Karhedron

Quantumn Leap worked well because of it's episodic nature. A film would have to resolve his trapped plight at the end (or end of the trilogy ). Some of the best episodes were the "Evil Leaper" ones. I still kinda wish he had got home in the end though.

Generally true although I can think of a couple of exceptions. The Adams Family films spring to mind.

Alternatively if you want to stick with Halfords it seems to be available from other outlets, if not Halfords themselves. http://www.rockbottombikes.com/product/2/3726/Halfords-Vauxhall-Gazelle-Beige-Spray.html Best advice I can give is to prime a scrap bit of plasticard and then spray with your chosen shade. Once dry you can hold it up against some stock for a genuine comparison without worrying about comparitive lighting etc. The RAF Kinloss MRC list seems to be the default starting point when looking to use auto paints but it could well be worth experimenting. The best way to improve accepted wisdom is to question it. Halfords do about a dozen different shades of beige as well as some creams. http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchCmd?catalogId=10151&storeId=10001&categoryId=165505&langId=-1&action=listrefine&constraints=teq%7C%7CColour%7C%7CBeige%7C%7Csor%7C%7CPrice%7C%7C1

Have a look at DavidK71's coach thread here. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/38124-building-an-n-gauge-coach-kit/ He has used Hycote Vauxhall Gazelle Beige and the result looked good.

Any word on whether an N gauge version is still on cards at some point?

I have also had good experience with GW whiet primer and it is a good alternative to Halfords and quicker drying too. Only their "Skull White" is a proper primer IMHO. Their black is just normal acryclic. It does not adhere as well to bare surfaces and does not dry so quickly. I have used Vauxhall Carmine Red for BR Crimson and was very pleased with the results. It is worth noting though that I applied it over a coat of red primer which gave a slightly deeper and more vivid colour than going over white. This was easy enough for me as I was painting plain crimson coaches. Since you are doing cream as well the white primer is probably a necessity.

You have done a nice job putting that together, I will be watching with interest to see how the paintwork comes along. I agree that there are not many pictures of N gauge coach kits on the net so thanks for taking the time to provide us with this one. I have had good results with Bernard's coach overlays so these look like a logical progression. If I start one I am sure Dapol will announce they are producing them RTR.

Thanks for another extremely informative assessment. I haven't taken the plunge with a Brit yet (saving my meagre funds for the Hall) but I may in the future and this looks like a very useful guide on how to fettle these beasts.

As was the Fry's chocolate factory at Keynsham. One regular visitor was the GWR Terrier "Portishead".

This is my second attempt at producing an ex-GWR K40 full-brake from the TPM kit and a Dapol B-set as the donor. My first effort can be seen in my earlier blog and was finished in plain Crimson. I was fairly happy with my first attempt but I was sure I could do better having had a bit of practice. This time I completed the full assembly before painting rather than trying to paint each part separately first. I found in my last effort that is was too easy for glue to spoil the finish. Secondly I was not entirely happy with my use of Kristal Klear liquid for the glazing. Although it works really well on resin and plastic kits, it really needs a thick body to grip to. When applied to a thin sheel (10 thou etched NS in this case) it spread slightly beyond the aperature. Instead I retained the original Dapol glazing and cut it up to fit into the new window aperatures. Fortunately the GWR like standardization and both Dapol and TPM seem to have got the sizes the same meaning that the glazing will fit into the new etched window openings. A little Kristal Klear was applied to the edges to hold them in place. The last thing I was not happy with was the branding. There are no suitable transfers available in N gauge for ex-GWR full-brakes and they had a fair amount of writing on them including running numbers, route branding, parcel branding and "Guard". I approached Steve at Railtec Models and he produced a custom transfer sheet which contains correctly matched branding for 4 different K40s based on photos I supplied. These sheets contain all the branding needed (apart from lining) so I don't need multiple sheets. These sheets are now available to anyone else who wants them, the number is 3712. So here is my second finished vehicle. I am quite pleased with it and it definitely improves on the first attempt. I think I might need to use some very fine filler along the top seem in future but it definitely looks the part.

I impressed with your work there, especially the extra details you have added. I might have to have a go at one myself. Any chance of a shot from underneath please?

I think that this bit of the post deserves a seond glance. I know that Microtrains have been considering an NEM version for a while but this suggests it might actually come out this year!

