SRman

The motor bogie design is adapted from existing tooling and materials so still boasts a 'skew wound 5 pole motor', like the 4 VEP and 5 BEL units and also all the other variations of ex-Lima locomotives. Bear in mind that the Brighton Belle was listed originally as having sprung buffers - it doesn't! I hope the BIL will have the sprung buffers as this will assist greatly with close-coupling units in multiple. I don't think this is such an issue for the Belles as not too many people can run two of them in multiple (ie 10 cars). First one to receive their unit(s) is to report back here!!

Excellent customer relations, Dave. That plus the sheer quality of the models now being offered means you deserve every success in your ventures.

May Bach get you for that, Ivan! The Model looks very good. Not sure I can afford one on top of all the other goodies due this year, including the Dapol class 73, which should be to an equally high standard.

Just for a little fun, I took a few short videos (using my phone) after working on my friend Doug's number one son's Bachmann class 25 and my own Hornby 4 VEP. The 25 had a problem with stuttering when the horns (F2 and F3) were sounded but only if the engine sounds (F1) were on at the same time. Cutting a long story short, I eventually had to reset the decoder then reprogram the loco number and alter the volumes (master volume on CV63 and the volume settings on F2 and F3). While I had the 25 body off, I enclosed the existing factory speaker with some Blu-Tack to form an enclosed sound chamber. It is seen in this vid in tandem with my modified Bachmann class 24 with Howes' sound and bass enhanced speaker. The 25 and 24 are being driven in tandem as I wasn't bothered creating a consist for such a temporary lash-up. Also circulating was my Hornby blue 4 VEP, in which I have now modified the seating unit for the first class in the trailing driving coach (as it relates to this video). The corridor side now has see through windows from the compartments! Obviously it was a preserved railway train!

I love your house number display, Judge Dread.

Ditto all of the above! Very nice, N15.

Since most of the remaining painting required will be by brush, I decided it was time to add the buffers, after first painting the buffer beams and shanks red. There was a minor disaster when I dropped one of the sprung buffers and it fell apart on the floor. I fished around with a torch for extra illumination for a while and eventually reunited the buffer head, shank, spring and tiny retaining screw! I do have to check to see if that rear buffer beam should be red for its entire depth or only for the bit up to a level with the tops of the buffer shanks. One buffer seems to have drooped slightly so I'll have to reseat it before I'm done. There is still a bit of filling and filing/sanding to do but overall the painting can proceed apace. I even started a little of the weathering finish, with dark grey (Humbrol #67) darkened with a little black painted on to the cab roof, smokebox and footplate. Oh yes ... and I have filed down the outer sides of those 8F cylinders a bit. p.s. The roof is glossy because the paint is still wet!

There was a Midland maroon 47 (Lima issued a model of this, I think) and very nice it looked too. The livery you are suggesting, Bruce, might partly resemble the application I did on my Hymek, earlier in this topic. When it is a fictional livery, there are so many possible variations on themes: should the cab window surrounds be a contrasting colour? Should there be a relief colour band or block? Should the roof be a different colour? ... and so on.

Value for money always comes into the equation. At full price I wouldn't buy any. At decent discount prices I succumbed and bought two!

The only way to learn is to try it yourself. Start off with something that doesn't matter if you mess it up, like a body from the scrap box and progress from there when you feel you have gained sufficient skills to do it properly to your satisfaction. We all had to start somewhere and I'm positive that everyone on these forums will have their tales to tell of things that went wrong or simply didn't work out (I know I have!). I'm not trying to put you off but, rather, I'm trying to say 'Have a go' and don't panic if it doesn't go right first time. We get better as we go and learn from our mistakes. That is a part of the fun of our hobby.

I spent a short time this afternoon gluing the steps, toolbox and cab roof vent on the G16, followed by filing the rear body mounting to make it sit more levelly. The Christmas bag in the photos was to hide the glare from the TV as I decided to take the photos in the sitting room next to a window. Still to add before painting are the lamp irons from flattened brass wire, remembering that these Southern locomotives had six lamp irons at each end, lubricator pipe runs, and the clack valves and feed pipes near the front of the boiler. To be added after painting are buffers, safety valves and whistle, plus the cab door hand rails (to be made from modified Peco track pins, as per the kit instructions). On test, it has now hauled its first heavy train, although I will probably add a little extra lead into the boiler and side tanks later. The front bogie needs a little more side play as it struggles and even derails on my inner radius curves. Other than that, I am happy with its progress and running qualities.

It will certainly be interesting to hear one in action. As Rick already has all three, I'm guessing we'll have to wait for someone else to get one!

A nice video of an interesting layout. I like the flash as they go through the point work, Dan. If those SPUD motors work for you then there is absolutely no need to change anything. It goes to show that what one modeller swears at, another will swear by (to rearrange an older saying slightly!!!).

Hi Colin. The LED pointing through he floor was pretty well what I had in mind. I was thinking of blue but it may actually look better with twin LEDs, one blue, one white. I also had this in mind for some of the class 73s I have (mostly Lima bodies on Hornby chassis). As for paint quantities, yes, I have enough to sink a battleship ... or at least, to paint one!! I did much the same thing with the London Transport train red.

