Newton Regis. Workbench wanderings through the 1920s and 30s the Great Western Way

[MrWolf]

Never, ever start one of those things up inside a shed.

 

 

[longchap]

27 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Never, ever start one of those things up inside a shed.

 

 

 

Erm, did it blow the roof off? (as opposed to just the bl**dy doors)

[MrWolf]

3 hours ago, longchap said:

 

Erm, did it blow the roof off? (as opposed to just the bl**dy doors)

 

It's more a case of it turning your lungs inside out coating them in broken glass and then barbecuing over a couple of burning tyres.

[longchap]

5 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

It's more a case of it turning your lungs inside out coating them in broken glass and then barbecuing over a couple of burning tyres.

 

Hmm, something stronger than air freshener needed then!  Start with oxygen, deep breathes, then nitrous oxide and work your way up the periodic table.

 

Lesson learned, glad you lived to tell the tale 😎

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by longchap

[MrWolf]

The Marshall two stroke diesel is a great thing to watch, horrible thing to work on. Some people actually get seasick sitting on them!

[longchap]

Off for a long weekend tomorrow to take in my favourite model railway exhibition in the UK and catch up with old friends and see some new ones. The shopping list is formidable and the only none railway item is Branston Pickle for some dear friends in France.

 

Speak next week, have fun.

 

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by longchap

[Graham T]

Bon voyage!

 

[Neal Ball]

8 hours ago, longchap said:

Off for a long weekend tomorrow to take in my favourite model railway exhibition in the UK and catch up with old friends and see some new ones. The shopping list is formidable and the only none railway item is Branston Pickle for some dear friends in France.

 

Speak next week, have fun.

 

 

Have a good trip

[longchap]

I had a great weekend at the Southampton Model Railway Exhibition at Eastleigh and caught up with several friends, despite the chaos of both my original cross channel ferries being cancelled with precious little notice. Fortunately alternatives were found, not ideal when returning to France, but life can’t always be perfect.

 

It was great to meet @Andy Keane and we’re both looking forward to our next meet when we hopefully get to grips with our small Metros. How difficult can it be? Well at least we will have expert help at Missenden Abbey in March.

 

The Eastleigh exhibition was the first for three years due to the pandemic, but despite much reduced car parking, it was as good as ever with a very good trade presence. Sadly, Eileen’s Emporium were no longer present, but there was a similar strong representation from Squires, the new owners of South Eastern Finecast, who sell many tools and materials and I availed myself of some very small pin vices for my smallest drills, most useful for loco construction.

 

Here is my favourite layout, Westcliff, 4mm EM:

 

 

 

 

 

The station building is an obvious William Clarke design and bears a very strong resemblance to the wonderful example by @Graham T

 

While over on the Great Western Study Groups stand, I spotted these two beauties:

 

 

Small Metro from the 1899 batch (locos 3581–3600), with a Wolverhampton built Class 633 with condensing apparatus for working on the Metropolitan underground lines out of Paddington, the latter also being in my kit stash along with the Metro.

 

 

The traders also included Dart Castings where I managed to restrict myself to just one coal merchant’s delivery cart and four horses, while the book traders were well represented with Crecy Publishing, Bill Hudson Transport Books, Transport Treasury Publishing and the GW Study Group.

 

My favourite book purchases were the recent Issue 5 of Western Times from Transport Treasury, which I usually order via the web and have delivered, but the Brexit Tax increases the £12.50 cover price to 30€ by the time it reaches me in France! The other star buy was the delightfully titled ‘Unconsidered Trifles’ :

 

 

This full colour 64 page volume is packed full of thoughtfully captured prototype delights which will help give any period layout some extra impact, so watch this space!

 

However, my star buy of the trip came the next day when I found myself in my favourite Oxfam bookshop and got an unmarked copy of the 2017 ‘Saint Class Locomotives’ by Laurence Waters for a reasonable £3.99.

 

Oh and I found a spare copy of Mr Rice’s 4mm Loco Chassis building book. Happy days.

