Unusual transfers

Or: Don't posh people play a lot of tennis ?

The Canberra transfer (decal for American readers) sheet is covered with tennis courts and other oddball symbols (quoits ?). I've put 13 of them on the decks of the ship which has really filled those huge brown areas.

I'm used to numbers and names to be applied to a model but this is a first for me.

The quality of the transfer sheet is excellent. Perhaps this is a little more film around the edge of the lines than I would like but apart from that I have no complaints. The transfers were strong enough to be dragged around and released very quickly and easily from the sheets when soaked in cold water.

Lining things up against the raised plank edges isn't as easy as you might hope - the lines are feint and vanish under the film, but only a little prodding was required to line everything up.

Once blotted with a very soft tissue napkin that I can't remember the origin of but would like some more, Micro-Sol was sloshed everywhere to stick the things firmly in place.

An unexpected appearance in Wikipedia for the Y6

If you keep loading photos onto the Interweb, it seems that people do stuff with them. Thus, I was very surprised to see on Nigel sending this message via the 3mm Society mailing list:

I see a pic of Phil Parker's Y6 is on Wikipedia, including a mention of 3mm. Well done, Phil.

What ?!

So, I nip over to the famous on-line encyclopedia and find the page looks like the photo above. You can see the real thing here.

The model is my attempt at an LNER Y6 painted in BR colours. Based on a Finney & Smith kit and powered by a BullAnt bogie, it was one of the fasted loco builds I've ever carried out. Looks nice too although I'd love to do an interior for it but the mechanical bits get in the way. Maybe when I unearth the 4mm version I have tucked away...

Anyway, you can read all about the build here.

Book review: Amazing & Extraordinary Facts, Trains & Railways

Did you know that to earn enough money for a single pencil, the Midland Railway had to haul a bag of maize for ten miles ? Or that to earn a fishplate took the haulage of a ton of salt for 16 miles ?

Nope, me neither.

And when I discovered that one of the least used stations in the UK can be found in Warwickshire, I couldn't resist immediately looking it up on my 'phone to see how easy it would be for me to visit.

Which is a good thing. A book like this should allow you to dip in and out as you feel like it. Think a buffet rather than full sit down meal and you get the idea.

Like a buffet, it shares the advantage that if you don't like something, you can ignore it. In my case this is the slimy stuff at a Chinese banquet or the reminiscences of author Julian Holland and his steam powered journeys as a young train spotter.

Being the third book in the series, it's preceded by Amazing & Extraordinary Railway Facts and More Amazing & Extraordinary Railway Facts, I wondered as I ploughed through the text, if the supply of  exciting facts was running dry. Some of the stuff is absolutely fascinating but other pages were a bit dry. However, this is very much my opinion and I'm not really a serious railway enthusiast. Therefore the background and routes to named trains left me cold whereas the Midland railway list mentioned above is a gem.

If you are relatively new to the subject then the short histories of the Glasgow Subway, Grimsby & Immingham Tramway and Bullied Leader (nicknamed the Chinese Laundry) are useful tasters. The later is a subject I've read several books on and can't disagree with the facts on the page.

For modellers, this book could be a useful source of inspiration for new projects. With a bias towards the pre-grouping it could push you in directions that you hadn't considered, I quite fancy a reservoir railway myself. For enthusiasts proper, it will either annoy the heck out of you because you know everything and more, or delight you because you found out something you didn't know.

More on this book from the Hobby Warehouse

The full range of railway books at the Hobby Warehouse

Tiny little lifeboat

As I mentioned on Sunday, the only stand to take money off met at Hornby Magazine Live was the RNLI table. My first purchase was a rather nice pencil topped with a little D-class lifeboat.

I looked at the model and wondered what the scale was. Deciding that for the price it didn't matter, I purchased one and brought it back to my temporary workbench. I was in luck, the thing was a close to 4mm scale as made no difference. Maybe the boat was a little shrunk but the people were very close.

Pulling the top off the pencil, I tried it on the layout. It looked OK but sat rather high in the water - more on the surface than actually floating. No matter, slicing the rubbery plastic with a long knife blade (one of those snap-off versions fully extended) quickly brought it down to a more sensible level. At this point I left it on the "lake" and apart from being pushed around by a few kids, there it stayed. Well apart from the one who picked it up, clutched it to him and said "I'm just holding it" as though being protective of the little vessel.

