RH&DR Armoured train

With all the war time specials to be found in model railway magazines, it seems only appropriate that I do something on the blog. The problem is that I don't really do tanks and guns and stuff, not being a big fan of armed conflicts. While lots of people love all that stuff, I can't help thinking, "There but for the grace of god go I" on the basis that if born 70 years earlier, I'd have been spending time in a muddy trench rather than building model railways.

However, I can't escape entirely. While the idea of modelling the front lines does nothing for me, you can't really escape being fascinated by some of the equipment developed. Hobart's funnies for example, fascinating. Or in this case an armoured train - one that could very well have been right in the front line as it ran on the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch railway.

Manned by the Home Guard and armed with Lewis and Bren guns along with anti-tank rifles, the train fortunately didn't see action. This doesn't make it any less interesting. The idea of building a model has been one of many kicking around in my mind for years but things came together last year when I spotted a kit on the Sgt's Mess stand at the IPMS.

Initial thoughts centred around building a working model from the static kit. After an awful lot of digging through N gauge locos (the model is designed to sit on N gauge track, rather too wide for the 15 inch RH&DR but we'll ignore that) it proved impossible to find a 4-8-2 chassis with 6mm driving wheels.

Thus, the kit has sat around untouched for a few months. This seems a shame so I've decided to build it. If anyone comes up with a solution to the chassis problem, well a second kit won't break the bank, I'll have another go.

New magazines on the shelves



A trip to Smifs this week saw my pocket lightened by the cost of two new magazines. Both interesting and both Issue No.1 so valuable investments for the future. After all, they are bound to rise in value aren't they?

VW Vibe (£3.99) is a mag for those in the VeeDub "scene". There are cars but no tech articles for people who know one end of a spanner from the other. This is a mag for people for whom it's not just a car, it's a lifestyle. While there is a pleasant lack of "I gave the car to X and paid them to do all the work", I'm pretty sure that this will come. Some of the builders are professionals and I wonder how many articles will be showcases for their work. Don't get me wrong, there are some fascinating vehicles in there, I just wonder how many will still be around in 3 years time once they have been sold to people who don't understand the difference between a modern Toyota and and 40 year old bug.

What it does is confirm some of the reasons my campervan is up for sale. I'm no where near cool enough to be part of the "scene" and nowadays that seems to be the main reason for owning an old Volkswagen.

Blocks Magazine (£5.99) is a different beast. For a start, it's so low budget that there isn't even a website. You wouldn't know this from the inside though. Reproduction, print and photography are all top notch. It feels like a quality publication.

I don't really understand the adult Lego market. This is probably jealousy as even I can't see myself playing with a toy that I loved not that many years ago. Yes, I'd relish an opportunity to sit down with a kit and put it together - and if you are reading this so would you - but I can't quite get away from the "grown-ups playing with toys" thing. Looking at some of the sets reviewed though, Lego have spotted the adult market. You don't pay £250 for a Star Wars sand crawler from your pocket money.

This isn't a pure picture-fest. A history of Lego takes up several pages and there is a nod to collecting with a look at the Blacktron sets from the 1980s. There's even some practical stuff with step-by-step articles on building a Minifigure display cabinet and making some Lego valve-caps for your car or bicycle.

I quite like the idea of the 60 minute challenge. Random tubs of bits is handed to two competitors and they have to build a model from these in the time, the results being judged at the end. This isnt' far off the way most people work with Lego, having a pile of bits and using pure imagination to work out what to make.

Towards the back there is a book review and then some glossary terms for newbies to the brick world. I wonder if this is the publishers hedging their bets against a second issue. If it doesn't sell well then the thing works as a standalone publication. That would be a pity as there is obviously a market full of creative people who desperately want others to understand and appreciate their work.

All they need now is for WH Smith to stop putting it in the children's section. Mind you, if I were 7 years old, I would have read it from cover to cover.

Patrick Rylands, designer

Patrick Rylands designs toys. Children of the 70s like me will remember PlayPlax squares - interlocking plastic pieces in different colours that you made abstract creations with. Simple and elegant.

Anyway, there is a rather interesting interview with him on Toy News.

I post this not because I've been too busy for much blogable modelmaking (I have but that will be fixed next week) but because he has some interesting views on the future of toys and how they will be impacted by electronic devices.

