Barry Ten

Here's a Revell one I made:

This, coupled with the major discounts on 00 items a couple of weeks ago, and a remark posted on another thread, would suggest something is afoot.

At RailWells last summer I did the usual thing of buying various detailing bits which then languished in a brown paper bag until rediscovery last week. One of these was a nice pair of Shire Scenes etched brass kits for a K1 and K6 telephone kiosk. i decided to have a go at them over the last few evenings. The K1 (as I've since learned) was an early 1920s design and the first real mass produced public telephone box. Although most have now gone, there are still one or two dotted around the country. With their distinctly period look, and white and red paint scheme, I think they make a nice contrast to the more familiar all-over red type. The Shire Scenes kit is from the Dart range and goes together reasonably straightforwardly. The upper part consists of a pyramid sitting on a trough-like tray, and I found I needed a bit of filler here and there to get it all looking solid. Once complete, the model was painted all over white with Humbrol paint, allowed to dry, and then masked off for the red bits. There's a bit of interior detail which is nice. I painted the "telephone" bits red, and the dry-brushed over the top to make the letters stand out. I didn't really have a spot in mind for the model, but having recently done a bit of work on The Swan pub and its environs, I thought it would look good next to the post box already present in this scene. Don't ask me if this type of post box would have coexisted with the K1 kiosk! I also made a start on the K6 kiosk, and I thought it would be good to be able to swap them, so the K1 and K6 are both mounted on plugs of rectangular-section plastic rod which allow them to be swapped in and out of the scene. The K6 (basically the type we all know and love, at least if you're old enough to have used them regularly) is suitable for the 1930s onward. In a wider view, the kiosk adds a welcome splash of contrasting colour to the pub. I'm really delighted with this little model, especially those fine etched finials (or whatever they are) which really add a touch of delicacy. Cheers, and thanks for reading.

Here's a little K1 telephone kiosk constructed from the Shire Scenes kit in the Dart castings range. The idea is that this 1920s kiosk will be interchangeable with the more familiar K6 red kiosk on my layout. One thing I like about railway modelling is you learn a lot about social history and technology beyond the railway boundary. Cheers, Al

There's usually a good chance of seeing one around the moat of the Bishop's Palace in Wells. Another reason to visit RailWells!

That's a bit of a stretch as an argument, though, as there's no "RTR" equivalent of the football, opera or pub to offer a choice.

There really is no good economic argument for kitbuilding, alas, unless the time spent building the model becomes factored into the enjoyment process. The one area where kits might score, though, is in longevity. I'm pretty confident that once built, there's no part of a kitbuilt loco I couldn't replace in due course if something went wrong or wore out. Whereas some RTR models seem to be designed with a deliberately obtuse approach when it comes to taking them apart, provided that suitable replacement parts are available (which they probably won't be).

In similar vein, I've not been tempted by the newer Bulleid and Thompson coaches, because it's far more satisfying and economical to spend a few evenings tarting up the early 90s equivalents, even though the result may not be as good. With the Thompsons, I lower the bogies, fit flush glazing, rework the roof profile, and fit new gangways. Viewed running as part of a train, they're fine. Since they (and various Hornby Gresleys) are only used to form inter-regional stock when I'm running my layout in S&D mode, they just need to be good enough to say Eastern Region. I'm quite happy to buy new RTR coaching stock where there's not been a decent RTR precursor, though, hence the many Hornby Hawksworths and Maunsell coaches running on my layout.

The B17 fits... just!

Something off there the both the length and wing-span of a B17 exceeds the JU52. B-17G: Wing span: 103 ft. 9 in Length: 74 ft. 9 in JU52: Wing Span 95 ft 12 in Length 62 ft 0 in

We'll have to see if it fits in my glass display cabinet once I've finished it. It just takes a 1/32nd Lysander so there's a chance! I think I might have mentioned that I built the 1/48th Monogram B17 as a kid, but while it was a wonderful model to build, the finished thing was huge and vulnerable, and alas, I don't know what became of it. So a 1/72nd B17 is a slightly more sensible option, even if it hasn't stopped me occasionally looking on ebay for old Monogram kits!

