Gelert Looking Good

Himself has done his customary excellent job on the transfers on Gelert which now awaits the airbrush for a coat of satin varnish.

The nameplates from Narrow Plant will go on right at the end.

One final additional detail which has appeared is the bright red crank visible in the cut out in the water tank.

I do think that accessorising these 3D printed bodies is so important if you have any ambition to produce a decent model.

They make a fabulous starting point, but that’s all it is.

I’m afraid there are too many modellers happy to regard them as unpainted ready-to-run bodies, and that’s a shame.

Almost Ready

The WHHR Ashbury corridor replica is just waiting for a final spray coat of varnish.

This has been built from a Worsley Works scratch aid body kit which required a few alterations like finding some scrap brass to make the middle droplights which were missing from the etch.

Once this and the buffet car are finished our WHHR set will be complete.

Sunroof

All our Garratts are unique - as are the real ones - and Himself has created another point of difference on 130.

He's used some scraps of brass to create a partially-opened vent on the cab roof, complete with the runners.

All our others have a closed vent with no runners.

You may wonder what the filler is there for?

I think - although Himself didn't mention it - this is where the original style hoop vents would go and he has removed any evidence and filled and rubbed down Milliput, which is what you can see above.

I am, as ever, open to correction, which I'm sure will come swiftly.....

Bagnall Bling

Now back from his sojourn down south Himself is getting on with preparing Gelert for it's roll-out at the Greenock show.

We've decided to finish it in its current lined out livery, because frankly it just looked too dull in all-over dark blue.

For this he's using Kemco / Modelmaster BR mixed traffic lining sheets.

These are also what we used on our spoof BR liveried Lyd.

Its arguable that the grey is a little too - well - grey for the lining on the real loco which looks more brilliant white, but these transfers are very crisp which more than makes up for it in my mind.

If you look very closely you might be able to make out that he has deployed his thick black transfer line trick to get perfect definition on the change between the blue of the tank and the black of the running plate.

I think it'll make a very attractive little engine and look terrific taking turns with Russell and the Baldwin hauling our new WHHR set on Bron Hebog.

Empty Desk Syndrome

For the first time in quite a while I've found myself with nothing to do.

It's not that I haven't got things I'd like to be getting on with, but for various reasons the projects are in abeyance.

Progress finishing off the Van 51 prototype will have to wait for the test etches for the balcony rail to be delivered to me before I can go any further on that.

I really ought to be getting on with making a start on the latest WHR observation car which is in the final stages of construction at Boston Lodge but my usual sources have yet to smuggle any plans out of the carriage works for me to use.

(It is very different to Glaslyn so the designs I have on file aren't much use to me.)

I could take a look down the - very long - wish list and go for one of the projects I've been meaning to do for years but it would just be typical that as soon as I started something like that the bits I need to progress the more urgent projects would appear.

Hmm, what to do?

Green Garratt

Today I’m completing the look at our authentic WHR Garratt fleet with the most recent one Himself finished - 143.

This engine has not run on Bron Hebog at a show yet so Greenock next month will be its public debut.

Himself put a lot of effort into making it as accurate as he could with detailed alterations like extending the cut outs at the bottom of the bunkers and tanks.

As I’ve yet to see it in action in the layout I feel I can’t be sure where it fits into my ranking of favourite NGG16’s so I’m looking forward to the show very much.

Red And Green

Himself is cracking on with completing the two WHHR Ashbury carriages ahead of the show in Greenock next month.

They’ve both had at least one top coat - the buffet car in green and the original condition replica in red.

There’s a lot left to do but the liveries are so completely simple that you already have a good impression of how they might look when finished.