An experiment with full panel decals as an alternative to traditional lining methods.
The idea for this experimental blog came after a second attempt at lining the Beattie Well Tank.
I've often heard it said that lining rolling stock takes practice, practice practice, but I didn't want to spend the rest of my life re-spraying and lining a Beattie Well Tank, I'd sooner spend that time building, building, building, also the Beattie Well Tank required bespoke graphics that would be i
Walls Traverser Cover - Part 2.
This is part two of the 'Walls Traverser Cover' which was started last February and has taken at least 1260 hours to construct. Details of construction covered in part one are not repeated in this blog so illustrations move on rapidly. The model is virtually a micro, multi layered layout modelled in styrene. This blog also covers details of the traverser with its extruded aluminium tracks, mechanical switch and end of board track protection.
Walls Traverser Cover - Part 1.
It was only last February that I thought to myself that Snitzl Town only required a traverser and transportation rack to finish, then I could get on with some rolling stock modelling. Thinking about the traverser, instead of using two pieces of plywood to hide the traverse sidings from the viewing public, what about an actual model of stone walls and walkways. Searching the internet for ideas with search terms such as ' fantasy castle ', ' stone wa
Harbour Cranes for Snitzl Town.
Detailing continues for Snitzl with the addition of two types of yard crane and a warehouse pole crane. Images of these types of crane were collected from the web by searching google images. The model types chosen were Ratio's Yard Crane, Mikes Models GWR yard crane and a real world warehouse pole crane. A majority of the work was done by hand but a few components required lathe turning, milling, dividing head and bench drilling.
The Boat Warehouse Scene.
The boat warehouse scene covers construction of two simplified boats, packing cases, warehouse crane, timber fence and a couple of items covered in previous blogs. The water is still receiving repeated coats of varnish and PVA, as suggested in the RMWEB forums. Further attempts were made at moulding street lamps as covered in the 'Cab Shelter Scene' blog which resulted in one more street lamp for this scene. Its worth a mention that the water clear resin
Cab Shelter Scene.
This blog features a horse drawn cabbies shelter, stone paving, winter tree's, shrubs, street lamp and a little more. In particular, the street lamp has been a bit of a problem. Initially, I wanted to mould the lamp in water clear resin with fibre optic running through the base and stand but found it impossible to fill the mould completely. Moulding one street lamp per day, cutting the feed deeper and thinking, might have to addopt an alternative approach.
Lineside Odds and Sods
Here we have a collection of small modelling projects that have kept me busy for the past few weeks. Most of these projects were inspired by a series of articles found in Model Railways Magazine by Nelson Twells, Roy Anderson and Gregory Fox.
Included are :
LMS Lamp Hut - February 1977.
LMS Mileposts - March 1977.
LMS/BR Concrete Lineside Bin - April 1977.
LMS Sandbox - May 1977.
LMS Sidings Gates - October 1977.
Here is yet another illustrated guide through the construction methods used on Snitzl's market stalls.
In all, ten similar stalls were built and modelled in styrene with bread, pies, flowers, biscuits, meat, books, dishes and vegetables made from various materials. A simple brass injection mould tool made years ago was used for wheel production and the small empty crates are modelled in 10 thou brass.
Construction of the simple brass mould tool will be covered in a fut
The little people in 4mm scale.
Creating figures in 4mm scale is a bit of a hit and miss affair for me. When sculpting the face, some figures turn out great, while others turn into real monsters. The initial sculpting is done in dental plaster or chalk from which a silicone rubber mould is created. From this mould is cast a white metal figure which is further detailed to become a 'master figure'. If multiple copies of the same figure are required, then a second silicone rubber moul
