C&WR

Someone who is often thought funny said, "Rugby is a good occasion for keeping thirty bullies far from the centre of the city" if that's any good?

Understood that! I can see the humour in it

Quite frankly I didn't rise to the silly League vs Union article. In thirty-five years playing, refereeing and coaching the sport I may well have come across some hoorays, but I've also had as many friends who were salt of the earth types as well. I also can't take anything seriously when it refers to rules of Rugby (they're laws) and which can't decide whether it's going on about Dublin Schools/Clubs, Australia or the great Northern English League sides. Of two things I am sure. Firstly Union is a far more nuanced game which is being ruined for me by the (mainly Australian-driven) leaguification of the laws dressed up as something supposed to produce a more attractive product. Just because the Aussies don't give a XXXX about scrummaging (and are really poor at it) doesn't mean it should be relegated from a integral part of the match, a competition in its own right, to just a means of restart. Secondly the lads I played with in the Notts & Derbys leagues would have laughed their heads off at the idea of themselves being toffs or some kind of elite. In fact I became accepted by this bunch of miners, factory workers, labourers (and one very memorable 5'6" former Paratrooper held together with neoprene & tattoos who was our scrum half) when they saw this soft, Southern, white collar type could take a bit of a battering, dish it back out again, and then buy his fellow combatant a beer in the clubhouse afterwards! I'm really glad League people enjoy their sport and feel sorry for them that there's not more coverage in the mainstream media but it's not for me. Also, try being London Irish & see how many column inches we get! Oh, and by the way could the League people please take Jonathan "Dubb-Ull Mooo-ve-ment" Davies back. Please

Would I buy anything from anyone who referred to the locomotive having a chinmey? Honestly, it's be like dealing with Mary Poppins-era Dick Van Dyke. (Shuffles off muttering "chin-chinmery, chin-chinmery, chin-chin-cheroo". Me old china).

Thanks very much, I'll bear that in mind. I'm in the process of making some Art Deco-style clocks for a project & that's really helpful.

Go on, how did you do the clock so it seems to be illuminated? That scene is all rather lovely!

Thanks, Scott. The bad new is I won't be doing much modelling until Sunday, less putting some transfers on the ends of my HST stock & making up some corridor connectors. The good news is this is because I'm spending some time at the home of Wallington-Super-Mare so I can play trains

An eBayer, yesterday:

As I said on my thread about adding a bit of detail to the Hachette Jobs: End result is they look like this,but I've also added some corridor connectors since made out of scrap black sugar-paper from the art supplies: If I didn't like them so much I'd try to sell them!

Thanks, K. I used whatever's in that Tamiya rattle can behind the models. I think it was probably my over exuberance which led to the demise of the decals! I've now used the C3s with data panels on my HST stock & made some corridor connectors. They are completely legible under a lens & there the true expert might realise something is amiss, but from the normal viewing distance all looks great!

Fabulous! Hope the internal curlicues (it's that word again!) on the supports don't defeat you for long...

Thanks, Michael. It's been an interesting challenge thinking about what I wanted to make then doing so. The windows will look OK (even when illuminated) from a distance, my biggest challenge now is saving up to buy a shed, some insulation, baseboards & track so I can have a new layout! I had used the boiling water trick when making the downpipes for my signal box above. Couldn't believe it actually worked! I tried Al's baking method as an experiment but need to pay a bit more attention. As it happens to get the effect of the styrene round the canopy I glued it in place along one straight side, left it for a while, and then found the bond was strong enough to bend it round the curves to the other side. Evergreen, 2mm card & Evostick seem to hold well! The styrene was just too short to make the circuit in two lengths, so there is a fill-in piece on one side. I've really enjoyed this one so far. I have had to take an unexpected day off tomorrow to do childcare, so The Small Controller will be getting some modelling lessons among other activities as I finish the waiting rooms! Edit to add: Thanks as well, Al. I've been loving the footbridge!

Here we go, then, how it's developed until last night. Under canopy remade, with cut outs for the lighting: Then with the canopy on, covered in Scalescenes asphalt & with Evergreen 4mm x 1.5mm styrene strip glued round the edge: I'd decided to see how it looked with a train (or a bit of one) about the place. Seems to fit quite well: Oops, close up view shows the windows leave a lot to be desired. Will have to model this as if it was a cold, foggy day with the windows misted up: Seriously, a lot of cleaning up needed but from normal viewing distance once the canopy is glued down it should look OK...

That is lovely, Sandhills. I'll take your word for it if you say it's a model!

All the best to you all & your Dad! Love the path/bank/trees. That's the kind of thing I would aim to do when I get a layout going at the new house.

Had a bit of spare time last night so decided to do some work on the canopy. I'd cut out the upper and lower sections on the guillotine at work as I find that the best way to get crisp, clean, long & square cuts. First got stuff marked out: Then nice & neatly cut. I had been going to get hold of one of those sets of compasses with a blade instead of a pen, but was a bit impatient (as ever) so used some dividers to scribe the curve then went very carefully round with a craft knife: The two layer nicely on each other: In place, with the space for the skylights cut out: A platform eye-view: Then disaster! I had cut the original canopies too long, so decided to take a chunk off one end before doing the skylights. I measured this very carefully & removed the offending bit, but despite having done several test fits found the lower canopy was just under 10mm too short for the module to follow the curve nicely. That will mean doing the whole canopy again, blast! I also had a bash at acg_mr's baked styrene recipe. Worked fairly well when I had the first bash, using a jig of scrap wood & some veneer pins: Unfortunately it goes all a bit Dali when one gets distracted & forgets to take it out: Anyway, some good learning points. I swear I did measure the canopy properly, so no "measure twice, cut once" gags, please! As I had laid my hands on the circle cutter thing thought i'd have a quick experiment with making a spiral staircase over lunch: Seems my calculations were a bit out, but I've proved what is possible...

The Persistence of Forgetfulness, I suspect, bearing in mind I'd stuck it in the oven, gone up to tuck in TSC, and then it had slipped my mind I was baking!

As ever lovely, Al. BTW, I had a bash at your styrene bending trick. Not a bad result for a first go: While the curve isn't perfect it will be a lot easier to glue in place. However not following the recipe makes things go all Salvador Dali: Need to listen out for the kitchen timer when it's The Small Controller's bed time!

But it's Code 3, it must be special!

Sorry, just having a giggle. Mine dressed up cost me about £8 apiece so if I was to flog them there would be a wee bit of profit, perhaps!