Saturday Film Club: Upside Down, Left To Right: A Letterpress Film

Let me be controversial. This is a very pleasent film to watch. The process of printing using metal letters is interesting. 

But, it then starts down the "We must never let old techniques die" road. And I'm not convinced. 

There are good reasons that no one does this commerically any more. For a start, the process takes a huge amount of time, newspapers used to employ vast numbers of people to set out thier pages. When your USP is selling current news, that's an overhead you don't need as the more up-to-date you want to be, the more people are required to process the printing bits. 

Bang on about how lovely the print is all you like, it changes nothing. If you want to publish, you go digital nowadays, because most people don't care about the impressed marks. They want to read the text. 

Maybe it's jut me being grumpy, but the UK is full of people obsessed by the idea that the past was always wonderful, and everything modern is bad. Presumably they don't have any of those pesky anesthetics in hospital, or at the dentist. Indeed, they demand that the art of boring holes in people's heads is kept alive, because it is "traditional". 

I recently had a discussion with someone on a forum along these lines. He claimed everything was better in 1963. Everything. Apparenlty he is quite the student of history, or so he claimed. Handily, he could ignore the increase in life expectancy of 10 years, and that part of the reason the NHS was "functioning" back then (apprently) was that an awful lot of illness equalled death back then. Still, it was better. 

Going back to the film, why is a university paying for someone to do this full time? Real type is a nice hobby, but of little more than passing interest to students, who won't be making use of it when they graduate, and those who will, can go and learn the stuff from (horror) books...

Hutchinson, in blue

 

My favourite Isle of Man Peacock, has to be Number 12, Hutchinson. I first saw it back in 1993, when the loco sported a blue livery and sqaure cab. Some people consider it a "non-authentic" livery, but since it wore this paint for 12 years, I can't see that argument stands up. 

Anyway, I recenlty managed to pick up a model of the loco. 

Produced in 1987, this is a limited edition model, although just how limited it is, I don't know. Rails don't have one in stock.

Now, rivet counters might detect a few differences between model and protoype, but I'm not going to let their nit-picking ruin my enjoyment of my new model. 

OK, it's a bit of a rubbish souvenier, but I love it for just that reason. This is properly silly!

Final weathering

 

I don't normally weather garden railway models. Not sure why, perhaps I'm hoping that this will occur naturally, even though it doesn't.

The flat wagons definitely need some toning down though, so it's out with the weathering powders.

A stiff brush is required to really work the powder into the balsa planks, and I like to introduce a bit of variety into the colours. It's not difficult, and makes a huge difference to the final look of these little wagons. 

Some lead flashing under the floors, and the wagons are ready for the track. I think I might fit couplings as shown on Monday, but these will look nice behind one of my locos. We just need a brake van to complete the set.

A Gu desert pot comes in handy, again...

 

With everything painted, it's time for assembly. Wheels slide on to the axles, followed by the axleboxes. These locate into slots moulded in the bottom of the chassis. It's pretty much idiot-proof. 

I've fitted the nails in the end for the couplings, and of course this means that you can't sit the chassis upside down for setting the gauge. 

Not to worry, one of these handy Gu desert pots, as seen on The Repair Shop, is just the right size to support it!

Flat wagons

 

While ordering the skips from Binnie, I added some Husdon chassis to the package. A few years ago, I turned a couple of them into simple flat wagons, and fanced making this train longer. 

The kit is pretty simple - an ABS frame and some glass filled nylon wheels and axleboxes, plus steel axles. 

First up, the parts, apart from the wheels, get a coat of Halfords rex oxide primer. Getting the paint into all the nooks and crannies is harder than you might think, but it's a really lovely paint to use, and with a hairdrier, the job doesn't take long. 

The planks are cut from balsa, easier to distress than basswood, and then painted with EDM Models Weathered woodstain to make them grey, rather than new balsa cream colour. A sensible person would cut these out as large rectangles and score the planks, just like I did for the first two wagons. I'd have done it again, but by the time I'd cut out the rectangles, I realised the grain was going the wrong way...

