Jack P

Hi guys, As the title says, I'm after a Chivers D3, open to anything that's lurking out there. PM me if you've got something and we can talk turkey!

Looks fantastic Mr T. What are the origins of the LMS van next to it please?

Good on you for taking stock and re-adjusting. We are supposed to do this for enjoyment after all!

Right, so weekend now over and this is where i'm at Chassis runs nicely and has been primed ready for painting. I actually followed the advice given by @DLT in his thread, blackening the chassis first, even though i'll be replacing the wheels, I still blackened them too. I'll wait for the high level gearbox to arrive before I press on too much further. However pickups will be fitted now, I plan to follow DLT's method of making a loco DCC. After cleaning up the bench I fitted the sandboxes. the ones behind the front drivers needed some serious thinning down to make sure they don't foul the coupling rods. Next job for the body is to finish the lamp irons and the front end pipework, before priming and rivet transfers.

Thanks Peter, I wonder if the L will be as quick, somehow, I doubt it! Thanks for popping in Mike. I agree, the more I look at it, the more I notice isn't right. I'm patiently waiting for my copy of Russell to arrive, then I can measure up the cab from the kit against the drawing and see if it's salvageable as is, with a bit of tweaking, or if it's a candidate for a scratch-build. I'll keep an eye out for both! When placed on the rolling road sans bogie, it becomes apparent that the centre of gravity is just in front of the rear drivers, I was thinking of gently springing the rear bogie on the J, I wonder if that would help?

I'll add it to the list of books to pick up! I don't mean to come across conceited, but it took me 2 years to complete the N15x, and so far it's probably only taken me 4 days to end up with an almost complete body, and running chassis! I borrowed the motor and gearbox from the W, this was supposed to be temporary, but it may end up being a permanent arrangement. I'll now work on where to put pickups, and then give the chassis a really good clean down and get it ready for paint.

Never enough time in the day for modelling is there? Despite this first world problem, I managed to get some of the lamp irons fitted to the J - specifically the front smokebox ones, the lower 3 and the rear bunker ones will be done tomorrow. I also decided to make some progress with the chassis. I decided to order the correct 22mm wheels, so when spacing the brakes out, I was a bit more generous, this is a bit of a compromise, but it means the rigging is all done. I added the pull rods, although, i'm not sure if the J had one or two runs of pull rods. I also added the actuating lever under the cab. None of this is perfect, but it's only supposed to be a representation of what's actually there. Hoping to get the body primed tomorrow!

I've had an unexpectedly productive start to the weekend. After putting the '0395' away, I decided to take a look at the SECR J that'd been lurking for a while. (I don't have enough on the go projects, apparently) Suddenly, just over 24 hours later it looks like this: The steam reverser isn't perfect, but it's a pretty good representation of what's there. Aside from the buffers, handles on the front of the valve chest and back of the splashers, a bit of brass strip and some wire to represent eh pipe runs, the kit's been built as it comes out of the box. There are lots of visible gaps, and the cab interior is more open than I'd like, so a backhead and false floor will be fitted. Looking at it in photos show a few stray blobs of solder, and that roof really needs thinning down somehow! One of the front steps was broken off, with the broken bit not being present, I decided to cut both steps off and will re-fit replacements - I was thinking SEF might have some H class spares that would suit. I'm hoping to get it into primer soon, because the rivet transfers for the smokebox will probably take some time. I'll also add boiler bands from electrical tape at this stage too. The wheels i've got are just temporary, they're 21mm instead of the 22mm they should be, and the bogie wheels are spare from the N15x build. Despite them not being perfect, i'm tempted to use them, given that I need to order, and then wait for a motor and gearbox anyway though, I might as well just order the right ones. Decisions..

Thanks for posting Graham, always lovely to see FS and its residents!

Good to hear from you Dave! It's interesting you pointed that out, I actually thought the boiler was sitting a bit low initially too. I think the cab cutout issue you mention is compounded by the bottom of the curve too. My model is sitting on wheels that are too small, as such the footplates don't align. That means the lower cutout will be too low when the tender is at the right height. Looking at the picture below makes me realise just how gargantuan the roof of my model actually is. This model was an impulse buy from hattons 'Pre-Owned', and it was extremely well priced. She has now taken a backseat while I work through some kinks. The possibility of a new cab is on the table, replacing the frames with Alan Gibson ones, as well as replacing the tender with one of the Martin Finney kits. The whitemetal tender is heavier than the loco, which I'd imagine will seriously impede haulage power. I'm really looking forward to my copy of Russell arriving - are they the Roche drawings that are regarded as being inaccurate? Am I thinking of something else?

Any news to report on this Pete?

