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Off to Doncaster this weekend

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It's time for me to head up to Doncaster for the Festival of British Railway Modelling.

The back of my car will be full of:
  • Didsbury Green
  • 4 cake box models
  • 2 Dave Rowe Emett dioramas

So, check out the website and then come and say hello!

Saturday Film Club: Railbuses on the Kent & East Sussex

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File this one firmly in the "Films I didn't think existed" drawer. 

A silent Pathe news film showing the Ford railcars running on the Kent & East Sussex Railway. Hardly any photos of these things exist so moving film is a real bonus. 

Looking at the lineside shows just how exposed it was. Nowadays we have far more trees and undergrowth around the lines. There's a brief shot at the end of a station (Robertsbridge) looking pretty tidy. Mind you, since the line provided a steam loco for the camera to film the railcars, I suspect there may have been some tidying up for publicity purposes. 

Stafford 2018

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Pickle Pies

If there is a lesson to be learned from Stafford this year, it is:

Take more cash out of the hole in the wall before you go.

It's not because the showground is a notorious mobile phone, and therefore mobile PDQ machine, blackspot. The signal still hasn't reached there yet - although WiFi was available if you knew the password which several traders did. No, it's because I seemed to want to spend money on stands that didn't take plastic.

The second-hand stall is obvious. Fine, except I threw nearly half my measly wad over the counter there for something I'll cover in a future blog post. More of a surprise was the on-site cafe. Excellent food, but cash only. The guy behind me in the lunch queue didn't check this and found himself scrabbling around in his pockets to make up the bill. I'll admit that my sausage batch would have been chilli and rice if I hadn't been thinking of a kit I fancied but would them leave me out of folding cash. Lovely bangers in a bun, but a card machine would bring in more income.

Farm Yard

I felt the show was busier than normal on Saturday morning. Most of my photos are post lunch when it quietened down a bit. One trader I know admits to his best ever sales this year so not only were there people, they were spending money. Someone beat me to that kit!

Layouts were as usual, really good. I particularly liked the farm on Bleadon, so much so I didn't look much at the railway side! Winner of the best layout competition was Campbell's Quarry, a lovely little 16mm scale model with working diggers. Unusual choice but worthy against stiff competition.

Loaded wagons

Several new traders were listed again this year and the mix was pretty good. RTR boxes and some finescale stuff as well. Certainly some wallet-damaging opportunities.

All this and a vintage(! - 1970s - that's not vintage is it? Surely it was only a year or two ago...) bus trip from the station each way too.


Lets try some acrylic paint

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Dotti is a bit of a test bed and this continues as the paint goes on. I'm pondering if I need more acrylic paint and less enamel in my life. Water-based paint seems like a better thing, it certainly smells less.

Anyway, after priming with Halfords best red oxide colour, I've sprayed the model using Vallejo for no other reason than it seemed like a good idea. I'm told this paint outsells Humbrol in Europe so there must be something good about it. I'll admit I've used some of the earth shades for weathering in the past, but this is the first time I've used it as the main colour.

Thinned with car windscreen was, a tip picked up from plastic kit modellers, it flowed well and has given a nice finish. Some of the red oxide shows through in places as planned and I highlighted with a mix of base colour let down with beige.

I'm happy with the results this time so I'll be trying it again. Sadly, supply isn't easy (I got mine from Ian Allan in Birmingham) which precludes its use in magazine projects. 

Dotti Done

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Dotti

And with a few washes of Lifecolor dirt followed by a blast of same (thinned with windscreen wash) from my airbrush, Dotti is ready for service. 

On the track, she's a bit light. Attempting to haul a Brandbright coach around our local track, she struggled several times. Single axle drive and only one of those means she's best suited to short trains of wagons. Perhaps I need to unearth those weathered "Big Big" tippers!

Maybe a few chunks of lead hidden underneath will help, but in truth some derelin chain and more cogs are required. Not today though. Other projects beckon.

Warehouse Wednesday: HS2 College

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HS2 College - sign

Spotted in Doncaster, the HS2 college is an impressive building. Better than my slightly fuzzy photo anyway.Time for a new camera perhaps...


