Hal Nail

I've used 2000 grade to gently remove my own weathering when I decided to replace some transfers I wasn't ever happy with. You probably won't end up with a pristine finish obviously but it will certainly tone down / blend their weathering to give a decent base to start again

It does look superb but then it would have to at that price!

You'd get quite a few just out of the excess when stringing a guitar. Next time I change mine I'll pop the bits on ebay!

To the naked eye this might appear to be a badly photographed bog-standard Dapol brake van at a significant premium. But when you read the blurb you can't fail to be drawn in... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296263893119?itmmeta=01HR1ZG8KRSJQJ77C69EZ56JH5&hash=item44fab4407f:g:RKgAAOSwpq1l4uX3&itmprp=enc%3AAQAIAAAA0HNK0aFPxe853yznoDq5DJeb%2FtkisYT%2FtXsMVK3GaJcOVm%2Bhz99i7RtDTw8kY2jsh8%2FnTbtrohPGDR6iqTkjEeYw9ukQVMVARI3jcG38lWLx4asoJEGlwO2bGJkpz4h1XK1BS1YZ8WqPHv%2FXze8U8yPYzkHoWeBAAh7SpaAn3Omub%2F8RfeR%2BpiSYSsdIJLzkuoiUZewuyhoDVlCpQCnzGZHwG6XwCg%2Fi28QHOdDZls%2Fmw6He%2BK4L1V%2FDGNl8Lq2XhvULYZIMGssD84WUTDZOQR0%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR_yJwb_AYw

In fairness I think Dapol deserve credit for taking on the cost of retooling. We are frequently told it is prohibitive to do this but this isn't the first time they've done it.

You can just make it out on the black one but its right in the strip the light is catching. The 14xx has one in the same spot. Not that noticeable in normal light anyway but I sanded mine off with ultra fine wet and dry and doesn't show after light weathering. Edit: on this one I removed it from the smokebox but ignored it on the green boiler

The real thing is hard rubber with a wire outer. If they have been stowed on the retainer they maintain some bend but can be in a variety of shapes And they are an absolute arse to replace but that's another story! They don't actually pass through the buffer beam in most cases but do a u bend underneath and then back up. Slaters replicate this with a cast pipe and a spring for the bag but are a bit pricey. I managed to buy up several bags of ABS cast ones which are much finer than the crude things Parkside supply.

I may be misunderstanding but I dont think you can claim the genesis coaches saved on development cost. The Hatton's thread involved a collosal amount of discussion on what features would be "typical" which they tried to incorporate through many CAD revisions. These were clearly well thought out for the intended market. I suspect that they felt simply producing accurate coaches in fake liveries would have satisfied far less people than what they put a lot of time and effort into doing. Semi-related, I've often wondered what the actual difference in sales are between something brilliant and something decidely average. There are several examples of a really good model and rather obviously poorer alternative and yet both seem equally popular on here. In the middle of a discussion about something having too many wheels, you'll always get someone chip in with "I'm not a rivet counter and they are doing it in fushia, so I'll be getting one".

Type "Terrier Brighton Works" into google images.....

Hopefully the same ones as before as the brakes still wouldn't work!

Fox do sets. Not cheap for one letter and I'd probably make one personally but its an option. https://www.fox-transfers.co.uk/lettering-and-numbering-set-lms-10000-and-10001-65704

Excellent, I'll go and hunt that down If Smths have it. I numbered my unmodified Dapol as a "W" in the end as despite photos seeming to be scarce, they must have far out-numbered the BR diagrams at least until production of the latter really ramped up from the mid/late 50s. As a wider point although I can't get enough of the Ian Allen colour books for inspiration and details, a lot of the photos are actually from the early 60s (as colour film evolved) rather than late 50s and of course things were changing pretty quickly back then. Edit. Also interesting about the axle boxes. Difficult to know what the right balance of variation is for late 50s!

I stumbled upon a photo of single brake 3rd behind a pannier at Tetbury this morning in 1955 in Chris Leighs GWR Country Stations 2. The coach is plain so I assume Crimson.

Very similar to early BR hydraulic buffers used on presflos as well. Incidentally the photos of the other end of the Shark show different Oleos.

I've been taking things apart, putting them back together and ending up with spares all my life. I didn't realise that was anything clever.

Unless it's a class 40 you haven't done....

I think this would cause the problem @Harlequin flagged in that you'd see "behind" every window. I think it works on droplights though and does mean they can be recessed correctly. Similarly I've never thought brass coaches look quite right because you get lovely clear flush windows but can see no depth behind them. I spent hours adding inner "wood" framing to my auto trailer. I've said before, finding a way to improve moulded glazing economically will be a massive step forward as it affects so many models. Some are better than others though (check out Lionheart mk1s in 7mm).

Looks very good. I've never noticed the cab door is at the front on this side and I've even sat there!

There is a proper head on shot of the two tone green in Model Rail this month, near the front.

The Lionheart 7mm ones use this technique on droplights and they look fine. The rest of the windows less so, although they aren't so much prismatic as the edges showing up. Droplights being recessed, whereas presumably the porthole rims need to stick out, could well make a difference.

I can't help feeling some sort of magnets in the wheels would pull it to the track?! Hat, coat...

Realistically, and I don't mean to imply there is anything wrong with this, many will be applying rule 1 in buying a 44xx in the first place, let alone what it pulls! They weren't numerous or widespread enough to sell purely on prototypical grounds. Similar charm to, say, the Beattie Well tank or Adams Radial and for GWR/WR modellers, just something different.

Must be a candidate for the most published branch in the country?! The Barry coaches were later replaced by Thompsons which Hornby already make (so another similar "rule 1" candidate)

Ah fair enough! In all my books I've only got one of my branch (Bodmin) with a number showing but fortunately that's all you need!