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Fowler Brakes
If the Pug blogged yesterday was a case of, "fix it to last the last few days of owning an O gauge layout", then the Fowler shunter is, "Finish building it before you don't own somewhere for it to...
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Grab rails and handles
Chassis assembled, it's back to the body. Not much to do here for finishing touches. Most of the work was drilling 0.7mm holes to fit grab handles on the bonnet and cab side with superglue. At the...
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Cab steps
Without the instructions, figuring our the cap steps is a challenge. The prototype photos show them clearly but I could only find the sides and one tread on the etch. Worse, the tread appeared too wide...
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Preparing for Leamington Exhibition
Another weekend, another model railway exhibition. This time though, it's the local show, just down the road from me at Stoneleigh. I'll be taking two layouts: Clayhanger Yard and Edgeworth.This might...
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Kettering 2014
My second proper, serious O gauge show!Kettering is a great show to exhibit at. You have to be there early enough to get a parking space at the hall. Very early as it happens, stands must be set up by...
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My Paddington shame
I was catching up on some TV a couple of nights ago - the programme I was watching being Series 2 of Danny Baker's "Brushing up on..." This episode being titled "Miniature Britain."You can catch the...
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Farewell, Clayhanger Yard
Back in late February, I mentioned that my 7mm scale layout, Clayhanger Yard was for sale. At Kettering show, I was made an offer and accepted it. The buyer was keen enough to borrow a packing end...
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Building GWR Beetle
Last week I spent a morning in Leamington Spa library promoting our exhibition. The idea was simple enough, turn up, sit and do some modelling, chat to anyone passing by and hand them a leaflet, go...
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Beetle windows and doors
First job according to the instructions, with the Beetle van kit, is fitting the glazing. Plastic sheet is provided along with measurements for cutting.After truing up the edge I roughly measured these...
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Dirty Sentinel, Pizza and coupling in BRM
In the first post-Edgeworth BRM of the year, I've not been idle.First there is a Hornby Sentinel loco weathering project. Regular readers of this blog will know that I was keen to get my paws on one of...
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Sides on
Simple task next on the Beetle van. Stick all the sides together.The parts locate well enough. A little plastic solvent run in to the corners and then left alone to dry as a pair of L-shaped parts....
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Dragline digger
I'm a bit busy today, so please amuse yourselves by looking at these pictures of a Bennie Ruston-Bucyrus 54RB I spotted at the Snibston Discovery Museum a couple of weeks ago. I don't know much about...
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Leamington Spa 2014
An early start for me - 7:45 at Radio CWR for a quick interview to plug the event. I'm told that it all sounded OK but have managed to avoid hearing it so far. The sausage bap on my return was very...
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Unusual visitors and test running
We had one unusual visitor to Edgeworth at Leamington - a Korean brass Ho American loco. Not a normal thing to find on a 1930s GWR branch line...The model had been purchased from another stall and it's...
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Below the solebar
Back to the Beetle story and I stuck the brake gear stuff in place pretty quickly. To help the builder, Parkside mould guide marks under the floor. That's not to say you can't go wrong, just that if...
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Beetle Built
3 hours steady work and this is the result - a GWR "Beetle" prize cow wagon. If I'd pushed myself, I reckon half an hour could be shaved from that time but this is a hobby, not a race. Besides, I was...
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Paint it white
David Asks:I was given an Airfix model of the Canberra as a child and it came out of the box white. Roughly forty years later I bought the same Airfix model again (for nostalgic reasons after I had...
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The London Festival of Railway Modelling
According to the blurb in the latest magazine:The BRM Project Layout Edgeworth will also be in attendance. Edgeworth was built by BRM's Phil Parker and searialised in the Janauary, February and March...
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A discrete turntable
Found in the August 1950 issue of The Model Railway News, is this fantastic turntable. I love the neatly made curtain around its perimeter, not just a plain cloth but something carefully tailored and...
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Larger Scale Show 2014
Some people only go to the big shows. The ones that are fashionable. The ones everyone else goes to. I've always said this is a mistake and last weekend, I think I was proved right. The Larger Scale...
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