Less fiddly coupling chain

 

For the October issue of Garden Rail, I've increased my Binnie skip train to 10 wagons. This is lovely, but also fiddly to assemble at the track. Like many other large scale fans, I use bath plug chain for couplings, which means my flight box has bags of three and four link lengths of chain in the bottom. 

Coupling is easy, but fiddly, looping the chain over the hooks on the ends of each piece of rolling stock. Plenty of dropped, and lost chain during the day, it's a good job the stuff is cheap!

For the skips, I wondered if I could fit one end of the chain to the wagon, so coupling just involved flipping the free end over the hook. 

With a bit of fiddling, I managed to fix the chain in place with a U-shaped piece of staple, forced into the ABS the wagon is made from, with a hot soldering iron. Holding the U with tweezers seemed the least faffy way to do the job. That and accepting the chain would be pinned, but not perfectly behind the nail used as a hook. 

Experiments seem to prove this will work, and hopefully save me a bit of time trackside. 

Update: I've now had the chance to try these out, and they work every bit as well as I hoped!

 

Model trams at Crich 2024

A few photos from the recent model tramway show at Crich. 

Of course there was cake, and much less sickly than it looked! Hopefully a couple of the layouts will feature in a future magazine shoot, so watch this space.

Saturday Film Club: We Built a Giant LEGO TUBE MAP With Working Trains!

I like Lego. I like trains. I like underground trains. Mix them up, and what have you got?

Jinty comparisons

 

My second ever model railway locomotive was a Hornby Jinty, all the way back in 1979 (I think). So, when the chance to have a look at the latest version sold as part of the 70 years in Margate celebrations, I thought it would be interesting to sit my old model next to the 2024 version. 

The first thing to say is that this is a long way from a modern RTR model. If you want a modern Jinty, the Bachmann stepped into the breach, and Hornby has so far, not bothered chucking money at tooling up a duplicate. No, this is firmly a nostaligic model, a market the big H is well placed to serve. 

Anyway, the body is exactly the same, or at least it is if you ignore the extra handrails, and bunker extension I fitted to mine. It's what we did in the old days. 

With the body off, there is a difference. My model has an XO4 motor, and the newer version has one of those tiny cheap motors. I don't think this is that new, I seem to recall that Thomas was so fitted, and the Class 58 - launched in 1996. I seem to remember that the 58 was considered underpowered, but Thomas was fine. Stick a set of gears on the end of a fast-revving motor, and it ought to behave. 

I haven't compared the running qualities - to be honest, I forget before packing the Rovex flyer off to the office, but I'm sure it's every bit as good as it needs to be. 

All this made me look up Bachmann Jinty's - blimey, they are cheap on the second-hand market!

Edgeworth out of storage

 

I'm having a bit of a clear out at the moment. The storage is looking fuller than I am comfortable with, so it's time to do something about it. First up, a set of baseboards that have been sitting around for over six years were found a new home via RMweb, then it was time for another layout to go. 

Edgeworth was built back in 2014. It was my first BRM project layout, and as such, extensivly written up as a series in the magazine. We then spun this off into a bookazine The BRM Guide to building your first model railway - basically the articles brought together with a load of extra material. 

After that the layout visited a couple of Warners shows, and then was boxed up and stored in the back of my storage container. It's sat there for ten years!

Anyway, I agreed with my boss, it was time for the model to find a new home, and one Sunday evening, popped an advert up on RMweb. An hour later, Terry, the Stafford show exhibition manager, grabbed the chance to take it off my hands. He'd been looking at the old articles, and considering building the model as a winter project, and I've made his life easier. 

One thing that had worried me was what the state of the layout would be after all this time. It wasn't wrapped in plastic, and in the back corner of the metal box, there wasn't any airflow.

It turns out I needn't have worried. The layout was in an excellent state. Some oxidisation on the bolts holding it in the carrying boards was the only problem. A shot of WD40 sorted the two I couldn't easily free with my fingers, and I gave them all a blast once they were accesible, just to be on the safe side. 

