acg5324

The new normal I believe.

I had a bit of a play test with a Motorail train, uncoupling and shunting……not a roaring success. The West Hill magnetic couplers on the Carflats keep derailing the wagons so I’ve reverted to Rapidos between wagons. The Dapol easi shunt at the end of the rake kept coming uncoupled, spring missing…and what a PIA they are to replace. I then realised I needed something to shunt the wagons, so the 08 was dug out. This looks like it could do with a wheel clean as it was a bit spluttery but at least I completed the sequence.

The err fresh stripper finally did its job, not without some help. So I now have four bits to glue together in lower and upper pairs.

….and the real Rowntree loco

Sunday saw us having a good old chuckle at City Screen in York. Wicked Little Letters. Watching Olivia Coleman, Jessie Buckley and Timothy Spall mouth a tirade of expletives…..very funny. The film is based on a true story from Littlehampton although largely filmed in Arundel and Worthing. https://fb.watch/qsHdN1E8Il/?

Three of the four bits of the bus are out of their bath in paint stripper……and nicely clean. The fourth bit, the cab etc, the red paint has barely budged, very odd. I’ve refreshed the stripper! I’m sure there’s a punchline there!

If I’ve time 31 and 37 will gain pipes at one end prior to the York Easter show.

Yorkshire area NGS meeting today…it’s 28th birthday…so there was cake!…..no candles. I took in a selection of locos and wagons to weather.

A furry interloper at Olympia last night, one of two sound fitted class 14s being tested for the shop……and successfully so.

The “Civils” have revisited and hoovered up the debris!

No, the black paint trick should be fine. I do add glazing to the rear platform window which ODC didn’t fit.

Seems like eons ago I made a London Transport RML bus out of two Oxford Diecast RM,s……..so I’ve just started to make a second. As you can see it’s nearly finished and the joint is very well disguised……..not! The interiors have now also been cut to fit. The Diecast quarters are currently in a foil container being basted in paint stripper, then it’s a hour at 180C or Gas Mark 5 before serving. I might have made that last bit up.

I’ve got to submit it by January 2025……so sometime in the summer I guess Grahame.

I’m now signed up for two more books with Amberley Publishing. The first one will cover the BR/SR loco classes so 09, 33, 70, 71, 73, 74, again largely 1970/80s. The second one will be a ScR revisit as that has been the most popular by far of the ones I’ve done so far……again 1970/80s. I've sourced most of the images for the SR one, just trying to find some more c71/74 ones.

Got the yard lighting tower fitted today. It has a brass rod glued to its base to make it removable……and it’s pretty well vertical too!…shame the ‘Civils’ didn’t tidy up afterwards!

Finally got a roundtuit job done. The remaining blocks of Kingsway Models Georgian townhouses have been sans chimneys for a couple of years or more……not anymore!

I’ve now done two body shops with the current sound fitted class 47, one in VT and one in RES livery. The first swop went without a hitch, body and tanks to give 47555 a voice. This was I think a second issue 2011 body. I’ve just put the body off 47035 which is a first issue 2008 body on the latest 47 chassis and found a couple of anomalies…….with the lighting. When moving forward the drivers side tailamp is illuminated white and at the rear only the near side tailamp is illuminated. Changing direction and the same happens. Putting another second issue body on the chassis and the lighting becomes correct. The only difference I can see between the bodies is a subtle change to copperish plate above the light guides which are identical.

After gluing in a couple of sets of uncoupling magnets in the Motorail terminal on testing I discovered I’d miss placed them by about 5cm! They are now in the right place waiting for the glue to set. Testing the magnets also showed up another missing DCC buss feed….two in fact……now rectified.

Rowntrees……..I think it’s full of Yorkies.

The NGS VDA van kit is now complete bar weathering.

A bit of work over the weekend got the rest of the canopy uprights attached. Just some more weathering to complete it.

The platform canopy is 99% complete now, just four sets of uprights to fit…..and some more weathering to the roof.

….and finally on this very wet and dreary day….I carried on with the platform canopy until I ran out of Evergreen strip. Hopefully some supplies at work. The first couple of the supports have also been built and some brass rod attached to fit them into the platform.

The VDA van has had a squirt of primer followed by some filler to fill a few defects in the roof. The underframe has been sprayed Matt black too.

Magnetgate episode 3…Stephen’s suggestion to orientate the magnets either side of the rails and parallel too them has worked well. I’ve pushed the stock along and it has worked every time. I’ll put some ballast around them and blend them in to the rest later.