Have set myself a deadline this week. I recieved some military whitemetal kits on Tue, and I going to try and have them finished within a week. Its now Friday and they are finally put together. Undercoat first thing in the morning, and hopefully a 1st coat of OD sat nite. Maybe, just maybe they will be finished within a week, stay tuned.
I know I set myself a week to finish this one, but ................. I blame valentine's day, a long story, for another time.
While not completely finished, they still need further weathering, I’m happy with the result so far. All I need now is to finish the warwells and warflats and order some more warwells, plus find some bogies I've got hidden in a box, somewhere!
On a side note, whilst at happy hour last week in the Sergeants mess, the topic got around to me and my model trai
Well I've dived off into the deep end today! After yesterdays playing with the forthcoming Manor, it was straight out to the garage today, in between nappies and bathing and burping. I recently purchased a kit for a Maunsell 51ft SR bogie gangway luggage (GBL) van from Ultima Models for inclusion in my Pines Express. I've never fully attempted a brass etch kit, but you have to have a go some time, especially considering I've been stockpiling them for the last couple of years.
So here is t
Whilst playing trains this evening, I had a little bit of a mishap! I looked away from 5682 Trafalgar with 8 bogies Staniers in tow to attend to 46106 Gordon Highlander. Next thing I know there is a loud 'clunk' and when I look over Trafalgar is lying on its side. This is strange, I thought, nothing has ever come off in that area of track, a rather straight stretch about 200' from the Sturminster down platform. This is what I found!
I made some measurements of the beetle, it was a sca
Two weeks on and the luggage van has hit the rails. I finally finished a majority of the detailing bits. It had its first run around the layout on an old set of Minitrix Mk1 bogies, with no problems. Even the steps on the solebar cleared the platforms at Stur. All that is left are the cables on the ends, the inside window grills and the next major obstacle; the roof! So a question to all your blog readers out there, how do I shape the roof to the right profile, without having to buy special
Well for a 6 week break, I really don't have much to show for it. Mainly it was just little odd and ends, which today are still sitting unfinished on the work bench. I did manage to get access to an ALPS printer, so I did get some new wagon transfers. Another dozen or so wagons have been finished off. Work on the layout is at a very slow pace. The backscene is still only 50% finished. Hopefully the remainder of the goods building will be ready in the next few weeks.
I made a star
Not so much a modeling update, but goods news. With the release of the Farish production list for 2011, I thought I'd better check on the loco numbers of the proposed Std 5MT. A quick search promptly told me that 372-725 5MT 73068 was sheded at Bath Green Park, 71G, and it was its last before being removed and scrapped. I then did a quick flick through some Ivo Peters books, hoping to find a photo of said loco. It then dawned on me that I had purchased a 35mm slide on eBay several years ago
Well I was warned. This whole having a baby thing seriously cramps your model train time. Douglas is fast approaching 7 weeks old, but he still can't put N gauge rolling stock on the track.
In between all the old chores and new responsibilities that come with being a new father, I’m still trying to find some time to get out into the garage and ‘do some trains’. I dug up the boxes containing UFO’s (Un Finished Objects), with the intent to try and finish some of them off. I was do
Another weekend over and where did all the time go? With no outstanding husband work due (lawn mowing, gutter cleaning etc) apart from baby minding and nappy changing I resolved to get some modelling done. On Friday night I put together a shopping list for a model shop tour the next day. My Saturday departure was delayed by an unannounced visit by a doting grandma and aunty to see young Dougie. Leaving 3 hours later than expected I commenced my 300km round trip. Yes, 300km! I could have wa
well believe it or not, but I did get some more done today, amazing.
There are signifcant and varying detail in the 2 variants of Quad/limbers/25 lbs I have. The Gramodel is alot finer, but the gun is lacking, whereas the Pithead is a bit rough in places, but the gun has more prescene. I really like the shovel and drag ropes molded onto the gun sheild. Considering they will be sitting on some warflats, they won't be static long enough for the rivet counters to .............
They still n
Have been fortunate enough to have 1/3 of the Ixion management staying with me this evening, on the way to the Sandown Model train show here in Oz. Luckily he had some Manors with him, both the polite ones and 4-6-0 variants. I was given the opportunity to put a Manor through its paces on my Sturminster layout. This Manor is the third EP (Engineering Prototype), rather than an actual production-run Manor
Let me first start by saying that I'm most impressed, and my loyalty has a strong Stan
Well it looks like winter is about to come to an end, so its about time to come out of hibernation. I've got some Worsley Works MR Celestory coach kits a couple of years ago, but it wasn't until last week that I finally got the Chris Higgs roofs. Being a bit unsure on the how's of soldering with sides with tumblehome, I took one of the etches with me to the Caulfield model train show and got some hints, tips + advice from one of Ixion team.
