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Signs, posters, adverts

Edwardian GWR posters: An overview of sorts

I recently fell into a rabbit hole. I was looking for some Edwardian posters to stick on my station building, and ended up with pages of illustrated notes about GWR posters, poster boards and adverts.   I’m sharing them here in case it’s of use to someone. This first installment is about the posters themselves, with an emphasis on pre-grouping days.      My station building is modelled on the real one at Newbury. Pre-WW1 photos of Newbury show numerous GWR posters
Structures

Windows, Doors and Refreshment Rooms

A catch-up post on the station building at Farthing. Some of this was described in the workbench thread but is included here for completeness.     Windows and Doors     The main station building at Farthing is a model of the prototype at Newbury. It was built in the “Westbury” style used on a number of new GWR stations in the 1900s. A typical feature was the rounded corners and small upper glazing bars on windows and doors.       I ex
Mikkel

Mikkel in Structures

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Motor Cars

Edwardian motorcars (2): British Ford T Late 1912

Here’s another pre-WW1 motor car in 1:76 scale for the Farthing layouts: A Late 1912 British Ford T Tourer, made from a modified DAPR 3D print.    Caption: 1906 Alldays and Onions. Source: Getty Images, embedding permitted. During the 1900s the British motorcar industry grew quickly. Alledgedly some 200 firms tried their luck in the motorcar industry during this period, often evolving from other lines of production such as bicycle manufacture.   Caption: 1910
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Mikkel in Motor Cars

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Motor Cars

Edwardian motor cars (1): De Dion-Bouton 1904 

I’ve built some Edwardian motor cars in 1:76 scale for my Farthing layouts. Here's the first instalment, focusing on a 1904 De Dion-Bouton made from a modified Scale-Link kit.     Caption: 1902 Wolseley 4 cylinder. Source: Getty Images, embedding permitted.   In 1895 there were 14-15 motor cars in Britain. In 1900 there were 7-800. Then it boomed. By 1909 there were 48.000 cars and in 1914 there were 132.000. (Sources: National Motor Museum and “The Motoring Age: T
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Mikkel in Motor Cars

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Wagons

GWR Hydra with a parcels van

Finally managed to finish something. Too much scattered modelling recently. But my GWR Hydra is now done, a dia G11 well-wagon in ca. 1910-13 condition, using a modified kit from 247 Developments. Plus the usual horse element, of course!     Ten G11s were built in 1899 for running in passenger trains, with a 6 ton capacity. They originally had Thomas brakes, later DC brakes were fitted. The photo above shows a G11 in 1947. In 1908 another batch of ten were made. They had
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Mikkel in Wagons

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Horse-drawn

A Pantechnicon for Farthing

A horse-drawn furniture removal van has appeared at Farthing. The kit is a reborn Gem product, marketed under the John Day Models label alongside other re-introduced whitemetal ranges. It’s all run by Daryle Toney who is very helpful (no connection).       The main parts are a fair fit. As usual I used Loctite Gel to stick it together. Unlike most superglues it does not require a perfect join to bond well.       Some parts did require fettling.
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Mikkel in Horse-drawn

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Coaches & Browns

Slater's GWR dia E37 Tri-compo clerestory coach

My GWR E37 tri-compo is ready for painting, built from the Slater’s kit. Earlier I did a blow-by-blow account of the C19 build from the same range, so this post will focus on new experiences and things that were different.       There was more flash around the windows than in the C19 kit, especially at the bottom. The window edges are quite thin and hard to distinguish from the flash, and therefore easily damaged when the flash is removed. Inspecting the sides from behind helped.
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Mikkel in Coaches & Browns

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Structures

Dirty fingers: Trial and error with bricks and mortar

Here are some illustrated notes from experiments with brick- and mortar-colouring for my 4mm scale station building. Please note that these are just my own bumbling exercises. There are no silver bullets here.   Method 1: Flood & Wait     So far, my standard method has been the well-known "flooding" method. I paint the brick sheets dark red (Vallejo 70.814 Burnt Red)…       … then when dry flood the sheet with a milky white wash (Vallejo
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Mikkel in Structures

