Timara

Hi Jim, Yes, it is the Hornby one. Although not perfect (it's one of the older "super detail" models), it can detail up quite nicely to a reasonably good model. The drawback for me is that it doesn't quite hold it now against things like the Britannia and Royal Scot/Patriot. The same goes for the Black Five and 8F, though they're cannon fodder - rather akin to Phil E and his DMUs It's a shame Martin Finney never scaled down the 7mm Duchess to 4mm. That was a work of art! Cheers,

I know how you feel Tim. I check the quartering of every single one of mine as no two from the same running number are the same in some cases. It might be worth giving this a try and also checking the return crank for lack of squareness? A pain in the bum of a job, but sometimes all you can do - being 17 spoke wheels (unique to the 3MTs), it's not going to be such an easy one. I have enough problems doing anything with an odd number of spokes like that! I know we shouldn't have to do this on a recently produced model, but that's the price we pay I suppose? Keep us informed - it'll be nice to see 044 finished at Railex, fingers crossed!

Thanks Tom. I'll be interested to see how some of yours would look in natural light outside. Cheers,

Couple more - other side of 'Arrow' and a Riddles 5MT.....

Nope! They're good enough (and fine-flanged enough) to keep . New axles and that's it! Cheers,

Rear truck comes as flangeless . TBH, it doesn't bother me! If it's alright for the likes of Roy Jackson, it's alright for me!

One from me - please excuse the background though!

Hi Ryan, Thanks for your kind comments on the Brit - I think it's come out rather well if I say so myself! As for 45275, yes, that's low sunlight catching the metalcote gunmetal in the way that it should do. My usual mix is matt black, matt leather and the gunmetal. Shade varies depending on what bit I'm doing, so there's no hard and fast rule in force. As it is, I still need to tweak that model a bit more as it's not come out as well as 44800 did. I've since got some new Humbrol 33, so that might have something to do with it! I'll be looking forward to seeing your finished 44890 though - it's been a while since any activity on it! Cheers, Tim

Time I updated this one, thanks to some gorgeous sunlight this afternoon. Arrow first - normal 3/4 shot plus a track level one from next to the tender looking to the front. It looks quite a bit bigger than it really is! I've used some white gouache for the water streaks this time and I'm much happier with the effect. Hard to think this one is portrayed in summer 1961 condition...... Final one of Sir William for now - similar view to the above shot of the Brit. All I need now is a shed-type diorama or backdrop to put in these shots......

Thanks Tone. I'll be on Clutton on the Saturday and on the MRC demos for the Sunday. Should have a brace of Black Fives and the pair of Pacifics for a weathering and modifying demo. Don't need much with me - less is more! Ta Phil. I think I'll start a new topic in Hints and Tips for the lamps and see who else bites. Be good to see how you've done yours. Cheers,

Quick update time.... I'll get some better pics taken after the weekend (if the sun plays ball) but here's a shot of the Brit to whet the appetite..... The lagged pipe for the injector seems to have come out better than I expected. Acrylic white (Vallejo) left to dry and then stippled/dry-brushed with some dirty enamels. Quick one also for Tone - I think this improves the look a little? Took a bit of work to get it right without showing where the join was - all gone nicely. I'll see what the big light in the sky does on Monday (as per the Brit)........ Cheers,

Hiya there Tone, Long time indeed! I'm guessing you'll not be at Nottingham? Maybe see you at Ally Pally? If not, there's always Warley! Yes, that's a very good point well made there. Might also sort them on the Brit that's OMWB right now. A few strokes with a #25 blade might just do it....... Cheers,

Oh not at all matey - certainly see what you mean about the lamps though. Perhaps this is the wrong forum board to make mention of it, but I've long wondered about making a new loop from fine wire and adding it to the Springside ones to see if they can enhance the effect or not. Painting them is another game altogether. Oily rear with a greeny-yellow tinge. Meantime, I've been working on that Brit shown earlier...... Pics later if there's still enough light to play with. Cheers,

Saying that, I'll be interested to see how you've modified the Springside ones...... As aside (open to all reading here), what became of Kenline in the end? Cheers,

Hi Jamie, Sure - they're the extremely-hard-to-come-by Kenline ones. I'd give my right arm to get a load more of these as they are probably the best LMS/BR loco lamp I've ever seen and used. I'll probably upgrade my remaining Springside ones to take optics, though I'm still hunting for more Kenline ones....... Cheers,

