Darius43

Driving motor coach chassis painted. Cheers Darius

MTK supplies flat strips of aluminium sheet (without the folded edges) for the chassis, which are totally useless. I made my own chassis using 1mm and 0.5mm thick plasticard, with the MTK undergibbons cleaned up and glued in place. The MJT bogies have still not arrived so I used modified Hornby 2-BIL bogies (obtained as spares from eBay some time back) with 14mm wheels. I know they are not the correct type but they look very close. They were fixed with 8BA bolts and nuts. Cheers Darius

Cab glazing fitted along with home made decals and jumper cables. Cheers Darius

Step boards and coach side glazing fitted. Cheers Darius

Coach body painting completed. Cheers Darius

Coach bodies primed. Brass wire handrails and door operating buttons fitted. Cheers Darius

Alas I can’t make it to Warley this year but hope to be there next year and to catch up with Leslie and Robert. Cheers Darius

DMSO coach body assembly completed. Cheers Darius

TBSO coach body assembly completed. Cheers Darius

Joints filled and sanded. Roof panels scribed and ventilators fitted. Cheers Darius

Hi Robert, The 306 ends required quite a bit of dry fitting and trimming before they were finally glued in place - followed by some more trimming filing and sanding of the joints. The main goal is to get the ends fitted square, which, with MTK, is invariably not the best fit position. Cheers Darius

As if I haven’t punished myself enough lately… Cheers Darius

Thanks Leslie. We had a family weekend away in Hunstanton last month. Had a nice time touring the area, including a wander around Wolferton station. John Betjeman did a short BBC programme on the line before it closed. John Betjeman - King’s Lynn to Hunstanton Cheers Darius

Driver and peops fitted. Chassis weathering to finish. Cheers Darius

Started on another MTK model the other day - a Class 109 “Wickham” DMU. Cheers Darius

It is now Cheers Darius

The Middlemark layout that I am building with a friend of mine in his large garden shed has hit an indefinite hiatus. As a result I have decided to start building my own layout at home using the baseboards that came with the Middlemark helix. Four boards clip together to form a layout 1.6m (5.3’) long by 1.27m (4.2’) wide. Reasonable for a roundy roundy and small enough to fit on the dining room table. I already have a layout plan:- I plan to use expanded polystyrene sheets to elevate the track level above the baseboard so as to enable the creation of embankments/cuttings, whilst keeping things light. The trackbed will comprise 2mm thick plywood glued to the expanded polystyrene base with a layer of cork on top. Removable lengths of ballasted track will cover the joints between the boards. The layout will be built to be dismantled into the four separate boards, which can be stacked vertically on a moveable rack (yet to be built) when not in use. Cheers Darius

Built several years ago from the MTK white metal kit. The body is mounted on a shortened and modified Lima Class 33 chassis and Ultrascale wheels have replaced the Lima pizza cutters. Final additions were MJT horns and windscreen wipers. Spares box buffer beam details and light weathering to the chassis. Cheers Darius PS I think I may have fixed the roof parts on the wrong way around - not much I can do about this now…

Much modified Hornby model. Tumblehome smoothed to remove the angular line of the original moulding. SEF flush glazing fitted. Craftsman DMU buffers and beam details added. Complete repaint. Bachmann DMU motor and bogies fitted to power car. Cheers Darius

I have a a pair of sides left over to make No.64 - in UTA green hopefully. Sans dents I’m afraid. Cheers Darius

I could have made a small amount of money betting that Airfixfan’s “dents” comment would once more arise… Cheers Darius

Cheers Darius

This looks like a longer wheelbase “hybrid” made with extension pieces cut from another wagon which had the CIE wheel logo on it. Cheers Darius

Great announcement. Two packs preordered. Cheers Darius

Packaging repurposed Cheers Darius