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Happy New Year to you all. I'm not sure how long we're all supposed to keep saying that but as its my first blog of 2019, I will. This time of year is always slightly frugal when it comes to modelling as both the Mrs and myself have birthdays in the first half of the month and being the big 5-0 we spent last weekend in Barcelona, which was nice. Anyhow, the Ivatt chassis has been wired, a substantial amount of lead glued into the body and pick ups added. Happily, it trundles quite satisfactorily up and down the test track. I've sprung the two pony trucks and added centring springs from guitar wire. I've added some crude representations of the control springs from 8BA studding. The steps and sandboxes have been fixed and I've started on the body work detailing. The smokebox dart and lubricators are from Comet. I've started on the plethora of oiling/ lubricating pipes and we'll see how far I get before I reach my 'that'll do' point. Probably not as far as you would Dave! Balance weights still to add and I'm going to need a pair of injectors, but as my cousin’s ruby wedding next weekend in Wakefield conveniently coincides with the Pontefract show, I'll have a rummage through the Wizard models stand. The loco is going to be 41245, as I've a few photos of it on the Cheddar valley line. I couldn't resist putting a Hornby Collett coach alongside to check the buffer height (splendidly bang on). Not far to go now! Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Happy New Year to you all. I'm not sure how long we're all supposed to keep saying that but as its my first blog of 2019, I will. This time of year is always slightly frugal when it comes to modelling as both the Mrs and myself have birthdays in the first half of the month and being the big 5-0 we spent last weekend in Barcelona, which was nice. Anyhow, the Ivatt chassis has been wired, a substantial amount of lead glued into the body and pick ups added. Happily, it trundles quite satisfactorily up and down the test track. I've sprung the two pony trucks and added centring springs from guitar wire. I've added some crude representations of the control springs from 8BA studding. The steps and sandboxes have been fixed and I've started on the body work detailing. The smokebox dart and lubricators are from Comet. I've started on the plethora of oiling/ lubricating pipes and we'll see how far I get before I reach my 'that'll do' point. Probably not as far as you would Dave! Balance weights still to add and I'm going to need a pair of injectors, but as my cousin’s ruby wedding next weekend in Wakefield conveniently coincides with the Pontefract show, I'll have a rummage through the Wizard models stand. The loco is going to be 41245, as I've a few photos of it on the Cheddar valley line. I couldn't resist putting a Hornby Collett coach alongside to check the buffer height (splendidly bang on). Not far to go now! Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Hi again, just thought I'd update on the couple of projects I've got on the go, and some of the challenges I've learnt from since last time I posted. My main project is 47299, which last time I'd glossed varnished, and wasn't best pleased with how it looked closeup and personal. I had a bit of drama with the decals - I had a set that I'd ordered, but I suspect that I didn't leave them in the decal fix long enough, as they weren't great, ripping and the like, to the point where I had to order a new set from Railtec. These duly arrived, and went on nicely. I matt varnished the loco and was pleased with the dulling down. I still wasn't happy with the yellow around the windows, so while I had some yellow out, I did a bit of short term masking and added a bit of yellow - to be honest, to no great effect. Despite using Tamiya masking tape, when I peeled it off, to my horror, it took the bottom of the 99 - gutted! So out with the t-cut, number off, and unfortunately through the blue paint to the primer. So a slight repaint of blue, and the spare number, and a shot of matt varnish and we back to wear we were! I've also started adding a bit of weathering using frame dirt, which I'm quite pleased with. Also added some to the bogie frames and fuel tanks, but need to decide whether i'm going to have a practice with some powders too to build a bit of texture. Suspect I will as I have to learn! I've also got a problem that I hope someone can advise me on, even if it's to where to post on the forums. I have an ESU sound decoder for this 47, but I also have an Express Models lighting kit I want to add. I'll be adding connectors to either end of any wires so I can swap in the future if needed, but *think* I may have to cut the green, yellow, blue and white wires on the decoder and connect the decoder end to the lighting chip. Does that right? And better ideas? I've also started the blue on my large logo 47, unfortunately I've broken one of my airbrushes by losing a seal when cleaning - have ordered a kit of different types, so hopefully will get it back up and running soon. Looks ok, but needs a few more coats - I'm finding it really hard balancing thinning the paint so it will spray, against losing lots of the pigment...... While I wasn't intending on starting anything else, I was reading George Dent's weathering book, and came across a section on pre-shading - he was using an old Hornby 24 and I thought, hang on, I'm sure I've got one of those in a box of parts I got off eBay, so had a look in the loft, and sure enough, there was are. So stripped and primered it, and had a go at pre-shading with what turned out to be an oddly metallic black. This looked a bit like the example, so while I had the blue out today, I gave it a few coats, and I was really pleased with how it came out. Still needs a few more coats to build the blue up, but I think it looks ok. Might have to find the rest of the bits that go with the loco and see if I can get it running! This week, I'll be doing some more blue painting, a bit more weathering on 299, fitting the new steel Heljan wheels I've got and maybe make a start re-assembling it! Hope you enjoyed reading, and please do leave a comment if you have any thoughts! Cheers, Matt Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

