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By the end of the year, he said... It's looking slightly unlikely now, although I guess for more positive reasons than that I just haven't been making the progress... The last major chunks of the model - the smokebox door hinge, buffer guides and cab steps - have been added. Rivets have also been counted (I know...) and drawn on and I decided to add the cab handrails to the main body. I had envisioned locating wire into pre-drawn holes for these, but the space I'm working in between the sides of the cab and the edge of the running plate is quite tight and actually I don't think there will be much difference visually than a separate wire that would have ended up being hard up against the cab side anyway. The cab steps feel chunky. I've thickened them behind, with tapered edges to try make them look thinner than they are from normal viewing angles. There's also some additional bracing on the back that I hope will give some support without being visible. Time will tell if it will be enough - their sticky-out nature is highly vulnerable to mishaps during postage. Checking the full assembly post-creation showed that the cab steps are also significantly misaligned relative to the rear wheelset, compared to the prototype. Part of this is on me - being slightly lazy, I decided to retain the original couplings, so used some selective compression to avoid extending the body much beyond the length of the donor. The fact the wheels are the wrong diameter and axle spacings also don't match doesn't help the situation though. Having said all that, it doesn't jump out at me as looking wrong... There were always compromises to be made in this project, and I still feel like the essence of the prototype is there. I have also come to a decision regarding the detailing parts - I want to include the safety valves, coupling hooks, vacuum hoses and buffers in the print, and will attach them to a sprue inside the body. They should be safe there in transit and during sanding and priming, and it should be little loss if they don't print well and I need to buy brass parts anyway (or could investigate printing the sprue in brass). Whistles are probably too small to even attempt to include in this, and I suspect the smokebox door handles are the same. The front handrail will likely be made up of Alan Gibson parts, with other assorted small items (lamp irons, filler cap latches, etc.) also added via some as-yet murky conventional means. Along with the progress has come a wave of paranoia that maybe Shapeways will reject the design. Going to go back through the material specifications on the website at some point and see if anything seems suspect. Otherwise, just some holes to locate and it'll be ready. Oh, and the vacuum brake hose - I've held off adding this only because the vacuum brakes were retro-fitted to all three of the class in 1900. In all likelihood, I'll never personally have any need for a 1800s version and will want the vacuum pipe on and visible. However, I'm conscious that it will date the model, so want to split off a version without it before adding it in. Naturally, this is easiest to do right at the end... View the full article

As sneak peaked in the last part of my Shack build, the mighty Sea Vixen was my next build from Airfix. I have history with the real Sea Vixen, I worked on one during my time at Dunsfold - speaking of which here she is.. The kit itself is very well molded, the fit is very good - though there's been a few issues, more on those later in the blog entry.. Cockpit assembly, I replaced the ejector seat loops. Cockpit fully painted Fuselage buttoned up Flaps on the the underside need some fettling (and will need some filling later) Over 40 grams of ballast have been added forward of the nose wheel Alas more railway commissions beckon, so that's it for now.. TBG Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

<p>Xmas is definitely over, after a busy, festive and highly enjoyable week involving presents known and surprising, friends old and new, children who have grown astonishingly since last seen, NONE of my good wife’s innumerable siblings and their offspring (for a mercy...) and very little tv (although I did see Carols from Kings College and St Paul’s at various times). </p><p> </p><p> But it’s back to the world. I usually reckon it an important milestone, the first evening of tv involving various ill-mannered people, rushing in and out, shouting at each other, depicting supposed dramas of which I care absolutely nothing.</p><p> </p><p> No 2 Son is over at his brother’s, supposedly helping him in some undefined way but really fussing over my ridiculously spoilt grand-daughter and playing video games.... he has a point...</p> View the full article

