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Dad-1's Blog

A blog by Dad-1 in General

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About this blog

I'm a fidget so always a new project coming.

Entries in this blog

Production Stops - Shortage of Materials

I have ceased wagon production at the moment due to the severe shortage of Bachmann short narrow tension-lock couplings. I have temporarily pinched from 4 wagons to complete builds in progress, but that is not sustainable.   In the meantime a nice to look at, but deceptively inaccurate very old Ratio GWR Open 'C' is reaching the end, short of weathering. This was inherited from a friend who passed away. An incomplete Ratio Open 'C' in a plastic bag. The fact it was incom
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"Jurassic Models" ? Well Almost !!

My Blog tends to chart my workbench activity. With more than a few wagon builds as I needlessly add even more to the overall collection. I've decided to try and clear some inherited kits which while very good at their time of issue are now beginning to fall short of later models. However first I thought I'd add a picture of the Cambrian Dogfish in it's current decaled but not weathered state.     Right, next I started was a very old Ratio kit, one of a fe
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Another Cambrian Kit rolling through

It's not my fault, blame John of Cambridge Custom Transfers. As he's pointed out the decals I require are all on one of his giant decal sheets I've placed an order. What do I do in the meantime ? Make another wagon that has the markings included on said decal sheet !! As a result I started last evening without the camera by my side and made up a rolling chassis for the Cambrian Dogfish ballast wagon. I have said before that Cambrian have a few quirks and often need some experience
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How Long on the Back Burner

That must be an old fashioned saying, but you get the idea. You buy something, but before you start you're distracted by some other project and layers of dust settle. Never quite forgotten and to be done at some time ! Two postings ago in my blog there are some pictures of a pure shunting layout I've been making for the club. To help complete a nearly believable scene the platforms need some sort of traffic, just as I did with my mate Derek when we made our previous shunting layout. He made
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Back to wagons again

For the last few months I've been busy on layouts. Both for the club and while intending to get some club input the Corona Virus shut down has left the option of do nothing until the club rooms open again, or do it myself. All interesting and keeping me busy, but apart from the '0' brake van I've not touched a wagon. Couldn't go much further without making something with wheels !!   What's in stock - too many, but the Cambrian GWR/BR 18 Ton Sleeper Wagon caught my eye. T
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It must be me ? Finding my blog is almost impossible.

I've just spent 10 minutes trying to find my Blog, there used to be a link found by ones name icon, but I can't find it now. Perhaps they're old hat and destined to vanish ? Thought I'd add what I've been doing since lock-down, O.K it started before that. With my mate Derek we made an inglenook shunting puzzle layout, always popular with club members and went out a few times without myself, or Derek present. It was damaged and I then put my foot down at the end of last year saying
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A Surprise Present - Great Model Making friends !

I've always found that the help and support between model makers top most things in this soured modern world. I had a surprise package arrive at the start of the last week of November. A cyber friend that I've communicated with since 2008 sent me a kit from his collection as a present citing years of help and encouragement. Not only that, but he's North East and mostly Blue Diesels ..... shock even post privatization, sometimes !! Being GWR this would never fit his modelling
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The Last of my 2019 Club Diorama.

Well I suppose you can always add a little touch here and there, but as far as this one goes it's reached the end. Today I brought in from the shed to add reeds along the back of my pond. The PVA still wet, but by tomorrow morning it'll be back in the shed until later in December when it'll be entered into the clubs annual diorama competition.   A bit Photo heavy. Out of interest this 'picture' has cost me just over £5 for the bridge, everything else was laying arou
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I Needed A Rest.

Our Youngest Son is moving into a New house this weekend ...... Strange I shall be very busy ? To clear decks I moved a few 'almost' finished wagons to the loft layout for safe temp[orary storage. The two sidings have 22 wagons that I've made up since June or July. A surprising number are from original Airfix kits, a few from the Dapol versions, something like 13 of them. The Engineers train from Cambrian kits, as is the Borail, but that was made up a few years ago. With
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I said I'd be back to wagons - HOW many ??

That last posting at the end of August saw me starting a few wagons. Since then I've made 4 Dapol 16 Ton minerals, 7 Dapol 'Esso' 35 Ton GLW tanks, 2 Cambrian 'Catfish' Hoppers, 3 Cambrian 'Mermaids' and tidied-up a few others. I just never got around to posting.   Currently I'm having a rest from Wagons !! and working on my 2019 diorama scene. The initial inspiration came from my love of rural scenery and the Ratio occupational bridge ...... Placing bits out to try and
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Wagons Rolling Again

My last posting, after our exhibition was stating I'd be back to wagon building. While I build too many I do so often move on before weathering and gather a backlog of almost there projects. After getting some secondhand kits I decided to make up the Airfix Presflo. I already had one made in 2015 still unfinished, well at least without weathering and these did get very dirty with white cement dust.   At last not only the new build, but my old one made to look like a work
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The Big day over - Now to recommence wagon building

It was a once a year outing, Castell Mawr back in the shed again. While it does everything I wanted at the time, it has become something of a white elephant. Too big to have up and running at home. I can just assemble on our patio which is high and catches wind, easily enough to take stock off !! I really don't know what to do with it ? Jamie one of the original group of 4 builders/planners came down to Dorset from Cambridge just to run it for a day, he had a great day and so
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4

Preparing for the Exhibition - Start Early !!

