A daily updated blog typed by someone with painty hands, oil under his fingernails and the smell of solder in his nostrils who likes making all sort of models and miniatures. And fixing things.
I travelled on both hovercraft in their penultimate weekend. I won't say it was salubrious, both needed a refurbishment. Neither was it quiet. What it was was fascinating.
Obviously I am disappointed by this but I suppose we live in a country where knowing how something works is a reason for derision on TV panel shows whereas lobbing up a few houses in the space a unique and irreplaceable machine is sitting is perfectly sensible.
Seriously though, I love this landrover spotted as near the local Quickfit. Since the vehicles are pretty much a Meccano set, parts can be replaced with the aid of some spanners. Great if you use your 4X4 for proper off-roading as bits get damaged by nature.
The owner above has obviously carried out a few repairs but not bothered with any of that poncy paint stuff. The only time I saw anything that might be better was a landrover with a wing bought from an autojumble - how did I know? Well, the price was written on the side in permanent pen, upside down!
I know what you're thinking, "We're not interested in the kits and fancy pants models at the Toy Fair - we want cake!"
Well, the only cakes I saw (apart from plastic ones) were commemorative cupcakes celebrating Corgi's 60th anniversary. For journalistic reasons, I tested one and it was delicious.
There was also Hornby and Corgi rock. No idea what this tastes like as I don't particularly like rock and more to point, this is a valuable collectible and will be worth a fortune in years to come.
Oh, and lunch was a bottle of water and bag of posh crisps. By lunchtime, the cafe we found had run out of sandwiches. Amazing.
On Monday I headed over to the London Toy Fair. Obviously my trip was mostly about model railways and I've covered the goodies from this over on MREmag. However, I couldn't resist looking at other stuff so here's a few goodies from the plastic kit world.
Revell
Plenty to see on the Revell stand. They are introducing a fantastic range of easy built kits aimed at 6 years and up. Clipped and screwed together using plastic fixings, once built the cars all have great play value. The range then moves to clip together and then clip and paint kits before becoming "proper" like the models shown above and below.
MPC
Plenty of TV tie-ins here. A deluxe Space 1999 Eagle with booster pack, Battlestar Galactica Vipers in normal and cartoon (looks like an egg-plane) forms, Back to the Future DeLoreans, Knight Rider and the General Lee.
Interesting Star Trek Enterprise packaging with what appears to be a father & son. Does this suggest they are trying to sell kits as something families can build together and bond over? Not a bad idea although I wonder if they should have gone for grandfather & grandson.
I'll admit I fancy the cartoon Viper and the Eagle from this selection. Hopefully a Toy Fair appearance means availability will be good.
Airfix
I was too busy to take a lot of notice here, but the range has been announced well in advance anyway. There was a 3D print of the VW camper in the Quickbuild range I'd heard about late last year. I'm not so convinced by the shape as I am with the Beetle but have a feeling one will find its way to me anyway.
Bolt Action
Finally, how about some Dad's Army figures from wargaming company Bolt Action?
Sadly too large for OO and too small for O gauge models, I still fancy a set, although at 40 quid, it might have to wait a while!
I'd not planned a third Manx warehouse on the trot but while researching last week's building, I was reminded about the rather excellent Laxey Flour Mill, so thought "Why not?"
The first reason is that I don't have any photos of the building. I'm sure I've taken them but by the look of it, a long while ago and on film. Thus, I'm relying on other pictures found on Flickr. Even these aren't exactly numerous.
Anyway, the site is interesting because we have a stone building over a century and half old, set in a bucolic tree filled gorge. And out the front are four ugly, steel silos.
Presumably this only made it through planning as they are essential for the business and if you stop flour storage, the place shuts down. I know around here they local residents would be up in arms. Mind you, they are up in arms if anyone dares not to have a beige shop front so that's no guide.
This is quite a useful prototype for modellers. The view above has been taken from a road bridge and behind this is the Manx Electric Railway viaduct. Take a look at the site on Google maps to get a better idea just how confined this site is.
Originally, all the milling was powered by water, hence the location. Now, the firm has grown up to fill the spot with buildings behind the pretty warehouse that appear to owe more to wiggly asbestos sheet than crafted stone. If you need to cram industry into a small area, this is useful inspiration.
Taking a few photos on The Hellingly Hospital Railway and spotted this view when looking through the engine shed doors. Virtually no railway in view, but quite a lot of construction equipment.
I'll admit that I've added the scenery on the left of the tree as normally that's where you see the happy faces of exhibition visitors but apart from that, it's all real.
Everything in the picture is kit or scratch built. although apart from the traction engine (W&T models) and foreground roller (scratchbuilt from plastic bits) I can't remember the sources I'm afraid. It's over a decade since I built this lot!
I'm very busy working on the latest Ramsay's British Model Trains catalogue at the moment so there's not a lot of modelling getting done.
Part of the job involves photographing some ancient models including this one in my collection - the Kitmaster RTR motorised van.
The idea is that you could power your unmotorised Kitmaster plastic locomotives with this. Quite a neat idea. Basically a power bogie with a plastic lid and sideframes. Ramsay's needed a picture of the model and box, but I have a feeling readers of this blog will be more interested in the insides.