As always, lovely photos and lovely models. As an aside, Kernow's newsletter this week is listing two of the Beattie Well Tank versions with sound fitted. I had enough difficulty getting an ordinary decoder in mine, let alone a sound decoder and speaker! I'm wondering how they have done it!

I would second what Phil said. I replaced all the Spuds I had in use with Black Beetles, which also, as a bonus, work much better on DCC.

More on the 2 HAL: I have now started painting the interiors. I know they started with a reddish-brown for second class (ex-third class) but I have no idea what colour the first class seats should be. I chose a French blue on the strength of Hornby using blue for their Maunsell coaches but this is a tenuous guess at best! I will also paint the antimacassars white or cream for first class only. The roofs were still in undercoat before and have now had a coat of a darker grey. The interior shots also show how I have run the wires for the extra pickups rigged in the trailing bogie, plus the lead weight over the leading end (hidden in the van section) and the NCE decoder. I have left the extra wires at full length on the decoder because I may fit lights at a later date, and possibly a third rail flash over the leading bogie shoe.

Hi Colin and thanks for the compliments. Of course, mine is nowhere near as finely detailed and finished as yours but it will do for me. The paint was actually mixed for me at a local paint shop. I took along a Bachmann 2 EPB as I think that shade of green looks right (without starting debates on SR and BR(S) greens all over again!!). The resulting acrylic semi-gloss paint came out a fraction lighter and bluer, although the shop assistant said if I wasn't happy with it to take it back and he would try a few more tweaks to the colour mix; this was after he had spent a good 40 minutes mixing and testing for me, so I have nothing but praise for him and his employer ... and his patience and persistence! Anyway, I now have over a litre of the paint, from which I decant a little into a much smaller jar for use on the workbench. Just my opinion but I think it looks pretty good. I do need to thin it slightly more next time as there are a few brush strokes showing on the HAL (not too obvious in the photos, thankfully).

Rick: some white metal kits can be a little on the chunky (I know you said 'clunky") side but since many of the earlier LT stock and the battery locos are rather chunky anyway they well suit the material (IMHO). Mozzer: that looks really good. Very nice indeed.

It's not just the trains that can suffer from heat stress! Always wise to stay indoors if at all possible when the weather goes like this. Thankfully it should cool off a bit on Friday and the weekend.

That Gresley buffet looks good. I bought a maroon one for occasional use on my lines as the SR did have a few of them (even on the S & D as well). I also have memories of seeing a pristine blue and grey one in the bay at High Wycombe in 1984 (no idea what it was doing there!). I like your weathering on both of those Hymeks, too. As you know, I am not averse to running things that don't really belong on my layout so, as far as I am concerned, you don't have to justify running whatever takes your fancy on your own layout! I even went as far as renovating and detailing my old Triang-Hornby Hymek and paintng it maroon with grey trim - totally fictional but it looks good!

Thanks for those kind comments. I do intend doing something about the cylinder shape in the near future. First task is to level it and get it to sit over the driving wheels properly - because of the slight tilt, one side 'sits' better than the other! I should have commented further on the HAL glazing: it really requires curved glazing for the main windows but flat for the droplights. I cheated and used flat glazing throughout, except for the corridor side of the DTC, where I re-used some curved glazing from a dismantled Bachmann Bulleid coach (which means the droplights also have curved glazing!). Eventually I want to individually glaze each window on the corridor side as this will look so much better in the long term. The dismantled Bachmann coach is another project in the making as I have two such coaches ready to accept some Comet brass sides for the 63' 6" Bulleid multi-door stock. As these sides were intended for conversions using BR mark 1 chassis I have had to shorten them slightly by filing 1mm or so off each end. I converted the first brake coach some years ago using an old Hornby mark 1 chassis - I may have to find another Bulleid coach to redo this one to match the other two. Why do modellers always create more work for themselves??

Another favourite. They were such a nice, 'balanced' design.

Only a little more progress to report on both the ex-LSWR G16 tank and on the Ayjay Models 'Tin' 2 HAL kit. I have painted the bogie wheels to better match the rest (i.e. got rid of those shiny silver tyre rims!) and given the whole locomotive a second coat of black. It is now too black as this really hides any detail (an also any inaccuracies!!). The chassis needs a small adjustment as the mounting gives the body a very slight lean to one side. I have finally got around to glazing the Ayjay Models 'Tin' HAL Which features in some earlier blog entries. I use Micro Krystal Klear glazing liquid as a glue to stick clear plastic/acetate in. If any gets on the glazing itself, it can be washed off with water while wet and dries clear so any that does get missed on the glazing barely shows anyway. The first photo shows the unit in service with its newly added windscreens - the glue is still wet on the left-hand one. The other photos are more general views. I have not yet painted the seats, so that's the next job on the agenda.

That 'Merlin' livery really seemed to be designed to suit the lines of the HSTs - it has to be one of my favourites too.