Jump to content
 

paulprice

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,556

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by paulprice

  1. paulprice
    Well it seems to me that it has been a very long time since my last update, but I can hear people screaming from here that it has not been long enough, still I will ignore the screams of complaint and carry on.
     
    So what had been the reason for such a long period since updates, its not because I was abducted by Aliens and taken back to my home planet for a little holiday, because as the Domestic Overlord remarked, they went through all the effort to dump me here in the first place, why would they even consider taking me back
     
    Part of the reason is we had a week in Cornwall (actually thinking about it, is it that different from being on an alien planet? Only joking Cornwall). Despite being in the land of inferior railways, I thought if I visited some local model shops I might have been able to add an addition to the locomotive fleet by repatriating some poor lost LMS loco to its true home up north, or at least a little addition to the rolling stock collection.
     
    This is where my plan went wrong, on a couple of points, firstly it was nearly impossible to find any model shops, but when I eventually did they had hardly any n gauge, and what they did have was VASTLY overpriced (£18 for a peco Cattle van is just crazy). All was not lost though, as on a trip to the Bodmin railway I looked on the bookstall and found these two little gems for a total of £8.

    All I need to do now Is either build some new locomotives, or find some bargains to repaint, and I can put the books to good use, now where could I find some bargain Jubilees??
     
    Once we got back from our little holiday I thought I might get little modelling done, and even have a little time to possibly visit the Warrington Model club, as I cant remember the last club night I attended, but alas work got in the way again. However I managed to get a little modelling done, and my attempts to replicate modular LNWR station buildings has moved on a little.

    In my last update I had the basic shells ready to accept my attempt of producing wooden planking, so to move things on a little I cut some planks from my trusted good quality graph paper and tried to ply them in straight lines.

    Despite my best efforts I managed to get a few straight planks on the buildings but I think true to form I managed to apply more wonky ones. I even managed to use a really sharp scalpel to tidy things up and still have all my 12 fingers.

    As usual, I'm was not too sure if all the effort was worth it, and considered other ways of obtaining the desired results and maybe to a better standard but until I did I pressed on and managed to complete both buildings. Once the planking was completed, I added the framing and then tried to cover up the mess with a nice coat of grey primer.



    I'm still not 100% sure about these buildings, but I might just press on with them, that is when I get anymore modelling time, I mean they are made from card so they have cost practically nothing apart from a little time (all of a sudden I quite like these cheap, so value for money buildings). If I continue with these buildings I think the majority of them will be hidden under the eventual canopies and roofs so what could possibly go wrong?


    If I do continue I think I may have to build another building to act as a parcels office and maybe an open roof gents, but the question is when will I get some more modelling time?
     
    So until the next time as ever Happy Modelling ....... Now where to find those bargain Jubilees and where to hide them from the Domestic Overlord...
  2. paulprice
    Well I don't know how I managed to do it, but I managed to find some modelling time and managed to spend it productively for once. In my previous post I mentioned that I had decided to that the station buildings should be modelled on those used by the LNWR.
     
    As most people know, they built some of their stations from standardised wooden panels, and as a result they could erect buildings that suited their intended environments quickly and cheaply. I must admit being a prudent (some people say I'm as tight as two coats of paint) the cheap construction really appealed to me so I looked into it a little further.
     
    Basically the I could get away with constructing the station buildings using three different panels, a blank one, a window one and a door one, and following the cheap, sorry cost effective approach they would be constructed from card.

    A little time making out the panels on some card sides, and blunting several knife blades (thank god I use the cheap craft knives from the £ stores) I soon had the basic shells knocked up.

    To make fitting the planks that form the panels easier I then covered each side with some graph paper, and then had to cut out even more window and door apertures. The station entrance will be located at street level on the right side of the bridge so I have used a Metcalfe subway mini-kit to provide the platform access.

    The problem is I'm not sure if I like the way the buildings look on the station so I may leave them on the platform for a few days to see if they grow on me, the benefit of card is if I don't like them I can just bin them and start again at minimal cost

    I think the fact that the building will have a canopy will mean a lot of it will be hidden so that's a bonus, what I have done so far is black the interior walls so that if I do fit lighting to the buildings I wont get any bleeding through the walls. The only problem to adding lighting is that I may have to then fit interiors, so yet again I turn a potentially easy task into a considerably harder one

    One of the other little jobs is to get my Stanier Mogul finished then I maybe able to add it to the stock for the layout, which leads to another problem of which auto-coupler I should add to the stock for the layout, I have some DG's in the tool box but I have never used them before.
     
    Well I guess I will have to end this post now, as I don't want the Domestic Overlord thinking I have any spare time, especially enough to model with, as this is vital to my plan to get enough sympathy that the DO will slate a few model roofs (insert evil laugh here)
     
    Mikkel you may have to get ready to bow in the dust as ever Happy Modelling
  3. paulprice
    The modelling gods must be smiling on me lately or maybe they just pity me as they gave me a little more modelling time today, so I thought I would do a little more work on the buildings for Lugsdale Road.
     
    I still working on my plan to gain access to the inside of a pub only so I can do some research on the interior, so that I can make a better model you understand, this plan still requires a little more work. So while I was working on my master plan, I thought I would crack on with producing glazing for some of the other buildings that will lead up the street from the pub.

    My intention is to produce typical shops you wold expect to see on a typical street on the outskirts of a typical northern town, leading on to the standard terraced houses. So I have been working on this group of five over the last few weeks, I'm slowly working through the painting off the shop fronts, then I can work on the interiors but for now its just making them look grubby.
     
