Timara

Afternoon Tony! Thank you very much indeed for your kind words. I was indeed aware of your involvement in what is, as I fully agree, an excellent model at its source. I remain very impressed with the level of detail and indeed clever design of both it and the A2/3, leaving aside the livery issues. I'm already plotting how one might utilise the chassis and elements of the bodyshell to create an A2/1 (for myself). That, however, is a different story and indeed not for here. I think you're almost certainly right about how the cost of one of these to reach this sort of end result, versus a full kit-build, would be vastly cheaper to achieve. The ease by which one of these can be fitted with DCC, and indeed sound, is great, for those wishing to do so. Both sub-classes produced are highly impressive indeed. Once again, many thanks for your kind words. Cheers, Tim

Last pair of natural light photos, showing 60061. Only major changes were paint matching where the original numbers had been scratched away, exposing the black body plastic below, and a new front number with the correct pattern 6. Like Clive, the temptation to say " who's a pretty boy then?" is far too hard to resist... Cue the famous Monty Python sketch..... I'll see myself out.... !

As mentioned above, here are the first two locos basking in the sunlight the other day. 60501 first.... The various changes.... Nameplates have been moved upwards by about a millimetre, new lower positioned numberplate on the smokebox door, correct sandbox fillers and the later lipped chimney. The latter parts came from Graeme King, with new nameplates from 247 Developments. The ejector pipe was also given a joggle where necessary. As for the factory green, which I am absolutely not a fan of, hiding it took a little more effort than usual. As Gilbert mentions above, I followed how Steve 31A did his model of 60505. It very nearly came close to a complete repaint, which I really didn't fancy having to do on a model which frankly shouldn't have needed if in the first place. Anyway, it is what it is! Now for 61619.... By comparison, no way near as much effort required to get the final result. A new smokebox door, from my O1 body (soon to become an O4/8), and additional washout plugs to convert it from a part 2 loco to a part 6. Otherwise, a factory loco without needing renumbering, together with etched plates from CGW. As Gilbert says, there was more to come....

Close..... East Hyde, which is south of there. It's where the Midland crosses the old GN branch. Funnily enough, I retook that shot today, in full sun. Makes a huge difference! Cheers,

A panned shot of 43102 earlier today, bringing up the rear of the 1534 St Pancras to Nottingham; seen between Luton and Harpenden. Intercity revival by Tim Easter, on Flickr

Hertfordshire, county of my birth! I am biased.... (even if the real loco did fall into the Bridlington turntable pit....)

Gilbert, you're a mind-reader. Seeing these pictures myself (reading from newest to oldest, as I frequently do) made me say to myself "I do hope that's coming down here soon; it badly needs work doing!". What's that saying about "great minds" again? For those wondering, it only had, I think, a single coat of Klear on it, which was deemed sufficient at the time. Nowadays, it just won't do.......

Selective colour works sometimes, especially in such dismal conditions such as this morning! Blue Pullman HST heading north near Harpenden. Blue Pullman by Tim Easter, on Flickr

My last of the three locos' worth of outdoor photos.... Very little for me to say about them really! As with 60028, the nameplates were refitted in the correct positions. Indeed it is! They're not too hard to make. All I'll say is "thank you Google!", with regard to finding suitable reference photos. When it came to me for repair, I just couldn't hand if back without the proper whistle, could I?! Cheers,

As mentioned above by Gilbert, here's how 'King's Courier' looks in a bit of outdoor sunlight. Modifications wise, I've had to do a lot to bring it into line with the current RTR standard, which hasn't been without its challenges. The lack of pipework detail at the rear of the smokebox is a big omission in my mind. I've added similar to my various A2 conversions in the past, so this wasn't too taxing. Drilling fine holes into the cast running plate isn't so fun though, but no drills were snapped! I've also added the conduit up to the light on the top of the smokebox, mot least because the original one snapped off somehow. Its replacement was a spare left over from an A2. Anyway, photos... Cheers!

As mentioned above by Gilbert, here is what 60028 looks like in winter sunlight. I did have to reposition the nameplates, since they had been poorly fixed on by whoever had done this one in the first place (some years ago too, I'll add!). A new front numberplate too, since that had also been butchered. Otherwise, this one was the more straightforward of the trio....

You know, Gilbert, I can't help but wonder whether that unidentifyable object in front of the V2 above is something lost off an item of stock or something else altogether! Either way, any idea what it might be and is it retrievable?

N2 for me too, but then I am ever so slightly biased, given I'm modelling a few....

Funnily enough, as each of Gilbert's A4s come in for attention to their factory finish and indeed rework, it's one of the first things I remove! Currently have 'Golden Fleece' here, which has already been shorn of said item. 60013, however, was one of my very early ones, which I did on a site visit. Judging by the fact it's got that dropped-out piston rod, I think it's going to get a little more attention than just the speedo! This all hinges, of course, on when we're allowed any form of non-essential travel again; nobody really knows the answer to that..... (and I'm not going to speculate on that here!)

