murrayec

In my discussions with chaps that worked on the Castle Layout they sadly reported that 'dubious transactions' abounded in the later days of the layout's life........ Eoin

Launch should be on the go in about an hour;- Eoin

Yes, the compressor with a tank will come up to pressure in a minute or so, if no tank when switched on your ready to go. Adjust the output air to the airbrush down to around 2-3 psi or as required for type of airbrush and paint mix- you need to be activating the trigger on the airbrush when doing this as you will see mainly on a tank-less compressor there is a drop on the indicator so you set the pressure activating the airbrush. Mix your paint to the consistency of milk in a separate container and then decant to the airbrush cup, some paints are already mixed by the manufacture ready to go. Use kitchen towel to clean things but as it gets old and raggedy it starts to shed and those little bits will block the airbrush- change the towel frequently during a paint session. Play with the brush before yo go spraying a model, use sheets of paper to spray on and play with settings and paint mix. Clean the brush regular during use and when finished a session clean it out thoroughly with whatever thinners your using to paint with. Cellulose thinners is a good cleaner if stubborn paint will not move but do not leave rubber O rings or fibre washers in it for to long. Always clean the brush after use and refer to the instructions for details on taking it apart. ....and one on here might tell you to clean it with a sonic cleaner!! Do not do this if you value your airbrush- the needles on these can be forged parts which sonic cleaning will destroy, and anything screwed together can be rattled free and cause damage.... Regardless of type of paint do ware a mask (rated for gas) eye protection, and work in a well ventilated area. Eoin

Hi JB These guys do foam sheet for packing;- https://www.efoam.ie/foamsheets.php Eoin

I'm getting a 'de je vous' feeling looking at those photos! Lovely stuff Eoin

The first bits of colour going onto Maedb, this is the first coat of GSR 800 green, it looks a little dark as this is the first coat over the grey primer- chassis, wheels, break gear, and satin black going onto the detail bits. Loco & tender body filling is now complete and are a coat of undercoat behind...... Eoin

Congrats on finishing university, looking foreword to seeing more modelling on this thread..... Eoin

I got to see the satellites last night but did not have clear sky- there was a bit of an 'Isac' going on! the problem with living in our very high mountains! Eoin

As Galteemore says better scope for details, maybe use half cut trees as view blocks to the sides, also you could have the trees come out over the front of the baseboard and even wrap around over the edge of the side back-scene board? Looking good Eoin

Looking good George, wish your Da a happy birthday from me..... I hope your going boating and have the bottle of Guinn!! ....Murphys for the launch. Eoin

There is a 3.5 inch gauge track up the road from me, It's just lying there idle, over-grown with ivy and slowly deteriorating! I recently got in touch with the owner of the property to view the track and discuss using it. The guy that built it is long gone but some of his live steam locos are held by the local history group, they have had meetings at the track and steamed up one of the locos on a section of cleared track- no running though. Anyway my idea was to run a 3.5'' loco I have in the build mix and another possible repair, the meeting did not go two well- from the section I uncovered of ivy showed the track in reasonable condition but some sections needed total replacement and some of the concrete support structure suffered a tree fall and would have to be rebuilt! The option put to me was do do it all at my expense and to possibly supply an electrical loco and stock for their use, otherwise they wanted to leave the track as is ' as it looks very nice covered in ivy' Needless to say I backed away. Such a pity because in few more years the track will be beyond salvaging! This is the Northumbria Loco kit;- This 3.5'' Royal Scott was to be restored for a client and I was hoping the track could be used to test run it, but alas the restoration deal fell through! Eoin

Hi Go for a airbrush that takes a small cup and a paint jar, also go for a dual action airbrush- they are a lot more controllable of air and paint mix with one's trigger finger. There is a huge range out there and it all depends on how much you want to pay..... Here is a link to guys I have bought stuff from, the link is to bottom feed guns which take a jar;- https://www.air-craft.net/acatalog/Bottom-Feed-Airbrushes.html Eoin

Painting has been proceeding on the Bing;- After undercoating all the parts I spent a bit of time filling around the steam dome repair and that ding in the smokebox door. After that was etch primed in places then undercoated I started on the first top coat on all the bits. The wheels and chassis were given a first topcoat of matt black. The brown is looking a bit red at the moment due to the grey undercoat, next coat of brown should do the trick! Eoin

Well there is no Australian section so decided to post this here;- This is a Eureka Models with DCC sound of an Australian AD60 in the workshop for some repairs. It's a nicely detailed model and has a bit of factory weathering but has been badly handled...... Valve gear on the front unit is missing, sanding boxes missing, handrails badly re-fitted, a few bits on the buffer beams bank n front are missing and it doesn't run! The plan is to replace the missing gear using the surviving gear as patterns for cutting the new stuff, the remaining sand boxes will be removed to make moulds for plastic casting up replacements and then we'll have a go at getting it running. First step was the valve gear, the existing gear for patterns were removed and scanned to set up a drawing to CNC cut replacements from .3mm nickel silver. This is the result- needing a clean up, laminate soldering and fitting. Those holes in the rod ends are .2mm! Eoin

Deadly, thanks for that. I did go the whole-hog to cover it up as when I masked off to do the buffer beams I did it rather quick and paid for it when some paint got through where it should not have! Eoin

While starting to fit door handles n rails I realised I still needed to paint the running plate and the roof black! So out with tape and masked it up, this is easier to do before the rails go on. And done in satin black. A few small touch ups are required but I'll wait until the detail parts are fitted and do it all in the one go. Eoin

Buffer beam painting on the Walker;- I first set up paper templates for cutting out the glazing, the templates have holes in- taken from the holes in the window frames for the horn & exhaust brackets, this is done because the glass will go in last after the completed body and parts are fixed n lacquered, the glass needs to fit over the ends of the brackets for flush glazing. Body masked up for painting the beams. White on. Red on with satin black brushed on the ladder and coupler bracket. Unmasked and needed a little clean up on the front running board- I forgot to remove the etch cusp along the edge and the white base colour seeped under the masking and along the cusp! Out with the swab n spirit and slowly removed the white line- remove the cusp next time! Getting ready to fit the detail parts- handrails, door handles, exhausts, badges, vac pipes, lights, and decals. The chassis will also be assembled, pick-ups installed and wired up for test running on the track!!...... Eoin

I re-moulded the tanks just a bit smaller than what came with the kit to allow the middle axle better movement, I could not find any photos of an actual 6 wheeler that showed the tanks! Eoin

The SSM kit has two tanks mounted thus;- Eoin

Looking great George. Eoin

Lidl did a folding metal one last week Eoin

Me to!

He is getting good at this- there's not been an upside down one in the whole thread Eoin

I was thinking it might be those dark squares on the side. Eoin

@Midland Man the same site you got the other picture above has a photo of it, follow this link:- http://gofree.indigo.ie/~nigelo/photographs.htm I think your picture above of the steam loco & trolley is of the model @Mayner mentioned on the other thread? Eoin