    As mentioned in previous entries one of my pet hates is flat un-textured roofs, so I have spent a little time working on these (the Pub roof will be permanently fixed at some point), one of the things I wanted to replicate was a slightly sagging roof. When I was carrying out a little research on the buildings I noticed that not a lot of real buildings have perfect roofs as we modellers seem to like, so I thought I would try to be a little different (I never make it easy for me).
     
    When place next to the Pub they look typically urban to me, the only problem is they tend to absorb a lot of modelling time, for very little noticeable progress, and I will need to complete a lot more just to complete the street, then there will be the Station buildings, good warehouse/shed, cinema factory and so on and so on.


    Maybe its not to late to change the plans and go for a rural layout, as regardless of all the effort I have put in so far, there is still a long way to go, I suppose on the bright side I will be able to practice cutting more slates.

    I might take a little break from constructing buildings, in a week or so, when am expected delivery may allow me to work on the Trams that I hoped would run along Lugsdale Road, that's when I find out the planned curve near the Pub will be too tight.??

    Then at some point I may actually complete a little work on the actual railway side of the layout, after all its supposed to be a model railway.
     
    As ever until next time Happy Modelling.
  4. paulprice
    Well spare time to actually do anything lately has been in incredibly short supply, and progress on any projects has almost stopped.
     
    With my recent lack of attendance lately I reckon the chaps at the Warrington Model Railway club must think I have given up on model railways and taken up a another hobby.
     
    Anyway on the weekend the postman delivered a little parcel from Japan that included a Kato 4 wheel chassis, which I tracked down via Evil Bay and being a technological God, managed to order and pay for it without getting into a bit of a mess like when I tried ordering the weekly shop. Remember the Courgette shortage that was all over the news a while back, well err it had nothing to do with me..........
     
    My idea for Lugsdale road was to add a little movement to the street scene, and considered moving vehicles like Buses and Vans and the like, so being the sensible modeller that I am, I did a little research by reading one of my books on Trams. That's when the obvious hit me, N gauge road vehicles are tiny

    So until I can figure out a solution to the problem, I think I might see what I can do with a Kato chassis and one of those Matchbox Tetley tea trams I seem to have amassed (I know the chassis is a 4 wheel job and the Tram is supposed to be bogeyed, the Domestic Overlord said not with Snot ).

    So all I have to do now is find away of getting some time to work on combining the two items to create a hybrid working tram, while I give some serious thought to how I can actually add movement to the streets of Lugsdale road, I'm sure the solution will become apparent eventually.
     
    As ever, until the next time Happy Modelling
  5. paulprice
    I don't know how I managed to do it, but from out of the blue I found some modelling time today, so I decided to see if I could make a little more progress on the locomotives clogging up the WORKBENCH of DOOM.
     
    Previously I had got the Princess to the stage, were I thought a coat of primer was needed to give her a little dignity at least. Today I got a little further, in the process of getting her ready to enter the fleet.
     
    I managed to spray a nice coat of crimson onto her today and she is now at the stage where I can consider painting all her black bits, and she has a lot of them and that's before I even look t her tender. One I have done this I will mix up some of my favourite dirty black and apply it to her smokebox and cab roof, then I will be at the stage where I will consider starting to line her.

    I also spent a little time on her chassis, I am happy with the front bogie, all I have to do is finish its mounting, and the mounting for the chassis to the body, and then the trailing truck, and then the tender, this list is endless.
     
    Flushed with my success of applying a coat of crimson and not getting any on me, my next two victims where lined up to get a coat of black, the first was the Duchess I have been working on. I was considering finishing her off in works grey, attached to a streamlined tender, but being more practical I thought I would paint her in wartime unlined black, this has nothing to do with avoiding lining her honest

    The problem is I'm now thinking that maybe I really need another crimson locomotive so she may be re-sprayed but maybe I will change my mind again. The other loco to get a black coat was the 7F water heater variant I have been working on (I know she has a wonky handrail I will fix that).

    When I finally get time to finish her, that will make three Fowler 7F's in the collection, which I think is more than enough, plus there are other LMS 7F's to build so at least it will take my attention away from top link locomotives (if you consider a Princess to be one?).
     
    So there you have it, three locomotives at the painting stage, there is still a lot of work to complete on them, but they are getting there, if it is a very slow process. Not quite at the stage of applying a top coat, a little more time was spent on my Prince of Wales tank, I have done a little work on the chassis, and lowered the body to a suitable level, and sort of finalised a method I'm happy with for her leading wheels, the trailing wheels are still to be worked on.

    This is where the problems start, this loco will be finished in red lined black livery, but the more I work on her the more I like the locomotive, which has got me thinking, what if I build another, but finish her in LNWR condition, what if I start a little pre-grouping collection, I know I said in the past I did not want to line another loco, but LNWR and MR locomotives I mean there cant be much lining on them can there?
     
    So there you have the current state of play, if I ever get any more modelling time I may even make some more progress but for the moment this is how the WORKBENCH of DOOM looks.

    What could possibly go wrong, as ever until the next time Happy Modelling
  6. paulprice
    I really don't know how I did it, but I managed to find a little time to spend on the layout over the weekend (well I suppose its not really a layout yet if ever), and typical of me rather than spend it on something useful I used it all up working on a little redevelopment.
     