<p>Hi again, just thought I'd update on the couple of projects I've got on the go, and some of the challenges I've learnt from since last time I posted.</p><p> </p><p> My main project is 49299, which last time I'd glossed varnished, and wasn't best pleased with how it looked closeup and personal. I had a bit of drama with the decals - I had a set that I'd ordered, but I suspect that I didn't leave them in the decal fix long enough, as they weren't great, ripping and the like, to the point where I had to order a new set from Railtec. These duly arrived, and went on nicely. I matt varnished the loco and was pleased with the dulling down. I still wasn't happy with the yellow around the windows, so while I had some yellow out, I did a bit of short term masking and added a bit of yellow - to be honest, to no great effect. Despite using Tamiya masking tape, when I peeled it off, to my horror, it took the bottom of the 99 - gutted! So out with the t-cut, number off, and unfortunately through the blue paint to the primer. So a slight repaint of blue, and the spare number, and a shot of matt varnish and we back to wear we were!</p><p> </p><p> I've also started adding a bit of weathering using frame dirt, which I'm quite pleased with. Also added some to the bogie frames and fuel tanks, but need to decide whether i'm going to have a practice with some powders too to build a bit of texture. Suspect I will as I have to learn!</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> I've also got a problem that I hope someone can advise me on, even if it's to where to post on the forums. I have an ESU sound decoder for this 47, but I also have an Express Models lighting kit I want to add. I'll be adding connectors to either end of any wires so I can swap in the future if needed, but *think* I may have to cut the green, yellow, blue and white wires on the decoder and connect the decoder end to the lighting chip. Does that right? And better ideas?</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> I've also started the blue on my large logo 47, unfortunately I've broken one of my airbrushes by losing a seal when cleaning - have ordered a kit of different types, so hopefully will get it back up and running soon. Looks ok, but needs a few more coats - I'm finding it really hard balancing thinning the paint so it will spray, against losing lots of the pigment......</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> While I wasn't intending on starting anything else, I was reading George Dent's weathering book, and came across a section on pre-shading - he was using an old Hornby 24 and I thought, hang on, I'm sure I've got one of those in a box of parts I got off eBay, so had a look in the loft, and sure enough, there was are.</p><p> </p><p> So stripped and primered it, and had a go at pre-shading with what turned out to be an oddly metallic black.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> This looked a bit like the example, so while I had the blue out today, I gave it a few coats, and I was really pleased with how it came out. Still needs a few more coats to build the blue up, but I think it looks ok.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Might have to find the rest of the bits that go with the loco and see if I can get it running!</p><p> </p><p> This week, I'll be doing some more blue painting, a bit more weathering on 299, fitting the new steel Heljan wheels I've got and maybe make a start re-assembling it! Hope you enjoyed reading, and please do leave a comment if you have any thoughts!</p><p> </p><p> Cheers, Matt</p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21848]' id='ipb-attach-url-1104828-0-07024300-1548013684' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-35926-0-02612000-1548012494.jpg"title="weathered 1.jpg - Size: 193.87KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-35926-0-02612000-1548012494_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1104828-0-07024300-1548013684' style='width:800;height:600' class='attach' width="800" height="600" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21848]' id='ipb-attach-url-1104829-0-08104300-1548013684' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-35926-0-51919100-1548012507.jpg"title="frame dirt 1.jpg - Size: 222.09KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-35926-0-51919100-1548012507_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1104829-0-08104300-1548013684' style='width:800;height:600' class='attach' width="800" height="600" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21848]' id='ipb-attach-url-1104830-0-08109800-1548013684' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-35926-0-09949700-1548012851.jpg"title="blue paint.jpg - Size: 172.84KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-35926-0-09949700-1548012851_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1104830-0-08109800-1548013684' style='width:800;height:600' class='attach' width="800" height="600" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21848]' id='ipb-attach-url-1104832-0-08114000-1548013684' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-35926-0-14221300-1548012902.jpg"title="wiring.jpg - Size: 303.64KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-35926-0-14221300-1548012902_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1104832-0-08114000-1548013684' style='width:800;height:600' class='attach' width="800" height="600" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21848]' id='ipb-attach-url-1104833-0-08118100-1548013684' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-35926-0-47719200-1548013144.jpg"title="primer.jpg - Size: 225.31KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-35926-0-47719200-1548013144_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1104833-0-08118100-1548013684' style='width:800;height:600' class='attach' width="800" height="600" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21848]' id='ipb-attach-url-1104834-0-08122200-1548013684' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-35926-0-74564800-1548013210.jpg"title="initial blue.jpg - Size: 171.92KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-35926-0-74564800-1548013210_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1104834-0-08122200-1548013684' style='width:800;height:600' class='attach' width="800" height="600" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

