Buckjumper

I'm no professional photographer - I just get lucky from time to time As well as storing digital photos on my computer I back up onto two seperate hard drives, one of which is kept upstairs, and the other isn't in the house at all. I do have some stored on a cloud but are not permenant - just a facility for easily accessing from different devices. I think the main thing to remember is that nothing is infallible. Years ago we all thought various types of storage were the new panacea from floppys to CDs to Zip and Jaz drives, but CDs can degrade after a surprisingly short space of time and both Zip and Jaz were limited and quickly disappeared. Perfectly good, reputable hard drives aren't immune to total failure either. However you do it, a rolling programme of backups and changing the hardware every so often with an off-site backup is going to significantly reduce the probability of total disaster, but I suppose there's no 100% infalible system.

Just catching up... Fantastic bit of scratchbuilding and I love the relaxed pose of the 1HP shunter taking on fuel. Once plonked on Farthing don't forget to add the ever-present overflow from the exhaust

Moving DG upstairs is definitely wisdom - new voice of experience. Despite living in an area which hasn't flooded in living memory (c/o an octagenarian neighbour who has lived here all his live), a series of unusual events - including a tributary blocked by a collapsed wall nearby and a wall of water from a blocked 10' high and several hundred yard long tunnel further upstream suddenly clearing itself - resulted in us wading through contaminated waters downstairs one dark morning a couple of weeks ago, and the loss of my workshop and almost its entire contents. Hopefully, all being well, I'll be able to catch up with you and the layout at Basingstoke in March.

Sorry I'm late to the party, but oh wow! That's just gorgeous, and I agree with Tatty; for me there was no finer GW livery than the late Victorian/early Edwardian.

Thanks Dave. I've found another useable pic so new post coming up shortly.

I'm not really into using matt varnishes as final coats, but clothing is an exception. Over the years I've tried all kinds ranging from Humbrol, Railmatch and Precision enamels, GW, Testors and Microscale, but the most consistent true flat sprayed neat or brushed has been Windsor & Newton Galeria acrylic varnish bought from the local art shop. It was the before and after photos of the Harrier on this thread which convinced me (external link): http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/46166-winsor-newton-galeria-matt-varnish/ W&N also do a satin and gloss varnish in the Galeria range (useful to make up your own brew) and a varnish remover.

Oh the irony!

Fortunately I don't keep models in the workshop overnight, but the room they were in was also flooded. I did have time to move those in danger, but some suffered moved-in-haste damage which is repairable...when I can replace the solder station, compressor, airbrushes, tins of paint, workshop...ad nausium. Insurance covers it all but it's a lot of gyp, especially making a full inventory of the damage and loss (the water was contaminated so salvage is impossible). The only irreplacable items we've lost appear to be our honeymoon photos which had fused together, and the negs were too far gone too. That and my Marshall valve amp - a model no longer made - which has gone to the great gig in the sky.

Standon, Herts. The tree line in the valley is the remains of the trackbed of the Buntingford branch.

OK, so I said I'd post this after the weekend and nine months passed instead. It's the result of a concatenation of events including trying to move house, hospital wards (not me) and culminating in being flooded out in the winter storms. We're still reeling from the last one which wiped out my workshop and everything in it as well as half the ground floor of the house. Fortunately the ground floor is on two levels, and at its worst the water was within a gnats of flooding there too. Main thing is that we're OK but the latest estimate is that it's going to be at least autumn before the restoration is complete which means trying to organise some alternative work space for both my wife and I as we both work from home. The computers and camera were also victims, so until they get sorted the only photos I have of last year's work are those I stored on my cloud. I'm having to type this on my mobile, so any iffy spelling, grammar or errors are the result of the sausages I call fingers. So enough of the violins before you pass out from boredom, you want to see pictures of models. So here is the second Parkside SR van I promised. This time it's in a workstained pre-War livery in dire need of a lick or two of paint. As with the last it's pretty much out of the box in O/Fine, the only addition being a lump of lead to give it some mass and momentum.

I think the reference both Nick and Ian are scrambling for looking for is also in Goods Wagons (1998) p.43 which says: "The roofs of some vans with wooden bodies were iron, characterised by bands across the top of the wagon at the joins in the plates." Question for the knowledgeable bods - might there have been a change in the roof construction between Lots; some canvas-covered planks without bands and others with banded iron plates? Nice van BTW Mikkel - I like the grey/off-white/cream colouration of the lime which suits the scale. Were screw couplings fitted to avoid brained and pur

It's the Swedey variant Cheesy Wotsits or Swedey wotsits... Moving swiftly on; I'm surprised the GW didn't house the springs within the cab inside boxes over the splashers like other companies. Presumably there wasn't enough movement in them as they compressed for the crew to catch a finger or anything else as they leaned over... *eyes water and toes curl at the thought*

The polished wotsits were inverted cast cups which protected the rubber pads of the spring hangers from oil contamination. It was one of the ideas Holden took with him to Stratford from Swindon. Stratford cast them in iron and painted them black, but Swindon's were obviously a bit more bling.

