Exhausting

With Himself taking a working break on the FR I’ve been holding the fort, which explains why there’s not a lot of progress.

What I have managed to accomplish, in a snatched half hour, is to add the exhaust pipe onto the diesel heater and the filler pipe for the fuel tank onto the underside of 152.

All I need to add now is the footsteps and the electric connection on the end and then I can pass it back to him on his return from the top left hand corner.

You Dare?

Himself has learned the hard way never to second-guess the FR - so he has done almost as much as he dares to 130 before the real one breaks cover.

The valve gear has been fitted to the rear unit and the former for front tank unit had been folded up.

I’m sure he’s probably being very wise.

Wiring

I've been getting on with one of my least favourite jobs - anything which involved bending wire.

Maybe I just have a mental block about it, but I've never found it easy to manipulate metal into shapes, even with something as pliable as brass wire.

In this case I'm having to knock up a representation of the rather convoluted pipes which can be seen around those tilted vacuum cylinders underneath 150 and 152.

I'm reasonably happy with what I've got there and now I'm moving onto the fuel tank and diesel heater behind.

Not long now before I'll be sending it back in Himself's direction for him to start painting it - which will be his turn to have a job he doesn't relish.

17 In Service

Our new Garraway-era 17 is finished and has been taken for a test run on Dduallt.

Comparison with the twins 11 and 12, show that the shade of green on this latest carriage is different despite using nominally the same paint.

I can only assume it’s something to do with it being a new tin and there being a discrepancy in the product.

I also wanted to draw your attention to one of the significant little details that Himself adds to these carriages.

He makes up tiny little heritage door handles which look for at the world like minute split pins.

It must be terribly fiddly.

Flipped

152 has been turned upside down to begin work on detailing the chassis.

One of the distinctive features of these two obs carriages is he twin vacuum brake cylinders, which are mounted opposing each other at a jaunty angle.

All the other superbarns have single ones which are set vertically, as far as I can tell.

These are made with a length of styrene tube which has a thick cap added at one end, and then filed into a very shallow dome.

The other end has a plain cap before a piece of strip is glued around the outside to form a ring, and the tanks are then mounted on some small blocks to give them the angle.

The have some very circuitous pipework running around them, but that’s a topic for another post.

Scores On The Doors

Bowsider 17 has reached the stage where Himself is adding the transfers, the most obvious of which are the big numerals on the doors.

For this he’s always used the HMRS presfix decals, but this carriage has required him to start on a new sheet, and his is not impressed.

Can you tell the difference?

The first two ‘3’ on the left hand side are from the old sheet, and all the rest are from the new one.

Himself thinks they are a little ‘blobby’.

I’m not sure I would have noticed if he hadn’t pointed it out.

He tells me he’s seen a few similar comments online recently about a perceived drop in the quality.

What I do know is that the Precision Decals FR crests we use are superb.

Getting A Handle On It

The latest superbarn saloon is inching closer to completion.

Himself has added the grab rails onto the ends of 120.

He hates these with a passion - and I don't blame him.

They're very fiddly to fabricate out of brass wir.

The carriage body has been given a coat of varnish so all that's needed now is to install the glazing, and the door handles, and it's ready to join the fleet.