David Holman

Nice comparison of GSWR and MGW green. I guess that in terms of fine detail, these locos don't have as much as we like to see these days: no brake gear, the rather vestigial front splasher on 34 for example... ... and yet they look lovely don't they? Only goes to show the importance of getting the basic proportions right, along with a good paint job. Am assuming they run well too, after which all the finer stuff blurs into insignificance. Keep the pictures coming Leslie!

The E class project plods on, not helped by recent hot weather hereabouts - stuff gets done in the morning, or not at all. I guess it is about three quarters done in terms of lining, but after that, there is still the crew and cab glazing to fit, along with some coal in the bunker, some general tidying up and a bit of light weathering. Indeed, I reckon that painting and finishing will probably take as long as actual construction in the end. The current tools of the trade are shown above. Craft knives and steel edge for cutting out bits of transfer, plus fine paint brushes and a cocktail stick for persuading each piece to go in place. The bottle is Humbrol Decalfix. The cotton buds are useful to help transfers come off the backing paper and are a useful halfway house to finding you have left the piece in water too long and it has floated off in a tangle. Straight bits are easiest, corner pieces can be a real pain because they seem to knot themselves far too readily. Some of the lining has been cut so that it is just a single white & black stripe - as per the cab sides, front and rear. Valences likewise. Driving wheels are a bit work in progress - used a single white transfer on one side, but this proved such a faff that have had a go with a white gel pen on the other side, though this looks like it could do with toning down a bit. Note that the cab roof is still not fixed, though I have used a scalpel to scrape away the paint on the spectacle surrounds to show the brass beneath. Below is a picture of Fly alongside my J26. The latter is a real plain Jane by comparison & it is interesting to compare the two models as, apart from the obvious paint job, the only major differences are the smokebox and chimney.

Reminds me of our first trip to Ireland. It was spring and we were following (at a very prudent distance) a cattle lorry whose inmates had clearly been enjoying the new grass. A steady stream of scutter was dribbling from the back of the lorry, but when we got to a town, a small traffic jam resulted in a large pond of the stuff accumulating behind the lorry, much to the consternation of two ladies who had just finished cleaning their front steps and pavement area outside their house!

Rightly or wrongly, I plastered my E class in Nitromores paint stripper. Wouldn't recommend it on plastic though...

That will certainly paint well. Sure it's not 7mm (and you have very big hands)?

Am taking a break from the lining, not least because its given me stiff neck. However for a recent birthday, persuaded my wife to buy me the Dremel Motosaw. And very nice it is too. It comes in a robust plastic case and can be used as both a bench tool [as illustrated] or just hand held. Not sure I will be doing the latter, but it can certainly do the business with a variety of materials, depending on which blade you use. The coarse ones will easily cut plywood, MDF and so on, up to around 3-5mm thickness. The finest blade [actually only 10 teeth per cm] can cope with soft, non-ferrous metals down to 0.2mm. Thus far, have tried it on some 0.5mm brass and nickel silver sheet and it should save me a lot of effort cutting out loco frames and on other scratch building work. Dremel, but the way is an off shoot of Bosch, so hopefully that augers well for my latest toy. Another nice present is the Michael Whitehouse & Peter Lemmy French Narrow Gauge Album. At just over half the cost of the T&D tome, it is very good value, with some stunning photos and lots of informative text too. It is perhaps just as well that Patrick Whitehouse extensively toured Ireland, or I could easily have been tempted into things the other side of another narrow stretch of water!

Not my scene, but certainly doesn't stop me admiring the modelling!

That's not a bad idea. Ian Rathbone's book on painting and lining suggests something similar to remove bits of over painting or small errors with a bow pen. Wait until the paint is nearly dry and then use a fine brush, dipped in thinners on the area concerned. The paint comes away like magic. Wipe the brush on tissue and repeat until the area is cleared. Worth a try?

I feel your pain! Hopefully only one side affected? Really looking the business too... And never mind the counselling, where's the drinks cupboard?!

