RedRich

Richard Harris came up with some classics after being on a bender. He was missing for a week one time and when he was making his way home he was trying to come up with an excuse to appease his wife. He stood on the door step thinking, his wife suddenly opened the door and Harris looking at her painfully asked why didn't you pay the ransom. I remember him telling a story one time about being on a weekender with Peter O'Toole, Oliver Reid, and Peter Sellers. No alco pops or spiv shots on that session, just beer and whiskey. Rich,

I think the airbrush looks more like a splatter gun and probably wouldn't stand up in comparison to one of the entry level airbrushes from the more known and trusted airbrush manufacturers. As for compressors that are going to see a lot of use get a compressor with an air reservoir tank, you won't be sorry in the long run. Find out where you can get replacement parts for the compressor and make sure they are easily available. If you are serious about a kit like this go to an airbrush retailer even though it may cost 50 or 60 quid more it will last a lifetime with proper care and maintenance. Rich,

Many thanks for the updates Seamus and Marks. Rich,

Thanks very much Gareth for clarifying that. It needed to be clarified by yourself, Seamus, or Dave as you are the people that would be able to make people aware of the release program. I hope now that everyone is getting excited and can't wait to get their wallets out. Rich,

If the ball is deflected into his goal by a defender and the original shot was going wide then it is an og. Wilsons shot was on target so the deflection doesn't make it an og and that is why he is credited with the goal. Rich,

Vincent this Island has produced great players in the past, Giles, Brady. I am as I type this watching a programme about the greatest ever George Best on Sky Sports at the moment. Ronnie Whelan, Paul McGrath, Pat Jennings, Roy Keane. Great players have and will again come from here. Trapattoni's tactics are as much his philosophy as far as the Ireland team are concerned. I watched Nothern Ireland tonight and I was gutted when Portugal equalised near the end of the game. Nothern Irelands backs were against the wall but they played with the ball on the ground when they had it. The reason the Nations we have both mentioned are as strong as they are now is because of the way the youth football is set up now. We need to do that and when we do we will hopefrully reap the rewards by grooming great players. It will be interesting to see see why his press conference was postponed for tomorrow. The Sweeden comeback against Germany has me worried. We dropped our heads on Friday night but tonight Sweeden never gave in. Austria had a good result also and their goal difference could make a difference. Rich,

You pretty well summed up a lot of what I said in my own post Fran. The grass roots level of football in Ireland is outdated and it falls well below the levels of football at the same level in most countries world wide. The African Continent produces world class footballers who play at the top level in Europe and have done so regularly over the past 10 years. The Toure brothers, Samuel Eto, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Jay Jay Okocha, Kanu. and way to many more to mention. The Netherlands are another great example of a small European Nation producing world class players every decade. Greece are 10th in the FIFA world rankings. You mention Croatia rightly in your post as an example, Corluka, Modric, Kranjcar, Pranjic, Jelavic, Olic, We don't have a central midfielder who is as skillful on the ball as Modric, he can dictate the pace of a game, open up a compact defense with one sweet pass, he has great vision and awareness of the play around him. We don't have any players of his ability in our side, or even anyone of the class as the other Croatia players I mentioned. I watched my nephew play a match a few weeks ago and they played on a full sized pitch. The ball was off the ground and off the pitch for about 3 quarters of the game. He is 12 and I think that says a lot about the current state of affairs. I fear for Ireland when we play Sweden because if Ibramimavic turns up he will destroy our defense because of the basic lack of defensive skills of the current crop of players that seem to be in favor, and poor tactics of the management. Watching Ireland against teams like Kazakhstan and Aremina in recent times shows how far the team has fallen and I think the FIFA World ranking we have is being very kind to us at the moment. Despite the result on Friday night some of the press seem to think that we might get 3 points tonight, but if we do I fear it will only be painting over the cracks. Rich, Rich,

That's what I heard too Fran. I am sure that one of the retailers or Dave would be in the know about that before anyone. I'd be interested to know where Railer got his information. Rich,

Lads I played the game from school boy football to junior league for 25 years. I have been in dressing rooms with bad atmosphere, bad feeling and we always put the aggro aside until the game was over as the result was always most important. There were times when we did not have the players or the ability in the side to consistently compete with more competent and well organized teams. The fact of the matter is, is that we don't have the players with the kind of ability to compete against stronger and more organized teams in the top tier of football. Blaming the manager is only part of the problem the main fault is the ability of the players. None of our players are competing for league titles in their respective leagues, none of them with the exception of McGeedy is playing in the champions league. Alarm bells were ringing long before the Euros and don't forget the shambles in the first game of the group. As for Keane becoming manager has anyone actually really looked at his pedigree managing at the top level, let alone his relationship with the hierarchy in the FAI. I support Utd and I always admired Keanes efforts as a player and he is rightly held in high esteem by Utd fans to players like Bryan Robson. The amount of foreign players in the Premier League will eventually lead to the England team facing a future like ours in the next 10 years. I think it has happened to us quicker than I expected but in all reality we are at the same lever as the rest of the home nations and some of the newer eastern European teams that were formed after the end of the USSR and the pulling down of the Berlin wall. A new manager is not going to make things improve drastically the kind of change we need is needed in the grass roots of football when the kids are young, they need to set up a school of excellence like the Belgian FA did 15 years ago to start producing better players like they have now. The daggers are out for the Trappitoni regime at the moment but in all honesty that is one of many rotten apples in the barrel. Rich,

