Barry Ten

No problem, opinions welcome!

Mikkel - I meant to ask - were those models typically available in Denmark, or was your owning of them somewhat unusual for the time?

I never had the discipline to save up for anything like a locomotive. As soon as I'd gone more than a couple weeks without spending, I'd blow my pocket money on some shiny but relatively low-budget option like a wagon or a new gun for Action Man. Locomotives came at birthdays and Christmases, and the occasional successful application of pester power. Looking back on it, my parents were very generous with their money and I'd rarely walk out of a toy or model shop without some small treat. 

I have a B12 as well, Dave - slightly later than yours, but with on-board sound! Er, by which I mean a bit of sandpaper on the tender! I still haven't found the configuration variables...

Very nicely modelled and observed, Dave - top marks for taking the trouble to get the reins "right".

Thanks both. Yes, I do like a DMU - I've never seen them in a particularly negative light as they were always just "there" when I was growing up and I never associated them with the end of steam or anything nasty like that. Nowadays, the old first generation DMUs with their slam-doors, rattling windows and upholstery smell and growly engines seem entirely of another era. I don't know when the single unit railcar stopped being used on the Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Bay service, but that was the last time I went in a first-generation DMU.

Hi David - I sourced two sets of transfers from this supplier (antwalte) on ebay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/antwalte?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

and one of the listings is as follows:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIANG-Hornby-PULLMAN-X7-LOWER-CASE-OO-GAUGE-TRAIN-COACH-TRANSFERS-DECAL-SPARES/323032130327?epid=600172708&hash=item4b36372317:g:ZtAAAOSw~AVYuzlE

I haven't applied mine yet but they look good to me so I don't anticipate any problems.

I was about to say ... that looks cracking!

Just about room, yes! I rejigged the fiddle yard a bit recently to get more capacity, so I can squeeze in 8 or 9 coach trains if required, and 6 or 7 on the shorter roads.

I did one of these recently and I didn't notice the tumblehome difference - must check. Too late to do anything, though, as I've glued it together.

Nice one - yes, it helps to do the roof stuff first as, when you've fitted the sides, I find that the coaches don't like being flexed too much especially around any joints that have been filled. However, I forget to do this every time as well.

I don't think the Comet instructions are all that brilliant when it comes to the slidebar etches, so I know what you mean about cutting on the wrong line. Some of the rod castings I've had have been shockingly bent, too, although I've got them straight in the end. The fettling is a pain, but I've got a narrow-sided file which just about does the job. I was advised not to fettle the slidebars (other than cleaning up a bit and polishing) but concentrate on the crosshead only.

Do you mean you've cut the crosshead piston too short, or the slidebars?

I've been there, done that with both, but don't throw away the crosshead as it might be useful for another locomotive, if you can't get it to work with this one. I always nibble away a tiny bit at a time until there's just enough to function, and I try not to trim back the slidebars until I'm happy that all is working.

One possible cause of the anomaly might be that the crankpin throw on the drivers is a bit more than was allowed for by the kit designer, so that the crosshead travel is greater. Good luck anyway as I'm sure it will be a cracking model when finished.

The verdict's out on the Mr Surfacer so far, Mikkel - it's useful stuff to have in the toolbox (er, filler box?) but I'm not sure it's the way to go in this case, as it's taking a lot of applications of it to build up the level back to the cabside. The proof will be when I put some paint on. I might have been better off just using the usual toothpaste type plastic filler. Glad you like the panniers, though - you were one of the first to show the 94XX conversion, if I remember?

Yeah, I'm annoyed with myself for not buying one from the 247 stand at the Cardiff show. I kept going back there and it was busy each time, and then I forgot! I know they had a nice Dean chimney. Next time!

That's great, Mike!

I think the Churchward moguls might be my favorite locomotive class; there's something very compact and purposeful about them, to my eyes.

The Bachmann model really needs larger cylinders but other than that they look OK to me.

Layout lighting also has a bearing as well, as well as the vagaries of camera settings. Those two pictures were taken at the same time, using the same camera, but as you can probably see, the rendition of the colours on the bridge is a bit more vibrant in the wide shot. One was done with aperture priority on a tripod, the other hand-held on "auto" mode. I say go for whatever looks right to your own eye, and just as importantly, what you can achieve with readily available paints!

Thanks, Mikkel - that's an excellent picture.

It does give one pause for thought about the correct representation of light and dark stone. Those look closer to the Phoenix shades, whereas I prefer the Railmatch ones. According to Stephen Williams' books, you make light stone by adding white to dark stone, but the hues in that picture look quite different, to my eye at least, with the lighter shade being quite yellowy/mustardy. Interestingly the distant objects, the water tank and signal box, look about right!

Don't joke, Cogirep does have casters!

I thought I was being jammy when I took Cogirep to the Church Village show, a mere 20 minutes in the car, but 500 yards is almost close enough to lay some track and keep the fiddleyard at home....

Nearly the same, the Bluebell one is the version with toplights (also available from Branchlines).

Thanks, Tim. Sorry not to see you last weekend - hope you're on the mend?

I appreciate the comments, all. I'm still waiting to see if there's a fix for the problem. It's not just the big blue wodge of text that's distracting, I miss being able to see the "likes". It might be a touch egotistical but I enjoy seeing who's dropped by and I'll often click on their profile and find myself taken to some interesting modelling I wouldn't otherwise have seen.

I certainly agree that the blogs are refreshingly free of the endless banter and in-jokey stuff that marrs some otherwise very enjoyable threads. Personally if I don't see some actual modelling, or at least a photo, on a thread, I rarely bother reading back through more than a few pages of blather.

Yes, me too. I'm going to give up on the blog after this post I think, as there doesn't seem to be a resolution. I get the impression the blogs are a bit of a backwater these days anyway - it's only a hardy few who ever look at them.

Glad to hear the eye surgery was successful, and good that you can get back into some modelling.