There's a very long answer, and I may do a blog entry about it at some point rather than unravel it all here - but the kit (for a Holcroft saddle tank) was so irredeemably appalling that, without exaggeration, everything that could be wrong, was wrong, but instead of sweeping the lot into the bin at the start I stupidly persevered with it. After much frustration I conceded defeat (the only time I have) and eventually did tip the lot - bar the smokebox door casting - into the bin and started again from scratch. That's not the end of the story, but is enough for now!

Classic case of my looking but not seeing. Of course my Get out of Gaol Free card is that I've not built any GW locos with cabs... well, one, but that turned out to be a basket case.

Looking lovely Dave. I have to admit it's made me a bit fidgety as it's one of those locos which doesn't fit in with my plans at all but is very desirable, especially as Finney kits go together so nicely... Your build has revealed something I didn't know before - that the cab side sheets extended forward of the weatherboard.

Back in the early 80s a member of the GER Soc. who was a serving police officer, asked a colleague in forensics look at some full-depth paint chippings taken from a cast plate attached to the headstock of a carriage withdrawn just after Grouping. Following tests, an astonishing twenty six layers of paint and varnish (plus several layers of dirt!) from the pre-Grouping period were discovered. Edit: Grammar

Just to add to Eric's post above; when I first started in 7mm I modelled the 1950s period and worked in 0 Fine, but the change to pre-Group also influenced my decision to move to ScaleSeven. My initial reason for this was purely due to the profile of the wheels on period rolling stock which always look delicate, almost spider-like, as here. Later I realised the other advantages of ScaleSeven; frames above the running plate were in line with those below, boilers never need holes cut out of the underside to accommodate out-of-scale flanges or treads, and the prototypical geometry of switches and crossings. For the really adventurous - and for that I mean if you like to scratchbuild everything for yourself - S Scale (1:64) is often considered to be perfect, being somewhere between 4mm and 7mm. A couple of pre-Group layouts can be seen here and here. These decisions all suit me and my personal modelling requirements, but here are plenty of lovely pre-Group models and layouts which haven't been built in true-to-prototype gauges. Edit: grammar

Nicely done. It's difficult to tell from the angle of the photo, and it may not be the case, but the headstock ends look as though they might be squared off, whereas they should have a diagonal cut (a little over 4" longer along the top edge of the headstock compared to the bottom edge) as per the drawing of the 3-plank above.

Conversely, rather than impinge on the excellent work of the line societies, if this became a forum for prototype info as well as modelling I think it could be the catalyst for articles and research which would instead benefit the Societies (and make your Journal/Newsletter editors very happy!). It's too easy to be boxed into our chosen pre-Group company when often there's a bigger picture to see, and there is currently nowhere that facilitates that. I've been a member of the GERS for years, but when I started to plan my East London project which encompasses not only the GER but the GNR, Midland, Metropolitan, Great Western, Brighton, South Eastern and Chatham lines I joined some of the other line societies and it's been a revelation to see the crossover of ideas between companies. I found several areas where research had stalled for want of information which was later to be found in the possession of members of another society. Some of that I've been able to run with and has ended up on my blog, but it is of course geographically limited, so perhaps here is an opportunity to bring more into the open and reinvigorate research. Edit: Grammar!

Although not a 4mm modeller, I know several who do model the GE in the various 4mm disciplines, and who would, I'm sure, bite your arm off for some decent wagons. I think the way I'd go about it would be to etch the standard GE underframe (incorporating fold-down axleguards, vee hanger and central cross-shaft support, with the brake lever, brake guard (alternative versions) and optional Monarch balance gear all on the fret), and resin cast the bodies (worth reading the article by Maurice Hopper in MRJ 199) - except of course for the dia.16 open which would also have resin solebars/headstocks. In this way you would be set up for a wide variety of wagons without having to reinvent the wheel each time. Interesting to hear about Widford. I used to play in the remains of Hadham amongst the rubble and gutted box once the coal merchant had finally quit the yard - my grandparents lived a stone's throw from the site. Later I used to walk the dog from Standon north up the line to Braughing or south towards Hadham, always on the lookout for bits I could retrieve. One of the Standon down signal posts came down in a storm in the late 80s, but that was too big and heavy to drag home... but I did manage to retrieve an 1879 GER 2-hole bullhead chair from the formation just south of the bridge at Widford which props open my workshop door. So I'd certainly be interested in any artwork you produce for the Widford buildings which could be shot up to 7mm. As my local line, and despite my current East London project, the Bunt has always been my first interest and Widford was as photogenic as you could get. Somewhere I have plans of the early GER 10' x 10' signal cabins which in the early 1890s were converted to waiting sheds on the Bunt stations - if you're interested I'll see if I can dig them out.

Quite a good 3/4 view of the Monarch gear here. Note the guardless brake ratchet. Here's a drawing of the more usual ratchet: ...and a couple of photos* from a Dia.15 van at Mangapps: And the later ratchet with no guard and a tie-in to the axleguard:

Marcus, if you'd dropped me a PM I'd have seen your request and replied earlier. The short answer is that there is no entry for a dedicated GA of the Monarch door balance apparatus in the NRM listings, however the equipment is included on the GA for the Dia.55W 17ft 10T open wagon to SO M68 of 1910 which is held at the NRM under drawing 16872, roll 587.