Mucky Duck

What a sensational car. Must have been a bit of a hairy experience around Donington as it's quite hilly with lots of fast sweeping bends… which reminds me, remember Cossies at Bathurst, Australia?

I remember that one and what a race it was. Murray Walker doing his usual "Spin, spin, spin!!!" Loved the fact that 5-litre Camaros and Minis shared the track, which made lapping backmarkers quite interesting. One of those Escorts had a 3-litre V8! Shame Crystal Palace is no more, it was a nice little 'town' circuit.

Classic racing. I taped most BTCC and some ETC races back then but haven't seen them in years until those clips. I was also fotunate enough to have driven both Cossie RS500 and BMW M3 Evo road versions. The Cossie was an absolute monster but the M3 was one of the sweetest-handling cars I've ever driven and only slightly slower. Had fantastic, hooligan fun and loved them both.

For me there were two 'Golden' Touring Car eras… both involving Ford vs BMW. The Cossies against the M3s in the late '80s/early '90s and back in the '70s, the mightly Cologne Capris vs the CSL 'Batmobiles'. Unfortunately, it's the same from F1 downwards… they may be faster these days but they don't look half as spectacular.

What a wonderful shot that is Mike! In complete contrast, a lovely close-up of a 16T's 'corner' here . I reckon one has to model in the larger scales to get that level of detail. Does anyone do a model of any of those sludge tenders BTW?

I take it you don't plan to squeeze a camera down there then Ron? Rivets or no rivets, I'm sure this layout is going to have so many fascinating 'hidden' nooks and crannies that will be well worth snapping. It's got to be the most ambitious single-handed project on RMweb, alongside Jim's Birmingham New Street. … and I know how you feel about the Spanish summer heat, it's a modelling time-killer!

I'd go with it being Schumacher even if I think it resembles Adrian Sutil – and you really can't go by their helmets, as Button's looks exactly like Hamilton's, which is clearly wrong.

Thanks Nick. I had expected the Bachmann's to be over-sized but the margin by which the Parkside's are under-sized is a bit of a surprise, even if they do look a bit weedy when fitted to a 20T Brake van.

Glad you like them Mike. I've recently been getting cross-eyed looking at countless pics of 16-tonners but I'm sure I'm just scratching the surface compared with you guys. What I love about the period I'm modelling – 1963-ish – is the huge variation in tones and textures – every permutation between 'brand new' and 'rust-bucket'. At the moment I'm sticking to copying individual wagons that have taken my fancy, making both sides quite different but with roughly the same amount of wear. It will be a while before I can think about the train as a whole, although I have a couple of 'rogue' bauxites in readiness. For me they have also been a good starting point for painting and weathering techniques as there's scope to get it slightly wrong yet still get away with it (I hope). On a different note… Wagon Wheels! Not those huge, fantastic chocolate biscuity things we used to woof-down as kids (some of us may still do so now) but 16T wheel diameters. In the photo, disregarding the bigger flange of the the Bachmann wheel it seems that the wheels supplied with Parkside kits have a significantly smaller tyre diameter. I would imagine that that they are correct and the Bacchie ones are too big. Can anyone please confirm this? And would a 20T Brake van use the same sized wheels as a 16T?

A couple more in progress… a rusty Bachmann and a Parkside that's almost a bit too clean for Mucky stock!

What a band! What a sad loss when Alex died… and now Zal Cleminson is a flippin' cabbie I believe! Jacques Brel's 'Au suivant' (Next) gets a wonderful SAHB treatment, although having just watched Brel's live performance of the original I'm not sure that SAHB's version is better… just very different.

Greed! The seemingly addictive need for limitless power and wealth at the expense of fellow human beings and the environment, to the point of destroying both. Used to be limited to the 'privileged' few but appears to be permeating society as a whole. On a lighter note; An increasing obsession with (usually talentless) celebrities. Those whose only purpose in life is TO MAKE AS MUCH NOISE AS IS HUMANLY POSSIBLE, usually with offensive 'music' emanating from their vehicle/personal hi-fi or their inconsiderate use of the mobile phone. People who let their dogs poop, yet don't scoop! CCTV

Clarkson: The "Dangerous buffoon" now has an honorary degree, so another pie for him! Russell Brand: It goes without saying Liam Gallagher: 'orrible, cocky little prat almost makes me feel ashamed to be a Man City supporter… almost. Three very stale pies for him!

Tony, you've helped, inspired… and made me chuckle! Wishing you a speedy and complete recovery. Ryan

Thanks for the heads up Ian and Craig. What I don't like about the Bachmann model is the glazing and the thickness of the running board brackets (both of which I left alone). The roof is also too thick so I thinned it down and the replaced the rain strips.

Does it look like a tenner's-worth over the current Bacchie though? (Hoping the answer's gonna be an emphatic 'NO', having bought two of them recently).

You bought a bus? To simply drive for pleasure… and were there restrictions on how/where you could use it?

Great find Coach. It was 12 years before I was born but the trolleybuses look the same as I remember them apart from the livery. I also spotted this on the same youtube page, which is more my era and I would imagine you were driving buses by then. Manchester Bus Archive

Thanks for reminding me… Jeremy Clarkson.

This is such a find! The type of attention to detail on every aspect of this railway (such as the bodyside panelling on the Class 27 in the 'other' thread) strikes a real chord with me. Andy, I hope you plan to show a lot more here.

Beautifully and methodically put-together Jon. My only 'spot' is that in the head-on shot, one of the buffers looks slightly askew. Looking forward to seeing the continuation.

Fantastic Mike! And how did you get it to upload so large?

Quality work there BlackRat… nowt like a bit of 'spreading it about!'. Just topped-off my first pair using some of the three-link couplings I bought from you last year! my 16Ts

Just spotted this Richard and there's been a lot of fine work, not to mention perseverance with those kits… and you've made a really good job of them. Building them after 40 years, that's impressive – and makes me feel a little better about the white metal car kits that I haven't touched for 20-odd years!

How could something that's had so much thought and work put into it originally be just left outside for 20 years? Maybe it could have been sold off to a museum… bah humbug, the wastefulness of the film industry!