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N gauge with a West Midland theme

Entries in this blog

Rebooting Blog! Still working towards an N gauge GWR 'toplight' carriage or two!

It has been too long since I updated the blog, here goes!   A trip to TINGS at Leamington today got me inspired to finish off my 'Mark II' toplights. You may recall that my originals were based on the remains of some old Farish 'main line' carriages. The next set are being created using Dapol Collett carriages as a much better starting point, shortened, and decorated with a hybrid of Ultima sides for the windows, and home brewed printed 'toplights' and other embellishments.   The earlier att
Will J

Will J

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Inspiration for Victoria Bridge Part II

Looking through old SVR aerial photos, I stumbled accross this one which I had lost, as you do, in the back of my computer.   A useful one for getting the scenery right in my diorama. (The train is, I have to confess, a bit of a cheat.. the camera never lies.... mmmmmmm)     Come and have a go this weekend (as a warm up to the football... or as an alternative!)   (blatant plug... details of the flights can be found at http://www.classicflight.com and http://www.wolverhamptonairport.co.
Will J

Will J

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Gathering inspiration for Victoria Bridge! (come fly with me...)

It's been a while since my Victoria Bridge project appeared on the blog... hopefully this weekend will see me inspired to get it going again, I promise it will!   Sunday will see me volunteering at Halfpenny Green helping to orchestrate scenic Dragon Rapide flights over the local area (including the Victoria Bridge/Trimpley vicinity), if you get chance to visit, do come and say hello! (somewhere near the Classic Flight trailer)       Fingers crossed for good weather   (blatant plug...
Will J

Will J

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Further progress, and just how big is a People Mover?

...not especially big, especially in N gauge form!   After some light cosmetic bodging, some comparisons to other more familiar small N gauge models....     The Terrier, in case you wondered, is a repaint, as I wanted a BR black one with a small bunker*, so reluctantly had to obliterate all that lovely 'improved engine green' with a tin of black humbrol!   *The Dapol BR ones all have the extended bunker, I think?
Will J

Will J

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N gauge Class 139 'prototype Mark II' ! (emerges from paint shop)

-In primer!   This next prototype is still rather bodged together, more than anything to check that all the bits align nicely (some of the windows and bits and pieces need nudging sideways to line up right) I have quickly filled in some of the gaps with car bodywork filler, and sprayed a bit of primer over it, which imporves the look of raw MDF and laser scorch marks!         Proportion wise, it seems about right, the over scale wheelbase will all but vanish with the side skirts
Will J

Will J

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Update: Class 139 Headlights

Filed under 'wot I did in my lunchbreak today'     ..I need to make the apertures for the lights a shade smaller, they will always be a bit on the overscale side, so that 1mm jewel lamps can be installed!
Will J

Will J

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More laser cutting, components for the Class 139

Right, back from holiday, back to some serious modelling!   Here are the latest parts cut to make the wooden master for the Class 139 moulded resin body:   A first attempt at a side panel, which will be cast from clear resin. Note that the lower body panel beneath the windows is missing, as on the completed model this will be a tiny rectangle of photo paper, printed with the appropriate graphics! The card these layers are cut from is a fair bit too thick, 'mark II' will use thick paper.  
Will J

Will J

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Further unfeasably small scale adventures (N gauge Class 139)

Hi all...   the chassis has now been sanded down on either side to fit the scale width. I was worried that this sanding process would damage the cups for the pinpoints at either end of the axle, but this turned out to be no problem in the end.   Chassis detail sanding in process..   Sanded to the correct width (metal base just showing)   Preparation for the next few 'layers' that make up the master mould.. Hopefully the body will be a one piece moulding, but this may end up as moul
Will J

Will J

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Class 139 sketch model (takes to the tracks)

Taking to the tracks for the first time, on Wyre Forest MRC's Kinlet Town.. nice to see that the rough mockup suits the platforms.. also the first time a 139 has met an 86!   (PS the big hole in the side will not appear on the finished model!)     Edit... how a bit of decoration will help!  
Will J

Will J

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N Gauge Class 139 Railcar (Parry People Mover 'PPM60')

Right, back to work on some modelling, after a bit of a break!   Here is the latest project, again involving a little bit of CAD work to set the wheels in motion, the subject, the Class 139 Railcar,   see www.parrypeoplemovers.com   Which will be based on a readily available Kato N gauge chassis. The chassis is a good match for the real thing, the only difference being the slightly longer wheelbase, this however is a handy thing as it allows the motor to sit down low beneath the window lin
Will J

Will J

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Fleet Progress, N Gauge Severn Valley Railway (sorry, no bridge progress yet!)

Blogging has been slow of late, due to glacially slow progress on model making, and a broken camera.   Anyway, excuses out of the way   The last bit of N gauge work I mentioned was the 'retro modern image' SVR wheelchair saloon, as part of a representative rake of SVR blood and custard Mark Ones. You may recall that this rake is composed of a motley selection of old Minitrix and Lima products from the parts bin, I see it as a good way to practise my own ham fisted brand of scratch-bodging
Will J

Will J

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Something briefly different, 16mm/ft scale outside in the sun!

While progress continues indoors on various laser cut bits (update coming soon, promise!) I have fallen prey to a bout of impulse buying.   The result: two little battery powered locomotives which I couldnt help but buy. Today (Sunday) saw the first glimpse of spring in the garden, and in between shed reorganising and vital horticultural bits and pieces, the 'fleet' were introduced to the garden.   So far, my foray into the great outdoors (as an occasional distraction from fiddly 2mm model m
Will J

Will J

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Adapting 'old skool' N gauge wheels for 2mm FS track?