"Over the years, I’ve been an obsessive collector of all kinds of things and it occurred to me quite early on that a lot of the information we get from anything came in through the fingers, not just the eyes. There are more senses than just the eyes and I do worry its just look based not do based."

Basically, there is more to life than staring at a screen. Something I think most modelmakers will agree with. You might even see some parallels with the current state of the model train world too. I did.

Mystery buffer bar

Mike asks: Please can you explain the use of the bar connecting the 2 front buffer pads on your Ruston shunting loco (Fri, Aug 19, 2011 blog post photo). I have Googled extensively but can't find anything to explain or show similar. Was this a real practice?

Good question. It's something I'm asked at exhibitions too and the photo you've seen doesn't give any useful clues either.

The bar is part of the Sprat & Winkle coupling system. As you can see from the pic above, wagons have both the bar and a pivoted hook on the ends. The hook grabs the bar on the loco. Basically, it's the same as a traditional tension-lock coupling you find on the ends of ready to run models except that this version is mounted upside down and operated by magnets under the track.

There's is no prototype equivalent. In real life coupling is achieved using chains attached to hooks on the buffer beam. You can do this on a model but it's very fiddly, especially in any scale under 7mm.

I've used S&Ws for many years on all my models and really like them. There are other ways of fitting the coupling rod but gluing it to the buffers is easiest and if painted with a off-black, not too obtrusive in real life.

The couplings are available from Wizard Models.

I wrote up fitting these couplings in the June 2104 issue of British Railway Modelling.

Melbridge Box Company video

Four years ago, I made a couple of films for Modelrailway.tv It appears that one of these, The Melbridge Box Company, is still on-line and available for free viewing.

 

Update: Sorry. I didn't watch it all the way through when I wrote the post. Apparently you get the first half and then an offer to pay to see the rest - I'd assumed it was all free. Apologies to all the people who have been highly offended by this. All links have now been removed.

 



Hornby Visitor Centre

I wasn't really sure what there was to be found in the Hornby visitor centre when presented with a schedule that included half an hour in there, I was looking forward to it. It helps that I'm not a proper finescale snob. If it's trains, there will probably be something of interest.

As you'd expect, one of the first exhibits is a large model railway that visitors can operate. It's one of three (I think, possibly more) and makes use of Hornby products on a scale that most people can only dream of. I'm sure the kids will like them, especially the Thomas set which incorporates a couple of vistadomes in the middle so you can get right in to the scene.

 

This is a bit of a gimmick but if you have a large layout, how about arranging for people to be able to stick their head inside a building so they look out through the windows? We all tend to get down to eye level while viewing a model railway, and this isn't a bad way of doing it while keeping little hands away from the models.

 

Anyway, the centre isn't just devoted to Hornby. There's a lot of stuff from the rest of the group. You can play with a couple of Scalextric sets for example. Who knew they made cars that would drift? I didn't. Good fun though.

In cabinets fitted into the walls are all sort of fascinating displays. I've never seen the Airfix Fergie kit - the one that brought the company in to producing plastic kits - before, but here we go:

#

How about the recent Live Steam loco range with their tops off?

Or some of the prototypes for the Corgi vehicles range?

I liked the selection of tinplate Volkswagens:

There is space for model makers contributions such as these conversions of the Wallace & Gromit range of vehicles on loan from one of the IPMS Special Interest Groups:

Appropriately, there is a huge D-Day model. Relying on standard Airfix kits means it's not perfectly accurate (the landing craft are too small for tanks) the panels around the model explain which products have been used. I doubt many people will have the space (20ft square I think although I didn't have a tape measure handy) to reproduce the scene, it might inspire a few modellers to try a diorama. There are prototype vehicles around the edge for military nerds to have a good look at too.

These pictures are only a tiny selection of the exhibits on offer.

Would I pay to go in?

Yes I would. I reckon there is a happy half day poking around, watching films and generally wallowing in model making goodness to be had, especially if you are interested in how the models are made or remember the older ones that you haven't seen for a long while. I'd suggest avoiding school holidays - Thursday morning was nice and quiet and we managed to have a play with everything without needing to shove small children out of the way.

Hornby visitor centre website.

