Jack P

Thank you Graham, Dave is certainly doing a great job of finishing it off, and I appreciate your compliments on the painting/lining!

That looks absolutely fantastic Dave!!

Hey Tony, hope you are well! They do sound very different, maybe they produce the same result? The next issue i've run into is that I use primarily enamels now, and when I've got a clear coat finish that's also enamel, its going to react with the mediums I use for weathering (panel washes mainly). I've also found that I am a bit more competent when it comes to spraying with acrylic, so maybe I should be putting down a gloss acrylic coat, applying transfers, weathering etc, and then sealing it in with an enamel satin coat. I originally swapped to enamels as they are supposedly more hard wearing, but I do wonder with the quality of modern acrylics, they might be just as good? I've taken a bit of a break from transfers at the moment, the birdcage has been gloss varnished (which went on fine) and needs to fully cure before I finish it off. I decided to paint the undersides and finish off the Warwells. I'm not sure if black underneath is accurate or not, but I don't really care - because you'll never see it anyway Before and after A combination of different effects, Matt black, matt leather and a drop of metalcote gunmetal, and once it's dry to the touch I use a short stiff brush to bring out the metallic-y highlights. Then a combination of light and dark earth powders, and finally some 'old grease' here and there. I produces an interesting combination of finishes, and is good practice for the looming task of repainting and weathering my coaching stock! That's all for now!

Well that's very kind of them, (makes me wish I'd sent the tender along too!) I'll have to see what it looks like next to the H2, and then make my mind up about stripping. Looking forward to any photo you might have snapped!

Hi guys, Is anyone aware of any suitable Post-war SR Coach seating number transfers, the ones above the doors and windows on the compartment side, I know that the HMRS Bulleid transfer sheet has the ones for the corridor side, above the larger side windows, but not the others. Have I missed something obvious or are these not currently available anywhere? Cheers, Jack

The Polyurethane one or the regular clear? I can't seem to spray gloss clear without it going orange peely, and the satin came out with an odd white tinge.

Thanks Eric, I'm waiting to hear back from some local people about the possibility of getting other MicroScale products here. I managed to use some Pullman lining, which is a little finer than the other lining I was using on the sides of the footplate, and that has taken a heck of a lot better than the other lining did. I'm hoping that once this has had a chance to dry, some satin varnish will seal them in properly. If this doesn't help, i'll strip the footplate back and start from the beginning again.

Transfers were applied over gloss, I found a very handy diagram on the fox website that explains why they don't stick over other surfaces https://fox-transfers.co.uk/paint?paint_base=1170&paint_shade_colour=2746&transfer_company=2228&transfer_period=2173 I don't know if I can find ronseal here, same issue as Klear, but i'm assuming it's the same as any good floor/wood varnish?

You really seem like you're up against it! Looking forward to seeing your solution, sorry for lumping you with the sh*tty bit!

I was hoping that airbrushing the Gloss Tamiya varnish would do the same as brushing it. Sadly I don't know where to find Klear in New Zealand, I have looked but nothing local seems to come up. The last two batches of HMRS transfers i've got have been of questionable quality, which might be exacerbating the issue, having said that, I don't know if it's fair to 'blame the tools'.

I got the last one! It was on Amazon, I actually didn't think it would arrive, but there you go! I couldn't find anything that I thought I'd be able to convert the birdcage into, so I took your advice and it now looks like this: This means i'll need to get the other two crimson ones and finish the rake off! I've had a real mare of a weekend with the H2, I finished off the numbering/lettering and then sprayed it with a coat of gloss. I also added the chain the holds the lower vacuum pipe to the bufferbeam, and some pipework under the tender, which is now all but invisible. This is where my problems started. I really can't seem to get along with gloss. It went all spotty, and worst of all, it didn't seal in the transfers. The ones on the footplate sides and the boiler bands have been moving out of place when handled, it's a real bore. I was hoping that the varnish would seal them, but sadly that wasn't the case. I'm now left with this depressing reality. the footplate lining has been removed and the boiler has been stripped and another coat of green wafted over. Using some enamel thinners I also managed to take the gloss off the tender and cab sides. I'm at a bit of a loss now, as my only other option seems to be to use the Fox waterslide lining that i've got, nothing wrong with it, I'm just not sure how well i'll be able to re-do all of those reverse curves. The kicker is that if they don't seal either i'm back to where I was before. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know, i'm also open to advice with spraying clear, as so far the H2 has had a bad run of things when it comes to gloss.

