Who keeps old glue?

 

A sticky addition to the Beatties collection - two tubes of plastic cement. 

Sadly, one has overheated at some point and turned into froth, sticking it in its box, but the other one is mint. 

I guess that these were discovered in an old drawer. Fortunately, the finder had the presence of mind to list them on eBay. And I was the one daft enough to buy them. Price, no different to a couple of tubes of glue, possibly a bit less. 

They arrived with a plastic bag too. 

Now all tucked away safely in the Beattie's collection box, they await me setting up the virtual museum. 

Can you believe people think I'm weird for keeping this stuff?  

Break out the airbrush

 

My dream workshop includes a room for airbrushing. All the equipment will be set up, including a great big extractor fan. The door will be close-fitting so the smell stays in the room. And it will be warm. 

As it is, I have to spray in the garage, setting some of the equipment up each time. The smell escapes into the kitchen, and it's the coldest room in the house. 

Which is why the first coat of Humbrol Wine (73) was applied to the wagon using a brush. The second coat on one side and the end was applied the same way. 

Then I caved in, stopped being lazy, and fired up the airbrush. Even allowing for cleaning, a task I hate, painting this Gauge 1 wagon this way was far, far quicker than manually slapping it on with the brush. The finish is much better too. 

I still wish I had a suitable spare room though.  

More details

 

A few more details to attend to on the Box Company. 

First, replace the point lever. These Springside whitemetal items are vulnerable to track cleaning with a rubber. Best buy plenty and accept they will be broken occasionally. A little paint, followed by some UHU (PVA didn't work) and this little feature is back in place. 

(I've just noticed, there is more from me on point levers on World of Railways) 

Next, a missing oil drum. This fell off when I opened the box up, and disappeared, leaving a PVA footprint. No problem, I've just picked up a pack of these Ratio items, so replacement is easy. Or it would be if I could find matching paint. Some nearly-the-same and a wash of rust over them looks OK. 

Finally, a figure had fallen off, leaving some superglue footprints. Once these were chipped away, a quick look in my painted figures box brought this model of Andy York out, and he's now glued in place (with PVA, hopefully more resilient), showing the "gaffer" his camera. 

Little jobs, but on a tiny layout that I hope will attract a few photos at the show, ones that make a difference. And a few pleasant little jobs for an evening. 

New elastic for the chimney

 

I can't remember how old The Melbridge Box Company is, but it must be at least 25 years. However, I'd said I'd take it along to Ally  Pally to act as a display stand for the World of Railways exclusive locos, so it was time to pull the model off the shelf, and make sure it was exhibition-ready. 

First - dust. Lots of it. While the boxfile might close up, there are holes in the ends to let trains out, and it seems, dust in. Much work was needed with a soft paintbrush to clean the model up. 

Then the main problem was the chimney. It has four stays holding it up, and as the tube splits for transport, these are made out of thin rubber thread. After all this time, this had perished and needed replacement. 

Once the old thread had been cleaned away, and the superglued knots where it attaches to the buildings (it's too smooth just to tie a knot) I was faced with trying to rethread the thing. Not as easy as you might think. The holes in the sides of the chimney are just big enough for the thread, and the rubber doesn't stay straight, so getting it into the chimney is fine, but finding the exit hole isn't. 

In the end, I passed a length of wire through the chimney, and superglued the thread onto the end, then pulled it back through. This worked a lot better than I expected it to!

After that, a bit of knot tying, some superglue and a kicker, and the job was done.  

Little Brian

 

I have a fun way to remember my Dad. A miniature caricature of him has been commissioned from Rob Bennet. I ordered four, one for Mum, sister and me, plus a spare to drive a steam engine. They came unpainted at my request. 

We've each kept one of his caps, Dad rarely went out bare-headed, so I've done my best to copy the colours of each of our headgear souvenirs. 

The rest is a beige M&S windcheater, Humbrol 121 dry-brushed with 147. Trousers are a dark blue and antracite mix, with dry-brushing in blue. 

Anyway, we love Rob's work, and are sure that Dad would have as well. 

I have a plan though. 

Little Phil, and Little Brian, will live in my bag as miniature me has been doing for a few years, and we will go on adventures together. Next time Little Phil finds himself on top of a mountain, or an interesting railway location, he will have company. 

Update: The little people have enjoyed their first day out, a visit to someone who was a friend to both of us, and his 32mm gauge garden railway.