Hornby shop, Margate

I can't talk about model shops without mentioning the one attached to Hornby's premises in Margate.

To find it, you have to go around the side of the building - to the right as you look at the front door. Don't worry, there are signs pointing you to the visitors centre (I'll post about this tomorrow).

Inside, as you might expect, there is as full a range of Hornby products as can expect to find anywhere. After all, if they can't get it who can?

Locos, and rolling stock are on the shelves and possibly the only display devoted to the under-rated SkaleScenics products I've ever seen.

 

Look, lots of toy trains!

 

 

This probably sounds like a terrible factory shop set-up, a bit like the one attached to the Cadbury museum. Unlike this one, a trip around the visitors centre hadn't put me off the products. In fact, had I not been working, I would have happily browsed the shelves for an hour or so.

 

What you get from a trip here is an idea of the range of items produced by the Hornby GROUP. Airfix, Corgi, Scalextric and Humbrol stuff fills the shelves. If I lived nearby I'd never have to worry about running out of paint for a start.

 

For bargain hunters, there were some shelves of discounted items - mostly Airfix products as I recall from a quick look, but I assume this changes over time so it would be worth dropping in occasionally.

Hornby Visitor Centre website

RAF Manston History Museum

On the edge of Manston Airport in Kent, there are a pair of museums dedicated to old aircraft. One of these is the RAF Manston Museum.

Housed in an old building, it's a little bit home-spun but in the best way possible. Greeted by volunteer staff, you are pointed in the direction of the exhibits having been relieved for a measly £1.50 entrance fee.

Both inside and out, there are sections of real aircraft and support vehicles. Most of the flying machines have been chopped off behind the cockpit apart from a Jaguar, couple of helicopters and a Canadian jet fighter.

It's possible to poke your head in to the Victor to get a feel for the conditions enjoyed by the crew. I was taken by the idea that special inflatable cushions were built to get those not supplied with ejector seats into a standing position so they could jump out.

One of the rarer exhibits is the remnants of a bouncing bomb, presumably the test version. It's very different from the object dropped in the 1955 film when the details were still top secret.

Anyway, we don't normally do aircraft museums on this blog, no matter how good they are. This one gets a place as a model shop. As well as a fine range of books and souvenirs, they stock lots of plastic kits. Mostly aircraft obviously, but one of two others from the Airfix range. In addition, there are racks of Humbrol enamel and acrylic paints plus glues, filler and brushes.

Not too difficult a place to fin - you'll know you are there when you spot the V1 bomb on a stick outside the door. If you need even more aeroplanes, on the other side of the car park is the Spitfire & Hurricane museum - free to go in and also fascinating.

RAF Manston History Museum Website

Knightcote Model Boat Club open day 2014

A sunny day. The chance to spend time sailing model boats with friends. Such a pity I had to work so could only spend a couple of hours there.

Never mind, there was plenty to see. Even in the morning, at one point there were 17 sailors around the poolside. A wide variety of models to be seen too from landing craft to wooden river cruisers to yachts and high-speed racing boats.

As befits an open day, there were at least 3 clubs other than KMBC represented. Steve from Model Boat Bits had brought a useful selection of products to relieve us of a few quid. I came away with long lengths of plastic mouldings for a railway project and some brass wire - because I'm sure it will come in handy and you don't see it in yard lengths normally.

Anyway, go and have a look at my photos on Flickr.

Elham Valley Railway Museum

So I'm tootling through the Kent countryside with RMweb's Andy York and we spot a sign for a railway museum. There's no name but none of us can think of a museum in the area. A little navigational jiggery-pokery later we head up a country lane and spot this.

A funicular car in what appears to be a garden. Either that, or the track is going to be anchored on the moon one day. Perhaps this is an early attempt at a space elevator?

As it turns out, the carriage is part of the Elham Valley Railway museum. Sadly, it was closed mid-week so all we could do was look over the hedge at the Channel Tunnel works trains also on the site. If you are in the area at a weekend or bank holiday, it looks worth a visit though.

Personally, I think this is a cracking garden ornament. A very different type of garden railway...

A good jigsaw

I love a good jigsaw. There is something about bringing order to a random pile of little pieces and watching the picture come together that is very satisfying.

