JaymzHatstand

A friend of mine got one from his local shop with the top pair missing. The proprietor was going to send it back, but my friend was able to purchase it from him at a touch over trade price (he wouldn't have bought one otherwise) and is happy to repair it with some brass wire. I appreciate that paying full price, this shouldn't be something one has to do, but yours is certainly not the only Duchess to arrive sans handrails. Cheers J

Instagram competition today, follow Hornby and tag a friend in their post to enter the competition. Prize is a Percy and the Mail Train set. Cheers J

I was at work, anything for a distraction! Cheers J

A delightful Christmas cracker joke today, I would t spoil it for anyone though! Cheers J

Congratulations, and thoroughly deserved! And the open fish wagon is something that's interested me for a while, I dare say I'll acquire one myself at some point! Cheers J

I noticed that on the Warley samples. I'm getting gladder and gladder that my two didn't arrive in the first batch! Cheers J

Absolutely astounding! I might borrow a couple of ideas for mine. Not the full repaint, probably, but the roof tweaks and underframe mods are definitely giving me ideas! It really does look gorgeous! Cheers J

Excellent, thanks for that! I presume it's fully compensated? If so, how is the gearbox secured tonthe chassis don't doesn't just flop about? Cheers J

Absolutely cracking! I received mine the other week, and picked up the wheels at Warley. I was going to read back through your thread to establish which motor/gearbox you'd gone for, but that's conveniently just above! I presume it's driving onto the rear wheels? I'm very much looking forward to starting mine, but I need to clear some workbench space first! Cheers J Edited for a couple of auto correct un-correctnesses!)

There's a touch of similarity between the Warley sample's lower handrails and the real Hamilton's wonky efforts, which hopefully is just a pre production assembly or handling issue. There does look to be enough play in the holes to straighten them so as not to look like the very poor front end of 6229! Cheers J

I'm presuming Tulyar will be in pre-Rainhill condition, without the plaque on the nose end? I fancy an Alycidon as she was upon delivery to the NYMR, but the only FP liveried locos are this and Ballymoss from the main range, but detail wise that one isn't quite right! I don't mind renumbering, but I don't fancy doing the white cab surrounds, as I know I'd go slightly awry somewhere! Cheers J

I was umming and ah-ing about a blue bathtub, but after seeing the sample at Warley, I think its pretty likely that one will arrive in my collection, to be renamed as Hamilton, if the area around the cylinders is correct for that. I'm hoping it's just a pre-production issue, but there handrails on the front look a little wonky, hopefully this is the because they've used the NRM example to base their model on! Very much looking forward to its arrival, and it might even encourage me to build some Coronation coaches to go with it! Cheers J (Edited to add photo)

Looking forward to seeing something that is hopefully of interest to me, if not, I'm fine with it (and so is the wallet and wife!). I've got a few ideas of what might be appearing, mainly down to what is already available and how far up there list of needing an update they are, but I don't want to be accused of wishlisting or frothing, so I'll keep that under my hat! Will the pre-order process be like that for the wagons, in that it's paid up front and arrives when it's ready? See you Saturday, Cheers J

I'd best get another hopper then! I only got four initially! Mind, those I have will be in LNER livery, and I'll be doing a few in NER later! Bring em on! Cheers J

Ooooo! Now they are nice! I'll hold off building my Slater's hoppers for a while! Maybe I'll just cut them down in readiness! Cheers J

The LNER version was station pilot at York, so it's quite likely that the red rods are prototypical, as such locos were kept looking pretty with them being I'm the public eye a lot! It should be easy enough to either tone down or remove though if required. Cheers J

Thanks for that, that's pretty much what I'd thought of doing! As for nose weight, I've noticed it being quite tail heavy, but fortunately there's plenty of space in the boiler! A copper pipe filled with molten lead us recommend in the instructions, but I think it might be folded sheet lead instead, it sounds a bit safer! Cheers J

The chassis for the G5 has now been painted and is now awaiting the removal of the masking and re-fitting of the motor and wheels. The wheels are still awaiting the fitting of their balance weights. I'm not sure what the best method for doing that is, so if anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd be most grateful! Cheers J

Thanks for that, I'll investigate changing it then! I've got it turned down to its lowest setting anyway, but it's better to be safe! Can anyone recommend a better option? Cheers J

Thanks for that. It was one recommend in a Hornby magazine article, so I presumed they had already worked such things out. It works fine at the moment, is it something likely to cause problems down the line, or is it more a case of if it was going to go wrong it would have straight away? Cheers J

I'm surprised the 55 hasn't appeared yet. It is difficult to get the right 'feel' from the sound on a small scale as the engine note is very much a sense as well as a wonderful noise! I've fitted a chip to my 60, which is the older framed version, and as I've added a twin speaker from Digitrains, I've had to remove some plastic from the roof! I listed the silencer and cut it the space below, and it JUST fits! The lower part of the silencer had to go too, which doesn't leave much to deaden the sound, but I'm sure I can work on that! Cheers J

Yes, sorry, I did mean to state that. There are two identical sheets of waterslide transfers on the kit. Cheers J

The four I ordered arrived this today, so they have commenced shipping! They are packaged in an attractive almost cube box which I've not seen used elsewhere, so nicely distinctive. The mouldings still look fairly crisp, and there's a couple of lengths of brass wire and some turned metal buffer heads which were a very pleasant surprise! I'm not sure if these are the same transfers as provided with the kits originally or if they have been re-drawn but I'm sure someone else can shed some light on them! See the photos below for more details. I'm looking forward to getting started on them, but as others have mentioned, the interior will need some work if they are to run empty! I also fancy having a couple with the end brake gear which, hopefully won't be too hard to replicate. Cheers J

Not much has happened with my 4mm standard gauge modelling of late, I had my 009 layout, Scrayingham at the Redcar show a couple of weeks ago, so all modelling time was dedicated to tidying and tweaking things for that. It was an enjoyable show, despite having to fight with a problematic polarity switch! My dad has been building a Connoisseur Models LNER G5 for a while, and, due to other time constraints, has come under much ridicule from his clubmates for his lack of progress on it. He has asked me to finish it for him, so that'll be taking the centre stage on here for a while. First up are a few photos of the current state of play before I crack on. Other than attacking one side of the chassis and body with a burnishing stick, I've not done anything yet. The main superstructure is done, as is the chassis, with just a few detail bits to fit, and a couple of the nice big whitemetal castings. The dome is just resting in place in one photo, and will sit much better with a bit of fettling. I'm very much looking forward to getting on with this as it looks like a lovely kit and he's done a good job on it this far. Being a Whitby lad, he wants it finishing as a local loco, and provided a photo of the one he wanted at West Cliff station. However, after perusing my Yeadon, it turns out that was a Scarborough loco ( :no ) so I've done a bit more digging and it will end up as 1739 which spent it's whole LNER life at Whitby shed. My plan of attack is to get the chassis all done and painted first, which really isn't far away then move onto the body. I'll post updates as and when there's anything significant to show, if anyone else has built one of these and has any tips or hints, please feel free to share them! Cheers J

Yes. I phoned them the other day and have a few on the way, once the transfers arrive at Slaters HQ. The helpful fella told me that they are all moulded and ready to go, just waiting on the transfers, which shouldn't be far away. Cheers J