Kenton

Please excuse the ignorance of the subject evidently displayed by this question: Is it not possible to use "modern" laser cutting techniques in pattern making and would this not only be more accurate taken from a good CAD drawing but also possibly cheaper?

Bad news - seems downright selfish IMO I don't see any other reason.

Almost certainly well packed and roped in place. We are not talking BOUT very strong/toughened glass for the period of use 1884 - 1930's The width of the well was fixed though they did have partitions fitted later to reduce longitudinal movement. Their later use for steel plate was probably more appropriate.

The magpie instinct - anything shiny and brassy we cannot resist it even if it never gets built. But you can be forgiven for missing that as this topic has become rather confusing

Most of the Diag.D1 were scrapped in early 1930's. The rest of the Diag.D1 and some of the Diag.D2 were allocated to Port Talbot for steel plate traffic. All the 20ft Diag.D1 were scrapped in Jan 1947. The "odd" wagon of lot361 surviving nationalisation. I don't know the history of this one but I guess it eluded the scrapman's torch by some devious route. If it IS the only yexample I'm surprised that little effort has been made at preservation - preservation politics perhaps. Just read that there was even a one off 6 wheeler ex Rhymney Railway - now theres an idea for Chris at Dragon models

I'm not sure if it looks that bad. Much of it looks superficial just requires effort time and TLC to restore. Should have thought that it is not beyond the realms of human ability to take measurements for a brass kit to corner the market. nudge nudge for anyone with such proficiency and a vacuum of ideas for the next kit ... ;)

The usual reference to GW Wagons (Atkins, Beard & Tourret) contains a chapter (small) on them plus a split drawing of the D1 and D2 Diags plus a photo of a CORAL A No 41722 (c1941) Also JH Russell (Pictorial Record of GW Wagons) has two photos one of the CORAL 41713 and CORAL A 41721

talking about ... I was searching for something else and stumbled over this you might like http://www.time-capsules.co.uk/picture/number700.asp some other interesting photos full of character on other subject .. never did find what I was first looking for

Why stop there ? How about Aberdeen, Dundee (or simply add the various brick/stone sheets? Alos while we are about it - more? tunnels and bridges.

At this rate even Peco will be prototypical one day

cannot you use the excuse that, as with the prototype, the track has been re-ballasted ?

In my opinion and definitely only an opinion I would expect whitewash to be used internally. The reason is simply that these were places where people worked and all available external light would be used. The reflective nature of whitewash would be much greater than the GWR "stone" or any other colour. However we also have to remember that whitewash deteriorates rapidly and especially in smoked or busy use. The white would probably exhibit a distinct fade to grey depending on period since last wash. The ironwork is a different matter. Here the two tone black/dark stone lower and white/light stone upper or even simply grey may have all been possible. Without colour photos it is all going to be speculative. We always have to remember that there was little in the way of "fast" colours available pre-1960's - and pre-grouping most paint mixes were prepared locally to local instructions and poor charts. There will have been plenty of variation. At least with white and black there is clarity. Unfortunately both of these colours "scale" very badly and look stark and unreal anywhere on a layout.

Easy to forget that as we all get older it takes longer for the body to repair itself Glad to hear that you are now recovered.

The photos with the light streaming in through the roof are stunning. Why does this make it look so much bigger than it is?

To put a hand through to unlock the door

Only just come across this - one of my favourite topics... I don't know much about BR wagons, but 130 of the GWR W10 cattle vans were lightly converted for fruit and vegetable transport in 1939 becoming Y10. The "ALE" were in fact for Guiness - originally W1 also converted in 1939 to V10. Most of the ones that were converted were the oddities left over from Lots 464 476 and 651 which had been built with 18ft length. BTW although limewash was banned from use as early as the late 1920's I have personal experience of mixing and using it on the inside of cattle sheds in the late 1960's. I have always wondered how the ban really came about and how effective it was when the stuff was still in common use so many years later.

The tiles look good. But the platform does look dangerously narrow - but I'm still trying to get my head round this scale

so when are you going to automate it like this one (IE Only)?

oops duplicate post

Good to see another convert ... just don't forget to adjust the fulcrum

that method works well - but it is a real PITA to do - good luck

I think you missed one ..... Sorry, just joking - That looks like an interesting kit build and a real pain in the riveting and bending department.

That is an excellent solution as it will also add some visual depth to the viewing side. The other option would be some sort of bridge, but I don't see that working in this scale - the viewer will just expect to see into the tunnel/bridge. This way you could even have a door nearest the viewer partially open/ajar adding even more depth but without letting the viewer "see" through the side panel. What height did you settle on in the end? it does look a bit on the low side - but then if it was too big it would make the whole layout look out of proportion - I understand the dilemma.

It also shows the rain strip location rather well further up the cab roof. But there needs to be some caution - if that is a "restored" example of the prototype. On the "slop" issue - could this be deliberate so that when sold to "normal" users it copes with trainset curves rather than those of us who are perhaps a little too fussy. I'm still praising both Hattons and Hejan for producing what is a fine model ... even if bits fall off in transit

I don't think some wait that long they seem to just peel off the packaging and keep going until there is nothing left to break off. So much for standing back and admiring the efforts of Hejan. I am waiting for the first one to be resprayed in some dubiously authentic livery and to appear on ebay as "RARE" ... and fully weathered of course With all this publicity, I wonder if Hattons have sold out yet? I'm also wondering how many have been sold to RMWeb members?