JasonB

They turned out great Eoin. As you said tedious work, but certainly worth the effort when you see them finished.

Enjoyed that Noel, nicely done

Progressing nicely, really like the rust on the rails it looks great.

Any photos to accompany the progress?

Lovely work Noel, looking forward to seeing it finished with glazing and handrails attached.

Thanks guys

When I first built these cement wagons about 3 years ago I made one of the worst mistakes you probably can when modelling and rushed them, resulting in a lot of wobbling and sometimes derailing when running. Obviously the badly built chassis' were behind the running issues so about two months back I decided to start on a new batch and sort the problem once and for all. While I was working away on the building the new chassis' I took the chance to tidy up parts of the weathering and paintwork on the bodies which was another thing I hadn't been happy with, and I've also added some extra detail to both ends of each wagon by using plasticard and SSM break wheels and wire. None of this is by any means 100% accurate but I think it represents the framework and hand wheels from the prototype quite well and certainly adds to the appearance of the model. The chassis' still need some weathering applied to blend top with bottom but that's a job for another day, main thing is their now running smoothly.

Now that you mention it JB, they do look slightly the wrong shade Lovely work Noel. Very precise lining as always.

You were right to change the gangways Noel. Alot more detail on the new set.

Oh that's very impressive.It takes the sting out of the orange, not too much but just nicely.

I was reading over this thread again today Noel and out of curiosity tried a 20 in one of my Bubbles. Not that i was doubting you, but because I have a lump of them spare.Your spot on with the 18s as the 20 is basically the same length as the tension lock when plugged into the NEM. So as you've suggested above I'm going to glue the 20s to the underside of my Ballasts to use them up and invest in some 18s for my Bubbles.

What a shot, this just oozes realism. Don't think it gets better than this.

It's very easy to say why not produce 3 times the product to reduce the price, but this is no good to anybody if the product is sitting on a shelf with no one to buy it. IRM is a business at the end of the day and for a business to survive it needs to know it's market which the lads clearly do. I for one think the pricing is very reasonable for the top quality RTR models now available to us, considering it's such a small market to operate in.

I can understand where your coming from Noel, they look that good the temptation is there to leave one or two as they are. Personally I'll be weathering mine as a complete rake, but that's just my preference. Everybody's different and their your models to run as you like.

Bubbles are looking good on the cement train Noel.

Another welcome addition to the ever growing list lads. Definitely think the option of being able to buy separately is the way to go, you can be sure there will be plenty of takers.

I've been following this with interest Noel. Some really handy info there due to your perseverance to get heights and spacing right. Nice one.

Still can't get over how good this is. I've seen some class layouts on here over the years but this is out there on its own. Can I suggest that this thread be moved to the Layout section so it's not lost in General Chat down the line?

Cheers Noel, thanks for the kind words.I used the old reliable superglue.The joins were given a rub down with a very fine sandpaper before gluing. I've used it previously on other brass kits and have had no issues afterwards. Famous last words, they'll probably fall to bits now after saying that

Finally got around to finishing off the SSM plough vans during the week. You'll probably notice from the plough underneath that I had made a start on weathering these, but then decided to leave it at that. Reason being, I have my pack ordered from IRM and thought it made more sense to hold off and do a job on them as they will be running with my Ballast Wagons eventually. Anyway here's a couple of pics of the now completed vans.

That is a seriously impressive piece of work, absolutely stunning

That is Damn fine work. Best example I've seen of that model to date.

Fair play Noel, persistence paid off in the end.Nice result

Lovely shots as always.073 looks fantastic in its retro livery, my favourite by far.Nice to see 082 aswell with its nameplate, another favourite of mine

Christ Noel, your worse than a politician for changing your mind.Are you sure you haven't got some autoballasters tucked away somewhere, that you take out for a sneaky run when nobody's looking