Whiling away a miserable wet weekend in Plymouth (I don’t go home every weekend because of the time and cost), went to the pictures for the first time in a long time. Much impressed with the new layout at the cinema, big semi-reclining airline style seats with ample legroom. Being 4:30 in the afternoon, only 7 or 8 in the auditorium... the film was Stan and Ollie, and I loved it. I was never a huge fan of Laurel and Hardy, being (I suppose) the generation that “didn’t want to see a Laurel and Hardy movie any more”. I didn’t really care for Abbot and Costello, either. But I DO enjoy Steve Coogan, and this was a joy.. a gentle, humorous biopic of sorts about two ageing has-beens, coasting towards the inevitable end amid the aftermath of old betrayals and quarrels, affection and ingrained habit. The sniping wives are a joy. Hardy’s wife is clearly distressed by his failing health and career, Laurel’s wife... not do much, a hard-eyed Russian former dancer and failed actress who for some reason won’t sit next to the magnificently slippery Bernard Delfont at appearances. Laurel remarks at one point that he won’t marry again, just find a woman he doesn’t like and buy her a house. I loved it. The recreated routines are well done, the characters are convincing, the whole film is gently melancholic as optimism fades away. It had never occurred to me that L&H were still wearing basically Edwardian stage costumes into the 1950s - wing collars, frock coats and bowlers. View the full article

<p>Whining away a miserable wet weekend in Plymouth (I don’t go home every weekend because of the time and cost), went to the pictures for the first time in a long time. </p><p> </p><p> Much impressed with the new layout at the cinema, big semi-reclining airline style seats with ample legroom. Being 4:30 in the afternoon, only 7 or 8 in the auditorium... the film was Stan and Ollie, and I loved it. </p><p> </p><p> I was never a huge fan of Laurel and Hardy, being (I suppose) the generation that “didn’t want to see a Laurel and Hardy movie any more”. I didn’t really care for Abbot and Costello, either. But I DO enjoy Steve Coogan, and this was a joy.. a gentle, humorous biopic of sorts about two ageing has-beens, coasting towards the inevitable end amid the aftermath of old betrayals and quarrels, affection and ingrained habit.</p><p> </p><p> The sniping wives are a joy. Hardy’s wife is clearly distressed by his failing health and career, Laurel’s wife... not do much, a hard-eyed Russian former dancer and failed actress who for some reason won’t sit next to the magnificently slippery Bernard Delfont at appearances. Laurel remarks at one point that he won’t marry again, just find a woman he doesn’t like and buy her a house. </p><p> </p><p> I loved it. The recreated routines are well done, the characters are convincing, the whole film is gently melancholic as optimism fades away. It had never occurred to me that L&H were still wearing basically Edwardian stage costumes into the 1950s - wing collars, frock coats and bowlers.</p> View the full article

Having Spent a good long time looking at the actual photo's then looking at two modelers who have carried out this project prior to me starting this (I'll link below to his YouTube Video, who has also linked the other chap) It is clear to me. That to do King Tiger 105 there is a lot of speculation/ artistic license as per the camo it carried, the marking type it carried and whether it carried the German Cross and 501 Flash on the front & rear of the tank. With that in mind, I have spent a long time thinking about doing King Tiger 105. Which has led me to move away from doing 105 and going freelance with this whole project, I've set upon doing my own King Tiger as part of the 501 near towards the end of 1944 early 1945 in which I will do doing the Number 312, if this was a real tank, please do not say "Oh but this is not to how the real 312 was" I am merely doing this for my own enthusiasm, most of my tanks that I have built have not been based on a real thing BAR my WW1 Mk IV & Medium A which have been painted and detailed as real vehicles. In the days waiting for the kit to arrive, I was able to go to a model show and pick up the Tamiya Paints (Which I find are very accurate bring out the model when worked on correctly. which I needed for this project, so in this case, I bought, XF - 64 Red Brown, XF- 61 Dark Green and already in my store, XF- 60 Dark Yellow. Accompanied by the use of an airbrush these should turn out quite nicely onto the armored behemoth. With that all being said, the kit arrived a few days ago ( I wrote the first blog without the kit at the time) and I thought I'd get stuck in as there are plenty of reviews of this kit showing the Ins and Outs of this kit. The photo's below are a selection of photos I took during the build, so please enjoy the build progress. So yeah, lots of photo's but it's turned out well. I plan to get it into a primer and look into paint the model into the Sand base coat then look at the Green & Brown Coats for the main camouflage. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Having Spent a good long time looking at the actual photo's then looking at two modelers who have carried out this project prior to me starting this (I'll link below to his YouTube Video, who has also linked the other chap) It is clear to me. That to do King Tiger 105 there is a lot of speculation/ artistic license as per the camo it carried, the marking type it carried and whether it carried the German Cross and 501 Flash on the front & rear of the tank. With that in mind, I have spent a long time thinking about doing King Tiger 105. Which has led me to move away from doing 105 and going freelance with this whole project, I've set upon doing my own King Tiger as part of the 501 near towards the end of 1944 early 1945 in which I will do doing the Number 312, if this was a real tank, please do not say "Oh but this is not to how the real 312 was" I am merely doing this for my own enthusiasm, most of my tanks that I have built have not been based on a real thing BAR my WW1 Mk IV & Medium A which have been painted and detailed as real vehicles. In the days waiting for the kit to arrive, I was able to go to a model show and pick up the Tamiya Paints (Which I find are very accurate bring out the model when worked on correctly. which I needed for this project, so in this case, I bought, XF - 64 Red Brown, XF- 61 Dark Green and already in my store, XF- 60 Dark Yellow. Accompanied by the use of an airbrush these should turn out quite nicely onto the armored behemoth. With that all being said, the kit arrived a few days ago ( I wrote the first blog without the kit at the time) and I thought I'd get stuck in as there are plenty of reviews of this kit showing the Ins and Outs of this kit. The photo's below are a selection of photos I took during the build, so please enjoy the build progress. So yeah, lots of photo's but it's turned out well. I plan to get it into a primer and look into paint the model into the Sand base coat then look at the Green & Brown Coats for the main camouflage. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

