halfwit

Thanks for the comments and 'likes', as I've said before they're always appreciated. CK - you're quite right, but then the spectacle plates and handrails were both too high, lowering the handrails to the correct height without moving the spectacle plates throws the relationship between the plates and handrails out. Perhaps I should have left well alone... Mark - perhaps you should be looking for a cheap secondhand loco to have a play with! I hope yours wasn't too badly damaged. The same thing happened to me many years ago when my newly finished Nonneminstre Models Hibberd Planet crashed to the floor at an exhibition. The club payed for a replacement model, which was jolly decent of them, and Peter Smith (Mr Nonneminstre) gave me some replacement parts when he heard about the accident. So mine got rebuilt and the replacement sits patiently in the loft awaiting the day I finally get round to building it. Mikkel - now that I've set the handrails to height I couldn't bear the thought of moving them again! Paul.

The smokebox door, like the rest of the loco, needs a bit of work. The first job was to carve away the numberplate, not really needed on an industrial loco..., and the moulded dart. The moulded hinge is huge and ugly so that came off as well, leaving a couple of small pads to mount a length of .025" Evergreen rod on, and for some reason there are rivets on the hinge straps which the prototype lacked so they came off as well. The front handrail is set too high so I filled the moulded holes and fitted a new handrail set at a scale 5' from the footplate; The side handrails are also too high and were also replaced. This was a bit of a headache as of course the holes in the tank sides will be lower than for the front due to the fact that the stanchions sit at an angle. After much trial and error (drill, fill, re-drill...) I've got them about right, although one stanchion is slightly out of place (I'm not saying which one though!). The moral - sort out the side handrails first and fit the front to suit! Note the filled holes marking the old handrail positions. Also seen in the photo above is a replacement tank step, included on the RT Models etch. The moulded step is far too high, it should sit slightly above the boiler centre line. The step is only temporarily in place for the photo, I'll fit it later on as its rather vulnerable. It has a tail which is fitted into a .5mm drilled hole. Gibson short stanchions are used, medium are far too long for this job, and .45mm wire. I also replaced the two short handrails below the filler, again with .45mm wire. I've been using a 7mm scale drawing whilst checking and setting the handrail heights etc. To save lots of complicated maths I use a 7mm/foot scale rule on the drawing then transfer the measurement to the model using a 4mm/foot scale rule. On putting the model back together to see how it looks I've spotted a problem; The handrail should line up with the middle of the curve of the spectacle plate, not the bottom as mine does, which means that I've fitted the spectacle plate too high. I glued it in place as low as I could whilst covering the existing opening. I now have three options; 1. Ignore it and carry on, 2. Remove the spectacle plates, fill the top part of the hole with plasticard and filler, re-fit the plates at the correct height and file away the excess, 3. Put the model away for a few months and do something else until I decide which course of action is best. However, before I make any decision I intend adding some extra detail to the firebox backplate. Some minor detail differences to be aware of if modelling a particular loco: A few locos had the tankside handrails set slightly higher up. I've noticed this on locos built by Andrew Barclay. Two types of stanchion are used, the normal turned type and the straight shoulderless type. Two diameters of smokebox door hinge. Paul.

I've been doing that for years. I generaly keep quiet though unless I feel that the builder can take a bit of constructive criticism, and its always important to remember that you're looking at someones pride and joy. However, I do also wonder if I could do any better, and I wouldn't let a few inaccuracies spoil my enjoyment of an otherwise good layout.

Julia stop telling fibs - we all know thats really a 4mm scale kit... Paul.

Thanks James. As for paint you haven't seen any of my models up close! Paul.

Thanks Mark. The beading is just factory finish, the primer just picks it out nicely. The bunker rear is pure Dapol with the lamp irons and bunker access door shaved off. As for colour I'm tempted by all over dirty black with the number painted on the cab side as the only identification. Paul.

Thanks for the comments (and 'likes'). DW - I do have a copy of the relevant Model Rail - in fact I added it to my list of references in my last Austerity blog entry. I also follow George's blog, his model looks rather good. I wish I could paint as well as him! Paul.

I've been working on the cab these past few days. An RT Models body detailing etch has been aquired which includes spectacle plates and a new cab rear. The first job was to hack out the cab rear and bunker top with a piercing saw; Ready for etched replacements; The back sheet has had its spectacle plates soldered in place and the cab interior back sheet has been folded to shape and had the coal door soldered on. Before I fitted them I epoxied the replacement spectacle plate frames onto the cab front after carving the old frames off. Once the glue had dried for 24 hours I opened up the spectacle plates to suit the new frames; The right hand (in the photo) window has been opened up to size, the left hand shows just how much plastic has to be filed away. Then I epoxied the cab rear and back sheet in place; I used plastic microstrip to represent the cab roof shutter runners and a piece of scrap plasticard for a new bunker top, ready for some coal. Here's the cab after a light waft of primer, its not fixed in place properly yet; I still need to add lamp irons and works plates. Opening out the spectacle plates I think makes the biggest difference to the bodywork, its amazing how much better it now looks. Boiler top handrails and backhead next. Paul.

There is indeed. The drawing that I refered to in the MRC is of a wagon from Kent (exact location unknown) fitted with conventional buffers.

See Model Railway Constructor February 1984 for a drawing.

The pug was 51235 and was sent to Finedon in 1954 to move a rather large 680 ton Ransomes and Rapier stripping shovel, which had been stripped down into managable parts (the jib itself was 104' long!), to BR's exchange sidings near Wellingborough station. The shovel was destined for Blisworth. Source - Industrial Railway Record 142. Paul.

I've fitted the derail beams (easier than it looks), side window surrounds (filigree thin but again easier than I thought), steps and resin filler caps. I didn't use the supplied sandboxes as they were too wide and would interfere with the tails of the sprung buffers so I knocked up some from plastic. The loco now weighs 55 grams, I might try and fit a few more grams of lead in yet. Still to fit are the brakes, but I'll do that while I'm giving the body a coat of primer. A final look at the loco in bare brass before it visits the paint shop; Once this one is sent off to its owner I can concentrate on getting mine running. Paul.