Pugsley

Of course! I think I had my 4mm scale head on when suggesting those.

I'm not sure what that good idea is, or how expensive, but Eileens sell what they call microbraid, which is essentially a mini stainless steel wire rope: https://www.eileensemporium.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=eny_fly_default.tpl&product_id=3578&category_id=31&keyword=microbraid&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=9 https://www.eileensemporium.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=eny_fly_default.tpl&product_id=3986&category_id=31&keyword=microbraid&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=9 it comes in two sizes, either 0.31 or 0.45 mm diameter.

Thanks James, sorry I missed this comment somehow. You've missed no layout progress whatsoever, that's pretty much on the back-back burner at the moment! I'm planning to do a bit to it later in the year, with any luck.

That's seriously cool

I don't think we need to worry about them

You mean it's not?

Top stuff! Excellent modelling is always good to see, and as a self-confessed tank wagon perv, this is a particularly appealing subject You don't fancy etching up some monobloc tanks in 7mm scale, do you?

Would that really still have been used in the 1980s to 1990s?

Superb weathering there Howard, they look really good. I hope you don't mind a little constructive criticism - the springs and axleguards look a little glossy in a couple of the pictures - if you attended to that, they'd be perfect 8) Weathering powders mixed with hairspray to a paint-like consistency, and brushed on, would do the job.

There's nothing wrong with the brakes in the kit, I had to replace them though as they're brass. Because the brakes sit commendably close to the wheel treads, and I'm mounting the brakes onto the etched inner frame, I was concerned about the risk of short circuits through it. If you're building the kit as designed, they fit into the bogie moulding, which is an insulating lump of resin, so it's not a problem. In fact, most of the problems I've had have been caused by not building the kit as intended! What you see above is pretty much a direct copy of the brakes in the kit, so that they'd fit the brake rigging and I'd already designed the mounting around the original parts, before thinking of the problems they could cause.

What better to do on a sunny Saturday, then to put some good music on and break out the water mixable oils: So far, I've made a start on the No. 1 end nose and the roof, working along to the other end. This is just the initial colouring, there's more to come once this is dry in a couple of days. The whole weathering job is going to take quite some time, I think, as not only is it much bigger than anything I've done before, I'm going to have to put more in the way of details in, if it's to look as good as I want it to. More as it happens

Is there anything small enough here? http://www.precisionmicrodrives.com/dc-geared-motors/dc-gear-motor-ranges/nano-planetary-range http://www.precisionmicrodrives.com/dc-geared-motors/dc-gear-motor-ranges/micro-spur-range I can recommend the company, having had dealings with them before.

John, don't worry about your English, it's far better that my Dutch as well! You can embed the images within the text by clicking the 'Add to Post' on the right hand side of the uploaded image details. Your project looks interesting - I'll be watching to get some ideas for my own, when I get round to starting it.

Yes, those 3 areas are part of it. There is more, but those bits show up best in photographs. The ride height is now more or less sorted - the adjusting screws needed, erm, adjusting. I'll stick up another photo a bit later to canvass opinion, but I think it's more or less right now. I hope so, as adjusting it further is going to involve milling! Bizarrely, it needs a little weight in one end to bring it down a bit, whereas the other end is fine.

I dunno where time goes these days - one minute it's Christmas and the next it's Easter! Still, I can offer a quick update on the 37 project - it is structurally complete and painted, with a few little bits to add before the weathering commences in anger. This is how it is at the moment: The biggest problem at the moment seems to be a ride height problem at the No.1 end, this is currently riding some 2mm too high, which although it doesn't sound a lot, is enough to make it look a little odd. I'm not quite sure what's causing that at the moment, but I'm hoping it won't be too hard to sort. Some of it has been weathered though: I had to do the fan before fitting the (rather nice) Shawplan grille, otherwise there was no way of doing it later. Tom - This is about the best I could get of the ripple effect now it's painted. I think I could have done it a bit more now, as the paint has increased the subtlety of the effect, but it's a very fine line to overdoing it! Edit - Image upload now working!

No more shots at the moment, but I'll see what I can do. I used a 3mm conical carbide burr to get the effect.

I'd suspect it was also 1990, there was a lot of DMU substitutions around that time, IIRC the class 155 door problems was at least part of the cause.

One's for the engine and the other for the vacuum exhauster, for the brake system. The outlet for the exhauster is where the air drawn out of the vac brake system is ejected, often with a very fine spray of oil, which is used for sealing the vanes. HTH

That brick stencil is a great idea! The layout looks great as well, with some nice scenic touches.

Funny you should mention that, I had planned on fitting road/rail gear to it. Now that Giles has demonstrated that it can be done in 1:87 scale, I've got no excuse for not attempting it! Did I mention that this was a long term project...

Look what arrived this morning Not bad for a £12 punt off ebay, it's going to need a bit of work body-wise, but that's no problem. Looking at the undergubbins: It looks like it should be pretty easy to convert, it certainly looks quite easy to disassemble. It doesn't weigh very much at the moment though, which could be a problem, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Thanks - it's probably just me trying to over-complicate things, as usual I've identified the Unimog I want and set up an ebay search for the same - it's looking like the start of a slippery slope!

Whatever you're doing is working, I had some FUD parts delivered last week and there was a step change in improvement of the surface finish from the parts I had towards the end of last year. Keep up the good work!

The only reason I thought about the 4WD was because I planned to use it as a road/railer for shunting wagons. Having thought about it a little more, if it was sufficiently weighted it could be OK as the rubber tyres will be running on the rail surface, giving increased traction. I guess there's only one way to find out!