Sunday 30 October 2011

December 2011 Model Rail

December 2011 Model Rail (163) is about to hit the shelves; this issue is particularly action packed and also features a DVD produced by Tele Rail of Model Rail Live (featuring Brewhouse Quay in action).
  • The Big Picture
  • News
  • Build your free clay hoods
  • Competition
  • Reviews
  • Layout: St Merryn
  • The Cornwall look
  • Layout:Lynton
  • South for Sunshine
  • All's 'well' that ends well
  • Layout:Carrick Road
  • Layout:Tintagel Road
  • Exhibition diary
  • Workbench: Maintain a motor
  • Workbench: Servicing essentials
  • Workbench: Make a Cornish Hedge
  • Workbench: All 'Sheds' great and small
  • Workbench: Building Combe Mill
  • Backscene 
  • Next Issue
More about Model Rail and subs here.

Friday 28 October 2011

It's all about me!

This post is all about me; it's not often that one gets ones name on the cover of a magazine so I feel quite justified in shouting about it.

MJ-bladet is a rather nicely produced Norwegian model railway magazine which showcases the very best in Scandinavian railway modelling, and unlike the UK model railway press has an eager audience for model railways from outside their own country.

In the UK for some some reason whenever a British model railway mag features anything across the pond, the editorial teams get hunted down and viciously threatened by middle aged soap-dodgers who still live 'with mother' and refuse to believe that railways exist anywhere else in the world. This is a tad odd, because railway exhibitions frequently have guest layouts from the other side of the channel that draw an appreciative audience. Sadly though, these same people don't want to see continental modelling in print, however good gracing the pages of the mainstream UK modelling press.

Anyway, this post is unashamedly all about ME, so whether you like it or not I'm going to tell you all about why my name is on the cover! Back in the spring, Practical Photography magazine asked me to write a short article on photographing toy chuff chuffs as well as showing off some of my more recent better pieces of photography.

Unlike in the UK, where we only have the command of 'Office English', 'US English' and to a lesser degree now those early evening soaps have all but vanished 'Oz English'; in Norway there is a market for magazines not only in the mother tongue, but also the English language Practical Photography being sold in many Norwegian newsagents for those that are proficient in 'MTV English'. Despite this worthy UK export, toy chuffs chuffs in a photography magazine is likely to miss its key readership in Norway (and in the UK for that matter), so the top chaps of the MJ-bladet editorial team sought permission to reproduce the article. And what a cracking job they've done, the reproduction is spot on and the design very simple, stylish and only using big bold imagery. They have also used a couple of extra shots not seen in the original article which adds another dimension.

OK, that's it, I've blown my own trumpet enough with this BLOG post, so much so that I might not be able to get through the door later due my briefly over-inflated ego! I'm sure though it will soon be deflated with a barrage of private hate-anything-that-isn't-British-emails from those dreaded soap-dodgers that are always first in the queue at model railway exhibitions.

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Steady progress and a name at last!

I've had a rather busy week out snapping other people's model railways and taking care of the airwaves for a minority satellite TV sports channel. I have however shoe-horned a little time to carry on with the 'Cornish Project' which now has a name in the form of 'Polbrock' which is one of the places the Bodmin to Wadebridge line passed through. I'm not going to be too specific on the history, that way I'll hopefully avoid being nobbled by all the 'model railway experts' who've never even pinned a length of set track to an old door.

As you can see from the snap, the track is now down and wired up. The scenic basics are now taking shape, the not too obvious curved perimeter will allow for the curved backscene to fit between the edge of the layout and the diorama box the tiny little layout will sit inside when finished.

The backscene has been created, well electronically anyway from various bits of West Country photographic imagery, and is now a 4ft x 1ft 300 dots per inch PDF ready for the local printers to print off onto a suitable material as with Catcottt Burtle. No Peco-Disneyesque 3 inch high backscene here, time really has moved on with the advent of the home computer, high street repro houses and commercial printers that will print anything on to anything for a few sovs.

