Video: Build a canal boat

 

BRM are currently uploading some of our older construction videos to YouTube, and of course, many of these star me!

This one shows me building a simple canal boat kit. Old technology, but it makes up into a nice model.

Saturday Film Club: Muriel on the original Echills Wood Railway

 

An entertaining blast from the past -7 1/4 inch gauge locomotive "Muriel" running on the Echills Wood Railway when the line was still based at Stoneleigh park. 

I remember riding on it as a child. At the time, I seem to remember there being some proper, enclosed coaches, but we rode on the open trucks with the seat down the middle as you see in the film. I doubt I enjoyed it much, I'm a bit of a wuss about this sort of thing and these trains never seem very stable. 

The line was eventually evicted from Stoneleigh for no good reason, and moved to Kingsbury Water Park where they were welcomed with open arms by rangers who couldn't do enough for their new attraction. After a while, Stoneleigh realised what they had lost and asked them to come back - a request that was not appreciated! The line joined a long list of attractions lost to the park including the Town & Country Festival, Royal Show and VW Action. Make of that what you will. 

Visit Echills Wood online. 

Class 86 locomotives

I'm sure I read something on Twitter this week that said the last Class 86 locomotives in the UK had been moved to storage. Needless to say, I can't find it now, but it sort of gives me an excuse to post this photo of members of the class stored at Long Marsden. 

A bit of digging online tells me that 86 234 was exported to Bulgaria in 2012, where is may well live on, not bad for a 56 year old railway engine!

Cottage tinkering, coach ruining and mucky vehicles in BRM

 I'm making things better, or worse, in the Spring issue of BRM. 

When launching their popular castle kit, Metcalfe Models also added this rather attractive cottage from the village of Laycock to the range. The bigger kit can keep for later, but the cottage looked really attractive and I knew I could make it look even better. 

Actually doing this proved a bit trickier than expected, because my initial plans for the corners didn't work out, but with a little experimentation, I cracked this. A few more mods and the result is a fantastic looking model that could grace any layout. 

We've already reviewed the latest Hornby generic pre-grouping coaches in the shape of a 4-wheeler last month. It's the 6-wheel variant that really interests people though so I blagged one from the big H and then faced a problem - another review? Not really. 

So, I turned it into a project making a run-down example, and am pleased with the results. 

Finally, the BRM TV. 

I'm looking at road vehicles for your layout - taking them apart, adding some dirt etc. 

The most impressive thing is that I start by showing how we used to make cars from whitemetal kits and don't just go off on a 30 minute rant about how useless those expensive kits were...

More on Spring 2021 on RMweb.

More hairspray action on Selly Oak

 

At the canal end of Selly Oak, there has been more hairspray action to give the rough ground a bit of texture. A few blasts of laquer followed by more static grass or some scatter, and it's gained a lot of character. 

I'm not finished, but at least the embankment doesn't look like a freshly mowed lawn. This is really simple to do too and when you need the encouragement of a quick win, well worth the effort. 

There's also been more Forest in Box planted under the right hand side of the bridge. I wanted to block the view with something horrible, scruffy and green. There's still the extra bridge side detail to go in, but I made that weeks ago, then moved the support so it doesn't fit any more...

Resin is bad for your teeth

 

I'm known for and enthusiasm for cutting up those nice ready-to-plonk resin buildings, and turning them into something the manufacturers never envisaged. 

This work tends to be carried out on a cheap mitre saw setup. In the garden obviously, because the process is very messy and you don't want to be ingesting quantities of the dust. 

The problem is, resin is hard. And it doesn't do the saw teeth any favours. 

Hacking away at some wood last week, I was aware that the saw was wearing its way through, not really cutting. Running my finger gently along the teeth provided an explanation. At the ends of the blade (left above) the teeth were sharp. In the middle (right) not. 

I've not used this blade much, but changing it improved things a huge amount. I'm glad I had a spare on the shelf!

Airbrush test Part 2

You might remember that a few weeks ago, I tried out a cheap airbrush with hand-held compressor. 

If you didn't the post is here, go and have a look. 

Several posters asked some interesting questions and made helpful suggestions for further tests, and finding myself with a simple spray job to carry out, I decided to look into this further. 

 First, we have Humbrol Track Colour paint sprayed on to some paper using my Iwata airbrush. I don't look after it properly, but it gives perfectly acceptable results. The only limiting factor is my skill.

