BlackRat

Morning one and all, slowly getting back into the swing of things here tho I must report all is well and on the mend..... I think! Bit disappointed that the local plod gym is closed, provided at great expense for me and the two coppers who use it. In the two years it's been open, I've only had to share the facilities three times. Its been an important part of my recovery but hey ho. Im also glad to say that my mojo with regards to cutting, sticking and filing bits of plastic and metal has returned, to such an extent I managed to remove the top of my left index finger! Thanks to the NHS it's all sewn back and like me recovering. Im back in work, but to be fair not sure how much longer I can go on working for the old bill, even as a civvy I get very frustrated at the total incompetence and breath taking arrogance of some of the senior bosses, 59 in June and a possible pension of £80 a month is veryyyyyyyy tempting. Stay safe and thanks to everyone for being on ER, been reading it daily and it's been a bit of a comfort blanket. Cheers.

Wonder if it will have....... '12 opening doors'...? Ive got the Roxey kit here and a spare old Triang one......any takers? lol

Greetings one and all and my best wishes to you and yours for a better 2021, and a healthy and happy new year. Funny, prosperity doesn't really seem to matter now does it? All very subdued here, tho we had son and his family over, and managed a takeaway and a lively 8 year old kept us all going. Predictions now seem pointless, but at least if you're reading this....... you're still alive! Stay safe, normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!

Christmas Greetings and best wishes to you all. I've not posted for quite some time, but have followed Early Rises as and when I could. I think in many ways this Christmas is a little special, and I thank you all for being there, even though you didn't realise you were. Have a very merry Christmas and my thoughts and best wishes are with you all. Take care, enjoy the day whatever it holds and here's to a hopefully better new year.

Thanks Rob, great to see your layout in BRM!

Few more changes whilst I am waiting for the Peco medium bullhead points. The road sloping down to the goods are has gone, to be replaced by 2 extended sidings which look better than the old shorter ones. The children bought me some Bachman factories many years ago, ( beats socks and slippers) and they are in the process of being cobbled together in one way or another. Ive been busy weathering stuff.....including this Dapol Western, so decided it's about time I updated the thread........

No idea who told me this, whoever it was it was yonks ago....... but if there was a problem with sticky wheels then a poke around in the 'axle box' with a 4b pencil would keep things running smoothly. These days I also swear by a 'Truck tuner' something now I wouldn't be without. If it doesn't have brass bearings, then it gets a good twiddling round with the tuner. Its amazing the crud that comes out! Tony....,l re the Deltic, there's always plenty of 'old' kits on EBay. The new kits are made from soft ( to save the dies I guess) recycled plastic and the plastic is softer and not as crisp as the kits from the 60's and 70's.

Talking of head/tail lamps....... as I needed quite a few, I decided the best option was to make my own. Managed to source both red and clear diamanté 'jewels' from eBay ...... no problems at all. Various bits and bobs of Evergreen section, fuse wire, Plastruct etc were gathered together and off we went. After a good couple of hours, I went on line and ordered more Springside.

Someone mention Morotbikes.......!?!?!?

Having lived and worked onboard, and spent time ( albeit limited) with the US /USMC , I would say its impossible on an operational warship........

Wasn't it something like 80,000 who were made to surrender? British, Aussies and Indian troops. You think he might have picked something up from Malaya, where over 40,000 were made to surrender. We had a heck of a lot of men, amongst other things. Absolute betrayal.

https://www.humbrol.com/uk-en/media/Humbrol_Conversion_Chart.pdf Have a look at the Army Paints range, I got some spray cans in Antics, which are excellent and give a superb finish, one of the greens is very passable to Malashite.

Al, some time ago, Humbrol rationalised what was then a vast range of specialist colours. They also produced an updated list of their colours, which included all the things that they matched....... something like Green 101, SR Malachite etc ....ok that's a guess but it's worth having a Google and I'm sure you'll get the list of colours and what they match up to.

Guns and ammo, tho in my experience, they can be bad for people's health and wellbeing.

For a moment I was worried you were talking about your own personal pluming system!

Thanks........I thought as much, first thing I normally do with a new buy is to clean the wheels then run it in on the rollers...... After much head scratching, and taking to body off its the same conclusion, so will have to work out a plan B for wheel cleaning and running in.

Am I right in thinking, that for the second powered end to work it HAS to be connected up as part of the three car unit. Tho 1 of the power cars works independantly?????

I just got the feeling the mag was full of...,,,fillers. Understandable I guess, but 5 uses of wood?

Top five uses for wood......? Hhhmmmmmmmm.

Looking good...... I use a drill bit in a pin chuck to drill out the axle boxes...., usually the biggest that will fit in! Gives a little 'slop' so you can position it and tweak it round a bit so it looks, and sits right. I got the pin chuck thingy from Squires.....they have 4 different sized chucks...... so I bought 4 to save time swapping bits round!

I don't go to my local newsagents to 'browse magazines', I go there to buy them. Thats why they are still a thriving local business.

Great that the shops now open. Steve and Paul have been busy and basically refurbished and reorganised the shop during lockdown. A great range of all sorts and at great prices too. If you've not been then I'd highly recommend it! Great to see you back!

Only just caught this up, very sad news indeed! A real stalwartbof the SWAG show and one of the few to compliment my taste in shirts! Youll be missed mate.