Jack P

That's the one, I'll have to set an alarm. Later starts on Monday affords me the luxury of waking up a little later than normal, as such I'm usually up late on Sunday night/Monday morning Oh excellent, I've just ordered some similar boards, on the advice of Chris Nevard. I must say they look so simple to use!

Update! After browsing some colour photos of Brighton locos, it occurred to me that the lower portion of the vacuum pipes were painted red. A small detail but one that no doubt enhances the front end. I also managed to get out to the Model club on Friday night to run some stock: I've also made some more progress with the i3 While the kit is relatively easy to build, i'm not happy with the body, there are a myriad of issues, The smokebox door I think is the worst of these, it's tiny, and spoils the look of the 'face', I am going to work on completing the chassis while a friend of mine designs and 3D prints a new door. It's a shame I missed the oo works I3 (if any readers have one and wish to part with it, name your price!). I'm hoping the other SEF kit I have is a little better!

@Edwardian I'm hoping you can help, I apologise if this is outside of your usual time period questioning. I'm looking at ordering a terrier, and would like to renumber it to one of the following: 2635, 2636, 2647 or 2650 in late 1947's condition I'm assuming my options are either of the BR locos, or the southern one, you seem to be immensely clued up, do you have any advice as to which one to go for (i'm not adverse to some modification). Cheers!

@Tony Wright I eagerly await the BRM they feature in then! As a general rule of thumb, yes they were. The Schools and King Arthurs both received such treatment, an the 3 M7's that received malachite didn't. In 'The Brighton Atlantics' : James S. Baldwin, advises that neither the H1's nor the H2's received Malachite wheels, and then by chance 'The Big Four in Colour, 1935-50' : David Jenkinson, John Edgington, John Smart, has two colour photos, of both 2425 'Trevose Head' and 2421 'South Foreland' both with black wheels. I had thought maybe they were just very dirty, but no so, as the picture of 2421 shows the loco in very clean malachite green, and the wheels are quite clearly black. I was surprised too. As a mention, on 2422 the cab front should be black, to represent 1947 condition,or more accurately, the application of post-war malachite and the visible inside of the cab doors should be black, with the outside being lined malachite, and it should still have its snifting valves, I only know this because 1947 is also my modelling period. This by no means takes away from the excellent model shown though! (Merely pointing these things out). I actually think it looks nicer with the wheels green. Edit: After checking, both of the Ex-LBSC J1/J2 tanks had green wheels post war, maybe Brighton paint shop got lazy?

Snap! (Nearly) Tony, do you happen to have any more photos of this layout, or will we/I have to wait for the next BRM?

Hoping that I catch the next one! Are those Tim Horn Lazer cut baseboards by any chance?

Looking excellent as usual Nile! I don't think I will ever get to the point you're at with my own fidelity and neatness - a constant source of inspiration! I've been tossing up building an E2, and which route to go down, and watching the progress of your build, and the way it looks when finished off, mean I think i'll take the plunge with a Sparkshot print.

Update, I've been working on an Ashford style E4,. It's close to being done, I'm just waiting to hear back from SEF about the correct pattern safety valves. Converted from the Early crest BR version, I had to cut the smokebox numberplate out and rebuild the top strap. this cruel closeup probably shows that off, but it's less noticeable in person! 2485 joins the ranks of Brighton locos. The recently acquired olive green E4 won't be that colour for long though. I've also spent the last few hours tonight starting my next kitbuild, the South Eastern Finecast Ex-LBSC i3. I started with the front bogie, and was planning on just completing that, however, the SEF chassis is so nice to build, I soon ended up with this: It even rolls nicely! That's all for now!

Hey guys, I currently have the Wartime black 1558, and i'm looking at renumbering it to either 1178, or 1557, if either of them would be appropriate? I've checked the reference book on the P's that I've got and it seems that 1557 would be ok - is anyone able to advise otherwise? Cheers!

Hello again collective Southern mind, I am looking at putting together a train of Milk Tanks, however i'm not 100% sure what I should be going for. I model 1947 SR, and I have read that the Southern served both Express Dairy and CWS, i'm not sure if this is appropriate for my time period or not, or even where I would begin to look, To summarize, what models should I be looking at, and what formation would they have run in, in 1947, TIA!

Update, I have not been idle, I managed to get rid of one of my T9's, and I was asked if I could weather it before I sent it: I referenced a picture of a T9 in BR ownership still wearing the sunshine livery, It looked like the vertical surfaces had been cleaned semi recently. I've also been working on this: A little nicer than plain Black I reckon! That's all for now!

This makes it even more tempting to repaint my olive ones into malachite...

Those Cabs look fantastic! Do you have any indication of price?

Hey Paul, If those are the same as the ones on the Wainwright E, Flick Branchlines an email, they have some that I recently purchased (no connection other than as a satisfied customer), if they are slightly different, I know that they still have stocks of the older Kean Maygib stuff + Markits stuff so they may have some other options to suit.

