Galteemore

Having converted a steam loco (that I built from a kit) in 7mm from 32mm to 36.75mm it can be rather complex, given all the nooks and crannies involved. Splashers are an issue as you say. Also brake gear - especially if there are pull rods outside the wheels. 4.5mm is not an insignificant amount of space to find!

The grey one would work but I suspect yours is SECR grey which is a little light - would really need a dirty wash...see also

Yes I’d recommend Sparey too - got a great retro vibe ! And this....

Look at this beauty from 1949....

Excellent work Noel. Building a real location is both constraining - you have to capture certain things - but also liberating because it gives you a template to follow. This is looking really good.

That’s lovely David and instantly dates the layout - an ideal signature piece. Beautifully built - I thought it was by Solido or similar! Know what you mean re Arceurotrade - this arrived for me last week....

That looks a treat Eoin!

Me neither....you’d need a lot of pots of 61.....funnily enough I actually broke into my old Humbrol stock earlier today as this thread was starting: decided Enniskillen’s backhead needed some gunmetal on the regulator and firebox door. It’s a great paint - slight rub and it gets a nice metallic sheen. Hope it gets easier to find

Yes, seems to be an issue, Humbrol especially. My local Hobbycraft don’t supply Humbrol anymore. Some of my purchases are old stock from small eBay sellers I think who still have some. But it has taken searching...

I use paste flux. Arguably more clear up! 2 benefits to it - it’s fairly static when in place, and you can see it more easily ! Wash off with dilute meths or Viakal. Washing also shows up which sleepers weren’t properly soldered....as you can see!

Looking good Noel. It’s really satisfying to build something like that - especially when it shapes up so well!

Thanks everyone. Just glad it worked. It was hard to start, Angus! I did the first two cuts before I went to bed that night - meant I had to fix it... It’s not over yet though - just noticed now boiler is set in place, the washout plugs are too high.....

Via Ballynure....

It had been going so well. Happy thoughts of fitting lamp irons and vacuum pipes were in the air. Then I tried fitting the ‘piano front’ that covers the cylinder heads under the smokebox. And I found myself running out of footplate - had I made it too short ? This had been one of the vaguer elements of the BP drawing, with few measurements to work off. So spliced on a scale foot of brass etch on the front and off we went. Lots of room now for the lamp irons etc. Then last night I tried fitting the springs and it was obvious what was wrong. A distinctive feature of the large tanks is that the springs are joined to the frames inside the edge of the smokebox - they overlap. You can clearly see a thin slice of smokebox behind the spring. Mine didn’t look like that. There was daylight behind the spring. Why? I had made the boiler too long! Hence why I had also run out of footplate..... Three courses of action were open to me : 1. Live with it. Not really an option as I’ve been working on this since May and want to get it right. Looking at the loco, I’d always know it was wrong!! 2. Take the loco apart and start again. No thanks. 3. Take a slice off the boiler and stick back together. A scary option but the only viable one. Thankfully I’d fitted copper boiler bands which could function as a robust saw guide, keeping the blade fairly true. Theory being that I could run the piercing saw down each side of the band and that would produce a neat slice - just enough to restore equilibrium. I’ll spare you the gory details - it wasn’t quite so straightforward as that - but it’s done: before and after pics below. Of course, the footplate extension is still in place, but I’ll leave that on until we see how much room brakes, sandboxes and guard irons take up.... Last night - picture 1 - vs tonight- picture 2 - and the real thing. It may look a tiny issue but it was really bugging me...onwards and upwards !

Loop and loading bank at Kilberry, certainly in the 60s.

Just seen. Recommended! Lovely to hear commentary on the layout.

Nice work George. Something deeply satisfying about a nice soldered fabrication job like that.

Mine has just arrived. First impressions are excellent. I had heard some comments about the flat rather than gloss paper, but paper type (excellent quality ) is appropriate for what is essentially an academic treatise rather than a glossy pictorial. Loads of detail and data which is what we need....wonderful stuff and well worth a purchase.

Gorgeous work, David. Many thanks for the lathe tips. I have a significant birthday looming (aren’t they all right now) and Mrs G has provided me with a lathe as this is one thing that keeps coming up as a useful tool for various jobs. Haven’t used (or even opened it) yet...so any tutorials are good. Chuck key is a good tip - wouldn’t be first time I’ve started the pillar drill with the Chuck key in it.....but beside the quality pedagogy, the modelling is as usual superlative. And it’s nice to see Sir Henry nudging into a photo !

Cracking view of Burtonport today. Casserley lived in the London suburbs beside the West Coast Main Line. This must have felt like the far end of the world....

This is delightful. Very convincing and as scenic development continues will nicely lend itself to black and white photos appropriate to the era! Really like your 309. Those classic 4-4-0s don’t get modelled enough, but are absolutely key to any Irish layout set before 1960.

Roof looks good George - how’d you do it please? !

Very nice Eoin - lots of scope for you to work your magic! Nice tip - I’d forgotten to look at Slaters for a Belpaire backhead so ended up fabricating my own this week.....should have looked !

Looks great Jim. I took the liberty of turning it over...

Somewhere in Ernie’s archive, Jim. Early days of UTA ownership as it’s still in SLNC colours (nameplates are giveaway). Looks like Adelaide and I think that’s VS ‘Erne’ beside it.