johnteal

Tonight was probably my last chance to escape to the shed this week so I made the most of it ! Things are going well, I would say "to plan" but that would suggest I have a plan! Note that I am leaving the cabs for the time being as they are more Tricky Oh and say hello to "pointing man" he is back supervising Yes the class 20 in a couple of the shots is OO, just to give you an idea of how giant this is !!

This is the beast in full length, The chassis are complete and work has started cutting the side panels the first pair of panels are seen lying on the bench . The McDonalds milkshake cup gives a bit of perspective. This second shot shows a pair of panels in position Last shot first panel stuck in place

Huge is perhaps the correct definition , around 3' 6" both units connected !

Its been a while since I have had an urge to model, but after a trip on our new metrolink tram from Oldham to Manchester I started thinking ............ Of course, never one to do things by halves, my chosen scale is 1:24 (G) I dont plan to have complete internals as I need all the integral cross braces as I can get at this size. If all goes to plan there will be limited details from seat level up, with everything below seat base hidden with a coat of matt black. I couldn't find any plans but did get a pretty useful picture from google that I have blown up to match the tram Overall length and height I found on line. The picture I am using is a pretty good representation having spent several hours trawling online pictures of the units. I still have some sections I have know idea how to tackle but will as always make it up as I go along !!

Over the past few weeks since the last post I have been stealing odd moment to go to the shed and work on the section of the layout in front of the sector plate A new platform was constructed using a length of 3" x 2" timber with a 6mm ply top on it. The front of the timber was faced with plasikard stone affect. Next up a ramp to the left and a section of platform across the end of the line. Below is a view from under the footbridge that shows the curve Then a second ramp to the front of the line, graded to allow vehicular access. this ramp is made from a block of Balsa All the platform tops painted with railmatch Concrete colour The platforms were marked out with pencil to replicate 3' x 2' flags Each flag was brush painted with matt magnolia emulsion to give some variety A bit more of the magnolia done Then magnolia across the end Step back for a context shot pointing man "mind the gap" Tarmac laid (OO cinders) Once dried the tarmac was sanded down to lighten to high spots and flatten off a bit A view from under the bridge, siding empty. A view from under the bridge, siding with one wagon Edges whitewashed

Thanks Mozzer and Mikkel... As for Pointing Man .... he's as critical as ever !

With a bit of spare time I decided to tackle ballasting the second base board half. I have been using what woodland scenics, describe as "Fine" When its this big there is no point messing with an eyedropper.. So its get a half full bottle of PVA and top it up with water and a dash of Fairy Liquid Prior to ballasting I had decided to reduce the amount of track in front of the fiddle yard, so the point work has gone and its a single line siding now.It just needs extending a little as I ran out of track. Under the footbridge the ballasting extends up to the traverser Look who is back !! Pointing Man is home from his ship building holidays. "Too much PVA here mate !" Thought I would take a gratuitous 25 picture The suburban is too big for inside ! More updates to follow

thank you

Having got the layout dusted off (see last post) thought I would give a loco a run in the garden... I don't think our Cockapoo puppy is knows what to make of it ! If only I could remember how to embed a YouTube clip !!

Pointing man has been on his holidays building a fishing trawler at my dads house.. He is coming back

After a long break and a sudden urge to spring clean the shed... I have dug out from the back my 45mm indoor module. Its an 8' by 21" layout in a BIG scale ! It has been the subject of previous entries on this blog, and hopefully over the next few weeks will be the subject again... As long as there is an interest of course Above is a view from center to left, Below a view from center to right. Beyond the footbridge is a hidden sector plate, in front of the sector plate is a small visible spur To give you an idea of size the last picture shows the OO line that circles the shed above it...

Thought some of you may be interested in the near finished Maggie M trawer I have been working on. The video of her maiden voyage can be found here

Its not trains but I am moonlighting, doing a bit of boat modelling between the garden railways. As i posted a link to my dads trawler here are some details of my build.. Two Saturdays ago my Dad and I took a trip over to Barnsley to pick up a model kit of a fishing trawler. He had very kindly ordered and paid for it as a present to me. We picked it up the manufacturer, Model Slipway which is a small husband and wife cottage industry. The kits are made in a series of large sheds, portakabins and a garage in the back garden. It is composed of a fibre glass hull, several large sheets of flat plastic with parts either printed or engraved on, and hundreds of tiny metal castings. Also included are a set of full size engineering drawings and a thick instruction manual. Their porakabins are full of racks containing thousands of little hand cast fittings that they cast themselves. The kits are hand made up of all the required parts to order. When you consider how labour intensive the manufacture and putting together of each kit is you realise that they are not overly priced. Click on one of the two pictures above and look at the detail. I made a start with the first item on the list.. A stand, this isn't included but is made by marking out a supplied paper template on a piece of plywood. You need the stand to have somewhere to sit the hull ! Next up.. have a good read of the instruction manual to learn how the rudder and propeller shaft fit. This is always a tense moment as it involves drilling holes in the bottom of the hull. Every hole is a potential leak ! Not good at reading technical drawings, this is probably not the hobby for you ! What you see above ends up looking like this below. Inside the boat the propeller shaft and rudder can be seen below and then in the second picture a wooden block has been stuck in to mount the electric motor on. With the 6v motor screwed in place, we have a form of propulsion It will probably take several months to construct as its not quite as simple as an Airfix kit. When finished it should look like this.... The kit is a scale model of a real Shelter Deck sea trawler, that can be seen operating out of Scarborough. I probably wont clutter up RMweb with boat posts but if you are interested you can follow along with my external blog RJRdaydreamer

For those of you that have followed this blog for a while you will know of my star assistant "pointy man" he at one time had quite a following on the tinternet. He is currently on a work placement at my Dads house to oversee the construction of a fishing trawler in his scale ( he can criticise in multi disciplines ) Pop over and pay him a visit on my Dads blog if you get a spare minute. Ok its not railways but he is an excellent modeller. One man and his Dog

The Latest video is

Video of them in action John

As the country is battered by storms, it seems today Oldham has been spare the weather today. Never one to pass up a chance I ran some trains. I was almost looking forward to running in the rain but that chance will present itself soon enough ! A video with some close shots can be found

I still haven't worked out posting a video on here so its a link to my blog for the video I'm afraid. I think its worth it though Sunshine in the Garden

Its taken a couple of days but I have finally edited together some footage of 3 loco's, including class 20 and 25 travelling around the newly bedded track in the garden. Try as I may, I cant work out how to embed a YouTube clip here, so I am afraid you need to click the link to view it on YouTube

The relaying of outdoor track was completed yesterday, between the showers John Ps Also got some sailing in ..

Its been a while since I have posted on here. In the past months I have been sat in more traffic jams in and around Oldham and Ashton-under-Lyne than I care to count. The only plus side, the jams are caused by metro link and I have been watching them lay track and do all the associated ground works. Not really a massive plus point, but its better than sat with nothing of interest to look at. So a combination of Summer coming, seeing track being laid and popping in and out of the shed to collect R/C boats, made me think. I had to make a decision what to do with my garden line. The choice... Rip it up and forget it or refurbish it..... I decided to refurbish. Here are a couple of pictures, there are more on my blog Before ... After.... More pictures on my blog HERE and updates to follow...

Nice to know the bridge had some life after the layout