Since the above snap was taken the siding has been ballasted and the scenic sub base built up with tissue paper dipped in PVA coated in coloured plaster.

Jobs still to do...
  • Ballast the through line 
  • Complete the fiddle/staging yards 
  • Finish the presentation diorama box with backscene and built in lighting 
  • Ground colour 
  • Scratch-build 2 buildings for the scenic break behind the camera (pub/old barn) 
  • Scenics

Monday 17 October 2011

Count Down to Wycrail!

nevard_111016_catcott_IMG_1527_WEB by nevardmedia
nevard_111016_catcott_IMG_1527_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

The excellent Wycrail in High Wycombe is in just under 3 weeks on Saturday 5 November, and this year I've been invited to take Catcott Burtle along for the day.

Metal chewing cats helping to wire up a layout, maybe they
 should have been  callled Jaws and Fang?

'CB' is all ready to go, so there's no midnight oil to burn, which will make a nice break fom the norm, but I do need to finish repairing an ex-LSWR lattice signal post that one of the cats chewed the top off. I don't know why, white metal and brass hardly makes a tasty snack even for cats I wouldn't have thought, but I'm no cat so what do I know? Still, I've managed to get the signal into the right shape again and it now works, it just needs the replacement finial fitting in place, ably supplied by the excellent Wizard Models at the recent Scaleforum.

'What's with the class 121 bubble car?' you might ask, well I imagine most are fed up seeing the usual steam trains in photos of the layout, so I dug out this conversion of a Lima 2 car unit I performed back in the early 1980's when the real thing was still running (actually it still is on the Colne Valley Railway). W55033 portrayed, was a regular on the Bridport branch in the line's latter years and was probably my reason for choosing that number seeing we lived in the area for a short time in the 1970's.

Click for more about Wycrail
It actually looks the part, but of course the Highbridge - Evercreech line shut in March 1966, but imagine if the line had remained open to Glastonbury to serve the Clarks shoe factory and to transport revellers to Glastonbury Festival in June?  

Sunday 16 October 2011

Model Railway Photography


60026 arrives at Cement Quay Old Wharf with a
and empty short rake of MFA high sided box
wagons. The loco will uncouple and run around
the train before propelling it under the screen for
loading. There is no computer Photoshop jiggery
pokery here, the sky is part of the layout painted
onto a nice hight curved backdrop, something that
 is worth considering if you intend to photograph
 your layout alot.
I'm always being questioned about photographing model railways, so here is a 'reprint' from an article I penned for Model Rail July 2008 issue. Cameras have moved on a little since then in that most are capable from producing a good quality A3 print, but the basic rules are the same - 'light it well, keep it still'.

After spending very many hours and money on creating your favourite railway item in miniature, it’s quite likely you’re going to want to record the outcome to share with the friends, on social media, your own website, or of course the model railway press!

The last decade has seen photography change enormously, with mega-pixels & digits replacing film emulsion in this increasingly digital world we live in. This for the casual snapper this has been nothing but a good thing, for now with even the most inexpensive digital camera, what was quite specialist photography is within the grasp of almost anybody.

OK, well, it’s not quite as simple as that, if it was I wouldn’t have written this guide! However, with a few simple rules and easy to grasp techniques, extraordinary good results can be had from the recent breed of high resolution small digital pocket cameras.

Let’s look at some of the key features that spoil good picture:


• Fuzzy?
• Noisy snowy pictures?
• Camera shake?
• Out of focus?
• Badly lit?
• Off colour?
• Too light or too dark?
• Subject too far away?

An out of the box Bachmann 3MT. This has been shot under the
layout's own built in flu lighting which gives nice even illumination.
Despite many manufacturers claiming that, ‘their’ camera will turn you into a brilliant photographer with little effort, some basic techniques and a little understanding of photography will help to give some credibility to their claims though ultimately framing and composition is very much down to the user.

Super fine, fine, ordinary?