This is my fourth post about the Lego passenger train sets (set number 60197) that I received for Christmas. Post one was about building the train set. Post 2 was about adding lights. Post 3 was about building a dummy engine car. And this post continues the theme from post 3, modding the train set to make it suit my purpose. I often say that if you can't make any changes to a Lego set you've built to improve it, then you may as well give up on Lego as a hobby. I see a lot of photos and videos of creative track lay outs, and then Lego trains straight out of the box trundling around. It's a shame, really. Personally, if I take, as an example, all the freight wagons I have bought, it averages about one wagon per set that I don't change or adapt. So that's about 1 in 3 wagons that I consider 'okay' and ready to run. (Of course, this doesn't apply to collectible stuff - I wouldn't mod my TTX cars, although I do think I could build better ones. I must have a go at that soometime.) So, anyway, what mods did I put in this? I've already said how I had to adapt the cab to reduce glare from the lights that I fitted. And I built one loco as an unpowered dummy car. What else did I do? Well... I like the passenger cars, but being honest, they only had four seats in them, and that really isn't many. However, I had some spare seats from the tiny, token "station" that's included in the set. So I took them and raided my bits box for some 2x2 plates. But I had a problem. Do you see this yellow bit on the floor towards the end of the carriage? That's the bogie mounting pin attached to the wheelsets. If I encroached on it the bogies wouldn't turn. What to do? What to do? That's right! Round plates! No encroachment and they do the same job of lifting the seat one plate's thickness off the floor. I can't put a minifigure to sit in the seats, because there's no room for their arms, which is a bit disappointing. But at least having the seats there makes it look more like an actual coach. Having two train sets meant I had two driver minifigures. I took a satchel off one of the passengers minifgures and put it on the driver. I think this is a passable look for a ticket inspector or guard. I added in some more passengers. Currently there is a woman from Ninjago City, Lester the bowler-hatted mascot of the Leicester Square flagship Lego Store, Spider-Man and C3PO from Star Wars. But it's in the buffet car where it's all kicking off with some very hungry patrons. Yes, that's right, baby velociraptors courtesy of some very cheap Jurassic World sets. They've got eyes on that hot dog! Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

This is my fourth post about the Lego passenger train sets (set number 60197) that I received for Christmas. Post one was about building the train set. Post 2 was about adding lights. Post 3 was about building a dummy engine car. And this post continues the theme from post 3, modding the train set to make it suit my purpose. I often say that if you can't make any changes to a Lego set you've built to improve it, then you may as well give up on Lego as a hobby. I see a lot of photos and videos of creative track lay outs, and then Lego trains straight out of the box trundling around. It's a shame, really. Personally, if I take, as an example, all the freight wagons I have bought, it averages about one wagon per set that I don't change or adapt. So that's about 1 in 3 wagons that I consider 'okay' and ready to run. (Of course, this doesn't apply to collectible stuff - I wouldn't mod my TTX cars, although I do think I could build better ones. I must have a go at that soometime.) So, anyway, what mods did I put in this? I've already said how I had to adapt the cab to reduce glare from the lights that I fitted. And I built one loco as an unpowered dummy car. What else did I do? Well... I like the passenger cars, but being honest, they only had four seats in them, and that really isn't many. However, I had some spare seats from the tiny, token "station" that's included in the set. So I took them and raided my bits box for some 2x2 plates. But I had a problem. Do you see this yellow bit on the floor towards the end of the carriage? That's the bogie mounting pin attached to the wheelsets. If I encroached on it the bogies wouldn't turn. What to do? What to do? That's right! Round plates! No encroachment and they do the same job of lifting the seat one plate's thickness off the floor. I can't put a minifigure to sit in the seats, because there's no room for their arms, which is a bit disappointing. But at least having the seats there makes it look more like an actual coach. Having two train sets meant I had two driver minifigures. I took a satchel off one of the passengers minifgures and put it on the driver. I think this is a passable look for a ticket inspector or guard. I added in some more passengers. Currently there is a woman from Ninjago City, Lester the bowler-hatted mascot of the Leicester Square flagship Lego Store, Spider-Man and C3PO from Star Wars. But it's in the buffet car where it's all kicking off with some very hungry patrons. Yes, that's right, baby velociraptors courtesy of some very cheap Jurassic World sets. They've got eyes on that hot dog! Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Crymlyn A Shop's HERCULES stretches its (his?) legs through Pantyffynnon Junction: View the full article

