A daily updated blog typed by someone with painty hands, oil under his fingernails and the smell of solder in his nostrils who likes making all sort of models and miniatures. And fixing things.
Before there was radio control, model boating required a stout pair of waders. You went for a paddle!
A model boat valued at £100 in those days would now be just over £7000 today. I can't think of many models that would command that price, especially knowing how tight-fisted some model boaters are.
The boats are large to accommodate the steam power plants and I wonder how they were transported since so few people would enjoy their own car. I can't see fellow passengers on the bus being too happy and surely a trip on the tube (this is London after all) would be out of the question?
Friday is usually retro models day on the blog. I've been asked to plug a competition for The Trainline for which one of the prizes is a pre-1984 Hornby HST, so here goes:
The competition has now closed.
All you do is enter your e-mail and name and the result will be pulled out of a virtual hat. Since they already have my e-mail address to send me railway related stuff, I'm not losing sleep about a bit more unsolicited mail if that's the point of all this. Stuff about trains would be more use then most of the SPAM I delete anyway.
So, please don't enter the competition as I'd like to win.
When I spotted the Hornby Family Fun Project at its launch last year, I knew that there was an interesting Phil Project in the box.
My plan was to take the basic model to the next level using more advanced scenic techniques than those in the instructions. After a bit of badgering, Hornby sent me a box of goodies and over the Christmas period, I got stuck in.
The result is everything I'd hoped for. It's still a train set, but a really pretty train set, Everything I've done could be applied to an existing FFP too, so if you've finished yours, I've provided a few ideas to keep the fun going.
Celebrating Hornby's 100th birthday, my contribution includes this:
Yes, it's the guts of a Turbo Car. Originally called "Hornby's Maddest Moments", the more sensible heads in the office decided that my review of the companies more innovative products over the years should be "Hornby's Most Daring Moments". Never mind, the point is that Hornby do surprise us with off-the-wall ideas and that's what I love about them. It's alsoi where I spend my money. Guess who's got a Rocket set on order?
My camera has been out again, this time snapping the extension to Campbell's Quarry. Adding a shed gives John space to display his growing collection of locomotives. Personally, I don't understand having more locos than your layout needs...
Finally, I'm a wizard on our DVD.
Not really, I'm just wielding a paintbrush to show you how to ballast track. Someone asked me to do this at a show, so here we are. Everyone needs to ballast track after all.
Built in a Southern Canada shipyard, she was dismantled and transported by rail to Vancouver for re-assembly. Basically, she was delivered as a great big boat kit! An interesting train to model too.
The Radium name is because she and her sisters worked out of Port Radium where they hauled, among other things, uranium for Manhatten Project.
At 40 metres in length, she's massive compared to most UK tugboats, but on the great lakes, you need something large for those long loads.
When doing anything involving a cutting disk on camera, I feel I should say something about wearing eye protection. Those disks will shatter and fly off in all directions no matter how carefully you use them and while I've been lucky so far, a face full of cutting disk chunks isn't funny.
As a glasses wearer, I'm a little more protected than someone with 20:20 vision, but even if I don't care about my health, it wouldn't be hard to scratch a lens requiring a pricey bill for a replacement.
On camera, of course, I want to look good (!) so those rubbery goggles aren't going to cut it. No, I need something sleek and here we have the latest in fashionable eye protection - a pair of Overspecs from Screwfix.
Price?
£1.39. Cheap enough I can afford to leave them lying around to get lost. Which is what happened to my last pair...
A recent magazine project involved me building a layout with a tunnel. After construction had finished, the track needed a bit of a polish, but there was no chance of my hands fitting through the tunnel mouths.
The solution was to take a Double O Gauge Association track rubber and stick it in a long clamp used for model boat building. The resulting rubber on an arm was more than long enough to do the job.
In the past, I've glued one of these rubbers to a length of brass for working under the Hellingly Hospital Railway overhead wires. Needless to say, I can't find that device now...
A lovely day to visit the big smoke for the first trip of the year to Ally Pally. The show seemed busy with visitors, but a little thinner on exhibits and trade this year. Looking around, I seemed to recognise several of the models from previous shows.
One or two looked distinctly dusty. I know it's a struggle to persuade model engineers to put their work on display, and so those putting the stands together tend to rely on the same old faces each time. If you are a model engineer and care about your hobby, maybe you need to consider putting something on show, just so the paying public doesn't think the hobby is grinding to a halt.
One change was the replacement of 3D flying in one corner of the hall with a static display of large scale model aircraft. There was some grumbling about it being a "health and safety" issue, but my guess is the worry was more about damaging the organ they flew beside. That said, the replacement was something new in the hall and could develop into a real crowd-pleaser.
Stephenson's Rocket is an iconic locomotive, but possibly more revered than it deserves to be. The famous yellow livery didn't last long for a start. The yellow fades and as the NRM have found, the white chimney pretty quickly turns mucky.
