Spruce up the unseen bits

I'm planning on taking the DHAPR Wagon Works to Warley this year, and when checking the model over, realised that for the first time ever, the public will be able to see the back of it. 

Now, when I built the layout, for speed, I simply ignored the areas that couldn't be seen. That's why the back of the model is a mass of unpainted, and lumpy, plaster. Not exactly the impression I want to give!

A few minutes with the power sander sort of smoothed the worst lumps. With more time I could have filled in the dips, but I just want it to look tidy, in a bit hall like the NEC, perfection isn't quite so essential. 

With five pots of grey to chose from, I selected one that it turned out, didn't match the front and sides. Fortunatly, there was enough in the bottom of the tin to give the whole baseboard a coat, and very smart it looks too. 

Finally, there was a gap along the back of the fence, so it was out with the static grass and flock powders to cover it up. My coarse flock is full of yellow as there was a bag of the pretty stuff stored in the container, and it's come open. The effect is quite nice though, and a sprinkle of fine green tones the colours down a little. 

I'm just glad I got the model out a few days early. You don't want to be doing this the night before and willing paint to dry faster!

Painted head part 2

There's not a huge amount of detail in this cheapo head, I supposed you don't really need much when it will be viewed from several hundred feet away as the 'plane zooms past. I keep things simple with a couple of coats of Humbrol flesh colour followed (when coat two is tacky) with a dry-brush of Revell flesh to provide highlights. 

Being such a large scale, I picked out the eyes properly complete with pupils. They even had a coat of gloss varnish.

Blu-tacked to the top of my old Liquid Poly bottle, I followed the instructions suggestions with a yellow scarf. The track colour jacket is dry-brushed with a lighter brown for a worn leather look, and the scull cap (is this the right term) rust dry-brushed with the samecolour. 

Finally, the goggles were painted, fixed in place with Glue'n'glaze and a strap added from painted masking tape. 

All this was acomplished by grabbing odd five miniutes here and there while very busy with work projects and provided a welcome distraction. I need to find more of these quickie jobs to do as this one stopped me slobbing around. A little satisfaction gained each time.

Painted head part 1

While buying some wood from SLEC at the larger scale aircraft show, I spotted they also sold pilot heads for aircraft. I've looked at these before and thought painting one up would be a bit of fun, so added a 55mm tall model to my order for less than a couple of quid. 

In the packet are a couple of plastic head halves, and some googles. Cleaned up, they are stuck together with plastic cement. Part fit isn't great if I'm honest, you get what you pay for, and there was a bit of manipulation and solvent required to see the halves line up. 

Eventually, I managed to do it, well, near enough. Once the glue had hardened, a couple of hours sanding hid the worst of the joints. A thin abrasive strip was used to re-cut the chanels on the top of the little mans' head. We also needed a little filler on the collar. 

To check the joins were acceptable (a fairly low bar with this model as it's just for fun) I shot some car primer over the whole thing. This showed up a couple of areas requiring more attention, but overall, not too bad. I'm hoping the grey will provide a little pre-shading to the colours too, although a darker shade would be better for this. 

Anyway, now to paint.

Go on then, what did you buy?

Tradition demands that after a trip to a show, everyone posts pictures of the stuff they have bought all over social media. If you don't believe me, just watch any model railway Facebook group this time next week as it fills with "I bought this at Warley" stuff. It's the hunter-gatherers returning to the tribe and showing off thier spoils. 

Anyway, I went to two big shows and didn't come away empty-handed. 

Starting with the classic car show. 

I didn't buy a car. Unless you count a Hot Wheels Baja Bug for three quid. There were plenty of stalls selling model cars, but none could furnish me with a Peugeot 206 sadly. I'd love a model of my old car. There was a possibility of a rally version, but aside from the amount of work required to turn it into a road car, the price was £40 more than I sold my real one for!

The blue box is a 1990s (I think) plastic case for a set of space light bulbs. It's a genuine VW thing and only cost me a tenner. One day, when one of my cars gets back on the road, it will be used to house the correct set of lamps that I always like to carry in the car. 

Moving on the IPMS show, things got a lot more serious. No-one treks all the way to Telford without plans to carry at least one box out with them. Looking at the crowd, it seems many were stocking up for a years worth of modelling, which makes sense as there's plenty to choose from. 

