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About this blog

N gauge with a West Midland theme

Entries in this blog

This week I have mostly been painting... teak (N gauge etches)

Hi All, it has been too long since I posted on the blog. Victoria Bridge has a couple of looming appearances, http://www.cradleyheathmrc.co.uk/exhibition.html on Saturday 22nd October followed by the BMRC Show, Arden Hall - Water Orton Road - B36 9PB on Saturday 29th.   I have been extending my rake of N gauge teak carriages to catch up with the real Severn Valley Railway's nine car set that was running, and looking rather impressive, behind various large locomotives last week during 'Pacific

Will J

Will J

A 009 diversion- Ysbeidiau Heulog / Sunny Intervals

Hi all,   Having 'more or less sort of finished' Victoria Bridge, I have been seeking a new modelling challenge. Here it is, or more precisely, here are its beginnings....   The project had a few elements 'set in stone':   -A 'one piece' design with a continuous run, able to run on the kitchen table, and be capable of transit on the back set of the car. -9mm track, to allow for use as a test track for both N gauge and 009/09 projects I have in the works. -Like Victoria Bridge, based on a p

Will J

Will J

Victoria Bridge at the Engine House

Barely a blog entry this, just a quick note! Things are developing nicely at the Engine House with Victoria Bridge in place with a lovely view of a nicely scruffy 'as it left service' 45110.... I suspect my assistant for the day will be studying it closely!     See Tom's blog here:   http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/347/entry-14852-ropley-weather-me-clean/   Looking forward to tomorrow, not least as the layout is set up, we can head up there tomorrow in GWR 'Toplight' st

Will J

Will J

Victoria Bridge on Tour at Highley's Engine House this Weekend

Remember I had promised to crank up the lighting on Victoria Bridge to 11.... well with the help of some LED tape I have the scene looking much more summer-y rather than a still from Disney's Frozen. Unfortunately, the amount of light emitted seems to have done troubling things to my phone camera so for now, we'll have to make do with these fairly hopeless pictures:       I'll be at the SVR's Open House weekend this Saturday and Sunday, ably assisted by TomE, do come and say hello if you

Will J

Will J

Another idea for a preserved 'bridge in a box' diorama

Hi All,   another quiet spell on my blog, I guess mainly because the Victoria Bridge project has more or less come to a point of 'more or less done-ness' although there are a few enhancements to come. Primarily, I want to improve the lighting within the diorama box from the cheap and nasty LEDs sourced from a caravan that are, one by one, giving up the ghost... (and are a horrible blue colour)   Over recent months I have been learning more and more about colour temperatures and associated th

Will J

Will J

Printed preparations for Taunton this weekend (N gauge cars again!)

This week I have mostly been painting.....     Tiny trim lines with a whisker of silver paint on tiny cars (3D printed Ford Focus, see: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/102514-british-n-cars-on-shapeways/   And completing the weathering on some more....       To populate the roads and canalside carparks of Wyre Forest MRC's Kinlet Wharf, which is out on tour this weekend at Taunton:   http://www.somersetrmc.org.uk/Rail-EX/layouts.html     I have also been rep

Will J

Will J

Victoria Bridge at the SVR Gala this Weekend + Z3 scale Fairlie

Evening everyone,   as advertised here: http://www.svr.co.uk/SEItem.aspx?a=68   I will be at Arley Station on Saturday and Sunday for the Autumn Steam Gala with my Victoria Bridge layout on show, back either by popular demand or because I pestered the station staff to let me get involved again.   I will have an assistant this year from among the RMWeb ranks who might make the operations on the layout look more competent, though he may be shocked when presented with a H&M Clipper cont

Will J

Will J

Victoria Bridge's Wyre Forest Tour Continues (+plus further afield)

An excellent time was had at Wyre Forest MRC's 40th Anniversary show back in April. Victoria Bridge even had a brief DMU-interlude to suit my diesel-obsessed son...     In his defence, he does love all things coal-fired as well, but enjoys shouting 'diesel' at the top of his voice as a prelude to investigating dad's old Lima locomotives! Remarkable what they learn by 18 months, he already seems quite happy to accept that 'duck' can be a feathered fowl, a fictional tank engine or an essentia

Will J

Will J

N Gauge Brass People Mover (Extreme Close Up....!)

