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By the way sorry Tim I know you love the livery

Me again , , unfortunately I got stuck in and didnt take too many pictures while doing the 37 - but the jobs already done include lowering the loco onto its bogies, and also narrowing the bogies so they don't stick out beyond the lower edge of the body. this is done by cutting the bogie sideframes off with a hacksaw , and then glueing them back on - the thickness of the saw cut brings the bogie sideframes in just the right amount. The small pipes that run to the brake cylinders on the bogies are moulded plastic as supplied on the model and are therefore quite chunky - on the real thing these are very small pipes and describe a distinctive 's' shape as they run into each brake cylinder - so I've had a go at modelling these with some fine wire - and also added the missing cable to the axlebox: looking now at the noses - the real 37248 has its high intensity headlights mounted lower down than most 37s - a feature that wasn't really practical (cost wise) to tool up for the model. Ive removed the existing headlight and added Replica headlights in the correct position. Ive also beefed up bachmanns rather flat headcode box with a thin layer of plasticard and a Shawplan etch to represent the 'shallow' panel welded onto the headcode boxes of this loco. Before fitting the shawplan panel i've soldered two top hat bearings into the holes , and will then add the etches for the marker lights frames over the top. The reason for adding the bearings is they add a bit more relief . You can also see I've started cutting out the windscreens too - as these will be getting the shawplan laserglaze treatment shortly. The odd mix of buffers is prototypical - and a nice feature of this loco. The buffers are an oval Hornby class 31 buffer and eliptical Hornby class 60 buffers. Next job now is to get the new windscreens fitted - tfn Jon

Good evening - Sorry for taking so long to reply - thanks for reading Colin - the Sergeant couplings are great little bits of kit - at the inner ends of the GUVs they are mounted in Kadee draft boxes - so the box is the limit of the swing of the coupling - I'm not sure how that translates in terms of a minimum radius (as I've not got any curves on my layout!) - you don't have to mount them in a draft box , so they could swing much further if required. In the case of the 'Tightlock' sergeants , there is no movement between the coupling heads themselves once connected - so that has to be considered if your looking at running on sharp curves - they effectively form a solid 'bar' between the stock. Best thing is to order a pair and have a play - they are fun , though for something like a gangway fitted emu they might be a pain - as you need to be able to hold a magnet above the couplings to unlock them - or turn your stock upside down! I've not tried to remove the film on fox transfers - as I think they are screen printed on top of the carrier film itself. If the film was visible then I would reach for the Kleer instead! I have been busy (a little ) in my absence , working on a class 37 - Model Rails Ltd Edition West Coast 37248. I've had this loco ages but its taken a good few months to pluck up the courage to start hacking it , as I like it too much. more very shortly! tfn Jon

Good evening Ian - The bogies on the Bachmann Turbostar/class 166 would be almost perfect for the 325 - a far better moulding than Bratchells, minus the steps and with the sway dampers but - Its not the cheapest way of doing things as you have to buy a 3 car unit as a donor . Im not sure if Bachmann would supply six mouldings as spares? I recall a pal of mine asked for some but they wouldnt oblige. I used the Turbostar bogies on my 319 . Here is the original Bratchell bogie: and the turbostar/166 replacement with a few mods unfortunately the sway damper arm isn't quite accurate for the 325 - or the 170/166 for that matter but its a vast improvement. tfn Jon

I was thinking that too! - Napier Terrace ? jon

Hi - thanks Ian! - the sleeper coaches will be in the current First Scotrail Livery - Precision do a set of transfers intended for the mk3 sleepers that can, , with some carefull cutting fit on the mk2s.. tfn Jon

Hi Will - the cost of the frames and the glazing does mount up - I think its possible to save a few quid and combine the frames with the existing glazing - mounting it more flush - the shawplan frames hiding the prismatic edges of the glazing. I have a feeling Jim Smith wright has done this on his ... tfn Jon

Evening same here - id love a decent set to model the Night Riviera - I think the walls are slowly closing in on the 'air cons' by deduction there cant be much else left... Some more mk2s ive been working on that might be of interest: These are coaches for the current Caledonian sleeper - a BUO and RLO . The RLO is a simple conversion , requiring a FO coach and filling in some of the windows. The BUO uses an SO - with the doors from a BSO spliced in , and again some windows filled. All the raised window beading is removed in stages with wet-n-dry , and the inner edges of the window apetures filed so the glazing will fit from the inside. The two coaches - RLO nearest the camera BUO furthest - at this point i hadnt spliced in the extra doors for the BUO yet The doors added and adjacent 'half' window filled Shawplan frames added , with Zap-ca - the roof hatch has also been changed for a southern pride etch. will add some more piccies of these soon tfn Jon