Oliver, will the final version have sprung buffers? I have two on pre-order regardless!

I must be remembering incorrectly! I could've sworn it was forward, rookie. Thank you @Denbridge for your insight! much appreciated. I've made a bit of an error somewhere else, I had originally set out to follow in Matt Wicks footsteps (Bluebell Model Railway) and cut down a Birdcage brake to represent one of the 50.1ft versions. I saw a cheap coach on amazon (this was £18 shipped to my door.. no joke) But i've bought the wrong one! Before this drives me to purchase the rest of the crimson set and paint it green, does anyone have any suggestions for what this can be chopped/changed into?

You've done more in a couple of weeks than I'd managed to do in a year! Plus it's all looking very, very good. So please take your time!

You don't half hang about, it's looking fantastic Dave!

Hi Richard, @30368 That U class looks fantastic (I wouldn't mind a few of those)! Thank you for your kind words about my modelling. The N15x has been passed on to DLT to be finished off. He is currently in the throes of building the motion and valve gear. My understanding, from all the research I did when I was building the N15x is that you're correct, the return crank was set forward from TDC, this was another reason the challenge of finishing the valve gear was passed on to a venerable SR expert. I've just had a look at your H15('s) and they are certainly impressive beasties!

Thanks Adam, I'm constantly amazed by the fine detail! Pray tell, where do you get you chain, and what size do you use, or would you suggest? The buffers are a bit of a compromise, they are Bachmann SR/LNER round loco buffers, I am trying to locate a more suitable sprung buffer, but I used these in the meantime to test the wagon in my club layout. If I can't find anything more suitable, I'll likely just build the base up a little bit and try to make it look like something passable. It also looks like you've replaced the hand-wheel for the brakes, and the drop shackle son the sides, what did you use?

Continuing the theme of the warwells, there are some more wagons on my bench. Although after reading Adam's EM workbench, (thread linked below) I've certainly got some idea of what I could be doing differently. There are still a few things that need to be added before I can add the load, which will be a few bits of loose rail and some sleepers. I probably should've waited until I had all of the required shackles, loops and chains, it will require some modification after the fact. buffer shanks need some plasticard sides made up, I'm tempted to cut all of the posts out and make some out of brass rod, and the deck needs attention. No matter, I've managed to get it built, painted and one side lettered and numbered. As you can see from this next photo, I have a few wagons on the go! All of which will need modifications of some kind after the required bits arrive! Finally, here's this fancy looking coach with, convertible sides..?

If anyone here isn't following @DLT's thread, where he is very kindly finishing off the N15x for me, you need to go check it out. He's working his magic and the loco has finally moved under its own power.

Thanks A! It's certainly very nice to hear that I've inspired you, i'm excited to see what you do next! Yes, electric Pullmans, it's taken a while to put a rake together, but it's very exciting indeed. I managed to get out to the model club on Friday night, here's a video of it running!

Dave, That's looking seriously good! If only i'd known the brake rigging would get in the way, I would've held off! Can't wait to see it move under its own power!

I was about to ask/ mention, as it looks so much better - what chimney did you use in the end?

Oh god! This has taken long enough, I'm already cringing at the thought of doing more. I found them ok, all the southern numerals and lettering I use are methfix anyways, so I started using my meths mixture to fix the pressfix lining down and that went alright. I did find them a bit hard to wrangle, but maybe that was just the fact that I used straight lining and had to poke it into all the reverse curves?

I'd love to be able to line like this with a bow pen, I almost think some of the curved lines would've been easier. The entire thing was lined with HMRS straight lining transfers, much poking and prodding and swearing was required to get most of the tricky parts done!

Heckers!! It certainly makes UK model pricing look good. Can you imagine the uproar if Hornby had turned around and said they were producing the Terrier from brass, price tag; £800...