The last time my large layout saw light of day was the end of July last year at my clubs Summer Exhibition. I originally was contemplating it being the last outing. Too big for me to manage by myself and needing to hire a van and driver to get it anywhere, once you're over 75 no van hire insurers will cover you .....   My trouble was it was voted best in show (Stick chest out in pride) and our exhibition manager insisted it came back in 2019 to defend it's position ! Dou
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Time to tidy up

What's a skeleton in a cupboard ? .......... For too many railway modellers it's hidden, half, perhaps in some cases completely forgotten project and, probably half built !!   Well a recent one of mine was and still is a Parkside PC86 Z2 gunpowder van. Started towards the end of April, but bypassed by the recent multi build of V12 - 16 vans shown in the last two blog entries. While watching the 'test' train circle slowly my eyes fell on this part finished wagon. Last eve
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Coming to the end of this build

I do dislike waiting for paint to dry, but it's a basic essential.   As of this morning I have 4 wagons, all with some paint too damp and sticky to handle. At least I've made the decision on what the final V16 livery will be. No not BR unfitted grey, but GWR grey. The clubs, and my V12 as well as the GWR V14 will all be liveried as 10 Ton. The BR bauxite V14 and that indecision V16 will be 12 Ton liveries, a result of up-rating.     It's at this
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5

Something Missing ?

I opened my last 2 Parkside PC84 GWR Mink 'A' kits without paying too much attention. Today while getting on with them I couldn't find the small black sprues on which the laminated buffer heads are located, wagon hooks and a couple of drop door stops (Multi Purpose sprue). These two 'new' kits also had the small ModelMaster decal sheet included, on reading I note that all the markings are for BR period wagons and the sheet is clearly marked "Ex GWR 10T Mink, Mink 'A', V1
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4

A few more wagons.

Ouch, almost 2 months since I last posted. I've not been exactly sleeping at the wheel. A few more wagons into the fray.   I didn't think I had many Lowfit wagons and decided to have a shot at the Parkside kit. Initially I was a little miffed by instructions saying they were all wooden solebars, but that was me forgetting that while BR made steel chassis versions LNER had kept to timber on their version.   These are very light and quite simple, I was past
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When Bored, make a video ?

Rotten cold, don't dare doing anything, or it'll go wrong. Still, nice to just run a train around, and video it.     I have loads of trees to add, but welcome to my small cornish backwater.   Dad-1
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Reviving an antique - No space left !

I'm running out of jobs to do on recent layouts, have virtually run out of space to anything new. Even difficult to find storage for my last little demonstration and test piece.     Not quite desperation, but sitting in my garage after some 10 years is a small roundy-roundy that I call St Oval. The name is simply what the original plan was a Set-track Oval. This has been in constant use since I first had it fully live, simply because being a roundy-roundy I ca
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Things get left and lost

I know I'm not alone. Most of us start things that get left behind, sometimes for years while others get priority. Back in August when I took the clubs new layout home to work on it I'd already started a Dapol BR brake van kit. It has sat on my small 'coupling height' track section ever since, quietly mocking me. Well club layout gone, so time to finish ? Now added a TrainTech motion activated tail lamp. I can now finish if and when I find the rest of the kit !!
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No mileage in sleepless nights - West Bay getting close to finished ?

At Beaminster Exhibition on 12th January the new 'West Bay' will have it's first outing. Currently still in my shed, but with the Kadees almost behaving, lighting fixed and functional, even a couple of wagon kits finished except weathering (That may not get done in time) I'm no longer stressed !!     As I write the fiddle-yard board is in my kitchen for a few prettying jobs. Why ? It's a fiddle-yard ? Ahh you should see how hard visitors will try to see what's behind the scene - Been there
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Kadees - Love them, or Hate them ?

At times I feel they are not fit for purpose when it comes to British Outline wagons. The wagons are too easily drawn along out of an uncoupling position by 'magnetic creep' Many of us have spent ages getting our stock to run VERY freely with thoughts of long goods trains. This is the path to absolute failure, mass has little influence, the pressure needed to open the knuckles is not reached before your wagon rolls along !!   Well the only answer to my mind is adding brakes to one axle on ever
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Pt.II Or West Bay Layout

You can see why I'm not very good at online postings, but into Pt.II on my old and clogged up system.   West Bay hasn't changed that much and needs a lot of grass and gravel surfacing, hence being essential to move somewhere where it can be left undisturbed for days if necessary.   The yard end where it joins Marsh Barn Lane, once a gated road.     Station building and signal box made by another club member. The garden is still there today, but we need to get planting !     I have
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I'm not much good at online posting

What happened to July, August and September ? Not a lot, yet I seem to have always been doing something, although often not a lot to look back on.   First following my last posting our club exhibition was a great success, always a worry when you change venues. I ended up winning the Best in Show award, that has a dark side as I'm told it's my duty to be back with Castell Mawr next year to defend my top slot. I was looking forward to doing some demonstration modelling, no need for a hired van,
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Exhibition preparations getting full attention.

Apart from the weather acting as a disincentive to do much, I'm now looking ahead to my clubs Summer Exhibition, a new venue in the Bridport Colfox Academy, I still tend to call it a school - how old fashioned !!   I'm taking my big layout Castell Mawr which in all honest will probably never be fully finished, although the casual onlooker probably won't notice. It's not been out for 8 Months and I've been cleaning all tracks, making certain all points work on the DCC addresses allocated, and t
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