Back at home there was one final job to do. As supplied, everything is a bit shiny but a quick squirt of Testors Dullcote quickly sorted this. I dropped the floatiness a couple of scale inches by running the model on a surform too, my original chopping hadn't resulted in a particularly flat underside but not it sites with hardly any gaps.

I don't think I'll glue the model down for the moment. I have an idea for some sort of mechanism to make it move but maybe one day.

Portholes and red oxide

Looking at the photos of Canberra, under the waterline she is painted with the traditional red anti fouling paint. Airfix think this is topped with a black band and helpfully mould little ridges in to the hull side for both colours.

Since I'm following the pictures, only the top ridge is required but they are so fine, I ignored the bottom one. The fineness makes it interesting to follow with masking tape but after a bit of fiddling, I managed a smooth line even around the pointy bits.

Colour is supposed to be brick red but plainly isn't. I mixed up a special brew from red, brick red and a Revel reddy-brown colour. The job used more than expected so a second mix was required one the original paint cup was exhausted. A bit more red in the second one produced something that looks about right. I suspect the official images are brightened up a lot, either that or the paint was bought in a job lot from the Post Office.

Above eh waterline, porthole painting has started. The round ones are easy requiring only a drop of paint into the centre of the hole. Square windows, of which there are a lot, have been represented with raised mouldings. Well, except where they are on sloping parts where the well-defined top taper to nothing at the bottom.

As previously mentioned, I'm using Railmatch Weathered Black for these and it seems to be working. I reckon a matt black would be too stark against the famous white sides.

This fiddly work is slow as after a while tension in the fingers causes cramp and less than adequate brush control. The results are worth it though, bringing the model to life as you look along the sides.

Hornby Magazine Live 2012

This time last week I was preparing for the second day of Hornby Magazine Live in sunny(!) Hartlepool. The college venue was new, and even better than the old one, but the format was much the same - lots of layouts you've seen in the magazine with the added bonus of myself and Paul Chetter doing live demo versions of our columns.

As an added bonus for me this year, I got to drive a big van containing the crowd barriers. For a 4ft demo, I arrived in the biggest transport ever !

Anyway, all I did was sit behind my table and chat to people for two days. There was a lot of interest in the model on display, especially the Handyman Hall Railway which was especially popular since it worked. Or at least it did once I'd stripped down the loco to clean it up a bit. The Minitrains model uses an ingenious split chassis arrangement which is great unless you over-oil it at which point the electric juice stops flowing everywhere it should.

The little builders yard was as popular as ever and makes me think it's really about time I made another diorama like it. There were several other projects including a couple not yet seen in print so if you had a good look, you've enjoyed a sneak preview. Every model inspired questions from visitors and most were well handled. Hopefully a few people were inspired to go off and get their own hands dirty at the workbench.

As far as making stuff went, I managed half a Scalescenes warehouse which amused the onlookers and moved another project a little closer to completion. That's not the point of the show though, it's all about the chatting. After all, I can make models at home but can't be on hand to offer advice of receive criticism unless I'm sat in the show.

As far as the layout went - Dunno, I didn't get out from behind the table for two days. All my photos were taken before the public arrived and often pre-switching on of the lights. Sorry about that. Trade was the same, it looked good but the only people to take money off me were the RNLI, but then you have to love the lifeboats.

Thanks very much if you dropped in to say hello. For those who were introduced to this blog by picking up a flyer, I hope you are enjoying it. If you are, tell your friends, if not, tell me !

Hornby Magazine Live photos on Flickr

30 Shades of Grey

Full marks to Humbrol for this brilliantly funny bit of viral advertising. For those who don't get the joke, it's a play on the title of EL James book "Fifty Shades of Grey" - a novel that seems to be getting people a bit over-excited.

Some of you will know that in addition to my model-making writing, I'm dabbling in fiction and looking for a book deal - you can read all about it my other blog. Hence I am aware of the genre know as "Mommy Porn", thanks to my writing colleague banging on about it in a blog post.

I just hope the bandwagon jumping doesn't go any further. Can you image the plastic kit of scenes from the book ?

Too late, the Germans have done it already (NSFW). What sort of weirdo wants this on their train-set ? And can anyone who reads "Mommy Porn" on the train to work really claim to any less of a freak ?

Resin bits for sale

I mentioned yesterday that I had cast a load of retaining wall sections for the new Hornby Magazine N gauge MPD layout.

The moulds for these things are good for 25 castings and since we made a couple and the mag didn't need all we produced, there are some spares left. I don't want them as I have no N gauge projects in my future as far as I know.