After a one hour lesson, I got stuck into 1 coach
Last year I received an email from ATSO CAD about a new 3D printed loco body for an Fowler Patriot, designed to fit onto a Farish Jubilee chassis.
For a bit more authenticity I decided to power it with a Union Mills Fowler tender, a spare one I just had lying around.
The first task was to clean-up the body, to start with I gave a good session in the ultra-sonic cleaner to clear of any residue left-over form printing. Following that I set to the body in an attempt to reduce the raised sti
The last couple of months has seen me trying to finish of some the many UFO's. On the list were some LMS 6 wheeled CCT's. These are brass etches made by Etched Pixels, which glue on to a 3D print body, which in turn fits onto a NGS 6 wheels chassis from the stove R.
These were quite simple to build. I opted to solder the sides together and then glue the body. The body's come with or without rainstrip. While the printed strip is a bit thick, added brass wire and shaping was a tad difficul
Forgive my multiple posts, but I can't get the advanced uploader to work, so its 1 photo per entry
15 months after construction start and where am I up too. By the end of November 2008 we had the all the track laid and all the electrics in place and working. This quick deadline was in place due my impending marriage and a work relate move of 1600km. Believe it or not, on the nite of my wedding we even stole some time to go to the shed and run some trains, with the consent of the newly na
It's been awhile, almost as if I've been hibernating over winter, yes that's right we do have winter here down under. I went to the annual state railway modelling show over the weekend, and did some shopping. I also had a visit from 1/3 of the Ixion management, and after these long discussion, I think my mojo is back. Some new irons are in the fire, and hopefully at Christmas I will be having a date with the a 3d laser cutter.
Whilst I’ve been absent in model making, it hasn't stop
I managed to find some time to week to resume work on the luggage van. After several phone calls to the Sithlord up in Longreach, I made an attempt on the roof. With no previous experience with rolling brass, I was a bit hesitant to start with. To get the main curve of the roof I used a piece of 20mm diameter steel pipe and rolled it on a computer mouse mat. For the edges, I clamped it 1mm in from the edge in the hold-n-fold and then used a 3mm diameter brass rod to turn-up the ends. After
Well I managed to save some money at the train show, so a new soldering iron was purchased. Temperature controlled and a ceramic heating element, hopefully this will help me to improve my skills with the hot wand. The wooden pegs as suggested in previous comments is a great tip, apart from the fact all the pegs in our peg bag are plastic! Looks like I'm off to the shops, again.
Managed to do some more on the luggage van today. Both solebars are fitted now, even after I put the frame on up
I don't seem to have gotten the hang of this blog thingy, so I reverted back to the old format in Layout Topics. Updates for Sturminster can be found there. Maybe in the future I'll work blogging out. You can now see updates in the link below.
http://www.rmweb.co....__gopid__55142&
Well, I??™m about to take-off down to the beach for a week, a sort of pre-leave leave. Or as my wife puts it, time for us to spend time alone prior to our new arrival in the new year. Anyway, I thought I??™d better update on the little progress made on Sturminster in the past month. Time has had to be juggled between work, fire brigade training (yet another bad fire season is expected down under), anti-natal classes and keeping my 35 week pregnant wife happy (any tips most welcome).
I got
Progress on Stur has been a little slow of late. Last few weeks prior to going to the BRMA convention were spent preparing wagons for the modelling competition. I was quite happy with my 3 horseboxes. Whilst Brisvegas I did some consulting with our head musketeer, and owner of the 10 track traverser. Also managed to find an article about a OO layout based on Sturminster Newton, which was in the July 1987 edition of Practical Railway Modelling. Some interesting hints and tips there that may
Have been tidying up over the past few weeks, its amazing the amount stuff you find when you clean-up!
Other work has included:
trying my hand at fence building,
refining my static grass technique and
trying to finish my entries into modeling comp for the BRMA convention this up coming weekend (3 NGS Mk1 horseboxes).
On a good news front, my 7F has hit the rails. Its one of the old GEM S+D 7F 2-8-0 kits running on a Farish 8F chassis. I contacted GEM last month to check on progress of
To try and get some authenticity, I found a model-maker who is making their way through my list of building that was require. Opening the order was the station building with station masters office and booking office. I??�m quite happy with them.