I had decided that a "proper" kit would be coming back with me. There was nothing specific in my head, a little impusle buying was in order. As you know, I like all sorts of modelling, so a railway kit wasn't on the cards, but anything else was. 

The proper purchase is a Mini-Art 1/35 scale kit for a Bulldog tractor. Lots of reasons for this - for a start, a Bulldog plays a pivotal role in my first novel. This was inspired by the prototype being part of the tractor collection on the farm my model boat and railway club are located on. Importantly, this is the sport version, as used in the book. Also, Mini-Art are based in Ukraine, and so this is a little bit of support. And many years ago, they sent me a load of building kits for mag projects. Oh, and they are really cracking kits too. 

A more random purchase is the ARII Ghost Box, and obselete (I think) operating money box kit. I've never built one, but it looks fun. There's a motor in there, so some operation is in store. 

And then there is some weird stuff. One stand had some huge boxes of Japanese Manga (I think) kits for four quid a pop. I've never built anything like this, but you know I love the unusual, so I came away with three. They are completely useless to me, but hopefully, fun. That's what it's all about. 

Interestingly, I found myself in conversation with someone who jokingly suggested that the show was responsible for vast amounts of the infamous plastic waste we are all worried about. I reasured him this isn't the case. Plastic yogurt pots are a problem - used once and they end up in the bin after a life of a few days. Plastic kits are lovinly built and displayed, generally not being thrown away. And anyway, quite a lot of them end up on lofts acting as insulation...

Apart from this, there are a couple of whitemetal kits for a mag feature, a free aeroplane card kit from a blog reader (Thank you!), several boxes of knock-off Lego models for fun Christmas presents and a pack of Non Metalic metal paints for me to try. All good fun!

IPMS Telford 2022

Final stop for my fun weekend was Telford for the International Plastic Modellers Society exhibition. For the first time, I drove to the show, which meant there was a whole car to fill with kits...

The show has shrunk very slightly since the pre-Covid days, but the main change is that the competition models are now in hall 3. Since this is the first time ever for me seeing those, I wasn't going to complain. As it was, I'd have been sad to miss them, including the incredible Lancaster diorama seen above. That water effect looked every bit as as amazing in real life as it does in the photo. 

Since you ask, cast clear resin, wadding, golden gloss medium, Tamiya acrylics, Deluxe Materials Icy Sparkles, Micro Baloons, AK Snow Sprinkles, Woodland Scenics soft flake snow, Tamiya snow texture - and a whole lot of skill went into it. 

As is my wont, I largely ignored the military models, it's pretty much the only way I get around a show this big, but there was still loads to catch my eye, and camera. 

This 1:20 scale Brede is possibly the best model I've seen of the class. Based on a Mountfield Models kit, I enjoyed a long chat with the builder who was happy to show me the detailed interior and how the radio control (yes, it's a working model) was fitted. Regular readers will know I've built a Brede to the same scale, so I'll not be rushing to buy a kit, but it was inspiring.

Normally, the cake is a bit rubbish at Telford, but this year, thanks to the Churchill Tank SIG, things improved. While many stands gave away sweets, these guys had baked some delicious biscuits, and cut them to a suitable shape thanks to a cutter found on Etsy. 

To be honest, I could rattle on about this show all day, but my fingers are tired from typing, so head over to Flickr for a big photo dump full of good things.

L&WMRS Open Day 2022

Is it really wise to leave me, Phil Parker, in charge of the teabar when it is postivly groaning under the weight of cakes piled upon it? 

Once again, I'd volenteered to be tea boy at the club open day. It gives me something to do as I'm not attached to any of the layouts. Better filling up the kettle and resisting the delights on offer than hanging around like a spare part. As it was, even I'd never have eaten my way through everything as the members had been very generous. What you can't see, is that behind the camera, the top of the cooker is about two feet deep in donations. We managed the home baked stuff, but Thursday nights for at least a month will see members enjoying cake with their cup of tea. 

A highlight was seeing the first train on our new outdoor track running. The team behind this have done a terrific job this year. Eventually, there will be at least two circuits 90 yards long of 45mm gauge track. This will eventually be followed by a seperate 32mm gauge line. 

