Doncaster Model Engineering show 2018

Finding myself needing to make a trip to Doncaster, I managed to arrange this for the same date as the first day of the ME show. Well, they are less than 10 miles from my appointment, so even though it's no longer an essential visit, why not?

The show is held at the racecourse which means the light isn't great for photography and so many of my pictures aren't great. There are a few though and certainly the exhibits were well worth a look.

I did have the chance to chat with Garden Rail advertisers KM1 and enjoy another look at their terrific Gauge One layout. The whole stand is incredibly professional and should give many UK traders pause for thought. Even if you don't like foreign prototypes, it's worth a look just to see what large scale RTR can look like.

Being a multi-disciplinary show, there were plenty of boats ans planes. This lobster fishing craft is a work of art, absolutely choc full of detail and beautifully modelled.

On the aircraft front, I had a go on a radio control 'plane simulator. After 7 broken models, I managed to get one back on the ground in one piece, confirming that some hobbies are just not for me!

More photos on Flickr.

Saturday Film Club: The Great British Train Show 2018

If you want to see the show I travelled all the way to Canada to attend, here it is in this rather well made video. 

For added bonus excitement, you even find a short piece from me at the end of it. Don't worry, you can switch off before you get to that bit...

To boldly go where no bag has gone...

The Beatties carrier bags keep appearing - this time I've bagged one with a picture of the Starship Enterprise on the front.

Since this is the version from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, I'd say this dates from very early 1980s, making it nearly 40 years old! No complaints from me, as this is my favourite version of the venerable spacecraft. A bit slicker than the original but not completely messed with. (We will never mention the version in Enterprise although the dictionary does in the entry for "fuggly")

 

The back of the bag has an advert for Energiser batteries, which I think you can still get, so a long-running brand name. 

Incidentally, if you think I have the largest collection of these bags, you'd be wrong. I understand that a portfolio of the complete set exists somewhere in Leicestershire...

Garden Rail - June 2018

We've gone big this month in Garden Rail. OK, so big is generally what we do, but the cover is dominated by a 7/8th scale brake van so larger than G or 16mm. It's a nice resin kit from Model Earth Design, easy to build but Steph' has added her own personalised touches to give the model even more character. 

Inside, we have the unique (unless anyone knows differently) Gauge 2 3-rail tinplate Smoghampton & Greenhills Railway.

There's also plenty of wagon building including a piece on mass-producing small models for those who need a lot of rolling stock.

Garden Rail Magazine.