David Holman

Roxey Mouldings do a fair amount of Markits stuff.

Well here's food for thought. Love the application of engineering principles to scenic modelling. Have a feeling it is going to work rather well.

Two beauties! The 7mm model sounds like a nice refurbishment project, not least because it compares so well with its smaller sister. Both of course deserving of layouts to run on...!

Thanks Paul, can't argue with the new purchases - am sure you will enjoy them. Dare I ask what the 7mm loco is? Sounds like I'm not a million miles from what Trevor does with boiler fittings. Have never used a peg in a hole with castings, as prefer to simply wrap sandpaper round the boiler and scrub away. After, fix with 5min epoxy, which allows me to tinker while it is going off. No doubt that 7mm scale is very addictive, but equally, if I could start again, then S would be very tempting!

Great work John and as ever, not just fine models, but historical detail too. Never knew the coach partitions were cream, while that looks to be a classic train for the J26.

Apart from the Mail train project, work has been proceeding on other fronts, notably another Christmas present in the form of a Slater's Tank Wagon. Thanks to Galteemore and others, turns out that this is a rare beast, being a mainland Britain wagon that is also appropriate for Ireland. Indeed, the only real difference seems to be the buffer spacings needing moving out to a scale 6'4. The Slater's kit is really rather splendid. Not exactly easy, but really well thought out. It is a true mixed media model too, involving etched brass, plastic mouldings, lost wax castings and both brass and plastic rod and strip. Unlike say, an open wagon or box van, these tank wagons are completely open, so Slater's have enabled us to model all the under frame detail - hence all the various materials in use. If you want to lean about how wagons are constructed, this is the one to try! The instructions are a bit ambiguous in places, but if you take your time, a really rewarding model is the result. I've built several of these in the past, including a couple of six wheel milk tankers too, so compared to recent scratchbuilding projects, this has been like meeting an old friend. Pictures show the [almost] completed chassis. The buffers were easy to move out, as there are plastic bases to add to the headstocks, while moving the wheels to the right gauge is a simple case of moving them out on their axles to 33.98mm back to back - ish, anyway!

Slowly, slowly... Progress boosted by the arrival of some brass rod and the long awaited ABC motor gearbox. The latter is a very fine piece of engineering, with the motor being a Maxxon 16/26. Small, but powerful, while the gearbox actually 'drives back', meaning you can turn the driving wheels even when fixed in place. It fits nicely too, with plenty of space all round beneath the cab floor and in the firebox to add lead sheet eventually. Not cheap though at £135, but it is quality. I've completed one side of the loco's lining now. A decidedly fiddly job, especially that inner panel on the cab side! One aspect that still needs attention though is that some of the lining is just one black and one white line, but hopefully that won't be too hard to remedy as this mainly occurs where it meets things like the edges of both the cab and footplate. And so to the dome. Ideally, a slightly smaller diameter piece of brass would have helped, but I could only get 25mm, while the dome itself is only 22mm where it meets the boiler, reducing to 18.5mm, which of course means lots of material to turn off on the lathe. Initial setting up was a bit of a trial and many rude words were expended on the ether while I tried to get my head round how to reverse the three cast jaws that make up the chuck. The instructions require you to open these up until they drop out, whereupon you put them back the other way round. Easy enough you'd think, but if you do that, the jaws don't centre and I spent a frustrating time trying to get it sorted until I finally found a tiny note on the diagram which showed that jaw 'B' stayed the same, but A and C needed to be reversed. Oh well... Anyway, once done, things progressed reasonably well, but taking it slowly is essential. On top of this, a lot of finishing and polishing is still required, plus the base of the dome also needs to be filed to the profile of the boiler. Geoff Holt's book suggests using a fly cutter on the lathe, but this is beyond my ability at the moment, so instead have laboriously done it by hand. It still needs a bit more work, but that can wait until another piece of brass rod [18mm this time] arrives so I can do the chimney.

Only just found this thread and very good the Lego model is too. Really remarkable what can be done when you put your mind to it. Speaking of remarkable things, in the latest Railway Modeller is a review of KRModels 'GT3' - the English Electric gas turbine 4-6-0. Clearly they must believe there is a market for such a beast (and very nice it looks too), so maybe an rtr Turf Burner is not so far fetched after all, especially when KRModels are actually planning to do a Leader...

This book one I wasn't aware of, but found a cheap second hand copy on Amazon and took a punt. Very glad I did too. Ok, so the photo quality isn't that great (but it was published in 1974), but there are plenty of interesting maps and diagrams - including one of how Limerick Junction was worked. That dust jacket is just wonderful, not least because the painting also includes a WL&WR 4-4-0 in all its glory. Wasn't expecting the text to be quite so comprehensive either, which is another bonus. Well worth seeking out a copy I'd say.

A friend of mine drives the Javelin high speed commuter units and is not allowed to drink for 48 hours before going on duty and gets regularly tested. Just as well really, when they go up to 140mph. That said, once on the North Kent line, these racers actually become all station stoppers - bit of a waste somehow. However, also tells me that Channel Tunnel drivers could potentially get away with all sorts of things as the locos are pretty much fully automatic.

