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MikeOxon's Pre-Grouping Blog

A new ‘Old Engine’- Re-visited

I find it hard to believe that more than six years have passed since I started to build a model of one of the early standard gauge engines, transferred to the GWR when they acquired the Oxford, Worcester, & Wolverhampton Railway (The Old Worse & Worse, as it was colloquially known)   I have been reminding myself of what is in this, my older ‘Pre-Grouping’ blog, before I changed over to (became obsessed with) the Broad Gauge!   My model of No.184, shown below, was the last model
MikeOxon

MikeOxon in general

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Mick Bonwick's Blog

Oxford Diecast 1/76th Land Rover Series 1. Step 5 - Finishing Off.

A dampened cotton swab is used to gently rub away the Dullcote from the glazing. The dampening is not achieved by dipping the swab into the white spirit, but by adding a drop from a brush or pipette to the end of the swab. If you're not careful, though, you'll take the Dullcote off the surrounds, as well!       I've achieved my aim with this model at this point, but I did go on to add another colour of pigment before adding a photograph to my flickr photostream.  
Addleford Green

Engine shed - Part 1

Hawkhurst originally featured a two-road engine shed but it was closed in 1931. After that, one of the lines was removed leaving one for access if required. I wanted to feature an engine shed on Addleford Green. My reasoning was that those in charge would not have repeated the same mistake twice and opted to build a single track version. I used the plans for the original two-read shed as a template for my own paired-down design.   Once again, I must give huge thanks to the Wild Swan bo
Mick Bonwick's Blog

Oxford Diecast 1/76th Land Rover Series 1. Step 4 - Pigment Application 2.

The remainder of the vehicle is now treated to a complete cover layer of pigment. The bodywork receives just a thin layer, but the underparts have two layers and the wheel hubs even more. If the matt finish won't accept any more pigment then I apply another layer of Dullcote and repeat the exercise. Areas to receive more varnish can be easily masked with a couple of strategically placed pieces of card.              
Beaminster Road - A Southern Region layout

The villa from Stur

Beaminster Road is a plausible fiction based on historical fact - in order to populate the fiction, various local elements are employed such as Tilley's Garage (purposely mispelt) and the Dorset Farmers Ltd. sidings taken from Sherborne.   The stretch of road from the Stour Bridge into Sturminster Newton has rather nice villas as befit a Dorset market town, the villa on Beaminster Road is my homage to these homes.        The buildings remai
Mick Bonwick's Blog

Oxford Diecast 1/76th Land Rover Series 1. Step 3 - Pigment Application 1.

Now for the pigment application. Gloss paint and shiny plastic will not take pigment, it just slides off. My approach is to apply a layer of something that will give a matt surface for the pigment to 'grip'. My preference is Testor's Dullcote, and that is because it works, it is consistent in its form and application, and I have plenty of it. There are many matt varnishes that will do the job, though, so if you have a favourite there is no reason not to use it.   The Land Rover has had
Paternosterrow

Carlisle Citadel Station

The picture of the real thing (Mike Morrant Collection - Fowler 2P) that started the journey on this layout.  I've managed, after many hours messing about with a spotlight and my Panasonic Lumix, to capture the streaming sunlight effect I wanted.  Just wish I could photoshop some steam into the shot - I'll just have to put up with cigarette smoke for now!         A couple of sepia images of a Duchess in LMS war time black.  I really like this loco - the streamline
Addleford Green

Cattle dock - Part 1

Originally, I had no real plans for the two sidings on the right side of Addleford Green. Eventually I settled on a creamery building for the rear siding, my interest mainly being in having a different form of traffic on the layout. I had a loose idea that the other siding would have a goods shed, likely based on those present on the real Hawkhurst branch. But in reality it would have meant two large structures (the other being the engine shed) close to the front of the board and I felt it would
Mick Bonwick's Blog

Oxford Diecast 1/76th Land Rover Series 1. Step 2 - Dark Wash Removal

A wash as used in this example is a very thin enamel paint and thus has a lower concentration of pigment versus carrier. This results in a less dense coverage and means that manipulation is easy. I use this to advantage by wiping off what I consider to be excess or just moving it around the surface at various stages during its drying out. In this case I have waited a couple of hours for the carrier to evaporate and it has left a very soft pigment layer on the shiny paint finish. A soft coton swa
Beaminster Road - A Southern Region layout

Midland stranger on the D&E

Like so many happy events, a chance comment has led to the return of a rather special model - a Hornby 2P that was one of the Child Okeford stalwarts.       Not really sure what implausible excuse could be found to justify why a SDJR loco has strayed so far from home but it will be very welcome. This image of an unadulterated R3315 provides a few clues as to why so much effort was expended in upgrading the model.   The actual model start
Mick Bonwick's Blog

Oxford Diecast 1/76th Land Rover Series 1. Step 1 - Dark Wash

Diecast models in 1/76th scale do not have very finely detailed surfaces, mainly because of the depth of paint on them. This means that capillary action does not work as well as it does on plastic models or larger scale diecast ones. The purpose of the wash in this case is to highlight what detail is visible and also to introduce some false shadows to give a little apparent depth to panels.   Using a rigger brush to apply the wash, even though capillary action is not going to work all
Jim Champ's "Introduction to Great Western Locomotive Development"