 

A Roundhouse Harlech Castle performed the honours - steam has to wait until we've proper fire safety procedures in place. It was a good choice though, as the owner allowed some of the younger visitors to have a drive, which went down well. 

By the end of the day, we'd welcomed lots of visitors, three of whom signed up to become members, the object of the exercise. 

If you'd like to know more, visit the club website.

NEC Classic car show 2022

Last weekend was busy, and started on Friday with a trip to the Lancaster Insurance classic car show at the NEC. 

Now, I really wanted to go to this show. There was a sharp intake of breath at the £38 fee (it's cheaper on the weekend) and a bit of a rant at £1.95 to be sent the email with the ticket, but I reasoned I'd just have to suck it up. Let's face it, I don't do this every day and sometimes you have to buy memories. The ticket price came out of my holiday fund, since that doesn't seem to be being used much at the moment. If this was a model railway show though, popular web forums would melt down at that sort of figure. 

Anyway, I arrived at opening time and when through the door, spotted one of the cars for my dream garage - a Matra Rancho. Since I was there early, and most people had gone bargain hunting, there was a chance to have a good chat with the guys on the stand. And the chance to feel very jealous as one of them owns a bronze (the best colour) car, complete with the swivelly spotlights. Apparenlty, this IS a Rancho for sale, and they normally go for about £6000, which seems very reasonable for such a rare (only 6 on the road) vehicle. 

However, there is a Beetle and Type 2 ahead of the dream, so I moved on. To a Talbot Alpine, the first car I ever drove. But this one wasn't full of filler - I learnt a lot about Isopon on my parents car...

 

Talking of which, how about a Mark 1 Ford Fiesta with only 3500 miles on the clock? The first car I drove after passing my test, it's even the 950cc model, and not far off the right colour, a very easy to touch up grey. 

 

With so many interesting vehicles to look at, one that sticks out in my mind is this Lamar Microcar. How ugly, and fascinating, is this? Narrow enough to go through a door, it looks a little unstable to me. 

Anyway, I arrived at 10am, left and 5:45 and only took a 20 minute lunch break. That's a lot of walking - 12615 steps on the hard NEC floor. None of the cars for sale tempted me (OK, maybe the Trabant) but there was a three-sided R Whites lemonade waste bin in the autojumbe area for £475. Too rich for me, and I'd gone by train so it would have been a nightmare to shift! 

It was a terrific day too. Plenty of good chats, including with a couple of railway contacts. Worth every penny. Oh, and there was cake, a delicious custard slice that made my hands too sticky to take a photo, so you'll have to take my word for it.

What you want is a photo-dump - here you go then. Enjoy this lot on Flickr.

Uncoupling in the Hornby Collectors Club

 

It's time for another basics article in The Collector - house magazine of the Hornby Collectors Club.

This time, I take a look at uncoupling. Pretty much fundamental to a working model railway, and something that has cause me loads of grief on several BRM projects. Bacially, the standard tension lock coupling is fine to join up, but when you want to leave your train behind, forget it. For those of us who love to shunt, this is a problem.

So, I've taken a look at several different ramps, and manual spade-type devices. Even the ancient GEM ramps are tested, although mainly because they are easy to replicate from bits of plastic packing than expecting anyone else to have a packet. Actually, they work surprisingly well...

Hornby Collector Club

Complete, but still fighting

 

Well, the provendor wagon is built, and painted, and looks a bit rubbish. 

Despite gloss varnishing the sides, and applying lashings of Micro-Sol, the transfers haven't sat down properly and there's loads of silvering where air has been trapped underneath. 

The photo looks worse than real life, and a big part of the problem is almost certainly down to old, slightly dried up transfers, but I'm still a little grumpy about the whole thing. Maybe when I've cheered up a bit, I'll dig through my stocks of transfers (not decals) and see if there are some better GW ones in there. Ideally, some Methfix would be ideal as those don't have the transfer film. 

What I know, from bitter experience, won't cure things, is weathering. Adding dirt requires plank lines to the muck to occupy and right now, for much of the lettering, those are burried. It would actually make the model look worse!

Chassis on

 

More lessons learned. Plain bearings fitted into the axleboxes. I even drill them out a little to deepen the hole. Both solebars are carefully shortened to fit, and amazingly, I manage to have the axles of the Hornby wheels (no, I'm not using the plastic ones supplied in the kit) perpendicular to sides so they run perfectly. 

