N gauge Japanese Trams - Part Two

Well, the kits aren't so much "shake the box" as "clip all the parts off the sprue and push them together" - construction of each model took minutes. In terms of pounds per minute of entertainment, they probably score lower than a pint of beer. I take longer to drink one of those than build both of these!

That said, these are rather nice, possibly even cute, models. The side windows could do with glazing, but apart from that, I can't fault them. 

You can see how the motorised chassis would fit into the body. No glue, no screws, just clips. If these are too tight, the body side can be eased away without damaging it. 

The toughest job was fitting the pantographs. The tubes these push in to are a bit tight, but a little wiggling did the job. 

Oh,and there are loads of, what I assume are rub-down decals. Except they didn't seem to want to rub down, so I left them off. 

So, curiosity satisfied, I will ponder what to do with them. There are super-micro Japanese layouts appearing on the web every so often, although these usually employ a four-wheel tram and because I wanted the orange livery, both of mine are bogie units. I'll start collecting images and add them to the "one day" list.

At least at 62mm long, they don't take up much space in the display case.

N gauge Japanese Trams - Part One

  

Why did I buy a box containing two N gauge Japanese tram kits? 

Because they were there. 

There being under the Tramway & Light Railway Society stand. Spotting the brightly coloured boxes, I couldn't help but take a proper look (yes, I should be sensible, but one of the models was orange!) and when I peering inside I decided that for the price of a couple of pints, they would be a bit of fun. 

Each model is supplied pre-painted, and the kit is designed to be assembled without glue. 

As far as I can tell from the instructions, it's possible to motorise these models using Tometec chassis, but these have to be bought separately. Had they been in the box, I'd have brought a lot more home for that price. 

The painting is superb. Not just a single colour livery, but two colours plus windows, mirrors and wing mirrors picked out in silver. The bogies, roof and pantograph have also been sprayed. This should be a "shake the box" kit.

Pictures of trams

Just a couple of photos today - both taken last Sunday at the model tramway festival at Crich Tramway Museum. Enjoyable day with tram rides and a few nice models - plus a full rucksack of goodies for me!

Saturday Film Club: James May's Beach Buggy

Just as I was posting photos of my completed Beach Buggy, this video pops up on YouTube showing James May and a buggy he has just bought. 

It's a fun little film and confirms that I'd quite like to own a full-size version of the plastic kit. Actually, I'd like to build a full-size version of the plastic kit. Only lack of time, money and space are stopping me. 

And I've been to Kingfisher Kustoms many years ago and met Dave. I can't remember what I bought for my Beetle (not the worst car in the world Mr May) but there was a train trip to Brum to do it. 

If you enjoy the film, there's a behind the scenes one too.

Ballard Brothers embossed brickwork

I can't resist rooting around underneath trade stands. Sometimes you find fascinating things. 

This is a sheet of embossed cardboard with 4mm scale bricks. The photos has been tweaked so they show up - the sheet isn't as dirty as it looks. 

On the back is:

BALLARD BROS

INDUSTRIAL AND ARCHITECTURAL

MODEL MAKERS

133 SCHOOL ROAD

MOSELEY

BIRMINGHAM, 13 

There is no sign any more of Ballard Bros, and 133 School Road might have been a shop once upon a time, it's now a house according to Streetview. 

The card is an odd size - 10 inches by 6 1/4 - was that ever a standard size? 

Anyway, I have 2 sheets of this stuff and they cost me 50p. No idea what I'll use it for, but maybe I'll need to make a vintage look model and it will come into its own.

Cover design?

 

We often talk about cover design at work, but this one isn't something that has ever been on the agenda. 

The caption on the contents page says "One of Britian's latest models contemplates the latest models from Graham Farish. Photo by Len Weal"

I'll admit, it's eye-catching. The mag leap out at me from a box of freebies a few days ago and even though I need no more toy train magazines, I had to add it to the collection. 

Would this sell an issue to you? 

And I wonder who she is, and what she is doing now. Is there a copy of this on her wall?

Looking at the Bachmann Quarry Hunslets

 

Last week I had my first chance to get paws on the running EP samples of Bachmann's 009 Quarry Hunslet. 