The building could be any posh companies modern HQ, but it wouldn't be hard to model, especially if you use some reflective sheet rather than clear plastic. At least that way you don't need to build an interior. 

However, if you do want to go the whole hog, you'll need to find a Eurostar power car, as there is one tucked away at the back of the building.

HS2 College - Eurostar



Garden Rail - April 2018

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Plenty of excellent stuff in this month's Garden Rail.

Our main layout is the 71 mile track laid for The Biggest Little Railway in the World TV series. One of the stars, Andy Christie spills the beans on his role in the show - mainly as one of the top link team charged with driving the loco to success. Not before he helped build a couple of the super structures shown, the 60 metre long viaduct and s-shaped trestle bridge.

We also demob a WW1 "Tin Turtle", turn Timpo coaches into light railway G1 models, assembled a GVT van and couple of kits from Harecroft, visit a G3 open day and examine scales and gauges for the larger scales. The last feature includes something I've never known before - a watercolour painting commissioned from artist Rob Bennett.

Top this off with loads of tempting new products and finish with a wagon for carrying chocolate eggs. Well, it is nearly Easter after all...

Garden Rail magazine.

Veron Veronica model boat kit

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Veron Veronica kit

Found in an attic by a fellow railway modeller, this Veron Veronica kit must date back to the 1960s. His father had started the kit, and built the hull to a high standard, and then for some reason stopped and put it away. 

Years later, his son is looking for a home for the model and I am happy to help. 

Veron veronica kit parts

Inside the box are the suit of sails - very nicely made and ready to use. No piece of material and pattern here!

The keel consists of a hardwood part onto which is screwed a cast lead lump. The mast is split in two and joined by a brass ring. The wooden ends are turned down to fit in it. This is a quality kit. 

I'm not into yachts but know someone who (hopefully) can do the model justice. If it makes it on to the water, I'll be sure to bring you a photo.


Saturday Film Club: Birmingham New Street

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This week we see a legendary layout that I read about many times, but never saw for real. 

Don Jones model of Birmingham New Street station. 

At the time, this vast project was utterly audacious. Massive and complicated, with full-size city buildings and very close to full-size cooling towers. OK, it was crude in places, but then the time to do this in finescale with the entire cityscape would (is in one case) vast. 

The film is particularly interesting in that it shows a pre-rebuild Birmingham. We see the old Bullring shopping centre for example. 

Sadly, I understand the model is no more. Presumably, it was scrapped on Don's demise. I wonder if any of it survives? The Rotunda would look great on one of my layouts...

Doncaster 2018

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Phils corner

As I write this, it's a week beyond my arriving at Doncaster racecourse for the Festival of British Railway Modelling. Getting in before lunch meant I was there in time to do some filming for our DVD where we look behind the scene at the show, talking to layout owners and traders to understand why they trek around the country every weekend.

My corner of the BRM stand included Didsbury Green and some cake box models I've built - including one not yet seen in the pages of the magazine.

To be honest, it was also the part of the show I saw the most. If I managed to get out, this was normally for filming purposes. Other than that, it was chat, chat, chat.

Liverpool Lime Street

The crowds were treated to some cracking model railway layouts. Liverpool Lime Street is a massive project and one of those models you need to see several times to get over the "It's massive" initial impressions and start appreciating the details.

I also love Sidmouth. In spite of being P4, it's properly modelled, not just engineered. The whole scene has a real life. Houses that look new for their period, industrial structures that look old. Another model that repays repeated visit.

Back garden

Cakewise, the healthy Phil regime is still in operation, but Ruth and Aime on the BRM stand assured me that the puddings were excellent...

Pudding

And finally, a mention of the hedgehogs. All the way from Andrews Hedgehog Hospital (Andrew passed away last year from old age) they are still the cutest beings in the hall and yes, we did film an interview with them!

Hedgehog


You bought what?

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This being the Interweb, the law seems to be that once you've been to a model railway show, the contents of your shopping bag must be posted for all to see and covet.