 

Even the tie-bars survive my ministrations. Good, except that according to the instructions, they should be cut off...

 

Talking of the instructions, they appear to be duplicated from typed originals. I'm sure the last kit I built had less old-fashioned versions. Were they updated during the run? 

 

Brake gear and buffers added, and the wagon is looking the part. All I need is paint, I can't go wrong now can I?

Return to the Provendor wagon

 

Back in May, I failed to build a Cooper Craft Provendor wagon. It's niggled at me ever since, so when an eBay search turned up another kit, I decided to have another go. 

Looking back at my blog post reminded me that one trick to this kit, is building the body first. I don't like doing things this way, as IMHO it's better to get the chassis working, but this time there isn't an option. 

As before, the floor has to be thinned on a sanding block, or it's too wide for the sides. Not a lot, probably no more than 0.2mm, but it makes a difference. 

After this, the sides are carefully attached, and weighted down to ensure the result is flat. Despite the instructions suggesting that sanding will be needed on the corners, they go together fine, probably because the plastic glue has softened the material enough that they can be pushed together without leaving a gap. 

Another improvement to my build technique is that everything will be left to harden before moving on. No rushing and dealing with squidgy joins. That means the body sits like this overnight. 

Tomorow, the chassis.

Shut the door!

  

What is it with people displaying their cars at classic vehicle shows? Why must they leave the doors open? 

The photo above demonstraites the point. Taken at the NEC classic car show on Friday (photo dump coming soon), it shows a lovely VW Beetle. But with every opening door flapping in the wind, the cars sleek lines are ruined. 

You can argue that they wish to show off the detailed under-bonnet area, with neatly hidden wiring and decorated fuel tank. At the back, we (apparenlty) want to see the engine. And why not show off those painted door shuts? 

Because, it ruins the look. In my mind, anyway. 

Another one. Lovely Mark 1 Ford Fiesta with only 3500 miles on thye clock. I like it because a 950cc model like this, was the first car I drove on the road after passing my test. Even the colour is similar. But I can't really enjoy it because we have to look at the engine. Admitedly, this is of interest to anyone restoring a Fiesta, but it's not how the designer envisaged the car to look. You can't see out of the windscreen for a start. 

Oh yes, the hinges work, but we could see in through the windows. And let's face it, the Bond Bug interior isn't something that takes a lot of looking like. 

We don't even really know what this is supposed to look like. It's not like there is another Lancia like it, after all. 

Is it too much to ask that cars look like cars when on display? Or am I just being grumpy?

Saturday Film Club: Hague model village - 1955

A trip to Holland for a model village, complete with impressive railway, from 1955 thanks to Pathe News.

R30202 Hornby Collectors Club locomotive - 2022

 

The Tri-ang collector in me couldn't resist this. It's the 2022 Hornby Collectors Club loco - a lovely little tribute to 70 years of Tri-ang. 

OK, it's the cheapo 0-4-0 in a nice colour, but there is something appealing about it. Especially when I grabed the last one at the GBMRS for half price. And (whisper it) I'm not even in the collectors club! What a rebel I am. 

I'm pleasently surprised by how well the cheap locomotive runs when turned over with a 9v battery. These chassis used to be horrible, mainly thanks to the Scalextric gears they were fitted with, but this is incredibly smooth. OK, it's not Hornby Peckett smooth, but as good as many of my kit-built chassis. 

One thing that has changed over the years is a move to carboard inner trays. OK, there's some polythene to wrap the model, but with care, most of the box and packing is recyclable. Not that anyone ever throws away the boxes of these valuable collectables...

Of course, I couldn't resist sitting it next to the 1970s "Telephone" model based on a "Polly" tank engine. Mine has a special custom chimney gained when it fell off a shelf recently. I think it has a better dome than the newer model...

Playmobil and a steamy Peckett in December's Garden Rail

 

It's all action in our big layout feature this month. Playmobil trains mix it up with slot cars in a display that has been delighting kids of all ages at exhibitions for years. And since, it's December, what better time to celebrate the younger end of our hobby?