So, they are up for grabs. Each casting measures 76mm wide by 54mm tall and is yours for the princely sum of £1 plus postage.

As an added bonus, we chucked leftover resin from each mix into moulds for 3mm scale beach huts as seen on Flockburgh and you can have these for the same price. Please note that these require the addition of a door and roof - that's how I made each one different. A few minutes work with some plasticard is all that is required to make your hut your very own special model. It's fun to do even if you don't want to go 3mil !

Interested ? Send me an e-mail and I'll let you know what is left.

H Class conversion in Hornby Magazine

People are always moaning that you can't buy an industrial steam locomotive in OO gauge, so this month I've done my bit to fill the gap.

While not a ready to run engine, inspired by Colin Snowdon of the Double O Gauge Association, I've turned the classic L&Y Pug originally produced by Dapol and now marketed by Hornby, into a representation of a Manning Wardle H Class.

I can't claim that the result is a perfect model, but it looks pretty close and more importantly, is achievable by many modellers. You make use of the pretty good chassis and replace the body with a scratchbuilt version constructed in plastic sheet. A few castings from RT Models and a few bits from Eileens Emporium and you are there. If you have a Pug to hand it's not even a particularly expensive project.

Elsewhere, I show you how I produced the retaining wall for the Hornby Mag N Gauge layout using simple resin casting techniques.

There are also a few reviews including 3 books, a pair of fork lift trucks and yet another industrial locomotive.

Hornby Magazine Website

Gronk bits I like

For a future project, a couple of Hornby 08s have been sitting on my workbench. I know this RTR model train has been out for ages and I'm really late catching up, but I thought I'd mention a few bits I like anyway.

The chassis is lovely. Look at that the massive flywheel on it. Good chunky motor too. Back in the old days we'd have needed to perform some serious engineering to produce something like this or perhaps even consider a Dyna-Drive setup. This sort of mechanism was only to be found in one of our colonial cousins dirty diesels. We British modellers would moan that our 08's pancake drives weren't really suited to shunting speeds and that they really would pay more for decent motors and gears. This was before the Interweb of course, when modellers decided that moaning about the prices of RTR was more fun than buying it.

The sliding vent on the top really slides. Or comes out if you aren't careful. Now you can tell people how warm it is on your model from the position of the hatch.

The cab doors open. Why then are they fitted with a spring to close them again ? You can't run the loco with the doors open, even though I'm sure some did on a warm day. This seems like an interesting idea but I don't see the point if they can't be fixed in position.

Finally, someone has been a very smart here. Since the modern modeller takes the body on and off his or her locomotives constantly so they can tend to the evil DCC chip inside, the screw fixings are fitted with brass bushes. Not that clever you might think, but how often have you found the manufacturer relying on self-tapping screws and plastic for this sort of job ? Somewhere, there is an engineer working in the design office and he's threatened the accountant to let him do this.

Korean Turtle Ship in Model Boats

August's Model Boats magazine has a page on a Korean Battleship kit I built some time ago. The Turtle boat was one of the first ironclads and in model form, makes a fascinating subject.

The Academy kit is interesting in it's own right. Powered by a solar cell, drive is by oars using a very ingenious mechanism that's probably worth the price of the kit on it's own.

The moulding quality is very high and as a basis for a scale model, it's an excellent starting point. The hardest modification would be filling in the solar cell hole in the top with matching armoured plates. Possibly casting some replicas from the rest of the shell would be the easiest solution.

Anyway, much as I loved the model, regular readers will know I don't have it in my fleet any more. Read the reason why here.

Model Boats Magazine website

Pink tractor part 2

After last Monday's pink tractor photos, I was cleaning up my workbench a bit and found these bits in a "bits pot" hiding in the darkest recesses behind the turps jar. It had been very nearly under my nose for ages.

In amongst some resin boat bits, there were these items I'd completely forgotten about. Sadly, I can't remember where they came from but obviously a bomb tractor or similar. In the back of my mind, some sort of American kit lurks but that's the best I can do.

Obviously once upon a time I had the idea of turning it into something and shunting tractor would certainly seem a reasonable something to turn it in to. The job should be no harder than finishing assembly and adding a couple of whacking great buffer beams suitably attached with girders.

I don't think I'll be adding a motor - but I do have some ideas in that direction once I get a ruler out so watch this space.

Weathering tools: The cat food box

Weathering a model locomotive requires the airbrush to get in under the footplate. There are many ingenious clamping devices to facilitate this but I have a simple solution - the cat food box.

