halfwit

And a third, Martin was very helpful when I contacted aircraft.net regarding a fault with my compressor.

EMA Plastic Weld is formulated to work with ABS, as well as styrene butyrate acrylic and perspex (I haven't tried it on anything other than styrene tho'. It seems to be well suited to East European short run kits).

Modelling Military Vehicles (Bruce Quarrie 1978) and Painting and Lining Scale Models (Ian D Huntley 1976), from a local charity shop. Even though paints and techniques have changed considerably since these two were published I still find old modelling books interesting.

It looks like there should be an overlay for the solebars but I can't see one in the kit contents photo. Cutting one out of card shouldn't be too difficult, but then using the Peco chassis is better still. Is this a wooden chassis prototype?

Two packages from Ukraine this week - a laser cut wooden 1/72 airplane jig thing, and a 1/72 Garbuz Models Maz-200 truck. The former came with a small bag of sweets. The latter looks interesting, probably a short run kit, and the box you have to assemble yourself being two flat sheets of card.

Depends on the size of the part really. I have two Hold and Folds, a 2" and a 5.5", but then I build etched railway kits. Of the two the smaller gets the most use, but for really small jobs a pair of decent smooth jawed pliers work well. Remember, where tools are concerned quality is appreciated long after cost is forgotten (or is that big posh cars?). Cyano can work just as well as solder in most cases, I prefer to solder for railway stuff but for detailing parts for plastic kits I'd just stick to superglue.

I think the moulds originated with Omega-K. I have an O-K Zil-157 in the stash, once you open yours I'll be able to tell by the runners.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/UKx5yZXorSzND8dz6 Test from Google photos. Or maybe not.

Modelling Railways Illustrated Vol.1 No.2 has a very good 7mm scale Austerity drawing. I'll try and scan it later (or at least sometime in the next 24 hours) if you send me your e-mail address.

I'll have a dig about and get back to you Mike.

Blogger question. I've been a blogger user for years, but recently I've noticed that I can no longer share images from there to forums. I used to be able to copy and paste whole pages, now if I try only the text gets copied, no photos. Any other users experiencing this?

I don't think that I have any kit diagrams or plans that would be of use to you, but I do have scale drawings that I could probably copy. I'll dig them out later if needed.

The austerity was quite different to the Aifix kit linked to I'm afraid. Airfix did make a suitable kit (of the similar J94), which was then re-released by Dapol, but the moulds were destroyed in a fire. Surviving unbuilt examples are out there, but are now quite collectable. However, the smaller Airfix loco is easier to find (again Dapol have re-released it), and smaller so might be a better choice to copy for 1/35. I have a 4mm Austerity on the go, a detailed RTR model, but I've just realised that I haven't touched it for 10 years!

Nice job. I have the Antartica version in me stash so its nice to see that it should go together well.

Mine arrived this morning. One question, some 4320s have a different style of air filter, a larger unit sitting along the wing rather than the mushroom as depicted in the kit. I'm contemplating knocking up that style rather than using the 'mushroom', would that be correct for this kit in these markings? I assume that the larger filter is fitted to later versions of the 4320, are there any other differences? I've searched the 'net and come up empty, and there's nowt in the Wings and Wheels book. I thought I'd ask here rather than start a new topic, hopefully that's ok.

Nostromo by Sleep Research Facility. 6 tracks of dark ambient inspired by the first 8 minutes of Alien. Not everyone's taste for sure, but perfect late night listening (for me anyway).

Following as I have a Zil-157 from this maker to build. Didn't this (and other Omega -K kits) end up in the ICM range?

Would acrylic rod work? I use clear for light lenses, turned in the lathe to the correct shape, and I know that clear red and green is available. Try eBay.

I built one a couple of years ago, a nice kit that went together well. The cab does need careful work to remove flash, nothing that would daunt anyone on here tho'. Seen here (sorry about linking, but I don't have photo hosting). A Ukrainian one will be coming my way at some stage.

The 150 is what I've used since 2008, never had a problem that couldn't be fixed (new tip and a new head washer) but yes, gravity feed would be better (in fact I'm thinking of upgrading mine to a top feed job). The 100 is gravity fed. Like yourself I wouldn't buy an airbrush that I couldn't get spares for.

If you can push the budget a little then perhaps a Badger 100 or 150, which can be had with a choice of needles/tips. Easy to use, clean, and find spares for.

Just ordered one, thanks. My own preference is for Badger bottles or empty paint pots, but that looks easier to clean. And dirt cheap to boot. For brush painting plastic milk bottle lids, also used for putting a drop of cyano on ready for use, or mixing epoxy.

I'm pretty sure that the Great Western had a woodwork shop at one of their yards, purely to make wooden legs for unlucky shunters. Interested to see how this turns out. Are all the parts laser cut, or are there any etches or castings in the box?

I've had a reply, they suggested that either the pressure valve was blocked or broken. I removed the valve, cleaned it out as best I could, then replaced it, and everything worked as it should. I have however bought a replacement, just in case. Thanks again.

That's great, many thanks. I've e-mailed them and hopefully they can put me in the right direction.