Hello,
As of Yesterday I appear to have been thrust into the world of Irish railway modelling when my other half came home with this:
M&GWR E Class 0-6-0T No.110 Bat in 4mm Scale, 21mm Gauge. We're not sure if she's a kitbash or scratchbuilt (The Studio kit is for the later condition), but she was reasonably priced and looks gorgeous. In due course we hope to have her finished in M&GWR Green (I considered inauthentic blue, but it's probably best to stick to the prototype!).
I've been wanting to model an Irish prototype for some time and was, admittedly, planning to do this with 16.5mm. But we are where we are and I'm both daunted and looking forward to the challenge of 21mm for someone who has yet to try building track or working with P4 standards generally. I haven't got a huge amount to report yet, work so far has mostly focused on getting Bat into a usable condition (She needed attention to the quartering on her wheels, adjustments to her gearing and needs some work on her pickups).
Initially I am hoping I may be able to regauge some 16.5mm stock to 21mm as a stop-gap until my modelling skills have caught up with this sudden dive into finescale modelling! I've identified a few RTR British locos which may have potential to be bashed into M&GWR and GNR(I) goods engines so this would be useful!
I suppose, then, this will start with some questions:
1.) Where would be a good place to start sourcing some suitable axles for 21mm Stock?
2.) Has anyone tried regauging 16.5mm stock to 21mm? What was required and how did you go about doing it?
3.) Any recommendations for sourcing further M&GWR and GNR(I) locos and rolling stock from the latter part of the 19th Century through to the 1920s?
4.) Unrelated to the M&GWR, but anyone tried converting a Hornby 4P tank into a UTA 'Jeep' in 21mm or is that a stretch too far?
Thank you all in advance!
- Dan