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Videos

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Here's a short video to round off 2023.   I won’t forget this year anytime soon, it’s been an emotional rollercoaster. Our first grandchild was born, my brother got married, our daughter turned 30, mum turned 90, and then in September dad died.   This christmas I want mostly to do simple and uncomplicated things while pondering it all. So here’s a little project that began in our attic.   Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!    
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Mikkel in Videos

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Structures

The station building: Walls and gables

Here’s an update on Farthing’s main station building, modelled on the 1910 prototype at Newbury (see this post for details). This post summarizes work on the walls and gables. There have been other developments, will update on those later.   Although the structure at Newbury is still with us there have been numerous detail changes over the years. Above is a selection of those I have spotted. Most changes appear to have been made after the station was built, so I’m going wit
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Mikkel in Structures

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Misc.

Copenhagen to Penzance by rail

Back in June I had some work to do in London. I live in Copenhagen, so a devious plan was hatched to extend the work trip with some time off for railways and family. I even managed to do a bit of research for the Farthing layouts.       I went by rail to London. It was 16 hours on 5 trains, but I enjoyed the views and got most of a day’s work done on the laptop.       Early departure from Copenhagen Central at 5.44. No rush to the airport hours befo
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Mikkel in Misc.

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Wagons

Midland Railway D299 Open

As Stephen has highlighted, the Midland Railway D299 Opens were built in such large numbers that they appeared in almost any pre-grouping goods yard at some point.       So I dug out my Slater's kit for this diagram.       The kit had some rather bare looking insides.       I therefore scribed on some planking detail.       For the rest of the build I followed Stephen's info, including removal
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Mikkel in Wagons

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Locos

A Pannier of mixed parentage - GWR 1854 PT (2)

My 1854 class open cab Pannier Tank in ca. 1919 condition is now done. To recap, it’s a heavily modified Hornby 2721 body on a Bachmann 8750 chassis, using modified Finecast parts, Finney/Brassmasters fittings and various scratchbuilt items.  Here is a summary of the last part of the build (see this post for earlier steps).     The bunker uses modified Finecast sides. Plated coal rails from wire and styrene. DIY fire iron hooks, and lamp irons from a Brassmasters etch.
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Mikkel in Locos

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Stories

The Great Unrest: Modelling the 1911 railway strike

Here’s an attempt to reenact the 1911 railway strike in OO. The strike was an important but sometimes overlooked event in the social history of Britain's railways, and involved some very unusual scenes. The cameos are based on contemporary photos, but transposed to my own Farthing layouts.     1. The strike begins     “The Great Unrest” was a period of labour unrest during the years 1911-1914.        The period saw more industrial dispu
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Mikkel in Stories

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Figures

Edwardian mischief - Modelu & Andrew Stadden figures

I’ve been painting 4mm figures. Here are some photos and platform scenes.     I wanted to find a better way of holding figures during painting. Above is the good old bluetack solution, straightforward and good for spraying, but it doesn’t hold the figures very firmly during brush painting.       Another well-known solution is wire in the legs. Useful for mounting on the layout, but not always an option, I find. Some 4mm shoes won’t take a drill well, and
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Mikkel in Figures

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Coaches & Browns

Slater's GWR dia. C10 clerestory coach

I’m building a Slaters kit for a  GWR bogie clerestory third to diagram C10. The coach is intended for a motley Edwardian stopping train consisting of a variety of carriage styles, as was common on the GWR in the 1900s. But first it will be used in a re-enactment of the 1911 railway strike, and is therefore in the 1908-1912 all brown livery (as yet un-lined).        This post summarizes the build.  It's a long post but I'm told the kits are due back on the market so perh
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Mikkel in Coaches & Browns

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Layout design

Fifth bite: The station building

I now have four small layouts in the Farthing series, each of which can be operated on my desk or the dining table. That should satisfy my daily operating needs for a while, allowing me to take on Farthing’s main station building and platforms.       For this I’m returning to the Newbury theme. When Newbury station was rebuilt during 1908-1910 four lines were laid, with loop lines along the Up and Down platforms and through lines in the center.      
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Mikkel in Layout design

