irishthump

That's the part that's killing me, I loved the Advance 2. It's very simple to use and worked like a dream up until the power supply died. It also had more than enough power at 3.5A. I'm actually in 2 minds as to what to do. If they have a replacement in stock I may well give it another go.

I tell you man, I was pretty close to throwing me hat at it this afternoon! If I had'nt bought my sound decoders I would be sorely tempted to go back..... And to think it was DCC that got me back into the hobby in the first place!

As I mentioned on the layout forum, my Advance 2 died on me a couple of weeks back (the culprit was a faulty power supply). Hattons agreed to replace the whole system no problem but I had to wait as they were out of stock. I'm on a weeks holidays from work so you can imagine my excitement when the postman turned up this morning with a parcel for me! Wired it up, plugged it in and.... NOTHING! No power to the base unit at all. Little green light is on the power supply is on, so checked the power connection to the unit - seems ok. Move the wire a little and power comes on, then goes again! Hold the base unit at 90 degrees to the horizontal and the power stays on enough to run a loco. Return it to it's original position on the table and it goes again. Needless to say something is not right. A frantic call to Hattons, who in all fairness are great to deal with and they tell me to send it back to them for a replacement or refund. Now I like the Prodigy a lot, but I'm not sure I'll be able to trust one after all this. I may well go for the Powercab when all is said and done. END OF RANT!

Same here, all my Irish stuff is Supertrain or Black and Tan so 088 will fit in nicely!

That's just the info I was looking for, thanks. I just wanted to how prototypical it would be the the black and tan 141/181s running next to the 071.

Another silly question... After the Supertrain livery was introduced how long did the Black and Tan livery last for? Would it have taken a long time to repaint all the locos? I would assume there were none by the time the 071s were introduced.

Excellent point.

Anto, that's the business. Even the sound when it's turning is great!

The Purity Seal is good stuff, I do a lot of wargaming and have used it a lot. I use the matt version of the Windsor and Newton as a base coat for weathering powders and have found it dries very quickly, but the point about warming the model is a good one. If you leave the model in a cold shed or garage to dry then you will be a long time waiting, especially in the damp weather we've been having lately.

You know what, I think you're right. I was contemplating mixing different colour flock into it as well but the more I look at it the more I think it should be left a is!

I got the liner in Woodies but they only come in small round shaped pieces, they don't stock in on a roll. I did'nt need much so it did'nt matter but it would be expensive if you needed to cover a large area!

Where can I get one of those? The understanding wife that is!!! Seriously though, that's one impressive model. The detail is stunning.

Well the power supply for my Prodigy Advance decided to die last week so I find myself with plenty of time to actually work on some scenery! Here's where I'm at... The terrain is make from styrofoam sheet cut to shape with a hot wire cutter. I covered this is a mix of plaster with little PVA mixed in and this was then covered with brown paint for the grass area and grey for the rocky area to the right which lead up to a tunnel mouth. The grass section was covered with hanging basket liner stuck down with neat PVA. Some close ups... It's a wee bit overgrown looking, I may trim it back a bit at a later stage. I've also started weathering the track. I painted it with Rustoleum primer whish gives a nice rusted effect which looks a little bright in these photos. The rocky area needs a drybrushing with a lighter colur to bring out the detail and probably a few washes. This was my cunning plan for concealing that unsightly corner! Managed to weather some stock too, here's B165 which MK2s and Generator van.

I have'nt fitted decoders to the chassis' you've mentioned but I've hardwired decoders to a few locos. The main thing is that you make sure the model runs well on DC before fitting any decoder. If it runs well on DC then it should be fine for DCC regardless of the make of decoder. I would stear clear of Hornby decoders though!

Slightly off topic... I'm planning to repaint a rake of Hornby MK3s to go with the 071, I assume the Supertrain livery is the most appropriate?

Built in speaker? Great news!

It looks fantastic! How about decoder installation, is it the same drill as with the 141/181s or can it be done without removing the body?

Code 100.

I have about 50/50 Peco and Hornby on my layout and to be honest I don't see any real difference in running quality with regular staright and curved track. I actually find Hornby flextrack slightly easier to work with laying it on the baseboard. Points are another thing though. Contrary to what most people seem to recommend I only use insulfrog points on my layout and have a mix of both Hornby and Peco setrack points. The Peco certainly seem to be of better quality, are sturdier and give a more positive throw action. But I have'nt noticed any difference in running. One issue is that if, like me, you use older running stock you can have issues with older wheelsets bridging the insulated frog and causing a short. This only happens with the Peco insulfrog, as the plastic section is smaller.

Nice tidy work on the baseboards... Love the shed too; a good size space on ground level, I'm well jealous!

I agree Anthony, if you use a snips it's easy to pop the sleepers away from the track.

€135 is very cheap... The only thing with the Bachy Class 20 is that it does'nt come with directional lights, which I think is weird for a DCC fitted model.

I would say they are rerailers. Yeah it's easier to rail on the straight, but these may be supplied in sets that just contain a simple circle of track.

I buy cheap emery boards (the ones for doing your nails!) from the local Euro shop. The get about 30 in various sizes and grades for 2 Euro.

A different class, man!