    My intention for Lugsdale road was to depict a little LMS station on the outskirts of a typical Northwest industrial town surrounded by terraced houses and typical industrial buildings. On the far side of the station I had envisaged that the towns industrial area would start and I set about producing some grotty factories.
    BEFORE

    The problem I had was that I was not too happy with the factory I had started building so it sort of just sat there without any progress being made. That was until this weekend, and I got my hands on my stash of card.
    AFTER
    What I thought would be a bit of a quick project, after all, I jut needed to build a roof really, its just eaten up hour after hour of precious modelling time .

    Lots of work remains to be done on this alternative building, in fact it probably needs more work now that it did before I even started.
     
    The problem is now, I have run out of modelling time and I have no idea when or where I will get some more from, the other problem is I'm not sure which building I prefer, I think the new one is better as its adds a little more interest and does not hide too much of the buildings behind?
     
    What do you think?
     
    As ever Happy Modelling
  7. paulprice
    Well despite MetrOLands very generous help on my last post, I am still having problems thinking about how I will wire the layout, I knew that Electro-frogs would be a little harder than my usual Insul-frog points but who would have thought it would be this hard?
     
    So any ideas, I have managed to scribble down the track plan, unless it changes again, it does not look that complicated does it? I think this weekend I may have to engaged my brain and work out this wiring mumbo jumbo.

    I must admit I'm quite keen to get track laying as it means I can get my soldering iron out, that is if the Domestic Overlord will give it back to me, I mean one little accident and its confiscated from me........... I mean if I get it back what could possibly go wrong?
     
    Until the next time, as ever Happy Modelling
  8. paulprice
    Well I managed to get some paint out today, and not the stuff you put on house walls but the stuff you put on models, if the Domestic Overlord finds out I will be in for it, but for the moment I am a painting God.
     
    I thought if I was lucky I might get the first coat of cream applied to the station buildings, if nothing else, and I actually achieved this and a little more besides. The process was helped by using acrylics, which still amaze me with how quick they dry.

    At this rate I will be able to consider applying a coat of maroon as some point soon, and then I can start on producing the LNWR pattern windows and doors, which will take an age because there are quite a few needed. Getting ahead of myself I even managed to cut a little track for the actual railway, which is a shock as I may end up with a model railway that actually has a railway on it

    While the paint was out I, the bank got a little attention, as I was not too happy with the original finish, I'm still not happy with it but its slowly getting there, and I suppose if worst comes to worst I can always cover it in a good coating of grot, is only to tone it down a little.

    The biggest progress made though was the actual laying of some more of the Tram track along the street, and the test fitting of some cobbles for the road surface.

    This has only been temporarily fitted as I'm still not sure if I want a coble finish or if I should go for an far easier tarmac/concrete finish. What is obvious though is the fact I have an awful lot to do, and this is just the first board. HELP
     
    Until next time as ever Happy Modelling
  9. paulprice
    Progress on Lugsdale Road has been very, very slow of late, with the pressures of non modelling life taking up huge amounts of time, though any progress is a good thing?
     
    In my last update I mentioned that I would need a lot more buildings just on board 1 to try and create the cramped, dirty industrial town look I am trying to recreate. Then living in a typical northwest industrial town, it suddenly hit me, why not just open my eyes and look around.
     
    Lots of the old warehouses and factories in the town I live in had been demolished years ago, but the ones that remain seemed to range from huge to massive so the answer was just to build a huge warehouse/factory and fill the space on board 1 in one go. At least that's what I thought I should have done, what I have actually done is create yet more work for myself.

    looking from what will eventually be the station platform towards the buffer stops I have been trying to fill in the area with typical buildings you would expect to find in the area, a couple of heavily butchered Metcalf kits help in what I thought would save me a little time but actually used up quite a bit.
     
    Looking in the other direction towards what will be the goods yard, you can see the tops of Warehouses and Factories that back against the raised railway line, but the majority of these roofs will thankfully not be slated.

    This I hope will give the area a claustrophobic feel and will be somewhere the tram line can run behind to hide the fact it will come to a abrupt stop as the line runs out of space.

    There is still a lot of space to fill but at least the gaps are getting smaller and lots of opportunity to apply a lot of weathering and grot to the buildings, I think a lot of the brickwork will be hidden behind soot and smoke black and greys.

    The next stage will be the development of a N gauge fog machine as I think the layout will look a lot more atmospheric cloaked in a thick "pea souper" plus if will hide some of the more dodgy modelling.
     
    As you can see there is still a huge amount of work to complete, and that's only on board 1, hopefully board 2 will be a lot easier, and I still have to finalise the track plan, still its a break from modelling Terraced houses (I must get back to that)

    Until the next time, as ever happy modelling
  10. paulprice
    Well thanks to a little coercion from various people on here (you know who you are) I have secured another Jubilee from EvilBay for the fleet. Being a very very good Boy I told the Domestic Overlord what I had done, and I was told that it does not matter as I could have as many trains as I wanted, HOW Lucky am I?
     
    Anyway before I go on a mad Jubilee shopping spree (don't worry it wont happen, as I like having money I have not used yet too much) I thought I would start a proper stock count of the collection, and so I started with the box that had my Jubes in. Maybe I's going mad but I thought I only had 7, as it happens I have 8 plus the one soon to be delivered (lets hope its not a dog).

    I have to say personally the Jubilees are one of the most beautiful loco's ever built and that the only livery that suited these machines was Crimson, but having repainted two of them into Post War lined black I think this livery really suites them.
     
    So two questions remain to be answered, do I repaint the latest addition to the fleet into post war black? and how do I tell the Domestic Overlord I found a Black 5 and Royal Scott I sort of forgot I had
     
    If there is one thing I have learnt though today is that stock counting your collection may not be a good idea, and I've only counted one box.
     