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Horse-drawn

GWR horse-drawn station bus

I’ve built a GWR horse-drawn station bus using a modified and detailed P&D Marsh kit.       A colourized postcard showing omnibuses in the station forecourt at Minehead. A perusal of period photos suggests that the outside seating wasn’t necessarily the last choice option – on sunny days at least!         The forecourt at Teignmouth. Lettering on the door shows the fare and “A. Harvey (?), Proprietor”. Many horse-drawn station bus services wer
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Mikkel in Horse-drawn

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Locos

A Pannier of mixed parentage - GWR 1854 PT (1)

I’m building an 1854 Pannier Tank for Farthing in ca. 1919 condition, using a modified Hornby 2721 body, a Bachmann 57xx chassis and various parts from SEF and Brassmasters. Pure it is not. The project has been described on occasion in my workbench thread, but in a fragmented manner. This post summarizes progress to date. Prepare for many close-ups of green plastic 🙂   Background     It's a bit of a nostalgia project. I wanted to do something with the old Hornby 27
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Mikkel in Locos

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Scenery

A click-on scenic extension

I’ve made a detachable scenic extension for The Stables, using magnets. With this, the layout is more or less complete.       The extension module was knocked up from 10 mm foamboard. The aim was to portray a tree-lined street at the back of the layout. It had to be detachable so as to facilitate storage in our small flat.       The pavements were made in my usual way, flagstones lined out in pencil and later scribed with a round-nosed  awl.
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Mikkel in Scenery

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Wagons

Powsides/Slaters Private Owner wagons

I wanted some Private Owners for Farthing, so have built a couple of Powsides kits, i.e. painted and pre-lettered Slaters kits. I opted for two Gloucester designs to RCH 1887 specifications, one a 5-plank side-door wagon, the other a 7-plank side- and end-door job.        I like the overall appearance, although TBH the small lettering isn’t quite up to current standards. Perhaps I was unlucky, they look fine on the website.       The kits have blank
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Mikkel in Wagons

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Scenery

Trees for Farthing - Mark One

Projects over the summer have included trees. The original inspiration came from the tree-lined perimeters of Reading’s Vastern Road and King’s Meadow goods yards.     Vastern Road yard, Reading, 1948. Source: Britain from above.     The trees here were quite close to the track along some sections. Earlier photos from the 1900s show larger trees, so they must have been a feature from at least the 1880s.   Vastern Road yard, Reading, 1948. Source: Britain f
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Mikkel in Scenery

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Scenery

A pictorial record of horse manure

I’ve added a selection of horse droppings to the road and yard on “The Stables”.    Obviously, prototype research was needed first! Period photos from the 1890s-1930s often show droppings in the street, especially where horse-drawn carriages were regularly parked.   "Bicycle couriers with copies of the Manchester Guardian, which are being delivered to Euston station in London for circulation, circa 1920." Getty Images, embedding permitted.    Droppings can some
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Mikkel in Scenery

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Scenery

Chinchilla sand and terrain paste

Been doing some scenic work on The Stables. I wish I could settle on a fixed set of approaches for the surface textures, but I seem to be trying out different methods on every new layout!       The yards at Farthing tend to feature a cinders/ash/dirt mix for ballast, as seen in period photos. In the past I’ve used Polyfilla (handbuilt track) or DAS (RTR track). But I wanted a more textured look, so tried Chinchilla sand this time.       I say Chi
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Mikkel in Scenery

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Stories

Regrettable incident at 3 PM

Over the years I’ve gathered a small collection of anecdotes and photos that document quirky situations and customs on the real-life railway. The idea is to re-enact them in model form while the glue dries on other projects. The Slipper Boy story was one attempt at this, although admittedly that one got a bit out of hand!   Here’s another, simpler one.  First, the props:                        
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Mikkel in Stories

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