John Isherwood

..... though not beyond solution. Have slots right through the running plate casting to give adequate clearance for the connecting rods. Have very shallow recesses in the upper surface of the running plate. Print self-adhesive metal foil labels to match the finished surface of the running plate, to exactly fit the shallow recesses. Supply the self-adhesive metal foil labels as a purchaser-fitted item. Those purchasers who wouldn't object to the misalignment of cylinders and running plate would not bother to fit the foil panels. Those potential purchasers who would be put off by the misalignment of cylinders and running plate will fit the foil panels. It is a rare problem that cannot be resolved by some lateral thinking. Regards, John Isherwood.

Thanks, Titan - pretty much what I would have said, but perhaps a little more restrained. David - I was pointing out where the die-sinker has got it wrong - so he needs to go back and check his reference material. I'm certainly not going to do his / her job for him / her ! Regards, John Isherwood.

If the same operative sprayed all of the BR Blue ones, (likely), it's what you might expect of the whole batch. Believe me, they're paint runs - I've produced too many myself ! The packaging has been designed to just NOT rub on the model, but to support it. Paint runs will remove the clearance - it won't be much - and the paints runs will sometimes be scuffed in transit. Other examples will just have paint runs to a greater or lesser extent. Regards, John Isherwood.

Nope - they're paint runs; someone's been too heavy-handed with the airbrush. It's NOT the end of the world - a light rub with 1200 wet-and-dry and a touch of clear varnish and the problem - if such it really is - is solved. If prospective purchasers are really going to deprive themselves of this model because of a barely discernable paint run, it's their loss. What is apparent from the close-up photos is that the vehicle designation is printed as MPV - surely that stands for MOTOR PARCELS VAN ? Regards, John Isherwood.

Interesting ! It is clear that a cast ridge on the underside of the running plate would serve admirably as the upper slidebar - problem solved. Regards, John Isherwood. (Former Civil Engineer - who knows little about Mechanical Engineering beyond what 50+ years of railway modelling has taught him).

Sorry Chris, but mazak cast in a precision mould will provide a far better bearing surface than stamped and plated brass, or some other relatively soft sheet metal. Moreover, cast mazak has been sucessfully used for crossheads since Hornby Dublo days - and before; (Hornby, Bassett Lowke, etc., etc.). There would be no need to have the body / chassis interface on the upper face of the crosshead; the cylinders could be logically incorporated into the body, as there is no apparent 'split' between the two on the prototype. To release the body? Simply unscrew the crankpins - no different to removing the speedometer crank from the rear driving wheel of, say, a Bulleid Pacific. To an engineer, no problem of this type is incapable of resolution - it just needs creative thinking. We do not know why the EP looks as it does - it may well be poor assembly - but I do NOT believe that it is impossible to produce the Stirling Single with the cylinder / valance in their correct relationship. I would expect the designer to regard the two prototypes to which you refer as a challenge - not an excuse for avoidable compromise. Regards, John Isherwood.

Chris, Certainly a difficult prototype, but not impossible to get right, surely? Given that the prototypical upper slidebar is hidden by the valance, does it even need to exist in model form? Could not the upper edge of the crosshead run in a slot cast into the running plate? Done that way, the mazak running plate would appear to cover the upper slidebar in its correct location, and the curved platework down from the smokebox to the cylinders could take its correct form. That's how I would have done it, anyway. Regards, John Isherwood. PS. Miss Prism - great minds think alike !!

Quoted out of context - I also said "It was the too-flat curve down from the smokebox to the cylinders that was the chief give-away". I think that is sufficiently clear, don't you? Regards, John Isherwood.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/281766173965?chn=ps&dispItem=1&adgroupid=46354979914&rlsatarget=pla-379834494167&abcId=1128966&adtype=pla&merchantid=110422123&poi=&googleloc=1006537&device=c&campaignid=857332737&crdt=0 Regards, John Isherwood.

Bill, Suffice to say that the number of models that I have built is counted in four figures. It may be easier to spot an error in a photo - but only if the error exists in the first place! In this case, there are several striking errors which would not require a photo to spot them, if I had the model in front of me. Surely you are not suggesting that, if the model is produced largely as per the EP, no-one would spot the issues highlighted above unless they took a photo of the model? None of this is to suggest that the issues were avoidable - only that they are rather noticeable. Regards, John Isherwood.

No, sorry Bill - as soon as I saw the EP photo I knew that something wasn't right; it said LNWR, not GNR, to me. Admittedly, it wasn't until I saw the side-by-side photos (above) that I managed to identify the features that explained my reaction - but I knew it wasn't right straight away. It was the too-flat curve down from the smokebox to the cylinders that was the chief give-away. ....... and I know NOTHING whatsoever about Mr. Stirling's output, beyond having seen many photos of No.1 over the last 50+ years. Regards, John Isherwood.

..... but you could have ordered, to be supplied with EM wheels, direct from PD. Regards, John Isherwood.

One would certainly hope so - but, from the evidence of far too many models recent and past, that access to "some of the best historical data in the world" is often not being utilised. Either that, or it is not being translated into the finished model. Remember, time is money when you are employing researchers and designers. Any well managed project will have a finite budget for the process leading up to cutting metal; the information may be out there somewhere, but if it can't be located fairly quickly it may as well not exist. It's not surprising that the armchair critics can find fault in new models - many have had a lifetime of leisure time to accumulate the most minute details, whereas the researcher / designer has a timescale limited by available finance. Regards, John Isherwood.

The chimney looks to be too tall, too. Unfortunately, the character of the loco front end seems to be disproportionally altered by these two, relatively small errors; there is something of an LNWR look about the model. Regards, John Isherwood.

Ex-LNER extra-long CCT. Regards, John Isherwood.

How about a HUGE delivery of FROTH ?!? Regards, John Isherwood.

Thank you - I stand corrected. It also explains why ex-LMS 6-wheeled Palethorpes vans had left-facing brake handles; clearly there was no such ban! Regards, John Isherwood.

Did CARFLATs really have left-facing brake handles on one side? I thought that these went out decades before their conversion from coach underframes. ...... and BR builder's plates tampo-printed over a raised rectangular feature - these are supposed to be cast plates !! Churn 'em out for the undiscerning - they'll neither know nor care. Not for me, I'm afraid. Regards, John Isherwood.

I think that the train will be a little late in departing - the centre drivers have 'fallen out of bed' ! Regards, John Isherwood.

You don't really need to measure - the centre of the rectangular base is easy to mark by eye. Regards, John Isherwood.

Unless I am missing something, 9'-0'' wheelbase wagons, even when vacuum-braked, did not qualify for XP marking. Sorry, John Isherwood.

See Sheet BL114 @ https://www.cctrans.org.uk/products.htm . Regards, John Isherwood, Cambridge Custom Transfers.

It saves a lot of hand-drilling if you crop off the majority of the buffer first, leaving just the base. Mark the centre of the base and drill 2.0 or 2.1mm. before trimming off the base from the bufferbeam. If you drill down the length of the buffer there is a real danger of having wandered off-centre by the time that you reach the bufferbeam. This method has worked well on the 350+ wagons that I've built to date. Regards, John Isherwood. Regards, John Isherwood.

It may have been mentioned already - if so I missed it - but the white painted axleboxes are a novel feature, surely? Regards, John Isherwood.

Try a pair of pliers. Failing that, a pair of Xuron cutters, a Stanley knife, a file / emery board & wet & dry paper. Simples !! Regards, John Isherwood.