John Isherwood

If you read back a little, you will see that Tony's comment was with reference to purchasers of models who commission others to change the markings, or who complain that their chosen loco is not available direct from the manufacturer. Therefore, by definition, they NOT "quite happy to run the item as it is" . Regards, John Isherwood.

Nope - quite the opposite. You will see if you read my previous postings that I want an ex-GWR, BR-era crane. I will therefore buy the nearest available - the GWR crane - and repaint it into BR livery. That way, I have what I want without risking the non-appearance of the ex-GWR, BR-era crane. .... and I get to do some modelling, and thereby make my crane personal to me! Regards, John Isherwood.

..... which means that those who insist on waiting for what may not appear, instead of buying what is available and adapting it to their needs, will have to go without - but then they clearly weren't that committed to owning the model in the first place! Regards, John Isherwood.

That's right - the gear wheel was white nylon with a D-shaped hole, so that you didn't need a grub screw to lock it! Regards, John Isherwood.

I thought that the axles for the K's wheels with D holes were D-shaped throughout their length. I remember quite a bit of controversy at the time about how such axles would perform in the axle bushes. They's probably wear them out very quickly, as they'd act as reamers! Regards, John Isherwood.

I think that you can take that as read !! Regards, John Isherwood.

That is precisely what I intend to do - I'll just have to decide whether to include the black and yellow stripes. Regards, John Isherwood.

I intend that my crane shall be ex-GWR 17 as it was in the early 1960s; does anyone know of a photo, or can say what the livery at that time would have been? Thanks in anticipation, John Isherwood.

'Fabricated' implies intent - I sincerely doubt that. It never ceases to astonish me that today's armchair 'historians', with all the resources of digitised archives at their disposal, can be so condescendingly superior - no, dismissive - of those who compiled their writings by plain, hard, foot-slogging research amongst what was available to them at that time. If they hadn't done so, there would not have been the prolonged interest in their subjects that has enabled their successors to fill in the detail and correct the odd error. Regards, John Isherwood.

Please substantiate that scurrilous remark or withdraw it ! Regards, John Isherwood.

Wah-hey !! Someone else using Peco / HD Simplex couplings ! Regards, John Isherwood.

Well, I did - but are we not able to express anything less than positive, now? I know that RMweb depends on the goodwill of the manufacturers, but an embargo on expressing disppointment? Regards, John Isherwood.

In In many ways, it would have been better to state up-front that there would be no new tooling for 2019 - that would have prevented the endless speculation and the consequent disappointment. I can't believe that this non-announcement has done anything to enhance the company's reputation - quite the opposite, in fact. What were PR thinking? Regards, John Isherwood.

I can't endorse either the hot knife or the minidrill options on plastic - far too arbitary and uncontrollable for precision removal of small detail. After removing the bulk with precision hand cutters, the smaller items can be removed with a new curved scalpel blade in a holder. For removing detail adjacent to other detail, a miniature screwdriver sharpened to a chisel blade is excellent - or you can invest in http://modelshop.co.uk/Shop/Item/Chisel-precision/ITM7404 ; I can vouch for the latter as being indispensible. Regards, John Isherwood.

I really can't accept this - if you have the time and skills to build small electronic equipment, you can modify plastic loco bodies. Be honest, such work simply doesn't interest you, does it? As I said, if the decision is taken to model other than a mainstream era, modelling will be necessary; the manufacturers are very unlikely to offer what you require. Regards, John Isherwood.

It's called modelling and, if it's your first attempt, pick up a 'parts only' body off Ebay and have a trial run. It's not out of the question to repaint the whole body by hand afterwards; three colours needed - green,black and red. None of us were born with the basic skills, and we produced quite of few 'questionable' Airfix kits during the learning process. If you want non-mainstream subjects, there really is no alternative. Regards, John Isherwood.

... and good luck to them. What winds up the 'active modellers' amongst us is when we get comments like 'Very nice - but I need one without painted axleboxes; when are Bachby going to release one'? Or, 'Very nice, but in 190? they didn't have that lubricator on the running plate'. If an 'active modeller' decides to model an obscure branchline with antedeluvian stock, it is accepted that some considerable kit-bashing / scratchbuilding will be necessary. Yet 'non-active modellers' seem to think that they should be able to pick a non-mainstream era, and have Bachby provide suitable stock. It is inevitable, and good business practice, that the manufacturers will choose subjects which will appeal to mainstream customers; it was ever thus. Only recently has a small body of 'non-modellers' sprung up who wish to 'non-model' the obscure, and yet complain that the trade doesn't support them. That is why the scalpel-wielders amongst us occasionally loose patience! Regards, John Isherwood.

Oh, come on ! It must surely be one of the simplest modelling projects going? Crop off the bulk of it with Xuron cutters; scrape of the remains with a curved scalpel blade; finish off with wet & dry paper; mix up a tiny amount of matching paint, and touch in as required. If that's not achievable then it's not modelling. Regards, John Isherwood.

Yet another interpreter of what they wish I'd posted - not what I actually posted. Please quote ANYWHERE that I suggested that I was taking the 'mickey' out of anybody, or suggested that it would be OK to do so. I VERY OCCASIONALLY point out a gross misuse of grammar, or a significant spelling mistake, where the meaning could be affected. I do so in the (forlorn) hope that the writers might actually learn how to better express themselves. I feel no guilt for so doing, and I do not apologise. We are all criticised for perceived failings throughout our lives - sometimes justifiably and sometimes for mitigating reasons not know to the criticiser. That's life - and most of us just accept the fact and get over ourselves. I have responded in much more detail to a member who PM-ed me on the subject - suffice to say that I too have sensibilities unknown to others, in common with the entire population of the world. Those sensibilities will, on occasion, be inadvertently offended - but that is no reason for the rest of the world to avoid saying anything that just might upset someone else, however mundane the comment. Regards, John Isherwood.

I would agree - if you know of the condition. However, it seems nowadays that one can't make even the slightest comment in case 'someone' if offended. Let's face it, we all have deficiencies of some sort or other which will, at some point, be commented upon. That's life - get over it. Regards, John Isherwood.

No, Tony - I wouldn't have had the patience ! But, as a local government engineer, I have had more than my fair share of accidental 'howlers' and just plain laziness in my incoming correspondence. Regards, John Isherwood.

I don't see why we should; it is plainly evident that some posters go out of their way to be ungrammatical; they seem to think that it gives them 'character'. They don't stop to consider that I, and quite a few others here I suspect, experience something approaching physical pain when we read such provocative writing. Regards, John Isherwood.

Fine - if that's your 'thing' - but it's not prototypical. Railways existed to make profits - or at least to try to avoid excessive losses. Why would any operation be undertaken at an ultra-slow pace? As a child, I lived within earshot of a BR wagon repair works, where there was almost continuous shunting throughout the day and night. I lay in bed and listened to the bark of a 4F accelerating a raft of wagons, so that they could be directed into their respective sidings 'on the fly'. Having done so, it would set off at an equally smart pace to pick up another raft. It astonishes me to see layouts at exhibitions where locos creep about with barely perceptible movement - any driver who did that would have been demoted / sacked for not getting through his rostered work. If you don't believe me - watch a few videos of steam locos operating in marshalling years. Regards, John Isherwood.

Now class - EVERYBODY'S being very silly this morning !! Regards, John Isherwood.

Would that they were always slight !! Regards, John Isherwood.