Giles

It may need a little refinement (from the manufacturing aspect) but it really is brilliant! Wonderfully thought out.....

I've now made and fitted the guard irons to the 08. They are of 20 thou nickel Silver (for my convenience) which I profile milled with my little Proxxon pantograph, having laser cut patterns twice the size. They are epoxied on to the back face of the frames. The rear ones are very straight forward (albeit 1.5mm shorter than the front) and just require some very gentle beale to align them with the rails. The front ones however, are obstructed by a pair of misplaced air tanks, which require the guard irons to currie tightly around them, before bending back in over the rail. The deviation doesn't notice in reality - only the final location over the rail head. On the whole, it is a job very well worth doing, as it fills out the underside visually. The loco frames have also had their initial weathering consisting of a random mix of Matt black, gunmetal, 62 and engineering brick blue in varying mixes all over, and then covered in talc to give it texture. This I then gave a dirty black thinners wash, which got rid of the white of any remaining talc (I had brushed off all the loose talc, if course), and I have added a little Base brake dust around the brake shoes. It will get more oil, rust and brake dust. The screen wipers I painted with metallic gunmetal, which improves them. I also laser cut templates to go over the windows with holes in for drilling guides for fitting them.

If anyone wants to fit guard irons, these are what I fitted....

Certainly Martyn! I've now made and fitted the guard irons. They are of 20 thou nickel Silver (for my convenience) which I profile milled with my little Proxxon pantograph, having laser cut patterns twice the size. They are epoxied on to the back face of the frames. The rear ones are very straight forward (albeit 1.5mm shorter than the front) and just require some very gentle beale to align them with the rails. The front ones however, are obstructed by a pair of misplaced air tanks, which require the guard irons to currie tightly around them, before bending back in over the rail. The deviation doesn't notice in reality - only the final location over the rail head. On the whole, it is a job very well worth doing, as it fills out the underside visually. The loco frames have also had their initial weathering consisting of a random mix of Matt black, gunmetal, 62 and engineering brick blue in varying mixes all over, and then covered in talc to give it texture. This I then gave a dirty black thinners wash, which got rid of the white of any remaining talc (I had brushed off all the loose talc, if course), and I have added a little Base brake dust around the brake shoes. It will get more oil, rust and brake dust. The screen wipers I painted with metallic gunmetal, which improves them. I also laser cut templates to go over the windows with holes in for drilling guides for fitting them.

Having had one disaster with my 08, where it took off by itself, and drove itself off the layout onto the floor (where it destroyed one buffer, and a couple of other small items) I spent some time restoring it, and have now also fitted the screen wipers I've been meaning to Guard irons next - and weathering!

I've finally got round to fitting windscreen wipers - unpainted at present Guard irons next - and weathering!

Thank you very much - I will give that a try...... it is jot an issue I've ever come across before, so I've never had to deal with it - but I shall certainly do this! Thank you!

08 is now fully repaired and operational. But whilst I was testing a newly re-chipped 04, the 08 suddenly took off again by itself..... There is obviously something going on, and I may return the decoder for replacement- as it (presumably) is unreliable. It is possible that the controller (Prodigy Advance 2) sends a random signal out - but it is to that loco address only - so the probability is the decoder by my reckoning.

Going back to the 2013 posts - Bearwood Models (in Birmingham) was run by Mr Evans, assisted by Bernard, who went on to run a model shop in another West Midlands town, if I remember. Bearwood Models is where my pocket money went.... A wonderful shop.

Extremly interesting Chris. Obviously mine won't arrive for sometime, being in the UK.. Even with Cut2Dlaser I used to find that the cutting order was a bit random, doing the very thing that you are observing with the II, so I always work with different cutting layers anyway,b so I can dictate the cutting order (easy for me, using Autocad/Draftsight) I've never used Picengrave myself, so I sympathise! Great to hear your impressed with the hardware - but what a shame the software isn't as good.... Do keep the info Coming! Best, Giles

Well, new buffer made (although I need to find a spring for it) Turned from brass, it is bored from each end, leaving a diaphragm somewhere in the middle, which dictates the 'out' position of the buffer The remains of the original has been ground back with a burr. The new one will be fixed with proper 24hr araldite

Thank you CME! I'll have a bash at making one this afternoon, but otherwise try and contact Dapol sometime next week. I suppose it acts as a reminder that they're only models, at the end on the day, and one shouldn't get too fond of them. Very sorry to hear about your stock though- a bad day...!