My spraying is carried out in the garage next to a shelf full of pussy grub purchased in quantity when the local store is doing an offer. The boxes are strong, good enough to be used for posting things, and small enough to fit in the booth.

The extra height offered makes a difference to attacking the model. By perching it on the edge, I can get at the waggly bits easily. With the boxes being made of shiny card, the model slides around easily with a slight shove to the buffers but doesn't skid when blown by the airbrush.

Of course the paint can't get at the precious food so I don't find myself on the end of a prodding by starving puss-cats. Or at least if it does, it doesn't seem to affect their appetite !

Dolls Domain, Leamington

Why are you showing us a shop full of jigsaws and dolls stuff ?" I hear you cry.

Simple, it's one of my local model shops, and it's recently moved so I though a quick mention would be in order.

Dolls Domain are mainly interested in supplying the surprisinly large dolls house market. if 12th scale bits and peices are your thing, and as someone who has built model boats in this scale they are for me, then you are in luck.

At the back of the shop there is a full Humbrol paints rack, loads of different modelling woods, glues, fillers and tools. They can supply anything from the Proxon range. There's a huge range of Airfix kits too.

All this from a premis in the local shopping centre, The Royal Priors. Thus, if you find yourself in Leamington on a shopping trip, the family can be abandoned in M&S and HMV while you go any buy a plastic aeroplane along with the paint and glue to assemble it. Should you be on holiday and devoid of modelling tools, they can sell you the lot for very sensible money along with a jigsaw to amuse the rest of the tribe while you are fitting the undercarriage.


Visit the Dolls Domain website

Hornby Magazine Live – Hartlepool- this weekend

Today will involve me and a van load of barriers heading up to Sunny Hartlepool for this years Hornby Live exhibition. It's a new venue so let's hope MRS Satnav can find it.

As in previous years, I'll be doing a live Paker's Guide stand where you can see past and future projects from my magazine column. It's your chance to handle the stuff you've seen picture in the magazine. If there is space in the van, at the end of the table we'll have The Handyman Hall Railway too so I have at least one thing working.

Me - hopefully I'll do nothing more than sit and chat to people. It's the best thing about shows, the chance to see if anyone reads my rubbish and has decided to have a go themselves.

See you there !

Hornby Live exhibtion on the Hornby Magazine website

Canberra Funnels

Another "Did anyone from Airfix look at this ship before making a kit" moment arrives with the funnels. I thought I just had to stick them together, whack on the gloss buff paint and fit to the model with the little joining piece.

Then I look at my photos and spot that there is something sticking out of the top, above the swoopy tan bits.

Something black, and as far as I can tell, tubular. The pictures aren't clear thanks to the smoke coming out of the top but I think we just have a pair of round tubes. A matter of a few minutes to make with some plastic tube but still anoying.

Mind you, every time I find a picture of this boat, I spot something else wrong. The decks seemed to change colour every time it left port. Grrrrr.

Book Review: Life on the old railways by Tom Quinn

It's all very well knowing how many rivets there were on the left hand side of a Black Five tender, or which particular finial should be atop the signals in the Great North of Scotland in May 1905, but what about the people ?

For most modellers, people are made of plastic and hopefully the right scale. We slap a coat of paint on them and glue their feet to the model and that's it.

In real life, people were the lifeblood of the railway. Small boys would stand at the end of a platform and aspire to being the man in charge of the snorting engine at the front of the train. Railwaymen were important figures locally. A stationmaster would be of the same stature as the doctor of vicar.

All this has changed and the numbers of those who remember it are diminishing. In this book, Tom Quinn has interviewed 13 of them and gives us the edited highlights from each man's working life. The selection is varied, from engine drivers to porters. I was particularly taken with the idea that far from being a "mere" baggage carrier, porters were well respected members of staff. While not at the top of the tree, they were essential to the operation of the railway and had a far wider range of duties then you might expect.

There are lots of jobs that I've never heard of too. Do you know what a Lad Messenger was ? Me neither. Apparently he used to pick up and deliver post between platelayers huts, signal cabins and the yardmaster. At age 15.

Some interesting nicknames for locos turn up too. "Saddleback" was the slang term for LNER Y9's. I wondered as I read if this was a misprint from "saddle tank" but apparently not.

What Quinn documents is the world behind the public facade of the railway industry. This isn't a technical guide (mind you, there is an index at the back, an unexpected bonus) but a social history told through the men's own words.