Good afternoon - the Glazing is from shawplan as well - it is designed with the 'cut' edge on a slight taper so the the glazing peices push into the existing window openings from the outside of the coach.- The fit is quite precise. The window openings are slightly tapered themselves - so the glazing can only be fitted from the outside. The etched window frames are to scale and have a smaller opening in them then the bodyshell does - this means that if you use the frames , its no longer possible to fit the glazing from the ouside of the coach - as it wont pass through the etches. Instead the glazing had to be fitted from inside - and so before fitting the etched frames the coach needs all the window openings filed out , to remove the taper on the bodyshell I mentioned previosly. Its a fair bit of work the first time round , but after doing a couple of coaches its quite easy , and the results are great - the trouble is such lovely glazing and window frames sort of highlight how toylike the rest of the model is. tfn Jon

Good evening - if your converting it to P4, I assume it wont be running on particularly sharp curves - so have you considered moving the bogie sideframes up to line up with the wheels correctly - while the model is apart? Two quick cuts with a razor saw per bogie - and re-attach with a little block of plasticard. It makes the stance of the model look miles better - and would look even better with closer to scale wheels. tfn Jon

Evening - Not much progress to show on the barriers unfortunately - Ive been adding lots of warning flashed to them - so they dont look much different to the previous photos. While I had the transfers to hand I've finished off a Pullman Mk2 - which has Shawplan window frames and new Glazing. Just needs lowering a little - and one more grab handle has been fitted since the photos were taken (can you spot which one i forgot?) There aren't many transfers available for modern Pullman/VSOE stock, which makes modelling/finishing hard work sometimes. In a case of the BSO here I've had to improvise with some of my transfers. Tfn Jon

Perhaps provision for the High Intensity headlights that 1015 has in its(former) headcode box - which I think looks pretty snazzy pretty pleese jon

As mentioned by Paul . I use the masking tape method to 'grab' the corner of the carrier film on Modelmaster stuff - its best to pull the film right back on itself so you don't lift the transfer itself off. If applied to a good glossy surface you can peel the film off no problem after a couple of hours - though smaller transfers - things such as number sets I leave for a bit longer. TFN Jon

Hi - Thanks for your comments - Ive been working on a smal Western Region layout that was meant to be run as BR steam Era (I just have a coupe of Panniers for it ) but Ive popped the 22 on there tonight and I think it looks just at home - apologies for a very very rushed photo though ! TFN Jon

Good evening - Finally got some worthy progress to show on the barrier vehicles ... Jon - Yes certainly the fine needle on my crescendo would be great for doing a whole bodyshell - I don't often use the fine needle much though as the medium needle will give a very nice fine spray pattern , providing you know just how far you can thin the paint without destroying it . I prefer to spray even the smallest things - such as the cantrail stripes on the barrier vehicles , as I've never got on with transfers , and then of course the fine needle is great as you use much less paint! I've been asked to demo at Scaleforum this year - so maybe I should bring some painting/airbrushing 'kit' along as I'm asked about it a lot. I've made a start on transfers now - Still have a lot more warning flashes to put on all over the place The EWS branding is Fox Transfers - normally I prefer Modelmaster as you can remove the carrier film , , but Fox use a slightly pinkier shade of maroon for their lettering and that is a better match for the faded shade I've painted the bodyshells. Sergeant Tightlock couplings fitted in kadee coupling boxes. Insert Networker here: tfn Jon

Not sure if some of the finer moulding detail would survive - Thats the thing , the bodyshell has some lovely delicate detail on it - but its lost in the matt paint finish anyways enough moaning - heres my effort at some weathering

This is a lovely collection of stock youve got coming together - I think N gauge is by far the best way to model modern 'Clay' . The all important CDA hopper is far better represented in N than in 4mm The little peco CDA is still one of my fave wagon models. Look forward to seeing your PRAs - im very jealous! tfn jon

Ditto - and of all the things, a retooled bit of the interior isn't going to get me to change my mind and open my wallet open i'm afriad - The solid compartment walls didn't even come into my decision not to buy one . The cabs - and the fact they do not look like a VEP being much more of an issue. Just as well there isnt an SWT version in this years line up! tfn Jon

Well ill be amazed if he can resist the Hornby 42xx and 72xx