops haha! Simon

Thanks Duncan, I’m pleased with how they’ve turned out - I’ve got 15-16 weathered and with couplings now (with nowhere to run them yet!) Hope you and Janet have a very merry tier 3 Christmas! Simon

Thanks Nigel, I think I’ve just got the brakes to do, I was putting it off a little but now I’m in Tier 4 I’m sure they’ll be done in no time! Just to catch the thread up on what I’ve been upto, the answer is not a lot! I made a stock tray for the 2mm wagons and then set about finishing the wagons that go in it: I also finished the paint/detail job on the turned-down J94: The crew and lamp are Modelu (since taking this picture I’ve finished painting the lamp, and glazed it). I’m pleased with how it’s turned out, it’s spurred me on to finish the L&Y tank and the 2mm J94! Finally, in what might be my greatest act of prevarication (and what will lead to potentially the most prevarication ever) I got this from Railtec: Nearly 32 different vehicle numbers! It has the vehicle numbers for all the modern DMU repairs I’ve been doing/planning, and all three 4car 1st gen units. The eagle eyed will be able to work out exactly what’s in my queue/to build pile! I’ll try get better at updating this... Lots to do! Simon

Looking good! And congratulations on the Maids Morton shot in BRM Cheers Simon

I know what you mean on this - it’s the element of my layout I’ve really struggled with: stuff that’s not man-made! Can’t wait to see how you get on (and can’t wait to copy your techniques ) The gantries above look amazing! Cheers Simon

Hello everyone, I sorted the clicking, I realised it was happening every time the smallest gear went round once, so I popped the gear out and rubbed each tooth with wet’n’dry (like I probably should have before sticking them on the muffs) and the clicking went I’ll give it another go with the cif and the drill and then I think it might be time to get the wheels fitted Lots to do! Simon

Hi Ben, great news that they’re available to order again. Just to confirm: this time there’s no different options for DC/non-DCC as they’re all DCC ready? Will I need to do anything/remove anything to run it as DC or is it literally ready to go? Thanks Simon

Thanks Nigel - it certainly provided one of the stranger kitchen experiences I’ve had! I went Maxi rather than Mini, but on slow speed it worked well and seemed stable. There’s a slight tick going one way, the cif worked well though - it’s much less noticeable now but still there. Before going to the kitchen it had been free-wheeling down a slope. How much do you think will be sorted out with a white metal body pressing everything down? Many thanks Simon

Hello everybody! I’ve managed to squeeze some small jobs into my working day and as a result have three wagons ready to weather and one ready for transfers: 2x 21T and 1x 24.5T coal wagon, they’ve had all the various coats of varnish and (Modelmaster) transfers, just waiting for the bits of rust and powder before they’re done. This is ready for the transfers to turn up... So this looks like a mad combination but it’s just what was to hand in the cupboard. The baseboards for my plank turned up and I realised I only had a little sketchy plan that would only fit into 4x the space... This afternoon after a lay-in and a nap I decided to stop prevaricating and see if I can finish off the L&Y 060. First up: turned down the lip on a metric>imperial stepped gear muff... It finished up a bit prettier than this, but not much! Next: put a different gear on the other side and epoxy in stub axles. Then get a little bored and push-fit the non-geared axles just to see what it looked like while waiting for the epoxy to set. So far everything still turns! Lots to do Simon

Hello everybody! Lots of little bits done while putting off doing other things... Some more wagons finished off, these ones even have couplings! This is ready for weathering now, that will get the last bits I missed on the steps... and it needs crew, coal and a lamp. I even managed to get round to lining the first side of this... The thing I’ve been slightly avoiding is this: I’m not sure what to do about it, there don’t seem to be any bits that fit very well Lots to do... Simon

Without wanting to froth: LNER L2, K2 or O4, class 119 DMU, class 185, 180, or 175 DMU That’s all Oh, and maybe those mark 2Es they started ages ago... runs for cover

Great shot, I’m enjoying seeing the layout come to life. This might be a silly question; would the two sleeping cars be shunted onto the main train with the passengers in their bunks? Cheers Simon