I believe there are regulations about sending paint in the post, so the moral of the story is to avoid buying it this way of you can - or at least order enough to offset the high delivery charges.

Managed to get a tinlet of Humbrol 27004, metalcote gunmetal, in a local independent DIY store today. Not even in the current catalogue, so quite a find. They had the full range, but both matt and gloss black out of stock, but at least there was black in the wargame acrylics set.

Not perfect, Robert, but passes the two foot rule! Fox stuff is good, but as you say, not entirely user friendly, though this lining pack seems better than ones I last used a couple of years ago. The range is astonishing and we are all grateful for that, but trying to find what you want is a challenge. Also, the complex shapes on the D16 mean some templates are not available, so care and Microsol required to tease around corners.

Thanks everyone. Credit must go to our resident livery guru, jhbachill, who has been really helpful in identifying likely shades. Thinking about it, the tops of both the piano front/valve chest and splashers should be in black, while the outer white line on most, if not all panels on the loco itself need going over in black too.

Serious stuff! Love to see proper engineering and workshop practice in action. So much to learn and really interesting, even if you're not about to copy it. Meanwhile, to paraphrase Crocodile Dundee - now that's a lathe!

Alchemy! As Galteemore says, the smokebox door makes all the difference and the dogs around the edges can easily be made from bits of plastic strip too. Nobody knows once the paint is applied. While is is only right to chase prototype fidelity, there is always the old adage about 'if it looks right, it is right' and we can all be encouraged by what Westcorkrailway is brewing here, not least because the skills involved are very much the same as in kit and scratchbuilding. A great way to learn, have fun and most of all produce something that is yours to be proud of.

As I'm still waiting for brass bar to arrive [hopefully next week], decided to make a start on the painting. The loco and tender chassis have been done in matt black, though the inside faces of the loco frames are red, as per practice in the early 1900s. Must admit that I'm more than a bit disappointed with Precision matt black paint, which shows brush marks, despite my best efforts and doesn't look as good as Humbrol. The loco and tender body is Halford's 'Garden Green' - the nearest I can get to what I'm told is MGWR green, apparently Great Central green is close, in the absence of colour photos, though a Google search does throw up a model loco in this shade. Initially, it looked very bright indeed, but as is often the case, once things like the tender top, footplate top, axles boxes and so on are picked out in black, it does change things. Likewise when paired with the chassis, where the wheel spokes are green, but the rims and centres black. The boiler/smokebox is a separate unit, so will not be painted until the chimney and dome are made and added. Have also ordered etched name and number plates from Diane Carney - not cheap at over £40, but as bespoke items, still a fair price I think. So to the lining! The main reason I haven't posted anything for a couple of weeks is that my attempts with a bow pen proved a miserable failure, even on just the relatively simple tender lining, so I really couldn't see me mastering the horrifically complicated loco lining, especially on the cab. Hence put in an order to Fox Transfers for some white/black/white transfer lining sheets, including various curves. Even so, it is proving very challenging, so the photos just show progress thus far, including the cab interior.

Apologies to New IrIsh Lines, which is edited by Alan, of course! I meant the IRRS journal

My New Irish Lines has just come through the letterbox and skimming through it found a lengthy and none too complimentary review of this book. No idea who GMB is, though could be the editor Gerald Beesley, who picks holes in it throughout. Personally, I've really enjoyed it and am always grateful for anything new about the Irish scene.

Good to get some background info on this lovely layout. Oozes atmosphere.

Fine work and full of character.

May not be scratchbuilding in the traditional sense, but still requires a lot of skill and practice. Great to see steam outline models being made too. Looking forward to seeing progress.

Now THAT'S a train!

Many thanks to Precision for their prompt delivery of two tinlets today, but am thinking they may have broken the world record for unnecessary amounts of packaging. The box was full of polystyrene balls, with the two tinlets encased in bubble wrap. Overkill or what?

As soon as I started reading this, the first thing that came to mind was the almost impossible conversion from 16.5 to 21mm gauge. Diesels are fairly easy, but as others have said, with steam outline there is too much stuff to change. However, given the rapid growth of 7mm scale ready to run, is there a market for an Irish prototype in 36.75mm gauge? Probably only a handful of us working in this scale at the moment, but when you look at how well things like Terriers, 08s, 14XX, Jinties and several industrial locos have been selling, it seems clear there is a market based on those who have always fancied moving to a larger scale. Note too, these are all small locos, so you can build an interesting layout in not much more space than needed for an 00 one. Costs are very reasonable too - less than £200 in some cases, which is significantly less than a 00 J15. While I wouldn't necessarily advocate using British outline wagons, they are certainly easy to regauge - simply requiring wheels to be moved out to 34mm back to back. Track? Nothing too challenging, especially when Marcway will do custom made points for not much more than Peco. Yes, that is still expensive, but at least you can get away with needing only a few on a small layout. My votes would be for a J26, a G class Deutz and a C class diesel. You could build a very nice layout around any of all of these and have a lot of fun operating them too. Warning - 7mm scale can be very addictive, but is it any wonder?