<p>Last weekend but several was , of course, Warley. Feeling a little buoyant after completing the Baby Deltic I went with a list...</p><p> </p><p> It was one of those occasions when you end up buying all sorts of things you didn't know you needed until you got to the show. And I didn't get some of the things I did know I needed.</p><p> </p><p> But the result of all this is a number of new projects opening up so -</p><p> </p><p> - The first cab off the rank is an attempt to follow the Baby Deltic by assembling a home-brew NBL Type 2 diesel-electric from bits. (That's a Class 21 in decimal money, but in 1958 TOPS was a long way away). I have long had a second-hand Hornby 29 body , bought for a couple of quid. The Baby Deltic used up the chassis and bogie frames I had bought for it - so I sourced some more from Peter's Spares</p><p> </p><p> But they didn't have a power bogie.</p><p> </p><p> So I went to Warley on the scrounge for a cheap second-hand loco to cannibalise for one. With the further thought that if I managed to get a Hornby 25 then the body is reckoned to be better than the Bachmann one, so putting it on Bachmann chassis is a known route to a 25....</p><p> </p><p> And I found a Chinese-production Hornby 25 in BR Blue with 5 pole motor and all-wheel pickup for £39.50 . Thank you!</p><p> </p><p> A tip-off from the Chairman on the stand sent me scurrying across the gangway to Shawplan for their etched NBL cab window surrounds - which radically improves the cab end of the Hornby 29. I also bought a suitable etched fan and a set of laserglaze windows for the Hornby 25. 247 Developments supplied NBL worksplates</p><p> </p><p> Dart Castings visited us to advise of a new etch allowing the fitting of couplings to bogies. I went round to their stand and bought a couple.</p><p> </p><p> And then there is the GBL Jinty which I've recently disassembled. I think the wheels on the Hornby 0-6-0 chassis - or at least their flanges -may prove a bit big for the moulded chassis. But an etch on Brassmasters' stand for a fiver, intended for the Bachmann Deeley 3F , offers replacement splashers for a larger wheel.</p><p> </p><p> I sourced a Zen Nano Direct for a Bachmann BR Standard 4MT 2-6-0, and a couple of other decoders from Digitrains , including a big stay-alive to help the 29</p><p> </p><p> Two weekends later was Peterborough. The list was shorter, but I still needed sheet lead. I took my part built 128 - or at least it's Replica chassis with a damaged supporting yoke at one end - and Replica fitted a replacement part for me for a modest sum - I bought a few small bits from them as well. That unblocks the 128 project , which I hope to finish in the New Year</p><p> </p><p> And I also managed to find a second-hand Bachmann class 25 , at a very reasonable £49.50 - probably because all the cab handrails were broken. But I don't care about the cab handrails because I have a Hornby 25 body....</p><p> </p><p> Also part of the Peter's Spares order was a Hornby Javelin motor bogie to repower the recalcitrant 155 with its seized motor bogie, and a Hornby Railroad 31 chassis frame . All I need is some suitable bogies so I have a mechanism for another of the stored Airfix bodies.</p><p> </p><p> I hope to make some inroads into the list of outstanding projects in 2019</p><p> </p><p> Meanwhile I think I have found a solution for the Baby Deltic's annoying tendency to stall. The culprit is almost certainly the deep flanges on the old-style Hornby wheels combined with code 70 bullhead track - removing prominent bits of ballast has eased but not quite cured the problem. After various wild ideas about somehow turning down wheels in a lathe I don't possess , I realised there was a simpler solution . A quick rummage in a box produced the remains of a packet of Bachmann coach wheels. Pinpoints were quickly sawn off and the wheels replaced on a trial Hornby trailing bogie . </p><p> </p><p> But I could have sworn there were 4 axles in that packet when I found it, and when I went back to do the next pair - there was only one axle left. I've had to buy another packet from the local model shop...</p> View the full article

<p>The current 'Main Line (Dreadnought) fleet, built from Radley Models' Kits; all the coaches are from the 1920 or 1923 batches. Currently standing at 8 coaches, all in various stages of finishing, all require lining and numbering but finding it hard to get any transfers. Please feel free to comment for details, all the profiles and numbers are in the gallery attached.</p> View the full article

https://wicknessmodels.co.uk/product-category/dcc-sound-decoders/ View the full article

https://wicknessmodels.co.uk/product-category/dcc-sound-decoders/ View the full article

