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Chris Nevard's Blog

A blog by Chris Nevard in RMweb Blogs

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About this blog

Welcome to my RM web BLOG, it's used like most to highlight recently modelling projects and photographs. The postings here tend to mirror my independent BLOG at http://nevardmedia.blogspot.co.uk/

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An Italian with Great Legs

Ah - gotya! I expect you were hoping for some prime totty! Sorry, nothing so exciting, but what would you expect on a toy train BLOG? But I can tell you that my huge heavyweight vintage pro spec Manfrotto Art 075 tripod is suffering with 4 broken leg extending clips after 25 years of use - not bad, it having been made in a country better known for cars that rust when new and dishwashing machines. Getting hold of spares has been impossible, so for the last few shoots I've been resorting of

January 14, 2011

4

Oooh Beattie, You're a Right Beauty!

Earlier today a much awaited Beattie Well Tank commissioned by Kernow Model Rail from Dapol was handed to me by the postman. This is the main reason for my current 'micro' taking the name of Polbrock, it being built to justify this delightful purchase which rarely ventured outside Cornwall. This isn't a review, that's been well and truly covered in the popular press and on various railway forums, so this more of a punter's appraisal, and the first thing to make an impression was just how gre

November 12, 2011

8

Planet

nevard_110516_planet_IMG_9904_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia. Currently on the work bench, a Planet 0-4-0 Diesel from Roxey Mouldings. And here is the white metal kit after basic assembly. A little filling and cleaning up will be required before painting as well as some extra details. The body is just sitting on the chassis, and will be screwed properly into place once painted. It sits on a Tenshodo WB 24.5 'Spud' which makes it ideal entry to white metal loco construction because o

May 17, 2011

9

Video of miniature chain shunting

Chain shunting a wagon at Brewhouse Quay onto the wagon turntable, the turntable then rotates and the wagon is pulled clear. A wagon with more drag would probably produce a better effect - something else to add to the pile of things to be done. In real life shunting like this would be done with rope with chain only on the the very ends, but sadly law of physics give fine thread too much memory to be practical for such a small model. Sorry, I have no idea how to embed a clip...

September 20, 2011

13

Dirty Beattie!

Beattie Well Tank No. 30587 trundles through the open crossing at Polbrook with a freight from Wenfordbridge to Wadebridge on a sultry summer day in 1957. 111204_polbrock_IMG_2088_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. "She smells a bit but has a heart of gold", as coined by John Cleese when introducing his slightly less than fresh wife at a drinks party on a well known Monty Python sketch. Here though I'm writing about Kernow Model Rail Centre's recently released Beattie Well Tan

December 4, 2011

6

What Ever Happened to the Commentator?

I always find it amusing that model railway exhibitions are at sports centres â€“ the type of people that â€˜do sportâ€™ are generally the complete opposite to railway enthusiasts. I suppose the advantage is that the exhibition organisers do not need to invest in too many signs or arrows announcing its presence (ideally painted onto an old stripped baseboard top with splodgy white lettering on lumpy SR green) pointing to the show. They simply rely on the plastic bag toting unfashionable non-spor

July 14, 2011

23

Demolition!

nevard_110101_catcott_IMG_1739_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Catcott Crossing, September 1966. It's just 6 months after closure and the demolition contractors have already started to dismantle the railway. Most of the railway buildings on 'The Branch' survived the demolition men, with many of then ending up in private hands, unlike the Bath to Bournemouth line which ended up losing well over half its stations to the swinging iron ball. It's interesting now as to whether the same

November 3, 2011

8

The Armchair & Pedant Now Open for Shandy and Rover 400 Drivers.

