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Waterborne Wednesday: Canal boats and crane
At the end of the year, I needed and urgent top-up of my modelling supplies. A trip to Tony's Trains was called for so I made an early start.With a few minutes to kill before opening time, I wandered...
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Post 5000!
Today marks the 5000th post on this blog. It's taken just over 14 years to get here - although moving a post-a-day speeded things up a little.Since 2005 I've been busy documenting the projects that...
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Scale Model Equipment Co. signal
Another mystery for you today. I found this for 3 quid in the bargain bins at a show. It was bagged and boxed, but I was willing to pay the money simply to have a proper look at the thing.Ostensibly...
View ArticleSaturday Film Club: MER 1993
It's a new year, so let's go back in time to 1993. September of that year saw the Max Electric Railway's centenary, and a few months earlier, the first visit of Parker's senior and junior. The place...
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Scoutrail 2020
Time to get back on the exhibition trail and one of the first of the year is worth the trip, because of the cake. Scoutrail is a local show for Kidlington and as you might expect, raises money for the...
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Pete's hut
My friend, Pete Blakeman, passed away recently. He had been ill for some time and so disposed of his unbuilt kit collection. Mostly 7mm scale, it's not my main interest, but I bought a cheap Skytrex...
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Sticking the walls together
A real expert would spend hours carefully honing the chamfers in the corners of this kit. I am not an expert, I just trim them so the outside corner is OK and then glue things together using Pound shop...
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Waterborne Wednesday: 1965 Amphicar
Is it a car?Is it a boat?Nope. This is an Amphicar.An amazing vehicle was produced in America between 1960 and 1963, but assembled from stockpiled parts until 1968. In total 3,878 car/boats were built,...
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Garden Rail February 2020
We've a bit of a wagon theme going on this month with some Wood Valley Works models, an amazing build of a Bole Lasercraft model in 7/8" and even I get in on the act with a 16mm scale kit from...
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MARS Propellorfahrzeug
Since Hornby has yet again failed to re-introduce the Battle Space Turbo car, I'll have to go for the next best thing - the LGB MARS Propellorfahrzeug.I really don't know what posses the giant German...
View ArticleSaturday Film Club: A ride on a Lego railway
Back in July 2018, we featured an amazing Swiss garden railway built by Varda Elentári Furre in Garden Rail. The line lives outside all year round and makes the best of some stunning scenery, and the...
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Chiltern Model Rail Show 2020
Sunny Stevenage for Sunday and a feast of quality layouts to enjoy. There were too many to list but a couple really stuck in my mind.Above you see the Orange River and Portland railway in Fn3...
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Paint or pencil?
Normally I like to colour bricks with pencil crayons, but for this model, I've gone for dry-brushed paint.I'm not really sure why. It just seemed like the right thing to do.The work is pretty simple -...
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Finishing touches
After the brickwork is dry, it's time for some finishing touches for the hut. Windows and doors are painted. Glazing is carried out using Deluxe Materials Glue'n'Glaze. Guttering goes on (and looking...
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Waterborne Wednesday: Welsh fishing boat
A nice simple fishing boat photographed in Aberystwith harbour. Not a big boat and the net handling gear at the stern is pretty simple, and therefore easy to model. The deck is full of nets and rope....
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A challenge in the Hornby Collectors Club magazine
If you visited the Hornby Collectors Club show at Gaydon last year, you could pick up a goodie back containing a Hornby mug and a wagon. I grabbed mine and used it as the material for a challenge in...
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Faller Hit Train
The Faller Hit Train from the 1970s has been on my wishlist for around ten years judging from this post. A combination of utterly mad design and O gauge track appeals to me - more so since I got back...
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Saturday Film Club: The Rocket
Stephenson's Rocket is an iconic locomotive, but possibly more revered than it deserves to be. The famous yellow livery didn't last long for a start. The yellow fades and as the NRM have found, the...
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London Model Engineering Exhibition 2020
A lovely day to visit the big smoke for the first trip of the year to Ally Pally. The show seemed busy with visitors, but a little thinner on exhibits and trade this year. Looking around, I seemed to...
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Cleaning track in a tunnel
A recent magazine project involved me building a layout with a tunnel. After construction had finished, the track needed a bit of a polish, but there was no chance of my hands fitting through the...
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