Tricky

The first time I made it out for a coffee with my wife we ended up sitting next to this advertisement... Helpful. I had to smile...

A smelly corner of Monk's Gate.

The Johnster put me on to this thread through his post over on the MRJ 256 thread in the magazines section. I was posting over on the MRJ thread because a letter of mine got published in the mag about my recent experiences with a nervous breakdown. All I can say, which I said in the letter, but will repeat here is that it is a minor miracle that in the depths of my illness the only thing I could do was modelling and posting on here. I will also reiterate that you are all a fantastic lot and the encouragement I got spurred me on to do the best modelling I have ever done. Apart from one time I remember having to wait a few days before tackling some fiddly lettering because my hands wouldn't stop shaking! For me though, the distraction was key and I could, for a few moments, be absorbed in something creative that took my mind off the outside world which at the time would literally scare me sh**less. I don't say that lightly either...

What's Issue 0 worth...?!

I got my Midland gas lamps from Duncan Models. They do others as well.

No-one's died.

I love MRJ, always have. As a previous poster said, if it appears that nothing grabs the attention instantly, it usually does later on. I feel quite a loyalty towards it like an old friend. On another note, thanks Jerry for including my letter. Richard, Not so disgusted of Tunbridge Wells

I've carried out a slight revision...

Morning all! I have taken the plunge in setting up my own website, www.monksgate.co.uk. The idea behind this is partly to chart the progress of the build of Monk's Gate and partly to hopefully start selling some of the items I have developed for the layout, namely artwork for the packing crates, cases and boxes. I also intend to be able to supply maple blanks for you to either print yourself, or ready printed. Other items in the pipeline are wagon number plates printed with the number you require and street names, also printed to your specification. I'm also open to suggestions or commissions if I'm able. The website is still very much in its infancy and it's surprising how much time is required in order to get it up and growing, but steady as she goes! Thanks for all your encouragement since I joined RMWeb, you're a great bunch! Regards, Richard PS Andy Y has given his kind permission for me to post this and update my signature.

How can this be a model...??!! Quite superb.

Ah yes... to clarify, the tube will be cut into sections the width of the hinge knuckle. The photo shows the prongs fitted to a length of tube for convenience of soldering. Once chopped up, the individual prongs of the knuckles will be glued into the holes in the solebar. The pin of each hinge will be formed by two short pieces of rod bent at right angles; one end locating in the knuckle, the other into a hole in the face of the solebar, as per the prototype. Not a fiddle at all...!!

Right, after the first attempt at making the hinges to go at the bottom of the door, I had to abandon this first effort and start again in the other side...! Best laid plans and all that. The first side will be glued back in place. Basically to spare you all the sad details, I tried to make the hinges from very thin-walled brass tube with bits of wire soldered to them; so far so good. Then I foolishly thought I could drill holes at an angle into the sides and glue them in. Where this excellent theory fell down was not being able to drill consistently and also once I had actually managed to sort-of fix them in, they didn't protrude out enough which would have meant the door wouldn't drop! Fundamental to the plan really. So, I started again on the second side and made a few alterations as follows: I didn't cut off quite as much detail from the side once it was separated from the rest of the body. I drilled very carefully directly into the bottom edge of the side, as this photo. Next, I soldered 4 'prongs' to the side of thicker-walled tubing. These prongs fit into the holes and mean that they hopefully stand out far enough to allow the door to drop. This last photo isn't particularly clear but is meant to show one of the prongs tried in a hole to see if it fits. It does, and I think protrudes forward enough, although the bottom rail on the wagon will need to be cut away to clear the prong. Until next time, when all being well, I will have the door working, and can commence other detailing bits and bobs...

Those photos are simply stunning.

Good to hear from you Wenlock. I've missed your blog updates as yours were the main ones I would draw inspiration from when I was a 'lurker'. Hope Sherton Abbas is still progressing...

Hi Gary, post 155 of Midland in London refers, but briefly entails drawing in Autocad or similar, printing with a laser printer back to front and transferring onto the surface (in this case plasticard) by wetting with nail varnish remover and pressing down hard. Loads of fun and very versatile. I have been replacing most of the previously hand-written signs on Monk's Gate with this method, and am considering having a go at builder's plates, water tank capacity plate and a smokebox number plate for the half-cab. Wagon number plates are also a distinct possibility but I'm getting a bit carried away and off-topic...!

This blog will chart the progress of making the water tower for Monk's Gate. It is a combined water tower and engine shed similar to the one that was at Olney. Construction of the base follows conventional methods of a ply/mdf box. One face, end and inside opposite face will be seen so this cuts down the amount of brickwork to scribe into Das modelling clay! I'm not sure how construction of the panels for the water tank itself will pan out. These first two photos show the position and progress made so far. The windows have just been roughly drawn on the sides to see how they look. This next photo shows the tank panels which I have drawn on Autocad, printed out and stuck on to see how they look. At the moment my thinking is to transfer the drawings onto plasticard using the nail varnish remover method to then act as a guide to build up the detail of the panels again using plasticard. I imagine this will be quite tedious...! I am also giving a bit of thought to the windows. In various photos these appear to be of the 'Crittal' style metal windows. The frames of these are actually quite deep and will need to be made from something thicker than paper or plasticard strip. We shall see... I took this photo looking through the water tower, and now I'm wondering about a fully detailed interior... is this possible, am I mad and any ideas where prototype info might be had...?! ...and here's the photo I hope!

Thanks for the encouragement Mikkel, although I haven't done it yet...!

That's alright- not much to hijack yet...!

'The shop'....? How intriguing...do tell...

Hi Chris, I too read the editorial and was prompted to write a letter about my very recent experiences of a full-blown nervous breakdown. I'm glancing hopefully at the letter box to see if it gets printed in 256...! All I can say is that my railway provided a haven of peace and security when everything else in my life was upside down. But hopefully if my letter gets published you can read all about it! Of course it's not the only way to recover but it certainly helps if only for the distraction benefits. Best regards, Richard

So, this is the first entry in my new blog. I have decided to create this blog to run along side my forum subject 'Midland in London' (although it's in Birmingham - long story!). I hope to be able to chart the progress of various projects in the on-going build of Monk's Gate and have chosen this little 3-Plank open to start with. I bought the model already built from EBay. The standard of build was quite low but this suited me fine as there is to be a bit of butchering going on. The plan is to be able to lower one side and position the wagon from time to time in the loading dock and show it being either loaded or un-loaded, and then be able to fix the side back up for running in a train. I'm not too sure yet how I will do this quite so this blog will entail a bit of suck it and see. So this first photo is of the wagon pretty much as it came to me. I've removed the wheels and sawn off the side. Next, planks have been scribed and end detail scribed onto the side and ends of the wagon. All redundant detail of the catches has also been removed. Next job will be to represent the hinges. I anticipate making these from brass tube and wire and pinning them into the side for strength.

Mr Knight, the yard manager doesn't look very happy about something- I think the commotion Rusty is trying to cause with Ned woke him up.

Ah yes, I see that now...thank you. Will have to consider a slight alteration perhaps...!

I put this photo over on the 'How realistic are your models' thread but thought I'd post it here as well...a few crates, boxes and wicker baskets await sorting in the Monk's Gate yard.

My latest offering, a few crates and boxes stacked in Monk's Gate yard.