This is Tim, the Domestic Overlord. Paul died last Wednesday. I wasn't in the right frame of mind to come on and post this before. We were together for a long time, and I know just how much he loved modelling and loved being able to get things just as he wanted them. I'd like this blog to stay up here if that's okay by the administrators.
Before the Domestic Overlord and I went off to spend a few days deep in SR/GWR teritory, I had a little look on Evilbay. Lately I have noticed in model shops that Farish Stanier coaches have been selling for over £30 each, which as excellent as the coaches are is getting a bit dear (especially if you are as tight as me).
By luck though I managed to find two auctions on the old Evilbay for packs of two coaches each with a starting price of £30 dabs, I thought they would go for a lot m
Well a few days away last week witht he Domestic Overlord and our two dogs meant that progress on the Workbench of Doom came to a hault, but getting up to North Yorkshire is always a good thing in my view. Even better though because naturally I am always a good boy the Domestic Overlord decicded to treat me and I now have a an additional coaches to the my passenger stock.
Anyway I digress, before we went away on our little trip I managed to do a little more lining to the splashers on
Well I must be mad, I have the proof even though I admit it myself, the Domestic Overlord was right I am as nutty as a Squirrels tummy, how have I reached this conclusion? I tried to line the splasher's on two of the Jubilee's clogging up my WORKBENCH of DOOM
I had tried a couple of times to line the splasher's before but it was not really a success so I put off the process, well today as the Domestic Overlords ban on me using superglue is still active I got my trusty bow pen out,
Before I started my rehab I use to fine lining N gauge locomotives a challenge, but armed with my trusty old bow pen I sort of just got on with it. I have now realised I was wrong, lining locomotives in N gauge is easy, that is if you compare it to the challenge of using your non dominant hand to do it.
It has taken a massive amount of effort to use my finest paint brushes with my left hand to aid in the lining process, but trying to use my bow pen has nearly sent me completely over
Well to try and keep my sanity while trying to line the 2 crimson Jubilees clogging up the workbench, I thought I would turn my attention to a couple of more mundane locomotives clogging up the bench.
A few months back I managed to get my hands on a Union Mills G2, but the poor was in a terrible BR livery, so the first thing I did was to remove all traces of this livery, as I thought it would be a easy task to re number and rebrand her as a decent LMS loco. Then my health kicked me
Well not long before my 2.5 months in Hospital over the Christmas period (a good excuse for me not to buy any presents BAR HUMBUG) I managed to secure another bargain Jubilee. As usual this poor loco was in a terrible BR Green livery, I have no idea why the manufactures keep doing this, I mean they cannot be popular can they?
My plan was to repaint the poor Jube into a decent LMS livery, and jut before I could do this I ended up staying with the fantastic NHS, since I have been home
Well it was bound to happen, with my life full of mayhem at the moment with a new job, two crazy Jack Russels and numerous other demands on time, a normal sane person would think to put any idea of modelling on a back burner.
A with me being a sensible, logical person that's exactly what I did, until the alignment dowels I ordered turned up not that I had anything planned but I just thought it would be handy to have a couple in stock.
I believe some modellers plan the builds down to the
Well I completed the final bit of prep on some of the Locomotive fleet today, on some examples from a lesser railway, I don't mean the Southern, but the LNER.
I know I'm and LMS man, but Foster Street is based in the Northwest so even though I hate to admit it the LNER got into the area, so I have a little collection for the odd inter-regional train.
When Farish released the V2 I held out for quite a while, before I finally gave in an bought one, it sat in the fleet occasionally getting
Well a little more prep has been completed on the Locomotive fleet before the weekend, actually I was just playing train, but they are my trains so I can if I want.
I have been slowly re-painting a second Jubilee on post-war lined black, and she has now got her identity and a spot of weathering. So she joined her sister for a few laps of the layout, no lamps have been fitted yet, as I think she may end up double heading. I would hate anyone to think I only have fancy passenger locomotives,
Well as part of the preparation for the Wigan exhibition at the weekend, I thought I better get some prep done one some of the locomotives I might run. I thought rather than concentrate on the more elegant locomotives in the fleet, I would start on the tank engine fleet, so I started some of the larger tanks first (I know this is sensible, I don't know how it happened but I thought I would give it a try). The first to get some attention was my attempts to represent a Fowler and Fairburn 2-6-
Well I'm not sure what the active service levels of the Southern Railways Terriers was like, but I bet its better than the activity of our two Terriers. Having suffered the indignity of being woken up from 10 hours overnight sleep to be given a nice breakfast including a cup of milky tea (which is more than I get), the terrible physical demands of eating made them plonk themselves on my knee for a nap. I think this is the result of training from the Domestics Overlord in an attempt to put a sto
Well as hard LMS fan, I think I may have suffered a major head injury, as I have recently added two Terriers to the fleet. The injury must have been really bad, as you will see from the results below, it's worst than actually owning the Southern loco's. The new additions have certainly added a bit of life to the household, and at 11 weeks they have already established themselves in the running order.
