Jack P

Haha, so far it is! As you well know though, it often takes a while before something is fully finished. Certainly complete enough to take to the club next weekend!

I'm really impressed with the Dapol B4, and the running qualities are fantastic. Some of the detail errors are really- well, frustrating more than anything. That being said, it's a very nice little model, certainly better than I could do from a kit. Still more to do. I modified the base plate to remove the bracket the NEM pocket sits in. I was considering seeing if Dapol would provide the larger headed buffers as spares, as these ones simply slide out. not sure if 99 had the smokebox mounted lamp iron, if so i'll need to add it. Definitely needs some more weight added!

Mine was waiting for me when I got home from work last night, Looks a bit different now though, Slow speed running is fantastic.

looking forward to see how you get on, i'm in the midst of building an N15x, I bet you'll finish first though!

Your model of 'Mons Meg' is fantastic, but wowee, the prototype has a very ungainly side profile!

Do you know, I was just thinking about him the other day. My god that layout of his was really impressive, and what a nice chap he was. I can't say I ever met him, but every interaction I had with him, he went right out of his way to offer as much help and guidance as possible. I've got the Hannem Central thread open in another tab and am going to have another inspirational look through. It's really sad that he's no longer with us, do you have any idea what his family ended up doing with the railway? The 'Hannem' Retaining wall looks excellent by the way!

I promise this is it for the M7, sorry for the repetition! Gave it a light weathering, finished the bufferbeam details and the small white 'K' on the side of the footplate. This, along with all of my other locos need to be coaled, a rather large undertaking when the time comes. I find it kind of funny that I thought this was finished and then it was pointed out to me that there were detail differences that distinguished it later on in life. My request to anyone that peruses my thread, is that if you see any errors, please point them out. My modelling window is the last 6 months(ish) of 1947, which means that I need to pay careful attention to overhaul/outshopping dates. So if you know better than I, let me know! The idea behind this is that it will improve the quality and accuracy of what i'm trying to accomplish here. Many thanks to those that have contributed so far. Now to attend to the box that has just arrived from Hattons..

Congrats Ray! It's certainly a fantastic layout, the consistency of excellent modelling is evident in every aspect. I'm also a sucker for those SR big tanks, they look fantastic!

Thanks Dave, high praise indeed! It's like anything, seems scary at first, but is actually not so much of a black art once you have a go! I certainly see what you mean about being blown up to gauge one.. helps both me and you see all the bits I messed up! I found that if you wet and position, you can then dry and re-wet with microsol to move around certain parts, the rear curve on the tender body was done with one piece of curved lining and a bit of straight lining that was poked to conform to the curve. I also realised that I can fill in any areas I might miss, or that may be slightly out of alignment with black paint. That K10 looks amazing by the way. Thank whichever prevalent deity you believe exists that I don't have to line out steps or tender side frames! Thanks Phil! You'd be surprised, I would hate to offend anyone, but it seems to me that 'Finescale' modelling isn't so much the approach down here, and I feel like bow-pen lining would probably be included in that. I know a few people at the local club that would probably be interested in discussing/teaching the ins and outs of a bow-pen, but I doubt I'd gather enough interest for a workshop. I need to make inquiries! Or you could give it a go and let me know how you get on?

I agree with Bryan 100% the more photos the better! Has anyone mentioned silk purses yet? Quick question, should the wheels be lined?

Thanks Broc, I think the microsol was the reason the straight lines were going all wavy. they seem to not want to move at all when you use water, so the key is just getting them straight when you stick them down.

More lining practice. Having much more success with the straight lines using water as opposed to micro-sol, still need to use it on corners, but it's starting to get easier.

The J2 looks very impressive! Looking forward to 'K'!

M7 got a lick of paint, just by brush, will go over again with the airbrush when i'm next using it though. Coal rails filled in and wing-plates removed. Also added some details to the N15x tender, from photos it seems that th detail was asymmetrical as it's been represented here, although again it looks different across different class members. I've also been sent a photo of a 'Beattie' in 1948 Malachite green livery in this photo the loco doesn't have the LBSC round base buffers, it has the square base SR buffers. I need to do some research as to when it was outfitted with the LBSC buffers, because they were certainly there later. A very helpful photo tho have though. Hopefully more progress when whitemetal solder arrives.