HERCULES stretches its (his?) legs through Pantyffynnon Junction: View the full article

Another scratchbuild finished. Full details in the Standard Gauge Industrial section of the forum. The workbench is currently occupied by a commission kit build that I'm not enjoying. It's taken longer to build than I thought and I have decided that I won't do any more commissions after this. It's too much hassle and for the hours put in it simply isn't worth it. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Another scratchbuild finished. Full details in the Standard Gauge Industrial section of the forum. The workbench is currently occupied by a commission kit build that I'm not enjoying. It's taken longer to build than I thought and I have decided that I won't do any more commissions after this. It's too much hassle and for the hours put in it simply isn't worth it. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

I've said before how I was very lucky and got given two of the Lego 60197 train sets for Christmas. This wasn't a mistake! I wanted two because I knew they would form one very nice train. I belong to some Lego trains Facebook groups. I've seen a lot of posts in the groups about putting two 60197 passenger trains together. Quite a few people have mentioned the difficulty of running both motors in sync and having to polarise one to run backwards instead of forwards, and so on. Having test run the 3-car train and seeing how fast it whips along, I really didn't see the point of putting a second motor in. So when I built the second set, I built a 'dummy' car. This started with my bag of left-over train bits from when I turned my second white passenger train (60051) into a couple of coaches to extend that train to something that looked a bit more realistic. I also fished out one of the instruction books from that set as it had instructions for how to build a dummy bogie to replace the all-in-one motor block that Lego use. In the end I built this dummy bogie and move the yellow connection plate two studs inwards from the couplings to make it fit in the right mounting hole. This isn't a like-for-like replacement for the drive bogie on the powered engine, because I couldn't fit the axle-boxes that are used on the motor's driving wheels. They don't fit over ordinary wheelsets. It's not the end of the world because you;d only be able to see that if you know where to look. One of the other issues was the bluetooth battery box. This forms an integral part of the train structure, but I wanted to keep it separate for use in another project. A quick rummage in the bag of spare bits pictured earlier, and I built a replacement to the same dimensions. This next photo shows how I followed the instructions using the ersatz battery box. And then one final change... red lights on the back. These don't light up, unfortunately. It would be difficult to run a wire the length of the train. But I might experiment with a freestanding light brick at some point. Now, if you can stand terrible shaky filming on a mobile phone, and you have 1 minute and 37 seconds to spare, here is a video showing the train running, switching the lights on, "night running", and a little review of the interiors of the coaches. Thanks for reading! Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

I've said before how I was very lucky and got given two of the Lego 60197 train sets for Christmas. This wasn't a mistake! I wanted two because I knew they would form one very nice train. I belong to some Lego trains Facebook groups. I've seen a lot of posts in the groups about putting two 60197 passenger trains together. Quite a few people have mentioned the difficulty of running both motors in sync and having to polarise one to run backwards instead of forwards, and so on. Having test run the 3-car train and seeing how fast it whips along, I really didn't see the point of putting a second motor in. So when I built the second set, I built a 'dummy' car. This started with my bag of left-over train bits from when I turned my second white passenger train (60051) into a couple of coaches to extend that train to something that looked a bit more realistic. I also fished out one of the instruction books from that set as it had instructions for how to build a dummy bogie to replace the all-in-one motor block that Lego use. In the end I built this dummy bogie and move the yellow connection plate two studs inwards from the couplings to make it fit in the right mounting hole. This isn't a like-for-like replacement for the drive bogie on the powered engine, because I couldn't fit the axle-boxes that are used on the motor's driving wheels. They don't fit over ordinary wheelsets. It's not the end of the world because you;d only be able to see that if you know where to look. One of the other issues was the bluetooth battery box. This forms an integral part of the train structure, but I wanted to keep it separate for use in another project. A quick rummage in the bag of spare bits pictured earlier, and I built a replacement to the same dimensions. This next photo shows how I followed the instructions using the ersatz battery box. And then one final change... red lights on the back. These don't light up, unfortunately. It would be difficult to run a wire the length of the train. But I might experiment with a freestanding light brick at some point. Now, if you can stand terrible shaky filming on a mobile phone, and you have 1 minute and 37 seconds to spare, here is a video showing the train running, switching the lights on, "night running", and a little review of the interiors of the coaches. Thanks for reading! Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

