Gene

I never heard of them either...they have some nice stuff...and located close by in New Hampshire http://modeltechstudios.com/hoscaledetailaccessories.aspx

I always check my 2 local shops in Montreal first...then I'll go to the US stores for North American stuff I can't find locally...MB Klien are excellent as are Tonys Train Exchange and I like MicroMark for tools. In the UK I use Hattons and Howes and if really in a jam I'll ask a certain shortlineing friend in Scotland to help me out. In Canada, for UK outline I've had excellent service from British Connection in Ontario and Britannia Models in BC and Eurotrain Models in BC for German outline stuff. Cheers Gene

I painted mine black...you don't have to take them apart to paint the ends...just use the correct size brush and take your time.

Looks good Jack...might this be leading to an article in MTI soon? on another track have you finished all the work on 149th Street??

Ok Gents,so I've read this thread through 3 times and I'm understanding now that the consensus seems to be it is an excellent model based on diagram N16, they were usually run in passenger trains and that the ends of the GWR brown versions should be black...is that correct??? Cheers Gene

Nice...very very nice indeed!!

That looks really cool...I would never have realized it was a kit-bash....GREAT WORK Michael!!!

Looks great Michael...I really like your signs...any chance of a tutorial on how you make and apply your signs??? :D

Nice...these kits look like a lot of fun to build and paint...much different from plastic kits I think.

True...and they too are pricey compared to UK or US locos

Geoff...I knew the economics of it and understand why the cost is higher and don't get me wrong, I'm not saying its unjustified or ranting on Austrains ....but at the end of the day its still pretty expensive for a non-sound loco IMHO.

Those Austrains r-t-r locos are very expensive 269 UK Pounds for a non-sound DCC steam loco seems a bit pricey to me

I was able to get the coal load out without any cutting...just unscrew the 2 screws and unclip the tender body from the chassis, then you can insert a small rod/toothpick/screwdriver into the small hole under the coal load on the inside of the body and just pop the load off.

That looks really good...are the rods and chairs from a kit or homemade?

Cap'n...your last sentence sounds like a good plan....and you can always increase the grunge factor at a later date if you think thats what is needed....

Well my order arrived today and it was well worth the wait. These figures are very detailed and the castings are crisp and clean...now I just hope my painting skills are up to the job Cheers Gene

It looks so good that I have to keep reminding myself that its N-scale...truly amazeing work!

LOLOL...I built the exact same overhead crane last month for my clubs' layout....I think I have 2 more sitting in my stash!

Gents...interestingly I just recieved an email from Richard at Dart Castings apologizeing for the delay in my order and informing me that my order was shipped today...so all is well Gary if you're phone call was responsible thanks very much. Cheers Gene

Brinkly/Nick..I did wait longer than the 21 days Dart requests days before trying to contact them, more like 30 days...and their phone # on the website seems to be out of order. Normally orders from the UK take 4-10 days to reach me once its been shipped from the supplier. Believe me, I understand they are a "cottage industry"...but I am a bit concerned that they haven't replied to my emails asking the status of my order, which they have been paid in full for since June 12th. On top of which, when they confirmed reciept of my order this was included: "Please allow 21 working days for us to dispatch your order. We are usually much quicker than this but we do sometimes run out of parts or have to cast items especially. If we are going to take longer than this we will contact you."

Gents, I'm wondering if anybody on this forum has made any purchases from Dart Castings/ Montys Models in the past month or two? I ask because I made an online order with them on June 11th and received confirmation that my order had been received and the Paypal payment was completed also. I still haven't received my order and my e-mail queries are going unanswered, which is starting to give me some concern. I understand that its a smallish business and the folks that are involved have real jobs but not replying to customers emails is not on. Does anybody here have any knowledge as to the situation at Dart? Cheers Gene

I haven't posted in ages so here's an update.I've been spending quite a bit of time playing with sound-chips for my locos, working on a section of the club layout and trying various weathering techniques. On the sound-chip front I've installed Howes sound chips into a Bachmann Pannier Tank loco, 2 Hornby GWR Flying Bananas, 2 Heljan Class 33 Cromptons and a Bachy Class 108 2-car DMU. They were all quick and easy installs except for the Pannier...that required a bit of chopping and cutting but really it was pretty straight-forward also.I'm very impressed with both the sound quality of the chips and Howes' service. My local club, The British Model Railway Club of Montreal is building a new exhibition layout, called Allingham, after the last UK WW1 vet who just passed away. It's not modeled on any particular prototype or area but I suppose one could say its an amalgam of SR,GWR and BR(W) practice. I adopted a section that has a fan of 3 sidings and were we decided to put an industrial warehouse. So I built a warehouse useing DPM parts and various bits and pieces...I know, I know DPM are US HO prototype and scale...but trust me it looks pretty good...or so the British born club-members tell me. BTW...the name on the warehouse is in honour of one of our club members, Hugh Rowland, who passed away about 2 years ago. A sweeter guy there never was and he is sadly missed by all. Weathering...I've always been a fan of weathering, ever since my armour modelling days over 35 years ago. Up until recently I've basically restricted myself to useing powders, washes and dry-brushing enamels and some acrylics...until I ran across a couple of web-pages and a particular book that is. The web pages are: http://site.scratchmod.com/Home.php http://www.modeltrainsweathered.com/ and the book is Done in a Day by Pelle K. Soeborg These are great resources for weathering info...the modeltrainsweathered.com page requires you to register to access all the info but its painless and well worth it. Rich Divizio, the page owner, is a heck of a great modeller and very helpful, as is Rob Ferreira, the owner of the scratchmod webpage. So, useing advice and info from these 3 sources I got some oil paints, some gouache paint and an airbrush and have been playing around with the various techniques that these guys refer to. Needless to say I've been using cheapo old freight cars to practice on...well until this weekend that is ) I want to have a derelict, rusty, old loco on the club layout...so I used this technique http://site.scratchmod.com/Part_I___Rusty_metal_pla.php on an old Hornby Terrier....and I have to admit that I'm very pleased with the results, especially considering that its my first real attempt at using oil paint and this particular technique. it's not as red as it seems to be in the pics...I promise!

We don't see Heljan rolling-stock in the stores here in Montreal, I'm curious if anyone can let me know how these Class 33s run? quiet/noisey? smooth/rough? good slow-running?? I'd really like to order the West-Coast ones but haveing no experience of Heljans locos I hope I can get some insights from the gang here at RMweb. Cheers Gene