M.I.B

T Cut, HMRS logos and lining........job done. Shirtbutton logo is easily covered by 40s branding/logos. EDIT - and some aerosol black to sort out the white roof

Very nice. But I have a Lode Star already. Perhaps if I go and work somewhere sandy soon................

All Granges gone as of lunchtime today.

Work continues on the "brass sides on to RTR". I did consider deliberatly stripping the sides of the K22 and the K36 off following the failure of the 5 others in the batch. However after a bit of bending and manipulation, the sides stayed put, so work on these 2 continues.... I finished the water tank removal and roof repairs to the C68 and C71 using auto filler. One water tank remains to service the single convenience. These two roofs were to be painted in Railmatch "Weather Black". Prior to using the aerosol, I brush painted the "difficult" areas with Revell "Anthracite". This gives good coverage around the detail where aerosols tend to go a little "thin" (vents and handrails and tank edges). I believe that this "thin-ness" is caused by the inbound paint and solvent blowing away the paint which has just landed. In my younger days I would just have kept layering the paint on to get everything covered, however, thick paint on other areas hides details such as panels, rivets etc. I have a couple of different "blacks" to match 4 aerosol blacks for roofs.......The two full brakes were sprayed plain matt black using Halfords' aerosols. The reason they may seem shiny is that they have just been painted and de-masked in this shot. Next step is to fill a couple of moulded holes in the K36, and it'll be time to primer their sides. The excusion stock has been primered to suitthefinal liveries - one is to become dull brown and the other chocolate and cream.

They'll be gone in minutes and on Ebay for £80 within hours.........

A Dean goods with a rake of clerestories.

Not that long ago someone kindly posted a link on here of an engine and in the background was a tarp'd van. I commented that it was seldom modelled, which is always a "challenge to answer" for me.....so I gorn and dun it today: my blog Page 5 post #131 if you want my version of a "how to" I'll leave you all to your Standard type 4 British Rail type thingies this weekend and come back next week for the for the Swindon stuff....... PS Sorry I should have remebered the need for detail in this post - which is what makes it such a in informative read ...St David. 90s Hornby, crewed and re logo'd to fit late 40s, Modelmaster plates, on the as yet unweathered van train.

Outstanding job #57 "The Tarp'd Van" I have meant to do one for a while, and as I said on Robin's ANTB epic layout thread, it's something often seen but seldom modelled. I have tarp'd a few open wagons, but never showing tie down ropes, so I thought the van project would be a chance to do this enhancement. For heavy guage wire rope I use saddlery thread: but this works out to be a scale 1.5" thick (so it's correct for the two 75 ton cranes I have done {another thing to catch up on} ) but for simple "rope" I tend to use domestic sewing thread. I never do more than a half reef knot to secure scale rope or cable: a half reef "left over right, and then tuck under right" with a tiny dod of Superglue usually does the trick well. So this afternoon I took one Airfix PO van. Firstly I sliced off the roof vents and drip rails to make glueing the tarp on a little easier. Simple scalpel job. Then I masked the running gear as well as a couple of the numbers and printed details on the sides. I know that there will be a slight mismatch on colour, but by the time I airbrush weather these, the numbers will be barely visible, let alone a slight colour difference. Once masked I used a spray can of Humbrol 67 tank grey. One of the shades I use for GWR grey. For tarps I use the ready made ones from Smiths. But never out of the packet. I usually black out the edges with a marker pen, and also the numbering. There are only a couple of numbers in the range, so rather than keep repeating them, a few un-numbered versions appear on my stock.....the difference in colour after using the marker pen disappears when the weathering goes on. Before they go on, they also get a scrumpling up and a flatten out - adds to the texture. Then a smear of generic glue ( UHU type) on the roof, edges, and the top mm or two of the sides....I made sure there was no excess or dry part by using a coffee stirrer to "butter" it with. Tarp on the top....pressing down to expel air and get is "sort of" straight. Then I added a few HMRS press-fix decals. They look a little too "shiney" but they'll soften down when the airbrush goes into action. Once the decals are on, fold the tarp corners like a present being wrapped.........but don't secure the corner flaps down just yet.. Now the bit you do fast... I tied the "rope" around the buffers, dod of super glue, and left the excess until later. Then stetched the "rope" tight accross the wagon to where it would meet the opposite corner of the tarp, and then left a little bit more before cutting it to length. Tiny dod of "UHU" to secure the rope and also the corner of the rope down too.... .......and an elastic band for a bit of 'position control'... Then it was just a matter of trimming the excess "rope" off the buffer ends. I was going to tough up the grey with a brush, but where the "UHU" fumes had softened the paint some red oxide colour showed through. Odd because the PO van was grey-ish! So I left the paint a bit crinkly and rusty around one of the end vents, and a spot of two on the side. And here is the result, already in the Cabinet. Cabinet is now full, which means the airbrush will be going on next week. I will then leave the stock to be admired for a while, before boxing it, and finding another load to be weathered. I hope you are all happy and healthy. Have a great weekend.