I got very excited about this, Then very sad because of all recent expensive releases, Then happy, because it's got a release date of 2020, Then sad again, because it's got a release date of 2020 What a torrent of emotions.

Making progress on the M7, removing the wing plates certainly changes the 'face' quite drastically, I'll need to put some new lamp irons on though, as the Hornby ones came off with the re-shaping. I'm hoping with a coat of paint should bring everything together. Next up is filling in the coal rails. I also have these ladders spare, and they are perfect for the tender of the oil burning KA

I think some of that was present in DLT's thread when he was constructing the DMR Z. It's a real shame, If I had been around then, I would've had it off ya - you'd only have to put up with a livery change! Neither did I! I did have a sneaking suspicion because i've seen a few photos of other oil fitted locos with the lights and steps, but hadn't seen a photo to confirm. In what is think is 'Southern steam on shed' there's a photo of a T9 (I think), being fueled at an oil depot on shed, a very interesting scene. They mention that there were buildings erected specially for the oil burning trials, and then go on to mention the astronomical waste of money this turned out to be! As for the quality of models, I absolutely agree, when RTR manufacturers get it right, they do an amazing job. I think my aim is more of a consistent level of modelling, build them myself, paint and weather them myself. While Tony does have a few of his models finished off by other people, he is also talented enough to finish them himself, although from what I understand, he often builds locos for people in exchange for the painting of his own, I suppose he just prefers one over the other! I think there was a photo in your thread, I did have a look and see if I could find it but no luck. I'm sure the book on the Z class might have a photo showing this though, i'll have a squiz tonight!

Dave, Those are extremely fine, what size brass bits did you use for the strapping? I agree that the Hornby one is a bit difficult, seems to be resistant to gluing or bending and is almost always not straight. The end of the K10 seems to be in sight!

Thanks John, I appreciate that. I guess when I have the extremely fine tampo printed Hornby model to compare it too, it's always going to look heavy handed. I do have that book on my radar, need to pick up a copy, it's already been suggested to me by a few other members. I suppose I would always like to be better, there are so many excellent finescale modellers here, so sometimes it's hard not to hold yourself to that same standard because it becomes so commonplace. That being said, I can just take a look back to where I was when I started this thread, and see that I've improved. Lots of this has been learning by doing, and on the good advice of the people here. But I appreciate your comments and I do agree, from normal viewing distances, even on my workbench, it looks ok. Speaking of OK, A burst of energy saw me up late finishing the numbering on 'Vivien'. Here she is with the already re-named/numbered 'Joyous Gard'. I do now realise, after looking in my copy of 'The Big four in colour' there is still more to do in this area. Ladders, and the electric lighting. I'll have to get some more lights before I give that a go. In the mean time I've got an M7 to amend.

It's a real shame that this is the case, as the LBSC K class is only readily available from William. It certainly seems that the people that have posted their 7mm examples here have talents for silk purse conversions.

I can't provide a definite answer, but if you look at the Hornby rendition of the T9 and the M7, they both have them in polished (painted) brass. I'm not sure how important the engine needed to be for them to have polished plates, although if they went to all the effort of lining them out, surely they would polish them too?

That Terrier is really excellent! the Westinghouse pump looks really good, an unenviable task lining it out i'm sure.

This looks to be coming along really well! excited to see it finished!

Thanks Dave, I actually did a big order recently, pretty much relegated the whole order to learning how to use lining. I also picked up the LMS coaching sheet as you suggested, because the yellow-black-yellow looks to be perfect for boiler bands. Here's hoping its not too much of a different shade to the general yellow lining! Unfortunately the LNER sheet has nothing for me, as I need black and yellow, but i'm sure if I was into olive green they would come in very handy. I'm not looking forward to doing the N15x splashers

They only do a specific lining sheet for Bulleid locos, I know that Fox does a transfer sheet for both the King Arthur and the Schools class, but i think with some practice I should be able to get it sorted, might play around with where I place the curve. It's all just trial and error! Added the small hook that holds the coupling on the back of the tender, I think it needs another bend in it to get more in-line with the buffer beam, it doesn't foul the bogie (only just though) so maybe it will be ok when painted. Also used Humbrol no:2 Gloss green to paint the donor KA's wheels, lined them last night, I think the colour is quite close to malachite, needs a little more blue in it, but i'm hoping to get my hands on some Phoenix post-war Malachite as soon as I can.