I'd forgotten I'd taken that! I'll have to take a closer look at my three for cracks, given I'm working on the test builds for the forthcoming High Level kit..... Incidentally, if anyone needs a fully working Hornby chassis (or two!)....

Absolutely! The only time that stuff (with a bit of water added, as active ingredient) goes near a model is if I want to strip a body back to bare plastic.

Thanks Pete! Yes, exactly that. On one or two Hornby locos, I have to be ultra careful with the use of T-Cut, especially my own "Scot", which now needs the entire lining replacing, thanks to it falling off at the mere whiff of the stuff. Had it been a commission, I would have been utterly mortified, so the fact it was my own made it rather less painful, though an absolute PITA! It's another loco destined for Leeds City North. Regarding the regauging to EM, doing a Brit or a Clan involves machine tools; specifically a pillar drill/lathe (in vertical format). Since there isn't a suitable Britannia wheel in 4mm that I like (speaking personally, I'm not much of a fan of Markits wheels; it's a bit of a Marmite subject really....), one is pretty much forced to reuse the Hornby wheels, albeit on new axles. I've cut these from 3mm silver steel rod and then pressed the wheels onto them, though with the axle holes carefully opened out to accept 3mm axles. A time-consuming job, but well worth doing. This is the fourth such chassis I've done this way, having done two Brits for Pete and indeed my own one right at the start (70017 'Arrow', seen a few pages back in this thread), as a proof-of-concept. I've got one more of these to do for the time being, unless I do another one for myself as a GE-allocated machine in the future. Cheers, Tim

So it's about time there was an update on this thread, seeing as I somehow managed to leave it for over three and a half years. My display pic might give a clue to the absence, though in fairness, a lot of my recent work has been seen over on Gilbert's Peterborough North thread in that time. Anyway, here's a Clan, recently completed for Pete Rigby, as part of the Leeds City (North) and Millhouses fleet. I would have liked to have said that it's was a simple rewheel and weather up, but it really wasn't. A few snaps, from both big camera and my phone.... Readers might be slightly familiar with the backdrop, which is my soon-to-return layout 'Auchinraith'. There's a (very) long story as to why it's taken me almost ten years to get it back to being "alive" again, but that's not for here..... Cheers, Tim

Soon to arrive at LCN is this "Clan", probably into platform 5 or 6, with a train from Carlisle..... Cheers, Tim

Lovely to see you both! I'll be honest, this weekend was probably one of the most rewarding demos I've done in ages, more so than last year. Let's just say, the tender of one of the current fleet of pacifics got sorted out nicely. Several of the PN fleet starred in the slideshow on the tablet, all basking in natural light. I'll put up a couple of pics of said locos (as requested a few pages ago) later on... Cheers, Tim

Slightly off-topic.... A quick note to readers of this thread who may well be attending the CMRA show in Stevenage this weekend. I've been invited back to do a weathering demo there, which will include one or two "in progress" items for PN as part of the display. I'll have my tablet with me too, with photographs of various locos which have already appeared in the thread taken in natural light (before delivery!) running as a slideshow. Anyway, just thought I'd mention it... (Over and out!)

Hi Scott, I can confirm that not a single bit of green paint is used in the transformation of these previously lifeless-looking models. When photographed in natural sunlight, they do take on a rather different look indeed. The lighting available to Gilbert in the layout room isn't the best, as has been said many a time. Annoyingly, I haven't got anything of a suitable size (I've tried uploading from my phone and the uploader refuses to play ball, because the images are too big!) to show what some of the last few locos have looked like in said natural light. If it's worth any value in this thread, I'll put a couple of photos up at some point... Cheers, Tim

Hopefully these will suffice! (lifted from page 600, 2½ years ago...) Cheers, Tim

Thanks for your kind words, Andy. Indeed, as Gilbert says, I am going to be demonstrating my weathering techniques at the Stevenage CMRA show next month (12th and 13th), so if you're planning to come along anyway, you'll find me "somewhere" there. I haven't seen the floorplan yet, but it'll probably be where they usually have demonstrators hiding... Yes, very much guilty (as per my avatar). Going wildly off-topic, I've had ten solo recitals up and down the UK this year and next year is set to be even busier, including a trip to Switzerland for a (nicely!) paid one. However, proving that music and trains frequently cross paths, it was nice to see a certain Mr King last week, given it was in his home town of Grimsby. Cheers, Tim

Hi David, It is one of Tim Easter's creations, not kit built, though if I remember correctly he did use etched cab sides kindly provided by Tony Wright. I'm pretty certain that Graeme's castings were used too. It is a few years old now, and Tim has done others since, so I can't quite remember exactly what went into it, I'm afraid. I'm not sure what that is on the cab window myself, so I'll have to ask Tim. It does look like a number, but I can't think why he would have put it there. It's a daubing (presumably by a driver or shed staff) of 50A in the dirt of the window, from its home shed of York; done in the style of a shedplate. I recall finding it on a photo of the real loco during that time period and just couldn't resist adding it to the loco! Hope that helps! Tim