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LED Lighting
Looking around for ways to light up the inside of my Wills signal cabin, I spotted a "canopy light" on Kytes Lights stand at Wycrail. Consisting of 3 surface mount LEDs encased in a rubber strip made...
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Book Review: Working on the London Underground from 1863 to 2013 by Ben Pedroche
There are loads of books published covering the London Underground system. Does the world need another one? Ben Pedroche has contributed to the LU shelf before with Do Not Alight Here: Walking London's...
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The colour of light
So, after Tuesday's efforts, my signal cabin lights up at night, but it looks a bit modern. Back in the good old days, lights were powered by gas or oil rather than electricity. The illumination tended...
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Signalling hut - finished
After all the work, a few finishing touches were required to complete the hut. The back half of the roof was fixed in place - the moulding wasn't nearly as sharp as the one used on the front, something...
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WYCRAIL 2013
Some shows last a day. Some shows last 2. Some shows last a day but should last 2 'cos they are so good. Wycrail fills this last category. 31 high-quality layouts and loads of trade. All in a roomy and...
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Australian Tram
My mate Tim has just been to Australia. On his return, we were standing in the pub reacquainting him with proper British beer and he produced this model as a gift for me. The prototype is a Melbourne...
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A happy face for Monday morning
One from the old photos files - a spare face from the Severn Valley Railways "Thomas the Tank" day.
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Low relief buidings and bridges in Hornby Magazine Yearbook
Down south, something stirs...A few years ago, Hornby Magazine started on a rather large layout with the mysterious name "Project 12". It started and then abruptly stopped. Readers asked what had...
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Top of the pole
A slightly random Wednesday photo for you - the top of a telegraph pole from above.The view is from Birmingham Moor Street station and appealed to me 'cos you don't often see poles from this angle. We...
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Lots of buildings in BRM
Lots and lots of goodies in British Railway Modelling this month. Even if we ignore the content from people who aren't me, and it's my blog so that's what we are going to do, there is still a bumper...
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The best garden shed in the world?
Sorting old photos, I dug out this rather poor shot taken in a back garden that had been turned into an amateur railway museum. As you can see, it's a ground level signal box in GWR colours, not unlike...
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IPMS, Telford 2013
THE event for plastic kit enthusiasts. Three massive halls, plus lectures, plus a competition room plus a Bring & Buy. This is a huge event but despite this, as we walked from the station to the...
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International Model Boat Show 2013
Possibly the most coveniant show I take part in has to be the International Model Boat show at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre. 10 minutes drive from home along the Fosse Way, we see 1 set of...
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Building Skipper Riley
It's cartoon aeroplanes week here at Phil's Workbench!We start with the Zvezda kit for "Skipper Riley" - a character from the Disney film "Planes". Obviously, the model is based on a US Navy Cosair....
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P-51 Mustang egg plane
Here's an odd concept - Hasegawa's Egg Planes. Cartoon versions of real aeroplanes that are sort of egg shaped. A bit of Manga cartoon styling is thrown into the mix with the big eyed lady pilots. They...
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Painting stainless steel
First innovation (well, new product to me) on the egg Mustang is Mr Metal Color paint. I was sent some samples of this a few months ago. Testing for review, it worked well when brushed but I never got...
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Tin foil masking
The P51 isn't just shiny metal, no, it needs some colour too. Normally I'd be inclined to brush paint these as I'm not very good at masking things. Well, it always seems to be a load of trouble and I...
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Packing up for Warley
Time to pack my bags and head off to the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition at the NEC. You can find me on stand E23 in the demonstration area with the usual title "Parker's Guide". With me will...
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Pig in a poke boat
One of the few things I bought at the Model Boat show a couple of weeks ago, came from the Howes Models second hand boat stall. Among the models built by enthusiasts being sold off was a pile of Ripmax...
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Dentists are worse for railway modellers
Monday afternoon saw me making a trip to see Mr Ubi, my dentist. One of my old fillings needed replacing and at the same time he would take care of a hairline crack in the same tooth that had pushed me...
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