Atso

Excellent work Tim. I'm gutted that I wasn't able to attend.

I don't think the J6 featured as highly on the N gauge wish-list Tony. There wasn't even an N gauge wish-list run last time, apparently due to the lack of uptake and the time taken to prepare the survey. I'm actually quite envious of the range of LNER locomotives available as RTR products in OO gauge (albeit no J6!). In N gauge, the main manufacturers (excluding Union Mills), have produced, to modern standards, the following locomotives: A3 (currently out of production) A4 B17 J39 B1 A1 A2 In addition older, less detailed, and out of production, models included a V2, J69 (1960's) and a J94. For the modeller of the 1930's LNER scene, the RTR range is very limited indeed (four locomotives to modern standards) with no signs that it will be expanded any time soon. A J72 was announced by both Farish and Dapol a few years back, but both projects seem to have been put on indefinite hold. A J6 white metal body kit was produced by Graham Hughes, but this has been out of production for some time (and seem to be rarer than Hen's teeth). Hughes kits were, in my opinion, some of the best kits available in N gauge, but obviously suffered a little from the need to use somewhat generic donor chassis.

That's a real shame as I think the Farish split frame system is excellent. Didn't somebody write an article in the 2mm Magazine last year about finescaling a Farish B1? IIRC they using a lathe to drill a hole in the center of 2mm wheel sets and then used an anodised aluminum axle to ensure electrical isolation. Might be a solution...

That looks great Jamie, nicely done. The J6s are one of my favourite locomotives and you've really capture the character of class.

I've done some further lining work on Spearmint's tender today. The original plan was to represent the center panel lining using some hand made decals. However, I couldn't get into that today and after several failed attempts, I decided to try ruling the outer lines directly onto the tender. This is something that I've never managed to make a good job of before, as getting two consistent, paralleled lines that are only 0.5mm apart has proven too difficult. However, I think that somebody must have been smiling down on me. The lines are a little bit messy but this is all on the inside where the black line will be added later. The corners were added in using a fine brush. Overall I'm quite pleased that I seem to have cracked this technique.

Thank you Jerry, most appreciated. I do have your email by the way.

Thank you Tony. I believe the tax term for bartering is "benefit in kind" but have no idea how it is applied on a non-business basis.

I have to admit that progress on Hadley Wood has stopped at the moment - I've discovered that there is only so much track one can build at a time! However, I have been build stock again to eventually run on Hadley Wood. The BH Enterprise kit for an ex-GNR four wheel brake van. This will end up with an adapted Peco brake van chassis (as intended) as I'm yet to find a suitable etched replacement. It's a nice simple kit with only making up the handrails presenting any real difficulties. A GWR Mink C. This one is a bit of an impulse buy as I realised that I have very little by the way of GWR goods wagons. After the Toad E, Prestwin and GN brake, this one proved almost ridiculously easy to get to this stage. It's an N Gauge Society plastic body on the 2mm Association etched chassis. It's still missing some bits which need to be sourced and I forgot to add the strange brake levers before gluing the body to the chassis! Both of the other wagons were built in between session building this Prestwin. I have a second one to build before they get painted and sent off to their new home. Spearmint's tender has had the outer lining completed. I've just finished painting the decal paper that will form the inner panel lining and will add this over the next few days. I've also been thinking about the next project when I found this sitting in my unfinished projects drawer. This one will become B2 Sir Sam Fay in 1930's condition. I abandoned this project when I decided to model Hadley Wood in the 1930's, as Sir Sam had gone back to the GC by then. However, I've discovered that Frank Giles recorded the loco passing through New Southgate in April 1936 on an Up excursion. That's a good enough reason to go back to this one. The body is 3D printed on an adapted Farish Jubilee chassis. The tender body is a Union Mills product but is powered by a custom built tender drive made by my good friend Hans Starman - I've got another B2 to build for him, in GCR livery, as payment for his work. I'm certain these will prove to be easier projects than Tim's Valour!

I completely agree that Tamiya masking tape is a great product. It generally sticks well, has never lifted the paint of any of my models and is excellent at its job. I don't use any other kind of masking tape now.

I finally bit the bullet and made up and added the hand grabs to the ladders/catwalk out of some ten thou guitar wire.

I finally bit the bullet and made up and added the hand grabs to the ladders/catwalk out of some ten thou guitar wire. I've got a tiny bit of solder clean up to do, but other than that the first of the two Prestwins is ready for the paint shop.

