Dan Griffin

I have sent you a message mate.

thanks all. I'll stick with ply!

the minimum 'strip' would be 3 foot wide, is that too narrow?

Good evening all. I am planning my new layout. previously I have used ply, but upon repairing my shed I discovered 11mm OSB board. is this ok to use as baseboards? I have never used it before and it seems strong and its cheaper than ply! what are your thoughts? regards Dan

Afternoon all, March pack 7 update, first off, yet another POD vehicle, this time its the monobrake, seen in action in 'Perils of Penelope' and it made a cameo in 'security hazard'. Never used to its full potential in the series, its a quirky looking beast. the silver pole down the middle was supposedly so it could hook itself to any monorail and the jet would propel it along. First off the wheels were constructed and added to the chassis. The main body was attached and the treads added. Finer details like windscreen and jet engine were then added, completing this easy build. The next POD vehicle is the laser cutter, from '30 Minutes after noon'. this is a very small model indeed, very similar to the Thunderiser I built in the last pack. the many small parts laid out ready for assembly. a 5 minute build and its complete. the laser canon moves up and down. yet another very nice little model. The two POD vehicles side by side. The next instalment will focus on the mechanics that make the legs go up and down. I will try and upload those pics tomorrow. best regards Dan

Here e my four Bachmann ones, these date from before the re-tool. 40106, 40074, 40145 and 40125 106, (zimo sound fitted) 125,145 are all repaints. 145 has home made printed head codes made using word and are simply blue tacked onto the Bachmann head code and are easily changed. from dominos, to full on head codes to 0000. it seems to work really well. I do like 40's and have never felt the need to change these. they are well out of my era but modellers license lets them run round occasionally. 106, 125, 145. 145 with changeable head codes. 145 and 125. all four posed on my old layout.

For my money the Bachmann one is the better. The Hornby one is a rehash of the lima model from the early 1980's. Not bad but needs work to bring it up to standard. The Bachmann one is not perfect but the better looking, and running out of the two. as for the Joef one, well the less said the better!

Whilst I was looking into this kit, it seemed that Deagostini had purchased the old Tamara moulding to make it, but unlike the Tamara version that was ready build, this kit doesn't come with the grabs and claws that Thunderbird two had. Below are some screen shots of said grabs, which I am looking at scratch building to complete the build. If anyone can see familiar parts from old airfix kits please let me know, as the model makers were known to kit bash a lot of their models from readily available items. Firstly we have the escape capsule that featured in 'Operation crash dive'. Then we have the claw grab from Day of Disaster'. Then there is this three pronged grab which featured in both 'Day of Disaster' and 'Atlantic inferno', although it differed in detail between the two episodes. seen again later in the series looking slightly different. Any help would be great, until the next update. Best regards Dan

Good Morning and welcome to a belated update on my build. I have been busy rebuilding most of my sons Lego sets for a few weeks so I had two packs to do when I eventually got time to start. This time the build includes several POD vehicles and some more technical stuff with TB2. First off I started with the Excavator, the chassis and wheels of which I had started previous. there is a lot of small fine detail on the vehicle, and the front excavating parts rotate. its a sturdy purposeful looking model. The main body parts and chassis. Some of the finer detail comes on spurs for you to cut out with a sharp scalpel. The cockpit section was a separate moulding. the detail fitted to the body. The finished Excavator. Next up was another childhood dream of a machine, the transmitter truck. This model also had a lot of small parts, and im afraid to say I was so engrossed in building this I took no pictures of the actual build! The transmitter truck parts, the colour is spot on. The finished vehicle. the only niggle I have with this is that the front treads are very stiff and hard to move. I may have to look at remedying this in the future. Also in this build was the outer skin sections, and roof for POD 3. these were glued together and now I have one complete POD. It is awesome. the doors open on both ends and the finish is excellent as is the interior which is loaded with detail. The outer skins were glued to the inner walls. The completed POD. The walls and roof are removable so you can gain easy access to the POD. it also helps when photography vehicles inside the POS. The interior is stunning, even if it does need a dust from being on the shelf! Next up, work started on the working telescopic legs of the main aircraft. The legs are brass and fit over one another. There is a spring and damper inside the legs. The leg supports were screwed into the main section of Thunderbird and the legs gentle passed through. The body was lifted up to make sure the legs telescoped out as they should. The feet were then screwed to the bottom to complete this leg building section. Next another POD vehicle, built exactly the same as the previous two, elevator car number 3 was built. I know have enough to land the Fireflash! Another POD vehicle followed, and this is tiny! The Thunderiser. its small scale is shown next to the 5p. the wheels are cosmetic on this, as they are so small . The last few pictures show the whole progress so far as I am now half way through the build. it is building up into an excellent collection of models, and I cannot fault the quality of the kits. This shows the legs extended and with the landing feet attached. Best regards Dan

I can imagine jim arriving at the pearly gates. Saint peter says, you need 101 or more in 6 darts to win a place behind the gates.......

Its very sad news that Stephen hawking has died aged 76. ever a true inspiration. a legend in his own lifetime. thought are with his family.

As a follower of this layout, who eagerly awaits new pictures, I see there has been no recent updates, I hope all is well with yourself Peter. Regards Dan

I may take you up on that Phil, when I have started work on my new layout, I am in no way knocking what content you have in the mag, just airing my opinion. that's all. I may re-subscribe later in the year, but I think ill leave it for now.

I awaited this issue to have a look at the content. the last couple of issues have been heavily steam based, and this issue is along similar lines. the only article I found of interest was the cottage coach. Now I am not knocking the content of the mag, it is still written well and the picture are good it just not my area of interest, therefore, unfortunately I am cancelling my direct debit subscription. I feel that BRM has reverted to how it used to be, heavily steam orientated and the content is just not my cup of tea. I will go back to buying the odd issue if there is something that catches my eye.

Thanks, i couldn't paste the link from my iphone

This looks awesome. Apologies for those without facebook there is a picture on the British rail old school page 66789 in large logo blue

They were not all flat either, I have one off 31552 which my mum and dad got me for my 21st. and its curved, I assume to fit the slight curve of the body side of the 31

Hooray i found it in WHSmith today. I like the glossy cover, better than the matt finish previously used on the other kelsey railway publications. I have had a quick look and its looks really good, id havebought it for the shot of crewe diesel alone. An excellent mag, roll on issue 2!

Nothing in Peterborough at all. no WHSmiths, tesco or any newsagents., its a shame as I would like a look through before paying £8 for a magazine. I will give it another week and see what happens then.

I must admit that the last couple of issues of BRM have made me question whether to cancel my next quarterly direct debit, the content is good, just not my interest, and I did like the DVD but the last couple have been a bit, slow. I though the Pendon content could have been better, and the 3D mag was a bit gimmicky. I am unsure if a split would work, as content would need to be sourced, it would probably have to go down the quarterly or bi-monthly road, just to justify the quality content. One publication I always though would work as a stand alone would be Rail Express modeller, which is solely Diesel/electric, but again, it would be sourcing content.