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Dear all, This will be a quick entry, with nothing stupendous to show, but the last couple of evenings have allowed me some practice and deployment of some railmatch BR Blue to my Nimbus. Having bounced back due to the huge support received in response to my previous posts, I'm back where I was... but this time with a better result. This is good. The Railmatch paint is a lott more "matt" that the Precision paint I was using, and this has clearly helped me in my novice "insufficently experienced" approach. The GUVs were treated to some practice first, and this time, the result was smooth. As before, the final practice was again good, but it look like the last coat on the Deltic went a little rough, but I'm viewing this as more of a rough finish that orange peel - and working on the principle of "how good is good enough", I think I will live with it. Looking back on comments before, I think it was Jim S-W that suggested use of some Kleer to smooth the surface - and I think I will give this a go to give the transfers a better base. Also... looking at the locos in mid 70s, they were a bit grubby, but when the paint was clean it still had some shine - although that all faded by about 77 onwards (unless repainted). I'm a little unsure how adding enamels and thinners to the surface after using kleer will affect it - will it be "hard" enough (?) but I intend to practice again on one of the GUVs first. I think its a case of one side at a time, letting the Kleer flow and flood out. I plan to airbrush it - anyone have any thoughts on that ? But I plan to ask around at Scaleforum tomorrow. I had hoped to bring the loco to Leatherhead... but with the paint still "hardening" I'd rather not disturb it too much. More photos will follow as the job continues... but I think that I've got over this hurdle now. Thanks for your patience - I'm getting there.

Been working on this little van - an Outside Framed 8 Ton Van from the David Geen whitemetal range. Still need to add rainstrips, I completely forgot about them! According to the instructions, these lovely O/F wagons were introduced in 1879 - although the Atkins et al bible seems to have different dates? I tried out Vallejo acrylic primer this time, brush-painted on. Doesn't look so neat at first sight, but once the van was fully painted I couldn't tell the difference between that and those of my wagons done with spray-painted primer. A nice feature of the kit is the inclusion of both grease and oil axleboxes (top lef and right respectively). The vans were built with grease axleboxes, but many later received oil boxes. The kit also provides for both non-reversible and reversible brake shoes. I went for the grease boxes, but used the reduced 8 Ton classification to suggest the 1900s. I haven't been able to find any record of when the reversible shoes were introduced? Posed in front of "The depot". The wagon will form part of the shunting puzzle together with other wagons currently being built. My stock weathering techniques are still rather crude, so any suggestions for improvement are much appreciated!

Hi all. With trackwork nearing completion, there are only a few outstanding jobs to be done before thoughts can turn to finishing point motor installation and then scenery! Here's the current view looking East: This shows the one remaining point to be completed outside the boiler & Carriage works, a very rough mock up for which has been created for positioning purposes! The lines will continue further inside the works, but I need to visit the site again to see just how far down the shed they go. And the view West: Here we see the last remaining major trackwork still to be completed, namely the ash pit leading up to the wheel drop. This will be produced as a separate drop in module as it needs to be painted before assembly. Again a mock up shed has been produced for sizing/positioning purposes. I have to admit to being pleased with how the trackwork has turned out, as this is the first time I've ever built my own pointwork. There are a few iffy parts but generally all the stock I have at the moment runs through it well enough! Easitrac really makes a huge difference though and hopefully the extra effort involved will be worth it! Cheers, Tom.

I always read the blogs first. Far more interesting than the normal forum threads I think. I too am surprised how many do actually look at my jottings. I will look forward to seeing your layout develop once you start posting some updates. Cheers for now Frank

Hello Tom, did you built your easytrac trackwork to 2mm FS standarts or did you built it with a gauge of 9mm? Markus

Someone said to me in an exchange of opinions over the interweb recently that no-one did any proper railway modelling anymore as the standard of the ready to run stuff you could buy was so high these days all you needed to make a cracking good model was a healthy bank balance. Interesting point of view but not one I personally go along with as there is so much more to the hobby than having good looking models . However when I put the wagon castings from Woodham Wagon Works on to ebay I must admit I did wonder if there would be much interest as not only were they from early and quite obscure prototypes but also they were more a scratchbuilding aid than a kit . Were there, I wondered, be people happy to source bits and pieces such as wheels and couplings , to assemble a model and paint it accurately or did they all just want to take it out the box and plonk it on the layout. I need not have worried . There has been lots of interest and views and some healthy competitive bidding . Conclusion : Railway Modelling is Alive and Well ! However one surprise did not come from the wagons but from listing some railway postcards I had lying around . These were some modern reproduction cards of old photographs of railway subjects which I thought might make 50p or so each if I was lucky. Predictably several which were pictures taken during the filming of the Titfield Thunderbolt Film in 1952 generated quite a lot of interest but the star was one of Weymouth Harbour Railway in the 1920's which went for nearly TWENTY TIMES my estimate . Even more of a surprise was the buyer - a very well known railway author . Is there a new book on Dorset Railways in preparation ? Time will Tell !

This is now coming together very quickly Tom...some nice flowing trackwork there. Easitrac really has had a big impact at this scale...one wonders if Peco will start to feel the pinch here in Uk sales...

I'm sure everyone's getting bored of these CAD pics by now, but here's a little teaser of work currently in progress, So can anyone answer everyone's favourite Australian, and a part built model tram CAD doesn't win? Answers on a postcard to............. !!