George's train set whilst operational had it's issues. The main one was the need for the S bends on the centre board. This was because the layout was originally just two 4 x 2 ft boards with an oval across the corners to maximise the run length. When the centre board was added by Santa it had to have the curves to make everything join up. All those curves meant that my APT-E would not run and even the baseboard joints on curves gave the occasional derailment. So ahead of this years Mansfield Show (March 2nd and 3rd 2019 :Shameless Plug: ) I decided to strip it and start again. A new plan was drawn up, still with the 2 or 3 board concept. Traditional roundy roundy to keep kids happy at the show and a nice bit if shunting in the station/shed area as requested by George. So over Christmas the track was lifted and baseboards painted a nice flat green. I had already bought the track needed at Warley and Wycrail. Track-Shack supplied the Gaugemaster underlay. First the two outer boards were laid and wired up Didn't take him long to move in LOL I'm now working on the centre board, slow progress but if I do a bit each evening it will be done soon Track ends at the joints are soldered to brass screws - lesson learnt from the first version where I used PCB - the centre board is not perfectly aligned in height, so the ability to fine tune the rail height with the screws has worked well so far Wiring is DCC with the track feeds passed from one board to the next using the toggle clamps - just like Fourgig East Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

George's train set whilst operational had it's issues. The main one was the need for the S bends on the centre board. This was because the layout was originally just two 4 x 2 ft boards with an oval across the corners to maximise the run length. When the centre board was added by Santa it had to have the curves to make everything join up. All those curves meant that my APT-E would not run and even the baseboard joints on curves gave the occasional derailment. So ahead of this years Mansfield Show (March 2nd and 3rd 2019 :Shameless Plug: ) I decided to strip it and start again. A new plan was drawn up, still with the 2 or 3 board concept. Traditional roundy roundy to keep kids happy at the show and a nice bit if shunting in the station/shed area as requested by George. So over Christmas the track was lifted and baseboards painted a nice flat green. I had already bought the track needed at Warley and Wycrail. Track-Shack supplied the Gaugemaster underlay. First the two outer boards were laid and wired up Didn't take him long to move in LOL I'm now working on the centre board, slow progress but if I do a bit each evening it will be done soon Track ends at the joints are soldered to brass screws - lesson learnt from the first version where I used PCB - the centre board is not perfectly aligned in height, so the ability to fine tune the rail height with the screws has worked well so far Wiring is DCC with the track feeds passed from one board to the next using the toggle clamps - just like Fourgig East Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

In my previous post I talked about how my wife and brother took advantage of Black Friday deals to each buy me a train set. So, I knew these were coming (that was a long 5 week wait until Christmas Day!) and so I went into the Lego store and bought a set of train lights that are compatible with the new Powered Up motive system. These are a bit expensive for what you get, but are fun to fit and really enhance the train. Here's what you get for your money: The cab interior is built to accommodate the after-market addition. The grey bars sticking out either side of the seat are there to run the wires under. The lights plug into the pin holes in the Technic brick at the front of the cab. You can see from these pictures how the wires go behind the driver's seat and plug into the secondary outlet from the bluetooth battery box. This means you can turn the lights on and off independently while the train is in motion or keep them on when it is at rest. Unfortunately when they were in there was a lot of internal cab glare. You can see the problem in this photo. It had a very simple solution - probably the easiest 'mod' I've ever done. And here is an 18 second video showing the train doing circuits with the lights on. I feel it brings a whole new character to the train. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