It can be horribly addictive too. Jigsaws tend to be left out for anyone to pick at around here. Gradually the pieces will be sorted out, usually the edges first and then little areas inside until these can be pulled together and the remaining holes filled. As a relaxing pastime, it's hard to beat - you can't really think of anything else while you work so it clears the mind. The problem is, you think you'll do ten minutes and an hour layer you are searching for just one more piece.

For this to work, obviously you need lots of bits - at least 1000. The picture has to have plenty of detail and be well reproduced too. A recent jigsaw became an exercise in trying every piece in every gap at one point as the painting of sea and rocks wasn't distinctive enough to spot which parts should go together.

The picture at the top shows "Airfix - Through the years", a selection of Airfix products from the first little grey Fergie kit at the front to more modern offerings such as the ship in the bottom left corner. Classic artwork on box tops from Roy Cross (anything with guns and explosions) to the tamer modern images. There's some old catalogues in the centre, at least one of which I remember having from the 1970s.

I'm not sure how or why, but there is even a little bit for Beatties anoraks like me - the HMS Warspite box has a price label on it! I wonder if this was left in deliberately? It would seem odd as none of the other boxes is priced.

Am I the only jigsaw fan out in the world of modelmakers?

Surely not. After all, we all enjoy bringing a bit of order to chaos.

Anyway, jigsaw making isn't that much different from building a model from a kit, especially with some of the instructions I've found in kits.

Cow-a-vanba, it's BRM!

It's time for the paper copy of British Railway Modelling again - electronic copies have been knocking  around for several days already but on this blog we don't consider publication has taken place until we see some dead tree.

Well, in magazine terms anyway.

Obviously the blog is published when the electrons are born. Moving on...

This time you can feast on a cow-van special from my workbench.

First up we have a laser-cut and laser-etched kit for a LNWR 19th Century cattle wagon from Parliamentary Trains. It's an odd-ball prototype from a time that most people wouldn't consider modelling. Even on O gauge, this isn't a huge vehicle but as you can see, it makes up very nicely.

 

O gauge not big enough for you? Well try this Isle of Man cattle van from IP Engineering in G scale. More laser cutting but in plywood this time, the finished model is a substantial 25 1/2 CM over the ends. Lots of wood and metal for your money here.

 

I've also carried on looking at couplings, this time it's a drop-in replacement for the standard tension-lock hook from PH Designs.

 

And finally, if all this weren't enough, the magazine comes with a free scenery guide. In here, you'll find out how I built one of my favourite projects for a long while - a little diorama based around a Nissen Hut. It's 7mm again, although the parts are available in 4mm too, and (to my eye) has come up really well showing that even in a small space, you can have some enjoyable modelling.
 

 

 

Loads of good stuff for only £3.75 - Find out more at the BRM Website.

Book Review: The Modelmaker's Handbook by Jackson & Day

I haven't reviewed a book on here for a while but as I leafed through The Modelmaker's Handbook looking for something, it occurred to me that most people will probably look at this volume on a second hand shelf and dismiss it.

Firstly, it was published in 1981, so it's going to be out of date isn't it?

Second, the writers are trying to cover all model making hobbies in 351 pages - surely an impossibility.

Wrong on both counts I'm afraid.

Let's start with the date thing. It is true that if you want cutting edge information on DCC wiring for model railways, or the latest details of radio control, then you won't find them in here.

On the other hand, there is plenty of information on wiring analogue railways, which is all you need really unless you insist on selling your soul to the devil for noises and lights and gizmos.

Servos etc. on the RC side haven't changed much. The main difference is the receiver you plug them in to doesn't have Xtals in it any more now you've started with that 2.4mHz stuff.

There's also no mention of laser cutting or 3D printing but then they are specialist subjects that many modellers will have limited practical contact with.

No, inside, you find an excellent reference designed for people with a wide range of interests. Take a look at the contents page:

 

There is an awful lot between the covers. Normally this would mean that the information is desperately basic, but not this time. I was looking for information on painting figures and there it was. Enough to get me going. If I wanted to modify the little people, details and diagrams are available quite obviously written by military modellers who do a lot of this sort of thing. There's some very nice information on painting horses complete with colour pictures.

 

In fact, the whole books is well illustrated with photos and diagrams. Someone spent a lot on artists to produce all these - not something you get very often now as photos are a lot cheaper, if not clearer.

