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Something big in Hornby Magazine
Always keen to push the boundaries of models suitable for publication in Hornby Magazine, this month I've built a pre-grouping corpse van. Yes - a bit of rolling stock designed for carrying dead...
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Rubbery handles with Plasti Dip
I'm buying some tools for my sister this Christmas (don't worry, she asked for them) but there is a slight snag. While she's happy to have a go at a little light DIY, her skin reacts badly to contact...
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Blogs of Note
The observant amongst you will have noticed in the right hand sidebar that there are lots of good things. You can ask me a question, find out how I'm getting on with the novel, visit my other website,...
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Servicing a Bob Moore lining pen
The recent build of a corpse van required me to perform quite a lot of lining. Since I'm rubbish with a bow-pen, it was applied with my Bob Moore Lining pen. A nice device but you do have to look after...
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Hornby 2013 programme
Hornby have announced their programme for 2013 - It's all over the web so I won't go into detail here. I think one loco deserves a mention, the new Sentinel 4wDM industrial shunter. First impressions...
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Groudle bogies
While I really like the wooden Groudle Glen coach kit, there is an obvious deficiency, the bogie sideframes are, well, basic.If you are running the model in the garden, you might not care much about...
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Cast bogie sides
The best laid plans etc. etc.So, there I am with 4 cast bogies side for the Groudle coach. The look OK - not perfect but good enough for the job. The spring worked pretty well so I'll use that trick in...
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Roof covering
Bigger scales demand more effort in the surface finishes. I could have just painted the Groudle coach roof but it would still look like painted wood, or at best paint on a smooth surface. The real...
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Magna Couplings
We all love a gadget at Christmas so how about these ? Called Magna Couplings, they are rare-earth magnets on laser-cut swivels. Plenty strong enough to connect coaches, even 16mm scale ones, yet the...
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Writing for model mags in Writers Forum
Have you ever wondered how to break in to the rock'n'roll world of the model magazine ?Well, get yourself down to WH Smith and pick up a copy of the latest issue of Writers Forum magazine where one of...
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16mm scale Groudle Glen Coach
Job done! A very enjoyable build of this 16mm scale, laser-cut wood kit. It's not perfect of course, what kit is? Picky Phil would point out the the underframe truss detail should be set back from the...
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Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas everybody.Now stop messing around with the computer. Go play with your presents and eat some turkey!
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Fairground trains
Has anyone ever seriously modelled a fairground train ?The example above is from Winter Wonderland in London's Hyde Park earlier this year. It's basically a great big LGB set running around a patch of...
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RIP Gerry Anderson
At the age of 83, Gerry Anderson has died. The world of entertainment has lost the most consistently innovating and imaginative thinker that we have ever had on British TV. Quite frankly, the UK telly...
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THIS is a Boxing Day sail
Who wants to force poorly-paid shop staff to turn up at work at the crack of dawn on Boxing Day so we can get clothes for a few quid less than they were a couple of days earlier? Not me. My idea of a...
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Triang Fours
I'm not a real collector of old model railways, although a 9 wagon train of Giraffe cars puled by a "Davy Crockett" has a special place in my heart, but I'm fascinated by the products that appear when...
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Instant Orange Tree
Down at the toe of my Christmas stocking there was a tangerine. This is good because while I like an orange, I'm rubbish at peeling the standard model but when the skin falls of easily even with my...
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My 2013 Exhibition Calandar
At the end of the year, it's time to look the the future and sort out my public appearances for 2013.The results can be seen on my exhibition calender. Very scary they are too.Nine shows, yes 9 of...
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7 Up!
The trouble with looking back over a years blogging is that I realise how long some of my projects have been running. Just re-reading January's efforts, I see that the 3mm scale Class 25 is now 12...
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Book Review: Mono-Rail by David Voice
With an eye to the more "interesting" railways, this is an obvious addition to my bookshelf.Subtitled "The History of the industrial monorails made by Road Machines Ltd., Metalair Ltd and Rail Machines...
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