<p>In my previous post I talked about how my wife and brother took advantage of Black Friday deals to each buy me a train set. So, I knew these were coming (that was a long 5 week wait until Christmas Day!) and so I went into the Lego store and bought a set of train lights that are compatible with the new Powered Up motive system. These are a bit expensive for what you get, but are fun to fit and really enhance the train.</p><p> </p><p> Here's what you get for your money:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> The cab interior is built to accommodate the after-market addition. The grey bars sticking out either side of the seat are there to run the wires under.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> The lights plug into the pin holes in the Technic brick at the front of the cab. You can see from these pictures how the wires go behind the driver's seat and plug into the secondary outlet from the bluetooth battery box. This means you can turn the lights on and off independently while the train is in motion or keep them on when it is at rest.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Unfortunately when they were in there was a lot of internal cab glare. You can see the problem in this photo.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> It had a very simple solution - probably the easiest 'mod' I've ever done.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> And here is an 18 second video showing the train doing circuits with the lights on. I feel it brings a whole new character to the train.</p><p> </p><p> <iframe id="ytplayer" class="EmbeddedVideo" type="text/html" width="640" height="390" src="https://youtube.com/embed/LbV-Q-PfQjk?html5=1&fs=1"frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen /></iframe></p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21841]' id='ipb-attach-url-1103361-0-15255600-1547761663' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-95297000-1547758567.jpg"title="1 Lights packet.jpg - Size: 108.69KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-95297000-1547758567_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1103361-0-15255600-1547761663' style='width:800;height:469' class='attach' width="800" height="469" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21841]' id='ipb-attach-url-1103363-0-16269100-1547761663' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-42417400-1547758581.jpg"title="2 Lights out of packet.jpg - Size: 363.43KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-42417400-1547758581_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1103363-0-16269100-1547761663' style='width:800;height:641' class='attach' width="800" height="641" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21841]' id='ipb-attach-url-1103364-0-16274000-1547761663' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-15841200-1547758589.jpg"title="3 Lights - cab interior.jpg - Size: 187.64KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-15841200-1547758589_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1103364-0-16274000-1547761663' style='width:450;height:800' class='attach' width="450" height="800" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21841]' id='ipb-attach-url-1103365-0-16278000-1547761663' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-72949200-1547758594.jpg"title="4 Lights - connected.jpg - Size: 95.56KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-72949200-1547758594_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1103365-0-16278000-1547761663' style='width:800;height:450' class='attach' width="800" height="450" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21841]' id='ipb-attach-url-1103366-0-16282100-1547761663' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-17754900-1547758601.jpg"title="5 lights mounted.jpg - Size: 69.57KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-17754900-1547758601_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1103366-0-16282100-1547761663' style='width:800;height:447' class='attach' width="800" height="447" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21841]' id='ipb-attach-url-1103367-0-16286100-1547761663' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-97119400-1547758608.jpg"title="6 lights - glare.jpg - Size: 83.81KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-97119400-1547758608_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1103367-0-16286100-1547761663' style='width:800;height:468' class='attach' width="800" height="468" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21841]' id='ipb-attach-url-1103369-0-16290000-1547761663' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-20146700-1547758615.jpg"title="7 lights - glare reducing mod.jpg - Size: 261.7KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-20146700-1547758615_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1103369-0-16290000-1547761663' style='width:800;height:675' class='attach' width="800" height="675" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

First up a DJH Britannia Arrow- built and painted by Nicktoix required for Chapel-en-le-Frith (Central) at the end of this month. and something different. Mike Edge has built, painted and lined one of Judith Edge Consett A tank locomotives..in S4. Now named Dante an requiring a gentle wash.. Baz Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

First up a DJH Britannia Arrow- built and painted by Nicktoix required for Chapel-en-le-Frith (Central) at the end of this month. and something different. Mike Edge has built, painted and lined one of Judith Edge Consett A tank locomotives..in S4. Now named Dante an requiring a gentle wash.. Baz Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

The project to replace the chassis on my first Hattons/DJM 14XX is now almost complete. Following the replacement of the number plates and the minor repair to the steam heating pipe arrangements mentioned in previous blogs, I have now painted and weathered the chassis and re-assembled it. The chassis, minus the driving wheels, was first brush painted with Halfords red oxide primer (sprayed into the aerosol lid). I didn't want to remove the motor and all the associated hassle of excessive handling, as I'd already got the pick-ups in exactly the position I wanted them, so I generally prefer to brush-paint the chassis. Once the primer had dried, I then painted weathering colours directly onto the chassis, from a mix of Humbrol enamel colours, such as No.62 Matt Leather, a Metalcote black, a dark/mid-grey, dark brown etc. Then the wheels were sprayed with red primer, then matt black and finally given a light dusting of a track colour or sleeper grime type aerosol, to give them a base weathering colour. The chassis components then looked like this: Other paint was then dry-brushed on to the wheels, which were then temporarily attached to an axle and given a spin in an electric drill, whilst a cotton bud, soaked (but not soaking) in cellulose thinners, was held against the wheel treads and flanges to clean them off: I also primed and painted the coupling rods. Once the enamel paints had thoroughly dried (for various reasons this ended up being three or four days), I carefully cleaned the business end of the pick-ups with cellulose thinners on a cotton bud, where some enamel paint had accidentally gone, and re-assembled the chassis: Once satisfactory test running had taken place (which it now has done), I will lightly glue some etched overlays on top of the Romford axle nuts, to give a more prototypical portrayal of an axle end. The chassis was re-lubricated, where necessary, and test run, which was fine. It was then re-united with the loco body and is seen here posing on 'Bethesda Sidings', alongside the much more recently bought second 14XX, which will be re-numbered to 1420 in due course: Here is 1458 next to 4406, which is one of my oldest locos and one of the very few to retain GW livery from a much earlier project: I am finally happy with the running of 1458, The high gearing and quality of the High Level gearbox give it good controllability for all the shunting that will be indulged in on 'Bethesda Sidings'. Here are a couple of clips of it running this afternoon: One final word on the subject of the second (weathered) Hattons/DJM 14XX. From the outset, it seemed a better runner than the first two that I had from Hattons (the second of which became 1458), but still wasn't sufficiently good to keep the Comet chassis kit in my 'unmakde kits' box. Following a prolonged amount of running in on a rolling road and latterly on a circle of set-track, it was with some trepidation that I tested it on 'Bethesda Sidings' yesterday afternoon, using my AMR slow speed controller. Whilst not quite as responsive as 1458, it nonetheless surprised me and was, in fact, sufficiently controllable to warrant the chassis being kept and not requiring replacement. Good news and one less job to do! Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