Edited February 1, 2023 by longchap

[Graham T]

Sounds like a very successful and enjoyable visit Bill.  I would have spent a fortune I'm sure!

 

I hope the Channel crossing wasn't too lumpy 🙂

 

[longchap]

1 minute ago, Graham T said:

Sounds like a very successful and enjoyable visit Bill.  I would have spent a fortune I'm sure!

 

I hope the Channel crossing wasn't too lumpy 🙂

 

 

This was a first for me Graham, my spend being very modest, buying absolutely no rolling stock, just some tools, glues and books. I am making a much better effort not to buy anything I don't need and intend to make a start on the loco kit stash this year, starting with the small Metro and getting the branch line operational. The Spring will see the partition being built in my workshop for form a permanent railway room, after which the workshop electrics can be extended and I can set about building the continuous circuit baseboard modules.

 

Lots to do, what fun!

 

 

[longchap]

22 minutes ago, longchap said:

I hope the Channel crossing wasn't too lumpy 🙂

 

I'd quite forgot about the cabin I had on the ferry, as on the way over to the UK, my ferry was cancelled the day before and then the departure time was changed twice on the day of sailing .  .  .  AND then, the day I was due to come back to France, my return ferry was again scratched and I had another night away from home. Then by the time I got on board and collapsed into a tiny windowless two berth cupboard, I got into bed, then needed a pee only to find the bathroom floor flooded by an unhappy toilet. Fortunately, a rather lovely lady upgraded me to a large 4 berth with a big window, so I at lease had a bit of unexpected luxury and my socks dried out by the time I got up and no Graham, a smooth un-lumpy crossing !

 

I've yet to complete the ferry company's satisfaction survey !

 

 

Edited February 1, 2023 by longchap

[MrWolf]

Sounds like you had a great time and what a lovely layout. It looks like one of the old school GWR branch layouts that inspired me when I was still at school.

I've been meaning to post a few pictures from last Saturday's visit to Kendal on my thread. So I better had!

[Neal Ball]

8 hours ago, longchap said:

 

This was a first for me Graham, my spend being very modest, buying absolutely no rolling stock, just some tools, glues and books. I am making a much better effort not to buy anything I don't need and intend to make a start on the loco kit stash this year, starting with the small Metro and getting the branch line operational. The Spring will see the partition being built in my workshop for form a permanent railway room, after which the workshop electrics can be extended and I can set about building the continuous circuit baseboard modules.

 

Lots to do, what fun!

 

 

Sounds like a nightmare journey Bill.

 

Brittany Ferries can be a bit Marmite…. On the whole very good, or awful, sadly no in between. They don’t like complaints though!

 

For us living here, if we are taking the motorhome over to the UK they are a fact of life.

 

Interesting run down of the Eastleigh show, it had never been on my radar before. The traders stands sounded like a good mix.

 

Also interesting about your comments on the Western Times magazine. I have just finished issue 5 which I enjoyed…. But am having the same thoughts about future issues as I get stung €7.95 every issue for import duties, plus in the first year one got lost in the post and the rest suffered the usual delays.

 

Ho hum

[longchap]

I received an email from Missenden Abbey Railway Modellers the other day asking what I wished to achieve in the upcoming loco building course and which kits I would be bringing, so answered accordingly. As I have no issues with the bodyshell  build, I only really need to establish confidence with chassis fundamentals, including some form of compensation, to get a working chassis, or maybe two over the weekend. I would take my small Metro 2-4-0 and a 1076 Buffalo outside framed Pannier 0-6-0.

 

Today I sifted through the kit stash and as the Buffalo is a little more advanced and I seem to recall a possible issue with incorrect overall loco width, requiring fettling, I’ll take a 633 Class 0-6-0 side tank instead, so ordered a wheel set from Wizard Models plus some other chassis spares. I received the usual automated order confirmation email, but a couple of hours later, received confirmation that the order was ready for posting, so a big thumbs up for Wizard’s Sunday working policy and I hope their customer dedication helps bring them continued success.