The only problem with all of this - I can't find the control panel! It's big enough that I'd thought I'd just put my hand on it. As it is, I need to find the thing, and then work out how to get it over to Terry. Perhaps I'll have to go to Stafford show on the Sunday after all. 

Update: I have found the control panel, and Terry doesn't need it as he plans to inflict the evil DCC on the layout!

Shrewsbury station scenes

On one of my random days out by train recently, I found myself on Shrewsbury station with a bit of time to kill, and took a few photos. One day, these will be historic!

Trains4U, Peterborough

 

When visiting a new (to me) town, I can't help typing "town Model Shops" into Google, to see if there is anywhere worth adding to my itinery. This time it was Peterborough, and the result was a visit to Trains4U.

It's a big shop, with a main floor and a mezanine - all stuffed full of stock. 

Railways are the main feature, but there's also Warhammer, plastic kits (big range) and even Tamiya RC cars and trucks. All this plus loads of paint (at least 3 ranges), tools, glues and scenic items. Railway fans will find N, OO and O gauge a plenty.

Upstairs is a reasonable selection of second-hand models. No giraffe cars, but the NOS packs of OO gauge Graham Farish wagons looked tempting. I have too much stuff I keep reminding myself...

Not really needing anything railway modelling, or any other sort if I'm honest, related, I came away with a Peco point for the BRM NG7 project, and some paint. Were money, and space, no object, I'm sure I could have added more, but Peterborough isn't that far from the office, so I'm sure there will be more visits as it wouldn't be that hard to swing by on the way home.

This years Art in the Park haul

A couple of weeks ago, it was time for "Art in the Park", Leamington's celebration of arty types and the things they make. Obviously, I went a long as I love this stuff, and came away with a couple of items which I think you'll like. 

First up, a Hare from Ros Ingram Ceramics. I have another piece from Ros, a small fox, that I won on the tombola last year. At the time I didn't know who the artist was, but as soon as I saw her work on the stand, that question was answered. 

My approach with art is simple, I look at it, and then go for a wander around the event. If it's still in my head when I get back to the stand, then I have another look, and if it's within budget for the day, I'll be bringing it home. 

The only problem with the Hare was which pose? The version with his ears back looked lovely, but in the end, it was ears up that I couldn't get away from. He's now safe in the the display case, but for a couple of days, sat beside the computer looking up as me very sweetly. 

Now, Ros runs courses to teach others how to work the clay, and I have the leaflet on my wall. I think I'd enjoy having a go. 

The second buy was this piece from Baobab Tree Mosaics. I'm sure to some people this wouldn't count as proper "art", but every time I look at it, it makes me smile, and that's good enough for me. The 13cm diameter dome is hand made, and mosaic'd in shiny blue tiles, plus those eyes. 

I've fitted it to the display case behind me as my supervisor when working. He is called "Bob". You can see himn in Teams calls with me, although no one has yet.

Maybe this year, I didn't learn a new skill, but I did answer the question, "What is a burrito" with the answer "Delicious, and filling". And I have a couple of hand-made items that make me happy.

Gauge 1 North

 

A frustratingly short trip to Bakewell a few weeks ago. For start the car park only took cash, and I didn't have that much on me!

Never mind, I did some useful chatting, finding out the the ex-Merician range appears ot have found new homes. The G1 stuff has gone to Walsall Model Industries, and the rest to CSP Models. The rest of the time was spend buying the G1 wagon recently featured on this blog, and getting my head around prices and kits available in the scale. That, and chatting to the excellent Liz Marsden, and the editor of the G1 journal. 

All this limited the chances to take photos, sorry about that. 

I did have time to chat to the 3D print group, an area I want to spend more time on in the future. Thier L&Y Pug kit (not the loco above) is fantastic, but theres now one I'd like to build even more...

The lesson is, two hours is NOT enough!

Saturday Film Club: Class 58 - A Career Cut Short

I've always had a soft spot for the Class 58 diesel. They looked, to my eyes, very attractive. Sadly, I remember them arriving, and fading away...

Beatties Book of Boats

 

Another item for the collection, this time Beatties catalogue of model boat kits. Plenty in here that is still available in one from or another, although I'm not sure about the miriad galleon kits. Steingraeber certainly seems to have disappeared.

