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About this blog

UPDATE 20TH JULY 2020Calshot (MkII) is no more! Sadly, I decided to abandon the project due to being stored in a dusty garage for 10 years. However it is more than likely to live on in another guise... watch this space!

 

The Ramblings of a Junior 4mm Modeller

Entries in this blog

Fete Fantastic!

Well today as some of you will know was the layouts first outing since early May. I hadn't touched the layout since then and so I had no idea whether it would work or not! However, luckily it did and so I set about making the hangar. Unfortunately I ran out of time and so the back of the hangar was roofless and the front had just a simple bit of textured paper led across it. It didn't look great! However, I have noticed something - from up high the layout doesn't look particularly specia

400mph on floats...

Apparently, the 22nd of May was the last time I did any modelling (for Calshot anyway). Today I made a start (but didn't get too far) on the construction of the hangar. Because of the tight deadline for the Woodgreen show in May, I was unable to build it properly out of plasticard and so I had to resort to printing off the building as a corrugated texture. I then built the roof and one side roughly out of this paper on the eve of the show!     Now I'm looking to replace it with something mor

Diversionary tactics!

Diversionary tactics! Well after a loooong spell of nothing happening on the layout I thought I would spend this weekend doing some armchair modelling. On Saturday I popped into SMC to see what they had in store. I came out with more than I expected including an Airfix resin 'ruined workshop', some Bachmann trees and few other bits and bobs.     The workshop was a bit of an impulse buy, but thats not necessarily a bad thing - it will make a great addition to the layout on the new section ne

Operation Mirror Image - Day 10

Well there was yet another flurry of activity today. My dad volunteered to repaint the fascia. He opted for quite a nice green colour actually instead of the black. It won't match the layout curtain but nevermind! The standard gauge track was also layed on the extension and both the standard gauge and the narrow gauge lines have been raised up to meet the edges of the old layout as shown in the first photo.         So far the turntable has been nothing but a headache, but we are slowly gett

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Operation Mirror Image - Days 8 & 9

Another joint blog entry today. We only have 5 days left to get Calshot ready for showing!   Today saw the pelmet being constructed mainly by my Dad (as I had coursework to do unfortunately!). It was a right pain in the proverbial to do but we eventually got there! It's a bit Heath Robinson and very much bodged but it all works (just about). The boards were set up in the garage as it provides a bit more shelter from the heat than the conservatory does. This has the added benefit of bein

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Operation Mirror Image - Days 6 & 7

Just a quick note while I remember: I hope you like the new look of this blog's sidebar NEWS Woodgreen Model Show is coming up and will be held in the village hall on 30th April - 2nd May. Calshot will be in attendance so come and have a chat and I hope to see you there! I am now booked to appear at the Four Marks Exhibition on 21/22nd May (run by the scout group) Using a quick bit of editing, here the pelmet and backscene have been magically attached! [click

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Operation Mirror Image - Day 5

Op. M.I. Counter Time so far today - 3 hours split as follows: 1.5hrs - applying hanging basket liner 1hr - applying vegetation 20mins - spray painting concrete 10mins - forming beach at rear Running total - 14 hours over 5 days Today saw another flurry of activity with the continuing warm weather. These next set of images show the work completed. First, HBL was applied to the banks of the river. Then ground cover was applied around the banks and around the en

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Operation Mirror Image - Days 3 & 4

Time so far today - 6 hours split as follows: 3hrs - applying modelling clay 1.5hrs - ballasting 1.5hrs - painting As some of you may have heard, yesterday didn't go very well today. However, today was a different story and as you will see with the following photos I have made some rapid progress. The grass in the second photo by the engine shed will need to be considerably toned down as it is just far too bright. The modelling clay will be sprayed with Plastikote Su

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Operation Mirror Image - Day 2!

So, another day is drawing to a close...   ...which means I have been busy on the extension! Well, truth be told it is not just me - it makes sense to use my dad's carpenter skills. Although I did do a bit of the carpentry, he did the vast majority. The turntable doesn't turn (yet!) but we'll be looking into that tomorrow I expect.   Op. M.I. Counter Time so far today - 3 hours 20mins split as follows: 3hrs - woodwork for the baseboard 20 mins - engine shed alterations Running to

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Operation Mirror Image - Day 1!

Today saw the official start of Operation Mirror Image - from now on, I will add a tally of the time spent and how it was spent (as seen below) for the following posts. So at last, the extension is firmly on its way. The ply will be braced with softwood battens underneath and I will need to make sure I match the board heights correctly. I'm expecting that I will need a new backscene too, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it! Thanks for all your support, it really is highly appreciated

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Anglicizing a German! - Part 1

Now, as you may have noted on my previous blog entry, I've bought a little NG shunter from Liliput. Today I decided on some surgery to make it look a little more British. I did away with the glazing and chopped off the window frame and gave it an initial coat of green. The paint is still drying in the photos, and it will need at least one more coat.   I have to say this is the finest locomotive I think I have ever boug

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Things what I 'ave bought!