Dean's Larger Tank Engines

This is something of a followup from discussion in another Blog entry,  https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blogs/entry/24891-gwr-no-34-1890/ and is also relevant to this one. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blogs/entry/24922-gwr-3521-0-4-2t-and-0-4-4t/. As I said, I'm beginning to further appreciate what a weird and largely unsuccessful bunch Dean's larger tank engines were, and what a contrast in style they were from the smaller 6 wheeled engines, conventional, successful
pheaton's Blog

Keeping 26043 Alive BCRW "Birmingham Corrosion Rust and Wastage"

Lockdown couldn't come at a worse time....26043s engine was in a stripped down state, and as a result the crankshaft (whilst protected) was exposed to air (due to the absence of the pistons) whilst protected I would have much preferred to have been able to go up to be able to keep the engine fully protected but national rules meant this had to be kept to a minimum, 26043 was also out in the yard at the time, and the engine had to be carefully sheeted over.   During lockdown I took the
MikeOxon's Broad Gauge Blog

Fire Fly Class – Part Four

Angled Spokes   I ended the previous part of this series by noting that my next subject would be wheels. This subject, once again, raised questions as to what were the real facts! An ‘official’ GWR drawing shows alternate spokes sloping in opposite directions between hub and rim, as below :     Drawing of ‘Firefly’ Driving Wheel   On the other hand, another ‘official’ plan view of the frames shows one set of spokes fitted radially, while the other set is
Mick Bonwick's Blog

Oxford Diecast 1/76th Land Rover Series 1 - Introduction

Another Land Rover.   This time it's one that will ultimately appear somewhere in the scenery of Easton, Isle of Portland. The idea of this entry is to show what methods can be used to produce a facsimile of a working vehicle without covering up all the detail yet still make it look rather grubby. In keeping with previous examples there will not be very much used of any of the materials utilised.   Preparation consists of checking that the tyres are on the wheels concentricly
Beaminster Road - A Southern Region layout

Locos of Beaminster Road

Locos of Beaminster Road   Keeping with the theme of 'tall chimney, big domes and low boilers' (with one or two notable exceptions) the candidates are not obvious and certainly not from the same source.   D15 as noted in '51 -BEC+OOWorks+Comet   K10 the only K10 to carry a BR number OO Works+Hornby   T9 - the erstwhile SR 'royal' loco, was a Dorchester resident in the '40-50s    02 noted at Yeovil Junc '49 KMRC  
Barry Ten's S&D blog

Rocking suspension on an EFE bus.

I've been working on and off on an old EFE Hants and Dorset bus. After opening the bus up and painting the interior, as well as adding people, I wanted to make the front axle rock, to help the bus sit nicely on uneven ground. I also wanted to add a slight turn to the wheels, which I think always makes for a more interesting look.   The rocking mod is quite simple and I've done similar jobs on kit-built road vehicles as well.     First, the existing axle w
Barry Ten

Barry Ten in S&D

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Aussie National

Extra time...

A bit of weathering on 70001. Diesel stains from the fuel fillers. Dirt and grime on the bogies. Some dirt on the steps and door handles and some more on the (many) grilles. Tried some soot around the exhaust vents also, but not an easy effect to achieve (black on black???). Tried not to overdo it, and quite happy with the results. In most photos 70001 isn't clean, but isn't filthy either.  Ken  
Tweedale Layout Blog

Tweedale - The Ebb and Flow of Coal

I'm not one for doing much modelling in the cold dark days of winter, and progress on the layout is only just starting to resume after fizzling out way back in the autumn. However the trains have been running regularly during the interval, and over the past few months the layout has become a testbed for trying out a new operating scheme, which has seen the line running as a single-commodity railway for the transport of coal. I'll start by saying that it is far from being a wholly realistic simul
Beaminster Road - A Southern Region layout

Beaminster Road - Building a Southern Region layout

What we hope to achieve   Perhaps a bit late in the day to describe the concept behind the rebuilding of an all but abandoned layout.  However, confronted with empty baseboards we decided that there should be a theme with due consideration to the restrictions of space and finance, other considerations, that were just as important as were personal preferences for location and period but these are flexible whilst space and finance are not. Our space is just 4,8m x 3m, barely enou
DBC90024's Blog

Johnson Street IEMD - A prized possession - Backbone !!!

What a great prize !!!   Imagine [email protected] !!!   He would fit nicely in with the "Team Red Skodas" at Johnson Street IEMD !!!   [email protected]      Johnson Street IEMD on Youtube Johnson Street IEMD on Instagram       DB Cargo UK (@DBCargoUK) Tweeted: We’re giving away a Class 90 model to celebrate the findings of a report commissioned by the Rail Delivery Group which highlights the value of rail frei
MikeOxon's Broad Gauge Blog

From the Stars to Fire Fly

It’s been a wet Bank Holiday here and, stuck indoors, I found myself thinking about what it was that made the ‘Fire Fly’ class so special. The following notes reflect my musings:   After all, these engines looked very similar to their immediate predecessors, the ‘Stars’ that the GWR bought from R Stephenson & Co. This similarity is obvious in the first engine photographs ever taken, which include ‘Polar Star’, outside Cheltenham shed in the late 1840s.   ‘Polar Star

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