Buckjumper

'Amazing', 'astonishing', 'wow', 'superb', and 'fantastic' just don't cut it on this blog. I don't think there are any suitable adjectives or interjections of approbation in the English language that really do justice to the undeniable fact that you've somehow infused a partially completed model with so much atmosphere it makes the rest of us gasp in astonishment. So instead I'll try something in Danish: Mit luftpudefart

I think it might have been in 'Finescales in small spaces' by Ian Rice pub Wild Swan. There was also a dutch guy built a layout on those kind of principles where the track was a spine and senic boards were sort of cantileverd out from the spine. I have a feeling it was in one of those modelling magazines almost books that Ian started after leaving MRI.

Flintfield (GER) by Vincent de Bode in the Netherlands, and it was in Modelling Railways Illustrated Vol.2 No.2. More here.

Great concept! Of course you could extend it further by having a permanent way spine into which you could plug broad gauge or standard gauge track.

Oops...did you just snap that pencil?

S is a lovely scale and is an all-Imperial scale of 3/16" to the foot, or 1:64, and therefore 19% larger than 4mm. There are some of us on here who model (I occasionally dabble) in S. probably the best person to ask about the locos on here is Phil Copleston. See the RMweb S Scale forum here and here's a nice layout in development

And CPL can provide alarm gear too.

What an interesting way of tackling the lining, Matthew.

When that old stranger the sun puts his hat on Sussex again, would you post up a few more photos please?

Yep, that was the one Dave. Actually I've just realised the same photo is reproduced (though quite badly) on the front the D&S pack too.

As Paul says, they are setts. Cobbles are traditionally small, round water-smoothed stones, whereas setts are quarried and dressed blocks in a rectangular shape. Cubes are another class of sett, but are...cubed. Here is a useful page and this gives a useful insight into laying them, including (about halfway down) edge sets for drainage.

All relevant stuff for me as I'm trying to decide the best way of representing what may turn out to be a few thousand of the things. After seeing this post I'm definitely going to give the Harrap/CK/Tetrion method a go.

Nick - No. 741 had all the full stops. I've sent you a PM.

I like the results you've got with your experimental scribing Tim, though they could probably be described (pun intended!) as setts rather than cobbles...who would have thunk there were rivets to count in cobbles eh?

Google Zap Formula 560 Canopy Glue and you'll come up with a lot of suppliers including Amazon and ebay.

I bought several boxes of slips of different sizes on the net a few years ago, but Pat Legg of CPL can supply both the scriber and glass 24 x 40 x 0.13~0.17mm from stock.

Like cutting tiles it can take a while to get the hang of it, but perseverance pays off.

Hi Dave - I've been using glass microscope cover slips, which are (so sez the box) 0.13 - 0.17mm thick, in the windows of all the stock I build - even those commissions that have to be delivered by courier - for a number of years now and haven't had any problems with breakages. The glass is surprisingly flexible which may contribute to it being able to withstand more abuse than you'd expect. I've been using canopy glue to fix it from the start, and again this works very well, and after 20 minutes any excess can be scraped off with a sharpened cocktail stick. I think this gives a pretty good impression of the end result.

I use a diamond-tipped pencil to cut the shape required - even circular pieces for cab spectacles. A single stroke is made then flat-nosed pliers to snap along the line, though sometimes you have to nibble away at it carefully. Success rate these days is up to about 70% (it was much lower at the start), and on a lucky day (not often!) a circle of glass will pop straight out without any extra fiddling.

Fantastic Dave; some nicely restrained touches with the weathering, and my favourite of all the rolling stock you've posted on here so far.

Thanks for the positive comments Mike and David, and thanks for all the 'likes'.

Jan: As far as I know the first cab for many years to get the treatment was Ipswich shed B12 61535, and this had a cream roof with chocolate sides. This was followed by 61566 which went all-cream, and then the driver of 61253 went one better and had the cab painted ultramarine blue. J15 65447 followed soon after with an off-white roof. After that it spread and various suburban N7s got the treatment . Just how many bucks were 'creamed' is debatable - by this time they were very much second-string and generally not well cared for, so I suspect very few, so not like the the good old days when all GE locos had tan coloured cabs. As for the tools - well I usually arrange them as if they've been chucked out of the window by an exasperated fireman, but thought that for once I might make them a bit nearer. It must have happened at least once. Surely... ;-)

Thanks Mikkel, always appreciated.

Good to see you back in full swing Mikkel.

With a skull that size are you sure aunt Augusta wasn't a Titan?

Next up; Mr Woodcourt and the Argonauts...

Hullo stranger - you've been a bit quiet of late; good to see you back again

Thanks for your comments - much appreciated. J15s are a bit of a staple at the moment and two more are progressing through the works at the moment- an Essex pair that found work on the Brightlingsea branch, numbers 65432 with a tender cab and 65448 one of the bog-standard Westo braked variety.

The flush stonework is a big improvement, and the scale looks much better to these ignorant eyes

Oo-er! Glad you like it!

Not too late to drill them out and glue in some stubs of blackened brass rod...

...just kidding!

Nicely done, Ian.

One question: The rivets on the solebars look like 'innies', not 'outies'. Is that a trick of the light?

The big advantage the GER had over its fellow constituents of the LNER was the legacy of nearly 40 years of standardisation instigated by James Holden and continued through to Grouping.

So for example, of the 29 classes extant in 1923, there were six standard boilers covering 20 classes - 89% of the total loco stock - with 9 non-standard boilers for the rest. Likewise there were five standard motion and cylinder types covering 23 classes - 97% of the stock with six non-standard types covering the remaining 3%. As locos became life-expired, any parts which were still in good condition could be stockpiled and reused later. Tenders could be moved from loco to loco, even across the class divide, and were even stored for years until needed.

Hi Adrian, have you any Idea what Scorpio kits are like to build. I've never built anything from their range, but as they make loads of locos suitable for the Edwardian period, they look very tempting!

No, none have come this way yet, though I could very easily be tempted by a Buffalo or the 645/655 saddle tanks, and the J8 and J9 single bolsters would be useful.

However, there are plenty of threads on here which show Scorpio kits being built such as here, here, here and here. With this last one, the best thing to do is open the thread, then in the search field on the top right change the drop down list to 'this thread' then type in scorpio and hit the search button - you'll get a long list of individual posts from Ken's thread highlighting wherever Scorpio is mentioned. You'll see Ken likes them very much, but you'll also find comments about certain kits within the range which need more fettling and work than others.

Thanks! Does anyone do a 7mm kit for one?

Scorpio have a 4-wheel Siphon C (built1906-7) in their range.

Lovely. I've got a soft spot for NPCS too, but there's no comparable kit or parts available for a milk van for the GE. Now, if Bill Bedford would resize his etches to 7mm...