Almost 6 years later (with no progress), it's time to continue. With a wife, two kids and a full time job, time will be tight but I'm sure I can do more than I have done in the last six years! I've ordered some NRN radio pods from PH Designs, a total of 6, to add to my two pacers and my 121. It was £20 but I can't seem to find any others - I've previously used Hurst but they seem to be out of stock of everything. I've half weathered the undertakes and just waiting for the wash to dry before I take on the other sides, I'll post some photos when they are done. Then I'll move on to the interior: Removal of the DCC Sockets Cutting the interior moulding Adding lower floor where possible Adding a toilet cubicle Fitting directional, cab & Saloon lights Adding Sound chips and fitting speakers Hopefully it will take less than 6 years! View the full article

I started this as a quick project about four months ago.......... The chassis is from Mark Clark and the body the S&D Barclay - well that was the quick and easy bit! Chassis went together pretty well but I had trouble with the plastic gears and possibly set them with not enough slack or was it that Marks finely etched were once again no match for my ham fisted construction. Result - a pile of bits and the need for a Mashima and Branchlines box and a bit of simplification of the valve gear. Now the body - this is a pretty old kit and I fear getting a bit tired and although OK in it's day now not really up to scratch. An awful lot of work was needed on badly cast, fitting and pitted parts. Many of the details are also rather crude and over scale . This was reinforced by finding a nice Roy Link drawing in the Calshot and Fawley book. I have sorted out a few of the more obvious bits but if I really got going it would probably be quicker to start again from scratch, it is only really a cab and a boiler after all! Next step is painting (pretty easy in overall black), and getting it DCCed - not so easy. There is not really enough room anywhere out of site for my new favorite chip the TCS kat22 so I fear it is going to have to fill the cab disguised by a driver. I am thinking that I might be able to dispense with my other dreaded task which is fitting couplings. As the sole duty of this loco will be to push wagons over the new uncoupling magnets it will be much simpler if it can't actually couple up. Before anyone chimes in with fact that the WDLR never operated this Barclay, the RAF did in 1918 so I am not stretching it too far that one may have been borrowed for trials - it was only meant to be a quick and easy project anyway ...... Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Merry Christmas and festive compliments of the season (whatever they are - that's a moist turkey etc.) to you all. Following some sound and appreciated advice, I turned with some trepidation towards the Walschaerts valve gear on the 2MT. But, as was predicted, I took things steadily and didn't really have any problems at all (Thanks Dave!). In fact I enjoyed it. So much so I want to do another one! I've used a 16BA nut and bolt to join the two halves of the valve gear on the expansion link pivots. Not prototypical but it will allow disassembly should it ever be required. I used the rather lovely Markits milled crosshead and valve rod. I'm not completely sure that it's exactly right for this engine, but it's as close as I care about, more refined than the lost wax Comet one and a joy to use. I'll be using these again for sure. The grooves for the slide bars have to be opened out a bit but that's no bother. The return cranks are Gibson, tapped 14BA to screw onto the crank pins. I took advice from John Brighton's Steamline blog to halve the connecting rod at its joint with the cross head and did my usual trick of halving the leading coupling rod boss. The Comet chassis have been clearly thought through for the wider gauge modeller and I had no problems with clearances at all. I've spaced out the connecting rod with a couple of washers to keep its orientation roughly parallel to the chassis side frames and all appears well. Certainly everything rolls round as its pushed up and down the work bench, though I haven't tried it under power yet. I did blacken everything with gun blue but I didn't like the effect and removed most of it off again with a scratch brush. The cylinders need a bit of filler and detailing to finish, but all in all I'm a happy boy. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Starting with Radley Models Motorised 'T' Stock kit, which is a composite of several different styles, I decided to convert the kit into a 1927 MW Motor. These units were steel clad but finished in varnished teak. The conversion was a lengthy one requiring several new files to be ordered! Using James Snowdon's book 'Metropolitan Railway Coaching Stock' I removed the unnecessary paneling. After the bodyside had been filed off, the next step was to fill the top panels in to create a flush finish - poly filler and various grades of paper. Assembly was very simple with it just slotting together, although a couple of sides required straightening. Now all is left is fitting roof vents, buckeyes and bogies. View the full article