    As ever until the next time Happy Modelling
  11. paulprice
    Well my stock taking continues, and the number of locomotives I forgot I had is slowly increasing, which is good news I think?
     
    Before the stock count I thought I had 5 Duchess locomotives, but it turns out that I actually have 6, I had a very vague memory of finding a bargain Duchess in the old Farish lined black livery (you know the one with the yellow/green lining). I honestly thought though that I had converted this into a "Semi" and painted it into Post War lined black but apparently I didn't.

    So this means I have two original built examples, two "Semi" locomotives, one in the process of being finished in lined crimson and the extra black one, the question is what to do with this one? I could take the easy route and just paint her in overall plain war time black, but where would be the fun in that.
     
    So just to even up the fleet a little, despite them not being my favourite LMS locomotive (they look a little too GWRish to me) I can feel a princess build coming on. The problem is for such a small class they had quite a lot of variation in their motion brackets, but I think if I look at maybe using a Std 4 motion the brackets sort of look to my eyes at least like the GW-ish ones one a couple of prototypes.
     
    If this idea takes a more physical form I may post some updates on here, now if that is not a treat, sorry I mean THREAT I don't know what is?
     
    Oh before I go off to the world of domestic servitude, to keep the Domestic Overlord happy, thanks to the influence of some of the chaps on here, my latest Jubilee has arrived.

    Despite what lots of people say, its still possible to find a bargain on EvilBay, as this example appears never to have been run, and was in mint boxed condition, until the Girls helped open the parcel for me

    The big thing not is do I leave here in Crimson, or do I repaint her into Post war LMS black, oh and what example to turn her into?
     
    Until next time as ever Happy Modelling
  12. paulprice
    I'm not sure how this has happened but recently I seem to be finding just enough modelling time to actually make noticeable progress on may latest projects. So much so that the corner Pub I have been building for Lugsdale road now has its front sides fully glazed. I have even managed to apply a little colour to the roof and a little detail on the chimney stacks.

    As I said in a previous post, I sometimes like to make the roofs of some buildings as a sub assembly to make the construction process easier, and it definitely helped in this case, as you can see there is still a bit of work to complete on the roof, but the applying of "slate" strips ,seems to have added the texture I was looking for (I think maybe I should have based the layout in the countryside, as I quite like the idea of trees over slate roofs )

    There is still a lot of work to do on the façade of the pub, as well as the interior, but with the roof plonked on its at least beginning to look like a pub, well to me at least. I have modelled one of the doors open, which means even more of the interior can be viewed (I don't make it any easier for myself) I need to splash a little paint on these once the glue has dried.

    The problem is with all those windows of that you can see a lot of the interior, even in N gauge, I may just take the easy way out and paint the rear of the windows black??

    Still being a glutton for punishment, I have done a little work on segregating the lower floor into rooms, is that what they are called or are they bars?

    That's where the problem starts, you see being such a good boy, in fact being positively angelic I have never set foot in a pub, so I have no idea what they look like.
     
    I believe they even sell this special pop called Beer, I asked the Domestic Overlord about it and I was told that its only for naughty boys and that as I was a good boy I should not think about it.
     
    So the problem is what do I do next? How can I progress with this project? If only naughty boys are allowed in Pubs and have Beer, does this mean I will have to be..........NAUGHTY
     
    I need to give this some serious thought, I mean how hard is it to b naughty, and how naughty would I have to be to get into a Pub??
     
    Until next time, as ever Happy Modelling
  13. paulprice
    Well while the industrial accident investigators are still to allow the Price locomotive works to re-open, I have been doing some thinking. In the collection I have a total of 6 Duchess locomotives.
     
    Four of which I am pretty happy with, they still need a few little tweaks but they represent locomotives in the following conditions.
     
    1 x In original build condition pre-smoke deflectors (crimson).
    1 x Smoke deflector fitted (crimson).
    2 x Semi-condition (post war lines black)
     
    That leaves me with 2 examples that have been pretty much untouched apart from their mechanisms having a good service and clean.

    So the question is what to do with the remaining two? One is in crimson just needs a little finishing if I can decide on her identity, the other is in the original terrible Farish lined black (the one with the yellow/greenish lining) so really is overdue for a repaint.
     
    Without creating a Streamlined example (its on my to-do list but not for a good while yet) how do I add a little interest to the fleet, obviously being an LMS modeller they will never see a drop of that terrible green paint applied to them, but what to do?
     
    Should I go down the wartime plain black livery, with a good application of grime? do I paint one in works grey? or do I try and represent an example pulling an ex-stream liner tender?
     
    For the stream lined tender option I can remember seeing relevant photo's in some of my reference books, but I cannot remember which ones, but the good news is it gives me an excuse to read my books again, if you have any suggestions I would be grateful to hear them.
     
    In the meantime as ever Happy Modelling
  14. paulprice
    Well as I mentioned in my last post, I had managed to pull of the crime of the century and managed to get away with just applying emulsion paint to the backscenes on Lugsdale road.
     
    The good news is that the heat has died down now and the Domestic Overlord is still none the wiser, but not wishing to tempt fate further painting of the backscene will be strategically delayed for a while.

    What I have managed to do while laying low avoiding the fuzz is to work on what seems like the endless supply of buildings that the layout needs and I'm still only working on board 1. My attention has been focused on the buildings that will take up position at the back of the layout, which means they will mostly be hidden, which for some of my work is a good thing.