More on Eezebuilt Boat kits here.

The pages are clickable for a closer look. No idea when this was published, it appears to be an in-house job, so no copyright date.

Looking for 145

 

Humbrol 145 (Medium Grey), has long been my go-to for painting jeams on model figures, usuaully dry-brushed with 144 on larger models. However, it's become difficult to aquire recenlty. I was in a model shop last week, and there wasn't even a space on the rack for it!

In th same shop, there was a Revell rack, and from memory, 79(Matt greyish blue)  looked like a reasonable match. 

Sadly, my memory for colour isn't that good as it's a lot darker. That said, it IS a useful colour, so money not wasted. One positive, the test piece required two coats of 145, but only one of 79, so it's a nice paint. 

The hunt for 145 goes on though. Perhaps something in an acrylic range is where I need to go. Now, there is a shop locally that stocks the Vallejo range, so I'll have a look there.

Unimog

 

Another find in the box from yseterday, is this Unimog from the Tamiya 4WD Minis range. I'm sure I bought it from ToyTown in Leamington, and that shop closed in 1995. No idea why I bought it, at the time I didn't own an orange car (the colour of which is now my favourite) and I doubt I'd seen the real truck as they are uncommon in the UK. 

The kit has survived pretty well. Apart from cracked tyres, it's much as I would have put it in the box. Amazing really as the shed is open to the elements and certainly not heated!

Putting a couple of batteries in, and wiggling them around to achieve a good contact, and the model works! It zips along in what I suspect is a very un Unimog way, but it still looks great. 

Marther my dear

 

While clearing out a shed in the garden whose roof is more hole then felt, I found a couple of big plastic boxes containing some of my venerable garden railway stock. In the bottom, was this cod Simplex that I must have built in the 1980s. 

As with all my modelling in this era, cost was the main priority, or at least keeping it down was. 

A stripwood square supports some Coopercraft running gear. Power comes from a cheapo motor, and plastic gears, almost certainly from Proops Pound Packs. The body is plastic and cardboard, with some bits from old plastic kits thrown in. 

Once I'd worked out how to the remove the body, it's held down with a single screw, I found the battery compartment holding a single AA cell, and a motor fitted with a crude lead flywheel. No idea why I did this, but I'll have read that flywheels make models run better, so had a go at making one with my limited skills and equipment. 

Battery installed, nothing much happened. I oiled all the bearings, and spun the motor over by hand, and it started to try to move. A bit more spinning and the loco would move forward, but stuttered in reverse. More perseverance though, and she runs! After 30 years at least. Reverse still isn't as good as forward, but I'm sure it will come. The flyweel sort of works too, keeping the motor running for a fw seconds. 

What next? 

Well, a little work, and this will become a "Layout in a Day" loco. Slow running, and reasonably heavy, I can see it doing a few circuits of any future temporary line. Maybe some pipes to the radiator, and a seat bck for the driver, are in order, but it would be nice to rescue her from the shed, and put her into service. 

The name. Most of my locos are named after pets. Marther was a cat, and I've no idea how she spelt her name. Poshly in this case!

The Law of model shops

The law is simple - when you go in a model shop, you have to buy something. No matter how small. 

Sometimes, this is easier then other. I don't really need anything for my modelling sometimes, but the law is the law. To be fair, this how I ended up with a rather excellent tugboat, but also two plastic kits for Japanese scooter display teams. 

Anyway, a trip to Footplate models was one of the easier ones. I walk in the door, and am greeted by a pile of new second-hand stock. And calling out to me from the top box, a giraffe car. Result! 

Price, less than a tenner. 

It's not a bad one either. There are ladders on the side, but not the end. Georgie has 1 1/2 ears. The biggest problem is the magnet in the bottom of the mechanism is missing. I suspect these slide out one side, as their loss isn't uncommon. 

It's even pretty clean. No need for a trip to the sink and an attack of the Fairy Liquid toothbrush. 

Big question though. How many of these thinsg do I own? Hmmmm.