BlackRat

One of the Kernow Shops new limited Cornish Boxes, very nice indeed and certainly miles better than one I scratchbuilt about 15 years ago! Lets hope they do some dries next! Modular of course with some nice other bits like huts, chimneys etc. imagine how many min space layouts that would start off!

Inspired my Mr Nevard, been fiddling with my own (!) new camera. If only I was half as good, still here are a few I prepared ealrier lol.......... Preparing for the road mk1 Clear road ahead! Almost fresh from the works, D7039 is backing up to its train, before the early afternoon run to Exeter.

Chris, likewise! And still got ALL the choccy cake and biscuits to! Look forward to seeing the results, hope the Capn didn't lead you to far from the beaten tracks! Will see you all being well in April. Thanks again for what was a highlight! A great day indeed! :D Cheers!

Geoff, thats AAAnnnzzzuuummmm! and yes, another (final probably) installment in MR with luck, hopefully some time later this year. And then...................well who knows, as I dont! Hope all's well with the club and bike! N

What a day! Had Chris Nevard here today taking pics of the layout. Had a blind panic last couple of days as I realised how much still needed to be done! Chris is a top man though and it was well worth the effort. A first though was actually weathering stock moments before he took some of the pictures and with the models still wet! Things were that close. I cant wait to see what he has done, his work is exemplary but in the meantime here are a couple more of the new bits, and yes, they were tweaked again beofre Chris's arrival! A view up Station Road.

Ron, might seem like a daft question, can you get all your modelling bits and pieces in Spain?

I was going to post few days ago to say how I liked the cut down loco's, brilliant idea. My regret is that I didnt. Keith, RIP, a loss to the hobby and my condolences to your family.

Another of the reworked area's...... The loco is a Silver Fox Baby Warship, now running on a Bacchy class 20 chassis, yup I know its wrong but am awaiting the Dapol model so there's little point doing anymore work on this one (for now!). It originally ran on a chopped up and double motored Hornby class 29, but a nice gent from DEMU pointed me in the direction of the class 20. Bubbles on here has a superb example of what you can do to the Silver Fox jobby when you put the time in, unlike my version! The clay hoods, are scratchbuilt and there's 15 or so of them. The lane was still being worked on, as was the 'wooded' area behind, see the lumberjacks have been at work there!

Chris......I shouldn't moan (well I dont) but its funny how you soon fill the space available. The layout has ended up like nothing it started out to be, the original plan being to have a station type awning over it all, with hidden lighting, backscene painted onto wall and a higher baseboard! No idea how we ended up where we are, impatience I think! Still fingers crossed I get to reach retirement from the plod (its currently being forced upon us) and off we go again! I will (try) to go back to the original concept and keen to explore helix's dropping down to hidden storage roads so in effect the layout will become a U shaped (sort of) dog bone with a through station perhaps something like Otterham, Camelford etc or..................Wadebridge! By doing it this way and 'folding' the layout it will give a run of about24' to 26' with the sidings approx 15" below the main boards. Well, thats the sort of loose plan anyway!

A mere 12' ish by 8'. Not a huge amount of space but its in its own dedicated layout room so I cant complain at all. Always could use anohter inch or so tho (wonder where I have heard that before!!). Its amazing what you can do with the space to, still never enough tho!

A few more of the weathered cranes........ Kept me busy for a few hours if nothing else!

Chris, this one was a coincidenece but I will take soem and post them! See the difference!

Thought you might like to see something a little different, with respect to some very nice books out there!.............. Carrick Road, then and now! This picture shows the layout when it first appeared in Model Rail, showing the dries and harbour area. The same view as we see it today! (llthough we appear to have gone back in time!). There was also an intermediate phase with a large fish warehouse, but I cant find any pics of that! The key between the two piccies is the track furthest away. The station building stands roughly where the rocky outcrop thingy used to be, not sure if anything else is the same!

A retired colleague (cheers Dave!) brought a 'bag of bits' over recently and "Could I paint them?" ........ and of course he meant a re paint and or weather. So had a bit of a go using the new (well new to me) Modelmates weathering spray dye. Took a little getting used to, but I think the cranes sort of look ok ish. I did some fine work with the airbrush and just a little dry brushing but highly reccomend them.

Not to sure how this would turn out, since this was taken there's been a lot more weathering and detail added. Yes I know the loco is out of date, just added it as it was the first green loco to hand, ....again lots more tweakaing been done around this bit. Been weathering to..........

The prob with UV pens is the fact that unfortunately, the ink can be removed. On the inside of the loco, be it pen or label is ideal. The main thing is for the Police to be able to identify your lost or stolen property. Unless it is unique (and you have evidence that it is yours) or has a serial number etc the chances of getting anything back are slim. So if we do recover any of your valuable items we know where to look and we can get them back to you. Just inform us if you have the misfortune to suffer from a crime. That info is then circulated, including the property office and should any come in, hopefully we can re-unite you. If you are not looking to resell your stock, then you can 'engrave' your postcode etc with a pyrogravure, soldering iron or whatever underneath the model. As MAx says, anything is better than nothing. I cant tell you how much stuff we have, literally millions of pounds worth of recovered property that we cant return. Fingers crossed it wont happen to you, but lets improve your chances of getting your stock back if it does.

Following from another thread where valuable stock has been stolen, some of you may find the following of use, the Police certainly will. To EVERYONE OF YOU HERE..................If you already haven't: 1. Get a UV pen (your Neighbourhood Team will be able to supply you) and write your post code and house number UNDERNEATH your items of stock. 2. Get a cheap labeller (Lidls this week for a few quid) and do same re postcode and place INSIDE loco bodies etc. They will sit nicely inside the roof space etc. 3. Think about Smartwater or some other 'tagging' fluid. 4. If its in the garage/shed etc get a security light fitted, decent locks to British standard and even a small portable IR movement alarm, mine cost about a tenner and runs off a 9v battery. 5. If its kit built, scratch built, altered, weathered etc, well a picture speaks a thousand words, so take some! Your local Neighbourhood Team can again help with security advice. If you have anything of particular value, again notify the team and make them aware, get to know them and get a local number. Time is valuable and you can short cut the system if you know how! Make a list of ALL items that are marked, tagged coded etc and keep it in a safe place. You can do the same with wagons, vans (under the roof) coaching stock, controllers, buildings etc, it all adds up, most of you have hundreds if not thousands of pounds worth of valuable equipment and stock at home. Try to keep the boxes seperate. I cant promise you will get stock back if stolen, but we have property stores with literally tons of goods which we cant return as we have no idea who they belong to! Its amazing what we have, from patio heaters to valuable paintings, from rare coins to model railway items! We did have some gorgeous Aster locos etc, had them in store for ages, no idea where they came from, they weren't (in this force) reported lost or stolen. With no tag, they are usually disposed of, and I cant t ell you how sad that is! I personally seized a quantity of boxed OO and N during a drugs warrant, obviousloy stolen. The rascal hadn't a clue as to what they were so I seized them as possible stolen items. I couldn't id the owner and no reports so the worse thing....... we have to give the property back! its virtually impossible to indentify the owner of unidentifiable property!

keep it coming! Keep it coming!

Gonzo and Ruston, was flicking through and actually thought both were real. Top quality, who needs to worry about the future of the hobby when we are turning layouts out like these!