Lining can often be, quite literally, a pain in the neck. I've tried most methods over the years: transfers [pressfix, meths fix, waterslide], various lining pens [Bob Moore, bow pen, etc], even a bit of brush lining and I've grown to hate them all in equal amounts! Therefore, it is not without a fair bit of trepidation when it comes to a MGWR engine. Just look at it... ... side tanks, bunker sidescab sides, boiler bands, valences, wheels, plus of course the cab front/rear and bunker rear. This is the real Fly and it is interesting to compare its working lining with that of locos in 'photographic grey' - seems there was a bit of variation between locos at times. Most of the lining is white/black white and I resort to Fox Tranfers for the necessary pieces, which you can see below: As you can see, they provide corners of two different radii, plus a couple of more random curves and arcs which are useful for splashers. They also do circles of different radii in just black or white, which are not just for wheels, but also other odd shapes that the MGWR are keen to include where they can! By and large these water slide transfers are fairly user friendly once you get used to them, though the process is not without rude words and increased blood pressure at times! I started with one of the corner pieces - a bit of a pig the first time round, but it gets easier with practice. The problem is that the transfer wants to fold over itself, becoming increasing hard to untangle until you are forced to throw it away. However, once in place, you can then go on to add the straight bits, which are easier to manipulate, provided you keep the lengths to no more than 3-5cm. Happily, they are easy to join up to make longer lengths without the joint being apparent. After that, it is a case of repeat ad infinitum, or so it seems because there are at least 36 rounded corners. Thus far, I've taken about three hours to do one side of the tank and bunker, along with the boiler bands. Hopefully the practice on the straight and rectangular bits will eventually help me when it comes to the cab sides and valances. The pictures below show progress so far, along with a comparison to my D16 4-4-0 Wolf Dog. Interestingly, despite the paint code being the same on both rattle cans, the green on Fly seems noticeably brighter, so it is perhaps just as well that Northport Quay will be one engine in steam and they won't often be seen side by side.

Isn't hindsight wonderful? As are indeed the models.

Fantastic work Ken, making a super little train.

A bit of tweaking to the can roof too by the look of it? It all sits very well and definitely looks the part. Classy!

Thanks, I think it's really just the Terrier type chimney, as everything else is pretty much the same, though the smokebox door is also different of course. The lining should also make a difference, but as you know, it is no quick fix!

Only a few things left to do on Fly now., albeit one of them being the lining. Other things done in the last couple of days are: buffer beams painted red, with screw link couplings added buffers themselves have had their shanks turned down in the drill and for now, just push fitted in place cab interior has been painted black to waist level and cream above driving wheel spokes have been brush painted green, while the rims are now dark grey. Wheel nuts are currently not in place to aid painting. Dark grey [a 60/40 mix of matt black and gunmetal] has been used to also paint the smokebox, footplate and chimney Likewise the cab roof, as yet unfixed Background of the name and number plates painted black Coupling rods are now gunmetal Sandpipes have been painted copper Other items have had the paint scraped/filed off to leave bare metal. These include the handrails, raised letters and numbers,, plus the vacuum pipe around the front of the smokebox. Fly still looks very green, but these details are certainly starting to tone things down, so am very much hoping that the lining will do this even better.

Thanks Alan and everyone. Forgot to add the £40+ for lining transfers to the bill, but as you say, it is what it is and the main thing about indulging in creative hobbies is the satisfaction it can bring. Well - mostly!

Northport Quay is just 7'6, while if you were to decide on narrow gauge, Fintonagh is just 6'6. Short trains, but perfectly operable and both show what can be done in limited space. Try and get hold of Iain Rice's book on Cameo Layouts, where there is a wealth of ideas, including 7mm scale.

Well, E Class "Fly" is at last looking [very] green, following the arrival of a new rattle can of RAL6001 Emerald Green. At this stage, I don't much like the first top coat, because it always looks too bright [or black]. However, am likewise alway surprised and pleased that the addition of the other colours, plus a bit of weathering, tones things down. This is also the time when I find there is a bigger list of stuff to finish than I first thought, as you can see below: Two that took up rather too much of my time were the buffers and screw couplings. The latter were because I didn't have any sets left in my stores, though I did find two brass castings of the central pivoting section. Therefore, got out some 0.5mm wire and bent up four loops to finish them off, then adding each unit to etched hooks that I did still have. The original white metal buffer heads took a bit of a battering when I dropped the model on the floor, so inspired by Alan's [Tullygrainy] work with files & a drill, I got four steel buffer heads from my store and turned the shanks down to 3mm diameter, then cut off half of the 2mm diameter shank, so they can fit into holes drilled in the main shank. Before this, I cut off the white metal heads of the original buffers. Have also found four lamps that, after painting, will be glued to the buffer beams. A photo of these bits, along with the latest picture of Fly is shown below. Another five hours or so have been added to the build time, bringing it to 35. Speaking of numbers, have been brooding on the cost of this project. The kit itself costs £125 - not bad. However, other stuff soon starts adding up: £84 - wheels and broad gauge axles; £50 - motor/gearbox; £20 - paint; £5 - couplings [albeit a while ago], bringing the total to £284. There again, a new 4mm scale loco can easily top £200 or more these days!