 

Of course, for a proper British railway modeller, this sort of book is an anathema. It's got stuff on other hobbies in it! The horror!

 

That's fine but if it's the way you think, you are missing out. How do you straighten thin wire out? You look it up in the chapter on detailing and modifying plastic kits because the pictures are in there. Making plants or moulding rocks? This is under military dioramas. Making a horse and wonder how the tack works? Saddlery is pages 151 & 152. Stucco walls - well that one is in the railway building section after brickpaper and plasticard and before wooden walls.

 

The range is probably best illustrated when I say that the Index runs to 7 pages. You also have a glossary of terms for those new to a particular hobby.

 

As far as I know, The Modelmaker's Handbook is out of print, but I picked up my copy second hand reasonably cheaply to replace an original never returned by one of my sisters ex-husbands. If you can deal with cross-disciplinary ideas then grab a copy next time you see one.

 

 

3Doodler 3D pen

This 3D print stuff fascinates me. I'm impressed with the technology, if not as blind to the current level of development as many of a people on forums who see it as way of never having to do any of that fiddly model making.

One of the never ideas out there is the 3Doodler pen. It's not really the same as 3D printing, even though it's lumped in with the serious kit. That doesn't mean it's of no interest though. I'm always happy to tinker with a gadget with the idea it might have some model making uses.

Hanging around a quiet Maplin on a wet day, I decided to ask if I could have a play. Even though my total purchases were limited to some LEDs and a 9V battery snap, the assistant was happy for me to fire it up and hand it over.

The device is a fat, pen shaped object with two buttons and a fan. Basically, it's a hot glue gun that extrudes a plastic. Plug it in and the fan comes on. After a few seconds, the device is up to temperature and you can press a button to get started. Despite appearing to be forward and reverse, the buttons are just two speeds of extrusion.

On the advice of the assistant, I started my test by making a mound on the paper to glue my "model" to the surface. Then I drew a wiggly line in the air.

My line is 7.5cm tall and free standing. Working slowly, the plastic hardens fast enough to support itself withing a couple of seconds. The 1mm thick line is surprisingly strong too. My little doodle is springy and not at all brittle. I was impressed.

So, what use is this?

Not sure. Attempt two was a less than successful tree armature. Sticking branches to each other neatly would take practise and I had been using the tool for around 2 minutes. If it can be done, the finished tree will be flexible enough to take knocks but I'm sure strong enough to support fine gauze covered in flock powder. Thickening up the trunk could be carried out by drawing extra lines up it.

It's certainly an interesting tool. I didn't stump up the £99 to buy one, although if anyone wants to send one to me for proper testing, I'd be happy to devote more time to it.

With work, I wonder if a finner nozzle could be made to produce telegraph wires. Or rope for bunting. Or rope on boats generally. The plastic isn't elastic so won't stretch but I reckon there is way around this.

Interesting. Great fun to play with too.

Maplin 3Doodler

Rowland Emett Exhibition

For most railway enthusiasts, mentioned the name Rowland Emett causes them to think of the Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Branch Railway that ran at the Festival of Britain as well as his numerous cartoons featuring transport over the years.

Others will know him as the designer of the star of the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as well as many other fantastic gadgets that appeared on screen.

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery have assembled the largest collection of his working creations in a show entitled Marvellous Machines: The Wonderful World of Rowland Emett.

Arriving in the hall, the display starts with a film of Emett and some background history on his life and work. All around you are original framed cartoons broken down in to subjects that appealed to him such as class and of course, transport.

Despite a background as a technical artist, he moved in to working 3D creations - literally cartoons brought to life and half of the hall is given over to these. Starting with some from Chitty, we then have the Little Dragon Carpet Sweeper, a bicycle designed for lunar exploration, a flying machine and finally, his last display, "A Quiet Afternoon in Cuckoo Valley".

This final piece is made up of several machines from a bathing machine that is home to a corpulent diver to a man on a bicycle to the centrepiece - an almost full sized Emett train.

All the machines are working. The train rolls back and forth on its track. The loco seems to go in a different direction to the coaches. In one of these, a lady is casting around with a butterfly net.

Wonderful, wonderful stuff. Well worth a visit.
 