    Where possible for the industrial buildings, as I'm sometimes a bit of a lazy modeller I have been using severely butchered Metcalfe kits, I will let you work out which ones. Hopefully although there origins will be obvious to most modellers, I hope that I have used them to create something a little less common, as construction of the rear street scene progresses they will of course get a lot of weathering.

    The immediate problem with creating all these buildings is that there is a lot of roofs that will require slates, though for some of the factories that will flank the station area they will be finished with a roof felt type covering (research showed this was quite common in certain areas), plus I kind of like the use of easy options sometimes.
     
    Being a little angel lately, not my words but those of the Domestic Overlord (though I believe Lucifer was an angel once), I may see if the DO may help me by applying some of the required slates, which means I will be able to concentrate on other little jobs.

     
    One of the decisions I have made lately is that the station buildings will be those built by the LNWR, which means they will be of a timber construction (just like those on Foster Street but different). I had considered setting the station in L&Y territory but as I kind of like LNWR locomotives, especially of the eight coupled variety I thought the LNWR was the better option (plus I have a G2 kit to build, and a couple of other locomotive ideas).

     
    So basically that's all I have managed to get up to, as ever so many jobs to do but so little progress, what I need to do next is get some cork sheeting and lay some track, after all it is supposed to be a railway layout.
     
    As ever until next time Happy Modelling
  15. paulprice
    Well this could be my last ever blog update, (I can hear the cheers from here already), because if the Domestic Overlord ever reads this I'm DEAD.
     
    Did you read that Mikkel my tragic demise may be imminent and I blame you for all of this, thanks to the encouragement I have managed to get a little modelling time, and I spent it playing with my cobbels.

    progress has not exactly been rapid, but I have managed to use up my supply of cobbles, I'm still not 100% happy with how it looks, but if I decide to keep them a lot of weathering may improve things.

    The problem with this meant I had to do some work on the tram that will run up and down the street, which meant I could get some of my weapon of mass destruction out from the DO's hiding place see what mischief I could get up to. The starting point was the old typhoo promotional tram from more years back that I care to remember.

    A little paint stripper, soon got the paint off the tram, which mean I could load my mini-drill up with a new cutting disc and I set to work.

    after a bit of cutting, I managed to keep all my fingers and got to the stage where I could drill out some of the blocked in upper widows and do a little clean up work with some small files. Progress was a little better than I thought it would be (its been weeks in the process so far) and I managed to get a little primer on the body and a test fit on the chassis and ITS ALIVE, IT ACTAULLY WORKS (Insert evil laugh here). The problem is I now have another two to work on

    The problem is I now have another two to work on

    This is not the reason the DO may kill me, well I don't think it is, but you can only be killed once? Anyway the reason I may be killed is that a recent Evil bay expedition has resulted in two Standard 4 tanks finding their way into my grubby little mitts. Now I only bought these for the chassis, but it got me thinking what use could I make of the bodies being an LMS only modeller?

    We wont mention the Midland Flatiron, LNWR G2 and the brace of Stanier coaches I have been secretly working on, well its been nice knowing you all, until the next time if there will be one Happy Modelling
  16. paulprice
    Well a couple of weeks ago, with the full permission of the fantastic Domestic Overlord I managed to add another crimson jubilee to the fleet, by rescuing her from Evil Bay at a very reasonable cost.
     
    She sat at the back of the workbench of doom for a couple of weeks while I got on with a few other jobs and decided on which identity to allocate to her, well the waiting is over, her identity has been chosen and her numbers applied.

    Now this should have been the last Jubilee to enter the fleet, and at this point I should have been thinking about maybe applying a little weathering, a crew etc. Surely nine is enough Jubilee's for anyone, but I have sort of slipped up, to be fair though I was acting on a mission of mercy. I don't know why people keep doing it, as its seems totally wrong to me, but they keep turning up in terrible BR liveries.

    So purely for humanitarian reasons I found this poor lady on Evil Bay and for a mere £40 I just has to save her, by adding her to my fleet, a couple of minutes work on her chassis saw her running as sweet as a nut, so they just left her terrible Green coat.

    I good application of grey undercoat, to my eyes was already a vast improvement to the Brunswick green I found her in and provides a good foundation to the final finishing coat. A little work with my trusty rattle can, and this time all the paint actually covered the loco and not my hand, or the wall, or the work bench and she is ready to have her black bits applied, and then lining that is if my hand spasms will stop long enough to let me, this could be a long wait.

    One thing though this is definitely my last jubilee, and I mean it, no matter how cheap they are I don't need anymore, that would just be silly and greedy, so until the next time as ever Happy Modelling
  17. paulprice
    I don't know how I managed to do it this weekend but I seemed to have found some modelling time, and managed to make a little progress on some of my list of projects.
    I have a few GEM Fowler tender kits in stock which I have had for more years than I care to remember, originally I thought that I would use them on my 4F fleet but I have never got round to it. One by one I have been using them on various other projects so now I have more 4Fs than I have tenders in stock.
    Anyway today I have nearly completed one, which will be towed around by a PRINCESS. Despite them not really being one of my favourite LMS loco's (a little to GWR looking to my eyes) I thought at some point I better add one to my fleet. Being the crafty little ###### that I am, I have been managing to get the odd construction period in without the Domestic Overlord and this is the result so far.