111116_polbrock_IMG_1930_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. The Armchair & Pedant is now in place to hide the right hand exit to the fiddle yard on Polbrock. Of course it still needs a proper sign, but my printer inks have dried up, so until I waste yet more time on cleaning the printer heads and taking out a mortgage to replace the inks it won't be happening for a bit unless I get a print done in the local Boots or Happysnappy next time I'm down in town. The sign on the right han

November 17, 2011

21

Moonlight Express

nevard_111120_warely_IMG_1980_MOON_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Under a crisp full moon, 44560 passes Kimble North Signalbox with the late service. Captured at The Warley Show last weekend; the sodium light is unsuitable for serious photography, so rather than battle with the mixed sodium and daylight, a little Photoshoppery was used which primarily involved removing the ceiling of the NEC and replacing it with a Mediterranean sky. I also decided to de-saturate and colourize m

November 24, 2011

19

Old Sox

111216_rydes-hill_DSC_0157_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. This post isn't strictly about model railways, but an interest and understanding of the real world I think helps to make us better model makers. Lights like this are a doddle to make of course. As a model maker of mostly historical scenarios, I'm always on the look out for bits of 'olde England' to record for posterity to aid model making. Currently in Surrey, older street lighting is being updated with new low energy syst

December 17, 2011

9

Steady progress and a name at last!

I've had a rather busy week out snapping other people's model railways and taking care of the airwaves for a minority satellite TV sports channel. I have however shoe-horned a little time to carry on with the 'Cornish Project' which now has a name in the form of 'Polbrock' which is one of the places the Bodmin to Wadebridge line passed through. I'm not going to be too specific on the history, that way I'll hopefully avoid being nobbled by all the 'model railway experts' who've never even pinned

October 25, 2011

12

Catcott Burtle - Now with Working Gates

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSb3kSeeFdc In preparation for the weekend show in Guildford at the Astolat Model Railway Circle Exhibition, I've finally managed to bodge up some working crossing gates and a working signal. I won't go into too much detail for the mechanical brigade will probably shudder at my Heath Robinson approach using brass rod and code 75 bullhead rail; you'll just have to imagine - but if you come along to the show at the weekend I'll let you look under my drape an

January 13, 2011

17

Art Deco Electric Street Light

nevard_110817_BQ_IMG_0835_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. A spare hour yesterday afternoon produced this scratch-built art deco era electric street light based on ones seen in Weybridge Surrey. The underside of reflector on the real lamp would have a mosaic of mirror glass like on a glitter ball - obviously too small to model. Looking at old photographs in the Weybridge and Walton on Thames, area they appear all over the place in 1955 Francis Frith photographs, and I remember seeing

August 18, 2011

4

Another dose of the pedants

nevard_110101_catcott_IMG_1728_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. It's Wycrail this weekend, so Catcott Burtle has been set up for the last week or two sufficiently high off the ground to hopefully avoid the various scenic details being chomped on again by the cat who has a taste for white metal, brass and plastic card. The happy snappy above is of Catcott, the ficticious (maybe more 'faction') scenario depicting a mixed train off the Bridgwater Branch which regularly featured suc

November 2, 2011

25

Old Film of Brewhouse Quay

[media=''] [/media] I have just found an old 50ft spool of standard 8mm Agfachrome of Sentinel 'Mendip' arriving and shunting a brake van along the Marriott, Dent & Foster Brewery sidings at Brewhouse Quay around 1956. I'm currently suffering audio problems with this clip - select 240p if you cannot hear anything! Edit: Here's the clean version

August 29, 2011

6

Digital Photography with 1960's Tech.

