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Hornby APT
The Hornby model of the Advanced Passenger Train, strictly speaking an APT-P, was launched in 1980. Designed in conjunction with British Rail, it unfortunately enjoyed a rather more reliable tilt...
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Leamington 2016
A new venue!After several years at Stoneleigh Park, the owners decided we were no longer welcome, presumably they preferred the empty hall, so we headed back into town with the first show at Mid...
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Sold As Seen
This is an Airfix 1400 ex-GWR tank in BR livery.As you can see, it's dust and rusty. The box has a badly torn window. I bought it a year or so ago for £12. Last weekend, I tried to sell it. For £12....
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NCB Blue
Steven asks: I was wondering exactly which paint make and shade you used for the RSH sidetank? The shade when weathered is just right for one of the NCBs Cumberland area locos.It's Humbrol 25 - Matt...
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Don't throw away a little person
I have a plastic box full of figures. Some are new but others have been rescued from old models or even bought in odd boxes of second hand stuff. The man above is an Airfix figure and as you can see,...
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Warehouse Wednesday - AP Leamington
Once upon a time, Automotive Products was the largest employer in Leamington Spa. My dad worked there and I remember in the 1990s collecting him from work occasionally on Friday when the crowds would...
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Rockin' the hi-vis look
I'm off to Alexandra Palace tomorrow and in the paperwork there is new instruction: Please note that all exhibitors present during Friday set up and on Sunday break down, effectively during the period...
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Off to London
Today I'm packing up Ruston Quays for our trip down to the London Festival of Railway Modelling.Driving in the capital is one of my least favourite occupations but needs must. If I go down the M1, it...
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Large Scale Model Rail show 2016
The weather is improving so it's time to start thinking garden railway. Handily, the Large Scale show is just around the corner from me so along we go to see what's new in the world of big trains.If...
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Chairman's Challenge boat sails
Better weather means more time sailing boats and one on the list to see afloat is the hull I'm working on for the Chairman's Challenge this year.With the mechanical gubbins installed, I tested the hull...
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New sign for old
If you write on a door with white ink and then heavily wash it with paint to weather said door, the ink runs.No problem, print a new sign and stick it over the old one. Then add figures from Priesler...
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You're just being silly
Much as I love exhibiting model railways, by the end of the last day it's difficult to avoid letting your hair down a bit. Last weekend was no exception.We'd borrowed a production model of the APT-E...
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Warehouse Wednesday: Modern tin boxes
Last week I looked at the remains of AP Leamington. Beside them are these modern industrial units built in the last 12 months.The simple design would appear to be easy to model. There's pretty much no...
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Easy clean airbrush
One of the cardinal rules of airbrush ownership is that you MUST clean the tool out after every spray painting session.I did a little painting last week for a BRM video. We finished shooting around...
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Pretty good photos
Cameras are over-rated. What you see above is my aged Fuji AX650. I took yesterdays blog photo on it and the results, in low light, weren't half bad. Maybe not suitable for blowing up huge in a...
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London Festival of Railway Modelling 2016
"No you can't move the stand."That's what I was told on arrival at a show. A slight mix-up with the planning left Ruston Quays stranded in the gangway if we followed the diagram in the programme. I was...
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More APT collectables
There's a lot of talk on model railway forums about the APT-E with the arrival of Rapido's model. Lots of people are collecting a nice box of toy train and raving about it. I'm also waiting, but in the...
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Peco K6 telephone box
I've always had a thing for red telephone boxes.I love the idea of a standard building dotted around the countryside, and of course they are now indisputably vintage now we all have mobiles.When I...
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Inside the box
Oh dear Peco. What have you done?What we expected from a firm as traditional as you inside our phone box was a Button B interior, like this:What we find in the kit is a modern(ish) phone more suitable...
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Warehouse Wednesday: Barge House, London
Last week I had a meeting in London. For reasons that need not concern us here, I arrived at the address shown on a document, only to discover that the meeting was in a different part of town. Rushing...
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