 

I’ll continue to get my travelling workshop together for the end of the month and hope I don’t forget anything!

 

[longchap]

Some Rapido GWR Iron Minks have just smuggled themselves into my trunk. It's going to get crowded in there if the opens are following on close behind!

 

 

[Neal Ball]

On 05/02/2023 at 21:16, longchap said:

I received an email from Missenden Abbey Railway Modellers the other day asking what I wished to achieve in the upcoming loco building course and which kits I would be bringing, so answered accordingly. As I have no issues with the bodyshell  build, I only really need to establish confidence with chassis fundamentals, including some form of compensation, to get a working chassis, or maybe two over the weekend. I would take my small Metro 2-4-0 and a 1076 Buffalo outside framed Pannier 0-6-0.

 

Today I sifted through the kit stash and as the Buffalo is a little more advanced and I seem to recall a possible issue with incorrect overall loco width, requiring fettling, I’ll take a 633 Class 0-6-0 side tank instead, so ordered a wheel set from Wizard Models plus some other chassis spares. I received the usual automated order confirmation email, but a couple of hours later, received confirmation that the order was ready for posting, so a big thumbs up for Wizard’s Sunday working policy and I hope their customer dedication helps bring them continued success.

 

I’ll continue to get my travelling workshop together for the end of the month and hope I don’t forget anything!

 

 

Wow -  where did the 1076 Buffalo and 633 come from? They seem to have snuck up on us from no-where. 

 

I have just looked them up in Vol 1 GW engines, as it  just happens to be to hand! They both look like lovely locos, although it looks as if they were gone by circa 1930. So maybe a little early for my 1930's era....

 

It will be great to see them develop Bill.

 

49 minutes ago, longchap said:

Some Rapido GWR Iron Minks have just smuggled themselves into my trunk. It's going to get crowded in there if the opens are following on close behind!

 

 

 

I too am waiting for the opens before despatching my "trunk" - there are 2 x Iron Minks and a Ratio water tower in there now. The tower is going to be butchered for the parts needed to complete the Henley-on-Thames water tower.

[longchap]

17 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

 

Wow -  where did the 1076 Buffalo and 633 come from? They seem to have snuck up on us from no-where. 

 

I have just looked them up in Vol 1 GW engines, as it  just happens to be to hand! They both look like lovely locos, although it looks as if they were gone by circa 1930. So maybe a little early for my 1930's era....

 

It will be great to see them develop Bill.

 

 

I too am waiting for the opens before despatching my "trunk" - there are 2 x Iron Minks and a Ratio water tower in there now. The tower is going to be butchered for the parts needed to complete the Henley-on-Thames water tower.

 

The 633 was bought just after I built my U1, so say late '70s to early 80s and as it had a scary ''etched chassis'', it remained a sleeper all these years (but now looks easy to build), while the 1076 came about when I saw a thread / blog on here called ''Buffalo Rescue'' and the loco appealed to me so much, that I paid a fair slice of wedge for a complete unbuilt example on that auction site. Being an Alan Gibson model, it has all the bells and whistles and is of high quality. It will be build when my confidence allows, probably followed by an AG 850 Class sans instructions !

 

The ''trunk'' could yet get rather scary if the Dapol toplights also turn up soon, which I thought may be a possibility. So much for my aim not to buy any more stock, although I did say, ''not including pre-orders'' !

 

 

[longchap]

At long last, it seems like years and probably is, the remaining Peco right hand code 75 bullhead medium points I ordered from Hattons are available and are in my trunk.

 

This means I can make up the spare baseboard module to form a temporary fiddle yard, which will be a useful diversion when I need it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Neal Ball]

On 07/02/2023 at 16:24, longchap said:

 

The 633 was bought just after I built my U1, so say late '70s to early 80s and as it had a scary ''etched chassis'', it remained a sleeper all these years (but now looks easy to build), while the 1076 came about when I saw a thread / blog on here called ''Buffalo Rescue'' and the loco appealed to me so much, that I paid a fair slice of wedge for a complete unbuilt example on that auction site. Being an Alan Gibson model, it has all the bells and whistles and is of high quality. It will be build when my confidence allows, probably followed by an AG 850 Class sans instructions !