    Yes I know there is still a hell of a lot of work still to do, but my initial test fit over one of the Std 4 chassis I have in stock is promising. I know the wheelbase and wheels are not exactly right, but I am not trying to build a scale model, more a model than can take up some of the passenger duties on Foster Street if I ever take it to another exhibition, or for use on my next proper layout. Unlike my Duchess collection, she will remain the only member of the class in my collection.
    As the Domestic Overlord, had no idea of my secret modelling sessions, I thought I would become a true master of secrets and try to make a little more progress on a second project. I have a liking for dirty freight engines, and in the past I have constructed a pair of 7F's which I kind of like to see plodding around the layout pulling various freight trains.
    A few months ago I managed to source an eight coupled chassis to initially go under a kit for a round firebox G2, but to cut a long story short its no good, so what to do with it? Taking my favourite easy route out I decided to construct another 7F, but to try and add some interest I thought a "water heater" variant would be a good idea.

    So as with the Princess there is a long way to go but its progress in trying to reduce the number of projects on the workbench of DOOM.
    So with progress like this its a bit like a fairy tale, with me of course like the poor downtrodden "Buttons" type character, but with locomotives like these, its more like Beauty buggered of and left me with two beasts

    Anyway until the next time, as ever Happy Modelling
  18. paulprice
    Well I may have missed the Wigan Show this weekend, and all the bargains but I have managed to find some modelling time. The Domestic Overlord has been a little poorly, so because I am such a good Boy I have been looking after him, and providing many, many hot toddies.
    The problem with this is it made the DO very sleepy and he could barley keep his little eyes open (insert Evil Laugh here > > ) and this is where my plan fell into place. While the DO snored away in the land of nod, and the neighbours hid from what they must have thought was a massive thunder storm I worked away.
    The first of my little projects that got some attention was my attempt to produce a Princess, the body has had quite a lot of filler, and a few added details, but she has now got a coat of grey paint. I also did a little work on her chassis, and front bogie. I will have to remove a "wedge" from the back of each cylinder so her bogie will have more sway to get round tighter curves, and then work on the trailing wheels but I think she is looking promising?
     
    What I have noticed thought, just after I have built and primed the tender, is that the old Gem kits are a bit wide, maybe I should dissemble the tender and then try to thin the sides, oh decisions, decisions Oh and yes I know the wheels don't quite line up with the splashers, but this is because I just plonked the body on the chassis, to does fit moved forwards a little.
    Away from Passenger locomotives, work on the "water heater" 7F has seen as much of the gubbins I could research attached and a coat of primer applied. When I have given her a nice coat of black I will darken the worm gear to try and hide it. I still have to add her handrails and steps and do a little more work on her chassis, but soon, I hope she will be ready to get a goat coat of grime, and then she can join her two sisters in the fleet.
     
    After a bit of filler, I managed to get a coat of primer on my Prince of Whales tank, and she has been plopped on her intended chassis just so I can get a feel for how she will look when finished, she is still a little high, so that will take priority. Then I need to attach her front bogie (which means I have to work on the pivot a little) and then her trailing wheels and quite a few other bits and bobs but she is getting there.

     
    While I had the primer out, I thought I would give something else a coat of grey, yes my left hand got a coat but so did the black Duchess (the one with the original terrible lining), this has led to a bit of a decision. Should I finish her off in works grey livery OR should I turn her into a member of the class that ended up attached to a streamliner tender? Now the fact that you cant see her tender, maybe a hint but it could also be because I put the tender somewhere safe, so safe in fact I forgot where it is.

     
    So that's the end of the progress for who knows how long, the problem is with progress it tends to show you how much still needs t be done, and I have a hell of a lot still to do. So there you are the Price Paint shop is beginning to fill up, which means some of the locomotives will need lining, and that maybe a problem as after the last locomotives left the paint shop I swore I would never line a locomotive again :(


    So until the next time when ever that may be, as ever Happy Modelling
  19. paulprice
    Modelling time, in fact any free time has been in very short supply lately, despite a career change that in theory would have given me more time to model, I appear to have an uncanny ability to fill this time with lots of none modelling stuff .
     
    As a result of this, perhaps I should have tittle this blog entry as "spot the progress"? One of the jobs I have nearly completed is the addition of the end backscene panel on board number 1.

    As I have used 4mm ply for this rather than my usual 6mm I may have to add a strengthening support to protect it from knocks and bumps, soon it will be time to slap some paint on these boards and try to portray my favoured dark, rainy, overcast grotty dismal impression of the Northwest in the midst of a heatwave. The backscene boards on Lugsdale road are slightly taller than usual which means hopefully this will help focus the viewers eye onto the layout rather than stuff going on behind (if we get any exhibition invites that is).
     
    The idea for the layout was to portray an industrial town just like the one I live in, and research showed that if there was space for one there would be a factory or warehouse surrounded by terraced houses and shops to supply the inmates, er sorry workers with just about enough to exist. So my idea was to have suitable buildings flanking part of the station.

    The basis shells for these have been slowly created over the last few weeks, but I was not quite happy with the look off them on the layout. Rather than bin them and start again (due to lack of time) they sort of hung around while I thought about a solution, after a massive amount of thought, I gave up and just reduced their height a little, and it seemed to have worked, to me at least they now look more balanced.

