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While waiting for a delivery from Wizard to enable me to complete the roof, I have built the bogies. Fortunately the weather isn't quite so impossibly hot today (29C rather than 34C), so I could contemplate soldering.  Here are a few photos during construction: These are compensated on the Brassmasters principle. I still need to add the springy wires across the ends to make them a bit less floppy, but I think I'll do that after completing the basic painting and putting in the wheels.   After an ultrasonic bath, I did a trial assembly and took some photos. Looking OK I think though not quite complete: And a size comparison with a modified IRM Park Royal. The prototypes were built over 50 years apart, but provided very similar accommodation - a third class open saloon in two parts, and gangways. The older coaches were built with 72 seats (compared to 82 for the Park Royal). Some later had 2 toilets added, reducing the seating to 64 (compared to 70 for the Park Royal with 2 toilets). There are some 1950s and 1960s photos around Cork showing these two types of coach coupled up in a train, and the relative sizes and heights of the models look about right. The length difference between a 50' coach and a 61'6" coach is quite significant. The older coach is much narrower as well, of course.   

Always remember having a quiet drink in Douglas many years ago (2000) as a very exicted group of people arrived off the Ferry from Liverpool almost re-living the 1966 victory having watched England beat Germany in the EUFA Group stage on the journey over on the ferry. I'd no interest in the soccer, I'd flown over from Dublin that morning to explore the Islands railways and had a very good weekend of it🤣

Mixture of physical and digital modelling. Preparing some of the building in the terrace for painting/weathering. I have glued the three building on the right together primed and sprayed with brown aerosol (my version of CIE brown wagon paint) and filled & touched up unsightly joints in the party walls. Brickwork joints in the building on the left flooded with a cream paint to represent the mortar joints and brickwork overpainted with a shade selected from a photo of the prototype and a paint colour chart. I used a colour chart and matchpot from Resene a New Zealand owned paint & decor company. The buildings on the right and left were overpainted with the same colour one on a grey the other on a brown base, I've forgotten which is which and managed to 'disappear" the two test pots I bought yesterday😵‍💫 Finished the CAD work for the final building in the terrace, main difference is that I extended the brickwork and plinth onto the gable. Currently the prototype has a rendered finish and pitched roof gutters visible at eaves level and bay windows at groundfoor level, out of character with other buildings in the terrace and the adjoining terrace on Ballybough Road. It looks like the building was originally to a similar design/character to the other facades in the terrace and along Ballybough Road, but re-built parapets removed, possibly roof framing replaced and external walls given a render finish and bay windows added. Interestingly window, door locations and general proportions are similar to other facades in the terrace and on Ballybough Rd. I'll probabably model the pitched section of the roof and chimneys in semi-low relief and on the backscene as the buildings are only 30mm deep>

The third battle of the Fa(u)lklands actually occurred around 2008. I agreed to pick up an old dear in Wolverhampton - "at the bus station", as she returned from a coach tour holiday. I knew where the bus station was, so no further preparation was necessary - I foolishly thought... I arrived and parked nearby - at the bus station, nobody knew what I was talking about when I enquired about the arrival of her coach.  Eventually, someone suggested that she was probably at the coach station, not the bus station - "OK, where's that?" - "Falkland Street", I thought he said. I went all the way back to the car to look at the A to Z that I knew was in there - no Falkland Street, and nothing else with Falkland in the name. Back to the bus station to find out where this secret coach park was and I finally got enough info to set off in search of it. When I eventually found the well-hidden carpark with a few coach spaces, it was completely empty, except for one car, with a chap sat in it, so I asked him. He said there had been a coach a good while ago and a few people had got off. We both searched the area and eventually found her, sitting on a bench, almost completely obscured by vegetation - like a highly trained sniper. I considered just leaving her there.   Anyway, the point of all this, as small as the point is - is that the 'coach park' was actually in Faulklands Street Carpark - with a bloody U and I just hadn't looked far enough down the gazetteer to find it.... And, there is actually no Faulklands Street - the carpark is on Faulklands Crescent, not that that would have caused the problem..

1949 (following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948).