On to part two of my TPO build, with the girls up very early again this morning (and distracted by their new toys). I snuck off to the railway room for half an hour before heading out for the day. The first task was fitting the final section of side, cutting to length and then flying into place. Once this dried the roof was temporarily fitted and attention moved on to the right hand panel. One side on my chosen prototype has a different window location. (A word of warning, it seems no two TPO coaches were the same, with windows and grills appearing in different places). Fortunately I have a lot of spare window frames from my Bachmann conversion. So after carving off the original frame and filling with evergreen strip, I drilled out and added the new frame. It now needs a bit of filler, the roof needs to be updated with different vents and it will be ready for paint. I looked at starting on the second one, but the chassis is a bit more difficult to use. I have stripped it down but I am now thinking I will look in my VSOE box and swap chassis with one of those (as it hopefully will have the raised edge that is required). NTA NSA NSA (t) NUA As many as I can show on Wheal Imogen. I need to find some OO disk wheels and get the bogies capable of working on Brent. (And I need to get the bits ordered for my 1940s equivalent set Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

It's always the same at Christmas, what can you do with the 'Left Overs'...... Going back to the sadly 'disturbed' introduction of the Heljan Class 17 some years ago I resorted to the factory replacements that the company offered. They arrived quickly and with proof of my purchases I didn't have to send the old ones back. This has left me with the original six Class 17 chassis' which I have now completely dismantled and fettled. They all work ok now but, as has been commented on before, the top speed is around 30-40mph. The various entries on RMWEB have detailed what clever people have done to overcome the original problems with the chassis' but there is obviously a lack of suitable replacement class 17 bodies. Thus... With all this in mind I dug out a Hornby class 29 body from the scrap box the other day and offered it up. Bizarrely it fitted exactly with no fettling or altering required. Weird, as I expected at least some packing or hacking of some sort. It doesn't look too bad, almost as though there was a rebuild and amalgamation of the two classes. Alternatively perhaps a more modern looking, German influenced re-engineering project might look something like this...... I scratch built this from styrene sheet and Evergreen sections. It requires windscreen bars, horns and windscreen wipers. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Awaiting me when I arrived back home yesterday was a packet form Charlie at DC Kits containing parts to build 2 NSA and the missing bits to complete the other side of the NUA. Once presents were wrapped and children were asleep, I was on child watch making sure no one went downstairs and discovered presents before midnight. (It wouldn’t do well to see presents from Father Christmas before he is supposed to have arrived) This gave an unexpected couple of hours modelling, with the NSAs the clear winner. I have refined the technique a little from my first attempt on the NTA, the min change being the removal of the bottom section of the Bachmann side, turning around and rotating 90 degrees and gluing in place in the Chanel. A length of ten thou stripmwas glued to this which provides a solid base upon which to glue the new side. A short length of 30 thou is glued to the ends of the sides to space it out and reinforce the joint. The end itself is modified cutting back to the inner bracket, which provides a firm base for the new side. As for the side itself I started with the sorting side, this uses the standard DC Kits construction so needs to be cut to length (one moulding does both half’s so you cut the door off one side and shorten the other by the same length. With this done the first side was glued into position, adding a length of 30thou to reinforce the joint before test fitting the roof. M Moving to the other side the first job was to assemble the large doors, this needed 3 parts glued together before being put away to dry. The next task was to start on the corridor side, this consists of 2 short sections (which are handed) the two doors and a long centre section. All need to be cut to length to work with the large doors, the other build will be easier in this regard. Once shortened the outer sections were glued into place and allowed to dry. Finally for last night the doors were glued into place , with a base added to fill the gap from 30thou (a fix needed on my other builds). The final panel now needs to be cut to size (needing to be an exact fit) before flying into olac. The new sides are fractionally shorter than a Bachmann mk1, so as per the NTA it needs a length of ten thou flying to the top of the sides. It will also need detailing such as post boxes, window grills etc. While the roof will need the raised panel to match my prototype 80322. https://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/Coaches/NPCCS/NSA-Post-Office-sorting-van/i-MK59Tq6/A Another lesson learned from my NTA is the need to add an additional spacer in the middle of the coach to stop The sides bowing in at the top. Again this still needs to be added Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Evening all and a very Happy Christmas to you, Have been chipping away at progress and almost ready to start scenic repairs again. The second turnout was installed in position yesterday having first gapped it, cleaned with Vim and then sprayed with a coat of primer...as before sky blue was all I had at hand One thing you will note is the backscene and also the ramp/bridge have been removed now. This was twofold, firstly the bridge railing was getting damaged and secondly the tie bar was sitting right beneath it so installation of the turnout aligning with two diverging roads at one end and the traverser board was difficult They have been set aside for repairs and reinstallation. The turnout was added, new wires added where necessary and the wire in tube has been replaced with new run partly as it fell in the next sleeper bay. Once levelled and aligned using work business card slithers, it was attached with superglue. This morning I got to run a few tests with the locos and most locos run through a lot smoother now including to the siding at the front. It looked a bit loco heavy at Kyle this morning during testing The wiring despite being simplified to DCC now is still a bit complicated for my liking involving lots of chocolate box connectors and 4/5 wires streaming from them ...before I tackle the scenics I might just take a look again at this with fresh eyes and see if I can install some busbars. Overall, a lot happier now and hope to do some more over the festive period. A couple of pics from earlier and vids if I uploaded correctly... Best wishes to you, Pete Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

