Tricky

Track building in progress. I like to build straight onto the paper template and once built, the turnout and template get stuck down on to the baseboard surface. I make my own functional tie bars with 1.5mm ply and dress-making pins. I’ve also wired them with droppers - red and black for running rails and yellow for the crossing. The last photo is a tricky curved cross-over and cross-over with single slip in progress.

Day One of the Stafford Guildex show. A very promising turnout; so good to catch up with so many old and new friends. Hoping for another great day tomorrow! If you plan on attending, make sure to come and say hello! My apologies if I didn’t get round to chatting with everyone who stopped by but it was a bit busy at times! Do drop me a line if I either had run out of what you were after or you wanted to make an enquiry.

So, here’s Wednesday’s Stafford Teaser …. a delightful Great Western Goods Yard Office. What is unusual for me is that I’ve made 8 of them! All made to the same high standard you have come to expect from me but with batch production I can keep costs down, and so they are only £95 each. I would be very interested to hear from you if you would like to reserve one to pick up at the show. If there is sufficient interest I will make a further batch and also, of special interest if you’re not a GW modeller, make them available in different liveries! I await your response with interest…🤔

Here we go with Tuesday’s Stafford Preview! Today I’m very excited to unveil my brand new Retaining Wall Kits. Available in two styles - plain and arched. The plain ones come in three heights ranging from approx 50mm up to approx 100mm. The arched kit is approx 100mm high. They are modular so you can keep adding to make your wall as long as you need it - each section is about 360mm long. All brick detail parts are included as well as precision machined hardwood coping and capping stones. As the wall sections are made from unpainted 3mm laser MDF, they can very easily be cut up, down or otherwise altered to suit. Plain kits range from £18 to £20, arched kits are £32 and end pier kits (to finish off a run) £6. You know the drill by now - limited stocks of all available on the day!

Let’s discuss at Uckfield….!

Will do.

Today’s Stafford Spotlight - barrels! These are based on the Slaters product but with added hoop detail and weathered. A pack of 15 costs £19.50. Not bad considering the time that goes into each one. And more importantly saves you, dear customer, the time and effort on what is to be honest a boring job, but absolutely no railway scene of any era would be complete without at least some! I shall have a few packs with me so pop along early to see me to avoid disappointment!

Thanks Dave!

One of many products that I will be taking to the Stafford O Gauge Guild show - self adhesive slate strips. Simply pell off the backing and stick down to your roof surface. They are self-coloured grey paper but look even better when washed over with a couple of shades of thinned grey paint. As used on my recent GWR goods office. Stock will be available to purchase on the day - Stafford 3/4 September.

I know I’m ‘supposed’ to be posting more products for the Stafford show but I couldn’t resist posting pics of the finished GWR stone goods office commission. Dead chuffed with how it worked out!

With less than two weeks to go, I’m very busy putting loads of stock together which will be available to purchase on the day at the O Gauge Guild Stafford Show. Make a note to come and say hello! The list of items I’ll have with me is getting longer by the day, so I aim to showcase as much as I can here between now and exhibition day. But today’s focus is on the bespoke area of my business - I will bring with me recent examples of architectural commissions I have made of late, before being delivered to my customers (and with their permission!). Individual buildings made to order is the main area of my business and can range from a little weighbridge office right up to whole railway layouts. Come and discuss your project with me and see how I can help you realise your ideas.

Here’s a rather nice GWR stone-built goods office I’ve been working on. It’s built to 7mm scale, using DAS air drying clay spread over a 3mm ply background. So nice to be working with DAS again as it’s not something I’ve had the opportunity to do since building ‘Midland in Bristol’. Next will be making a timber lean-to, gutters, doors, windows and signage. Should make a rather attractive model. The photos show the carving in progress, primed surface and painted surface.

Thanks. I have Modelu to thank for the downpipe brackets!

Today saw the completion of this little gem of a commission. It is the most obscure, unassuming corrugated shed you’ll ever come across but extremely modelogenic for all that! The photos of the real thing are recent as it still exists, albeit in a slightly altered and more decrepit condition. So my interpretation is meant to look in better condition - as it is portrayed as it may have looked when considerably newer in 1933. The signwriting on the roof is modeller’s licence. Although this company did occupy the building in reality, we don’t think the name was ever painted on the roof but it looks good any way! I hope to do a more in-depth write up for the Model Railway Journal one day soon.

I am asked to build all sorts of railway-related architecture, including this delightful GWR signal box. As the nameplate says, this example is destined for a model of Culham station. I posted on social media recently some photos of the interior details, courtesy of Severn Models, including lever frame, block shelf and instruments, stove, armchair etc. Here they are then completed and in their natural habitat. I have no association with Severn Models, other than being a happy customer. The roof is retained by four little brass pegs in each corner and lifts off to gain access to the interior, the floor of which also lifts out. This means that the customer can access the interior to position and re-position a signalman! The building itself is entirely scratch built, including brass etched windows from my own artwork. Contact me to discuss your own architectural project.

I recall a while ago posting somewhere a picture of this diorama in progress but before my good friend Neil Podbery had a go at it with his green fingers! Needless to say the customer was thrilled and shows off his locos and stock a treat! I love making these - such a simple and yet elegant solution to the problem of not enough space for a layout and still wanting to see your locos in a realistic setting. This one from memory measures about 15” x 3’6” in old money.

…backs away quietly…

They could of course be in an open position - but as for working - well…

I posted these pics on my own thread but thought I’d pop them on here too as there may be one or two folk who would appreciate some Midland architecture! They are, of course, entirely scratch built by me to a commission, and are built to 7mm/ft. They represent a coal office and weighbridge office buildings. I seem to have been involved in a lot of Great Western stuff over the last couple of years and so it is an absolute joy to be working on Midland subjects for a change! The architecture style is just so beautifully Midland - elegant, well proportioned and understated. Perfect. Contact me with your own project brief.

Following on from Friday’s post this is where the doors and windows ended up. A pair of very attractive Midland Railway buildings - coal offices and weighbridge office. Both scratch built to 7mm/ft to order. Contact me with your project brief.

Continuing the theme of windows - here’s some more! Plus some doors just for balance! These are destined for some very handsome Midland coal office and weighbridge buildings - a heady mix of Crimson Lake and Denby Pottery Cream! Contact me to discuss your project.

Deja vu on warehouse windows! The subtle difference with these is whilst being the identical design to those I made yesterday, these have opened fanlights. When combined in the customer’s warehouse model with the closed ones, the difference will be subtle but effective. Contact me to discuss your project - any scale.

Thanks Dave.

On the bench today some 7mm warehouse windows - made from two layers of card to give the frame some depth, with thin clear acrylic glazing. Even included three minuscule vent holes at the top! Contact me if you would like the same, similar or something different for your building. Any scale, colour, size or quantity. I also do doors..!!

It all looks very neat. Which ABC gearbox/motor did you go for? Assuming it’s got to fit upright in a round top firebox.