Before we take any pictures, we need to be sure that what we record has the potential to be the best quality possible. Always use the finest and biggest – it really does matter! If you’re taking pictures for the printed page, always shoot at the best quality jpeg. The computer screen is quite forgiving, the printed page isn’t. If you’ve leant the camera to the kids or Aunty Mabel, the ‘ordinary’ quality will be fine, after all there’s no point in filling up precious memory with stuff you’ll probably delete anyway (with apologies to any Mabels out there that are top photographers). For serious photography, only ‘Superfine’ (this term may vary depending on camera make) will do. You’ll know when you’ve found it, because it will be the setting that gives you the least number of pictures on your card. Good things come at a price!

Size does matter!

Keep the camera still, the slightest movement
during exposure will spoil the shot
Indeed it does, well in digital photography anyway. Along with ‘superfine’ jpeg just discussed, you need to have the largest picture dimension selected, again as before, the printed page is far less forgiving than the computer screen. Most people have found this out when they try to print a picture from the internet, it looks great on the screen but terrible printed. The terms here are pretty straight forward. ‘L’ meaning ‘large’, ‘M’ for medium & ‘S’ for small. Forget the last two, large is the only option despite what the local pub know-all or salesman down the camera shop might tell you. Again, it’s as before, you know when you’ve found it because it will give you the least number of frames on your memory card!

Noisy snowy pictures?

With the flash turned off when in dark places, you might well find that you get snowy noisy looking pictures? This is because your camera has automatically boosted its sensitivity. Whilst this may be fine for that boozy snapshot down the pub, you probably won’t want to see this effect in your pictures. Check your camera instruction and you should be able to adjust the camera’s ISO, this being the international standard used to rate digital cameras and film’s sensitivity to light. Simply speaking, the lower the number (ISO) the less noisy or grainy the picture will appear. For this reason we need to ideally select the lowest ISO.

Camera shake?

A small bean bag is a great tool. It stops the
camera from damaging the layout and keeps the camera
nice and still

However steady handed you think you are, because we’re photographing something often close up, any movement will be amplified, making the slightest bit of camera shake looking like you took the picture during a 10 plus Richter scale earthquake! A tripod will always be a useful tool, however, if your interest in photography is only passing, understandably it’s unlikely you’ll want to invest in such. There are other options, you could try resting the camera on a cushion or table. A small bag of rice or purpose made bean bag can be very useful (get somebody nifty with a sewing machine or buy a purpose made one), it allowing you to adjust the angle of the camera with little effort.

A nifty trick is to find the camera’s ‘self timer’, that’s the setting you use when you want to do that self portrait whilst on holiday. OK, the idea isn’t that you do a self portrait of you and your favourite piece (well, you can if you like!), use the tool to fire off the camera without touching it – thus reducing the chance of camera shake when the shutter opens. Obviously the camera needs to be supported so that bean bag or bag of rice already mentioned will be ideal!

Out of focus?

Must modern digital cameras will focus very close indeed with their built in auto focus. For real close-ups, you’ll probably need to select ‘macro’ mode, this is often via a button with a ‘tulip’ icon depending on brand of camera. If unsure, check the camera instructions.

Some cameras will allow you to turn the auto focus off. If you have this option, which will again depend on make and model, this will have the advantage of letting you focus exactly where you want to. Another option is to point the camera at the part of the item you want in sharp focus, half press the shutter release (which will set the focus), then with your finger still half pressing the shutter release recompose the shot to the angle you want then fully depress the shutter release. If you’re using the self timer, you can fully press the shutter release button before recomposing, the 10 second delay giving you lots of time.

Mendip is captured mid-take at Catcott during the
making of 'The Return of the Titfield Thunderbolt'
during the late summer of 1956. Of course that's
complete tosh, but I can tell you that the is no computer
addition other than the splirt of smoke from the engine,
 which was added using the 'clouds' filter in Photoshop.
 How do I get more of the picture in focus?