First impressions are that this thing (things, there are four of them) is tiny. Properly small. I know there were some questions asked when the loco was announced - people wondered if it would be possible to pack everything into such a diminutive model and produce a reliable result. 

Yes, there have been small 009 locos before, but they tended to be done on the cheap with the result that the mechanism isn't reliable, or capable of running as a realistic speed. 

That's the not the case here. OK, the RRP of £134 is going to scare a few people who think an Iberton Cuckoo still costs a fiver because the last time they bought one was in the 1970s. For that money you will get a model that feels well made. OK, we weren't allowed near the thing with a screwdriver, but handling a loco, you feel the weight, and that it is properly screwed together. 

Looking at the cabless versions, there's no sign of the motor. Quite how this works is a mystery. 

OK, so there is a compromise - you can have DCC but not sound. There really isn't anywhere to put a speaker (OK, the cab, but the designer has kept that empty). Apart from that, the tooling suite allows for different detail options, both now, and in the future. 

Aftermarket body options might also appear. The body on this can be removed cleanly, offering the possibility of additional kits from cottage industries. These are common in standard gauge, so why not in 009? 

Anyway, the full interview with the designer can be found here:

Beach Buggies compared - Airfix vs Revell

 

I suppose we ought to compare the recently finished Airfix beach buggy with the Revell version I built three years ago. The web loves this sort of thing after all. 

Both are the same scale, and fortunately, not the same prototype. Revell is slightly cheaper, but Airfix uses stiffer plastic. Revell give you rubber tyres, but I think the Airfix wheels and tyres look better. You get figures with Airfix and not with Revell - and in this sort of car, I think that's a big thing. 

Around the back, Airfix has a Type 1 engine, Revell, Type 4. Another win for Airfix here I think. Interestingly, the British kit is right hand drive, the German left hand drive. I can see arguments for both as this is a vehicle you'd mainly associate with the sunnier climbes of America. 

I'd give a small win to Airfix, mainly because of the engine and figures, but both are fun builds. 

However, all this got me thinking. While I'm not big on customised Beetles, I do have a soft spot for a Baja bug. 

 

So, I wonder if I could take the buggy wheels and engine, plus the Airfix Beetle kit and make one of these? There would need to be some scratchbuilding of course, but that would be a big part of the kitbashing fun wouldn't it? 

Something to think about anyway...

Airfix Beach Buggy - ready for the surf

 In odd minutes over the last week, I've finished the Airfix Beach Buggy kit. I know the project has jumped some steps, but I'm sure you don't need all of them. 

Anyway, the body is stuck to the chassis, seats and figures added and the clear parts fitted with Glue'n'Glaze. Told you it wasn't exciting.

There were a few interesting wrinkles. The roll bar is on the clear sprue, and is glazed. Not sure why this is as you wouldn't have a honking great window behind the seats, it would act like an air-brake for a start. carefully opening this up with a razor saw looks better, and makes it easier to paint. On balance, I should have replaced it with something thinner, but it's OK. 

 

Both figures are nicely sculpted, but a little laid back. They looked odd until I painted their eyes in (I don't normally bother with eyes on 4mm figures and sometimes not on 7mm, but these definitely needed them doing) and she is still staring at the sky rather than forward. I'm out of practise on skin tones too and think I could have done a better job - but every project is a learning exercise. 

Overall, I'm pleased to have had the chance to revisit the kit and enjoyed the build. Aside from a few issues, the model goes together well. 

 

If you want to do a really top-notch job, I'd recommend buying two kits and building the first to get a feel for the model, then making the second the exhibition job. There's plenty of scope for customisation too - the nerf bars on the front could be changed, and the rear cage is a bit basic too. That fan belt cover would be nice in mesh with visible pulleys too. 

But then that's the joy of plastic kits - so adaptable, and so much fun to adapt.

Art in the Park

A proper event - with other people!

Leamington's annual Art in the Park event didn't happen last year for obvious reasons, but in 2021, it's back with a vengeance. Now filling both sides of Jephson Gardens with stands of artists showing the fruit of their labours plus music and interesting food. 

To be honest, it's a bit of a middle-class fete, but none the worse for it. Entry is free and you'd like to think that perhaps a few youngsters who wouldn't otherwise see this stuff will take a look and be inspired. There's a difference between having to make art at school and seeing that people can make an income from something they are passionate about. 