    As you can see there is still an awful lot to do on these buildings, but they are very slowly developing, and in honour of the Domestic Overlord I think this complex will be named "Morgans Industrial Gussets and Truss". Before you say it, its not because the DO needs industrial trusses or gussets, its just that I thought an average town up north might have such a manufacturer to provide products for the average northern battle axes (I dodged a bullet there I think )

    A while ago, just form something to do I bought a low relief Metcalfe Cinema, I had no intention of using it on the layout, it was just something for me to play around with and modify but now I am beginning to have second thoughts? It can sit on the layout for a while until I have a better idea (so that means it will take up permanent residence).
    So that's about it for the progress what little there has been, the problem is it just shows how much is still to be done, the good news is that I have two volunteers for the operating crew, the only problem is finding the time to train them

    Until the next time as ever Happy Modelling
  20. paulprice
    Well a little progress has been made on the locomotives clogging up the Workbench of DOOM, progress has been slow as three of them need lining, and trying to do this by hand in N gauge is not easy, especially with hands that seem never to stop shaking.
     
    Anyway a decent coat of weathering will hide a multitude of my sins, so really when you come to think about it, is it really worth the effort, and boy has it been an effort. The first of the Locomotive slowly progressing towards completion is my attempt to represent a Princess, I have a few more details to add to the body and a little tidying up of her crimson coat and I will have to finally sort her chassis out, especially the leading and trailing wheels.


    She is missing a bit of lining but I'm not saying where from, I will let you work that out, the problem is which number to apply to her, a hint would be that I have always lined the name Arthur. What I need to do Is order some new numbers and insignias as it appears I have either used the ones I thought I had in stock or they are somewhere in the storage unit of terror?
     
    Progress on the Prince of Wales tank has got a little further than the Princess in that all her lining is applied, like the Princess its now down to adding a little detailing to the body and doing the finial work on her chassis (the trailing wheels need fixing) and then I can work on the mounting the loco body onto the chassis.


    I must admit I have a bit of a thing for big tank engines, though I get the feeling she will be the sole 4-6-2T in the fleet, though you never know.....when I finally order the relevant transfers I will number and letter her just like the Princess.
     
    The other locomotive that has required lining was the £40 Jubilee I rescued from Evil Bay, she is now happy in her new coat of crimson, and is slowly being lined out like a decent locomotive should be, I still need to sort out her cylinders and the lining on the lower part of her cab but she is getting there.


    I'm not sure if she is turning out to be the bargain I thought she originally was, as I dread to think about how many paintbrushes I have destroyed in anger whilst lining her and the other loco's on the bench. Perhaps what I should have done is just model the BR period modelled by buying loco's and stock off the shelf that need no modifications, I mean lots of people seem to do it , but if everything was easy where would be the fun in that?
     
    Waiting for space on the Workbench is a locomotive I worked on last year and thought would by now have been a valuable member of the fleet, that is until I took it along to the Wigan exhibition.
     
    Everything was going well, I took the loco from my storage box and put her at the head of a local passenger train, setting off on her maiden trip around the layout I drew her to a stop in the station, at which point someone who should have been old enough to know better hoisted the loco off the layout, when I asked what the hell he was doing he slammed it back onto the layout and said "its only a toy %%&)&$*&)" train" the abuse I got from what appeared to be the animals mother was even worse.

    The net result was that the leading carriage was badly damaged, and the loco chassis mounts where broken, the buffers and couplings are destroyed and one side of the valve gear is badly damaged and bent, but I suppose it could have been far worst, though it has made me very hesitant about future exhibition attendances as its not the first time the layout has been damaged.
     
    So there you are an update on the progress made and an indication of all the work that still needs to be completed, at some point I will actually complete some of the projects, but are we modellers supposed to actually complete projects. One thing is for sure, I will not be adding any more Jubilee's to the fleet......
     
    As ever until the next time Happy Modelling
  21. paulprice
    It might just be my glacial pace, but the construction of the buildings on Lugsdale road is taking slightly longer than I planned, but they have got to the stage of getting their first coat of colour.
     
    I'm looking to create a typical urban look of an average town in the Northwest, so a bit like me the shabby look is the one I'm aiming for, so the first building to get some attention was the corner pub.

    The first couple of coats have been applied to the pub, and I think it looks like a building that is need of a nice new clean coat of paint, but as long as it serves a decent pint the local are happy. Next to the pub is a row of shops, with various shades if stucco applied in an equally run down state, maybe the shop owners are waiting for the ones next door to splash out on some paint before they do?

    I have tested trying to build a shop interior for one of these and I'm still undecided if its worth the effort or if I should use some of the printed products you can get for this.

    The row of 4 shops next to the pub will have an alley way separating it from the final shop that will be attached to the start of typical 2 up 2 downs, which I thought might add a little interest due to the height differences and the roof profiles.

    So once this building is complete on that side of the road it will be terraces for as long as my sanity will allow, on the opposite side of the road will be similar shops and a "posh" Doctors house, but the viewer will just see the backs of these, but there is a front to them.

    What I need to do now is to start constructing the widows for the buildings, I'm refusing to count how many I need, because I don't think I can count that high and then I need to start the roof tiles.

    So basically that's it, what I really need to do is some serious modelling, but that would mean I would have to be sensible, I think and having tried it once I find it a vastly overrated experience.
  22. paulprice
    Well in one of my more recent posts, a regular contributor on here who will remain nameless, oh what they hell it was MIKKEL, said that my station canopy was curvy, how rude

    To be fair, he was right (I cant believe I have committed that to writing), but on the other hand he was just stating the obvious.....so I thought I better do something obvious to try and fix it.

    As luck would have it the Domestic Overlord was a little poorly today (not that the DO being sick is lucky for me), so Price towers was renamed Emergency Ward 10 and I went in to the full dutiful other half mode. Anyway I digress, each time I got ready to do a little modelling, the DO managed like a little Trojan to find the energy to ring the "Im sick" bell, so I had to down tools and see what the "love of my life" wanted, if it was only to say things like "I don't feel well" .
     
