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Good progress Ian!

Momentous day today, after nearly 7 years my Land Rover moved under its own power, Only a short trip up the drive but a big day nonetheless

Hi Craig, The oval buffers were off eBay, unfortunately I can't remember the manufacturer but they are white metal and were pretty old spares for an LMS van from recollection. Thanks

I am enjoying that the mornings are getting brighter much earlier, I usually set off around 4.30am so now am only in the dark for 45 mins or so. Last weekend I went past Badminton where they were setting up for the horse trials but it only takes part on a small area of the estate, this bit was deserted

Peasevern yard is built on castors but slightly differently to your use case as mine are mounted on the bottom of the board for transport to shows. I am not sure about 20', that is a long length and I guess you are mounting them on the bottom of legs? That feels quite an ask to move without the risk of the layout toppling over, you might be OK with solid floor such as solid wood or laminate but I wouldn't want to try it on carpet personally

They are a nice looking loco Nick, great visibility and clean lines.

No real progress on the layout but a couple of projects are on the go. 7017 is now back in one piece awaiting weathering which I will start later in the weekend. I chose 7017 as it had vinyl numerals for a bit and was the last Hymek in service. I had to remove the headboard clips not fitted to the earlier Hymek which was fine as I needed to paint the full yellow ends Also on the workbench is a Steve Beattie Dodge Crew van, this has it's own thread in the Road Vehicles section.

Do you have a link please Chris, my son is badgering me about getting one!

Looks good Chris, is the Spartan a 3d print or kit please?

Thanks Chris, a few from other threads but I raided Flickr as well.

If you are only pulling 6 - 8 wagons then you could take out the second motor to reduce current draw which tends to bring it down below 1 amp which maybe be more manageable but you would need to check what the chip is rated for. Both of my Heljan diesels are single motored to allow me to use a feedback controller for better slow running.

At least it didn't have far to go back to the depot, that is about 100 yards from First's depot in Bath. I just spent 30 minutes discussing bridge bashing with one of our logistics partners. The traffic commissioner is ramping up the pressure on bridge bashing with the operators needing to show how they are putting in proper preventative measures eg fixed, routes, driver retraining, in cab technology to stop this; the old excuse of "sorry guv, it is nothing to do with us, it is the drivers responsibility" doesn't wash anymore. Also a driver lost their HGV licence for 6 months after a bridge strike last year so again that will ratchet up the pressure..

I had the sand paper out earlier and rubbed down the body filler, I also remade the missing rubbing strip. I am pleased how it has come out but won't be 100% sure until it has primer on it. I have also made mudguards and mud flaps for the chassis as well before I move onto the van interior

Done load of flying through work plus a bit privately.. I was about to regail loads of stories of great service on BA, poor service on Ryan Air, having to share a flight with deported criminals and being confronted by armed police at Luton looking for a criminal but... ... I got distracted by the pop advert at the side of my post which is way more enjoyable to look at than recalling loads of flights and hours of my life at Heathrow I wont get back ! Sorry Guys!

Looking really good Chris!

Yes good shout re the skip loader, both the Terrier and Dodge would be good for skip loaders and the chassis isn't too far off length wise (I would make my own chassis again but the propshaft etc are reusable). The skip loaders of the 1970s were pretty simple compared to today's ones with their extendable arms and the automatic sheeting systems.

Thanks Chris, good tip, will raid my good ladies stash.

I haven't had the cab in my hands that much to be honest, they look OK, perhaps not as crisp as the Roadrunner that Chris S is making but no obvious requirement for sanding/ filling I am sure Steve could be open to an Ergomatic if you dropped him a line, I mentioned a scammell Routeman would be good as then it enables the Blue Circle tankers to be done which is ideal to go with the Presflos. He has done a Guy Big J which I thought was his best cab yet in terms of finish/ accuracy.

More progress this afternoon, I smoothed down the filler from this morning, more is required. My main focus was to work out how to fix the body to the chassis. The floor for the body has a single hole which corresponds with a hole in the strengthening bar in the body itself. My plan was to glue a nut on the strengthening bar and then use a screw to hold them together The problem with this is the screw would sit under the propshaft so would be inaccessible once the floor was glued to the chassis. I don't like making vehicles like this with windows not being accessible in case the glazing yellows or gets pushed in so this wouldn't work; My solution was to make the floor removable from the chassis by the same method of bolts and captive nuts through the floor. I used 2 bolts at either end of the body. When the body is finished these won't be visible so there is no issue.

As the weather is absolutely rubbish in Wiltshire today, the plan to work on my 12inch to 305mm scale Land Rover was replaced with work on the modelling projects. First task was to make the new front springs for the Dodge. I used various length plastic strip laminated together to represent the springs, these not being really visible when the model is completed. I fixed the front axle in place then left the ensemble while I did a work phone call Looks good the right way up, I need to add the diesel tank as well. I will also make the rear lights while I am still searching for photos of the rear of the Dodge or Terrier based vans to see if they were fitted with a step or some form of under run bar. The Construction and use regulations mandated compulsory rear under run bars for any new HGV from the 1st April 1984 and hence they were present on the later Roadrunners and Dodge 100 series before later vehicles were fitted with Tail lifts The body continues to get attention with the removal of the deformed rubbing strip on the offside. I also applied a thin skim of filler to some of the print lines and some obvious dents/steps. Once I have remade the rubbing strip I will give it all a blast of primer.

That Railcar looks lovely!

No problem, thanks Steve.

I had similar thoughts when I modelled in 4mm, Oxford did some BR vehicles but never the crew vans. RTI do the bodies/chassis but they are obviously kits rather than RTR.

Hi Steve, re the windscreen, should my Dodge Commando have come with a pre formed windscreen as well please? There wasn't one in the bag but didn't know if this was intentional? Ta

Hi Chris, yes it is. I think I remember Steve saying on your thread he was going to do something different with the floor to stop it warping so guess this one is made from a different material, it is certainly flat.