As a result modelling time has been in very very short supply, what I have managed to do is
Well over the last few days, when ever I could I have managed to spend a little time on the projects clogging up my work bench of DOOM!!
The main focus of my attention was supposed to be on the Stanier Mogul and the Class 5 I was attempting to portray with a self weighing tender, but as usual I found other distractions.
A while ago I managed to bag from Evil bay a brand new Jubilee for a mere £50, the problem was the nasty manufacturer had decided to shame the poor girl by not only givin
Well since my last update, I have not made a lot of progress on any of the projects clogging up the workbench.
This has been partly due too a nightmare couple of weeks at work, and one of the side effects of my condition meaning my hands shake and spasm which makes N gauge challenging to say the least.
Anyway my frustration at not actually doing any serious modelling grew to a level greater than the obstacles in the way, so I have managed to make a little progress.
As a result my att
Well my on-going battle with the string of 14T tank wagons continues and has got as far as them all receiving an initial coat of grime.
As usual with me I think they look far too clean, the Domestics Overlord has commented in the past that if I could get them as dirty as I manage to get my shirt cuffs I still would not be happy.
Call me suspicious but I'm beginning to think its not a comment on my weathering prowess but maybe targeted more roundly at me. I personally believe when it come
Well despite being a positive little Angel last year, the Fat Fella in the Red suit brought me a lump of Coal for my Christmas box.
I was sure he got me mixed up with some other for want of a better term "naughty" person so the present just sat there on a shelf gathering dust, waiting for the day, it would be collected and my real present delivered.
Every day since Christmas, as soon as I got home, the first thing I asked the Domestic Overlord, was if Santa had come and replaced the pres
Well since the last update I have come to realise as few things, some more important than others but the major discoveries are.
1. Modelling time is still incredibly rare. 2. I found my box of tanks wagons and a couple of other things that will remain secret. 3. I think I have a bit of a collecting problem.
My last update highlighted a couple of bargain Shell Electrical Oils wagons I found in a local box shifters, I remembered that I already had maybe 4 or 5 of these and that they were i
Well modelling time has been very, very scarce since my last update, in fact it been non existent, and a completely out of the blue visit today to a local "box shifter" resulted in a couple pre-owned bargains. I have always like tank wagons, and I could not resist the pair, its only when I got them home that I realised they were not the bargains they seemed.
The problems is I have inadvertently crested another demand on my severely limited modelling time, as these will need a little weather
Well I have had a few projects clogging up the workbench now for weeks, the problem being that time to spend on them has been extremely limited.
Amongst the other projects desperately trying to get my attention, and finally succeeding was a pair of 4F's. One was the latest Farish offering from the "Landship" pack and the other was an older Farish model that I have been trying a few things out on over a long period of time.
Anyway I had a little time today so, 30 minutes modelling time wa
Lately finding time to spend modelling has been nearly impossible. I'm sure this happens to other modellers out there, but for me I either have no time with the pressures of work and general life then I barely have time to eat before I have to go to bed to start it all again or I have a little time and no energy to do anything.
Anyway I have this really uncanny ability to either find trouble, or yet more new projects (the Domestic Overlord, seems to think when it involves me its one in the s
Yes I admit it I have a problem.......... I think this model railway bug I have is terminal, or at least it will be when the Domestic Overlord finally realises how many "Toy Trains" I have.
After a brilliant weeks holiday with the Domestic Overlord, down in Cornwall, a day out resulted in me becoming the proud owner of my second one of these. At only £90 pounds (I still have pains in my wallet) they are astonishing value for money, I know they have been out for a number of years but if you
Being a simple sort of a chap, I have spilt the world into two types of people, Railway Modellers (even those who model the SR) and Non-Railway Modellers.
The problem is that unfortunately there seems to be far more Non-Railway Modellers in the world, which kind of make me thing I'm an endangered species, I certainly feel this way sometimes when I'm threatened with extinction, when the Domestic Overlord has to clean up the aftermath of some of my modelling miss-haps (hot soldering iron in po
Is it just me, or does this happen to other people too? I set out to do one thing, and ended up doing something different.
I had intended to build some new storage trays for the stock I admit to owning (the stuff the Domestic Overlord has seen) and to be fair I set out to create 9 and I have its just I got fed up of fitting foam in them after the sixth one was finished.
Anyway while I was doing this I looked at servicing and cleaning the locomotives I tend to use from the collection on F
Well despite being absolutely brilliant since last Christmas, in fact despite being positively angelic, and only wanting a few Railway related things the Fat, Fella in the Red suit brought me nothing.
So I have now decided that whoever said its "nice to be nice" was a Tree Hugging Hippy, and if I ever meet so called Santa, I'm going to kick him right in the Christmas puddings.
Anyway something has turned up for the layout, the other day I was trying to work on the plans for the new la