Still keeping a few! x2 N15's, one of them being the oil burning conversion (still wanting to add a central section N15 at some point too), the B4, and there's one M7 that's been so heavily modified I really can't bring myself to part with it. I guess the aim is just to get rid of the slightly more obscure locos that have no place on my proposed lines. It also means that I can use the proceeds to purchase kits, and RTR locos to modify etc! I'm still considering pre-ordering a K10. Ignoring the fact that all of the N15x's were allocated to Basingstoke of course! Oh, I don't think for a moment this will help me to focus in any capacity, maybe just reduce the scope of what I can be un-focussed on! I appreciate your comments Re my weathering, I do think the finishes I've managed to achieve on the M7's are some of the best i've managed, but it's all practice (which as you know is extremely important). I am very tempted by the E5/6X's and the E4x will be even more tempting. Excited to see progress! Also very interested to know more about the C3, you must be getting that list down more rapidly by the day! Jack

Update! The H2 is currently sitting in a bath of simple green to be stripped. I should've left it after I Matte Varnished it, but sadly when I used the gloss, two things happened, the finish ended up very orange peely and the lining on the tender (that I hadn't removed properly, and couldn't see under the matt varnish) appeared, and as you can see in the above photo. It looks like rubbish. So it now currently looks like this: I should've just left it to be honest. But hopefully the finished product should be much better than the last one. Maybe 'll go absolutely mental and paint it green instead? As a quick aside - I'm looking at moving on my LSWR stock, so if anyone is interested in the following drop me a line! And as an aside on the LBSC/SECr path, I have 2 or 3 things to update with shortly!

Hey Keith, The 'Shortie' stock looks good - I'm still not sure if i'm going to purchase a set, but i'm excited to see them finished, and simply excited that there are more Southern Items hitting the scene! I already have a 3D print of the K in hand, will update shortly with my thoughts and some pictures. The C2X is also on the list, as is the B4X. i'm extremely lucky as my mate is very interested in all things Brighton. With that said, I would ask that if anyone has any technical drawings of the K class for us to cross reference against it would be most appreciated if you would share (or even point me in the right direction to find some!).

Just thought I would update this topic, to let you all know that i'm still alive and kicking, and what my plans are for 2019. I've been a little bit quiet recently, other commitments taking up much of my time. However I have been thinking about the modelling aspect of my life for a while and I have decided that some changes need to be made. So I am slowly going through my collection of locos/stock and deciding what I want to keep and what I want to move on. I'd like to focus my efforts more around the SECR/LBSC and would like to hone my kitbuilding skills even more. Nothing is set in stone yet, but this gives me some direction. I would also like to work on building coaching stock, and some more obscure freight stock (EG: engineering department stock). I have decided that I need to put my plans of a layout on ice properly for now, because I chop and change so heavily it would be silly. However I am planning on building a small diorama, which I can use for photographing what i'm doing. I am also working with a friend on some 3D printed projects, which should grace these pages shortly. We are putting our heads together and are looking at the possibilities of things like 3D printed chassis, as well as 3D printed bodies on the likes on Alan Gibson/SEF/RTR chassis. We've decided to start small and tackle the K class, J1 and the SECR J. I'm also pretty excited about the Hornby announcements of the Bulleid 'Shortie' Stock, and the Terrier. Plus as time goes by, the Bachmann Crane is looking more and more appealing. This is looking to be my most expensive year yet! Happy modelling everyone.

Malachite green..

Hey Paul, Can't help with the sound aspect sorry, but SEFinecast do a nice kit of the E

Hello all, I am after a DCC ready Bachmann WD 2-8-0, ideally just the chassis, but am interested in the whole loco too. Not fussed if the body shell is damaged etc etc

I certainly am interested! Thank you Peter. DLT's build is amazing, and the finished product will probably be better than the RTR version!

As has probably previously been stated, I of course personally would've liked to see what I wanted being produced - boo hoo, there's always next year! But it is nice to see that Bachmann are focusing on bringing yet to be released models to the market, instead of flooding us with more models, and more wait time. A sensible decision i'm sure. I do think it's slightly peculiar that there are no re-liveries of the H1/H2, from what I gathered they were very popular!

I fear that this series of updates specifically will turn me green (greener?) the Black Bulleid Pacific looks excellent, regardless of authenticity! The L12 looks fantastic too, although the resemblance to the T9 is hugely apparent - i'm sure to the untrained eye they would easily be mistaken. A question though, it might be the photos, but it looks like the footplate slopes down quite dramatically at the front of the first splasher?

I would imagine it's buffer lock. I've had to wait until I can get in touch with Markits and order 6 sets of sprung buffers before I change my coaches over to screw link, and the reason for this is simply the buffers. Second radius is pretty tight and if you've had it with one coach and a loco and it's still happening, i'd imagine it's the coaches