The same paint from the cheapo airbrush. This was connected to an airline from the same Sparmax compressor. You can see the difference. Initial impressions that the airbrush is rubbish are confirmed it appears. Well, unless you want to splatter things. 

This time, we have the Iwata connected to the cheapo hand-held compressor. Not bad at all. I happily sprayed several bits of track brown with the setup and I'd do it again. This is basically what I bought the cheapo airbrush for in the first place - portable spray painting. 

The solution seems to be Iwata combined with hand-held compressor. But I now wonder if the rubbish airbrush can be fettled. I need to look into this and see if anything can be done. It's not like I can make things worse after all!

Model railways in the news

It's been a good week for model railways appearing in the mainstream press. 

First, there is an interesting piece in the Waitrose customer magazine talking about people enjoying modelmaking, with a great lead photo. 

Read this here. 

 

The Daily Mail meets Simon George (52) to look at Heaton Junction.

Read this here.

 

And the Peckforton Light Railway makes the local TV news.

Saturday Film Club: Jumbo Railcar

Spotting this video of the Australian diesel hydraulic 2000/2100 class railcars running from Adelaide to Gawler - and thought "I've done that trip". 

Looking through my Australia photos, I found a couple of shots of these interesting looking vehicles. What I can't remember is if I travelled on them. More head scratching required.

Killin Pug

Time for a bit of a flashback - many years ago, I built a model the Killin Pug. (The best web link I can find is the amazing simulator film) for Hornby Magazine. The main build appeared in September 2010 with the chassis the following month. 

At the time, the resin body was a Deans Sidings product, but this is now available from Phoenix Precision Paints. It's intended to fit the Hornby 0-4-0 chassis, but with some extra wheels. 

A better chassis was required and this came from Branchlines - but it was nice to cover both average modeller and high(ish)-fi options. 

The finished model looks a lot like the Hornby Caledonian "Pug", but subtly different. One to run on your layout when you have visitors with sharper eyesight. I notice, searching for back-issues, that one forumite commented "Took me a while to work out the point of the Killin Pug, seemed to be just replacing the Hornby body with a almost identical resin one until I spotted the extra rear wheelset."!

 The kit is one of those that any beginner looking for a bit of variety in their fleet could take on. Nowadays, there is a fine selection of 3D printed models offering the chance to drop a new body on a RTR chassis, and it's a very satisfying thing to do. For me anyway. 

Rocket train

Another random shot I've set up for a work project. This time we have a Hornby Rocket (the 2020 version, I still can't find my Tri-ang model) on a seven vehicle train. 

Amazingly, even though it's sat on stainless steel rails, given juice from a 9V battery, the little 0-2-2 still managed to haul this lot. A little wheel spinning to start, but it goes, and the track is slightly curved too. Very impressive.

Yellow, tin house roof

 

Driving on a work trip to click'n'collect from Tony's Trains in Rugby for a work project last week, I passed an amazing building. With the trees free of leaves, it stood out a mile and only the lack of stopping places prevented me taking a photo. 

Looking every inch like a plastic kit painted by a beginner who choses colours they like rather than realistic ones, the roof is bright yellow, and I mean bright. 

Interestingly, it's a corrugated iron roof too. I'd guess a replacement, possibly for thatch? 

Whatever, this would be an interesting model to include on a layout, but keep a photo handy to prove you haven't made it up!

You can see the building on Google Streetview.

Trams in all scales

 

Set up for some recent filming, I couldn't resist a photo of my collection of LNER "Toby's" in 2, 3, 4 and 7mm scales. 

From the front - whitemetal, etched brass, resin, etched brass. Sadly, I now can't remember the kit makers apart from the O gauge model - Connoisseur Kits. The main lesson to take from this, I think, is that you can't really beat an etched brass kit for crisp modelling!

Class 02 Diesels

 

Over the years, I've built quite a lot of Class 02 diesels. The first loco kit I bought was a DJH beginners model. The ready built chassis appealed to me as the £50 price tag was a big chunk of cash to a trainee (and hopeless) accountant earning a pittance. 

I asked my friend Dave Elbourne to look at it during a show and he said it all looked good so I jumped in. 

The resulting model looked great and worked well enough to do a few turns on Scotland Street - something I was very proud of. The photo below shows it working the yard.

Eventually, the whitemetal chassis twisted, probably the reason later kits came with an etched version, and the loco ran like a dog. Then it was stolen and replaced with a Craftsman etched brass kit. 

I think I've built two of these. One was for my bookazine, as I considered it the perfect introduction to the medium. 

Since then, there has been a 3D printed kit which went together well and finally, the O gauge beginners kit from Tower models. This one is so well designed, it can be put together without solder!

Now, the prospect of a RTR model in 4 and 7mm scales is on the horizon from Heljan. People probably won't build 02's any more. Probably not even me. Shame really, but that's progress. 

Inspiration, or the lack of it.

 

Is anyone else struggling to keep themselves inspired at the moment? 

I look at the modelling projects in my stash and not one of them leaps out at me crying to be built. Worse, this has been the case for weeks, if not months. 

OK, I have build stuff for work, but I'm not getting as much pleasure out of that as normal. Projects that I'd once looked forward to are done, but with little enthusiasm. Selly Oak has stalled as the delivery date moves into the far future. Fortunately, I've received a couple of positive e-mails about it which have provided a welcome jolt of enthusiasm. 

My writing partner wrote recently that she was bored with everything and I think that's a big part of it. With no end to lockdown on the cards for months, if ever, everything just seems like a trudge. 

I know there are people out there being enthusiastic. Sales of modelling products are up, hugely in some cases. All that knowledge does for me is wonder if I shouldn't clear all my stuff out on eBay while the going is good. Ditch the lot, and take up some other hobby. But what? It's not like there is anything else that interests me either at the moment. 

All my life I have loved making things. Really loved it. Being creative, working with my hands, turning nothing into something. But not any more. 

OK, I can't stop - there is a list of work projects for various publications awaiting attention. I'll not be giving up so maybe some of my previous enthusiasm will return. I hope so. 

In the meantime, if someone finds mu modelling mojo - can I have it back?

Saturday Film Club: Build a Fairy house from cardboard

A really impressive build - creating a fairy house out of cardboard and lashings of hot glue. 

Recording this video must have taken some effort, and the model itself benefits from the builder's artistic skills.

Bogroll bandits in miniature

 

I'm a bit late tot he party with these, but tidying up a box from the office, I found some Busch HO scale bogroll bandits - a tribute to the famous toilet paper shortages of 2020. I couldn't resist setting them up for photos.

The models here are 7910 and 7912 - supplied ready painted and assembled, with empty shelves and signs. 

Put them on your layout and you've firmly nailed the sate down, but that might be what you want. 

 I think these will be interesting collectables in years to come. Something to remember the early days of the pandemic by - something that will (hopefully) be a memory.

Garden Rail March 2021

 

 

Transport yourself back to the Exhill Light Railway's last days. John Besley takes us on a tour of his fictitious West Country line where we can enjoy the extreme levels of detail he incorporated into the model.

Detail is also the theme of Eddie Lund's Hunslet tunnelling locomotive build, but then he drives the real thing so should know a bit about it.

How tight can your curves be? We do the maths to see if you stand a chance of fitting the Ffestiniog Dduallt loop in your garden.

And staying in Wales, we review Talyllyn No.1 from Accucraft. 

 

Full contents listing on RMweb. 

Print your own decals (transfers)

 

When I showed a picture of my Garden Rail Mostyn 7 van, someone asked me where I'd got some GR transfers from. I explained they were a print-your-own waterslide set but couldn't find the details. 

I've used the same stuff for the shipping container, and have tracked down the supplier: 

Expert's Choice decal system. 

I use the clear background version. Simply run them through the inkjet printer, spray with a few coats of satin varnish, leave to dry and then use as normal. Microsol and Microset seem to work on them to make the sheet, which is a bit stiffer then "proper" transfers, bend over lumpy bits of the model. 

They work well for this sort of job, but if I'm honest, the Humbrol varnish makes them slightly yellow, and you need to put them on a white background as of course, the printer doesn't print white. Maybe I could use a different, or just less, varnish.

Basically, if Fox Transfers do something suitable - use that. If not, this will work, but isn't as good.

A container full of Garden Rail?

 

With the wagon, came a shipping container, and well, there was only one colour I could paint it. 

The model is a slot-together laser-cut MDF kit. Nothing exciting here, but the roof is very well supported and that is the sort of job that pre-cut parts make easy. I wouldn't have put this many ribs in if I'd been scratchbuilding, but if the pieces are there, I'm going to use them. 

Laser-etched detail doesn't cut it for me however, so strips of Plastikard were superglued in place and slices of microrod stuck on these. It might be a bit overscale, but my garden railway style is cartoony, so they look the part. I like to think I have over-emphasised the detail for dramatic effect. 

The roof is plastic glued and pinned down because I didn't trust it to stay put. Over this, some tissue paper is fixed with lashings of plastic cement.

Ash Models 16mm scale Lowmac

 

Spotted on eBay, this Lowmac (OK, that's the BR classification and not really appropriate for this, but I'll stick with it) looked like it might be useful for my railway. Buildable in 32 and 45mm gauges, I have a few ideas for loads that could be strapped to the back - especially for advertising Garden Rail. 

This kit is supplied laser-cut in MDF with glass-filled nylon wheels and couplings. No instructions were included, but it's hardly rocket science to slot the bits together. 

I'm assuming you are supposed to pick the chassis sides to suit the gauge, but for 32mm, that would leave gaps in the cross members. 

I used both, but chopped the inner ones back. The wheels are a tight fit on their axles, so I'm hoping I can slide them in and out to fit the track. No axleboxes are included and for 32mm, they will be needed to stop the axle sliding to the side. 

Once built, the wagon was treated to a coat of sanding sealer, then a couple of coats of spray primer, sanding between each one. The finish is OK, but not very polished. 

The finishing touch is a set of tie-down rings soldered up from copper wire and fitted into plastic plates. I'm wondering if they should be at 90 degrees to the way I've fitted them, but it's too late now. 

Nice model, easy to assembled and ideal for my purposes. £25 well spent.

Missing Stafford

 

With all model railway shows cancelled for the foreseeable future, I've been pondering on which I miss the most. Which has lead me to think about what makes a good show from my personal point of view. 

I'm going to ignore shows I attend purely for work, and by that I mean the Warners events at Ally Pally, Doncaster and Peterborough.  Much as I enjoy each of them a lot, and would probably go to at least one if I were paying to go in, for obvious reasons, my relationship with the event is different. On the same basis, I can't say Warley NEC, even though I've visited Warley shows since they were at the Harry Mitchell Centre. At all these, I'm "performing" all day, I'm not there to enjoy myself, even though I do.

This also counts out Leamington & Warwick shows - especially since I might only see them from the car park. 

I also need to limit myself to the shows as they currently are. No point is dreamily thinking back to Auchtermuchty in 1993, because it has gone. It's in the past. It's also fictitious, but you get my point. I mean I could say Nottingham when it was in the centre of the city and the trip there included my first sighting of a Sprinter train. No time machine, no revisit.

Ultimately, it all comes down to two - York and Stafford. I've been going to both for years. 

But the winner has to be Stafford. It ticks a lot of boxes for me, most importantly, being a day out. 

The journey starts with a bus ride to the station. Then a train to Stafford followed by a vintage bus to the showground. I enjoy all of that. York means a three-hour drive and I prefer travelling by train. I just do. 

On arrival, I head to the cafe to let the first crowds get in while enjoying tea and not standing in the cold.

 

Once I do make it inside, it's straight to the back of the show for the second-hand stall. I'll never give up the pleasure of a club bring'n'buy and the friendly team here always relieve me of some money. They seem to know to expect me and I'm greeted with a glint in the eye! The addition of a card machine only made this worse, but I don't care. There have been some terrific bargains picked up, things I've been looking for for a while, and junk that I probably shouldn't have purchased, but did anyway. 

After that, it's time to work around the hall looking at layouts and picking up essentials from the trade. I get to chat to people I know, but in a more relaxed way than when I'm "working". There will obviously be a bit of work done - I'm always layout spotting for the magazine as well as picking up gossip. 

Lunch is back to the cafe where something warm is accompanied by some cake. Regular readers will know how important that it. Afterwards, I try to remember to check the timetable for buses back to the station. 

And this is pretty much a standard day. I know what I'm getting into and how it will pan out. Maybe if the train in gets there earlier, I have the chance to nip over and see the aviary in the park next to the station. If it's really early, the hothouse is perfect for a warm-up. Well, the show is in February after all, snow on the ground isn't uncommon!

Maybe York has a nicer venue. The cafe is posher and no-one struggles for mobile phone signals to make card readers work, but Stafford, and shows like this, win for me because I turn the whole day into something special by leaving the car at home. 

Perhaps this stems from my early show visiting days. My dad doesn't drive, so we used to take the train and those trips were special. Mind you, even when we exhibited at shows, the evening involved a look around the town rather than just the nearest pub. I'm a bit rubbish at travelling, but in my own small way, I like to get out and about. I'm really missing that.

Relive some past shows:

Stafford 2020

Stafford 2019

Stafford 2018

Stafford 2017 

Stafford 2016 

Stafford 2015 

Stafford 2014

Stafford 2013

Stafford 2010 

Stafford 2009

Stafford 2008

Saturday Film Club: Exploring Hellingly Station

 

An interesting tour of Hellingly Station, now a private house, junction between the "Cuckoo line" and The Hellingly Hospital Railway. 

With my long term interest in the line, I have been to the station, but it was many years ago and I could do nothing but peer at it. Certainly not bang on the door as ask to look around with a camera.

TMNR Times

Friday posts here tend to be a bit collectory. Well, this isn't something I own, but I'd certainly like to change that.

Between 1963 and 1966, Tri-ang produced a 10 1/4" railway system. Yes, a real ride-on railway. 

Obviously these are very rare, but a surprising number still exist in various stages of repair. If you own one, you really need to join the Tri-ang Minic Narrow gauge Railway society.  

Normally the in-house magazine is just for members, but the latest issue has been made public, and it's well worth a read with interesting articles on the history of the models.  

Read the TMNR Times. 

And if anyone has one of these going begging, let me know. Heaven knows where I'd put it though! 

 

 

 

Book Review: Unconsidered Trifles by Geoff Kent

Long term blog readers who remember my "Warehouse Wednesday" series of prototype photos that ran here for a few years, will know that I'm a fan of photographing interesting structures with a view to building models of them. 

It seems that I'm not alone - Geoff Kent does the same thing, and has published a book through Wild Swan with many, many fascinating photos. 

Living in a more rural part of the world than me, his are probably more useful for the majority of modellers with all sorts of old huts, signs, fences, memorials and bridges featured. 

Even if you don't plan to model any of this stuff, the A4, 64 page book can be treated as a coffee table publication and enjoyed by anyone interested in looking out of the car window as they travel, spotting interesting things. There's plenty to reminisce about if you are old enough and much useful information on aged street furniture if you aren't. 

All the photos are reproduced large enough to be useful and apart from one, in full colour too. 

Railway nerds will probably whinge there aren't enough shots of signal boxes and stuff - but these are available in lots of books, what Geoff has presented us with is all the other stuff you need for an attractive scene that isn't on your bookshelf in a compact and easy to flick through form. 

At £14.95 (from Titfield Thunderbolt) there's a lot of inspiration in these pages, making it well worth the money in my opinion.

Waste ground

  

In front of the station side road, there is a section of ground with no real purpose. Literally "waste ground", and since this sort of land was quite common in the 1970s, that's exactly what I've decided it will be for now. If I come up with another idea, just like the prototype, it can be redeveloped. 

Several colours and lengths of static grass were laid on the "mud" and once dry, scrubbed away on patches with the toothbrush to reveal the earth colour. I'm quite pleased with the look this gave the model, especially considering how easy it was to do. Like hairspray weathering, the technique seems to produce a natural finish almost automatically. 

After that, it's more Forest in a Box around the corners and a couple of clumps in the middle. A bit of grass and perhaps some smaller undergrowth using scatter over poitin in the future, but for now, I can leave this bit. 

I'm tempted by a burnt out vehicle, but wonder if that's a bit cliche. Dunno. One to consider later.

Really thick undergrowth

 

For the embankment at Selly Oak, I wanted some really thick, scruffy undergrowth. More texture than static grass alone could offer. The sort of horrible, spiky bushes that self-set in ground no-one cares about, forming a thick and impenetrable barrier if you try to walk through them. 

After a little bit of pondering, I decided to use lots and lots of small pieces of "Forest in a Box". Green Scene supplied me with a box marked "S" which contained shot, but dense material. All I had to do was cut it up even smaller, dunk in PVA and press home on the embankment. 

After that, watered down PVA was poured everywhere to ensure the stuff stayed put and then using hair spray and scatter, the bushes were given their leaves. 

What should have been a quick job took more time than expected as the Seafoam needed to be cut into small pieces and quite a few of the less dense stalks were discarded. It looks nice though, in a horrible, wouldn't want to have to retrieve my school cap from there* sort of way. 

Bad primary school memory involving a rose bush.

Mini Airbrush With Compact Compressor test

 

 I saw it advertised on Facebook. Decided it could be useful and not too expensive, but am I happy?