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New pickups, level crossings and grass in August's BRM
Plenty of practical work from me in the latest issue of BRM. Asked to build a level crossing - I built two! It seemed a good idea to have a go at both the classic ex-Airfix version, and the latest from...
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Navy day 2022
I'm not really into grey boats. In fact I have an aversion to a lot of military stuff being a bit of a lefty pacifist. However, I can appreciate the skill and effort that goes into building a model...
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Flat finish grass?
After my look at The Army Painter Matt Varnish last week, Mark asked: How do you reckon it would work on scenery? The newly laid static grass on my layout is a bit on the shiny side so I need to tone...
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Green Peco
Looking at the bottom of the box that a Peco 009 Snailbeach District Railway hopper arrives in, I spot this little note. The boys from Beer seem to be upping their environmental game recenlty. All the...
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Warehouse Wednesday: Big lumps of stone
File this one under "prototype for everything". From 2010, when those cars were more common, a couple of cottages in Welshpool made of the most enormous lumps of stone. Were I building a model I'd say...
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Binnie vs LGB
On the left, a Binnie Engineering 16mm scale, 45mm gauge tipper wagon built from a kit. On the right, a train of LGB ready to run tipper wagons, also 45mm gauge. Quite a difference in size!I suspect...
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Had your chips
Sorry for the lack of a post this morning. I've been busy, so have a photo of me holding something to do with DCC from many years ago.
View ArticleSaturday Film Club - Layout in a day
It seems a long time ago, but in fact only four weeks have passed since I built a garden railway at The National Garden Railway Show. Fortunately, my collegue, Howard Smith was on hand to record the...
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Smallspace 2022
A terric show - too much to see. Too much to buy. I bought an Airfix "Cosmic Clipper" plastic kit from the guy responsible for the airline effects in the Bond flick Casino Royale. We had a fascinating...
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HMS Gammon?
£60 from the KMBC "Bring and Buy" stand at the annual Navy Day. I wasn't looking for another model boat. In fact I was very much not looking to add to my fleet, but this one spoke to me. For a start,...
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Fire up the jets
Looking inside the SAR boat, the installation of the working bits is very nice. Everything is firmly fixed down. Neat wiring too. I've no idea what should be in there, but the speed control is a...
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Warehouse Wednesday: Ascott under Wychwood signal box and crossing
Spotted on the way back from a photo job - this attractive signal box and crossing. Looking online, it seems the box was due to be removed, or at least taken out of service, but budgetry constraints...
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The one-minute model boat stand
When working on a model boat, having the thing rocking around on the workbench is a bit of a nuisance. The correct thing to do, is build a proper stand for it to sit in. It might be the "correct"...
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Paging Black Cat Mine
Another random photo - This time of the Gn15 layout "Black Cat Mine". A lovely model, I took a series of photographs back in 2017 for a potential magazine feature. The pics turned out OK, and we tried...
View ArticleSaturday Film Club: Whomobile on Blue Peter
Jon Pertwee wasn't my Dr Who, that was Tom Baker, but I still appreciate Pertwee. The Whomobile, wasn't actually built for the TV series, Pertwee commissioned it and then the BBC liked it so much, the...
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DEMU 2022
According to a popular web forum, there was no cake to be had at the DEMU showcase last weekend. As a seasoned cake hunter, I found some. OK, it was tucked at the end of the bar, and the process of...
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A very shiny Cylon
A quick little project picked up at Smallspace. This 35mm tall (to the top of his hat) 3D printed Cylon Warrior (from the original Battlestar Galactica in case you didn't know) only cost a couple of...
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SAR boat on the water
Batteries charged, it's time to take the pilot boat to the lake and see how it handles. First though, I tie the superstructure to the hull with a length of wire. It's held in place with magnets, which...
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Warehouse Wednesday: Commonwealth games
With the games taking place down the road from me, literally in the case of lawn bowls, I'm doing my best to grab lots of photos of the events around the games themselves. The place is festooned with...
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