This will again depend on your camera make and model. With many makes, you can set the camera into ‘aperture priority’ mode, this is often displayed as ‘AV’. With this setting you can select a small aperture.

What’s all this small aperture thing? The aperture is an iris much like in ones eye, hold a finger up to your eye and really squint, you’ll notice that you might even be able to see your eyelashes, finger and background all more or less in focus. Choosing a small aperture does the same thing, meaning far more of the picture will be in focus – just what we want! This is known as ‘depth or field’, aperture is normally marked up as numbers, the higher the number, the greater the ‘depth of field’.

Some of the simpler cameras will not let you have any control over aperture or shutter, user changes being via ‘scene modes’ where you select the type of picture you want to take. There are usually modes for ‘sport’, ‘portraits’, ‘landscapes’ fireworks, but sadly no mode for model railway close ups! For this reason you may have a problem getting the camera to select a small aperture for the close ups. However, if you can take your model out side into brighter light, it’s quite likely that the camera’s computer will select a smaller aperture.

If you have yet to buy a small digital camera, and you intend to do quite a bit of model railway photography, it would be a good idea to choose a camera that allows you to have control over the aperture setting.

Badly lit?

You must turn that flash off, direct camera flash doesn’t have a place in our world. Whilst it might be fine for family snaps, it will generally not do our model making any favours, creating flat and quite often washed out pictures with no depth. This can usually be controlled by a button with a ‘lightning’ icon somewhere on the camera.

Getting your subject properly lit, the simplest way, is to take your model outside where the light is good. Overcast and sunshine work well in this respect, both giving different but equally good results.
Another option, especially if photographing a model railway, or using one as a backdrop for an engine or train, is to use the layout’s own lighting. Digital cameras generally have quite good automatic white balance control, which like the eye, should adapt to the lighting on the layout - more on white balance in a moment.

Too light or too dark?

It’s possible that the camera metering is being effected by something very bright or dark within the picture. Photographing a dark engine against a white background or visa versa will do this. Check your camera instructions to see if you can use manual exposure ‘M’ or exposure compensation (often marked as a +/- button).

Off colour?
The resulting photo from the set up below. The computer
smoke is optional of course.

The trick when doing this is to experiment a little, after all, cameras and lighting will vary. Sometimes the automatic white balance will refuse to work as well as you like, when this happens, you might want to experiment with some of the white balance ‘pre sets’, again look at your camera manual. White balance settings are often embedded in one of the menus, and will usually be indicated up with simple icons to reflect the type of light you are trying to balance for. Fluorescent lighting and the new ‘energy saver’ bulbs are the ones most likely to cause issue, due to there being so many different types. Some cameras will also allow you to balance for your specific light using a sheet of white paper in the scene prior to taking pictures.

One thing you cannot do, however clever your camera, is to mix different types of light. Daylight does not mix with tungsten, it being very blue and the latter very orange. The same problem occurs when trying to mix fluorescent lighting which can be very green. Keeping to just one type of light gets around this, the camera can only correct for one type at a time.

What makes a good picture?

Try photographing your trains against a simple back ground.
A large print was used here with the light coming in from the
garden. Note the tin foil to reflect a little light into 
the shadows.
If you’re photographing an item of rolling stock or engine which isn’t on a layout, try to place it in front of a background which isn’t too busy or distracting. Its simplest form can be placing the subject on a length of clean new track in front of a large sheet of curved paper.

Fill the frame, there’s no point in having a picture which needs to be enlarged at a later stage. Rather than zooming into your subject from far way, keep the zoom wide and fill the frame, you will get a more natural perspective.

Make sure your subject is totally dust free – I’m mean totally! The smallest amount of dust or fluff will really spoil a model.
Digital is a great tool, you can analyse the photographic progress as you go along, adjusting brightness, colour and focus then deleting sub standard images and correcting errors as many times as necessary. These cameras can also be very useful for checking progress of model making, sometimes errors and blemishes only show up when you see them on the back of the camera or computer screen. Because the camera is totally unforgiving, it can help us become more critical and better model maker - hopefully!

