Trains&armour

Remember this? http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/69664-a-nod-to-brent/page-815&do=findComment&comment=2435873 See here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/116707-haphazardous-00-modelling-a-slow-workbench-topic/?p=2494467 (Ignore the first post...)

Never buy a secondhand, build kit on the internet! (Unless the seller has uploaded lots of high-res photo's showing the model from all angles)(or if you need spare parts...) This is what a friend of mine bought. (gwrrob, here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/69664-a-nod-to-brent/page-815#entry2435873 ) Doesn't look too bad, does it? Long story, but eventually it ended up on my workbench: Looks reasonable from this angle Perhaps not totally straight Lets do a front view: Ooops.. And before you ask, yes, my workbench is straight and level.... Any sane person would say bin it! But not me, I like a challenge. And besides that, I'm an archaeologist. I 'unbin' stuff for a living, carefully cleaning, describing, dating and painstakingly restoring my finds. So why should I treat my hobby any different... Let's go for it! Paint stripper: Cleaned up nicely. Some damage done, but stripping paint from plastic models is not a gentle process.... Deconstructing: (seems the carpet monster managed to get hold of one of the buffers) Now the rebuild can start. More to follow....

Hi, I thought I'd start a new topic instead of updating my blog, as I decided I don't really like the way a blog works. (my old blog can be found by clicking on the link in my signature) And what to expect of this topic? Well, nothing really much... Most of the time.... I'm a quite chaotic person by nature and have a lot of interests, so sometimes more than a month will go by without any modelling activities. And if I do do some modelling I tend to start in a hurry, buy lots of stuff I think I need, do some research (and find out I don't need half the stuff I collected...), lose interest halfway, start on something else, will find an old project I suddenly decide to finish, etc. Hence the title of this new topic. Be prepared! And what will i be building? Everything to do with 00, or more precise, 1-76 modelling. A lot of it will be railway related, but just as much of it will be military modelling in 1-76. Most of it will have a bearing on my planned, 'soon to be realised', layout. (again, follow the link in my signature) but then again, some won't..... As an example, a while ago I bought this: And you might be pardoned for thinking this has absolutely nothing to do with 00 or railway modelling. But you would be wrong. (except for the 00 part, as this is 1-72.... But I chose to ignore that, close enough..). In a convoluted way, this has to do with my planned layout, Aberdovey and the Cambrain coastline in the period 1940-1945. As it happens, during the war the Dovey estuary was used for training, among others, DUKW drivers. (http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/wales/archive/bbc-north-west-wales-tywyn-arthur-caley.pdf) And as mentioned, they had a LCT, landing craft tank, moored in Aberdovey. That did it, I wanted, no, I needed a LCT model. And this is the only plastic Injected model on the market in the (almost) correct scale. Small problem, it's an American built and designed craft. But thanks to google I soon found out a couple of these were lend-leased to the Royal navy. The chances of one of these ending up in Aberdovey are small, true, but In my universe it happened.. One of these days I'll build it, and the build will be posted in this topic. But not now. For my first project on here I will start simple. A wagon!

Resistance is futile. Silly boy...

Not true... (My italics). I know an enthusiast who bought number five, Wateringbury Signal box. He happens to be building a layout based on Wateringbury.... Or is one enthusiast perhaps not a statistical relevant sample?

These are late production model M10's with duckbill counterweights and no extra bolts on the sides for additional armour. And as by far most of the Achilles conversions were done on these late production M10's, they could very well be Achilles mk II's, but it's hard to tell with the turrets facing to the rear and the gun tubes secured . (as they should be, when in transport). And as the guns were the only major visual difference between the Achilles and the standard M10, it's impossible to be sure. As to the warwell, I do think it was designed with the M4 in mind. That's the tank the British army wanted, and the M3 was only ordered as a stop gap measure. With the lessons learned from observing the war in Europe the Americans decided that a new tank should have one big turret with a 75mm gun. But because designing this new type of tank would take some time, as an intermediate solution, the multi-turreted M2 tank was uparmoured and upgunned to the M3 and put into production, until the M4 design was finalised and replaced the M3 on the production lines. As at the time the M3 went into production the British were in desperate need of a 75mm gunned tank, they decided not the wait for the M4 and ordered the M3 , albeit with some modifications and calling it the M3 Grant. (the "Lee' designation for the original tank was a British one as well, as the Americans didn't name their tank designs). This decision not to wait for the M4 and buying the M3 was vindicated at the Battle of Gazala in May 1942, when the M3 Grants deployed to North Africa gave Rommel a nasty surprise!.

Two WW II alternatives for the ubiquitous Sherman loaded warwell: M10 mk II tankdestroyers. Source: Nash, G.C., The LMS at War, Norwich 1946, p.19 GWR 42xx with M3 ' Lee's'. (Would looke great alongside a train of GWR crocodiles loaded with M3 'Grants') Source (sorry!): http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=45641&start=30#p553915

Agree. They grow the stuff not a hundred yards from here... Well, did, as it has been harvested recently! And no, I'm not in the Fens. My soul is quite intact as well....

Hmmm, Looks a bit like Dragendorff 54, late second century....

I married a girl from Art school

Once , during an exercise, a college of mine ordered a platoon of Pruttels (Dutch nickname for the Cheetah PRLT AA tank ) to turn around because they were on the wrong road which lead through the center of a village. They complied with commendable efficiency and immediately preformed a neutral turn. It was a cobbled road..... The villagers were far from happy with his timely intervention...

Exactly...

but: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/115836-hattons-announces-oo-and-o-gauge-50-ton-warwell-bogie-wagon/&do=findComment&comment=2464167

Great. I'll buy a cartload of these in WW2 condition. But how about ramp wagons? (specially designed wagons to allow mobile loading of tanks onto warwell wagons) Except for some loading docks that could handle tracked vehicles, these were always needed for loading-unloading warwells (or warflats for that matter), certainly during WW2. A rake of warwells would have had two of those, one in front and one at the rear. Please...

Lucky b*st*rds!

I voted for a Cambrian 89 Jones goods. Again...

Why don't we start with 1/76 kits...?

Out of gauge....

Photographic evidence of military trains moving through Brent is hard to find, but there is some: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/69664-a-nod-to-brent/?view=findpost&p=1979800

Forgot about your blog. sorry.... The shed is great, but I especially like the cart. Those kind of additions to a layout really make the period the layout is set in come alive.

Thanks!

Will use stretch decal paper for my next sets of transfers...

To tell you the truth, I don't know! Standard A4 transparent decal sheet available at the 'local' (only 20 miles...) copyshop.

Decal time! Hmmm, more microset needed... And after applying a liberal amount of microset and some weathering I ended up with this: Underside with Bachmann Nem shafts fitted: Not too bad I think.. Epilogue: Ready for shipment. Fits inside a Bachmann 7 plank plastic insert like a glove And on the layout of it's (proud?) owner... Coming next, an improved Hornby 9 plank wagon.

Next step. Build the kit: Some detailing done, added doorsprings, some rodding and thinned down the brakehandles. Three link couplings, with screw points added for Bachmann's Nem shaft mounting blocks . Brass pinpoint bearings and lead flashing glued to the chassis for some much needed weight. Base coats Ironwork painted black and sides gloss varnished. (with a brush, being a lazy sod I couldn't be bothered with using my airbrush.)