It was an important part of a development process for steam. OK, the livery may have turned green and its cylinders were lowered to improve stability, but it was a basic blueprint. Very quickly though, the design was superseded and the loco relagated to minor duties.
Despite this, several replicas have been built and the film linked to above shows a 1929 version running. It's an early James Cameron production, although it would be a good few years before he made Titanic.
My finding this film came about by following discussions on the newly announced, and ordered by me, Hornby model on RMweb.
There have been loads of replicas, but another famous version is from the silent film Our Hospitality.
This is an amazing sequence and I'm wondering how it was done. According to Wikipedia, the loco is fully working, but I'd suggest the lack of steam from the cylinders makes that untrue. I doubt a loco powered through those big wheels would be able to bump over some of the obstacles encountered either!
So, how was this done? I'm sure I've read details, but for the life of me, I can't remember them. Looking online and in a couple of books doesn't help either.
One thing I'm sure of is that I can lay track better than that!
The Faller Hit Train from the 1970s has been on my wishlist for around ten years judging from this post. A combination of utterly mad design and O gauge track appeals to me - more so since I got back into garden railways properly.
Prices have always been a touch higher than I've wanted to pay. If I were serious, I'd pony up, but I'm not that serious at the moment. However, a chance find on eBay of a set on the cheap means I now have a set to play with.
Sadly, it's the steam loco rather than the completely mad electric loco, and even this is missing its chimney, but at least I can have a proper look.
After a bit of contact cleaning, the loco works. It's fast needs the traction tyres on the powered wheels to pull anything, but that's to be expected. This is a toy after all.
The rolling stock is nice. I like the printed cardboard passengers in the coach.
I'm still confused as to how all this came about, but then I never understood those slightly mad cartoons made in Europe that infested children's telly when I was a kid either.
The track is nice and sturdy. Ideal for a temporary garden railway. The points look better than the Tri-ang "Big-Big" versions. It also seems to command proper money. A shame because it would be ideal for my one-day layout at the 16mm AGM.
If you visited the Hornby Collectors Club show at Gaydon last year, you could pick up a goodie back containing a Hornby mug and a wagon. I grabbed mine and used it as the material for a challenge in the latest HCC magazine.
The wagon is a long-wheelbase open and if I'm honest, not one of the firms best. Stretched to fit a guards van chassis, it's a bit weird, but that didn't put me off. I've turned it into an internal user wagon with a few bits from ScaleModelScenery.
Talking of the HCC magazine, because I write for this, I get an appearance in the latest Hornby catalogue.
Since this is the 100th birthday catalogue, this is a big deal. On the page advertising the collectors club, you can see my "When Hornby did sci-fi" article poking out. You can even see my name - fame indeed!
A nice simple fishing boat photographed in Aberystwith harbour.
Not a big boat and the net handling gear at the stern is pretty simple, and therefore easy to model. The deck is full of nets and rope. It's not even that dirty, so a prototype to look to if you don't like grubby models.
After the brickwork is dry, it's time for some finishing touches for the hut. Windows and doors are painted. Glazing is carried out using Deluxe Materials Glue'n'Glaze. Guttering goes on (and looking at the photo I've just spotted the downpipe needs bending back. No idea how that happened) after painting.
I've used dull colours - Humbrol 147 pale grey for the white and Revel 8 for the black bits. Neither is a pure colour and looking all the better for it.
The roof is Humbrol 67 (Tank grey, not 69, yellow, as an earlier version of this post said) dry-brushed while tacky with 66 and then a good dusting of talcum powder. Hardly any work but the effect is very good. I'm not a fan of picking out dozens of slates - you need to seriously blend things afterwards if the colour isn't to look forced.
Anyway, the hut is (for the moment) done. I hope Pete would approve of it. One day I'll build a layout for it to call home. When I do, there will be weathering and perhaps some interior work but that's for another day.
I'm not really sure why. It just seemed like the right thing to do.
The work is pretty simple - dry-brush Humbrol 70 everywhere followed by some other random browns that aren't very different shades. Work quickly so the paints blend on the model and hope that not too much finds its way into the mortar lines.
One advantage of paint is it's easier to do the whitemetal chimney pot in a matching colour. I've never had real success with pencils here, but chimneys should be nice and sooty, so no-one ever notices.
Sunny Stevenage for Sunday and a feast of quality layouts to enjoy. There were too many to list but a couple really stuck in my mind.
Above you see the Orange River and Portland railway in Fn3 (Finescale G gauge). It's a massive layout hat really makes use of the larger scale to provide some amazing scenic detail. The team behind the model (the Hallellujah Players) have basically done everything you would in a small scale, but big. Everything is weathered, buildings and much of the rolling stock is scratchbuilt.