Well, here's my stash from Doncaster.
  • 1/32nd Hawk T.Mk1 vac-formed aeroplane kit (Fascinating and worth a quid to have a poke around in the bag. Might end up on eBay eventually)
  • 1/400 Mississippi "Southern Belle" boat kit from Glencoe Models (I'm going to build this, it looked fun and won't take up much space. Fitting radio gear will be difficult)
  • Jack plugs and sockets (50p each? Bargain!)
  • Zero 1 conductive paint (Handy and cheap for both Command Control programming and repairing heater elements in car rear windscreens)

So, no trains then. Must try harder.

Tiny signal box

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A little project - the Peco NB-3 signal box kit - part of a future Cake Box model. 

It's a nice kit. Everything goes together well and if you are careful with the painting, the result is a very pleasing model. I've glazed the windows with Krystal-Klear rather than the supplied plastic to give a flusher look to the glass, but otherwise, the instructions were followed to the letter. 

N gauge seems to tiny though compared to other stuff I've built recently. 58mm long and 31 mm from front to back, I'd think that anyone could easily find space for it on a layout. 

Warehouse Wednesday: Onibury Signal box

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Onibury signal box

Yesterday we had a tiny model signal box. Today, a tiny full-sized one.

Onibury, found on the Shrewsbury to Hereford line, sits beside a level crossing and closed station that is now a private residence. The current box opened in 1977 according to the Signal Box discussion forum

You can find more details on the Signalling Record Society website.


Onibury signal box back

Let's be honest, this isn't a beautiful building, but I like it a lot. For a start, modelling would be simple if a few basic measurements were available. Those could possibly be worked out from the height of the door.I also like ugly structures to show off the beauty of the surroundings. 

Looking at this photo from Wikipedia, the original box was far more traditional:


You can clearly see the box on Google Streetview - but mooch around a little, the crossing keepers house (station masters?) has some interesting stuff on the drive...

First play with AK chipping fluids

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Time for a bit of a play with something the plastic modellers have used for some time - AK Interactive Worn Effects and Heavy Chipping fluids.

The results can look brilliant, but like most advanced materials, they need practise. People tend to underestimate this, assuming that the models they see are from geniuses who get everything right first time. Well, it's easier to assume this than put the time in having a go...

Anyway, my test started with a rusty coat of enamel on plastic sheet. Left to dry it received a coat of both fluids (not on top of each other, one each side of the plastic) left to dry and then a coat of blue enamel. Once this lot was dry, as per the instructions, I gave the sides a wash of the magic fluid and scrubbed them with a bit of wood on the workbench.

I'm quite happy with what I got. Heavy chipping scratched more than Worn Effects. There is skill required in the scraping to produce something that resembles real wear, but looking at photos will help.

Using enamels is a departure form the instructions and I wonder if they are harder wearing than acrylic. I'll try some of these next.I'll also dig around the web for more advice. There is a test model in the stash though...

Thanks to Hobby Holidays for supplying these products.

H&M Loco tester

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There aren't many tools I aspire to own, but a cheaper item on this list the the H&M Locomotive tester.

Dating back to the 1980s as I recall, this is a rather nice rolling road that works for both diesel and steam locomotives.

Hosues in a wooden base, a length of track has been bent (in a press presumably as it's very neat) so one end can support a non-powered bogie or tender with pickups. The lower level is home to the rollers - brass with plastic ends. These only power one side at a time so you have to flip them around to make sure both polarities are delivered to the model. Knowing how the loco picks up and from where is a bit help here. Foam strips hold them in place and stop too much wobble. These have aged, but I'm pretty certain something suitable can be bought from a DIY store.

While I own a Bachyrus rolling road, which allows for multiple gauges, most construation will be in OO, and this is a lovely thing and still workd perfectly. Price, £20 from Stafford second hand still and worth every penny.



Saturday Film Club: Great Cockrow Railway

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We've seen a couple of miniature signalboxes this week, let's spot a third on the Great Cockrow railway courtesy of Pathe News. 