Useful camera purchase tips
• Buy a camera that has proper ‘aperture priority’, ‘scene modes’ are unlikely to offer enough flexibility.
• 5 mega pixels should be your minimum resolution.
• Mobile phone cameras are no substitute for a proper camera.
• Get a decent sized memory card, the one often supplied is too small when shooting at the highest resolution and picture size.
• Check out camera reviews online prior to purchasing. www.dpreview.com is a favourite, for not only can you download full size image files, you can also compare specs and performance between models.

Sharp tips for sharpshooters
• Fill the frame!
• Keep the camera totally still, rest it on something, tripod, bean bag? Use the ‘self timer’ for hands free operation.
• Select ‘macro’ for close up work.
• Turn that flash off! Light your subject properly, daylight is free and ideal! Experiment with your layout’s own lighting too.
• Check your white balance, ‘auto’ may not always be best – experiment with other settings.
• Use the lowest ISO to minimise noise.
• Always use ‘superfine’ and ‘large’ – size really does matter!
• Get rid of that dust and thumb print on the lens!
• Make sure your subject is clean dust free!

Tuesday 11 October 2011

The Return of the Titfield Thunderbolt

nevard_111011_CatcottB_IMG_1462_WEB by nevardmedia
nevard_111011_CatcottB_IMG_1462_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

It's not generally known, but following on the success of the Ealing Comedy, 'The Titfield Thunderbolt', the iconic Ealing Studios shot a sequel called 'The Return of the Titfield Thunderbolt' in the summer of 1956. The film was released the following summer, but was a complete flop due to the total Americanization of the cast, so sadly the movie has been lost in the mists of time but does occasionally make a secret appearance as a projected 16mm colour print at Lodge meetings in the area.


The film which was shot on the Highbridge Branch of the former S&DJR and used a Sentinel vertical boilered engine borrowed from the Marriott, Foster & Dent Brewery in Bath. The ex GWR 4 wheeled passenger carriage was loaned from British Railways Pontypridd Permanent Way Department and was hastily repainted in BR Carmine for the film. Sadly the carriage caught fire during a take when the on-board still producing 'Mallingford Magical Moonshine' blew up near West Pennard a couple of weeks after this shot was taken.


Ivan Locksmith, as always was around to capture unusual workings on the former S&DJR, and as usual he has posed his latest car in shot, much like his good friend Ivo peters.


If you believe any of the above, you'll believe anything! Catcott Burtle will be at Wycrail on Saturday the 5th of November, so though it best to dig the old girl out for an up and under. And for people that think photography is all Photoshop these days, only the puff of exhaust blowing in the strong south-westerly is.


Here is a bigger version of the above photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/6235222235/sizes/o/in/set-72157612020895249/

There is an alternative


I was just looking through last year's Warley Show photos and spotted a couple of shots that didn't make it into print due to lack of space. The subject to today's random post being that we don't always need to use that popular track system produced in a well known holiday resort - there are other options for those who'd like a break from the norm.

Getting to the point; above and below is just one of those from Tillig - the lack of moulded plastic bits to represent those bits on a real point that are made out of rail is one of the first things to catch my eye. The base is also slightly flexible which allows the point to be bent slightly to fit in with a flowing track layout - this until now has only been possible with hand laid track.


Then there is the tiebar - it's nice and slender and not too far removed from the real thing in looks - no crushed Dalek as seen on many ready-to-lay track systems to spoil the look sitting on top. The movement of switch rails simply rely on the rail flexing, no unsightly knuckle joints to fail electrically once painted. I suppose this is starting to read a little like an advert, but I'm not being paid - this just an observation of other options that don't take one down the hand-built route if that's not ones kind of beer.