I've not posted on here for a very long time, we all know what life is like - it gets busy and modelling slowly slips down the list of priorities. I thought I would share something I've been working on this afternoon - it's a Lima 60 in the attractive BS Blue livery which I picked up on eBay a while ago. So far I've added a driver and second man, picking out there orange hi-vis, added bufferbeam detail and started weathering the underframe although this is still WIP. There's a still a lot to do, weather the bodyside, pick out the exhaust in a rust colour and some other detailing that I'll add later on. I'm not going to replace the grills or re-do the glazing on this model but hope the end result will come out good. The Hornby 60 is without doubt a much better model, but I still believe that the Lima 60 can still scrub up well. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

And finally . . . . Here's a photograph of the two vans together, so that you can see the similarities and differences between them. Very little material has been used on both subjects but, nonetheless, the effects have produced vehicles that have been in use for some time and suffered the ravages of time and weather. Both would probably benefit from some more work on the roof, but that would merely be an additional thin coat or two of Dark Wash, left to dry and then rubbed with a soft cloth to remove excess pigment. Merry Christmas everybody. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

<p>On this vehicle I have used a black pigment to replicate the dark colours seen underneath door handle areas. Once again, only a very small quantity was used on the filbert brush and worked into place by gentle 'scrubbing'. A small touch was added to the buffer beam area as well, which can just be seen in this photograph. It wasn't until I'd taken the photograph that I noticed one of the buffers was trying to break free from its housing.</p><p> </p><p> </p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21743]' id='ipb-attach-url-1092247-0-94930600-1545640117' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_12_2018/blogentry-2194-0-94350700-1545639544.jpg"title="IMG_7826_Cropped.JPG - Size: 163.65KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_12_2018/blogentry-2194-0-94350700-1545639544_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1092247-0-94930600-1545640117' style='width:800;height:306' class='attach' width="800" height="306" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

Q. On the Settle Carlisle line, was it more appropriate for the telegraph pole route to go over the top of the tunnels, or were the wires routed through the tunnel? If routed through the tunnel, how was the transition from pole to wires entering the tunnel achieved (pictures if possible). Many thanks in advance for your advice. View the full article

The underframe and lower bodyside edges are now attacked with Dark Earth pigment. Once again, only very small amounts are loaded onto the brush (a filbert) and dabbed in place, followed by a generous redistribution in the direction of dirt 'flow'. By using small amounts the effect can be controlled quite nicely, resulting in discolouration rather than in-your-face stains. The edges of the Dark Earth areas are then supplemented with Rubble, to ease the transition from heavy to light discolouration. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

The underframe and lower bodyside edges are now attacked with Dark Earth pigment. Once again, only very small amounts are loaded onto the brush (a filbert) and dabbed in place, followed by a generous redistribution in the direction of dirt 'flow'. By using small amounts the effect can be controlled quite nicely, resulting in discolouration rather than in-your-face stains. The edges of the Dark Earth areas are then supplemented with Rubble, to ease the transition from heavy to light discolouration. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