Good point Tom! I dare say one can...... What I have sometimes done is use some butanone or slightly less fiery liquid cement to "crack" the paint where the real stuff has had rust try bubbling up from underneath. It's very hit or miss though, from my experience. Not usually found on smokebox doors though, except much nearer the end of steam. Definitely worth using gouache for such things though. The black and white tubes are great for that, with hints of the rustier shades to tone as required. Cheers,

Somehow, I forgot the photo of my chosen 8F was online...... Anyway, here is what I'm aiming for from the 6G website - taken in mid-late August 1961 by Chris Evans. As you can see, it's caked in it. My starting point pre-weathering is below: Wheels, bufferheads and crossheads have been given a base coat of satin black, drain cocks fitted and the pony truck given a serious "haircut" with a hacksaw+dremel. Also thinned the cab roof as it is horrendously thick - left over from the 1980s body tooling is would appear. More anon when I get round to doing this one!

Ah good, thought you would . As an aside, one of the EMUs is due some repair to the paintwork as it's showing signs of wanting to peel off. Good point...... The tender has a printed one on it anyway, which is probably just as well! It'll vanish........

Sadly, yes. The flip side of it is that if I've not been terribly satisfied with the effect on previously weathered locos, I get a second chance at it. I've only got two more Black Fives to which that applies to deal with, which is probably just as well! Ah ha - I shall give that a go, most likely on the 8Fs . Might also do some texture work on the Brit featured earlier. It's gone back into the works for completion of the other side (can you see a pattern already? ) Cheers all!

I could, but given that the life-expectancy of Llandudno Junction is limited to only a few more years, it's not going to happen. The mainline side of things won't be remotely ready by that time, but I still wanted to finish her, because I ran out of time (and lining) at the time Got the new balance weights though and the bogie wheels only need new axles as they are already the final ones. That was one thing I really wanted to get right, given that I'd originally given them a dirty look, which I soon found was wrong (it pays to look at prototype photos properly!). See below for how it started life - this is one of the shots not used in the recent appearance of LJ in Hornby Magazine, thus I can reproduce it here. Comparison shot at a similar head-on viewpoint. Note the cleaner smokebox (Microsol again, plus a cotton bud and some dirty-ish paint). As eluded to early in the thread, I've got an 8F to deal with, though it's not the only EM'd one I have. Knowing me, it'll be both of them, which will suit me as I really could do with them out of the way! Both locos are quite different and will demand subtly different treatments. The Fowler tendered one (48046) is being done from a photo taken by Chris Evans during August 1961 and it's absolutely filthy. The number is barely visible and as for the tender emblem, I know it's there but I cannot for the life of me see it! Might just have to crack the airbrush out for those two.....

Why thankyou kind sir. It's not often I'm satisfied with a weathering job, but I think this one is one of them. One down, two more 'red uns' to go! Incidentally, I'd already mentioned in my gallery posting here that it still needed doing, so you see how long it's been waiting to be finished....... I must admit that I'm still happy for the moment NOT to use the airbrush for anything other than main paintjobs these days. That might change, however, based on the results you're getting. When I've finished doing other locos far higher up in the queue . This one still gets occasional use on Llandudno Junction, at Chris' request! In short, not just yet. I'm still aiming further as I go in this lark. We're all here to help each other of course! Thanks Cheers,

By way of an update, I've finally managed to finish my Ivatt 'Duchess' 46256. Up 'til this week, it had only been finished on the right-hand side, though still fully painted. It now has a full compliment of lining and numbers, plus a completion of the weathering job given to it last autumn. I've also added the missing details in the form of the vacuum pipe along the front portion of the frames and the pair of vacuum relief valves next to the cylinders on both sides. It certainly makes a huge difference to that otherwise empty space. Weathering on this one is a simple one of dirty washes here and there plus a few powders to meld things together. There's very little weathering paint left on it, which is what I was after. In other words, it's clean-ish, but still a working loco. The scrubbed nature of the smoke deflectors seems to have come out better than I expected, given I couldn't remember what mix I used for the other side! I'd love to sort the front numberplate out with white numbers some time or other. I've seen a method elsewhere on the forum that sounds worth going for, but it's a "do I, don't I?" dilemma..... Addition of loco crew and cylinder steam cocks aside, this one is pretty much done.

Speaking with a tongue-in-cheek slant, I'm glad Barca won, if only to get some decent bizjets and charter flights into Luton at the end of May

Please don't encourage him! Honestly, encouragement should be the least of your worries! Entirely agree! See Dave, I told you it was worth doing it in EM didn't I! Looking forward to seeing this one in the flesh soon - good job it's DCC too! Cheers,

John, They look like re-railing jacks to me. HTH,