Noel

Not at all, informed advise especially from ‘obi wan’ is always welcome. Much still to learn. She’s heavier than I’d planned but one lives and learns by trying. Btw, thanks again for that first airbrush demo/training session you kindly gave me a few years ago.

Wow looks fabulous. An O gauge A class. Doesn’t get better than that. Hope they do a nice (matt/satin finish) airbrush paint job on it for you. And not a gloss sheep dip What livery will she be? Your ‘friend’ has done a great job capturing the unique and difficult shape of the cab profile.

Well done for first loco. Looks subtly nice and grimey without being over cooked.

Weathered 088 this evening, my first 071 weathering. A little heavier than I normally would like but the super train locos were allowed to go manky before the IR Tippex era. Mix of weathering powders and finished with airbrush. This is the heaviest I have ever weathered a loco and the first orange livery loco I've weathered. I was never a fan of the dull super train livery but the weathering seems to help the visual appeal. Circa 1984 after the supertrain livery had been allowed to get manky before the IR Tippex era. 088 looking well used. Mix of weathering powders followed by airbrush. I took the body centre section off as it was easier to weather this independently and without hindrance from the walkway rails (ie it is not a good idea to remove walkway rails from baby GMs or 071s as they are a nitemare to get back on correctly. Powders applied in solution 50% water 50% decalfix, which allows it to be reactivated when wet with a cotton bud later incase any boo-boos made or corrections needed. Applied with solution with paint brush, then wiped down/off later when almost dry using various buds. The powders are almost enough if one was doing a light weathering job. Powders now dry ready for airbrush. Panel lines well defined by powders and surface generally a little weathered and not pristine. Windows roughly masked off to avoid overspray on glazing. Grimey 088 ready for a rural run out west to Claremorris. Each time I try something new I learn so much, its seriously scary but risks have to be taken. (eg break an egg to make an omelet, etc). Anyway happy to have a weathered 071 in supertrain livery.

Thanks for posting, these are fabulous to have and watch. If only there was more 1960s and 1970s film/video footage (eg like Joe St Ledgers fab clips).

Cheers. Initially the weathering went horribly wrong when I realised that weathering powders do not take well to gloss finishes (ie the curtain side had been gloss varnished). But found another way of making them look used and hiding the pristine look.

Couldn't help a few tweaks. After some buffer beam bits were added (vacuum pipes, coupling hooks) tail lamps added for this wagon. Strap buckles now painted and buffer grease. It never ends, but that's half the fun. Now I'm going to padlock the door. This is locked. (hmm electric tail maps with wheel pickups from DCC via a few components, bridge rectifier chip, capacitor for flicker free, etc, - No! STOP )

Would a CDU (capacitor discharge unit) help (ie take the load off the decoders)? I used CDU's 25 years ago with 16VAC powering seeps using the same old tri-ang lever switches.

They were resprayed by Tony Mirolo. . . . and super job they are too. I may attempt a few myself some day in the future, but delighted with these for now.

Noel @ttc0169 has one on Tara junction. Here is a photo from

Almost finished. 4 x MIR Irish Cement Pallet Curtain wagons. These were considered modern in 1974 being custom made and fitted with brakes, but at least they are two axle wagons and did not have dreaded freight bogies. EDIT they were originally drop sided wagons and were later converted to curtains because of maintenance issues with the drop sided door mechanisms. Just have to paint the aluminium strap tensioners grey On duty behind B165. I quite enjoyed these MIR kits which had a two week holiday interrupting their completion. Tempted to try some MIR drop sided kits to go with these. PS: One of the springs flew off the knuckle joint of one of the kadee couplings. That will be fun replacing tomorrow. Will need a microscope and 1/200 the scale tweezers!

Thanks Eoin. Unfortunately Books and I don't get on due the after effects of lexdysia, it takes me ages to read them, but I've watched some of Ian Rathbone's superb YouTube videos on painting and lining, especially his one on the use of bow pens.

A little more progress, slight weathering applied to the cement pallet curtain wagons. Lesson learned, weathering powders, dry or in wash solution do NOT take to gloss varnish surfaces (ie curtain sides in my case). A mix of weathering powders and airbrush, hand painting for other details such as buffers, coupling hooks, curtain tension straps, etc. All that's left to do is the aluminium straps need greying, and add the vacuum pipes and sole bar transfers (ie chassis numbers).

Hi David. Thanks for the info. Your post is very timely as I have never used a bow pen but beginning to think it is something I may have bite the bullet and to use one. I would need it for lining coach resprays (eg RPSI blue'n'cream for the black linking between the cream and blue), and other coach liveries I hope to do one day. Good to know it works with Vallejo Model color as I prefer working with Acrylics to Humbrol enamels.

Now I have to source a suitable donor BR DVT for the razor saw and some soft balsa fairing to convert it to look remotely like the the duck bill faced IR 4xxx mk4 CAF DVT to go with these. Will the duck faced DVT survive the 'duck test'? Photo: Photo linked from: Fred Dean Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/be216cd1/8635899490

Strange but true, I used a drone to check our roof last winter after a big storm, and found two damaged slates. btw, fab buildings as ever on barrow street

Thanks for link. Yellow PW stuff a little too modern for my era and modelling taste buds. Yes pricey for just two wagons.

Adding a little buffer beam details (ie coupling hook and vacuum pipes) before final painting tweaks and weathering. I've alternated between drooping pipes and standing pipes at each end of each wagon.

DCC Consist of three steam locos running together light engine. These were converted to DCC some years ago before I started the process of converting the layout from BR Steam era to Irish CIE 1960s B&T era. I still have a soft spot for toy steam trains and hope to operate some on the layout thanks to J15s and MM Woolwich's. EAST MEETS WEST - LMS Invade CIE rails

I have a load of those mid 1970s Lima BR Mk1 CIE coaches. Bought them one at a time in W J Owens, 41 main street Bray, as I saved up for them. Owens was one of the best model shops in the state, now sadly gone as Willie retired some years ago. This rake of B&T coaches was my pride and joy until I saw an MM Craven coach. These are now retired as the layout has a complement of Cravens, Park Royals and Laminate stock as well as some modern era mk2d invasive species Not to mention the unmentionables (ie the recent arrival of IR Intercity mk4 coaches). The same coaches photographed about 1975 on my original layout. There are actual wires between those Telegraph poles. Here is a pic of the plastic bogie I removed from the BR Mk1 BSK donor used for a GSV conversion. It was easy to replace with the Replica B4/B5 kits with just a slightly larger hole and some styrene spacers needed. Hope this helps.

Little do you know the significance of the red suit in my family

The Lima BR mk1 Bsk I converted had similar bogies and I replaced them with the replica B5 bogies above for the GSV. Will try and post a pic of them later if I can find them.

Love the blue 4-4-0