Mikkel

Congratulations on getting underway Nick! That is indeed a very simple method of making boards, thanks for illustrating it so clearly. Looks like a nice loft-setup you have there.

Ah yes, the livery question :-) So far I think grey. But what shade? Dark?

Many thanks gentlemen. It's a great thing about railway modelling that we can take some obscure object from the past and bring it back to the present. I had better explain about the problems I had with the pulley wheels as I wouldn't want anyone to repeat my mistake: As you can see they were made from watchmakers parts. I had expected that I could polish the teeth/cogs away by mounting the gears in a mini-drill or similar, but this is hard stuff and you need much more serious machinery than I have. I think they would be excellent for making gears on a crane, but less so for pulley wheels. At least for someone like me. Modellers who have good metalworking skills and kit might fare better. So after various attempts I ended up simply using varnish to fill in/smoothen the gaps between the teeth. However this is not really an ideal solution. Next time I will simply try to scratchbuild the pulley wheels.

Here's a little scratch-building project that I'm working on in-between the coach painting. The prototypes were used extensively at Paddington Goods in the 1900s. A similar but more austere type was used at Hockley. I couldn't find any drawings, so the dimensions are guesstimates based on photos. The build was a real pleasure, especially sourcing the parts. I'll let the pictures explain the rest - gradually! In other words, a shed crane. I still need to model the operating lever which was situated next to the crane, and which (as far as I understand) connected to a mechanism beneath the deck. I plan to build at least one more of these - although possibly a more heavy duty type. There are a couple of things I might do differently on the next one. I think the counter-weight is a little underscale. I will also do the pulley wheels different next time. We live and learn! PS: Thanks to Missy for the tip about the watchmaker's parts, available on ebay.

Speaking of the NRM: If only they would buy it off you Tim. It would be such an excellent way to demonstrate prototype operation in model form, and those who are not interested could just marvel at the layout in general.

What a great taste in stock. Interesting to see the Midland wagon as I've been thinking of getting one of these. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the horsebox and Toplight!

Hi Dave, I've had a look through various books for a prototype, but no result I'm afraid. However your idea for a might-have-been sounds good, I'm sure the results will be very good indeed. It's interesting how we as modellers sometimes get to walk in the footsteps of the people who built and ran the railways of the past. Eg some of your design decisions for the goods shed may be very similar to the ones William Clarke himself went through every time he got a new contract :-)

Thanks seagull, not too much progress on the depot lately - but the timbers for the last bit of track (in the yard area) are now in place. @ Buckjumper: No news on Erik Olsen I'm afraid, noone seems to know.

Hi Jim, just been through your thread once more, your buildings and landscaping is so pleasing to look at I thought I'd do a re-run :-) The way you spend time on each sub-project and treat it like a labour of love (rather than something that has to be finished so we can move on) is very appealing and clearly results in high quality work. It's also a clever way to avoid stress :-)

Amazing what you've achieved in a year Castle. You have a very refreshing go-ahead approach to things that is clearly paying off. I like your mum and dad's approach to buying gifts - we need more people like that :-) Thanks also for the walkthrough illustration of the K41 build so far. Good stuff.

Hi Ian. Sorry to hear about your cat, these things are really painful. I hope the modelling has helped to lift the spirits a little. I have no idea what toffee blocks are in this case, but maybe you've found out that toffee is in fact a superconductor? :-) Sorry if I have lost track a bit, but what is the interesting building in the background?

I hope you'll solve the problems, it certainly looks the part so far. PS: CIMA? Chartered Institute of Management Accountants? Canadian Independent Music Association? Cayman Islands Monetary Authority? - sorry but I'm a foreigner!

Lovely vans and a nice clean build. I know what you mean about using the wrong shade, I've just done that too (grumble). Yours look good though.

Diamonds, quite simply!

What a great idea! The next step would be to build a whole layout in there. An industrial siding with half-relief buildings maybe, and the backsene on the inside of the lid. Hmmm... :-)

Very interesting to follow your experiments here, and some really nice results. I think the interlocking bricks work really well. You probably notice them more than we do because you know they are there.

Many thanks Jonte :-) Am in the process of painting the coaches. I like to leave ample time for the coats to harden so that's why things have gone a bit quiet here.

Lovely work on that shed John! It really looks the part. I really look forward to seeing the signalling too.

That is some very good lining, I think. You must have a very steady hand. Expensive paint. I suppose it makes you use it sparingly. As you say we are so used to just popping down for another batch.

Perseverance indeed. Impressive that you've kept at it. I laughed out loud at your humorous description. I can see why you had to remove the whitemetal cars - nice try but I suppose it wouldn't have worked in the long run :-)

Judging by what can be seen so far, I'm guessing it's an igloo :-)

Very interesting to see this technique in close-up. I have tried the black base approach but was never much impressed. Now I see it's probably because I missed the intermediate step with the highlighting. Excellent results. They are lovely mouldings too. Almost enough to make me go 7mm :-)

Wow! Not least the figure painting, which is top class. I especially like the chauffeur - I don't think the dog has much of a chance against him :-) And then there's the grass and foliage! How was it done, please?