Noel

Have a good one Glenderg.

Thanks guys for the kind and encouraging comments. Will post a pic in natural light tomorrow and perhaps a video clip. It took a lot longer than I'd thought when starting out but enjoyed every bit. Looking forward to trying 3173.

GSV almost finished! Just the water fillers left and a change of couplings to do. Lightly weathered using weathering powders applied both dry and some wet using cotton buds to adjust. Not too heavy as back in the CIE single stripe B&T era they were kept reasonably clean unlike the later IR/IE era. Gloss varnish ready for SSM waterslide transfers, applied the decals using decalfix, then finally matt varnish to seal. I will lightly weather the sole bar and undersides to fade the white decals on the chassis. Shaping and fitting the door grab rails was a challenge with my shaky hands and poor eyesight. Thanks to Eoin's @murrayec advice I filed off the moulded plastic ones. Reasonably happy the way it turned out for a first GSV conversion. Next up a Bachmann BCK conversion to maroon 3173 hopefully over the Christmas holidays. What I've enjoyed most is learning from the mistakes I made along the way.

Brilliant. All 'type' and no model work! Guilty yer'justership

Jonathan that makes a lot of sense and understand your thinking. Code 75 track with fine ballast, weathered and nicely blended into a scene will greatly help. One day far in the future I might try a small diorama. Another consideration is the potential running quality of re-gauged locos, the precision of movement after modification, etc, so smooth prototypical running and shunting speeds are still possible.

Thanks for kind offer Ray, but I got a copy last weekend at the Bray meet up thanks to Wrenneire (Dave). Noel Yes it's a nice little piece of Irish model rail heritage. I must try and get Paddy to autograph it.

Good point re weathering. Would weathering wagons after applying decals make sense to tone down the pristine white decals?

Wow - I can see enough boxes for about 750 more bubbles or 55 to 70 rakes! Superb.

Securing pins to hold containers on wagon and prevent movement. Holes drilled in floor of C-Rail 20ft containers to match and facilities mounting containers in either direction as well as running containers empty. First coat of paint

Super photo of an amazing place. Sailed through it many times. Nice loco too. Sorry can't help but interested in the answers you get.

Well done Karl. IR ICR looks the biz. Your son will be getting a worthy Christmas present crafted by a fathers love. He could bring it with him for a trip on a 22k. In decades to come when he's a young man it may become a treasured memory from his childhood.

Amazerballs Wunderbar. I love this layout and it's fabulous life like scenes of real activity

Thanks for the kind and encouraging comments guys. Feeling somewhat humbled given the quarter from whence the comments came. While waiting for decals and some detailing parts for the GSV . . . Next project are some 20ft skeletal container wagon kits for my C-Rail 20ft Bell containers. 3D bogies with some white metal detailing bits. Surfaces being 3D a little 'toothpaste' but judicious primer will help that and you won't even notice when they are under the Bell's. The 3D bodies have NEM coupling pockets at the correct height. Bodies are dead square and flat with no warping. I added two small vertical container pins to each wagon to keep the containers in place. I have four standard holes in the base of my C-Rail containers so they can be mounted on the wagon in either direction and I will have the option to run with or without the containers. Primed in new'ish spray booth as it's too cold and damp to air brush outside in the shed this time of year. Will spray these bauxite later. The kits were supplied by IFM and I'm very happy with them, quick and easy to assemble with minimal fettling, filing or tidy up needed. The kits came with wheels, couplings and transfers.

Congrats and thanks Dave on completing the image restoration of this "wunder" thread. It's right up there for the best thread on the forum.

Very nice Eamonn.

Very effective and resourceful. The flashing looks superb.

Classic JB J15s = yummie

Looking really well Paul. Wonderful building. How did you do the ridge tiles?

If of any use. Peco code 100 side on. Side on with rolling stock.

Good questions JB. This could be a very informative thread. Will follow with interest. Recently I've also been wondering about a 21mm gauge diorama or even a tiny shunting scene.

Very neat Tony

Agree. Dropbox did something similar. Mind you perhaps we ourselves must also accept putting a little too much trust in "free lunch" internet providers. Thankfully this can't happen again on this forum as copies to all linked photos are now stored here in a cache. So if the external host disappears or indeed album owners accidentally delete or rename albums the resources will never be lost again. Another positive gain for the new forum software. Dave Bracken has almost got the famous 'Lima Murphy Models' thread back. I've managed to transfer my albums from photobucket and relink all my past image posts.

3 Steps - Lima BR mk1 brake second conversion to CIE GSV BSK 3185

Stunning craftsmanship

Yes its fabulous. I can almost here the echo of the motor cycle coming up the road from the Rugby club, interspersed with occasional waves crashing on the beech bathed in moonlight under the clear cold cosmic sky, with billions of galaxies visible to the naked eye. Wonder if they have trains on any of their planets . . . the horn of a distant 141 interrupts as distant rail noise heralds the imminent arrival of the mail train from Rosslare.