The next stage for the tender is to make up the decals for the triple white/black/white lining. If you look at Ian Rathbone's method, he puts the outer lines directly onto the model using a bow pen and, once dry, brush paints in the center black line. I've never had much success with this method, as trying to keep the distance between the two lines is a skill that I don't possess. Therefore, I've borrowed Tim Watson's solution for boiler bands. This method involves spraying a clear decal sheet in the colour of the outer lines and then using the bow pen to rule in the center line. Once everything is dry, you line a ruler up against the edge of the center line and cut out using a fresh curved scalpel blade. The taper of the blade results in the edge being slight off of the edge of the ruler, which results in a thin outer line being left. There is a bit of a knack to getting this right but it is far easier than Ian's method in N gauge. First of all, the clear decal sheet. Microscale decals are really thin and give a nice finish when placed on the model; Some of the printer compatible decal sheets are quite thick by comparison. I think that I purchased these sheets (two in the packet) from Hobby Holidays at Ally Pally. The sheets are A5ish in size and last quite a long time for N gauge/2mm work. A section of the sheet has been cut out and sprayed with the outer line colour (Humbrol enamel gloss white with some black added). You can really see the grey tinge in this photo, but once placed on the model it'll look white. This is another of Ian's techniques and it really does give a better impression of scale than using white. Once the decal paper has dried, I'll rule in the center black lines, providing plenty to allow for wastage/mistakes. The corners will be carefully brush painted in directly onto the tender once the decal has set in place. This is the method I used for the triple boiler/tender lining C1 Atlantic and County shown earlier in this thread.

Thanks for that Paul, I'll make a decision on whether I'm going with nickle silver or guitar wire hand grabs tomorrow.

Thank you Grahame. I still need to do the center panel lining, so plenty of opportunity to screw it all up yet!

Spearmint's tender progressed a little further yesterday and the outer lining is now complete. I also added the nameplates to the loco, which makes the change of identity official. I'm trying to match Dapol's finish on the loco as closely as possible. I feel that it isn't too bad at the moment and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that a coat of satin varnish, and a light weathering, will blend the loco and tender together.

Thanks Paul. Did you find any issues with distorting the nickel silver wire? I usually use 10 thou guitar wire for things like this as it is more durable when handled (although more difficult to bend to shape).

Thanks Simon. The GN brake is the four wheel version. I did have a look to see if I could simply stick eight wheels under it but have found that the eight wheeler was longer. It's one that I would like, so I may design up some etches in the future (brake vans have proven difficult to print on my printer!). I have no idea I'm afraid, and I'm not that knowledgeable on GWR wagons. This one is my attempt to have a little better representation of GWR goods wagons in my collection; this will increase the total to two wagons.

In between the Prestwin and tender lining projects, I've been building a couple of other wagons. Above is another ex-GN brake van body etch from BH Enterprises. The van is designed to fit onto a slightly modified Peco brake van chassis. As the moulding for this isn't too bad (and their isn't an equivalent kit in the 2mm range), this is what this body will end up with. A very nice, if somewhat basic kit. A GWR Mink C, which was a bit of an impulse buy. I did briefly considered trying to convert it into an LNER grain wagon, but in the end decided to build it as is. It's an N Gauge Society body with a 2mm Association chassis. Getting to this point was amazingly quick, with about an hour and fifteen minutes expended. I'll need to find some suitable buffer heads, etc to finish it off. I've been waiting for the buffers for the Prestwin to arrive, which happened yesterday. I've added the coupling hooks and vac pipes with solder but attached the buffers with epoxy, as I wanted to ensure that they were straight and level. I've still got to add some handrails to the ladder, but I'm presently deciding how I'd like to do this.

With the Prestwin about as far as I can take it for the moment, I dug out my bow pen and made a start on lining the repainted corridor tender for Spearmint.

I agree with all of the suggestions of "inspirational" layouts put forward; especially Buckingham, Copenhagen Fields and Totnes. I would like to add the original N gauge North of England Line to this list - a great example of a club layout in N gauge. I can't speak for its replacement as I've not seen it yet. http://www.sdrmweb.co.uk/NoEL_photos.php

The valves have now been installed onto the Prestwin and some more of the details added. I've still got some small details to add but these will wait until the buffers I've ordered from the 2mm Association arrive. I think I'll see what I can do to close up the slight (but annoying) gap in the laminates that make up the top platform though.

I've done some more on the Prestwin this morning. I've still got some small details to add but these will wait until the buffers I've ordered from the 2mm Association arrive. I think I'll see what I can do to close up the slight (but annoying) gap in the laminates that make up the top platform though.

Ok, I'm going to admit to feeling reasonably smug having managed to solder these valves for the Prestwin together. As per the instructions, I've used epoxy to fill out the body of the valves.

Just going back a little to one of my earlier comments regarding who would ever commission a wagon build. I've been asked to build a pair of 2mm Association Prestwins for use on an N gauge exhibition layout. The kit is mainly etches with a nicely cast resin tank piece. While, I'm not charging my usual rate (I help operate the layout from time to time), they will work out considerably more expensive than any RTR wagons. Anyway, some pictures of my progress to date. Before anyone asks, yes these will be numbered correctly!

The two "large" valves for the Prestwin have been assembled. The first one took an absolute age as I tried to get my head around its construction. After that, the second one went together very quickly.