At the end of the year it’s good to have a good look at what you have done and how to go on in the new modelling year. When I started with my Bridge Street project 7 years ago, I just wanted to try out card building. And because it was my first project I also wanted to see if it was possible for me to create a believable English scene. Just to fresh up your mind a picture of my first build card building: John Grantham’s grocery shop. In this stage I also created a station called Northall. My second diorama was also a further try-out. Because my allergic constitution I have limited possibilities to model. So instead of trains I decided to concentrate me on the British Railway road vehicles. In this stage to idea grow to create Northall as a town where “packages” where delivered. In the meantime, I build several other diorama’s and tried out other kits and other materials. One of these project is one of my wife favourites: Church Street The last picture shows also one of the problems I discovered. This road van was never used for the delivery of packages. Also, some comments showed me that my approach was not always the way to create a correct image of the way sundries & parcels were delivered. Because I like to create realistic believable diorama’s I asked myself the following question: what criterion do you want to use your modelling projects. I came to the following points: History – Railway related and social Parcel and sundries traffic Road vehicles Advertising and railway posters To be honest I lacked the knowledge of some of these points. So, I have to do some more research. This time not only on the internet but I also bought some books about the history of the use of road vehicles and parcel and sundries traffic by British Railways. It also awaked my interest in the GWR road vehicles and posters. I have already deleted some of the categories on my blog page. So, I will start partly over again. Northall is a market place situated on the canalized river North in the fictive county of Middleshire. From Northall there is a Branch Line to Littleworth. The Northall story from now on will be a “cocktail” of diorama’s situated around Northall and villages mentioned in the map in different time settings. As a start some time-based posters with dogs. Thanks for reading my entries in 2018. I wish you a merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2019. Looking forwards to you suggestions and comments. Kind regards, Job Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