Simple being around people (outdoors with a breeze) was a joy and something I've not experienced for many months. There were chance encounters with friends too - at one point I was sheltering from the drizzle in a decorative blacksmith's stand and found myself next to one of my old bosses. We are now looking at doing the sample metalbashing course at some point!

There was cake, but more interestingly, fish taco and a single halloumi chip (only one, I nicked it from a friend) both of which were new to me and delicious. 

Just like a model railway show, I couldn't leave without buying something. My greetings card stocks are replenished with the sort of things you don't find on the high street, and after a good look around, the item that stuck in my mind, and was within reach of my pocket, was from a ceramic artist stand. I bought a Christmas tree! Maybe not the most avant garde thing I could own, but it's hand made and I chatted to the person who produced it, and that makes a big difference to me.

Fantastic day. Looking forward to next year. 

More on the Art in the Park website.

Saturday Film Club: Driving toys

Hands up if you had Matchbox cars in your childhood. 

Yes, me too. While mine spent quite a bit of time whooshing along those plastic tracks, there were more skilful driving options out there. This video shows you three of them, including Matchbox's own "Steer and Go" version. 

Even if you aren't in to driving, the mechanisms are fascinating things. Sadly, these all suffered badly at the hands of their young owners, so be prepared to pay proper money if you fancy adding anything like this to a collection via ebay.

Pinch bar

For reasons that will be explained another day, I recently had to help move a railway van without the aid of a locomotive, or even a horse. Fortunately, it rolled pretty easily for most of the 20 feet or so we had to move it, but for the last few inches, a pinch bar was required. 

I've never properly looked at one of these before, and it's not quite the same as the one in the old Cooper Craft plastic kit. Theirs is a very simple affair, but here, we had something with a clever ratchet attachment at the end. If you click on the photo, it will enlarge so you can have a proper look. 

Using one is simple enough, if very time-consuming, very, very time-consuming if you let the wagon roll back again...

This video comes from the excellent Barrow Hill "Tools of the Trade" web page.

Russell Lupins

Another quickie practical over on World of Railways, this time making one of my favourite additions to a layout, Russell Lupins.

I've used these flowers on pretty much every layout I've built, and an awful lot of the dioramas, because they add some detail and colour to any scene, and yet are simple to make. 

Modelling Russell Lupins.

New look Humbrol weathering powders

  

The nice people at Hornby recently sent me some of their new-look weathering powders to use in my projects. I understand that there has been a change in supplier and also, more importantly, in the packaging. 

Gone is the thin-necked glass jar, and in comes proper pots with wide lids. Much easier to use as you can pull the powder out of the pot with one of their Stipple brushes (I really like these) and then use it from the lids, even mixing it up in there. It's less messy than the bottles, although I still wouldn't work over your best tablecloth!

There are new colours too with light and dark rust in addition to the iron oxide. 

Sticking power seems to be about the same as the old mix. I happily threw them at some standard wagons and the powder didn't fall off the sides. I don't bother sealing it as varnish changes the colour of the weathering. OK, lots of handling will wear the powder away, but largely from those areas that would be less mucky anyway - it will still be in those nooks and crannies. 

Good stuff. 

Tree bodging

  

If there's one thing that holds new modellers up, it's the belief that they must do things the "correct" way. Learning the "correct" way takes time, and so they never actually do any modelling. 

This is, of course, a complete load of rubbish. Most experienced modellers are expert bodgers. As long as the end result looks right, it is right. 

An example. Hauling a layout out of storage to use as a photo backdrop, I found one of the trees had broken. 

You might try to glue it back together, but the contact area is tiny and the glue won't hold. The "correct" solution is to drill both halves of the trunk, insert some wire, and then glue. The wire supports the joint and all is well. But it's a bit of a faff. 

My solution? 

Pull the trunk out of the hill, remove a few twigs lower down on the rest, and replant. Can anyone spot anything? 

Nope. Looks all right me!

Planting model trees

A little video I recorded while working on a magazine project. With so many channels, we need to generate quick little bits of content alongside the full-fat magazine stuff, and this is a bit of an experiment in doing just that. 

Nothing heavy, but hopefully, something useful for the beginner.