Right, decision made, finescale track is the way to go...   ...so the tricky question, how to adapt my existing N gauge kit to suit? Remember, I am not using points at this stage, so this contrived N/2mm FS approach just needs to result in trains smoothly scooting past without derailing, rather then navigating through a maze of junctions (not yet anyway )   I reckon my Minitrix Ivatt (which I am determined to keep running in light of all the recent modifications it has had!) will need som
Will J

Will J

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N Gauge Mark 1 Saloon: Adapted For Wheelchairs

What follows is an attempt to kitbash/scratch-bodge a carriage conversion within the duration of the Grand Prix on TV this afternoon. (Just to set the tone for peoples expectations of what appears below )   I am looking forward to the new Farish Mark One carriages, and will doubtless want to buy a few of them. In the meantime, I am busying myself practising my skills on a drawer full of old Minitrix and Lima examples. They represent a minimal investment in terms of actual money, and whateve
Will J

Will J

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Toplights nearly there, and a thought on an LMS rake.

Confession time...   I'm finding working at such a small scale quite a steep learning curve, but hey, that all part of the fun!   The toplight carriages, since their last appearance, have been torn apart and reassembled, and I am much happier with the way they look now. I now just need to lasercut window frames for the saloon brake, and add details such as handrails, buffers etc..   And repaint the roof!   Another brief diversion into the full size Severn Valley Railway, this weekend
Will J

Will J

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Quick update: Laser Cut N gauge carriages?

Further experiments with Laser Beams....     Which is a butchered Farish 101 centre carriage, on the way to becoming a GWR Hawksworth Inspection Saloon, not unlike http://www.sharpos-world.co.uk/blog/?page_id=1176 .... hopefully!
Will J

Will J

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GRAND OPENING: (Victoria) 'Bridge over the Kitchen Sink'

Big event today, and in its own small way, well worth the wait!   First, a reminder of what I am trying to recreate, on a shelf, in N gauge:   Victoria Bridge, just south of Arley on the Severn Valley Railway, half an hour by bike from my front door...   The Corel Draw file has now succesfully found its way into a laser cutter, and produced two main components, the structure from thin ply, and the detail layer from thin card.   The detail layer was then, carefully, stuck on using thi
Will J

Will J

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Laser Cutting Commences: N Gauge Victoria Bridge

Hi All,   after the fun and games with Ivatts and Toplights, time to create something for them to run across!     I have finally got around to converting my bridge silhouette into a corel draw file, ready to feed the laser cutter. Something actually tangible should be appearing this week.   It will be an imposing structure, even in 1/148 scale, it will be about 40 cm long!
Will J

Will J

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N gauge GWR Carriages: How they were made

Hello All,   after Mikkel asked me about how the carriage sides were printed on the last blog, here is the 'story so far'....   To start with, the actual carriages (bearing in mind my layout is going for the 'modern image steam' look, modelled after the SVR over the last ten years or so) can be seen here:   With due astonished thanks to 'Sharpo' for his incredibly useful site: http://www.sharpos-world.co.uk/blog/?page_id=1025   '9055' http://www.sharpos-world.co.uk/blog/?page_id=116
Will J

Will J

2

Progress: Ivana the Ivatt, and N gauge 'toplights'...

Well, things are proceeding slowly, but reasonably succesfully, with the miniature N gauge Severn Valley diorama, at least in terms of poplutating it with stock:   Ivana after her 'Dapol Facelift', with a little more paint, numbers and a ham fisted attempt at subtle weathering:       Not bad considering her humble N gauge beginnings!     I am also quite pleased with my 'toplight carriages': a mixture of old Farish bits, windows and roof (on the third class carriage.. the one with
Will J

Will J

3

Progress on locomotives, and some snow!

The Return of 'Superpannier' aka 1501   The shortened Graham Farish 94XX bodyshell is now happily sat on top of the butchered Dapol chassis (from the Ivatt 2-6-2). Brass fittings, from N Brass, set the whole thing off nicely. I now need to sort out some piping to the cylinders, as well as the distinctive mesh 'foot boards' that sit on top of them. I have succesfully suggested the distinctively shaped superstructure behind the buffers, from scraps of plasticard.   You will have to pardon
Will J

Will J

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N Gauge Ivatt progress: Test runs around Kinlet Town

Tracing work on Victoria Bridge continues, slowly, for now, more along the lines of 'playing with trains!'   I had worried that by putting the smaller, scale, smokebox (of Dapol origins) on the front of the already featherweight Minitrix Ivatt, I might turn its adhesive properties from hopeless to somewhat worse. To keep the weight up, I retained as much of the original metal in the boiler casing as I could, and kept the weight from inside the Dapol smokebox. I think this smaller weight was ma
Will J

Will J

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Minitrix / Dapol hybrid, creating a better Ivatt

Progress on my 40cm long, N gauge Victoria Bridge is going well. I hope to finish off tracing the basic shapes in Corel Draw tomorrow, and then to have a cardboard prototype (maybe cardboard will do for the final finished item?)taking shape before the week is out.   In the meantime, I have been looking at populating this single line layout with suitable N gauge stock to represent the SVR in recent years.   I bought a Dapol Ivatt tank engine to provide the chassis, pony trucks removed, for a
Will J

Will J

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Progress and inspiration

Some progress on the silhouettes for lasercutting.. these are rough drafts as .bmp files, which I am going to need to trace (either manually or using Corel Trace, depending on what works best!) to make a vector Corel Draw image, to feed the laser cutting device..     There will be a main element made from slightly thicker plastic, and then a finer layer of approximated 'detail', all of which is still a work in progress!   In the meantime, some images which have inspired the project, taken
Will J

Will J

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