Tullygrainey

Brilliant! Just wow!

Three years well spent Patrick! It looks really well. A lovely piece of work and beautifully finished too. The cameo framing sets it all off perfectly.

Thanks GM. The layout was loosely inspired by places like Donaghadee and Dundrum.

A few more pics of No 2, now weathered, and some video of the inaugural run. It still needs a few tweaks to get it running reliably but the fitters are lying down in a darkened room at the moment. It also sounds like a bag of nails on the video - not so bad in reality The observant will notice it hasn't got any brakes. I always find those a real pain to fit. I have some tender brake shoes from Gibsons which should do the job and being plastic, they won't cause any electrical shorts, which is always a problem. No appropriate passenger stock available for it to haul yet. Goods wagons will have to suffice for now. I think I see light coming down the tunnel Alan * just realised the sandboxes don't have any pipes either. BCDR No 2.mov

I bought a Poppy's Wood Tech jig a while ago but I haven't had an opportunity to use it yet. I have 2 High Level chassis kits in the drawer, for a Jinty and a Drewry 0-6-0 shunter. I'll try it out on those when I get round to it. Up till now, I've used a set of 3 axle jigs from London Road Models.

Crankpins! rods! boilers!

Thank you very much everyone. Much appreciated. Alan Hmm... An awful lot of wheels there Patrick

Getting there, slowly but slowly. Buffers from Alan Gibson (4908 Early GWR Dean), Kadee couplers, Whistle from Smokey Joe, vacuum hoses from the bits box. There's a driver in there too, from Dart Castings, trying to understand the improvised controls. Some detail painting still to do. A bit of light weathering wouldn't go amiss either. Watch me wreck it Alan

Thanks JB. Chassis scratch built around a Hi-Level QuadDriver

A quick update. The last week or so has seen the delicate task of applying livery. This involved working without breathing. The air has been blue occasionally on this project. This time it was my face. The results aren't entirely prototypically accurate because (a) the lining is overscale, (b) there should be another white line inside the red one but adding this would unbalance it I think and (c) the lettering isn't the correct font but I hope that overall, it conveys a general impression of the thing. Lining transfers are from Fox and the lettering is from the Railtec BCDR wagon sheet. The transfers have been sealed with satin varnish - I used enamel this time! Once bitten... Onwards towards more fiddly bits Alan

Lovely stuff, David. And scratch built cows! Must be a first Alan

Just found out about this event which may be of interest: Adventures of a "Fighting Railway": the Belfast Central Railway 1864-1885" A talk and book launch by Robert Phipps at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), 28 February 2023, 1pm Free admission but you probably need to register in order to attend https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/adventures-of-a-fighting-railway-the-belfast-central-railway-1864-1885-tickets-516487868117 Alan

Wonderful models of two fascinating vehicles, David. I can smell the diesel fumes and hear the rattle of the body panels. Inspirational. Alan

So, the swearing eventually stopped, the tantrums subsided and when calm was restored, the recovery got underway. The engine casing doors were remade, the rivet strip reinstated and some Halford's grey primer was applied with care... ... and every cloud etc, so with encouragement and advice from jhb171achill (thank you again JB), we took the opportunity of the repaint to try and get a bit closer to BCDR green. That Great Western colour I used before was a bit too olive. This time Humbrol Brunswick green enamel was the starting point, darkened with a little black. There's loads of room inside this bruiser so the shell is now lead-lined... ... and here's an approximation of the control desks for inside the cab. They'll hardly be seen. Onward and upward again Alan

It's always a blow when things go wrong. It's discouraging and the first instinct is often to fix it as soon as possible but, in my experience, it's as well to resist that impulse. Others here would undoubtedly say the same. (They have done for me in the recent past and I'm glad I listened). Best to wait until calm descends again before tackling the repair. It's a wonderfully good model as it stands, Kevin but I understand your desire to get it right. Best of luck with the work. I hope you can make the necessary changes without too much hassle. Alan

A beautiful model and a fine piece of work GM. Love it. I agree with everything you say about weathering and the contrast between your photos of the weathered and unweathered loco illustrate the point perfectly. Another example of "Archer saves the day" What are we going to do without them! Alan

Do I detect some customised figure sculpting here Patrick? I can't find Bertie or Sammy in the Dart Castings catalogue

Wow! That brings back some very distant memories. I remember, as a very young child, seeing locos appear out of the subway. And Harkness's horses, lined up by the side of the road with their noses in leather feed bags. Alan

Might be worth a try? Gino Severini: Suburban Train Arriving in Paris, 1915 (Tate Modern)

Perfect!

That is beautiful!

Thanks Patrick, and Happy New Year everyone The future’s bright. The future’s BCDR green Alan

Thanks David. Yes, the loco may be green but the air was decidedly blue here yesterday! And yes, I think we're looking at an enamel/acrylic reaction here. Clearly 3 or 4 days drying time for the colour coat wasn't enough! The fact that only one side was affected is odd but I think the culprit was an over-liberal dose of varnish on the affected side. For the record: the green body colour was Railmatch enamel, (GWR loco green 1601) the varnish was Humbrol Acrylic Varnish (Gloss 35) both applied from aerosol cans. The unaffected side shows it can be done without mishap but it needs care and plenty of drying time. Patience, in fact. I must order some of that Alan

Thanks GM. You’re right and I do need to walk away for a while or risk making it worse. Cheers

I decided to take the easier route and stick with what I know, using transfers for the lining. I was making good progress with the paint - a nice even coat of GWR green overall, left to harden for 3 or more days. Then a dusting of (acrylic) gloss varnish to provide a good surface for the lining transfers. And that's when the disaster arrived. It crazed the paint - on one side only, strangely enough. Trying to sand it out proved futile and I've now taken it back to the metal in places. The engine casing doors, complete with louvres proved unsavable and will need to be remade. Also the rivet strip at the bottom. It's going to be a challenge to blend this back in. I've so far resisted the temptation to bin it but It's certainly taken the shine off my day. Backwards and downwards Alan