The commentator makes one point that I've often laboured when chatting to people - the sheer variety of different folks you meet taking part in a hobby. As I point out to da kidz at shows, you never know when being aqauinted with a barriser or bishop might be useful.

Playing trains at Penman Pools

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As those who are signed up to the new BRM Express e-newsletter will know, I spent last Sunday in the company of 11 other modellers operating Geoff Taylor's Barmouth Junction layout.

Starting as the most junior operator in charge of shunting trains in the fiddle yard, I quickly proved my incompetence at using Kadee couplings. I could them to uncouple but not stay uncoupled when pushing a rake of coaches. Obviously this is the fault of Americans. Hornby Dublo couplings made of proper British steel would have worked perfectly.

The layout is divided up into three stations and a scenic running line. Trains disappear from view for quite a long time as they circulate under baseboards which is a bit disconcerting for the novice too. The thing is, this model works like a real railway. There are drivers and signalmen. Trains are signalled out and directed by bells, and a bit of shouting.

I've not experienced anything like this since Australia. In the UK, we build model railways as theatre for shows most of the time. Multi-station, permanent set-ups are a lot rarer. Which is why it's such fun to have the chance to operate one, especially when the modelling is as superb as this.

Beach buggy build

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We're all supposed to have "Bucket Lists" - that is a list of things we'd like to do before we kick the bucket. You're supposed to want to chuck yourself out of a perfectly good aeroplane or annoy dolphins by swimming with them. Quite what Flipper gets out of having some loon hanging on to his fin while gurning for Instagram isn't recorded, but then we can't spot the Vogons.

Anyway, I can't be bothered with all that, but if I did, building a kit car would be on there. The car I'd probably build is a beach buggy. They look great, make no pretense at being practical and ye should be reasonably simple.

To build your buggy, take a VW Beetle chassis. Bolt the 1-piece fibreglass buggy body on top. Fit electrics etc. and you are done. It really doesn't sound too hard. Only a lack of space, time and money is stopping me.

As a kid, I built the Airfix 1/32nd version. Painted orange, it has long since disappeared into landfill. Attempts to replace it has floundered on it's unavailability at a price I'm willing to pay. £60+ seems to be the going rate as the model has never re-appeared in the Airfix range. Actually, this might be an orange car thing as the Bond Bug from the same series is also rare and never repeated.

Anyway, when Revell announced a version, I was ready for it. My model was picked up at the IPMS show last year for well under a tenner. OK, it doesn't feature the scantily clad driver or girlfriend Airfix supplied, but this still seemed like good value.

For the money, you get a lot of box and not that many plastic parts as you can see. Tyres are rubber, something people get excited about but doesn't bother me. I have black paint and you can model a realistic bulge in a hard plastic tyre. And clean the mould marks off.

So, I set off assembling the model, but not before reading the instructions and finding something new. More tomorrow.

So, I alone in all the world can create the finest orange at will?

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Reading the instructions, one point jumped out at me. Rather than specify a body colour, the modeller is told to mix equal parts of green and metalic gold.

Hmmm. Well, you are supposed to use Revell acrylic paints for this and around here they are slightly less common than rocking horse poo, but I couldn't see why enamel wouldn't work.

And you are supposed to use the finest green, and I had decided to use orange.

No worries, I mixed gloss orange and gold then blasted the model using my airbrush. Amazingly, it worked!

OK, the first go was a bit too gold. Adding more orange tilted the balance the other way. A bit more gold and finally I was happy. It's now gloss orange but definitely not just gloss orange, there is a different shine.

I can't imaging why I'll ever want to us this on a railway project, but it's a technique for a future racing boat I'm sure.

Warehouse Wednesday: Corff fan daear

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Welsh Grounded van 1

All the way from Bwlch-Y-Ffridd in Wales, a much-modified van body.

Welsh Grounded van 3

End doors, corrugated iron roof, lichen clinging to the woodwork - all great features on a model.

Welsh Grounded van 2

(According to Google Translate, the title of this postis "Grounded van body" in Welsh. If it says something obscene, sorry.)
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