The other model that really stood out is Nonsuch. Regular readers will know I like the unusual and in a world where steampunk is now considered run-of-the-mill, it's time to push the boundaries a bit further with a layout populated by mice.
On the face of it, this sounds like a terrible idea, but in Derek Reevse's hands, the quality of the modelling makes it all work. I've seen this sort of thing where the builder has come up with an interesting idea and then executed it badly. Not here. All the modelling is top-notch and there are well-designed animations. It's a crowd-pleaser all right, but most of those who will pooh-pooh it wouldn't be able to put buildings together as well as this.
Trade was good with anything I couldn't find probably not available. The second-hand stall relieved me of a few quid too.
Cakes were excellent although you needed to get in quick for chocolate orange flapjack at the centre's cafe as there were only a couple of slices left after I bagged mine before entry.
Inside the hall, the tea bar was well stocked with very appealing doughnuts but I skipped those as one cake is plenty, or at least that's what I tell myself!
Anyway, the photo collection is one of the largest for a long while thanks to the quality of displays. You can see it on Flickr.
Since Hornby has yet again failed to re-introduce the Battle Space Turbo car, I'll have to go for the next best thing - the LGB MARS Propellorfahrzeug.
I really don't know what posses the giant German train maker to produce something like this, but I'm glad they did. I'm even happier I could pick up this tidy second-hand version in a model shop near the Severn Valley Railway.
How does it work?
Easy, you give it electric juice, the fan rotates and thanks to Newton's Third Law, the model moves forward. Even on a two-foot length of track, it picks up a respectable bit of speed. I can't wait to try it in the garden!
Braking simply involves throwing the motor into reverse and since the model isn't that heavy, speed falls off nicely. Hopefully, before the model falls off at the corners.
Obviously, boring modern health and safety rules mean the propeller is shrouded in plastic, but it doesn't seem to affect the propulsion in any way so I don't care. I love the look, I love the madness.
Don't worry, once I get this thing running outside, I will bring you a video.
We've a bit of a wagon theme going on this month with some Wood Valley Works models, an amazing build of a Bole Lasercraft model in 7/8" and even I get in on the act with a 16mm scale kit from Slater's.
Building a brewery from foamboard gets space on the cover as it both looks amazing and seems to be pretty easy to do. At least Rik makes it appear so, and that will hopefully persuade a few people to give it a go.
An amazing vehicle was produced in America between 1960 and 1963, but assembled from stockpiled parts until 1968. In total 3,878 car/boats were built, 99 of them converted to right-hand drive.
Notoriously, the vehicle wasn't really very good on the road or water, but the film I've seen of them looks OK, if a little slow. No matter, a serious classic, if you find one in any condition it's going to be worth a pile of cash. And yes, I'd love one.
The only model I know of was scratch built by a guy at our boat club and really looks the part. I've often wondered why we've never seen a kit of an Amphicar, surely it would sell? Even a 1/32 plastic model would be a bit of fun.
This example is in the Manx motor museum and looks both roadworthy and seaworthy, although I thing "river" or "still pond" worthy would be more appropriate as I wouldn't want to get out on a choppy ocean in one.
A real expert would spend hours carefully honing the chamfers in the corners of this kit. I am not an expert, I just trim them so the outside corner is OK and then glue things together using Pound shop epoxy resin that fills up the gaps. Buying the cheap stuff means you can slosh it on and it's plenty good enough for this job.
The outside corners aren't perfect of course, but a bit of Deluxe Materials Perfect Plastic Putty soon sorts that out. Once dry, because I want to do this properly as a tribute to Peter, I cut each brick course with a thin saw. Yet again, I'm glad this isn't a warehouse...
The roof is joined with superglue and then braced with more epoxy. I'm keeping it lose as I have an idea that some furniture would be nice inside and since I don't have any suitable kits, or a desire to scratchbuild, I'll fix it on properly later.
One area to be careful with is fitting the chimney. This needs to be slightly inboard as the roof extends beyond the walls slightly, and the stack should be on top of the bricks, not fresh air.
My friend, Pete Blakeman, passed away recently. He had been ill for some time and so disposed of his unbuilt kit collection. Mostly 7mm scale, it's not my main interest, but I bought a cheap Skytrex weighbridge hut with an idea it might be fun to build as a future project. At Pete's funeral, I decided the time had come to get on with it. Funerals focus the mind a bit...
Anyway, the kit is mainly cast resin sides with some whitemetal detailing.
A little cleaning up is required. Chamfers on the ends need treating with either coarse file or some abrasive sticks. The windows have their flash removed with a sharp knife. It's a lot cleaner than abrasive which produces dust that I'm told is bad for you. After a couple of windows, it's very quick and easy too. A little carving, a little scrapeing and the job is soon done. Mind you, it's hut not a warehouse!