Disaster - 1.1m fall off the end of the layout. The loco genuinely wasn't programmed to move - and indeed after its fall, when I checked the controller, it was still reading '0' so I don't know... It rather spoilt the afternoon...... I suppose though, looking on the bright side, the amount of damage is minimal considering the crash with which it hit the floor. One buffer sheered off completely - just leaving the remainder of the shank in situ, and a rail gone missing in action. The radiator casting has also suffered some very minor damage, but nothing I can't sort. Amazingly, the ladders are intact! I will now have to see if I can manufacture a duplicate buffer - which is extremely boring. I very much doubt Dapol would have the whole assembly as a spare, given quite how firmly its fixed. It's sheered the brass tube cleanly in half, rather than pulling it out, as one might expect.

Crash helmets could of course have some effect of their own - but wearing ear-pods inside crash helmets, and either listening to music or similar certainly does..... and you'll never catch me at it!

Headphones (and ear-pieces) really should not be used when driving. A study was done by Anne Minors of AMPC (actually regarding a subject other than driving - but the results are applicable), which was done using eye-tracking technology, which showed that when people were listening to sounds via headphones, they ceased to look or scan to the same extremities as when listening via conventional speakers. I.e., their field of view was reduced in all directions by either 15 or 25% (to my shame, I can't remember which). Effectively, as soon as you put headphones on, you put blinkers on. Of course driving or riding is on of the few occupations where this matters. It was a fascinating study, that yielded unexpected results.

Thinking about it, I can only assume that the functions were 'overloaded' - or at least the thing perceived they were, and the automatic protection shut it all down. I'll turn the volume down, which is a bit high anyway..... But the reset certainly unblocked the programming for me!

Just for general info - I fitted a Digitrains/Chetter sound decoder to my 08, which is absolutely lovely - but I have been completely unable to change its address from 03. I haven't worried about it, because I've had more pressing concerns. However, earlier this week, I had the layout powered up, with the 08 running, and after half an hour, with the sing sat stationary, with the sound and cab light on it suddenly completely died, as if a switch had been turned off. Everything else still operated fine - just the 08. Dead. Blown chip, I thought. I'll have a look in the morning. Next day, I took the lid off, removed the chip and tested it on DC, and the loco worked fine. Put the decoder back in, and it all works fine - but not only that, I was able to re-address it with no problem! Haven't a clue about the whys and wherefores, but that's what happened.... just in case it might be useful to anyone....

I've also settled on the back-cloth, which is 'it's about to belt down with rain in a couple of minutes' gloom......

I have a pile of the Skytrex resin cable drums - but I thought I'd make some empty drums myself (courtesy of the laser cutter). These are done form 0.8mm laser ply, with each side double-thickness, to give cross-planking, and the centre drum half-cut planks rolled and inserted into a matching hole in the inner side... if you can follow.... It works well, but they're quite pricy at £1 each material cost. The smaller one in the centre is a Skytrex casting.

I'm concerned that the youth - some here present - don't know what the 70's was really like. I remember. Fortunately, British Pathe came to the rescue and filmed for posterity. This is for information and educational purposes only.

That knocks 'Faller' into a cooked Hat! It's very nice to see the slow running in that scale....

---- Not impressed with 'two wheeled organ donors removing themselves from gene pool' regardless of any supposition of how they died. If I used such language to refer to cyclists I think it would cause some offense. There are clots riding/driving all vehicles, and numerically, I see more idiot cyclists than motorcyclists- yet more motorcyclists are killed (generally smidsy's I dare say) Attitudes such as the above do not help, neither do they engender any sympathy for those who use them. Both my wife and I are motorcyclists- she commutes to work on hers every day, and I for one will be extremely sorry if she is removed from the gene pool.

Yes, but of all the variants that Hattons are doing - only one (I believe, but stand to be corrected) is a single chimney version - and that would be the 1937 Silver Link. I think Mallard was already converted when she made her run? The valance shown also needs some adjustment. As drawn, the front curve is almost a quadrant, whereas it should be a much shallower curve It's a minefield, and I do sympathise!

Ah.... As has been pointed out, the front end is incorrect - effectively, what would be the running plate *albeit steamlined* should remain more or less a constant width down to the front, as the whole front end tapers in. The front section of the running plate (over the cylinders) should turn down at a very slightly steeper angle according to photos The chimney appears to be set too far back, as the front line of the chimney should be just in front of the bogie centre-line, and should, I think be of larger diameter. I'm certainly not in anyway being negative - but the shape of an A4 is SO important - and now is the time!

Although I appreciate your point of view - won't your wife object to its position of honour displacing her on the sofa? You're a lucky chap......