Thanks Ron.........it will most likely end up on Gormo`s Shed......as I have nothing else up my sleeve at the moment. Gormo
By eck Gormo those test flowers look brilliant... I will say multi layering of scatter material in differing grades works well for wild meadow and weed undergrowth situations and the more you add in the more overgrown it looks. So I guess for meadow flowers (which don't like deep undergrowth but do enjoy shady grasses) the secret has to be in the fine and precise application of coloured flock. Looking great anyway.
G`day Folks, Yes I`m still alive !!! I have not touched my railway for a couple of weeks now due to other commitments and arrangements, but today I got a breather and decided to go and visit my local model shop. The last couple of times I`ve visited there, I have been tempted by a second hand loco sitting on the shelf, but I put it off because I had bids running on that big auction site in the sky. My bids did not succeed and indeed the items I was after went for stupid prices, but that`s another story. Anyway, amazingly the little loco in the model shop, a Lima Class 73, was still sitting there in the shop today and seemed to be wanting me to buy it, so I did. I asked for a test run before I bought it, and the test run revealed a knock of some sort coming from within. The shop owner decided to take the loco apart there and then to try and find out what was happening. A process of elimination and careful observation revealed that there was a single piece of ballast lodged between two of the teeth on one of the gears. The offending ballast was carefully extracted and once the loco was re-assembled it ran as sweet as a nut. It`s just one of those things folks that`s difficult to explain??......there`s just something about this loco that floats my boat....so I will create a convenient history to justify it`s presence on my railway and add the new information to the ever increasing Rule # 1 in the Model Railway Owners Rule Book 2019 Edition. Below is a video of it running. Gormo
Yes it is Toto......but we have to make allowances for it`s age and technology........even so......it`s very good. Gormo
The wild flowers look fantastic Gormo ! Very nicely done. The Class 73 is a nice addition to your fleet. You can now model two eras, steam (both the Big 4 and BR) and now the blue diesel period with your Class 33 and 73 ! Must be something about loco classes with a number three in them ! Cheers, Gary.
Yes I`m expanding the fleet Gary, No particular theme......I just buy what takes my fancy. Here`s the latest. A Lima 26 Class from Woodpecker......it was part of a deceased estate and appears to have had very little use. It is a very nice runner too.! And then we move onto a Lima Prairie Tank 4589 GWR, which was won on that well known auction site from a local seller. The loco is in very good condition, runs well in both directions, however is a little noisy. A service may help in that regard, but otherwise I am quite happy with it. Gormo
G`day Folks, You may remember some time back I acquired a Lima 73 Class from my local model shop. It was part of a deceased estate that was being sold off. The model had been detailed extensively by the previous owner and resulted in a nice looking model. The model had the coupling removed from one end and the other end had a medium sized tension lock fitted on an improvised extension off the bogie. Just in the last few days, the loco was starting to run poorly and it was obvious it was time to take the lid off and do a service. I would also take this opportunity to sort out the couplings. Unfortunately, as I had known from the first day I bought the loco, the body had been glued on by the previous owner........why.??????....I`ll never know as it is not necessary. There are no faults with the body as such and it should fit as originally intended. The body had been glued at the front and rear ends of the locomotive. I removed the motor bogie easily enough, but the pick up bogie is secured with a clip from within. There was no way forward other than probing away with a scalpel and gradually breaking the bond of the glue. Some minor damage was done to the buffer beam paint work but that has been retouched and restored. So now you can see a small tension lock at either end of the loco I may set them back a bit more because I think they are a bit too far extended from the body.......but that`s an easy fix. The main objective was to get them fitted and at the correct height. I fitted a strip of plastic to the bogie as an extension to mount the couplings. Then a small brass nut gave me the height I needed once it was fitted between the extension and the coupling. Needless to say, the loco was given a service........a clean of pick ups and connections and wheels as well. When I take the body off again to adjust the couplings, I will pull the motor down and do a thorough job which should stand it in good stead for a few more years. Gormo
Thanks Gormo As I expressed at our recent meeting at the Sydney show, there is that certain difficult to articulate elegance of the British Diesel Locomotive epitomized in this lovely 73 class. I am sure you will have much fun running her in the future. Cheers and happy modelling Richard
Thanks Gary, Yes well spotted.........they are dummy knuckle couplers.......they were on there so I left them. Actually one was hanging down vertically and was fouling the newly fitted tension lock so it had to be glued into a horizontal position. These models, as with most models, have to be a compromise in some way or another. Gormo
Yes Richard, We did have rather a good discussion about a few things on the day.........actually I`m just remembering that superb Tasmanian layout once more. But yes.....why British ?????......who knows.?????......I certainly find it hard to explain in a nutshell but I guess it`s like Art. Each of us would have our own personal taste in Art or for that matter anything that we find pleasing to the eye. An example for me , as I think I mentioned to you Richard, is the Spitfire.......now an antique war plane, but there`s just something about the lines of the thing or the profile, I don`t quite know what it is, but I do know that I like it. I could look at a modern fighter jet and I could look at a Spitfire and I would prefer the Spitfire hands down. Same applies for me with British trains.........I find it hard to think of one I don`t like.........so I guess I`m hooked. The 73 Class is running extremely well now after the initial clean up, and I expect to improve on that when I go inside again. Gormo