cornamuse

Finally, a finished one… Should be briquettes, but I liked the look of coal more. I do need a wheel for the smoke box doors, but it will keep. Next to start on a green one.

Getting there: mostly finishing off details, then I’m going to build a green one, as a friend has made me two more funnels on his lathe, and I can’t miss an opportunity like that!

Now in colour… with a change in headwear for Jean-Claude, who now sports a French army helmet. Bloody awful shape to make, glad it’s mostly out of sight… Bead eyes are a new idea. They look a little startled…

I have based the uniforms on photos, with a couple of caps- one has kepi vibes. The French helmets looked a bit awful as a shape, but I really want a couple as bits on the tanks, with water bottles and tools and stuff. Thanks for the information, I’ll go dig out the paints; the gents on the photo I used looked like they had been sleeping in their clothes for a year or two. Given the circumstances, they probably had.

A busy day procrastinating over and avoiding paperwork… Firstly, the tops of the tanks got an inside lip. Then I realised the lack of boiler was rather glaring, so I’ve attempted to put a hint of the top using fimo (set with superglue- works ok). Note to self: suck it up and make a boiler first next time, it’s easier… Then, as you can see, I decided to make the crew, as the fimo was out. Driver Jean-Claude (in the posh flared jodhpurs) and fireman Pierre need painting, but are ready to report for duty. Once I find out what colour the French military wore in the trenches. On a positive note, there is no need to add detail to the cabs, you can barely see in past the crew. Even more so if I add the curtains that I assume were for working in the dark.

Behold! The Great Vole! because every model railway needs a rodent high priest wielding a magical staff in their own henge, right? edit: apparently not all mushrooms growing in the garden are exactly edible 😛

Yup, something fluffy and daft. Kind of suits the loco really

You remember the geometry lesson you thought you would never need? Yeah, well.. google is a wonderful resource! It is starting to look like a Pechot Bourdon at last. For all its diminutive size ( 2/3 of the size of a Ffestiniog Fairlie) it will be my largest, most powerful loco.

First try at the horrific but iconic funnel. Need two matching ones and this is less than perfect, but a good starting point. The loco is going to be finished in “trench” condition- I.e. knackered, so it might actually do.

I wasn’t happy with the power bogies, so I have tried added some odds and sods. They don’t move, but maybe improve it. A bit of silver paint and black ink; hopefully it won’t be particularly noticeable once it is trundling round.

Starting work on the top of the tanks. I know it isn’t quite right, but I’m going for neat and tidy. I can hide a lot of sins with the wooden briquettes that they ran on.

Further progress… The power bogies, steadily acquiring odd bits to try Work on the cab too. Hard to get good pictures of the real cab interior, so I’m bodging it and hoping Pierre and Jean-Claude hide the worst of it! The dome looks better after painting, though.

So, progress on the locomotive… Taken the advice and working on outside cylinders, at a very basic level.

barely worthy of the name snow, tbh. It is, however, cold enough to freeze the brass monkeys. I’m glad I’m locked away for a 5 hour zoom interview this evening, and it’s not often anyone is glad to be on zoom 🫣

Glad you haven’t got the big coat out yet then!

So, guys… with tramway skirts to hide the lack of motion, or just assume inside motion and enjoy the connecting rods? I’m hoping that the overall look takes the eyes away from the lack of metalwork… option 3 is to try and bodge some out of old Hornby stuff?

much appreciated; the reality is that I am ham-fisted with any tool more complex than a scalpel or a pillar drill, so household junk is always being eyed up… plus tears of being a primary school teacher who delighted in junk modelling!

Next project: possibly the world’s ugliest locomotive, the French answer to the Fairlies on the Ffestiniog. The Pechot-Bourdon locomotive used in the trenches during WW1. I love it, it’s so quirky, and it’s shorter than the Ffestiniog versions, which is lucky given that I have very sharp rad1 curves. Combination of 3mm mdf, which is cuttable with a Stanley knife, and card cut on my silhouette card cutter. Much easier to get it to do the complex shapes, then glue 4 layers together with superglue. Ends up as strong as the mdf almost.

Sing it with me…

Progress on vegetation… same as for smaller scale layouts- scatter materials and glue, but with large amounts of recycled camomile tea to eke out the expensive stuff. Smells nice, too when you put it on. I use this layer as the final contour of the ground, too. Eventually I will get round to individual plants, as they are very identifiable in this scale- but then I’d have to decide what time of the year it is! also, chalk pens have arrived, so the graffiti progresses. I can’t afford Banksy, so our dog Bailey has stepped up…

Bridge finished, apart from decking and graffiti. Going to look for some graffiti inspiration, I rather like that sort of public art!

Work progressing on the girder bridge to make it look less like a lump of wood. The railcar trying the bridge out… View of Molehaven harbour and the fort Looking down the shed, getting a nice feeling of distance. The layout is being restyled as a preserved railway, so all the shunting action is now centred on the main station, with just a halt at the town.

A garage door, I’m afraid, but I’ve brackets in the wall behind the sky, so that is very feasible - actually preferable, it will allow better access to the O scale layout below. I can hide any edges with a green curtain to imply a bit of a slope. The mysterious curtain is waiting for me to find some blue curtains to go in front.

certainly worth a try, the village is just resting on another layout at the moment, so could easily be raised 6”. I’ll need to work out how to blend the ground levels properly as the 4mm stuff is not actually joined, and will be remaining a separate module.

Some advice please… I’m playing with forced perspective. 16mm scale in the front, the dark grey Saxon church is 10mm ish and then the lighter church and white pub are 4mm. There will be trees in between, to blur the joins. It’s pretty brutal, but do we think it works? the Saxon church is of very flexible scale and is included for emotional reasons; built it with my son for a Y3 school project… the white pub is the Tower Bank Arms in the Lake District, from his old model railway.