John Isherwood

If in doubt - send it back! (Though how difficult can it be to refix a funnel)? CJI.

I believe that all Highlevel final drive gears now come with bosses / grub-screws. CJI.

Nope - definitely bent! CJI.

Not to my eyes - both are central ladder / filler / walkways. CJI.

Stewart, Polythene is horrible, sticky stuff. When I did my recent layout build, I had to hand a sample pack of a certain (expensive) proprietory brand of point control comprising, nowadays, of PTFE microtubing and matching steel piano wire. It used to be steel wire in copper tubing - Mercontrol? As I needed quite a bit, I sourced the PTFE tubing via a Google search - dead cheap; and the steel piano wire via a school science equipment supplier - also dead cheap and via a Google search. It is entirely successful, being stapled beneath the baseboards, and is very low profile. I picked-up some brass bell-cranks for 90 degree bends, also via Google. John Isherwood.

Bah, humbug - bl**dy American idea! CJI.

Sorry, no - that's a six-wheeler, closely allied to milk tanker design - the OPs photo shows four-wheelers. CJI.

Possibly - but the offset fillers in the OP's photo are unusual, to say the least. I have modelled 20T tanks, (based on the Airfix RTR model, with both saddle and cradle mounts in ICI methanol livery, but have not previously encountered off-centre fillers. CJI.

So; more banana van kits than you can shake a stick at - but the one and only authentic RTR one was from Hornby Dublo, sixty years or so ago! CJI.

For those who - like me - are fastidious about BR-era tank wagon liveries, a search of my Cambridge Custom Transfers website will produce several sheets of transfers for ex-Air Ministry tank wagons. John Isherwood.

Agreed - Maskol is cr*p! CJI.

Ah - but what about FOMO?! CJI.

Far too bulky - fine bore PTFE tube and steel wire is the way to go, and very cheap, if bought as generic material rather than as a proprietory point operating kit. CJI.

l am now well into building a pair of Newton Chambers car transporters from Southern Pride kits. If anyone else has these kits, unstarted, don't be put off building them - they are superb! Having said that - the between-bogies well etch is 3.5mm. too deep, but I knew this and the surplus surrendered to the skrawker and bending bars with no fight whatsoever! Apart from that glitch, the etches are a sensible thickness; everything fits exactly where it should; and the bogies are superbly well designed, being square, substantial and free-running. (Just fit the wheels before soldering the end beams in place)! I now have a pair of rolling chassis - photos later - and I look forward to getting on with the bodies. John Isherwood.

Quite so - but I wouldn't want anyone to image that yellow PO banana vans ever existed in the UK. CJI.

What is tedious and unnecessary is the apparent need amongst the LGBTQ*** community to constantly draw attention to what is - we are told- a perfectly normal state of being. If that be the case, get on with life, without the histrionics! CJI.

It would seem that the BBC has been appointed the LGBTQ****** promotion authority. I am just hoping that I pass on before it becomes compulsory! I have never before felt so brow-beaten by propaganda in what should be a light-hearted adventure drama. ....... and the 'Behind the scenes' follow-up was absolutely blatent about what the scriptwriter and director set out to promote! Total bilge! CJI.

Again, fictitious. CJI.

Just as I recall them whilst trainspotting at Prestatyn, on the North Wales mainline. I note that 44756 carries a SC (self-cleaning) plate - the smokebox interior MAY be pristine, but the rest of the loco certainly aint! CJI.

..... of which, only the final one is authentic and carries a prototypical livery - Peco Parkside. The middle one is the Dapol / Wrenn / Hornby Dublo model - authentic, but fictional livery. The Farish one is totally fictional. More recently, Oxford have produced the GER banana wagon in prototypical liveries. Peco may well have produced a fictional model in their Wonderful Wagons range. ABS produced whitemetal kits for at least the SR and GWR wagons - probably others too. I'm sure that there were several others, which do not immediately spring to mind. CJI.

It is BL161 - lettering and numbering in white or yellow. Regards, John Isherwood.

Have a look at my Cambridge Custom Transfer website - you will find a sheet of Longmoor Military Railway transfers. John Isherwood. Cambridge Custom Transfers.

Exactly - I don't think that they design for the 'Ruston' types, who want minimalist chassis for hacking purposes! CJI.

It is common for distance vision to IMPROVE with age - my prescription has reduced at the last three tests. CJI.

How did the price of a loco - not very long ago - become the cost of a single, short coach? CJI. 🤔