    Filled with concern, and because I am such a genuinely nice person, in fact positively saintly, I did some research to see if I could find a way of improving the DO's life threatening condition, and I found the solution. On my last visit the bio hazard area (our bedroom) I performed an emergency "Clapper-ectomy" and peace was restored to Price Towers (God help me when the DO recovers).

    So I got out my supply of card (well the bits I could actually find) and got to work in an attempt to get the basic canopy and station building roof formers completed. Progress went a little better than I thought and I managed to get the majority of the basic canopy completed. I even managed to get the building roofs ready for covering with roof slates, using my graph paper method.

    The problem is I am at that stage now, where the more I seem to do the more jobs I seem to have to finish, so at some point I will have to start to look at producing windows and doors, but at least its starting to look like a station?


    Which leads me on to the next problem, or maybe problem is not a strong enough word? I am supposed to be building a model railway, and railways need track to run the little Choo Chooos on and that is where I am a model railway maverick, I have not laid any track (well not counting just under a yard for the trams).
     
    I have sort of settled on the final track plan for the layout, I thought I would put myself at the cutting edge of model railway technology and use these new things called "Electro Frogs". So I made a list checked it twice, winced at the cost of all the track I needed and bought half of it.
     
    Apparently though these Electric Froggy things need to be wired differently (people who have seen my wiring have described it as different) to the usual "insul Frogs" I use, and this is where I need HELP
     
    How do you wire these things up to stop short circuits, and does it mean I will have to get my favourite tool of mass destruction or Soldering Iron out. Any advice will be gratefully received.
     
    Until the next time as Ever Happy Modelling
  23. paulprice
    Well my attempt to create a passable impression of an Ivatt Class 4 (a very vague impression ), sort of ground to a halt, it was not because I lost interest, it was just that I found lots of other things more interesting.
     
    However I was spurred into action because of Ebay, the acquisition of a old Minitrix Ivatt Class 2 in a horrible condition (mint but with a British Railways number and emblem, of the inhumanity)meant I had to get some transfers to get the old girl in a decent livery.
     
    So I thought to myself (I often talk to myself but that leads to arguments) if I am going to number 1 loco I might as well number 2, so I corrected a couple of areas that had a painted finish I did not quite like and the transfers were soon on both Ivatts.

    As you can see from the photographs there is still lots to do, I need to fit the glazing, paint some of the more visible engine parts black, and of course more pipework, and then a bit or a lot of weathering. It hides a multitude of sins and in this case I think I need it, I may apply it with a trowel.


    Still it looks like I might have another addition to the Foster Street fleet, the problem is there are so many little projects on the go that just take all you valuable modelling time, well that's my excuse anyway....

    Can you tell what it is yet, because I have not got a clue.......until next time as ever Happy Modelling
  24. paulprice
    Well despite the reputation of the Work Bench of DOOM, I ignored the many, many warnings issued especially by the Domestic Overlord and ploughed into a production shift.
     
    The Princess I'm trying to build is getting to the stage I should start to maybe consider giving her a coat of primer, that is if you ignore all the filler I will have to apply to various places to try and improve some of the more ropey areas (quite a lot of them). Anyway I thought it was a good idea to see if she would fit onto her intended chassis, and how much alteration work I had ahead of me.

    I'm still not too sure how I feel about the Princess locomotives, but while I decide if I actually like them or not, which could take a while when she is completed (whenever that may be) she will fill a gap in my collection.
     
    Now I have to admit, as much as I like LMS express passenger locomotives, so may say I have an obsession with them (Jubilee's) I kind of have a thing for havy freight locomotives, I thought I would do a little bit more on my water heater 7F (does this mean its a kettle with a kettle?). I needs a lot of filler applying to fix a few issues, well a lot of issues, but the major adaptions have been fitted.

     
    So the Beast and the Beast saw a fair bit of progress, but the real modelling will have to start on the two of them soon, at least with the 7F I can hide the bad modelling under a lot of weathering, but for the Princess........

     
    The fact that I seemed to make a little progress, rather than acting as a warning spurred me onto to look at the other locomotives in the production queue and the Work Bench of DOOM waited for the ideal moment to strike. While I did a little work on the Prince of Wales tank the Work Bench sat there watching and waiting.

     
    Sensing the ideal moment the Work Bench pounced, one of the little effect from my condition is that I often get cramps/spasms/tremors in various parts of my body but more annoyingly in my hands, and today it happened as I was moving a craft knife.

    It could have been a lot worst, but after applying intentionally this time a large amount of superglue to my fingers to stem the jets of blood, and having picked up my 12 severed fingers, I noticed two things. One is my blood is remarkably similar to LMS crimson, which is handy being an LMS modeller and two it has better coverage than some of the paints I have in stock

    Still the Flatiron has seen its construction advance a little, pity I already have a fully lined crimson in the collection, and this one is supposed to be in black. So before I reattached my fingers I thought I would tidy up the Work Bench of DOOM, and clean the blood splatters up from the carpet before the DO found out, and because I was a little bored.

    So before I lose any more body parts I think I will put off any modelling for a while, at least until my fingers grow back, they will grow back won't they? As ever Happy Modelling
  25. paulprice

    Sad news

    By paulprice,

    This is Tim, the Domestic Overlord. Paul died last Wednesday. I wasn't in the right frame of mind to come on and post this before. We were together for a long time, and I know just how much he loved modelling and loved being able to get things just as he wanted them. I'd like this blog to stay up here if that's okay by the administrators.
×
×
  • Create New...