Paint clips

 

I'm a sucker for interesting tools, and so while ordering the Jimney kit, I also picked up some of these "Useful Paint Clips". 

What I have, is a bag of crocodile clips mounted on 13cm long sticks. 20 of them.

I gather from the packing, that there is another part to the tool - a base that the sticks are poked into for support. I have no idea where that is in the massive website, but don't really care. Those sticks can be poked into some polystyrene just as easily, or into a piece of wood with holes drilled into it. 

At 18p each, these seem like a bit of a bargain. I'll keep some on the modelling bench to use while soldering and the rest in the garage next to the airbrush.

Wanted: BR Lampshade

 

In my cupboard of projects, I have the wall mounting unit for a BR Mk1 coach lamp. I've always fancied rigging it up with a battery as a reading light - but the glass shade is missing. No surprise there, the things must have broken regularly.

Original shades are rare - or at least I've looked in the wrong places. There might be a modern replacement that fits I'm unaware of too. 

So, as you lot constantly surprise me - can anyone suggest a source for something suitable? I'm not going to fret about perfection, a shade that looks about right will do the job.

Brain fog

I've made no secret that I've found the last year challenging - my modelling mojo seems to have left the building and despite trying various things, it's not come back. 

Then I read this interesting article: 

Brain fog: how trauma, uncertainty and isolation have affected our minds and memory

As I read it, the problem is that our brains demand stimulation, a survival mechanism from the days we were dodging dinosaurs. 

The problem at the moment is lack of stimulus. I'm not going anywhere, other than the same old walking routes. A year without shows means a year without much inspiration. I know there are magazines and YouTube, but it's not the same as seeing stuff for real. That's where I get my rush of enthusiasm from. 

Knowing all this isn't much help of course as there is nothing much I can do about it at the moment. Still, at least there is a reason.

Saturday Film Club: Adding rivets

 

An interesting technique - bit super fiddly! I might have to invest in some balls though. And one of those rivet maker things.

Steam tram

 

A few weeks ago, I mentioned some Atlas Editions trams that we'd bought far too cheaply for the quality of the models. 

All have potential for a diorama, but as I learned to my cost building Hellingly, overhead wiring is a pain in the backside to do properly. That limits the electric trams use as moving models, but there is another in the range - this attractive steam tram. 

Tram number 12 is 70mm long and 25mm wide. The small boiler, only 25mm above rail level, doesn't provide a lot of space to fit a motor, but this is narrow gauge, and I suspect an N gauge Tomytec mechanism could be squeezed in. 

Possibly, the biggest problem is the trailer car. The bogies are moulded integral to the underframe trussing, and obviously they don't rotate. Probably the easiest option would be to scrape the whole lot off and replace with new bogies and scratchbuilt truss-rods. 

My suspicion is that someone has already carried out this conversion already - can anyone point me in the direction if it's been written up?