I finally got round to making some purchases! I've been umming and aahing about what I should buy for quite a long time now. After finally having made up my mind I decided to plump for the following:     Acquisition no. 1 Steiermischen Landesbahn diesel shunter VL6 is seen here after having arrived from Germany after a certain lack of motive power on the RAF NG Railway at Calshot. It is surprising to note that it is a brand new engine although it looks like some modifications may have to be

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How to wreck a seaplane

I seem to be on a roll with my modelling this week! Here's today's work turning that Catalina into an abandoned wreck. Still much more to do but it is getting there. These photos have been taken on a piece of mount-board with a backscene propped up behind. I hope you enjoy looking at this set and I would appreciate any comments, good or bad (as long as they're constructive negative comments!). The paint peeling off has been created using a sandpaper attachment on a Dremel. Weathering is with wat

V.2 Operation Mirror Image [Part 2]

Last night I altered a few bits on the plan, so just to keep you up to date the plan should appear below:       Now, originally the layout was built to be transported in a small car, however, it doesn't fit! Therefore I have had to use my dad's van which has ample room in both width, length and height. If I was to start this again (which, for the record, I won't ) I would double-check the room available in the car BEFORE building the layout. (Lesson learnt there I should think ) This mea

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V.2 Operation Mirror Image

Despite my status update earlier, I'm still planning an extension, not just a fiddle yard. Here's my latest plan after a thought struck me earlier. It occurred to me that my abnormally-shaped plan for my extension would be hell to transport! So, I took the original layout and mirrored it and came up with this:     This design allows me to stack the two boards on top of one another. I'd have to create a squared off section for the original board to make it easier to connect the two boa

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Preliminary sketch, how not to paint a seaplane and more weathering

Hello again, Here's a sketch of the possible extension. The existing hangar will be extended and will have an apron sitting next to it along with yet another slipway. I have also shown the beached seaplane at the back (will be the Catalina in the photos below) and the beach, trees (forming the scenic break) and locomotive shed. P.S. If your place of work does not allow these images to appear, let me know! For larger images, go to 4mmsr (Calshot's Blogspot). Images are clickable there.

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Rusty irons and pontification

To keep my mind from wondering I have spent an hour tonight making a start on weathering the hangar and pillbox. To do this I enlisted the help of some water crayons that I found in the deep dark depths of the cupboard. I'd never used them before so I didn't quite know what to expect, but from what I can see so far, it looks like quite a good way of weathering plastic.                     In the mean time, I will give some more thought to the extension. I don't want to add

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How to get carried away...

... or, 'Yes, it's me, Mr Indecisive!'   It's fair to say that I have not exactly made any sort of progress on the layout for well over a month, probably more in fact. I've had far too much stuff going on lately to even comprehend touching the layout let alone working on it.   So today I wanted to change that and find some time to do some modelling. Unfortunately, things didn't go to plan and I couldn't find my mojo! Suffice to say, nothing got done.   I think that the reasoning behind thi

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Distracted? Moi?!

Nah...   OK, maybe just a little bit then:     P.S. That is my first attempt using watercolours so apologies if it isn't very good!   I know Ian J. wanted to model this station, but it is only a mile down the road, and, well, just look at it! Part of me really wants to build this, but the other part says I don't have enough room and I need to finish Calshot first.   And in case you are wondering how this all came about there are a couple reasons:   Firstly, progress on Calshot has

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Blog entry no.76 - Has it really been that many already?

Some more up-to-date photos of Calshot I won't add any descriptions to the photos as it's all pretty self-explanatory I hope. In the photos you will see a new platform taking shape. However, I am yet to find a drill chuck small enough to hold some drill bits less than 1mm in diameter! Hope you enjoy this set of photos. 76 blog entries - who'd have thought it?! P.s. I have just received an email for an invite to an exhibition in the New Forest area - stay tuned...    

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Calshot - Sand, sea and Silflor

Just a quick update for tonight, but as always I've added some photos to make it a bit more interesting.   Today I had the chance to work on the layout and I managed to get some quite visible results. Firstly I have been adding more Silflor grass tufts all around the layout. I really am fond of this product and against the hanging basket liner it looks like a much more realistic product.   I have also been adding sand to the layout in quite large quantities. This was all brought about by lo

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Calshot - Painting and structure modelling

After having been unable to make any progress on the layout for about a month I was getting fed up. Today I decided to take a break from revision and crack out the paints and glues.   Firstly, here is the castle gatehouse before painting took place:     Secondly, the other side after painting had been 'finished':     I decided to also paint the outer wall of the castle to try and tone down the bright white clay. Here I have gouged out some of the clay and inserted some old brickwork

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And it's a Merry Christmas from me! (plus some photos)

Festive greetings to you all! Merry Christmas A lone van weathered by the salty atmosphere of the seaside waits on the quayside.     An unidentified narrow gauge locomotive emerges from the shade of the pipe bridge.     The same locomotive is pictured here without a driver who has obviously gone for a quick cuppa.       A break in the stormy clouds sees the 4-6-0 emerge from behind the hangar.     A works train heads west towards Eaglehurst Camp for track repairs haule

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A series of completely unflattering photos

As per the blog title really. There are certain jobs that I haven't done yet that have been annoying me and needed to be done. The main one:     The layouts looks a mess here and thats (mainly) because the pelmet has been sawn off and the backscene taken off but also because of the poor light. There is a good reason for this major cutback - don't worry I haven't yet gone mad! The idea behind the layouts size was meant to be that I could fit it in a car for when I pass my driving test an

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Brockenhurst NFMRS Open Day - Calshot's visit

Firstly, thanks to all the event organisers, catering staff and of course the general public! I wasn't sure what to expect, but what I did not expect is the size of the hall - much bigger than I anticipated and a pleasant surprise.   The morning didn't start particularly well as we battled to unlock the van doors and manoeuvred several cars to enable it to be put in the drive for loading. Once the van was loaded it was a quick rush to get to the venue in time due to the earlier fiasco. Anywa

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