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I'll be sitting in the dark a lot, there is coach lightning needed now

Very nice! I very occasionally see kites overhead, buzzards and kestrels are more common in the skies here in Manchester, and we have a local pair of falcons that I have watched catching pigeons around the M60 Barton viaduct. In the garden I have very good numbers of small birds visiting (tits, finches, sparrows etc) and consequently sparrowhawks also visit my garden. They usually perch on the outbuildings or fences but one hid in the apple tree. We also have parrots nesting locally. They’ll be at it again soon, they breed very early in the year.

I get quite enough fun out of watching the Red Kites in our back garden in Caversham - four down to collect bits of fat within 15 seconds! We're very privileged to see these once rare birds - we see more than we do Blue Tits etc. It's great watching them scare off the seagulls ...... Kites.mov

Obviously lawyers don't earn as much as I thought ........

Phew, beginning to get the DT's as it is Slack week for announcements all around.....:)

Exciting times…

Due tomorrow.

I’m going to print that off as a guide!!

Unfortunately there are not due till Q2. 2026 as per project page, checked with IRM the update was sent in error,

Dear IRM, I realise that I haven’t been a very good boy this year so I’m unlikely to get a Christmas present. I’m sorry and will try to do better next year. Is there any chance I might see the Park Royals in time for my birthday? Kind Regards, Paul, age 49 3/4 P.S. if you could announce a C class model that would also be very welcome.

Great for spreading out the cost, rather than having everything arrive all at once.

@BosKonay posted here that a shipping update on the Hunslets is due soon:

These are gonna be epic! Happy Valentines to yourself!

Indeed, I was wondering the same. I have a Hunslet and several Park Royals on order (and paid for already) but haven't ordered the others. Hoping for some definitive news soon. Over on RMweb people are reporting announcements of Electrostar dispatch already, so maybe something has gone awry in the announcement system?

Great news today with dates for the icrs and pallet vans. But strangely nothing on the hunslets and park royals which show as due before them on the accurascale project page. Will they come in before or are they already nearly due

Yay got an update that their heading to irm now due in march

Not due till Q2 as per project page

Excellent news! Hopefully this will clear the decks for another IRM project to suit those of us stuck in the 1960s and 1970s.

Nearly collapsed when i seen multiple emails saying icrs in transit thought it was christmas unfortunatly its febuary but its only 2 months away

ICR email received just now… 22000 Class railcars expected in the warehouse in February! Yeeeessssssssss!!!

Another tip for square open-topped water tanks - they usually had internal bracing to resist the water pressure pushing the sides outwards. Although not Irish, this webpage shows some typical examples: NSW Railways Infrastructure and Operations: What’s on the inside (of those water tanks) Tricky to model, and you can get away without it by either modelling the tank brim-full (which it normally would be except when a loco has visited recently), or by roofing the tank (which was sometimes done to prevent leaves accumulating inside).

Just a note to file on a suggested painting scheme for the water towers. First coat all exposed wood with Rustins grey primer/undercoat. Next "dry brush" with Humbrol #64 Light Grey matt (ie use small amounts of paint on a flat brush wiping it almost dry on kitchen paper before skimming across the "stones" avoiding flooding the "mortar" lines between). Pick out individual stones with Humbrol #27 Sea Grey matt. For woodwork, windows and door use Humbrol #80 Grass Green matt. For "yellow" brickwork lightly paint to avoid flooding the "mortar" lines with RailMatch #606 GWR Light Stone (Humbrol #121 Pale Stone matt would work either). For red brickwork use sparingly 50:50 mix of Humbrol #73 Wine matt and #62 Leather matt. For the 3-D printed water tank streak sides with Humbrol # 113 Rust; insert clear plastic to fit, paint underneath with Humbrol #80 Grass Green matt and streak with Humbrol #113 Rust matt (could also paint blue/brown as colour in reality would be dictated by overhead light conditions). I used a section of 5 mm plastic tubing and some heat-shrink tubing to represent the water outlet leather bag which flops in to the receiving steam engine water intake point. I fitted small sections of clear plastic behind the windows with DeLuxe Glue& Glaze as glazing.

Looks really good. Iain Rice recommends a coating of talc on such things to blend all the colours together

Redmond 3-D printed the water tanks. Good idea on the rougher stones thanks.