That was a quick fix that was only fitted recently Rob. When you compare the loco in photos since it was painted into the freight livery the door was silver. Some of the class have orange horns now and one of the class has a black door or doors. I hope that the numbers will be corrected on the cab side, and large cab side IE logos before release on 071 and 082. NIR 112 spent some time on loan to IE and was fitted with sliding window parts from one of the locos in the 151-159 series, it was used all over the network on freight and passenger workings. It was also fitted with led marker lights. 111 and 113 still have the original marker lights as fitted during production by GM. The fact that 112 has these modifications on the model makes it more prototypically correct for NIR and IE modellers, which would make it a candidate for being a popular model and good seller. From what I have seen of the painted models in photographs so far it steals the show. Rich,

Welcome to the group Patrick. Another south east based layout sounds nice and your work so far looks good. Please keep us posted and up to date. Rich,

Rob http://www.markle.co.uk is a good source for railway dvd's from both sides of the border and covers scenes from the 80's to today. It's another alternative to books and a good source of info. They are very well shot and are full of scenes we don't see anymore, and nothing can compare to hearing those lovely sounds when you close you're eyes. Rich,

No problem, you're welcome. For what it's worth you are doing the right thing keeping you're options open and finding what works well for you. I have seen some fantastic 00 gauge layouts on here and at exhibitions, just have fun and enjoy it. I'm going to be modelling in 21mm this time around and it isn't a snobbish exercise, it's just something new that I fancied having a go at. Sure it will take a lot longer but I know I will enjoy it. Rich,

http://www.phd-design-etchings.co.uk You need to look in the model railways 4mm section of the website to find the sleeper spacing gauge. The thin sleeper 1 meter track lengths from C&L are not going to match Peco or Hornby points because they have thicker sleepers. The track from Peco and Hornby is all flat bottom rail and they don't produce bullhead rail. I would also be wary of having C&L track lengths delivered in the post in case of any damage to the track in transit. The one draw back for me with Peco or Hornby sectional track as it is, is that the adjacent track centers look and are wrong. A double track level crossing from Hornby or Bachmann is a great example when you see the distance between both sets of rail centers. However if you decide on getting the sleeper spacing gauge do yourself a favor and use Peco flexi rail to try and lay it in a flowing fashion as it will look better. Try and get to the MRSI show on the Bank Holiday weekend if you can and talk to exhibitors, ask them questions and you will get more info and food for thought. Rich,

Des that was a very interesting read. My family has taken part in events and raised funds for the fight against cancer. We have given to organizations in the fight for a cure against cancer, for research of cancer. We also have supported organizations that help people deal with the aftermaths of the loss of a loved one through cancer. Having read the piece in the link it does raise some questions about the organization his name is affiliated to. I had honestly assumed that part of the organizations brief was to raise funds towards finding cures for certain types of cancer. If it isn't true that the organization does work in that field then it is disappointing and I had assumed wrong. Rich,

No mate the honeymoon period is long over. Rich,

For what he did in relation to his cancer and his association with finding cures and treatment of the illness, and also raising funds and awareness of the illness he deserves a lot of credit. My father is a cancer survivor and we lost my Mother to the disease last year. As for the findings of the USADA and the testimony in the report, plus the interviews with Bradley Wiggins today on Sky and Stephen Roaches son on Prime Time tonight I'd have to agree with what Michael Hutchison said about only people with no credibility within the sport would continue to support his claim of innocence. As the Stranglers sang no more hero's anymore. Rich,

Dave if that isn't inspiration to OP nothing is. They look smashing, a big to the painter. Rich,

I hope everything goes well George and it leads to more fairs. How are things going, I haven't seen you since April. I hope everyone is well and the new arrival isn't keeping you up all night. Rich,

Rob I have some Details West large and small filters ready to go. They are a bit overscale for H0 and look just about spot on for 00. I may have looked at the avenue of seeing if the class 67 large air dryer filters would have been available as spares otherwise. I have brass rod and have tried using it with telescopic brass tube but the results aren't really what I was hoping for, and more experiment will have to take place to see how the elbows and reducers for the pipe work can be modelled satisfactorily. Some of the pipes are inch and inch and a half, some of the smaller pipes would probably require fuse wire to model them but it would be hard work to get it to look right and keep it's shape while handling the model. Nevertheless I will stick at it. Rich,

Cheers Fran, they are a huge feature of the underframe on the prototype and it's good to see it fitted to the model. Rich,

I'd go along with the lads and paint them in the Enterprise colors. I know that a lot of people run different rtr stock from different eras and it can be great fun. I think creating a fictitious livery is a bit pointless if it didn't exist. I hope to see some photos of your finished models and fair play for having a go, good luck. Rich,

Fran something I meant to ask was does the 67 have a large air dryer filter fitted to the air reservoir tanks. Rich,

I've watched it on Sky Sports News and read the report myself and it's very conclusive in it's findings. All cases and findings are based on evidence and the evidence in this case against Armstrong is overwhelming. The fact that he refused to fight the case looks more obvious now. We all have hero's in sport or entertainment and sometimes our zeal or loyalty to that person or persons can blind us from the truth. He's not the first sports star to be embroiled in something like this and he won't be the last. In any case where the accused refuses to give evidence or defend him or herself it is seen as admitting guilt to the US Anti Doping Agency. No one refuses to defend themselves if they are innocent of all charges. My brother in law is a racing cyclist and I spoke to him an hour ago in the in laws house and he had been a staunch defender of Armstrong, he has even said it's conclusive and a big let down. Sad really. Rich,

Good work Richie. I have the Windsor Newton Gouache myself in Burnt-Raw Sienna, Burnt Raw- Umber, Black, White, Greys and Beige colors. They are amazing for the realism and texture they produce and are a great alternative for anyone that doesn't have an air brush. Oils are pretty amazing for oil spillages on tanker wagons and fuel tanks also. Rich,