The project to replace the chassis on my first Hattons/DJM 14XX is now almost complete. Following the replacement of the number plates and the minor repair to the steam heating pipe arrangements mentioned in previous blogs, I have now painted and weathered the chassis and re-assembled it. The chassis, minus the driving wheels, was first brush painted with Halfords red oxide primer (sprayed into the aerosol lid). I didn't want to remove the motor and all the associated hassle of excessive handling, as I'd already got the pick-ups in exactly the position I wanted them, so I generally prefer to brush-paint the chassis. Once the primer had dried, I then painted weathering colours directly onto the chassis, from a mix of Humbrol enamel colours, such as No.62 Matt Leather, a Metalcote black, a dark/mid-grey, dark brown etc. Then the wheels were sprayed with red primer, then matt black and finally given a light dusting of a track colour or sleeper grime type aerosol, to give them a base weathering colour. The chassis components then looked like this: Other paint was then dry-brushed on to the wheels, which were then temporarily attached to an axle and given a spin in an electric drill, whilst a cotton bud, soaked (but not soaking) in cellulose thinners, was held against the wheel treads and flanges to clean them off: I also primed and painted the coupling rods. Once the enamel paints had thoroughly dried (for various reasons this ended up being three or four days), I carefully cleaned the business end of the pick-ups with cellulose thinners on a cotton bud, where some enamel paint had accidentally gone, and re-assembled the chassis: Once satisfactory test running had taken place (which it now has done), I will lightly glue some etched overlays on top of the Romford axle nuts, to give a more prototypical portrayal of an axle end. The chassis was re-lubricated, where necessary, and test run, which was fine. It was then re-united with the loco body and is seen here posing on 'Bethesda Sidings', alongside the much more recently bought second 14XX, which will be re-numbered to 1420 in due course: Here is 1458 next to 4406, which is one of my oldest locos and one of the very few to retain GW livery from a much earlier project: I am finally happy with the running of 1458, The high gearing and quality of the High Level gearbox give it good controllability for all the shunting that will be indulged in on 'Bethesda Sidings'. Here are a couple of clips of it running this afternoon: One final word on the subject of the second (weathered) Hattons/DJM 14XX. From the outset, it seemed a better runner than the first two that I had from Hattons (the second of which became 1458), but still wasn't sufficiently good to keep the Comet chassis kit in my 'unmakde kits' box. Following a prolonged amount of running in on a rolling road and latterly on a circle of set-track, it was with some trepidation that I tested it on 'Bethesda Sidings' yesterday afternoon, using my AMR slow speed controller. Whilst not quite as responsive as 1458, it nonetheless surprised me and was, in fact, sufficiently controllable to warrant the chassis being kept and not requiring replacement. Good news and one less job to do! Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

<p>Updates will be thin for a while. Well, thinner than normal. I have other, more pressing or older projects that do not involve model railways in the slightest. Still, a shortlist of relevancy.</p><p> </p><p> Firstly, I am officially abandoning the 56XX kitbuild. The Grafar chassis under it made a circuit and a half on my loop, and quite. I am already $150 into the build, and I do not fancy trying for another donor chassis. Also, I had just found the announcement from RevolutioN about their plans on producing a RTR 56XX, so I will hold off until that is available.</p><p> </p><p> Secondly, I just this morning received some second-hand N Gauge Society kits of the SR 12-ton vans. I always try to bid on any N Gauge Society kits or RTR that crosses eBay, having not joined yet and only recently being in any sort of position to join. I like their kits that I've had before. I hadn't realized when I was bidding that these kits will build two wagons each. Made the purchase a much better deal than I had originally thought. For the era I aim for, though, even the 2+2 plank option is questionable, much less the plywood option. I may try scribing the plywood sides with 6" planking, to try to eke a little more value out of the kit. I have need of Peco chassis kits for other projects anyways, and I try to settle on lots to maximise the value of shipping when I order new from the UK.</p><p> </p><p> I may build these vans sooner than I intend to, as these are simple, fun little kits. I just need transfers for them.</p> View the full article