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Mending the Steampunk Whale
One of the weirder things I own, and there's quite a lot of competition for that title, is a Steampunk Whale brought back from Cornwall for me by my parents. It's a really nicely cast resin model, and...
View ArticleSaturday Film Club: ISLE of MAN railway steam train to Peel & Port Erin 1965
"More Isle of Man Phil?" - Yes indeed, Some cracking cine film shot in 1965 when the raiwlay was struggling, but you could see ALL the history.
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Changing the bulb in a Berlingo High-Level brake light
The shame. Being picked up on the MOT for a faulty high-level brake light. That's what happens when you ask a non-driver to check the lights when you press the pedals...Anyway, I dug out the Haynes...
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Mazda T2000 kit - Part 1: Look inside the box
Time for another kit from the Plaza Japan pile - this time the one that started my spending splurge, the Arii Owners Club Mazda T2000. If you aren't familair with this vehicle, and they are pretty...
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Mazda T2000 kit - Part 2: Build the chassis and start painting.
First impressions - this is a whopper of a kit. It might be 1/32nd, but the chassis measures 17cm long and seems really chunky. OK, the prototype can carry two-tons, so perhaps I shouldn't be...
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Mazda T2000 kit - Part 3: All done.
Job done. I hadn't planned a blow-by blow account as I didn't do anything special on the model. As I say, the plan had been to glue the bits together and slap a coat of paint on. Despite those limited...
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Bumper Garden Rail issue alert!
Ed and Dick may want their layout back.' was the gist of a conversation shortly after the Exeter Garden Railway show in 2003. This left the Severn Mendip 16mm Group with a bit of a problem. The result...
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Back to Doncaster
I've got a clear lateral flow test and a box of FFP2 facemasks, so today I'm going to be heading to The Festival of British Railway Modelling at Doncaster this weekend. Full details on the official...
View ArticleSaturday Film Club: Cat vs garden railway
I have been watching cat videos on the web. For work.
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Ballasting Basics in The Collector
My latest contribution to the Hornby Collectors Club magazine, The Collector, is a simpler project than I've produced for the last few issues. Ballasting is one of those tasks that we all have to do,...
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Big bottle supplies
It's the end of another big bottle of Slater's Mek-Pak. This one arrived on the workbench in February 2017, and has lasted 5 years. Not bad at £5.20 a year, or 43p a month.The new one cost £27.08...
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Building a powerbox - Part 1. Basic ideas
The Problem: I use a Gaugemaster handheld controller and transformer on all my layouts. Both have 5-pin DIN plugs on the end. Handy for the fully wired layout, but no good when I need to test a model...
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Building a Powerbox - Part 2. A pretty, but useless voltmeter
I love light up gizmos, and what better, and potentially more useful, than a voltage readout on the panel? Component Shop sell something suitable, but I went down the eBay route as I wanted one with...
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Building a Powerbox - Part 3. More switches and sockets
One feature I've always built in to my layouts is an extra direction switch below the controller socket. You see, I'm not that good at making sure my kit built locos all operate the same direction...
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Making a key for Percy
Last month I mentioned that a Meccano Percy had joined my collection - but that it was missing the all-important key. Well, I've done something about it, and written the process up for the World of...
View ArticleSaturday Film Club: The Investigator
Unpopular opinion: Gerry Anderson shows looked great - but the stories were rubbish. Space 1999 - what the hell was going on there with it's hippy-dippy metaphysical stuff? And Thunderbirds, at least...
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The Festival of British Railway Modelling 2022
You know what you can't do while wearing a facemask? Drink. Which is why I'm typing this and trying to rehydrate myself after consuming little more than 500ml of liquid between show opening and leaving...
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Daihatsu Midget - Part 1: Look in the box
Moving on the second wierd Japanese 3-wheeler kit in the pile I bought, I'm looking at the Daihatsu Midget. A quick web search shows that this truck has been through several facelifts, the most recent...
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Daihastsu Midget - Part 2: A lucky painting accident
Painting the Midget didn't start well. I chose some Humbrol satin grass green for the body colour, but my airbrush was playing up. In fact every airbrush I tried played up, until I dug out an Badger...
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Daihatsu Midget - Part 3: Job done, lessons learned
Finishing the Midget is pretty simple. Part fit is good, you just need to trim the odd bit of flash away, especially on the clear parts, and glue them in place. Deluxe Glue'n'glaze handled the...
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