Anglian

Ordered. It was a shame that the commissioned black E1 failed to secure enough orders to be viable – I hope this time it's a successful venture. Nice to have a bit of black to relieve the Marsh Umber.

Is it still possible to pre-order 113 or has the order book closed?

I love the way you've captured a shaft of light falling on the name plate of Tiverton Castle – it adds that extra something to an already great image. Was it intentional or a happy accident?

That depends on where in the country you are. The pumps have been labelled as E5 for ages but that doesn't mean the fuel contains 5% ethanol. See Esso website: https://www.esso.co.uk/en-gb/fuels/petrol As has been pointed out several times E5 petrol contains up to 5% ethanol. When I did some research into this a few years ago I recall that Shell 95 RON E5 had less ethanol in it than BP 95 RON E5.

I often used to travel alone by train from a young age without any trouble but it's the trips with my mother and sister that stick in my mind the most. I can recall one particular trip in BR Mk1 coaches – I can picture the scene perfectly and yet I have no recollection of where we can have possibly been.

Try Esso Synergy Supreme+ 99. It doesn't have any Ethanol in it except when sold in a few places (see Esso web site). My father and I run four cars that range from 28 years old to more recent. All run better on this zero ethanol petrol. There's a slight increase in economy and the overall performance is a bit better. However, in our older cars I think the absence of any ethanol is the key factor in making them smoother and more responsive. It's not available at all Esso petrol stations but where I fill-up it's only 3p a litre more than E10 95Ron, which is nothing when you consider the overall benefits. I've asked at other Esso stations if they will consider supplying it. I'm on a one man crusade to spread the word on this fuel (I don't work for Esso). Friends have switched over and are reporting that they sense there is a benefit in using it with smoother running engines that are a bit more lively. Shell claim up to a 4% increase in performance over their 95 Ron, when when using their premium fuel – V Power. I imagine the test figures would be the same for the Esso fuel.

I have such a brush. It's over 60 years old. The brush was sold as a watercolour wash brush. I imagine they are still made.

My SECR liveried model (satin finish) has just arrived. Yet to unpack.

I'd launch a super detailed 3mm range using 13.5mm gauge (the 3mm equivalent of EM).

It does state that for use in a DC environment that 15~18v DC is perfect.

Joseph, You'll find any replies in the same thread where you placed your question. It's really is no more complex or mysterious than that.

One has more strength than the other. I think it's Micro Sol in the bottle with red typography that is the stronger of the two. I only use it if I'm trying to get decals onto a compound curve otherwise I go for the less potent of the two.

The best way to apply waterslide decals is over a gloss surface and then to use a decal solution such as MicroSol or before varnishing with acrylic matt. Any carrier film will disappear. The advantage of waterslide, as noted above, is that you can carefully nudge them into position. I see an awful lot of models where the numbers don't have an accurate baseline so the numbers appear to 'jump'. For some reason it's often the last number in the row that jumps the most. When the baseline is defined by numbers with a flat base edge, ie 1,2, 4, 7 then those with rounded bases ie 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 ,0 should sit very, very slightly lower. The rounded characters are very slightly larger. This is a visual compensation the font designer will employ to offset the optical illusion that occurs between circles and squares or rectangles. I have designed and had my own waterslide decals printed (for aviation modelling) and I tend to arrange the sets of numbers/letters I want on the computer so the baseline and character spacing is 100% correct, then the whole lot can be applied as one decal.

I very much agree but feel Chiltern Green has to be added to this list and perhaps Chipping Norton.

John, They look superb but they weren't from me!

There's Chiltern Green (CG) on the Midland. It makes the 'Greatest' list. I'm fascinated by the visual treat of a faster train overtaking a long goods train, where both travelling in the same direction on a four track section of mainline. There's something about it that captures the drama of the mainline better than a pair of passing trains. CG delivered this in bucket loads.

There have been two Brinklow layouts – 7mm and N. Berkhamsted (4mm 00) is one I recall. It certainly featured in RM back in the day.

I can't find Tony in their online catalogue but I'm sure he still lives on in their digital archive. I imagine they would be willing to produce you one (or more), if Tony were to give his permission. They really are fabulous figures to paint since the detail is very sharply defined precisely to scale but more than that it's the wonderfully natural poses that the 3D digital technique captures that makes them so special.

I have the first issue and have no idea why I didn't buy the second.

I liked DJ's sole use of 'blandishments', in the same book and always thought that he wrote such compelling text.

I'm unable to make out all the layouts listed in the magazine's Top100 so I can't tell for sure if a couple haven't made the cut. Both are large 7mm layouts, one influencing the other. At the time of their construction I'd regard both as marking significant milestones. The first being the Norris Layout, which at best had a loose sense of geography and as far as I've read didn't operate to any sort of timetable, yet it remains significant in my eyes at least. The second: Lonsdale by Neil Corner and team. I think this layout has pretty much existed under the wire. I rarely see it mentioned and I have seen precious few images of it. Whilst it depicts a very plausible 'might-have-been' the main station is based on Hellifield.

Tony, It's good to read that it's a locomotive issue that you can resolve rather than being a track issue, as I'd wrongly assumed. Having seen first hand how well your locomotives perform that it hadn't even entered my mind that there could be the slightest chance of a problem arising with one of them.

Tony, I very much enjoy seeing all the footage of Little Bytham, of course including this latest offering. I noticed that one locomotive makes a slight jump on its way South – this can be seen at 5:55 in the time line. The platelayer might need to make an adjustment. When considering what makes for a 'great' layout I feel the originality of the overall layout concept plays some part in this.

I think they may have changed the name. Check with them – the part number on the one I have used is CL20446/A. You must wear a mask for it. Don't use it with pets around as it's really nasty stuff. You need at least 16 degrees C and less than 60% relative humidity. Waft it on in thin coats.

I use Advanced Paints acid etch primer. It is one of the few that pass the fingernail scratch test Michael has detailed. I have come across a superb German made primer that forms an extremely robust chemical bond with metal but it has 'body' to it for filling surface imperfections and I feel that rules out its use on models. However, I have come to the conclusion that you must get the metal really throughly clean and totally degreased before painting. Having cleaned the metal surfaces you should only handle the model wearing powder free latex gloves so you don't contaminate the surface. I soak some pieces in vinegar to lightly etch the surface. This combined with acid etch primer gives a very strong bond. I have read that acid primers in spray cans have to be so weak to stop the can itself dissolving. However, this is a bit of a myth, since the acid only starts to etch as it dries.