Ian H C

I get most of my acrylics stuff, Vallejo, AK, Mig etc from eModels.co.uk. The basic acrylics are not expensive, and of course we only need a limited palette of  black, brown, grey, dirt. Emodels today - Humbrol enamel tinlets £1.89 vs AK acrylics at £2.07, Vallejo acrylics at £2.21.  They're a whole lot easier to use than enamels as well. Once you've tried acrylics of this type I'd be surprised if you stay with enamels for very long. The oils can be any artists oils, some have finer pigment than others. You'll only need three of four oils. I use Abteilung 502 oils and solvents, again from tank world. I'm quite freestyle using the different types one over the other. Never had and problems with reaction or incompatibility. 

For a whole load of technical info and inspiration check out the AK Interactive website. I guess tanks and trains don't usually mix but there's a lot we can learn from our military modelling pals.

And thank you for the range of chassis Mr Newitt. Long awaited and much appreciated. You've no idea how liberating it is to simply dump the whole Parkside chassis sprue in the bin and lay some perfect etchings on the bench (or maybe you do). Got a load of hoppers and vans to build next. Don't suppose you fancy doing similar for 7mm one day?

I wish you success. I think just surviving for another year might be a bigger challenge for us all now the lunatics are running the asylum. Heads down, keep modelling. At least it isn't making then world any worse.

Well that's different and interesting.

Just a thought - with those early locomotives with no mass and hardly any driving wheels, and whitemetal rolling stock, isn't tractive effort a bit of a challenge?

Well, congratulations! who'd have thought that started out as a Lima prairie?

Does he now? A Bradwell 21 ton body for a Parkside chassis. and Rumney now does a 21t chassis for the Parkside body. I wonder...

It's a funny thing wonky track work. One of my interests is industrial railways. I remember Iain Rice's track modelling advice in one of his books 'look at a good photo of your prototype track and model what you see'. I've found it more or less impossible to model track work with as many kinks, dog legs and dips as typical industrial track work. Check out NCB in South Wales - Dave's Honley Tank dog leg is modest by comparison. If that's not maintained to main running line standards then it's not unknown. Leave it in Dave, it has character!

Third photo colouring of sleepers? Mostly by accident. And a bit of Photoshop. Old timber tends to grey, and old sleepers do too when the creosote is leached out. They are C&L plastic sleepers. They are moulded with a representation of wood grain but I though it appropriate to add a bit more texture, so scraped the surface with some very coarse abrasive paper. Painted a basic mid grey and then I thought I'd be clever and apply some shading by airbrush. Wasted a lot of time spraying delicate shades of this and that before realising it wasn't worth the trouble. Fortunate accident came with the second attempt at the darker ballast. I'd given up being precious about the sleepers and just blasted on the unholy mixture of PVA, black powder paint and gritty sprinkles. On wiping the ballast mixture off the top of the sleepers I found the black had penetrated the abraded wood grain marks and the patina of grime added a silvery grey effect. Good result by accident. Oh, and I pumped up the contrast a bit on Photoshop to make it look more dramatic and gritty. 

Yes 7mm is addictive. I'm a long time 4mm modeller and fancied a go at 7mm. Doesn't take much to get you hooked it seems. Having dipped proverbial toe with MMP 1/108 kit I've decided against reasonable caution and restraint and I'm planning the MOK 8F in S7 as my first loco project. Head first. 

The brickwork. Yeah, the b****y brickwork. There's a story for another blog entry...

Nice work Mr Barry O. Y'know the photos might show them off better without the strong backlighting. Or just open up a stop or so?

That's rather brilliant. Congratulations.

Dimpling the end with a punch is clever. Note taken - thanks.

Generally available? Dunno.I wouldn't have a problem with that in principle. I'm thinking of modelling up a few things I have in the 'difficult box'.  I get some parts I can't buy or practically make by other means, Modelu gets something to sell for no investment, other folk get access to otherwise unobtainable parts. Win - win -win? But that's for Mr Modelu to decide.

Looks ideal to me. When can I move in?

Hi Alan,

Sometimes the facial features are exaggerated a little on miniatures to give them 'character'. Easy to overcook it though. I don't actually think it's an issue at this scale, bit I'll be interested to see how the separate face scan works out. I'm also starting to model in 7mm and a figure that size will be a proper miniature modelling job. There will be an order in the Modelu inbox sometime soon.

Kind of by the way - looking forward to the brake van spring and axle box sample. That project will probably end up on here too!

Thanks Adam. They're lovely. Envy.....