Thanks all, glad to see I'm not alone in the "that'll do" camp! I've realised I'm out of step with the philosophy of a lot of modellers when you hear some announcement about a new version of a popular prototype, and you get people saying "great, now I can get rid of/move on my Bachmann 66s, Hornby 50s, Heljan Westerns etc" (whatever). Wait, what? Weren't these models good enough for you at the time? Haven't you invested time and effort in weathering/personalising them, and so on? I can understand it when a model comes along that represents a massive leap forward over whatever was there before (eg comparing Hornby's old tender-drive Black 5 to the version that came out in the early 2000s) but not when it's case of supplanting an already very good model, which seems to be the case with many new releases. That said, I understand that the manufacturers have to keep producing new product to drive sales, and the pool of "not done yet" models is pretty small, unless they jump into a totally new scale. What Mikkel says about finding "the joy" resonates, too - I think a lot of us have to go on a bit of a modelling journey, though, before we circle back to the things that give us the most pleasure over the longest time. For some, it's the pursuit of detail and fidelity (which I suppose inevitably funnels them into the finescale side of the hobby, be it P4, 2mm, Scale7 whatever). I realised a while ago that I'm not on that track - too much of a bodger, and too little interested in exacting detail and prototype accuracy. I do like tinkering with old models. though - fixing broken bits, reworking mechanisms, tracking down gremlins - which is probably why I take a perverse pleasure in keeping running a lot of older models, such as the Bachmann split chassis examples, not to mention making them work on DCC. The same goes for the handful of Lima and ex-Airfix ringfield mechanisms still in use.

Just about done with the Academy B17G. It still needs a few decals underneath, a couple of machine guns, and then the radio wire (when I find my reel of EZ Line).

Recent developments in the hobby have thrown several factors into relief, including the relative cost of new models versus spending power, and the general demographic of modellers as we all age. I've certainly been spending less on my UK outline in the last year or so, although it took a conversation in a model shop - talking about the relative merits and price points of the Accurascale and Bachmann Class 37s - to finally pin-point, to me, the reason why I'm spending less, at least on engines. I've got a number of Class 37s, but other than a revamped Triang-Hornby one from the early 70s, they're all from about 2005 - 2010, when the second wave of Bachmann ones arrived, along with the short-lived but quite acceptable ViTrains ones. I've not been tempted by the newer models simply because, while I can see their obvious merits, the older ones already hit that "good enough" spot for me. Perhaps it's because my modelling tends to be big-picture, more focused on the 3-foot view of trains in the landscape, but these models don't represent enough of a step-change to get me considering a purchase, let alone a wholesale upgrade of the fleet. And taking a long, hard look at my modelling priorities over the last 30-40 years (back to when I was into trains as a teenager) I can't help but feel that "good enough", for me, more or less coincided with the arrival of the improved RTR locos from Mainline, Airfix/GMR (and even Lima) in the late 70s and early 80s. These models didn't necessarily look great out of the box, with shiny wheels, shiny motion awful loco-tender gaps and crude couplings, but they were (generally) more or less the right shape, were painted and finished well, and had a decent amount of separate detail - more than could always be said for the contemporary Hornby models of the period. Where the details weren't quite right, it was within the scope of the modeller to improve them. And the better models from Hornby were coming along as well, so things were generally on the up. At the risk of undermining my thesis, I did buy an Accurascale Manor. I wasn't intending to, but when I saw one in a shop, it looked so good that I had to succumb. And, it's a lovely, smooth-running model that absolutely screams "Manor". But then again, my 20-year old Bachmann one still does it for me - it also couldn't possibly be anything other than a Manor, even though there are subtle and less-so-subtle differences in body shape between the two releases. The Accurascale one has a slightly lower, sportier look, for instance - but that's only really apparent when they're next to each other. My Bachmann one, despite being a split-chassis model, runs superbly on DCC, complete with a decent sound decoder in the tender. Other than converting the chassis to accept a decoder (not too hard with these GWR locos) the only mod I needed was to add additional pickups to the bogie. For me, again, the advantages of the Accurascale one are plain to see, but it's a delta rather than a step-change. For that reason, unless I'm tempted by a livery not represented by my Bachmann examples, I'll likely stick with just the one Accurascale example, beautiful model that it is. In similar vein, I've retained my fleet of GWR moguls, not being tempted by the Dapol examples. When I saw the reviews, I could see negative deltas as well as positive ones - the unrealistic flare on the slide bars, for instance. Again, I'm sure they're basically very nice models, but they weren't quite enough to tempt me, not when I already had a couple of DCC-converted 53XX moguls to keep me happy (again, one with sound) which I knew to be reliable performers with about 20 years of running behind them. I'm not sure if Dapol have done the 93XX variant, but again, my preference was to turn to an older model already in my collection. There's a minor issue with the Bachmann body, though: The front footplate profile is correct for a 53XX but wrong for a 93XX. For the latter type (with the side-window cab) the footplate drop starts further forward, and the bit behind the buffer is correspondingly shorter. In one of his books, Iain Rice describes fixing this via a cut-and-shut conversion, so I thought I'd give it a go. Here, in true Blue Peter fashion, is one I did earlier: In essence three cuts are required, using a razor-saw. Separate the entire front of the footplate, including the drop, by cutting up from below in line with the smokebox saddle. The moulding gives a nice reference for this cut. With the front part then detached, make two additional cuts to remove a section from the flat part just above the pony wheels. This bit is then used to extend the main footplate, pushing the start of the drop out by a couple of mms - more or less in line with the front of the smokebox. I let this bond harden overnight, while simultaneously glueing the buffer beam section to the now-isolated drop, producing a shorter front. Once I was satisfied that these two bits were welded, I joined them together using a crude levelling platform to keep the whole assembly from drooping while it hardened off. Some Humbrol filler and Mr Surfacer was then used to tidy up the joins a bit. I had to fabricate new support rods - not sure why, as the "geometry" shouldn't have changed - but I couldn't get the old ones to fit neatly without distorting the footplate, and they were too stiff to rework. I guess it's a case of tiny variations being enough to throw things out, so it was safer to make new ones from 0.45mm brass. The shortened footplate section gives the loco a much more pugnacious, purposeful look in my view. There's more that can be done. The chimneys would benefit from replacing (but I don't have any suitable at the moment), while the undersized cylinders can also be improved. This is a cheat as it's a 53XX I did earlier, but grafting Comet castings and etchings onto the Bachmann ones isn't too difficult: (Sorry about that front pony!). There's no soldering involved, just a bit of filing, glueing and filler. The same cylinder mod will make a big difference to the 93XXs, too. The Comet GWR 2-cylinder parts can be obtained from Wizard Models at a very reasonable price. So anyway, more of a ramble about personal modelling standards and what's "good enough" than anything earth-shattering, but here we are. I must stress that if I didn't have any GWR moguls (or ones that ran well) I'd have jumped on the Dapol ones, but with a number of legacy models already in my collection, and liking the opportunity to do a bit of hands-on modelling, I'll be sticking with these for the foreseeable. Given that they're all more than 20 years old, there's every chance of them having another 20-odd years of gentle running in them ... at which point they might well see me out! Happy New Year to all readers, if it isn't too late to say so.

