Captain_Mumbles

It think I have seen this. In some photos you can see a distinct shadow although I only thought it was on some of them? Or just the one with the really long baggage compartment? Sorry I don't know all that much about these coaches but I find them all fascinating especially when I find a new one to try and build.

Yep this one is a bit of an odd one. Looks like they were experimenting with some things in the looks department as well as the other things. Its a bit of a beast this one.

I love this 08 ! I never liked diseasels but you've got me wondering if i can fit an 08 somewhere. I know what you mean about templot. Can draw diamonds and crossings like a champion but as soon as I have to break it down into the components to get say, make a large slip (or wide slip for lack of knowing what the real thing is called) I dont seem to get how we end up into the individual pieces and when I do I cant seem to get them to go how I want them to. One day it will just click I hope. Love the 14XX BTW. I want one some day to turn into the little LNER crane. Looks like a pretty close thing to start with. The rubber tyres are off putting though.

I wanted to treat myself to a nice pressie one day and ordered a new tool Gresley sleeping coach and was really disappointed with the teak artwork... what the hell! A pic of the factory artwork versus an old repainted one, and how the sleeping coach looked after painting. These new high detail coaches dont always come apart though and I broke the last two getting them apart. They may need to be kept together and lots of masking.

Another cheap and simple mod that makes a big difference is adding torpedo vents to the roofs. Not many needed on the full brakes or above the luggage so doesnt always take that long either.

I used Game workshop shades like Sepia, the crimson, and the flesh shades. As a light coat to darken it a bit. Then I used wet palette and mixed orange, and yellows, and started painting grains in the panels starting from cold on the outside (darker), and hot going towards the inside (lighter). This looks ridiculous at first but once dry after a few hours, add the shades again. Different panels with different shades, and different intensity to create the checker board look. Gloss clear, satin clear, and flat clear over the top in mottled finish varied between the coaches so they arent all the same. As it goes around the Layout you will get this shiny but also kind of not reflection in the wagon sides that looks great...

I noticed this just last week!!! Dahhhh! I did just pack them up into a box and put them out of sight! However I thought it looked like no lining around the windows. Honestly though I do believe it needs something on that piping, but maybe just a lighter shade of brown/orange to highlight the bead around the window for the sunlight and not bright cream like I was.

Gday! I took it apart this morning to show you the inside. Please keep in mind this is not an accurate P1 it is more or less just capturing the look of it. One, the wheels are a little bit small and the running plate needs a smaller joggle as the running plate doesnt need to clear the very large wheels. In the pics you will see how I closed the splash guard holes. On the real P1 your are supposed to see sky underneath its boiler and you dont with mine due to the O1s motor being there and, my running plate still being a little too tall. You could mount the body a little bit lower by adding less spacers but then the cab goes below the tender sole frame line and so this a balance. You could just go down another 20-40 thou and live with it I suppose. Under the cab needs a new bracket to hold the rear of the shorter O1 chassis. Underneath the smoke box you need to add a few spacers. I did that out of styrene. I used a super detail cylinder block from an A4 (I think) and the O1 motion from memory just went straight in. The rear bogie is the new style fixed type so you just need to chop out the middle and make a new bracket for it to sit over the end plate of the O1's Chassis. The truck wheel just needed something to hold it in a similar way. The front O1 pony truck was just traced onto a piece of brass and a brass extension cut and filed out. This is the TOTALLY BUTCHERY part. I took the Wheels off and swapped the two inner wheels so the crank goes to the 2nd wheel. I copped the crank to thew right length and just drilled the hole. You probably should make a new crank. Like I said, butcherous. I also re quartered them all while I was at it. You could probably use a 9F chassis and it will be easier but the wheels have the wrong look for the Grizzly. Hope that helps. Like I said, not accurate but it was fun to do and I was really happy with how the Grizzly looks with all the 4 wheelers behind it! A very easy conversion with a lot of impact. If you have more than two P1's maybe they need to be numbered downwards???

Gday all! Thompson A1/1 made from a Railroad Flying Scotsman Chassis, and a spare old tool super detail A3. I can't remember which one. It isn't finished. I have still to sort out the valve gear. I went through a few valve gears trying to work it out. I think I used O1 and L1 valve gear parts but I wasnt completely successful and I dont think I will be getting spares any time soon. I am building my second layout at the moment so I have some time to think about how I am going to get out of it. The gentleman at Silver Tay models was kind enough to make me a Great Northern name plate for it!!!

Gday all! I used a questionable Ebay purchase, a Railroad Flying Scotsman as the basis for making a P1. Chassis from a Hornby Thompson O1. Which means that the wheels are a tiny bit smaller, that was the trade off as the chassis pretty much falls into the A1 body. I used the Chassis to make the A1/1 that I hope to share later. The tender chassis is the same but I made new frame sides. The spring detail was cut off an old tender drive tender frame. The tender body is just styrene sheet as I like that it is easy to work with.

Here is some of the progress pics hopefully showing how I got there and a bit of a comparison pic.

One was turned into an extremely brake, brake coach from one of the pictures I found on the Steve Banks Site. Another thing that makes a massive difference is just doing a basic paint job to the interior. You can do a really quick job but it will make a big change to the way it all looks.

Gday all! I get lost a lot of nights on the Steve Banks site and found tranquility in collecting the old teak coaches to modify and paint them. I turn them into brake vans by rebuilding some of the side body detail and sometimes I just disassemble and paint them. Detail specifics aside, the only thing I wish I could change is the window glazing to something more flush but I haven't thought of a way to do that yet. There are a lot of inaccuracies but I think its just for the charm of it all.

You mean that the chairs into the wooden sleepers was durable enough versus soldering to copper clad?

Cheers! I do think I am going to have fictional names and still haven't decided on the scheme. If all goes to plan they will be shunting the puzzle section of the layout for the bigger locos to take the rakes off them and onto the main line.

Mate I cant thank you enough for taking the time to share all that with me. I will use the advice, that OO-SF will be my gauge and will place an order for the 16.2's. If I get to making anything before they arrive from the UK then I might make myself some gauges out of sheetmetal to see if that can get me started. I will admit long crossings and diamonds are getting the anxiety up there but I am hoping that years and years of being a sheety will help me. Looks like I have myself a heck of a project!

I will be definitely doing this if I try spacers and it doesnt work. Further to that idea, I could print the template on sticky paper, stick it to a sheet of styrene. Cut out the sleepers and peel them off. Glue on the sleepers, and there is a semi rigid template that holds everything for me and that could be just glued to the layout. Now I am armed with all these ideas I really want to start cuttting rails and PCB's but the floor panels just turned up for the loft so I will be getting busy on that!!!

Thanks Martin for helping me out with that I am sure that was a case of 'you dont know what you dont know' Still have A LOT to learn with Templot and I am slowly finding those tutorials. I really liked the Templot for the totally confused video. A lot of it for me is learning the terminology and just the names of all those different kinds of crossings and slips. Cheers!

Thanks Martin. I was drawing in Templot using 16.5 DOGAF as it seemed as good as any of the choices to my beginner mind. If I am running Locos like A1s, A4s, P1s and P2s and I now have a blank canvas what would you recommend? the OO-SF? I dont mind re drawing everything as I am finding Templot useful for the late night tranquility. It took a while to get into it but one day something just 'clicked' hahaa get it. And now it is almost an addiction!

This thing is still tiny compared to everything else and I do think you can still get away with it if you decide to use a Bachmann. Remember the Hornby one? I have one of those. I think it might even pass for O scale narrow gauge!

Im working on my plan and the ones I have been drawing on Templot are greater than 7. I discovered the late Gordon's thread and his beautiful work and I don't know why he was tapering the tracks in or out to 16.2 when building turnouts. One of the goals of my new layout is to be able to keep all the bits where a pacific violently kicks is ass out hidden from view so all the visible turnouts will need to be a bit on the longer side and and have nice flow to them.

Sorry for the beginner question and if it has been covered before. Am I laying my track to 16.5 and using Templot set also to 16.5 if I am using Peco flexi Bullhead track and a lot of RTRish A1, A3, A4 Pacifics?

Gday! Starting my new layout and found this thing I made a few years ago. Bachmann Ben cut down and shrunk as much as I possibly could (It is still too large) and have it still working to turn it into something more like the real Alfred or Judy. Pretty much made a new and shortened cab out of sheet styrene. Could still do a lot more to it but I should probably build the layout first. Cheers! Ben

I am going to try and get away with doing the main structural sleepers in PCB material and superficial ones just like you have mentioned if I can get the bits.

That sounds like a good way around it. Hey mate I have just been there and found that! Truly inspiring !!!