Actually I think it was the Siphon Cs that were a staple of Harris traffic. Slinn's book on Siphons has a couple of pages on them as well as 2 photos of Siphon Cs branded for Calne sausage traffic. Scale Link produce a 2mm kit of the Siphon C. I have not tried it myself but I am planning to have a go. http://www.scalelink.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2escalelink%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2fShire_Scenes_1_160%2ehtml&WD=siphon&SHOP=%20&PN=N_scale_GWR_4_wheel_coack_kits%2ehtml%23aSNFV05#aSNFV05

Personally I find it easiest to be impressed by layouts where I understand the subject well. If you know the area and scale modelled it is easier to appreciate the effort that has gone into models. For example, if I saw a particularly well built model set in the highlands, I might not recognize the effort that had gone into kit building or even scratch building. On the other hand, if I saw a rake of GWR centenary stock in N gauge I would certainly have a second look.

Hmm, Basingstoke definitely has to be up there somewhere for me. Or Pete Waterman's Leamington Spa.

It was back in 2008 when the project was first announced IIRC. Last time I asked I was told that the N gauge version would follow the 00 one at some point. Of course I don't know if plans have changed since then. Given Dapol's new policy of keeping things under wraps until they are imminent, I suspect that we will probably only find out for sure quite close to release.

I agree, I really like the finish as it looks like a working loco in reasonable order rather than something being run into the ground to save the scrap-merchant time. I hope that the N gauge version (when it finally appears) gets similar treatment.

Impressive work as usual Missy. I missed the earlier posts, what is the basis of your Railcar? Is it the Worsley Works etch or did you build it from scratch?

ModelMaster tranfers are only available through the N gauge society I think. Having used both MM and Fox, I think I prefer Fox. The transfer film seems to be a bit thinner on the Fox ones. A couple of coats of Klear on the fox transfers and they look virtually printed on. I can still see the outline of the film on the MM ones when I look up close. Having said that the MM transfers are still pretty good and they cover some subjects that Fox do not.

Glad you approve.

Hi Carl, Thanks for the feedback. Shall I share my secret? I don't use Railmatch or Precision or any of the other rail paint manufacturers (apart from the odd weathering shade). I use Halfords car paint. The above coaches are in fact painted with Vauxhall Carmine Red. I don't own an airbrush and I have had mixed result with Railmatch's own spray cans. The Halford paint on the other hand gives a consistently good finish. It is high gloss which is good for taking transfers so I finish it up with a spray of Testors Dullcote to give a good flat finish. The Guage O Guild put together a list of colours a few years back that match a whole range railway colours to car paints. Everything from Caledonion Blue to EWS Maroon. Here is the original list from RMWeb3. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=86&t=21686#p334307 Matt

Yet another item rattled off my UFO pile. I have just finished repainting a pair of Dapol B-set coaches into early BR unlined crimson. It has always struck me as odd that neither the B-set nor autocoach have ever been offered in this livery despite it being standard and remaining common into the 60s. The repainting was not too hard as the bodyshell detaches and the glazing pops out without too much effort (wouldn't like to do the same job on the Farish suburbans). The only tricky part was renumbering for which I used a set of Modelmaster transfers. B-set coaches usually ran in pairs and the majority of pairs were "married for life". This being the case, it is pretty aggravating that the MM transfer sheet includes some B-set numbers but not for matching pairs. After an aggravating hour with a magnifying glass I eventauuly settled for cutting up numbers to get a set that was allocated to the Bristol sub-division. This aside I am really pleased with how well they turned out and you can see the results here. http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/ee199/Karhedronuk/?action=view&current=B-set.jpg Regards, Matt

Would that be Devlan Mud by any chance? Did you mix the wash with the Klear or apply it aftwards?

Hi Carl, great progress, nice to see you are back in the (metaphorical) saddle. The ballasting in particular looks superb, the blend you have used captures the golden hues of ballast in the area surrounding the Cotswolds very well. Did you find that using Klear left the ballast glossy at all? I am planning to use it on my layout and was wondering whether I would need to add some matting agent to it.

I would not call it a cliche but one scene I have observed incorrectly modelled on more than one layout is an old church perched close to the railway line, often near a cutting. The conservative Victorians would never have dug a cutting near a cemetary, both out of respect for the dead but also through fear of accidentally digging into a plague pit.