Dave, Roger and I have looked carefully at the logistics of setting up Dave's 7mm Sherton Abbas, not a huge layout but big and heavy and delicate enough to require a careful assembly sequence and ideally three pairs of hands. Our first few set-ups took about three hours, but with practise we were able to get it down to less than 90 minutes, usually by making sure someone was always doing something useful, not just standing around yakking. Simply having two torque wrenches made a big difference. We also colour-coded the legs and end-protectors to make sorting them out much easier. Once we'd put it up a few times, Roger and I had enough familiarity with the steps that we could keep working while Dave moved the van away from the unloading area. We only ever did a few one-day shows, though. Saturdays are always the most enjoyable operating days because we don't have the tear-down and loading at the end of it. This normally takes about 60 - 90 minutes but depends on outside factors such as how near the organisers let us bring the van. It was just getting smoothly efficient, when Dave decided to add another board 😂 ... but like a well-trained pit team we're slowly getting back to our previous speedy setup time. In another twist we now have integral legs on the boards, which will save valuable time bolting and unbolting things... but at the cost of making heavy boards even heavier. There is no ideal solution, just a willingness to keep plugging away while there are invitations. Coming to York in a few months!

6969 Wraysbury Hall sprints through King's Hintock with an express in the summer of 1957.

I'm not sure about the motion bracket, Tony - it looks a bit deep to me? I think there are two on the etch, one for the Maunsell type, the other the Urie (which lacks the little tabs at either end of the lower edge). I seem to remember the instructions not being helpful at this point.

N class Mogul 31860 leaves King's Hintock with an inter-regional stopping train.

N class mogul 31860 departs King's Hintock.

I wouldn't call myself a higher-end modeller but I do use them. I needed them for my old layout which had tight curves, so I converted a few rakes and found them very reliable. I don't need them now but I still use the MK1 conversion items on Bachmann coaches for consistency with the ones I've already done. One thing I like about them is that they make a rake of coaches move as a single unit, with no detectable slack between vehicles, which looks very realistic (in my view).

Just had a very straightforward experience ordering some Viessmann bits from Modelbanhunion in Germany. Reasonable postage, good tracking information and the parcel arrived a day after entering the UK.

Pushing on with the B17...

I needed a curved turnout for the front siding on Paynestown, so I took the Finetrax sleeper base and cut notches into it along one side to make it flexible. I then built it as per the instructions but with a bit of a bend in the desired direction. It doesn't correspond to any sensible turnout geometry but it worked as intended although in hindsight I needn't have made it quite so sharp. I illustrate this only to show that a hamfisted bodger with no real prior experience in tracklaying can build and adapt the Finetrax stuff, although there are many things I'd do differently next time.

I built a small GWR branch terminus using Finetrax kits: I built one point first then tested a variety of stock through it, mostly US stuff from the last 20 years as I didn't have much UK N at the start of the project. I didn't find anything that wouldn't go through. Since then I've acquired a few GWR locos and rolling stock from Farish, Sonic and Dapol, all of which works well through the crossings. That said, my American layout has over 50 points and several scale miles of track, and if I was starting again I'd probably still go down the Peco Code 55 (or possibly Atlas) route.

I've had a go with this, just using some silver from the tin: