Horsetan

I am just surprised the Hattons 14XX ran so badly, we have one and it is runs extremely smoothly throughout the speed range. ...

Maybe he got one which was rejected by someone else?

I think that this reinforces my view that DJM designed models deliberately to discourage any tampering with them. This started with the Beattie Well Tank.

"Celibrate"? That's almost Catholic....

It's all about hybrids.

I don't think that was the same etch at all (it was a private commission and may have been just the valve gear) but the MRJ in question is no. 59:

That valve gear was privately commissioned from Malcolm Mitchell. At the time I did ask whether it was possible to buy a fret from him, but he told me it wasn't his to sell!

When Dave and Sheila King ran PDK, I rarely had a problem buying things like chassis frets out of their full kits but they didn't half know how to charge for it! I don't know if Paul Hill (who produced almost all of Crownline and PDK's full kit artwork) continued that policy when he took over.

That said, the valve gear has always been a bit basic, and I'm not surprised you opted to use the Finecast effort here as it was drawn by the late Alistair Rolfe and has absolutely everything in it.

There really is nothing quite like sheet metal.

It shows up the right way here. I suppose that is exactly what an Australian would say tho...

Still upside down here. Sorry. But keep it like that; it gets people thinking.

Ingenious. Especially the upside-down paddle at the beach.

.... Mine was bought 2nd hand built to P4 and there are issues with the chassis, so I am thinking about unsoldering the spacers and rebuilding it to OO for use on Brent.

You really seem to have a love-hate relationship with P4, eh Rich? In turn, if you don't need your used P4 spacers, could I also be cheeky and ask to take those on? Seems a shame to waste them.

..... Perhaps I should seriously consider acquiring an RSU.

I've got two in the attic, but I can't remember the last time I used either of them. Force of habit means I do all my soldering with nothing more than an Antex 25w.

Very nice.

Remember when Israel used to turn out a decent song, good enough to win:

That's a really nice rendering of the characteristic planking.

Maybe one day we'll see the full-size coaches running again.

You might want to ask CSP Models if their 1361 and 1366 kits are ready for release - they might be able to supply you with a chassis pack.

What does the bare chassis look like?

If it's got Slaters' name on it, then it's probably circa-1991/2

Some very heavy sarcasm in this one.

DO NOT PAINT!

Ah.

I really must have another go at Draftsight.

Don't Finecast offer the tender axleboxes as spares? Or are they cast as part of the outside frames?

I did wonder about having a PDK/Finecast hybrid just like yours, but concluded that it was an expensive way to get there. I've just stuck with the standard Finecast spec, as that kit was going cheap at the time.

Any idea what these are for? I can’t find them in the instructions....

Piston valve chest covers for the front of the cylinders? Any mention of those in the instructions?