 

 

The Roland Emett Society website

Bantam Tug - Prototype Pics

A few weeks ago, my plan for the day involved meeting some friends for a drink in London. Checking train times I realised that I could get there a couple of hours early - time enough for a trip to the London canal museum where I could bag some more photos of their Bantam Tug to help me with the model I'm building. It's only when you start a project like this, you realise what you don't know...

Anyway, I pitched up at the museum, paid my entry fee and nipped through to check the boat was still there. It was. Phew - not a wasted journey.

I bagged a couple of pic and then pondered about leaping on board. No one would have spotted me but I am boring enough not to like doing this. Exhibits in museums aren't playthings and shouldn't be treated as such, even by those who think they are too good to worry about such niceties.

Back inside, I have a chat with the curator in charge and he came back out to the boat and gave me permission to step aboard. His only comment was that I should walk up and down the side next top a narrow boat as if I fell off, I'd only fall against the boat and not in the water. Apparently It's very deep in the basin!

So, 20 minutes later I'd crawled all over the boat and poked my camera into every space I could, including under the locked cabin doors. I even lowered it on it's strap into the cabin (the back doors aren't a terribly good fit) using the self timer to capture some interior detail.

What did I learn?

• Well, the hull I'm using is the wrong shape. The plan view should be a teardrop with a narrower stern rather than the parallel side hull I have. I've decided I don't care about this.
• The yellow decoration on the sides is pretty scruffy and not the collection of smooth curves the card kit shows.
• Behind the front bumper is hollow and includes a winch on each side to tie the tug to a barge being pushed.
• There is a towing point under the doors at the back of the boat.
• The driver steps down into the cabin. This is quite spacious and would be perfectly acceptable to be in with the back doors closed, saving the modeller some detail work inside if required.

All good stuff. I've posted some pictures on Flickr for anyone contemplating building the same boat. Thanks to the staff at the excellent London Canal Museum for helping out. Even if you don't want to build a Bantam, it's worth a visit.

Photos of the Bantam on Flickr.

DEMU 2014

The Diesel & Electric Modellers United show is a new one for me. I've been to the venue (Town Hall, Burton on Trent) before but not for oily boxes. Anyway, armed with a shopping list, I headed north on the train. Apart from a noisy family who got off at Tamworth for Thomas Land, it was a nice trip. Can't blame the kids for bouncing off the walls I suppose - they were off to Thomas Land - a world full of trains, a bit like the one I was heading for!

Anyway, the Town Hall is 2 mins walk from the station and I was soon in the main hall surrounded by layouts and lots of people. Saturday morning certainly saw a descent attendance. The show is a specialist event but open to the public. £8 for non-members to get in didn't seem unreasonable as the free programme showed there was plenty to see.

After A quick stop off at Black Country Blues to anoy Mr York, I worked my way around the venue. Starting with the shopping list I managed to pick up some bits from D&E videos although I did have to explain what a "Black Beetle" drive unit was until Charlie turned up to help his assistant. Plainly, he needs to invest more in staff training...

Trade wise, I did pretty well with some excellent tools and bits plus a very cheap N gauge loco kit for a future project. What I wanted though, was the O gauge Class 01 diesel on Judith Edge's stand. £100 looked like a bargain as the built up model looked superb in the brass. Very nearly added something to the kit stash there.

Layouts were unifromly excellent. OK, you have to like diesels and electrics but then the clue is in the name of the show. Specialist shows seem to attract quality modelling as the builders are being judged by their peers.

I liked Brighton East a lot, not because of the trains but the scenery. The station building an undergrowth really caught my eye. It looked just like those slightly forgotten areas of a modern station - not an easy trick to pull off. I'll be trying some of the techniques for future projects though.

Outwell village depot really appealed too. I've seen it before but this time the diesels were in charge. The track plan is a bit different and the scenes I've looked at in old photos have been really well replicated on the model.

One issue that seemed to affect a lot of the layouts was lighting, or the lack of it. The main space is a dark hall and so layout illumination is essential.

Some had got it but others needed a bit more work. A cracking scrapyard layout had lights at the rear of the scenic section illuminating the back of the models and throwing our side into shadow. It wasn't the only one not to realise you needs lots of light and it needs to be at the front or even in front of the model. Those in side rooms were probably better off in this respect, although I prefer the dark hall as it showcases models better.