Hello everybody, I don’t seem to have done much this last week, the weather was warm enough to get a better coat of black on the J94: The first coat went orange peel-ish and I had to rub it down and try again. It’s going to take a lot of weathering once I’ve got the transfers on. I finished the first four 16 tonners, I might give the white stripes a bit of a rub just to knock the whiteness back. I got a kit for two of these, awkward little things, it took a lot of fettling to get this far. I need to do some more work on this to close the gap some more, then the chassis can be stuck on and primed. I’ve been staring at the 060 body kit and two new tubes of epoxy for 5 weeks, I really should get on with it. Lots to do! Simon

Hi, It’s possible, the replacement chassis from the 2mm shop gives a much better looking engine than getting the Farish wheels turned down, but if you’ve got a new-ish Farish one sending the wheels to Gordon will get you a J94 that runs on 2mm track. The body is improve-able with the RT Models detailing kit and some handrails, but it’s not as good as a new model would have been. Cheers Simon PS: Thanks for your help yesterday, the callipers came, 15.18mm on the milk tanker wheels - 15.2s on the shopping list

Hi, Which axle lengths do I need to re-wheel a Dapol wagon? If I’m using my callipers (coming tomorrow, weirdly excited!) do I measure the length of the whole Dapol axle including the points or do I have exclude the points? Many thanks Simon

Hello everybody! A little modelling done since the weekend - other than couplings I finished the first plate wagon: this now has the distinction of being the first 2mm wagon I’ve got finished where finished includes transfers and weathering... and it runs... calling that a result (just got a load more wagons to go!) I did a tiny bit of soldering last night too - crank pins into all wheels, the layers of the coupling rods soldered together, and I soldered the front guard iron back in place. Next for this loco I need to glue* balance weights in place, finish the coupling rods, and fitting the gears together to form a rolling chassis. Lots to do! Simon (*glue because I think I have new style wheels and they didn’t take solder very well so the weights kept falling back off when I tried to solder them...)

Hi Nigel, Thanks for posting that pic, it’s really useful to see what I’m aiming for - I’ve saved a copy to refer back to! In the next working session I’m removing the paint from the 0.3mm rods when I rub the paint from the bearing faces. There’s a bit of a take of woe on the guard rail - I’d soldered it on and then forgot to bend it before I primed the chassis, then when I bent it it fell off, so I superglued it back on temporarily until I have the soldering iron out again. Here’s the other side showing what it used to look like Thanks again for all your help! Simon

This is a really interesting thread, thank you! Was the milk loaded through the manhole at the top? How did they stop other stuff falling through the hole and contaminating the milk? Could tankers be loaded directly from road tankers or did they have to go via some sort of dairy first? Sorry if these were really silly questions!

Thanks Dave! Here’s the other side: The body/roof is just the standard Dapol model, the only thing I did to it was paint the inside of the windows and the ends with matt varnish, the vacuum pipes with Metalcote gunmetal, and then the whole body had a thick sludge of black weather power caked on and then wiped back off, and some dark earth brushed upwards. Everything below the body is the kit. I just need to make some more vehicles to run with it now, my preferred modelling area is the North West (L&Y and GN) so this vans a little lost! Cheers Simon

Hello everybody! Bit of a strange old week, but I’ve got plenty of little bitty jobs done I weathered and sealed the BY, it just needs the couplings fitting. Next, I primed the 060 chassis with the underframes/wagons I built last weekend. There’s a reason for the weird stripy paint job, I think the next bit of the build includes fitting the wheels, gears/quartering etc, and I’ve decided that once the wheels are on they’re staying on - so I painted behind them dirty black. I’ll paint the rest of the chassis when I’ve fitted the brakes. Transfers for this came this week, unusually for me I fitted them the day they came. This weekend I’ve matt varnished it and painted the deck. I just need to varnish the desk and give the whole body a dab round with some powders and then it’s done - a milestone for me: my first complete 2mm wagon! Like everything else I just need to fit the couplings... These were a pain. These are the replacement steps on the RT Models detailing kit. I need some ceramic tweezers so I don’t solder the step onto the tweezers again. I fitted the steps today. I’m going to solder the steps onto the J94 with the 2mm chassis, the turned down wheels are wider than 2mm ones so I’ve had to fix the steps a bit further out than I’d like. This has now gone to the paintshop - everything below the running plate is drying, I was going to spray it but I can only find grey primer and weird brown (that I bought for trees)... not sure what happened to the black! It’s exciting to think that things are beginning to get finished off Lots to do! Simon