Click on the photo above for a 1024 sized version. This snap shows a typical Highbridge Branch train as seen in the last 2 years of the line's existence; a single Hawksworth Brake Compo and a ex-Southern Railway bogie-van for perishables (fun things like cider and cheese). You can see some rather nice prototype photos of such trains here. Note the narrow gauge trucks in the background used for transporting peat from the nearby moor. I hope to get that aspect operational before the next show

February 6, 2011

10

Penguins & Pillboxes

111119_polbrock_IMG_1960-web, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Mr & Mrs Penguin ponder on whether they should go in to The Pedant & Armchair public house next to the halt at Polbrock. Deep down in the mystical country of Kernow all sorts of strange creatures are know to exist, everything from druids and dragons through to the well known but elusive Beast of Bodmin Moor. The Pedant & Armchair public house was known to attract all sorts of strange creatures, many with thic

November 18, 2011

12

Track Laying on Brewhouse Quay

nevard_110204_brewhouseQ_IMG_9104_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia. Track laying has now started in earnest on my brewery project. Because the layout will be presented diorama style with a high curved backscene on 3 sides as mentioned on previous posts, I'm laying the track 'off set' using a 5mm foamboard sub-base which will be firmly bonded to the proper plywood base once most of the fiddly stuff has been done. It's much easier to work this way because I can spin the base aroun

February 4, 2011

8

Austerity can be colourful!

nevard_110225_harry_IMG_9284_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia. Yesterday this colourful happy chappy called Harry arrived second hand from Paul Steedman of RHB Rhatia fame (see his layout the latest Model Rail International just out - get it from Smiths) . As you can see, the loco is in very nice condition too in its rather smart red, which is anything but 'austerity'. This Hornby model is a little dated so it could do with a little work to bring it nearer to today's expect

February 26, 2011

4

Look, I Shrunk the Wife!

Click on the pics to enlarge to 1024 pixels... Ok, now I've got your attention with my wife superimposed in unseasonal clothing onto the little bridge that crosses the remains of the Glastonbury Canal next to Catcott Crossing, the reason for this post is to highlight a little basic weathering on the rather splendid new Hornby ex-GWR Hawksworth Brake Compo. These rather stylish coaches were regularly used during the final couple of years of the former SDJR Highbridge Branch. And yes th

February 6, 2011

7

Eye Eye Capstan!

nevard_110731_BQ_IMG_0662_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. With Model Rail Live pending 17 & 18 September 2011, attention has gone back to Brewhouse Quay to get it ready with a little extra detail and such, and for once I'm not in a dreadful rush to complete this project in time. The shot above which has a big nod to the late great micro layout genius Carl Arendt illustrates the bedding in of the base and capstan for rope shunting using a smudge of Das modelling clay and a s

August 1, 2011

6

Books

110928_cornish_int_IMG_1342_02_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Cornish Interlude (working title) update. Railways enthusiasts generally love books, and I am no exception, needing little excuse to buy another for the collection. They are never idle purchases, they get looked at over and over again to inspire my model making. I think this is why I have far too many ideas, the purchase of a new book inevitably resulting in the back of an envelope sketch for some kind of mini or not

September 29, 2011

7

My Workbench for March 2011

My workbench depends on what I'm doing, so it tends to be set up all over the place depending on current circumstance. Here is the mobile workbench as seen right now at the beginning of the month of March. Click on the image to reveal a bigger view and to be able to read the rather hastily added pointers of what is where.

March 3, 2011

10

Neoprene Rubber

nevard_110416_brewhouseQ_IMG_9735_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia. Brewhouse Quay: to the right, the latest scratchbuilt warehouse in the BQ saga (think of it as satellite telly, you can tune to another channel if you're as bored as I am). I had to photograph a rather nice china clay works earlier today for the popular press and needed to dig out a small diesel loco in the form of this Bachmann 03 (or is it an 04?). With hindsight, it actually looks rather good here on the

April 15, 2011

7

Sweet Running Hornby Pug

nevard_101128_cementQ_IMG_8459_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia. A tiny ex Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Pug is captured shunting wagons through the loading screen at Cement Quay.This little loco I picked up on Ebay just over a year ago, it has since had a repaint, a renumber to one of Radstock's shunters, a little extra detail and a dose weathering. After completing the above and being an 0-4-0 I wasn't expecting the best performance, with some sticking, wobble and jerkines

December 1, 2010

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