The key stock projects for 2018 were: Ø Paint the Cargowaggon pair > done Ø Fit the bogies and ends to the TDA and paint > done Ø Build 4 ex Caustic Soda TTAs > done Ø Commission etched walkways for the ex Bowaters tanks > no progress Ø Fit couplings to all completed clay wagons > no progress Ø Weather the CDAs / build the other 6 > no progress Ø Paint GWT sleeper rake into Intercity > one more GWT sleeper part sprayed. Ø I have also started putting together a Virgin Trains XC loco hauled rake > good progress see below. The Cargowaggon Twin: This is the latest project to cross the work bench, after spraying the ends blue earlier in the year the past week has seen the sides painted silver, the logo panels painted yellow and the transfers applied. A start has also been made on the weathering process TDA ECC Slurry Tank Roof walkways were fabricated from Bachmann TTA parts with a scratch built end platform. The model has been sprayed into ECC livery with transfers from Railtec. Virgin 47817 An old project to renumber a Vi Trains class 47 to 47817 Institute of Mechanical Engineers, the cab sides and roof had previously been resprayed but the colour was a poor match. So these were resprayed again with a more suitable grey. Numbers and nameplates were added along with Extreme Etchings grills. Virgin XC Mk2 Rake Test coach to test method for carving off the fictional solbar worked well, so planned for rollout to rest of fleet. A start was made on Kaydee fitting before running out of coupling boxes. 3 more coaches in Intercity were added to complete the rake, one of which was converted into the buffet first. Seats have all been painted and a start has been made adding passengers. A flush sided shark Lots of rework to a flush sided LoadHaul shark to get the sides into a state fit for painting, before respraying the orange / black livery. The wirons have been removed pending replacements that will fit P4 wheels. 47768 RES The loco had a poor colour match around the replacement roof grills, so the roof was repainted in a weathered grey along with weathering the sides. The depot plaques on the cab sides were removed, touching in the red paint and weathering to hide. TPO Modelling NUA conversion (DC Kit sides on a Mainline Mk1), one side converted, parts formed to replace the missing bits on the other side (a 2019 task) NSA conversion of a Bachmann NSA into a refurbished variant, filling the large windows and doors and adding the small window frames with parts cut on the silhouette cutter. Model now ready for paint. 37612 DRS Another finishing project, first filling the excess bodyside windows (making a mistake as only one should have been filled.) The other needs a new frame and the window blank removing. The noses were replaced with centre box ends (ex 37521) modified with recessed socket and multi working jumpers. Transfers are also applied (bar the cantrail stripe). It needs new doors forming for the other side, having had good results making my own doors as a 3 piece lamination on the silhouette this is the solution to finish the loco in 2019. 20302 DRS Rework to the ends to get back to 1998 condition, respray the roof into grey to match prototype, ends painted red along with repairs to the DRS blue. Transfers applied. Model needs a cantrail stripe, glazing, window frames fitting, and new bogie frames. EWS 37521 Reusing a surplus Bachmann Class 37 in EWS the model was renumbered from a renumbered 37, fitted with flush ends (sourced as spares via ebay) and Extreme Etchings nameplates for the “English China Clays” name. it has been fitted with a set of P4 wheels out of a Bachmann 66 but the gears are a slightly different design and do not mesh properly. It needs a buffer repair and couplings to finish off. 50007 Elgar Minor rework to the model to resolve mazac rot issues EWS 31466 Finishing off a part resprayed Hornby Class 31 from way back, it was to be in Wessex Trains livery (no use for 1998) so I have gone for EWS for something a bit different. Full respray and transfers. TTA Slurry Tanks A set of 3 china clay slurry tanks have been converted from TTAs, these are place holders until something more accurate is made available (the barrels are too large diameter). They are currently in the paint pile. 37194 Railfreight Grey Full respray of a detailed Bachmann body, fitted with Tre Pol and Pen names and now awaiting a P4 conversion. At the moment the intention is to use a full set of P4 chassis and swap bodies between them rather than converting both fleets. This will also mean that I can more easily sell off the 1980s stock eventually should I decide to wholly focus on 1998. 50002 Large Logo Another old respray finished off, spraying a detailed Hornby Class 50 into large logo blue with a black roof along with Superb name plates. It needs some rework to sort out the cantrail stripe. Class 58s An EWS Class 58 was detailed with the door handrail plates fitted along with buffer beam details, a Mainline 58 was renumbered and had the grills painted grey (using Vallejo grey black) and also fitted with the handrail plates. This loco was also fitted with P4 wheels swapped out of some Class 33s that I was selling. Virgin XC Mk3 TRSB Completing a project from 2006 finishing the respray of the coach and applying the white lines / Virgin logos, before adding glazing. This completes my Virgin XC hst rake, although its partially P4 the powercars are OO. My intention is to unconvert the coaches so that the full rake is OO and can be ran on Brent (and hopefully get the odd run out on friends layouts) GWT TGS Respray of a Limby model, unfortunately needs a new roof due to the existing one shattering on removal. On to 2019 Plans I would like to finish off the TPO project, which requires two more NSAs to be converted. I have the Bachmann mk1 cores and just need to source DC Kits sides. Aim to see DC Kits at Thornbury in May. 37612 in DRS, draw up some new doors and a side window frame in cad and run through the cutter, paint & fit to finish the model Lots of stock in need of OHLE cantrail stripes adding, I plan on getting a bow pen as I am not getting on with transfers. STS (ex Bowaters) slurry tanks, I have found a suitable TTA etch to modify, just need to paint, fit and add ladders. The CDAs still need weathering, with 10 more still to convert. I need to find a more elegant solution to the poor chassis design. Lots of couplings still need to be added to clay stock, and kaydees to coaching stock. Paint up the Intercity mk2d / mk3 sleepers for my GWT sleeper. I have a pair of S Kits nuclear flask wagons which could do with painting / bogie assembly to run with the DRS 20/37. I keep thinking about buying another Bachmann 20 to convert into 20301, ideally picking up a non runner at a ridiculously cheap price. A flush front triple grey DRS 37 is another one on the to do list that is a maybe for next year. Other potential projects are finishing off my second GWT HST rake, more bogie clay slurry tanks, and various weathering projects. View the full article

Boiler next. Hmm. I had a look at the DJH one and decided to give it a bash. Well, quite a few bashes. Removed the alignment tags which didn’t align, got it in a jig of scrap wood bits and whacked a lot of lowmelt solder at the gaps. I then filled all the bits that needed filling with lowmelt and attacked the whole thing with a variety of knives, sanders and files. Most of the “detail” on the castings was overscale and I would have removed it anyway. So after a fair amount of work I now have a decent starting point. The whole thing has been given coats of gap filling primer between sanding down sessions, the stuff does seem to fill scratch marks and makes it far easier to see where further work is needed. It is the first time I have used the gap filling primer. So thanks Corbs, I saw the way you used it to fill and highlight areas for rework and borrowed the idea. A bit of an out of focus pic , but you get the idea. Oh , and I painted some wheels… Now the fun of getting the boiler and footplate fitted together. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