From my initial reading, the problem seems to be that, "The decision follows a proposal by the council to amalgamate the Tramway Terrace stables site with the tramway hub at the Strathallan site, a scheme estimated, as of December 2015, to cost in the region of £2.9million."
Basically, they had a scheme. It was going to cost a lot of money. The money can't be found so the whole tramway is to be scrapped rather than just leaving it as it was.
Now, I realise that the tramway lost money in crude financial terms. Sadly, you can't put a price on the number of tourists it helped to bring in and that's what accountants do. They will happily destroy every attraction and then wonder why all the tourist based businesses have closed.
This is a more general problem for the IOM. While the Manx people are lovely and friendly, they appoint representatives who hate any tourism not based around the TT races, something I've heard expressed by more than one hotel owner.
The TT is great but it only provides 2-3 weeks of business. After that, you're left with an expensive to reach island which ought to provide a great heritage location. Trouble is, when you scrap the interesting heritage, it's a pretty place but Ireland is cheaper and more varied.
One problem with the horse trams, and possibly part of the reason they have to go, is that they run down one of the busiest streets in Douglas holding up the traffic. There was a plan to re-locate them to the promenade as part of a renovation scheme - this made perfect sense but I believe there are "issues" with this scheme too with all sorts of arguments about it in parliament.
So, the horse tram service will not run in 2016, or ever after. The horses will be retired and the rolling stock sold to museums or scrapped. The valuable buildings on the front will be sold off. The people of Douglas will be able to drive very slightly faster along the seafront, although on such a small island, I doubt that will really make much difference.
I amongst John Webb's tools, I found this unprepossessing tool - a home made chisel.
I've no idea what John made it from, suggestions are welcomed, but it's brilliant for removing excess solder from the surface of brass kits. I'm guessing that's what he made it for anyway.
While I have a 3-sided scraper which is good, but I still find it hard not to gouge the surface of the brass with a hard steel blade. This seems softer (it's still steel) and easier to slide along the metal.
Maybe if I owned a grinding wheel, I'd make more of these sorts of things myself, old books always mention grinding old files to make chisels and I've certainly read scratchbuilders who have manufactured their own tools.
Planning is important. The correct time to attach the handrails to the Barclay tanks was when I could solder the knobs from inside. Instead, I left them thinking I could use a bit more heat and work from outside.
I could, but it needed a lot more heat. In the end I tinned anything that went through the brass body then smothered the lot with solder paint and Powerflow flux. With each handrail held in place with a screwdriver and the gas torch fired up to provide some quick heat.
The results are OK, if a little messy. Before cleaning the model up, it looked a real state with burnt and blackened flux over everything. A scrub with Shiny Sinks and then a bit of burnishing brought everything up to a shine again but it takes confidence, and experience, to know that's how things will turn out.
Stroll up the road from last week's warehouse and you find Laxey Mills. Not a dark satanic mill, well not nowadays anyway, but a modest stone building beside the Laxey river running out to sea.
Once end of the building is home to a weaver producing traditional Manx tartan stuff. I have a video of him at work on YouTube. If you are a tourist, it's great news as you'll be able to wear something proper Manx and more importantly, warm and cosy. It's not always as nice a day as my photos show!
The other end used to house a small workshop which was where I first saw laser cutting. Again, mostly tourist stuff with coasters and other wooden bits engraved with suitable designs. I came away with the 3D plaque showing the Laxey Wheel featuring some amazingly thinly cut wood.
A couple of features on the building interest me. For a start it's been extended if we judge by the roof lines. That's not a surprise as the building has been through several owners. Originally a corn mill, it was was converted in 1881 to a water-powered cotton mill. The water power has long gone as have the powered looms, everything is now hand-woven.
I can only assume the original owners were rather kind to their workers as those windows are massive. OK, the daylight would have saved money on lighting, and I suppose on cold days it would have been freezing in there, but it still seems generous.
Anyway, if you need a modest size mill for a railway layout this would be worth a look, or at least a prototype to inspire your own architecture.
Another photo from Geoff William's model of Aylesbury, it's only shot on my compact but illustrates a rare feature - perspective modelling.
The street leading away from the crossing looks longer than it is. The houses change scale as they get further away. It's a technique used in many place on the model to make it look bigger than it really is. Nowadays, perspective modelling is very rare. For a start, you have a much more complicated scratchbuild and in a world of ready to plonk buildings, that doesn't fit in with the way people work.
Once consequence of the approach is that the layout has to be displayed quite high up, I'd estimate about 4 1/2 feet off the ground. Viewers must look into the scene rather than hover over the top like a helicopter. I know the layout appeared in the press at the time it was built, I wonder how they managed to photograph it in those days when "helicopter shots" were very much the thing?
Never mind, Andy York has taken some proper quality photos for the appearance in BRM so you can get a good view around May.
On Saturday, I was privileged to head over to the Princess Risborough club to see a layout in their care.
Back in the 1970s, Geoff Williams built a model of Aylesbury station.
