irishthump

I get where you're coming from, Anto. I was onto Hattons this morning and since they have them in stock I've decided to give the PA one more go. If it goes wrong you can all tell me "I told you so"!

Sounds like a plan! I sent the Advance back to Hattons this morning. Not 100% sure what I'll do just yet, if they have another one in stock I might take a chance on it. I mean what are ther chances of getting 3 dodgy ones in a row?! But thanks for the info, Anto.

Just a question on the SB3A, Anto. Am I right in thinking you have to buy a seperate power supply for the booster?

Anto, I payed £200 for the Prodigy Advance, so I can spend that again on a new system. Fro what I can see I could get the Powercab and the SB3A for around that price.

I think so, Anto. The only thing I'm worried about is the fact that the Powercab is 1.5A and the Advance was 3.5A. I could be running up to 4 sound equipped locos at once. I would also have a few coaches/wagons euipped with lights. Would you say the Powercab would cope with that?

Sorry! 199 not 299!

Sorry if I sounded harsh, man. Not my intent! Just pointing out that it does'nt make sense.

The first one. And at 299 it's a lot cheaper than buying from Gaugemaster directly.

A fob off?! What planet are you on? Why would Bachmann want to "fob off" potential buyers of a product that they are producing?

No chance it's an error? I mean you have Bachmann issueing a statement to say they're not involved

Just because MM is using the company that makes Bachmann's models does'nt make the 071 a Bachmann product. Kader actually owns Bachmann, they bought the company in the 80's. It could well have been Kader's decision not to include Bachmann.

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!