As per usual as we approach Christmas, its time to review another year’s modelling. County of Somerset: At the end of last year this loco was on the troublesome list, the major work was finished but its new chassis was not running smoothly so it couldn’t progress to DCC fitting and final commissioning. I haven’t really managed much work on this, so it is still sat on shelf awaiting its time to be looked at. Large Prairie The loco has been fitted with new slide bars, new pony wheels, finishing touches to the paint work and transfers. It is now ready for DCC fitting (and is in need of some weathering. Saint Dunstan No progress, in 2019 I am to get the chassis built and the loco commissioned into service. Decoder Fitting Fit Decoders for remaining locos > my third 45xx 4547 was fitted with a Zimo decoder, however the rest remain to be fitted. Chip fitting is on hold until the layout is more complete. 47xx In February a PDK 47xx kit was sourced from eBay and built over the following couple of months. It still has some underlying issue with the running and much like the County it is now sitting on the shelf awaiting attention. Once the layout is more complete I think the desire to get these working will increase. 1364 At the Taunton Members day back in April I picked up a preproduction Kernow Models / DJM 1364 saddle tank. A fantastic model that is let down by the usual DJM poor design (recessed number plates, and all axle drive chassis with sloppy con rods etc). The latter is still an issue even on an unpowered model as the running is not very free. Eventually it will get an etched chassis, but for now looks good on the shelf (and can be ran dead in tow en route to Newton Abbot for attention.) Grange 6828 During the year I spotted that my Grange 6828 had the wrong tender logo, so this has been changed to G crest W. Oil Burning 2884 Converted with a 3d print for the oil tank, it now needs renumbering and the cab modifying with shutters. There is also a little more detail I would like to add to the front of the tank. For 2019: The main aim is to get the County and 47xx running, build a new chassis for my 43xx and build the Saint chassis. Other potential projects I am considering is selling my Dean Goods kit and replacing it with a Finney Bulldog. Other than that there are a good number of weathering projects that are likely to need attention. There are also the other in progress kit builds (2251 and Manor) the latter may jump up the list having found details of one that would have worked through Brent in 47. I now have a set of rolling bars on order, so progression on the Manor should continue now that I can prepare the boiler. Wagons Again not a lot of wagon progress, although another batch of P4 wagons have been converted back to OO and fitted with metal buffers. New stock consisted of a Beetle prize cattle wagon from a parkside kit (sat awaiting paint), a couple more cattle vans, and an MRD / Ratio Iron Mink. Again in 2019 the intention is to build a few more of the wagon kit stash. Coaches The Centenaries project has neared completion, with the coaches sprayed into chocolate and cream, roofs painted Vallejo dark grey, ends painted black and droplights painted mahogany. The first 3 have also been lined and are ready for glazing. The rest still need the lining adding once I get a couple more sheets of HMRS GWR lining. The H33, H26 and A20 have also been sprayed chocolate and cream with the same treatment for the roofs etc. The A20 was also lined up and is ready for glazing, the other two both need lining. The airfix autocoach has been sprayed in wartime brown livery, fitted with new buffers and is now awaiting lining and glazing (the latter requiring a pack of laserglaze.) Another Slaters toplight (a composite) has been built and is now sat in the garage awaiting painting. The Slaters clesterory has now been finished, glazed and fitted with the etched details. There are only two other completed projects, a Syphon F (although it still needs Harris’s logos adding and a detailed Syphon H. For 2019 Finish off the Centenaries / Diners etc, including the lining, glazing and fitting some couplings. The painting to do pile consists of the two toplights, an ex LNWR compo, a syphon, and one centenary which needs the cream respraying. There is also a large pile of coaches awaiting the roofs painting grey (basically all of my Mainline Sunshine stock and Hornby Colletts). I will be building an etched Syphon, there is also a Sunshine Stock First in the pile that will probably be built this year. Other than that, I am hoping to finally make a start on the TPO. View the full article