What colour is a blue brick?

 

Sometimes, work means I have to do some odd things. A few weeks ago, there was an emergency run to buy pencil crayons. Yes, coloured pencils. 

For the station building project I was working on, I had to colour in some blue engineering bricks. Now, in the past, I'd been told "Prussian Blue" was the colour. I tried it, and it very much wasn't. Far too blue. 

That being the case, the project ground to a halt until I located the correct colour, hence a hurried trip to my local art shop, Picturesque, in Warwick, with some photos of real buildings. 

Now, the people running the shop are used to oddballs coming in, and didn't bat an eye at someone testing every flavour of grey in the rack on a bit of card kept from the kit fret. It took a long while for me to work through all the ranges and settle on a selection. The bricks are a lot greyer than you think, but with a hint of blue. Sadly, no one makes a "blue brick" pencil to make things easier for me. 

In the end, I came away with a few: 

• Derwent Blue Grey
• Stabilo CarbOthello
• Derwent Mid Grey
• Derwent Steel Blue
• Derwent Iron Blue
• Derwent Payne's Grey

Eventually, a mix of three randomly rubbed on the etched bricks did the job, or at least to my eyes. It's all subjective anyway...

 

Station, nettles and bushes in November's BRM

 

Lots of making going on in November's issue of BRM. I start with some etched metal nettles. Very nice, but definitely a foreground plant, as they aren't cheap. That said, when only the best will do, this is a very good option. Very easy to use too. 

Next, a seriously time-consuming model. 

MMR Models GWR station is a stunner - but be prepared to put the time in. Nothing is difficult, but there are a lot of parts, and you really need to be pre-painting most of them too. Is it worth it? In my opinion, yes. There is a terrific sense of satisfaction making a model like this, and if that is part of the calculation you make when deciding how to model railways, then that matters. 

Finally, on BRM TV, I'm making hedges. 

My camera has been out, photographing the OO gauge layout, Bere Banks. 

 British Railway Modelling magazine is available from all good newsagents, or our online store. 

Workshop Wednesday - Sherwood Bus Depot

 

On the way to a photo shoot, I found myself running early, so I stopped off in the Nottingham district of Sherwood. The forest is close by, in case you wondered. 

It's an interesting place. More charity shops than you can shake a stick at, but also a local baker and lots of visible signs of community action to brighten the place up. I popped some of them in this Instagram post.  

Halfway along the street is Sherwood bus depot. According to this document (PDF), it was built in 1901, originally as a tram depot. Buses replaced trams in 1936.

One half is now a 'spoons pub, and the other used to be a bus depot, though it closed a month ago.  

Frustratingly, the satnav route back home after the shoot didn't replicate the route out, or I'd have examined the building further over lunch in the pub.  

You can see this building on Street View. 

Fitting out the galley

 

Finally, a bit of time to stick on an Inspector Morse DVD, and get back to working on the model barge. 

The kitchen units confused me. In theory, they fold up, but I got lost in the instructions, and ended up going off-piste. The various sides were split up, and reassembled in a way that seemed to make sense to me. It didn't help that I disagreed with the idea that the doors should open. On a real barge, just like a camper van, surely there are latches to stop them swinging around when in motion? 

No problem, just fit the parts inside out, and the doors stay closed. I added some handles from scraps of microstrip, stuck in place with Deluxe card glue. Extra strips were cut from the spare card fret to add a worktop and drawer fronts. With a sharp blade, the card cuts beautifully. 

Coloured with paint pens, they will look fine when viewed through the side windows, and not bad with the roof removed. I think I'll look for some suitable detail fittings to bring the galley area alive at some point, but they look OK for now. 

L&WMRS Open Day - September 2026

 

We've just enjoyed the post-TINGS club open day. With a stand at a major show, it seems sensible to follow-up by offering people the chance to visit our not that easy to find clubrooms, in daylight. We lay on tea, cake, and lots of working model railways. 

 

All very nice, but it was the team behind our modular project who really pulled out all the stops for this event, with some stunning modelling. 

 

All products of the 3D printer, plus an awful lot of work painting and finishing the basic prints. And yes, that is Godzilla. Printed in clear material, then painted, and fitted with lights. Press a button on the front of the layout, and his spines illuminate, and the giant screen on the building stops showing Japanese adverts, and instead advises the population to flee.