Yellow shocks

 

It's been a busy week, so progress on the beach buggy had been limited. I have managed to fit the  engine into the chassis and add the suspension. 

At the back end, like the exhaust, there's a bit of gluing things and having them hang in mid-air. If you have four very small hands, you'll be in a better position than those of us with only two large ones. The trouble is, you can't line anything up and hope it's right. Worse, until the wheels go on, you have no idea if they will all touch the ground. 

The observant will notice the shock absorbers are bright yellow. Airfix didn't specify this, it's a tribute to the time I decided to replace those on my bug with gas filled ones rather than the "boring" oil filled version. 

The result was a somewhat bouncy ride as they react faster than the standard items. A ride, I didn't really like, but had to put up with as the car was my daily driver. A lesson learned that you shouldn't believe what people in Volksworld tell you is cool - it might be, but they lower their cars and endure a terrible ride as a result. 

Adding the wheels and I think I've got away with things. There is a bit of slop so they all touch the ground. The back ones even rotate, but the fronts defeated me. Mind you, I didn't put up much of a fight as this isn't something I worry about much. It makes photography easier as the model stays put anyway. 

Really sharp eyed people will notice rubber parts (tyres, gaiters) are painted Revell Anthracite black , while metal bits are Humbrol black. No, of course, no-one cares, but it's my model and I'll have some fun!

Old car corner

I'm very busy right now, so you'll have to make do with some photos of cars I spotted  while dropping my parents Berlingo in for its service earlier this week. Leamington's "Car Quarter" is always interesting. 

Interesting colour Alfa Sud - but in really nice condition considering the propensity of these cars to rot.

The DVLA MOT checker doesn't like the numberplate on this 1300, but it's in a good, usable condition.

How is this a classic? I remember then coming out!

Always good to see a Beetle on the road. Those wings are replacements in the number plate is correct as that's a 71, and the sloping headlights were replace in 1968. Looks good in a kind of rough'n'ready way.

Saturday Film Club - Amusing Daleks

 If you must have a serious modelling angle to this film, take a look as the BBC's Dalek design has changed through the years, and how the special effects people have dealt with what you see under one. 

Or you can just chuckle like I did.

Industrial unit and model boats in BRM

 

A nice simple project for me in BRM this month - a Metcalfe Models industrial unit in N gauge. For modern(ish) modellers, it's a really useful building. The sort of thing you see by the dozen in light industrial yards. 

I didn't quite build it as per the instructions of course, there would be no fun in that would there? 

Over on BRM TV, we have the first full Phil-produced feature. We've changed a few things behind the scenes and will be doing all our own video work for the future. It's a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it. 

Anyway, I'm talking model boats for railway modellers - a feature that has been on the "to-do" list since our first virtual show and I'm glad the weather allowed me to do it. The subject is massive, bu t I hope I've scratched the surface at least in my short film. 

And before you ask, the water in the boat club pond is that colour for a reason...

Zen and the art of Garden Rail

 

Matthew Foster's write up of his superb Takasaki Light Railway contains one of my favourite lines in a model railway article.

Spending time in the garden ‘boiling water’ is the main attraction of my railway. Live steam locomotives running in the natural garden setting is when I can sit back and indulge myself.

That sounds good to me. A hobby should be relaxing, but how often does anyone actually say this explicitly? 

Elsewhere we look at a live steam "Caledonia", construct a waterwheel, consider the model railway PW department and build a powered coal wagon and Rapier diesel.

The future is orange

  

There was only one colour for this car - orange.  

That's the colour it is on the box lid and that's the colour my Beetle is. There simply is no better hue. 

I'm spraying the body with Tamiya X-6 orange. Sadly, I couldn't get an aerosol, so the paint was thinned with car windscreen wash (it's what the military modellers recommend) over Halfords white primer. Trying to spray without the primer saw the paint puddle on the plastic surface, but while gives a better base than grey, so it's worth the effort. 

The result is pleasingly matt. Not dead, but not shiny. I'd accept satin, but gloss always looks too toylike. 

If I could have found a can of touch-up spray for my car I'd have used that, but since the aerosols I had mixed must be well over 20 years old, I suspect they might not be in the best condition. 