Hi everyone,   in yesterday's blog, TomE asked 'Is there any sign of the original 3D printed mould on the final brass models? Tom.'   See: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/351/entry-16019-3d-printed-brass-objects-n-gauge-class-139-and-z3-gauge-hunslet/   To answer your question Tom, there is no sign of the original wax that the 'master' was printed in, it seems that the brass artifact is very thoroughly cleaned before it leaves Shapeways. Looking very closely, you can disce

Will J

Will J

3D Printed Brass Objects: N Gauge Class 139 and z3 gauge Hunslet

You may recall in a previous episode I was pondering the best scale combination to use T gauge mechanisms and track to represent narrow gauge, balancing a 1:148 scale carriage on 3mm track. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/351/entry-15589-n-gauge-narrow-gauge-0165-009-this-must-be-n3/   It turned out a 1:148 model of a 2' gauge carriage was a bit large on what scales as 15-18" track. So a plan B has emerged, using Shapeways' 'Raw Brass' printing service, I have created a 1:220

Will J

Will J

3D printed Arley Station Building (inside the real thing: Spring Gala 2015)

A little while ago I mentioned I was drawing up a 3D model of Arley station (as preserved on the Severn Valley Railway) and the results have arrived from Shapeways, rendered in the relatively coarse 'White Strong and Flexible' material which was the same thing I used for the stone abutments on N Gauge Victoria Bridge...     All scaled from the very useful drawings in Barrie Geens' very useful book 'The Severn Valley Railway at Arley'. Nice to see the drawing apparently rising up from the su

Will J

Will J

Victoria Bridge mini- world tour (of the Wyre Forest area.....)

I am planning a small 'tour' of local venues with mini-Victoria Bridge. More to come, but in the meantime....     March 21st and 22nd   Firstly, the SVR Spring Gala.... I will have the layout on show inside Arley station on the Saturday and Sunday of the event, if you are travelling on the train on the day, do arrange a stop at Arley and come and say hello! http://www.svr.co.uk/SEItem.aspx?a=65   April 25th   Then, on the 25th April, an anniversary show is planned by Wyre Forest MRC

Will J

Will J

N gauge narrow gauge... 016.5, 009, this must be N3...

Hello everyone,   right, determined to get back blogging and true to the title, another truly random tangent of N-gaugery, this time going narrow gauge. A while back as a sheer impulse buy I picked up a 2mm/ft static model kit of a GWR era Vale of Rheidol railway carriage from NBrass. I have to confess this has sat for a year or two on a shelf but inspired by some 009 carriage-bodging I had been working on (more of this soon) I wondered if it could be made into something vaguely 'operational'.

Will J

Will J

Merry Christmas from Will J

Hi All,   A quick post from me, you may remember from last year http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/351/entry-13002-merry-christmas-a-tank-engine-and-a-brief-ramble/my Christmas present preparation for the younger members of our family involves producing paintings.   After Thomas last year, I have just been putting the finishing touches to Oliver and Toad.....     Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all on RMWeb. Thank you for all of your kind comments over the year, e

Will J

Will J

More Arley musings..

Not much has developed on the 3D printed Arley front over the last couple of weeks, but with a few nights away from home looming, CAD design does make for a tidy way to create modelling output in a hotel, so watch this space!   I have had chance to have a good look around the real thing however. On Sunday Arley was basking in spots of sunshine and a slice of lovely branchline-ish ness...     Modelling challenges include the picnic area, which I know very well.. the site is busy and requir

Will J

Will J

Another quick update, Arley in 3D

Hi All,   yet again, I find myself a bit square eyed after a CAD session figuring out the intricacies of my N Gauge Arley. Here are a couple of screenshots of progress so far:       Project Arley will need a fair bit of traditional scenic modelling too, especially around the beautifully tended gardens:   http://www.arleystation.org.uk/asgardens.html   http://www.arleystation.org.uk/gagardens.html   Which always remain friendly, colourful but in keeping with the surroundings.  

Will J

Will J

Just upstream from Victoria Bridge

Just a short entry today, have spent rather too long staring at a screen, here are the results:     A number of people at RMweb live asked if, having 'printed' Victoria Bridge, I could print an Arley station to go with it. One way to find out....!   The drawings in the Wild Swan 'Severn Valley Railway at Arley' have proved invaluable.   It may yet form the basis of an extension to the Victoria Bridge diorama, as country stations go, it gets quite busy, see: https://www.flickr.com/photo

Will J

Will J

New N gauge shelf layout: Cornish wharfside 1950-present day?

