Mark

Looking promising. One issue apart from the rivet tears across the top of the front is the footplate above the cylinders which should extend slightly beyond the curves of the footplate either side to leave a characteristic edge. However reading the text this is already in the upgrade list! The handrail around the cab window has an additional support under the corner radius. Another feature that everybody misses is the position of the boiler band bolt on the leading band behind the smokebox which is around the 7-8 O’ clock position looking rearward. The boiler band bolt on the top of the second band back from the smokebox appears to have been moved there in BR days. Early pictures don’t show it. I suspect it was originally at bottom dead centre. The ATC conduit looks a bit odd at the mounting brackets. No doubt more things will come to light!

Why not paint some on a white base and leave it for a few weeks to see what happens. You could accelerate the process by leaving it in UV light. Mark

I ordered d7666 to renumber as a WR machine for the early 70s with the original exhaust. The air brake pipes will also need to be removed as all the original batch in Devon and Cornwall were vacuum braked. Mark

The Mainline Manor and Mogul had two screw link couplings for the front. One hung up and the other hanging down in the accessory pack so I would suggest they were first 40 years ago. Mark

Is this on DC or DCC. There is no mechanism short of a high resistance short in the tender that could reduce the motor speed. Mark

Typo D7666. Slightly less of a beast!

Ordered D6666 with all the bells and whistles last night after a detailed discussion with Phil about Exhaust roof panels suitable for one of the initial Laira allocations in the early 70’s. Just need to remove the air brake pipes and renumber it when it arrives. Mark

The only oval buffers I have seen cast are the retractable types used on coaches which probably experience less wear than those on locos because they aren’t doing anything unless they are at the end of a rake. It is probably much cheaper to replace the head than to have to cast a whole new buffer and shank assembly. Mark

This could be done as an aftermarket detail for those that want it. It shouldn’t be difficult to achieve by making a disc with the rivets on to slide over the rear of the buffer shank and bond to the rear face. Then just a case of dressing it in. Mark

Seem to be missing the fire iron tunnel on the left hand side. Mark

Thanks. Mark

Looking excellent. I have no use for one of these whatsoever but I ended up ordering one last year. I am sure a special to Plymouth could be contrived in the early 70’s! One observation is the pickup material is quite visible above the bogie frames. Is there any intention to chemically blacken these? Mark

I would go for the large prairie personally. Apart from the QC issues with the 47xx there are some pretty basic errors in the model. Mark

Drawing issue no doubt. These things are quite easy to miss! The number of times early in my career when I did a design got it perfect on the screen and then watched all the mistakes present themselves as I watched the A0 printout! Another quite noticeable item is the overhang of the footplate above the rivets which is missing in this iteration. Mark

Nice that you have captured the bevelled edge on the hinge. I had to write a CNC program for mine.

Yes this is what I normally do. However the sort of items model related are unlikely to be sold by none uk based sellers. It just struck me as odd that there were a lot more people away than usual and I wondered how many of them were in second homes in other parts of the country! During the first lockdown I cancelled the listings I had because I wasn’t sure about being able to post in a reasonable time. Mark

Has anybody else noticed the number of UK based EBay sellers who are away until a date a few weeks in the future? Given the country is in lockdown where are they? Mark

One option to limit the side movement on the bogie is to allow more side play on the leading driven axle so the loco takes up a chord between the bogie pivot and the rear axle around the curve rather than a chord between the leading and rear axles causing an exaggerated overhang at the front. Agree though that some compromise is necessary to accommodate the wider market and with 00 there is the built in benefit of the narrow gauge giving wider clearances. Personally the clearances with the cylinders and slide bars are not a huge problem but for conversion to P4 the clearance inside the splashers is the most difficult to resolve and that is tight on the etched kit already so making an injection moulded splasher thin enough could be difficult without a high rejection rate. Mark

Here is a picture of a P4 Mogul. Clearances are tight in P4 but to be honest I think it would be quite difficult to achieve in a ready to run model and achieve the finesse of the cross Here is an image of mine from above giving some depth to the slide bars. These are etched and fabricated so the assembly method may not suit mass production so it would come down to casting tolerances.

Good luck with navigating the minefield of variations! I will certainly be in the market for one. Mark

They will need to be careful with the firebox. On some the mid boiler band is centred over the upper middle washout plug on the right hand side like 7826 on p51 and 7801 on p74 of the Lawrence Waters book and on others it is just in front of the middle plug as on 7806 on P67 of the same book. No doubt boilers were swapped around! Mark

Here is my Mitchell work in progress!!!!!

I had a go at printing clear resin for windows a while back. I then got some thin clear unscratched plastic sheet similar to the stuff they wrap around chocolate cake which has a very smooth surface and brushed some resin on it. I then placed the printed window on it and gave it a blast with a UV lamp to cure before peeling the plastic off. By using the same resin the refractive index is the same so all the rough surface from the print vanishes and you are left with a perfectly clear window with no prismatic effect. I haven’t had much time to follow this up and was worried about the resin yellowing over time so I haven’t used the parts yet or done any more. Mark

Or perhaps those who are disappointed consider that the model does not capture the fundamental shape of the prototype. Back on topic my 94xx has just arrived courtesy of Derails. Mark

I regularly use the tool clamp for parts less than 1mm wide. The working gangway below required the tabs and etched cusp removed and the only way to do it without distortion was with the tool makers clamp. Mark