1/32nd aircooled engine

  

Airfix has kept the Beach Buggy engine pretty simple. Sadly, in the days it was designed, they didn't put in many positive location aids, so while most of the assembly is easy, the dual-cannon exhaust pipes sort of hang in mid-air while you assemble them with only half-lap joints to hold them to each other. 

The technique of using plastic cement for the initial grab followed by some solvent once they are tweaked into position seemed to work OK for me, although the tweaking went on for a while until the joints were solid and I was happy. 

Detail is sparse because (as I later found) you can see so little when the unit is fitted in the car. 

My bugs' engine is a bit different but was a useful guide. The air cleaner (missed out of the kit) is much larger than a mushroom version you'd have in a buggy. It's also more hemmed in by the tinware, something mostly missing on a buggy. You don't need those big hoses from the doghouse to the heat exchangers for a start. 

I've never detailed and engine before, but it looks like fun when other people do it, so I added a distributor and plug leads to fill the space. Pedants will point out I didn't include the vacuum advance canister, but I assume the buggy owner has replaced the stock VW unit with a 009 version which only has centrifugal advance. It's a popular mod, although one disapproved of by people who point out VW didn't spend millions fitting this stuff for it to be replaced by people who think cheap chrome makes their car go faster...

The dizzy is a piece of plastic tube, and the wires 15amp fusewire. The air cleaner is a bit more tube, which has since been altered to fit under the body. Main silver is Dark Star "Molten Metal" Old silver, a better match for a magnesium alloy crank case than the silver suggested. That's limited to the exhaust tips and pulley cover. A quick wash of black Citadel weathering ink finishes the job.

Airfix Beach Buggy

It was a great pleasure to read that Airfix planned to re-introduce the Beach Buggy kit earlier this year. I put my pre-order in as soon as I saw the model advertised, and last week, a box arrived. 

When a young modeller, I remember building this kit. The results probably weren't very blog-worthy, but with an interest in VeeDubs, it was always going to be on my list for another go. The trouble was, unbuilt kits on eBay were in the region of £65, and like an idiot, I passed up the one I saw at £15 at Stanford Hall VW show a few years ago, and the Revell version didn't satisfy my desire for the kit.

The 1/32nd scale kit isn't large, but it's pretty comprehensive. Mind you, there aren't that many parts to the real car. At least some suitably 1970s figures are part of the package. 

Everything looks nicely moulded. Presumably the moulds were refurbished as part of the reintroduction process as I can't believe they were this good after all the time, the kit first appeared in 1972 so it's nearly as old as me!

How do you flick through a magazine in Smiths?

Time for a quick poll. At work, we were discussing which way people flick through a magazine when browsing in WH Smiths, or other newsagents. 

I thought that most people held the mag in their right hand and flicked from the back to the front. 

Younger members of the team say they hold it in the left hand and flick from the front to back. 

Who is right? Can we trust the opinions of people who wear a baseball cap back to front? 

Do, please comment on this post - enquiring minds want to know.

Saturday Film Club: Action Jacks

A bit of nostalgia for me this week. When I was a child, I'd occasionally stay with my grandparents who lived a few miles away. The local newsagent sold a few interesting, and cheap, toys. I remember plastic motorbike kits for instance. They clipped together and I built several and painted them. 

They also sold Action Jacks - little jointed figures with accessories, the subject of this weeks video. Mine used to go on all sorts of adventures, particularly in "submarines" made of plant pots to the bottom of the grandparents water butt. I was always one for lowering things on bits of string, our front garden was the landing place for many a Lego spaceship that slowly descended from my bedroom window. 

I haven't seen an Action Jack for years, and don't really have any interesting in finding one, except that they might be the right size to become garden railway drivers, with a bit of Milliput for the clothing...

Faller Hit Train - the mad electric loco

Good things come to those who wait, and in this case mad ones too!

Earlier this year, I picked up the steam loco version of the Faller Hit train, but in truth, it was the electric locomotive I was really after, and I've finally found one for the sort of money I'm willing to spend. 

You might be surprised that these things are quite collectable - but then who wouldn't want the maddest model railway design ever made on the shelf?

This whole set is brilliantly bonkers, and it's German! 

 

The nation best known for logical, rational thinking, decided that what the world really needed was an overhead electric loco with no basis in reality. 

 

Team that with some fantasy rolling stock and you have a winner, at least as far as I am concerned. 