Working around the venue is a bit of a maze too but it's not really a problem as there were plenty of signs as well as a plan in the programme. I'm pretty sure I found everything. Half a day well spent.

Apart from, and regular readers will be wondering about this, the cake. Quite frankly this was disappointing. While bacon butties were on offer, the cake looked mediocre pre-packed stuff and I left it alone and scoffed some found behind BCB instead. Still, while a major issue, it didn't detract too much from the rest of the show. Well, not too much anyway.

Never mind, next year it's a two venue event with displays at the National Brewery Centre. If I can't have cake, I'll be looking forward to quality beer!

Photos from the show on Flickr.

D-Day Shunter

Today is the 70th Anniversary of D-Day, the battle that began the end of World War 2.

When the Allies invaded, they didn't just take weaponry. They needed infrastructure too. Thus, one of the first things hauled up the beach was a 4-wheel Barclay diesel locomotive.

It travelled on the back of a tank transporter for this as the famous Mulbery harbour was still in pieces out at sea. The Germans had stolen or destroyed all the locos and it was important to get the French railways working again.

I've built several of the Mercian kits for this little loco in 3.5, 4 and 7mm scales.

More recently, George Dent has done the same and made a transporter for the loco to sit on. I haven't seen the magazine yet but look forward to this as it's lovely little kit and this is a iconic moment that appears in a famous photo of the day.

More recently, on a trip to the Foxfield Railway, I found a 12 inch to the foot version in WD livery. OK, it is a bit over-weathered but nice to see in the metal.

Swann Morton Retractable handle

My favorite model making knife has long been the Swann Morton scalpel. It sits well in the hand and is easily controllable. There is a wide variety of blades available but I prefer 10A as some of the thinner ones break too easily in my clumsy hands.

While the standard stainless handle is fine, for the last few years, I've been using the retractable version. This allows the blade to be safely stored away to protect the cutting edge when knocking around the workbench keeping it sharp for longer.

The chunkier handle is easy to grip and a nice weight. It feels solid in use.

My last handle died because some Pound Shop Epoxy got in to the mechanism and I've been searching for a replacement for some time - not having a need to place an order with anyone who sells them, I hoped to spot one on a trade stand at an exhibition. This finally happened at the weekend.

As it happens, I was chatting to one of my many friends called Brian. He'd not seen the tool before and immediately ordered 2 of them. Sadly, the trader only had one but being a top bloke, Brian deferred to me. Fortunately the trader (Modellers Mate) was able to promise to put a couple in the post during the week so Brian won't suffer too long.

As you can see, I am now a happy owner again and thanks to the magic of digital photography, you can see the tool in its three stages - closed, in use and open for blade changing.

Well recommended. A quick search on-line shows Hannants as a seller.

Rail Nation

I'm not what you'd call a computer games fan. I think I fall in the category "Casual Gamer". Angry Birds was fun until I reached a level where it was difficult. Tetris addictive until I cleared 100 lines and then I've never played it again. Bubbleshooter can also absorb my time but I've convinced myself the Flash version I found on-line was doing bad things to my PC so I stopped playing it. Not sure if that is true, but in my head it is, to save hours of time.

Against this background, being asked to test-drive a new computer game called Rail Nation was a bit of a surprise. Never mind, I thought, I'll give it a go.

Rail Nation is a simulation game where you get to build your own rail network. Starting from a single loco and line, you can expand your empire to your hearts content. If you've played "Transport Tycoon" or similar games then you get the idea. The big difference is that Rail Nation is played on-line and doesn't cost you anything to get started. It seems the income will be generated through in-game purchases, although since you don't (as far as I can tell) have to make any of these, then for many players, it will be free fun.

Anyway, after registering you can chose which world you begin in. An on-screen helper leads newbies through the process of buying trains and setting up schedules so you get an income. It's recommended you being in the "coalbox" world (a play on the concept of "sandbox" worlds in other games). I'm not sure how different this is from other worlds as the only other one I looked at seemed to work in the same way.

The graphics look pretty good to me. You can see your trains in action, keep tabs on what they are doing and move around the world by dragging it. Icons take you to different screens. If I'm honest, it looks every bit as good as a game you would have to pay for.