Evening All,   No report on Victoria Bridge this evening, but some further new layout pondering while stuck, Alan Partridge-like in a Travelodge.   In my last post I reported that a house move had, happily, left me with an office room with a long thin wall, or at least reasonably long in N gauge terms.   My current project is finishing and occasionally exhibiting my N Gauge Victoria Bridge, I'm also planning an exhibitable 2mm finescale (or with finescale elements) 'Wyre Forest' in the 196

Will J

Will J

Ricoh Preparations: Fake Teak

Evening all,   I'm trying to do one post a week in the run up to RMWeb live. Just a quick one this week, hopefully more coming soon.   Replying to comments from last week's installment: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/351/entry-14551-ricoh-preparations-victoria-bridge-lighting-carriages-and-photographers/   richbrummitt: (edit.. 2m's and 2t's) That young gentleman in the second picture looks very happy. How old is he now and what impact has he had on modelling progress?

Will J

Will J

Ricoh preparations: Victoria Bridge Lighting, Carriages and Photographers

Hi All,   With RMWeb Live on the horizon I have, after the dust settled from moving house, got Victoria Bridge back home for some pre show improvements and adjustment. Big thanks to Wyre Forest MRC for keeping the 'shelf' and associated bits out of harms way over the last few weeks!   I like the arrangment in the Ricoh floorplan, with Victoria Bridge in between the likes of Cliffhanger and Kinlet Wharf in the Scenery Zone. Presumably sanwiched between these rather more epic layout presentati

Will J

Will J

Pre Stafford Show Blog: N Gauge Class 139....

Hi all,   just a quick, mainly pictorial, post this time with the latest bodyshell (Mark 12??) for the N Gauge Class 139. I'm moderately happy with the finish this time, it will be improved immeasurably with the flush side glazing to be installed between now and the weekend when the mini-people mover will be operating on Kinlet Wharf's branch line at the Stafford Show.   Do come and say hello, I'll be there pretending to know what I'm doing (randomly jabbing at buttons)   Chassis: Kato Tra

Will J

Will J

Wyre Forest 1960 (ish), a GWR branch line with a twist... (New N gauge)

Sorry... I accidentally turned this entry ( a couple of months old ) into a draft, and by un 'drafting' it, it appears today as if it is new. Sorry, didnt mean to clog up the list of today's new blogs!!   Hi all,   Since exhibiting Victoria Bridge in a moderately complete state for the first time, my mind has been pondering a sequel. I really enjoyed sharing the diorama with the crowds at Frank's excellent Cradley Heath show:   For evidence, see among the pictures in: http://www.rmweb.co.

Will J

Will J

Merry Christmas.. a tank engine and a brief ramble...

Yet another quiet couple of months around the vicinity of this blog.   On the Home Front   Household activities have been revolving around the arrival of Harvey (small baby-sized person now six weeks old and growing at a terrifying rate!) who I can happily relate has spent a chunk of the afternoon inspecting a 1:1 scale Bullied Pacific and seemed intrigued...   With Christmas approaching on a modestly restrained budget, Katie and I have been producing presents for Harvey and his cousins ou

Will J

Will J

A quick update (let there be light.....!)

A brief update, which I will add to in the week when I get chance, Victoria Bridge is coming on in leaps and bounds ready for the Cradley Heath show on the 19th October.. a quick peek through the dark door of my shed reveals a little slice of summer, neatly picture framed!         Next week, some technical trouble shooting and track cleaning, removing scenic bits from where they hadnt ought to be!

Will J

Will J

Canoes, some water and an aeroplane (Victoria Bridge update)

Sometimes you benefit from reflecting on where a project started. OK, I'll come clean, I was mildly pleased with the reflections I was getting from the shiny surface of my miniature River Severn, and decided to shoe horn 'reflectiveness' into the post, so lets stick with it...     The two canoeists mark a significant point in the diorama build... the river has been built up over many months, years even, but with the two intrepid navigators firmly stuck in place, I can't pour any more layers

Will J

Will J

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