So, the next "small job".......the etches from Narrow Planet have arrived. One etch containing just the cabside numbers that I wanted to turn the remainder of the stock into engines from or near to, or plausibly working into and out of West London. I also took the opportunity to order a pair of numbers for the new 94XX and the Heljan 47XX ready for their arrival in 2020......all packed away in a sealed bag in case they rot away before they are needed............. Sadly I missed the chance to add the order for my two 93XX series moguls, so that order went in today. Top marks to Narrow Planet ( no link etc) - easy to use simple website, design the plates you want, they send you a draft of the etch, you OK the etch, and it arrives. And very very very cheap too. £7 posted for two pairs of plates ordered today. Forgot what the big batch cost, but it was very very respectable. And the best thing is that you can pay by Paypal - not the silly "verified by visa"/Sage Pay debarcle you get with some e-commerce sites. Here's the workpile: (from memory as I type - 2 Moguls, 2251 and ROD tender, a 28XX in black, 56XX, 65XX, 72XX............and perhaps another) So it's plates on most of these tomorrow, a detailing pack to fit to the 72XX, coal to add to the 56XX and the 65XX. Then it must be time to get the airbrush out for these, and the engines in the Cabinet, and some rolling stock.... But not this weekend. Prepare for snow in the northern regions of LMS and LNER territory..................... I'm just off out to the workshop to put the finishing touches to this (taken earlier this morning). This is the grounded van body for Shed 2. An old Triang van by the looks of it. It's now very grubby, with what looks to be a freshly bitumin'd roof care of some thick Revel "Tar Black" and an old scrubby brush. It went on like the real thing. Just going to paint the "sleepers" underneath it - I think these came from Costa.............

I was in the workshop this afternoon looking at some of the other smaller tasks to finish off before I delve into the "Shed 2" build. The NPCCS work beckoned because the C handles and a new pack of handrail wire arrived in the post this week. Sad news: Another 2 RTR carriages have parted company with their brass sides. That leaves 2 out of the original 7 glues with Araldite. And they are now highly suspect. A bit of a kick in the proverbials to be honest......£10 each for a boxed RTR coach and £20 ish for a set of brass sides - the wrong side of £200 now looking very sorry for itself. I will let a project "cat out of the bag" - through another post I purchased two "RTR with brass sides" coaches semi finished from Mike "Coachbogie" on here. Here they are a C68 excursion open and a C71 excursion open. They will be used to make up a very random excursion rake, along with the lake clerestory and one or two mixed coaches - a real mix up of "if it rolls, couple it up behind a 47XX and get it off to the beach/races/football match...." I sold off my kit 47XX, so "Please Mr Heljan, get making the new 47XX soon..." These two have been stored in the same places as my projects, and they are still rock solidly fixed. Mike uses Evostick.........(other evil glue sniffing materials are available....) So all is not lost. I will extract/remove all of the sides, chip off the Araldite and Superglue, as well as any auto body filler in the sides, and get ready for a very smelly afternoon with Bostik's finest. But that can wait - I have more fun project work to clear up first..........

