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Dirty tanker
Last week, I spent a day at the Severn Valley Railway and standing in Highley station was this fantastically weathered Class B Tank wagon.Peeling paint, rust, dirt and an awful lot of green, it looks...
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Triang 11" motor cruiser
A nice crossover purchase for me - a model boat, made by a manufacturer better know for model railways. "Burnham" was produced between 191960 and 1968 by Lines Brothers for Triang. Powered by a...
View ArticleSaturday Film Club: Driving through the night
Nice film from the "Look at Life" series following Wally on a run between London and Birmingham and back overnight. I like the film of parcels loading, something of interest to railway modellers. Lots...
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Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition 2018
One question: How did this gorgeous 5 inch gauge Midland Spinner come second in its class? I never did find the winner, but it must have been some amazing model to beat this. My favourite model?A 3D...
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New project: Mohan
Time for a new project, and I'm in the mood to build a model boat. I've even set myself a punishing deadline - it's entered in to the International Model Boat show on the 9th November. Even though I'm...
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De ja vue hull fun
Oh dear. Things aren't starting well. Comparing the bulwarks of the boat with it's hull, there's quite a difference. The top and bottom you see in the photo should match, and the top part is quite a...
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Warehouse Wednesday: Peel Castle via LNWR
Not a warehouse, and in truth, not something you are likely to need to build unless a very large model of Peel station on the Isle of Man is on your agenda. The photo does have a railway connection...
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If it's plastic, I can make it work
Right, the bulwarks. They are too short for the hull, so either I make new ones or find a way to use the kit bits.For a while I considered the scratchbuild option, but in the end decided that if I cut...
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It's only a bargain when it works!
With the Planet range of radio control sets disappearing off the market, at Christmas, I decided it was time to buy my Dad a new outfit. We'd pick something that we could buy plenty of receivers for,...
View ArticleSaturday Film Club: Mouville
Thanks to a YouTube recommendation, this week we look at Mouville by Henk Wust and Jan van Mourik. A tiny, 80cm square scene, it's full of atmosphere.OK, it would be nice to see more than two items of...
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Large scale model aircraft 2018
It takes a special kind of person to start building an 18ft wingspan Lancaster bomber - and an even more special one to finish it. At the show, only half a wing was on display, but the workmanship was...
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Still fighting the boat kit and bringing out the big guns
This kit is fighting all the way. A sensible, or at least pragmatic, person would chuck it in the bin. If I hadn't booked it into a show, I might well have done this, but since I have, I'm not going to...
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ABS glue of choice
Andy from the excellent Workshop Shed blog asks:I was just reading about your boat building and realised you'd be a great person to quiz.I've got a couple of ABS parts I've printed and wanted to fix...
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Warehouse Wednesday: Modern(ish) station footbridge
A rather interesting footbridge at Four Oaks station. The concrete pillar is a bit brutalist but topped with a metal set of steps and bridge span. All would be easy to scratch build to suit your site....
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Phil's been out with his camera in this months BRM
It's the BRM layouts special issue this month with no less than 10 model railways for your inspiration and entertainment.All those layouts leave little space for practical projects, but I've not been...
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York Show 1985 - The layouts
Let's head back to 1985 - 33 years ago! I happen to have found a programme for York Model Railway show and it was a very different world.In those days, the show was held in both the Theatre Royal and...
View ArticleSaturday Film Club: Scammell recovery tractor
This week's film comes courtesy of Garden Rail corespondant, Ralph Pitcher. As a past owner and restorer of a 6-wheel Scammell Pioneer, he has pointed me at several interesting films. Watching this, I...
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Thoughts on the Great Model Railway Challenge TV show
With the first series of Channel 5's Great Model Railway Challenge over and done with, I thought it worth a blog post to lay down some of my thoughts. Feel free to disagree in the comments section.It's...
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Superstructure design. Hmmm.
The "kit" is supplied with a plan for everything apart from the hull, leaving the modeller to cut up some plastic sheet and build the thing themselves. Maybe the plastic was included, but if it was,...
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Now THAT'S what I call a superstructure
In search of ideas for Mohan, I spent an hour or so trawling the web looking at small, modern, tugboats. Eventually, I found the BRatt design by Robert Allan Ltd. I like the look of it and the hull I...
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