mattingleycustom

Fantastic resurrection of the D15, but the livery bothers me. In the prototype photos 30466 clearly carries Bulleid style cabside numerals, yet you have used BR Gill Sans style. Did you not have any SR ones available? Regards, Glenn

Power - yes, elegance - no, sorry I love the things but I'd never describe an MN as elegant. Each to their own though! Glenn

Tony, Much prefer a P2 in its original condition, but these A2s are fine models. When I was renumbering/renaming RTR locos professionally I used fine grade wet and dry paper (1200 or 1500 work well), depending on the standard of the original varnish finish this usually worked well removing only the numbers themselves, barely affecting the base colour underneath. My preference was never to partially renumber; I would change the lot, then the spacing and style are consistent. Fox Transfers being my favoured type. Some people can't get on with waterslide transfers but I found they produced the best results so long as they were applied to a gloss base and then varnished over with satin, or sometimes a satin/gloss mix to imitate the original finish. Keep up the fine work, Glenn

Fox BR smokebox numerals I presume?, perfect for GW types, too big for everyone else. Keep up the good work, Glenn

The post you were replying to welcomed the new models but stated other types were more numerous, at no point did I mention liveries ... ... but as you mention it, personally I would like to see the lined Maunsell green produced as this is very hard to reproduce satisfactorily and Hornby have made a very good job of this on earlier releases. Plain green is easy! Glenn

I was hoping for a Saint and Toplight coaches, but no. The P2 seems to take precedence over 'Lady of Legend', perhaps next year. Glenn

Any of those names beats 'Prince of Wales', where's the Scottish connection there? Glenn

7864 is a Dining Saloon, or Restaurant First Kitchen. 7866/1365/S7841S is one of the Dining Thirds as rebuilt (twice!). From that same site, this quote explains some of the story: In late 1930 the first of the new diagram 2005 Open Thirds (like 1336) appeared and these were coupled to additional new-build First Class Kitchen/Dining Saloons. They also frequently took the place of the 1927 dining saloons, which were then reclassified as Open Thirds for general service in 1930, 7866 being renumbered 1365. The released number series (7864-9) was re-used in 1932 for new kitchen/restaurant cars. ... bit of a minefield and as I have stated before there were only six of them. Glenn

A welcome addition to the Hornby range of Maunsell coaches but ... there were only six of them. Other types were more numerous; for example the 1935 flush window stock (BCK, TK, BSK and TO varieties) and therefore more useful. Glenn

At last, a proper P2 (Lord President).

Well I am going to stop going down the pub every night, stop eating out and ditch the expensive holidays and order some Bulleid coaches. I think the U Class is long overdue, there were 50 of the things after all. Smaller classes (e.g. Adams Radial, Beattie Well Tank) have been produced. If Bachmann really want to do something radical then why not do their own West Country/Battle of Britain, after all there were 110 of them and Hornby have never made the cab variation suitable for the earlier locos. Plenty of room for both players here I suggest (unlike Std 4 4-6-0s and A4s). Glenn

What I notice from many old photographs of GWR locomotives is that the spacing between letters for 'Great' is slightly wider than that for 'Western', it doesn't make the two words equal in length but evens them up a bit. Glenn

Tony, I believe Coachman (now departed from this particular parish) found one of the problems with the latest Hornby Gresleys was that the underframe was too wide (I think by 2 - 3mm). That would explain the lack of tumblehome below window level. I suspect Hornby were trying to square that compromise between trainset curves and prototype appearance and falling somewhere in between. A real shame as their later efforts with the other Big Four companies have produced some fantastic models of Stanier, Maunsell and Collett corridor stock in particular. Glenn

Another reason to hate the things: Tension locks are vicious nasty things that attack without provocation, I was simply trying to remove one from a Hornby Maunsell carriage which resisted rather too much, so I gave it a good heave and the hook alone detached but was embedded in the end of my thumb! ... cue much foul language (and 'claret') as I removed the thing. I find using small pliers to get the coupling out from the NEM pocket is far less painful. Glenn

I have put Set numbers on many BR(SR) coaches (Maunsells, Bulleids, Mk1s) and for the BR style I find Fox 8" numerals look about the correct size, 6" appears way too small. Glenn

Hartland Point perhaps, as butchered by Bulleid?

Jack, 21C122 Exmoor looks just about perfect with the etched Fox nameplates and class scrolls, well done - if only Hornby had put the original cab in their tooling it would have saved all of us SR modellers a lot of hassle. One question: whose transfers did you use for the yellow bands? Glenn

Gentlemen, According to the good book: 'The Book of the WC and BB Pacifics', 21C108 Padstow received standard length deflectors in Jan-47, with 21C122 & 21C140 gaining them in Feb-47 . There is a photo of 21C122 in this condition on page 17. Unfortunately with most of my library packed away I cannot confirm 21C129; although I expect Graham is correct. Glenn

Jack, The original cab looks good and having had a go myself (and given up; decorating to do!) I appreciate how much effort you have put into it. I did find one particularly good photo of the original cab in close up on the Wadebridge (34007) loco group's site: http://www.34007wadebridge.uk/ go to Photograph Gallery and see the pic of 's21C107'; unfortunately it doesn't show too much roof detail but does show how the yellow lines are tight to the cab window frame. Together with the other photos of Wadebridge in malachite in SR/early BR days, very useful. I always wondered if drilling a small hole in the hexagon bolts on the Hornby motion would improve the appearance although something else I haven't been brave enough to do myself. Keep up the good work. Glenn

Rob, The plain black with GWR sits well on the Pannier; put some etched numberplates on it and it will look just about perfect. Glenn

I think you'll find it was black shaded numbers for (red) bufferbeams and on the malachite green painted locos and green shaded numbers on the (black) front of the Bulleid Pacifics and on black locos ... time to get the black paint out! ... or replacement transfers. Regards, Glenn

Very impressive build of a very impressive loco. One small point on the livery, shouldn't the bufferbeam numbers be shaded black not green? Glenn

HMS Victory is probably the most significant bit of kit from an era when Britain truly rules the waves, just mind your head when you go around as sailors were short in those days (Nelson certainly was). Oddly enough I think we're short of sailors now! The two carriers both live at the 'historic' end of the Naval Base, so you'd be unlucky not to see one at least on a visit. Next time you come down please visit the Spinnaker Tower and the Gunwharf and spend some cash, it helps keep my Council Tax down. If any of us are ever allowed out again! Glenn

HMS Queen Elizabeth berthed at Princess Royal Jetty in Portsmouth Naval Base. Did you go on the Victory Rob? Glenn, Pompey resident and former 'Docky'

Graham, I had a look at 'The Book of ... ' this morning and was pleased to see that Hornby got it right regarding the yellow lining, there are plenty of photos of new light pacifics with this feature, something I had been blissfully unaware of until now. 21C165 and 66 are renumbered, but little else has been done to them, I think I will add the Fox etched roundel to the smokebox as it adds relief. 21C165 has had the original glazing unit removed as she would have had two glass panels in this condition, I will post some photos on here once the pair are completed. Glenn