I hadn't thought about fixing the firebox. That simplifies things somewhat.

I really like the Bagnall, but after the Hunslet 15" there's a couple of Brassmasters Austerities to build. Oh, and a Judith edge Hunslet diesel hydraulic. And then a Judith edge Sentinel. That lot'll get me to retirement, then I'll have time for a Bagnall. Maybe.

Horsetan? That wouldn't be Mr Tan from a few years ago on Scaleforum by any chance? Aficionado of horses and old BMWs? Just wondering.

I guess that's part of the nature of these cottage industries. I can think of plenty of things I should have acquired back in the day that no longer exist. The learning is to buy it while you can. And over-buying helps some of the marginal small suppliers to stay interested.  I was skint back then, not so much now, although a renewed interest in 7mm might edge me towards bankruptcy. I have a lifetime's worth of projects in boxes under the bed already (and I made the bed somewhat higher off the floor than is normal in order to stash more modelling clutter underneath!). The other approach is to acquire the skills to make everything you need - and I'm not there yet. Still need to master artwork for etching.

1whitemoor - thanks for the hint. I'll model up the Loadhaulers when I get a chance and post a screenshot. 

Good on you pal ! We all benefit from the work volunteers put in on these projects.

Well, I have an old Exactoscale RSU. It isn't essential, but it does make some jobs much easier. Since you ask, I didn't use the RSU for the brakes. I followed Bradwell's advice and used a couple of the pins in a block of wood to locate the laminations, then soldered with a simple 25W iron. Thanks for kind comments on brake gear - I did my 4mm brake gear apprenticeship the hard way - on Mike Clark's Masokits etches. Once you can command the mental toughness and dexterity to build Masokits stuff neatly everything else is easy(ish). 

DJP - not aiming to enter into a discussion, but please don't think I'm being too critical. Ive thoroughly enjoyed the exercise. I enjoy building more than running so for me it was money well spent - good value. I'll be back to shop again soon. I need a 7mm locomotive next, and guess what, I'm a fan of the class 08. Back in stock soon I hope.

Like a lot of modellers I hoard stuff. I have a big pot of 0.45mm brass lace pins from way back when I thought they'd be difficult to find. Wasn't a problem!

Hi Graham, thanks for the comment. Ignorance speaks...what's a PM?

S'pose. But there are enough photos of cloth cappies from the 30s and 40s, and even earlier, building wooden wagons and other routine railway hardware. There's probably enough politics, minutes of the Ideal Stock Committee and variation in the story of 1/108 and all its predecessors and variants to make a decent book. There are books about single locomotive classes, why not the iconic 1/108? Wild Swan following this blog? Anybody? Wonder if there's a market making 12" to 1ft scale replicas for preservation lines? Maybe I'm in the wrong job.

Oh yes! I missed that. Thanks Grumpy. Hope there's enough left for the top doors now!

What software are you using to model the building? That's some 3D model. 

No metallurgist. Mechanical engineer. I'm really enjoying this build, and it's probably because it's more like an engineering project than 4mm. It's taken about 25 years of soldering apprenticeship to get here. But thanks for your kind comments; flattery always works. If I recall, your soldering ain't so bad either Mr Grumpy. My super power is that I'm quite shortsighted naturally. I wear contact lenses for 'real life' stuff, otherwise specs. And when I take the specs off I have excellent close vision. Laser surgery to correct short sight is fashionable these days, but my modelling would be sunk if I did that.

And I've got some useful ideas off your blog too - high five - mutual backslapping - etc!

You're a more accurate solder wizard than me I guess! I'm sure if I tried to slide the bearings in and solder them I'd struggle to get the 1.2mm offset accurate. Maybe I'll try that next time.  I figure I can't get it wrong (much) with spacers. Mine are soldered, there's just not much solder showing.

The springs. I did get them to work nicely at 125g, but it took some sorting out. There's a mammoth blog entry coming up soon that covers the springs. Again, I've no experience of 7mm so I was assuming that for consistency I ought to have all the rolling stock of comparable weight. I can calculate the weight I'd need to get a decent deflection on the springs (say 1mm), it's bonkers. You'd need a 9F just to nudge a few wagons round the yard. Reinforced concrete baseboards anybody?

Sure, that's the plan. I'm interested in the time taken myself. I think I'm quite efficient when I'm on the job. Easily distracted though. Time passes. I never have any idea how long things took. Then again it's starting to sound like ...'planning' ... which feels a bit like...'work'. 8-[