Back at the workbench we build a huge truss-girder bridge, add realistic checkrails and ballast to an outdoor line, and our Peckett project reaches its grand, steamy, finale.

All this, plus plenty of new products for the large-scale railway modeller. Something for the Christmas list perhaps?

Warehouse Wednesday: Rural workshops

 

While my car was being attended to by the Rutland Hand Car Wash team, I wandered around the back of the old garage they occupy, and spotted these rather nice, and very modelable, workshops. 

They don't look that old, and the basic design ought to make for an easy scratchbuild. Brick Plastikard walls and Wills corrugated asbestos roofs to my mind. Those sliding doors applied to the outside of the building wouldn't be hard to make either. 

OK, there's no great architectural merit here, but the world is full of these sort of anonymous buildings, which means our layouts should be too.

Mystery orange blinking thing

 

OK, another challenge. I bought this for pennies at Stafford show, from the dangerous second-hand stall. It was cheap, orange, and I wanted to know more about it. Rather then dig out the box contents like most people would, I handed over some cash (OK, added it to the pile of stuff I was buying) for future investigation. 

Inside, we have an orange box, some lamps, a bit of wire, and a diagram. It appears that there are many options for flashing light combinations. I still can't work out why you'd use them though. 

Inside the box, there's some serious circuitry, but no relay as I was expecting. 

So, I'm not really much the wiser. Anyone got an idea what this is, and where I could use it?

Great big, chocolate block

 

Two lengths for a quid. Bargain. You probably think this is just normal electrical "chocolate block" connectors, but these are the largest examples I've ever seen. Each one is 155mm in length. 

What I don't understand, is why it exists.

These massive metal connectors will happily accept some serious bits of wire, almost 5mm in diameter by the look of it. The thing is, if you are using wires that fat, they much be carrying some serious current. So, surely there has to be a better, and more secure, way to join such wires up? 

The Great British Model Railway Show 2022

A busy weekend. My usual position at the top of the escalators - where there isn't any electricity - was filled with projects. Fewer than last year because I gave the DHAPR Wagon works a trip out and it takes up most of the table. 

On the other side was my 009 micro, "The Handyman Hall Railway", which didn't want to work due to a combination of dead batteries and iffy loco. Work to do there obviously as it's a useful little layout. 

Anyway, Firday evening saw me recruited by KR Models to stick a chain cover back on their Leader model. A few minutes with superglue, and I was rewarded with some rather nice free pens. 

Saturday passed in a bit of a blur. Lots and lots of chat, with several beginners coming over to ask some good basic questions. Hopefully, I provided useful answers and they have gone home to start building things. 

Sunday started slower, but picked up and I managed to have a quick look around. Not very long though, so thanks to my Dad for taking photos for me, as well as covering so I could go to the toilet! 

All of which means I didn't see much of the event, but a couple of layouts stuck in my mind - O gauge "Woolfe Lowe" which I'm in the process of arranging to shoot for BRM, and David Wright's amazing diorama, "Raven's Ravine" featuring his superb buildings, and a couple of dragons. I've already shot this for the mag...

Cake - excellent slated caramel cake from the cafe. Highly recomended. Mind you, the boys from West Hill Wagon Works, know how to feed themselves during a show too!

There was even time for a little work, shooting the new Hornby TT range, Paytrains buildings and steam effect Flying Scotsman. 

The TT looks good, especially the 08. I could really fancy building something around one of these...

More photos over on Flickr.

Saturday Film Club: Lion: Mistaken Identity?

Historian Anthony Dawson looks into the history of "Lion" or the Tifield Thunderbolt as many will know her. 

I'll admit I got a bit lot with all the detail here, but it's a terrific piece with some incredibly detailed research, well worth a watch if you have a Rapido, or Hornby, model on order.

To build, or not to build?

 

Here is the sum total of my modelling carried out while demonstrating at The Great British Model Railway Show last weekend. Three axleboxes attached to a Parkside brake van chassis. 

This shows I enjoyed a very succesful demo session - lots and lots of chatting, very little building. As far as I'm concerned, I'm there to chat and answer questions, not get modelling done. 

However, I'm now wondering if I should keep this kit for next year (assuming there is a show next year), or just get it built and blog? 

What do you think? 