Still no time spent on the NPCCS, but the missing C handles and handrail wire have only just turned up today. Rather than starting anything new, I have been doing a couple of planning type jobs t finish them off. Firstly I completed the measurments for the main North Cranford - baseboard sizes, "reaches" track required etc. That's maybe for another post. Today I finished the cutting list for "Shed 2". From this I have selected the timber and board required. I abused modern technology to make this planning a little easier. I went along to my local DIY mega store and took phone photos of the price tickets, which show dimensions of different sixes of 9mm ply, and 22x50 batten. I calculated each board size starting with the measurements of the "diorama" base as laid out on the carpet the other day. I then added the depth of the back scene and then added the depth of the backscene supporting battens. The result was the size of the baseboard. This then became these 2 basic drawings: Plan Front view. I haven't counted for a ply top cover or a ply front cover, but the side and rear battens are designed to support battens if a future lid is needed. And to finish, I then wrote down the number of the relevant sheets and battens to be purchased, and took a photo of the list, so it's on my phone when I go shopping. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? The winds are howling around Phear House this evening, I hope you are all healthy and happy (and in full possession of your trees and slates tomorrow morning) - I missed the big 1987 storms as I was living in Australia

We've all been there....... The cure is in sight when you openly admit you buy things you aren't 100% keen on or really need...... Hello, My names Robin, I haven't bought a wagon for three weeks now.......... You are on Step 7 of the 12 steps: Buy it on impulse Buy it and say it was second hand when questioned.... Buy it and start hiding the receipts Buy it and sell swap it / sell it on fairly quickly. Buy it and regret buying it because something better has come along... Buy it and tell everyone you have it, and take it back on monday for a refund "because I forgot I already had one" Realise that you have rolling stock purchase issues Stop buying anything Start selling things Realise there is some money in the Paypal acount Think about that new van from Bachmann...... Buy it on impulse

Was all fired up yesterday, and then lost enthusiasm when I picked up the paper this morning. I got down to something constructive this afternoon. Here is a simple "how to" if you are interested: I picked up a new wagon last week when I called into Rails. This one is my first Oxford wagon. The colour and owner appealed, so it came home despite the fact that I am currently selling excess stock......... To make a change from the usual coal or stone filling, I decided to fill with sacks. Firstly I cut a section of plasticard slightly smaller than the wagon. Into the big box of "loads" and a bag of open sacks was produced. No idea where these came from. I removed the moulding excess and decided that they looked better stood upside down. To prop up the back row, I made an "L" section out of a wooden coffee stirrer and some unbranded generic "UHU" type glue. Once this was dry, I just overlaid row upon row, each with a strip of coffee stirrer underneath to add a little height. For paint I used the same technique as I do for uniforms - three similar colours, mixing up as I go. Just like US TV system NTSC (never the same colour). Application was easy - paint one at a time - always left to right so that any over brushing landed on the next one to do. The plasticard base and coffee stirrers were given a brushing with the closest colout to the inside of the wagon. Helps to make the base "disappear" when fitted inside. Wagon will get an airbrush weather when I do the next batch, and it will be easy to drop out the contents to avoid overspray. I hope you are all healthy and happy. Vive la France

Mike's Models track level GW water crane arrived this week. For the unititiated, the GW had two types of crane- a straight arm version for track level mounting, and a bent armed version for mounting on platforms. As there are no platforms on the "Shed 2" piece, Mike's excellent version is called for. The Ratio version is for platform use. I also have some cast whitemetal point levers in the post. I also made yet another trip to Sheffield, and Rails supplied me with another inspection pit (ash pit....) and a Ratio grounded coach, to become a Mess van. All I need to do now is calculate how much ply to buy....... or get distracted by the Narrow Planet number plates which have been etched for me....... I hope that you are healthy and happy.