Thanks folks. RAL6001 is indeed the number on my rattle can, so that will be my next quest.

Very pretty, VERY neat and tidy, while am certain Bachmann, Hornby or anyone else are not going to bring out a rtr version either. Looks a real treat Alan and hope your cans rattle better than mine!

Well, how fab is that and who cares what is under the paint when it all looks so convincing? As Alan and Leslie have already said, a bit of homespun ingenuity can work wonders. Lessons here for all of us.

This model is really starting to test my patience! Nothing wrong with the kit, but the gremlins are very active chez Holman it seems... Having got the model ready for its top coat [again], I got out my Halford's Ford Garden Green rattle can [same one as I used with Wolf Dog] and, following a good shake, proceeded to spray the model. Instead of the usual fine spray, what came out was more akin to a muck spreader. Forget the fine mist, think diarrhoea! Sorry... What I should have done was stop immediately and wash it off, however the coverage, though heavy, looked like it might be ok, so I carried on. The reason for this bit of madness is that it is perfectly possible to rescue a bit of heavy spraying by using T-Cut, though of course this is less effective when the paint is nearly an inch thick - ok at least a millimetre. Having left the model to dry for a full two days, I tried the T-Cut this morning, but it got me nowhere, so it was back to Halfords for some paint stripper and a new can of paint. Stripper, fine, but the Ford Garden Green is no longer available it seems. Told you it was trying my patience! At the moment, option one is to spray the existing can into a container and then decant this into the side cup of my airbrush and spray it on that way - hopefully getting a decent finish. Option two is whatever alternative suggestions you good folk out there might have. I'm happy with rattle cans, but currently I can't find anything that matches Ford Garden Green = the shade I've used on Wolf Dog = MGWR green. Suggestions are most welcome, please and here is Fly, back in the buff, albeit needing a bit more cleaning up [and the sandbox lever straightened] before putting on the primer. Again. In the meantime, I've made a start on the train for the E class. All of it already exists, starting with a Brake 3rd with a centre look out on the roof, which used to be the third coach in Wolf Dog's mail train. To go with this, I've repainted both the 4w hearse/fish van and Glasshouse Brake in MGW brown and am intending to add the gold lining also present on the Brake 3rd. Am very much hoping this is historically correct for the early 1900s as, with the lined green loco, it should make an attractive little train. So fingers crossed this is acceptable!

Thanks folks! As suggested, am not too bothered about the buffer beam having a slight dent in it as such things seemed to happen quite frequently. The smokebox is still showing signs of meeting the floor, but am hoping this will disappear once a coat of dark grey (almost black) is applied there. If not, more filler may be needed. Ordered the lining from Fox Transfers last night, so once that arrives another stress test beckons. The MGW didn't hold back when it came to lining...

Three further lots of filling, filing and more primer had the E class ready for its top coat... ... until I dropped it on the floor. It was like what you see in films, everything in slow motion. I managed to stick a foot out to try and break the fall, but the model hit the floor chimney first. That broke off bashing in the smokebox top in the process, while the next bounce was on the left hand buffer, knocking the beam inwards. There are of course no words to describe the anguish at that point - even the rude ones were not enough, but what to do? At least the chimney came off in one piece, but the top of the smokebox was a right mess. Being only 10thou brass, it had deformed badly with the impact and the was no way to get inside to push the dent out again. Instead, I used a piece of thick brass rod, bent into an L shape, pushed inside the small hole in the top of the smokebox and managed to ease the metal upwards a bit. However, it was never going to come back properly, so the only option was to refit the chimney and then build up the surrounding surface with more filler. The buffer beam was less bother - a bit of tweaking with a pair of flat nosed pliers [mostly] straightened it out, followed by a bit more filler. The dome had a couple of scratches, but these at least polished out while the handrail also needed a bit of tweaking. Could have been worse I suppose. Anyway, another couple of rounds of filler, filing and spray primer and the loco is [almost] back to where it was this morning and hopefully ready again for its green top coat. I guess about another four hours was spent on the original fettling, so, not counting bouncing the model on the floor, that brings the total time to 30 hours.

Shame about Backwoods, shame too they never did much (anything?) in 7mm scale. Temptation to build a 4-8-0 and 4-8-4T, even as just display models, would have been difficult to resist! Love the 2-6-0T, by the way.