 

The ''trunk'' could yet get rather scary if the Dapol toplights also turn up soon, which I thought may be a possibility. So much for my aim not to buy any more stock, although I did say, ''not including pre-orders'' !

 

 

Interesting projects over the years then Bill.

 

I have several projects in the “too hard to do at the moment” section…. All are carriages…. Including a Mallard Clerestory sleeper…. I reckon they will see the light of day soon.

 

I also have an ear open for the Dapol Toplights…. At the moment, I can’t think when they are due, is it around April time?

 

Also the new fiddle yard sounds interesting.

[longchap]

On 08/02/2023 at 23:02, Neal Ball said:

Interesting projects over the years then Bill.

 

I have several projects in the “too hard to do at the moment” section…. All are carriages…. Including a Mallard Clerestory sleeper…. I reckon they will see the light of day soon.

 

I also have an ear open for the Dapol Toplights…. At the moment, I can’t think when they are due, is it around April time?

 

Also the new fiddle yard sounds interesting.

 

 In a mad moment, some years ago now, I acquired some Mallard carriages, three of them and I'm not even sure if they're complete. They are resting in a seldom visited outbuilding, waiting their fate, possible as practice pigs, or source of spares  .  .  .  there must be a shed load of door handles there!

 

I also was thinking April for the suburban toplights and then I remembered the Rapido toad is in the wings somewhere and then Hattons told me that the Opens are coming between February and March.

 

It's all GO don’t you know 😎

 

PS, the fiddle yard will indeed be interesting.

 

 

[Neal Ball]

2 hours ago, longchap said:

 

 In a mad moment, some years ago now, I acquired some Mallard carriages, three of them and I'm not even sure if they're complete. They are resting in a seldom visited outbuilding, waiting their fate, possible as practice pigs, or source of spares  .  .  .  there must be a shed load of door handles there!

 

I also was thinking April for the suburban toplights and then I remembered the Rapido toad is in the wings somewhere and then Hattons told me that the Opens are coming between February and March.

 

It's all GO don’t you know 😎

 

PS, the fiddle yard will indeed be interesting.

 

 

 

Plus two Metro tanks - it certainly its all go in your neck of the woods.

 

Have a good weekend.

[MrWolf]

You just know that Rapido Toad is going to be good. I hope it's a 20 tonner though, I've decided to batch bodge my bargain Oxford Toads into much nicer models. I think that people like us would have forgiven the minor details, but that extra window?

 

That belongs back in a council house cludgie, circa 1965....

[longchap]

Having discussed some airbrushing on the Small Metro kit build thread, I'm posting my airbrushing notes, prepared using my notes from two Pendon courses and subsequent experience. I use enamel paints for spraying for reasons mentioned in the notes, but much applies to acrylics, which are also covered, just not in so much detail.

 

Hope they are of some interest and if you have any useful comments / techniques / observations to share, please feel free to post and discuss here so we can all increase our knowledge and expertise.

 

Best,

 

Bill

 

230328, Airbrushing notes for enamels, RevA.pdf

Edited March 28, 2023 by longchap

[1466]

1 hour ago, longchap said:

Having discussed some airbrushing on the Small Metro kit build thread, I'm posting my airbrushing notes, prepared using my notes from two Pendon courses and subsequent experience. I use enamel paints for spraying for reasons mentioned in the notes, but much applies to acrylics, which are also covered, just not in so much detail.

 

Hope they are of some interest and if you have any useful comments / techniques / observations to share, please feel free to post an discuss here so we can all increase our knowledge and expertise.

 

Best,

 

Bill

 

230328, Airbrushing notes for enamels, RevA.pdf 179.04 kB · 7 downloads

Very valuable , thanks , Bill