 

The loco came as part of a set for £12 from ebay - a real bargain as it's pretty much mint. I've got track and three points and some clips for Faller Hit car track to fit to. Yes, they did a racetrack system, but that is properly expensive if you can find it!

 

The whole lot is very clever. A switch on the bottom of the loco and throw it into reverse when it runs over the orange arrow, so it can operate automatically if you fit this at the end of a siding. I don't have space at the moment to lay the track out, or I'd give it a go. 

 

I'm already thinking about a Hit Train session at the next NGRS - which will probably get me thrown out for not being serious enough!

Saxa Salt wagon - Part 3

 

After a coat of sanding sealer, the colours I chose for the wagon all came from the Humbrol acrylic range - 69 Gloss Yellow for the body, 33 Matt black for the chassis and RC414 Executive dark grey for the roof. All chosen because they were in a box of paint I bought second hand - I knew it would come in useful!

The lettering is a vinyl sticker. You press the front to fix the lettering to the clear carrier film, then peel away the white backing sheet. Place the film over the wagon side, where it's the perfect size so no lining up, run the letters down and then peel away the clear sheet. 

This didn't quite work on the first sheet. The letters stayed on the backing, and I ended up peeling them away with tweezers, putting them on the wagon side and lining up by eye. The letters are pretty robust and with a little care, everything worked out OK. 

The instructions say you don't need to seal them with varnish, but I shot some satin over the sides anyway. 

 

Underneath, the bearings are chunky bits of brass - impressive as you don't always get (or really need) them. I reamed them out a bit for some slop to accommodate less than perfect track and the wagon is now a nice smooth runner. A lump of lead underneath adds useful weight, without it, the wagon is very light. The plastic wheels should be OK, but metal ones would add useful low-down mass.

 

All in all, a really nice kit. OK, it's not very realistic, but it is pretty and goes together well. If you can wield a PVA bottle, I don't think you'd have any problems building it and the design should ensure any modeller can end up with a vehicle they can be proud of.

Timpdon Models Saxa Salt van.

Saxa Salt wagon - Part 2

 

The wagon rides on an inside framed chassis which can be built to either 32 of 45mm gauge - but once you've chosen, this can't be changed. I pondered this a bit, eventually deciding it's time we had a proper non-LGB train for the garden railway and choosing 45mm. 

Note the Peco loco cradle coming in handy again - not a use its designer will have contemplated!

Everything slots together nicely, those squares are just to ensure the frames are perfectly upright as there is a tiny amount of slop in the joints. 

On top, I added a bit of detail - very thin plywood forms the top doors with hinge detail using a cocktail stick and more ply. Handles are thin aluminium tube, because I'd just bought a bundle and it looked about right. Wire would have been better, and not cracked on the bends, but I think I got away with it. 

Of course, you can see that I can't resist slotting the wheels in loosely, just to check all is OK. nd screwing the couplings on as well. Does anyone else have to keep putting the bits of kit together just for the satisfaction of seeing progress, before taking it apart and getting back to the build proper?

Saxa salt wagon - Part 1

 

While I might have come back from the NGRS without any new kits, the same can't be said of my parents. My mum was particularly taken by a Timpdon Models Saxa Salt wagon, and so this arrived with the instruction to get it built. 

Saxa Salt wagons are a model railway classic, with everyone from Hornby to Bachmann producing them in 4 and 7mm scales. Bright yellow, they look pretty and while being a bit of a modelling cliche, it doesn't really matter. Timpdon's 16mm narrow gauge take on the prototype is less than accurate, but looks nice (hopefully) and appeals to lots of garden rail scale modellers. 

The main parts fit together quickly and easily using Deluxe Materials Super-Phatic glue. The Elastic bands aren't essential as the stuff grabs very quickly, but better safe than sorry. 

I think it's possible to build the body and chassis as separate entities, and use the edging strip to hold the top on, but I glued everything together as it's not going to make painting much harder, and I don't plan to use this as a battery holder. 

The little bulldog clips will just open wide enough to clamp things together. Another of those occasions when you can't have too many clips!

The hipped roof needed to be weighted down while drying, a job for those handy bits of steel and some masking tape. This is a pretty strong little box, so the weight won't worry it while the glue dries.