Thanks John - love this layout so much. It does need a scouse spiv tho - selling nylons and petrol coupons..........

Add in a water crane and fire devil, some point levers with guards, and a yard lamp or two. Lots of ash and dirt, an ash pit, and inspection pits inside the sheds......... Points will be operated by PM2, with a panel somehow set into a board hiding the FY.

I did wonder how to hide the tunnel mouth/FY entrance, and initially thought another large shed, hence the brown box: But it was a little to large and overpowering, so I tried a Mess van as per the sketch drawings. I am happier as it provides a break, but a van body or two on sleepers will be lower than an engine on track, so the sight of something appearing or disappearing can still be partially seen. Maybe a bike shed, and a sand oven?????

So with the aid of some Code 100 set track, here is a plan view: The size was dictated by the need to have space for a tender engine on the short front sidings and headshunt. This then gives space for at least one tender engine in front of the shed. Makes for a scenic section 1500mm long. Depth is set by the width of the 2 road shed, and the open headshunt. Instead of "point to point" I insertewd a short piece of tracke to stand the siding away from the shed. This will give some space on the ground for "stuff". Total depth is 300mm The final part is the need to have 2 fiddle yard sidings, each capable of holding one tender engine. Therefore I can operate a "one out, and then one in" system. Nominal length comes out to be 2100mm which is perfect.

Time to get started on "Project SHED 2" . This was originally inteded to be worked out whilst I was away on a contract job in Afghanistan, but it seems like the US soldiers are staying there a little while longer, so my role as "pack it up and turn the lights out" has been postponed. The origins of the project were explained a little while back, but to re-cap: a photo plank, something to develop my skills on, and something to play with before I get the space to get going on the full North Cranford. Shed 2 is set in the same time frame (1946-1949) and is a small corner of the full 6 road shed at North Cranford. Urban, just West of OOC. It would be nice to make it fit in the back of a car - 2m long when packed. Here is a sketch of the left hand end - a 2 road shed and an open siding and at the other end, access to the small fiddle yard is hidden, by either a Mess van, or a large shed The sides of the diorama are high butressed and arched walls, and the fiddle yard is accessed through one wall. I did think about using the traditional "under the over bridge" tactic, but that was going to lead to the "bus on the bridge" issue.........

Stick man for guard mount was around into the late 80s and then it faded when we did away with smart uniforms for guard - IRA attacks on barracks saw us in combats 24/7 - even the officers. Stick man reappeared as a phrase in the early 2000s - the phrase "big badge" is also a new one for WOs. WOs still wore SD caps alot in the 80s and 90s. Unless you are in the Household Division, combats is the order of dress for most people all of the time sadly. I finished my time in HorseGuards and wore blues or SD or military riding dress most days. "Stag" tends to be used for a portion of a guard or sentry shift, not the whole event. "Who's on stag next?..." or "..there I was on gun-stag, and there was a noise...."

Love the little military cameos John. You are right - a high proportion of blokes were in uniform in '47, and all needing to get somewhere - leave, course, posting. Stations would have been full of Services personnel. I wouldn't pop hackles on the section - their Stick Man would have had a beret as well. Leave them like that and they could pass as drop-shorts - then again they look far too military to be long range snipers............

Without blowing the cover on a future project, I have seen some of Mike Wiltshire's (Coach Bogie) results for this sort of construction. So working on the premise that the only stupid question is the one which you don't ask, I found out that he used Evostick. I am re-enthused and ready to get stuck back into it.......excuse the pun. Thanks for the help and support and messages.

Just when things are picking up on the NPCCS work, I have hit another speedbump: Two sides on two different vans have "popped" where the brass side has expanded. I didn't think the bottom of the boiler cupboard ever got that hot. They have popped where the metal is thinnest - down a scribed door line. I have since split off the offending sides without too much effort, but they are buckled. They join the bottom of the pile, and I continue with the 2 remaining vans......... It's like the Magnificant Seven in reverse......