(BTM - Photos from the event coming soon)

Benches, a workshop and dirty wagons in December's BRM

This month, let's start with the photos. I've been a busy boy, and you'll find three layout shoots by me in this issue. 

First, we have the East Derbyshire Mineral Railway. This EM gauge layout wasn't what I origionally contacted owner Mick Payne to talk about - but I'm not complaining, this fascinating rural line is one of the nicest I've ever pointed a camera at. With more than enough shots in the bag, I could still have worked away for another hour. 

It helps that we share an interest in building kits of unusual locomotives, especially Centre Models kits, so the chatting was very pleasent. 

I've never fancied owning a layout built into a room before - but I could enjoy building this one very much thank you. 

From the countryside, we move steeltown with Burnroyd Works. Apart from the scale, the two models share nothing. It's all big diesel locos, dirt and metal here, and all the better for it. There's even that DCC sound stuff. Deservedly popular at shows, this isn't a big layout, but it's got a lot of action in the space. 

Finally, we have some N gauge in the form of Midholme. What I like here is that this is a spacious branch line station that uses the smaller scale to give the atmosphere of a quiet line. In the photo above, I bet you can't tell it's N either - cracking modelling. 

Back at the bench, well, we have a guide for benches, the sort you sit on. 

I've dig around to find a selection of station benches for different lines. This was harder than I expected as I really didn't want anything generic. Also, I had to buy the kits and then build them. Fiddly work with a deadline approaching!

Finally, one of those kits I spot, and immediatly want to have a go at. This time, it's Metcalfe Models "Ramshackle workshop". Lovely design, and crying out for some minor upgrades so it could sit in any layout. 

Oh, and on BRM TV, I'm answering a reader's call to weather the inside of some wagons. 

Phew! That was a busy month!

Larger scale aircraft 2022 - you do NOT need a 'plane!

I couldn't stay long at the Berlingo event mentioned yesterday, because I wanted to pack another in on the same day. This time the static display by the Large Model Association, just down the road at the motor museum, Gaydon. 

As usual, the halls were full of massive model aircraft, and the quality, if not quantity, was a good as ever. Pride of place (just) had to go to the Jet Provost seen above. A proper scale model that would be impressive enough on it's own, but this is a flying model. You'd a be a brave pilot to take it up in the air though, as at some point, you have to aim it at the gound for a landing. 

You might think this is an expensive hobby to get in to, but with a Bever high-wing monoplane ARTF kit coming in at under £300, it's not too bad. Bargain of the day though, had to be this Flying Fortress. 

 

Offers around £6500. That's a lot of aeroplane for your money. A lot of aeroplane that flies, and has the appropriate certification from the CAA. Some paint and detailing is "all" that would be required. I wasn't tempted, don't do military stuff, but I would understand anyone else being. 

More photos over on Flickr.

Berlingos and Bacon

My parents have a Citroen Berlingo. It's their second one thanks to someone parking a Golf in the back years ago. It's an odd car. Utterly unpretentious, but if you talk to an owner, they love thier little French van with windows in the side. 

One such enthusiast is James Walshe, deputy editor of Practical Classics magazine. A couple of Sundays ago, he organised "Berlingos and Bacon" at the local, but unknown to me, Gilks Garage Cafe. 

The family Berlingo was my idea in the first place, and I'll admit that I think it's a fantastic vehicle. Incredibly practical if you are the sort of person who lugs model railways or boats around. If the 3rd version enjoyed as much legroom as the second, I'd probably have had one as my company car. As it is, I still think the first facelift produced the best looking version. 

Anyway, 22 cars turned up along with their owners. And we chatted all things Berlingo. No airs or graces, just some slightly mad people talking about their vehicles. Several carried camping interiors, which is an interesting move. A bit cramped perhaps, but if you like being out in the fresh air, an excellect idea which turns out to be really trendy too. So, not for me then. 

In many ways, this was like the Heart of England group meet. Not a "proper" show, just a group of people getting together with a shared interest. Maybe in the post-Covid world, where big shows are harder to put together, this is the future for all sorts of hobby? 

Photos of the meet over on Flickr. 

Since you ask, the cake looked excellent, but it was too early, even for me. And I had somewhere else to go in the afternoon. I will be heading back for a proper look, and in the meantime, the hot chocolate was sublime.