As well as the text, there are a large number of very nice black and white illustrations. The only picture I don't like, is on the cover. Assuming that steam engine isn't a preserved locomotive, the child shouldn't be wearing long trousers. In those days, children simply didn't. In fact, at that age he probably ought to be in school uniform, complete with cap !

This is a minor quibble though about a very readable and enjoyable book. I went through all 217 pages in a couple of sitting, always a good sign of an easy to read book. Just the thing for taking on holiday and even suitable for someone with no interest in trains at all - my Mum loved it too !

Find out more and buy the book from the Hobby Warehouse

The full range of railway books from Hobby Warehouse

Last days of the hovercraft

More old photos, this time of the penultimate weekend of hovercraft services accross the English Channel back in 2000.

I heard on TV that the services was to be discontinued the following weekend one Friday night. Totally out of character, I jumped on a train the next day to try and see them in operation one last time. If you've never seen a huge hovercraft moving then you won't understand just how increadible they are.

First, there is the noise. These things are as loud as an aeroplane - hardly surprising with those 4 massive propellers in action. Then there is the size. At rest the SRN4 is big. Turn the fans on to inflate the skirts and it rises up by another 15 feet or more.

Finally, there is the spray. All that air blasts the water underneath around so that the sight as it comes in to the harbour is a cloud of spray with the big beast in the centre. Something about it racing towards the shore and not stopping when it gets there seems unatural too, even though it's exactly what they are built for.

On my trip I'd also taken my passport on the off-chance of a ride. During the train journey, I rang the ticket office and was amazed to be able to book a day return. An upgrade to 1st class was even available, something I took up for the return from France.

The ride was a little bumpy and very noisy. The interior was tatty but then it was nearly the end of the line for the Princess Anne. Her customers were just the sort you'd expect when the only thing that makes the service pay is duty-free sales. I racall a lady pulling a shopping trolley arguing with the steward most of the way over the amount of fags she could buy. They went through many perumutations of brands and quantitites before she worked out the maximum number for the cash she was spending. Looking at her, she probably did the trip once a month and smoked them all in between.

Like her, I didn't bother leave the hoverport in France. It was in the arse end of nowehere. It didn't matter, I was able to watch the other member of the fleet arrive and epart as well as some one-man craft batting around the apron. Anyway, I was allowed into the 1st class lounge with all the Dansih pastries I could eat and free coffee to wash them down. What more could France offer ?

Now, another transport of the future is in a museum. One day, I hope to visit and have another look. For the moment, take a look at the view from the air. I told you they were big didn't I ?


View Larger Map

Modelling options are limited for these beasts. The obvious choice would be the Airfix SRN4 plastic kit, but sadly this isn't currently available. I'd love to have a go if anyone has one languishing in a drawer they want no money for.

Alternativly, the more advanced modeller, how about a scratch build ? There is a lovely model here but beware, you need to keep the weight down if the thing is to "fly" so it won't be easy to copy !

Little pink tractor

Digging through some old photos, I found this little beauty. I can't work out where it was taken, or when, although the back of the print mentions Kodak being a sponsor of the Olympics at the time.

I suspect that this tractor is an airport vehicle used for hauling around baggage carts and other trolleys. It's possibly even an aircraft mover although not for jumbo jets. The mudguards certainly didn't originate from a farm and it's a bit of a low-rider for furrowed fields.

Vehicles simialr to this appeared as railway shunters and wouldn't be too difficult to convert from a model tractor. Check out this one from Paul Bartletts photo site. The faded paintwork would be much more of a challenge. I suspect a nice dusty red base coat followed by some heavy dry-brush work with the white paint would be a good start. Other suggestions are very welcome though.

Update: Now identified as an old David Brown, airfield "Tug". That's David Brown the tractor maker not top DJ.

DOGA AGM modelling competition 2012

Last weekend saw the 2012 Double O Gauge Association AGM in London. As usual, I was in charge of the modelling competition. Full results will appear elsewhere in due course but I thought I'd sneak you a few pics of some of the entries:

The SECR C Class was built by Alan Harding from a Falcon Brass kit. Considering that these aren't the easiest of kits to build, it's a very nice looking model.

Another model by Alan Harding, this time a Bullied Tavern car based on a Bachmann RTR coache with Comet sides and much added detail.

Finally, a Concertina Brake 3rd scratchbuilt by Colin Snowdon. His original plan involved doing the 3rd class coach, but after the effort required for this one, he decided against that !

Hopefully, pictures of all the entries will appear in due course on www.doubleogauge.com/