That sounds simple enough but when he built it, he built everything. The period is 1910 and so even if there had been any RTR available for the era, it would have been a bit rubbish.
One of my favourite features are the hand-lettered wagons. Sign writing is a real skill - I've struggled to do a descent job in the past - but these look superb.
Now, if you plonked a modern RTR model beside them then many modellers would pooh-pooh the older versions as not been very sharp, but for me they work as part of a scene. Consistent standards over the entire model work so much better than a few stand-out items and the rest modelled to a lesser quality.
It has always amused me that we have people demanding higher and higher standards from the RTR makers. Their own modelling will always pale in comparison from the perfect from China so the layout will never look as good overall.
Anyway, if you wan to see more of Aylesbury, it will be in print and on DVD in a future issue of BRM and making it's one and only appearance at Railex 2016.
My Hornby Q1has been stored in a cupboard for a few years. It's nice and warm and dry in there. The model is wrapped as it came from the factory.
Taking it out for some photographs, I noticed that the sides of the smokebox were oily. Blobs of the stuff. Checking the piece of thin plastic wrapped around this area, there was oil on there too.
My best guess is that the lubricant from the chassis has slowly run into the plastic and then on the body of the loco. I can't remember is the loco was upside down in it's box but I suspect so.
Lengthy storage allowed this to happen. Fortunately, a gentle rub with some absorbent kitchen towel cleaned things up.
The moral of the story is run your locomotives - don't leave them in the cupboard!
Taking some photos on Ruston Quays the other day, I found my green Sentinel and realised I'd forgotten how good it looks, so few seconds in front of the camera seemed appropriate.
The kit if from RT Models and as I recall, if you ignore the finner bits of etched nickel silver, builds easily into a really nice model. I must stick some coupling bars on it for the trip out with the Dock to Doncaster next month.
If you look behind the arches on Ruston Quays, you can see that what we have is some fairly thin plastic parts hiding a wooden substructure. It's how we tend to build model railways, a facade hiding the ugly truth.
Not very realistic?
Well have a look at this picture of work taking place around London Bridge station shared on Twitter by Tim Dunn. Those are basically full-sized Wills plastic kits they are putting up aren't they?
If you are reading this over your mid-morning coffee, there is a very good chance that I'll be out in the fresh air sailing the Bantam Tug.
I'm pleased to say that it has turned out to be an excellent "Thursday Boat".
Thursday boats are those that can be taken to the pond with the minimum of fuss. If the weather looks nice, the battery will get a quick charge, I'll make sure everything works and then it's in the car and off. At the lake, the boat is switched on, launched and then I get to play.
Some boats need to be treated like fine china. Some are too large to pick up and load on a whim. Thursday boats are small and reliable. They are also the hardest to build as everything has to be simple and well assembled. Not too much detail but enough to please me on the water. A good strong colour scheme helps too - you can certainly see the Bantam from a distance.
On the water, the boat is incredibly maneuverable, able to turn in it's own length. I've put so much weight in that it rises out waves cause by other craft perfectly. It seems to stay dry inside too despite the lack of coming around the hole. Water lands on the deck but (so far) hasn't found its way inside.
Back from a sail, I just leave the boat with the top off to dry out of its box. Ready for the next week.
Cross the sea to the beautiful Isle of Man and then head to the harbour at Laxey. It's a bit of a stroll from the tram stops but well worth it. To my mind, Laxey has the best beach on the island when the sun shines. It's quiet and sheltered but there used to be an excellent ice cream kiosk.
Anyway, this isn't a blog about sunbathing, it's about modelmaking and many of you know I dream of building a miniature bit of Manxland. One prototype work looking at is the line on to Laxey quayside. Thanks to a quirk of ownership, it was the only harbour owned by a railway company and as such, there were lines running down there but many years before the steam railway happened.
At one point, there was a plan to run the steam railway to Laxey. There are plans showing the route in the record office and so we wondered if the old horse-drawn line could have been modernised. If it could, this would make an excellent model .
If we built it, the warehouse above would be a must. Stone course experts will be able to tell me this stuff isn't really random but it certainly doesn't seem to be as well cut as normal stonework. Technical term required please.
This contrasts with the very neat window surrounds which look almost as though they have been glued on the wall surface.
An attractive building but not the only one. Next week, we'll continue the walk into town.
Since I've been using the RSU on a project recently, here's a not at all posed shot of the unit in typical use.
One of the great benefits of the device is that joins are normally very tidy. Attaching the strip of brass shown above with a conventional iron would require the piece to be tinned on the back and then the hot bit dragged along the sides to encourage heat into the join.
The results would be fine but a bit messy. Nothing that a fibreglass burnisher couldn't take care of but another chore.
The RSU only heats up solder between the positive connection above and the earth - the rest of the kit. Therefore it will only heat the solder on the back of the metal strip.
There are problems of course. Because the heat is very localised, it's possible to burn your way through a piece of metal if the RSU setting is too high or the metal very thin.
I'm never quite so convinced of the joint strength either, but then I used to say that about liquid plastic glue and years of practise have show there isn't a problem there.
