Corbs

I was doing some experimenting on using VFX to add effects (and chickens) to see what it looked like trying to scale down the smoke. Still needs refinement but I was quite pleased with the result. The original video is the property of Ted Polet, as are the models.

In that case , as the 58 was designed to be modular, it might be plausible to use a 58 bogie and cab?

Nice work, it's coming together well.

EDITED Similarly, there was an Avonside 0-6-0ST deteriorating outside J Doyle scrapyard for many years. https://bestieboy.smugmug.com/Trains/Miscellaneous-Steam-Locos/i-GhzQzBh/0/M/1600-Avonside-0-6-0ST-J-Doyle-M.jpg

I take my hat off to you, sir. I would not for one minute have guessed that those fine machines had such an origin!

Filler primer is available on ebay, its usually yellow. Works great for building up sandable layers

Does nobody want a free DCC chip worth in excess of one pound?

Sean O'Connor made a similar Bulleid tank loco.

'Osiris' looks brilliant, Dave.

You could use GIMP, which is a free alternative to photoshop. https://www.gimp.org/

I tore apart a Bachmann 'Greg' (or 'not-Percy') which was DCC fitted, so have a DCC decoder spare and no use for it. Looks like it might go in a standard envelope. Would it be of any use to someone on here? First come, first served.

That's cool but I think you need to have the pivot at the rear of the power bogie, so it can lead the loco into curves, for it to work on the Mallet principle, then have a sliding bearing under the smokebox The fireman would probably be grateful if the boiler was shorter with a platform over the front cylinders

Not at the moment, the cylinders are only stuck on with black tack! I need to make up some proper mounts and sort out that expansion link.

Yes, and much smaller in stature. I don't really like non-garratt garratts as they never look right. Perhaps slightly more realistic (!) I should really get around to finishing this one....

It's about time for an update from these here parts. 'Agnes', the 3D printed copy of TR No.4, has had more painting done. It runs very roughly, I've glued in a load of liquid gravity, which has helped. The paint needs a bit more tidying up, and then I can glaze it and add some suggestion of an interior. Since I had the lead out, I added some to one of the vans and the slate loads. I've also splashed out on a 3-pack kit of the Penrhyn quarrymen's coaches, to become 'Ada', 'Jane' and 'Mabel', from Narrow Planet. Very nice kits to make, satisfying! Here they are awaiting a bit of paint and couplings.

The Modified Meyer uses a circular firebox that does not project below the footplate, apparently this made 'Monarch' hard to get used to.

The County Gate Malletts 'River Avon' and 'River Brue' (built by John De Frayssinet) are to my mind some of the best British Malletts, using enough of the style of the original L&B locos to make them blend in with the rest of the fleet, and enough of the true Mallett styling to make them articulate and work properly.

I liked Dave's adaptation of the Bulleid 2-8-0 into a 2-10-0 and made another. This time I used the boiler from the austerity pacific (larger smokebox) which was the right length to fit the rear driving wheels in, and took the flange off the centre drivers. The 2-10-0 also uses the same bogie tender and cab as the pacific. Food for thought: Q1 wheels and 9F wheels are not too far off size-wise.

This is the Horwich Mallett model by Michael Edge, he described the build on this forum: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/67706-horwich-mallet-0-6-6-0/ Also from that thread.... I keep going back to 'Peppercorn's Berkshire' above, I think it works a lot better than some of the ones I've done for reasons previously discussed, rather than just stretching a Pacific and adding another driver, I used smaller diameter driving wheels which are mounted very close together, and it makes it look proportionally nicer.

The problem with using an existing loco design to make a garratt has been mentioned before, it never looks right if you plonk a Bulleid/Gresley/Riddles etc boiler in between two bogies, garratts all have a similar look with the short wide boiler and it's difficult to illustrate in a side-on drawing (although I have tried to show a large firebox ashpan). (I use adobe photoshop for this)

Here's a non-divided drive pacific... Whilst messing about with the layers for that, I accidentally created the ganger's nightmare (flangeless centre driver possibly?) The Hudson is not far off the W1 in its A4-like form. I quite like the Berkshire. I think Z1. Funny you should say that, I had similar thoughts but with outside cylinders.

I really like the use of magnets, especially if the layout is to be handled a fair bit.

Well a duplex is a rigid frame so may not be too kind on the track, I've tried to muck about and create a mallett but the best one I've seen is Michael Edge's model of the proposed Horwich 0-6-6-0.

Would the cab without a drop-down frame work within the confines of a UK loading gauge, though? An A3 boiler is about 6'5" diameter. I'll have a stab at a Pacific (in effect an A2/2 without divided drive) and possibly a Hudson or Berkshire. Something always looks strange to me about stretching Pacifics to 4 coupled axles, they always look odd for a British loco. I think possibly smaller diameter wheels could work at balancing out the extra length and make it look less likely to straighten out all the curves in the track. The duplex is pure fantasy, of course.