Thanks for the heads up guys! I'll look into both avenues. I just placed an order with Dart Castings for some of their dual crew packs, I've used these before and mixing and matching as required works well. They will probably go into nice open cabs, so they can be seen, while some of my slightly 'iffy' figures will go in the closed cabs. I think you're right, I will probably pick up some of Alan's figures for the Hattons P, as they were designed to fit, and I need more of their SR lamps! Here's a slightly better 3/4 shot of the S15, with a Modelu lamp on the upper right lamp iron. The 'SOUTHERN' on the tender looks wonky, but I spent ages measuring to make sure it was in line. I'm pretty sure it's the camera playing tricks. I've also been working on two T9's, originally 314 and 708, they have had their tenders swapped and will end up as 301 and 728 (I think) I had my order of HMRS transfers arrive recently, but unfortunately they are unusable. I've tried different combinations of Meths/water but I just can't get them to stick, it's like the glue has completely dried up/off. I notice they are on the new backing paper and are significantly darker than the previous ones i've had. Frustrating as I was on a roll with transfers, but have now run out of the green/yellow Sunshine 'Southern's for Wartime Black locos! Ah well, will fire off an email to HMRS and put these on the backburner! While i'm waiting on the I3 chassis to arrive, I decided to work on the 0395. I need to shape the rear drag beam, and the front beam on the tender, as they are angled/curved, in hindsight this would've been easier to do before attaching them to the loco. it's actually a devilishly simple little loco, there aren't actually that many parts left to go on. I'll probably have another look at the branchlines catalogue to see if they have the appropriate chimney, the dome also looks a little malnourished I think. Unfortunately as the chassis is just two slabs of brass, i'll have to add all of the other details (Still waiting for the Russell book to arrive, does this have a diagram?) I'm also not sure what size tender wheels I need, these are just some spares I had kicking around. That's all for now, as usual, input is always encouraged!

I thought it was just me! Although, the wait will be worth it - I think, Malachite LN, and the SECR D soon(ish). There's also the Model Rail E1 somewhere out there. Fingers crossed that a post-war, pre-nationalisation MN appears soon too. Although given the delays MGR describes, it may be some time.

Looks fantastic Pete. I've been wanting to try Gibson wheels for a while now, how do you quarter them?

Great video Callum. Makes me even more excited for the sound version!

At least we're not discussing this on a plane..

I thought it would be worth asking here, I'm in the planning stages of another kitbuild and the only wheels I was able to get for it were a standard Markits set. One side insulated, the other not. I am now wondering what the best course of action for building it with the intention of fitting it with DCC. My plan was simply to make sure the isolated pair stay isolated, run a conventional PCB board divided into 4, with pickups to both sets of wheels, and then wires connected to the motor. This should mean I can bridge the gap between the two, to get running smooth on DC, then remove the bridging wires, and attache the wires from the chip. Does the body being whitemetal impact this? Am I over thinking this? Would it be easier to just get another pair of insulated drivers?

The D&S van looks excellent! Looking forward to seeing what you do with the coaches!

Spent some time at the workbench over the weekend, Finished the Lavatory brake for this birdcage set - @AVS1998 has kindly provided me with an appropriate set and associated coach numbers, so that will be the next order of business. The are fitted with Markits Sprung buffers and Roxey screw links. (I'll take some better photos soon) I've been after a flat sided tender S15 variant for a while now, I'm pretty happy with it! Headcode not final, but I added the number from LNER wagon transfers. I'd previously thought working number/train reporting numbers were all similarly sized in neat lines, but like most things photo evidence proved this to be an incorrect assumption. The N is nearing completion too, and just needs bufferbeam details added. Caveat is that most of my locos that are "finished" still need something done. Sometimes I do a basic 'weathering' while repainting, but more often than not a full weathering is needed to really bring it up to spec. I genuinely don't think i've got any fully finished locos in the fleet. But it's something i'm working on! Like most of my locos, almost everything needs a crew/coal/tools/headcode added. I'd like to make a start on this with the crew, and tools initially. I'm aware of Modelu's excellent figures, does anyone have any other cost effective options for mass population of locos?

Looking forward to seeing updates on this one. The Maunsell 3-set looks amazing!

I'd be interested to know if you do. I was going to place an order with Roxey soon, I might call Dave instead and have a chat to him, see what I can find out.

Here's another:

Thanks Dave, you're a real craftsman! I'm still considering running the pickups in the tender to the loco when I convert her to DCC, it seems a shame not to put those 8 wheels to use, especially because the pickups are already there. Ask and ye shall receive: Here are some bonus clips

Almost a year since Richard bumped the thread. I've just managed to acquire an L too. I think I might "Cheat" and make mine 1768 too, as i've got a spare Bachmann C tender floating around!

Thanks for the suggestion! I can't believe I didn't have this already, Andy Jones (of Herstmonceux fame) suggested this and explained just how in depth it is. A copy is now en-route.