Obviously you can't just spray track everywhere, you have to manage the process. Engines sheds have to be upgraded to house your growing collection of rolling stock. Wagons (no coaches in the game as far as I saw) are purchased based on the haulage capabilities of the locos and traffic they will be moving.

There's also other businesses you can invest in for added income, even lottery tickets to buy if you fancy your luck.

The games appears to run in 14 day sessions and the winner if the person who earns the most money. Yes, there are other real people playing alongside you. It's possible (desirable if you want to progress quickly) to join with them in organisations. You can chat too, making it a social experience.

With all this taking place over several days, it's useful that you can leave the game and come back to it and it's all been happening while you've been away. I hadn't expected this but was surprised to received an e-mail alerting me to a problem with one of my engines. Logging back in, I found they had been hard at work earning money for me overnight.

Money is important, as is time. Time allows your research people to develop upgrades for locos. Initially these are bigger domes to improve tractive effort and thus the number of wagons haulable. Stay with it long enough and the engines available improve from basic steam models to diesels that look a lot like German engines and something a lot like a UK Class 66. Charting these developments is possible on a screen that looks a bit like a family tree.

Anyway, is it any good?

Well, yes. I had a fairly light play, no more than 3 hours on and off. From this I could see that to get the best out of the game, you really need to immerse yourself in the world. There were several other Beta testers playing and most were doing a lot better than me. I guess that practise makes perfect - where should you allocate resources to increase the pace of development for example? Or how do you set up the most effective and profitable schedule to keep the trains earning their keep ?

The interactive element, working with other players apparently makes a huge different to your earning potential too but I'll admit I didn't do much in this direction.

The idea that the world keeps changing while you are away is neat. New industries will spring up to be serviced and next time you log in you'll have to decide where your resources are best deployed. Because of this, you'll need to be more than a casual gamer to get the best from Rail Nation but then I suspect that putting effort in to the game will be rewarded.

Will this keep me away from the modelling bench? No. I spend enough time in front of a computer and not being able to throw myself in to the world means I wouldn't get the best from it. Having said this, I can see that learning about allocating resources and working with other people could be both entertaining, educational and enjoyable - something you can't say about most computer games.

Play Rail Nation for free here.

Video Phil in BRM Live

Magazines have changes.

Once upon a time I submitted an article on paper by sticking it in an envelope along with some photographs. Now they fly across the Interwebs and never appear on paper until the finished piece rolls off the productions presses.

Beyond this though, we are seeing a move to abandon paper altogether. BRM Live is an electronic publication available to iPad users for £3.99. Inside are photo articles on a couple of layouts, some reviews, a bit of kit building.

And me.

I've filmed a couple of pieces on Edgworth - one involves me explaining and demonstrating the Edgeworth (and Melbridge Dock) leg system. You can't really show this at an exhibition as the layout is sat on top of it. People peer underneath but I think very few really get how it works no matter how enthusiastic I am with the explanation.

After this, there is a neat film showing how Edgeworth is set up with speeded up film. It all happened in two takes - we moved the camera part way through so viewers could see the fascia assembled. I'm quite pleased with this sequence. It looks good and nothing went obviously wrong when we filmed it. I don't even look too much like an idiot.

There's also some readable stuff showing how to do a bit of scenery and a few conclusions and improvements I would make to the layout were I to do it again.

Anyway, if you have an iPad (won't work on Android as far as I can tell. Boo) then get yourself some top interactive action .

More on BRM Live 3 at RMWeb.



Mystery items from Beatties

A couple of additions to my collection of stuff from the defunct chain of model shops, Beatties, have me stumped. What are they?

On the left the hollow tubes are 11mm long and 2mm in diameter along most of the length.

The springs are 10mm along the top edge and 9mm on the legs.

Being a general model shop they could be railway or R/C car parts but I can't see what. Suggestions welcome. I will say that they represented excellent investments for someone. I paid 99p for each packet including postage on eBay, so quite a return!

H&M Walkabout controller demo

Thanks to the efforts of Dave from boat club, the controller I first mentioned a few weeks ago, is now working properly.

Obviously you can't see this in a still photo, so I've put together a little demo video to run the device through its paces.