 Purists will of course say that the track is H0 and that the sleepers are too close together for OO, and that it conforms to European rather than British practice; but people who know me know that my view of toy chuffs chuffs is that it is the overall effect that counts, and above all if things are well done, a far more satisfying model railway will result over that one that maybe has the 'correct' 1963 vintage flangeway bolts surrounded by shoddy modelling.

From an historic scenario, flat bottomed rail to depict a British railway scene with highly distinctive bullhead rail and chairs is maybe too far removed in looks, but from just after the WW2, Britain's railways started to use flat-bottomed rail for the main running lines, so it is quite suitable for that popular transition era onwards which still interests the bulk of Britain's railway modellers.  And of course there is nothing stopping one from using a length of C+L bullhead flexi track in the sidings where the sleepers are often hidden under a layer of clinker, thus hiding the sleeper size and spacing differences.



Sunday 9 October 2011

Sweet Bridge

111008_cornish_int_IMG_1410_WEB by nevardmedia
111008_cornish_int_IMG_1410_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

A very kind Mr Sweet mailed me this rather nice bridge casting for the Cornish project last week. I'm sure you'll agree that it is a wonderful piece of work, with nice deep rendering which would be quite tricky to achieve by scratchbuilding.

When it arrived, I expected it to be resin or plaster, but much to my surprise it is fibreglass! The stone being moulded into the gel coat. The joy being that it is very tough and very light - ideal for a portable layout.

The shot above shows it in primer in preparation for dry brushed top coats of various pale greys, beige, browns, creams and so on. Real stone is a fascinating mix of subtle different colours and shades, and certainly nothing like the painting-by-numbers approach often used which feature large blocks of solid colour - that approach suits engines and carriages just fine, but not hacked up materials straight from the ground which will have been exposed to the elements for decades.

I'd be very interested to know more about this stone effect beauty, because fibreglass is not a material we normally associate with toy chuff chuffs, it being more a material of yachts, dingies,  kit-cars and the aeroplane industry.

Saturday 8 October 2011

Pretty pic for Saturday

nevard_111008_BQ_IMG_1444_WEB by nevardmedia
nevard_111008_BQ_IMG_1444_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

Here we have a renumbered Bachmann GWR 'pannier tank' now as Templecombe's 4691 running into Brewhouse Quay with a short train.  Bigger version here http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/6221662700/sizes/o/in/photostream/

It's hauling a Ratio 4 wheeled ex-GWR passenger carriage. A few of these lasted into the early 1950's, so it's quite possible that the BR carmine is accurate. Given that the kit is 30 plus years old it still makes into a nice model.

The lorry to the right is a EM76503 Pocketbond "Classix" Jen-Tug artic & flatbed trailer GG2301 in "British Railways" livery. I have de-railwayised it be removing the railway markings, finished it with a puff of matt varnish and added a load of bags - the load can be whatever you fancy!

Friday 7 October 2011

Now that's clever....

111007_cornish_int_IMG_1430_WEB by nevardmedia
111007_cornish_int_IMG_1430_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

Track laying on the Cornish thing using C+L components; note the folded etched brass chairs where strengthening copper clad sleepers are required.  They are a test product from Pete Harvey Designs www.phd-design.co.uk/

Normally one would simply solder the rail to the sleeper top, then have to cut in half the C+L plastic chairs and glue - quite a fiddly task. All that's needed here will be a good splosh of liquid flux and a dab with a loaded soldering iron. The brass also takes care of the gap between the sleeper top and the bottom of the rail. Once painted, ballasted and weathered, they'll blend in just fine - especially seeing in real life they're a lot smaller than seen here.

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Model Rail 162 - November 2011

November Model Rail has now hit the shelves, as always it is packed to the brim with news and reviews, layout features, how to make things and much more...
Contents run down.....
  • News; Photos of latest Hornby samples at Model Rail Live (B1, Gresley full brake etc) photographed on Brewhouse Quay.
  • BIG PICTURE - St Merryn (in next month - it's dead classy btw!)
  • Bachmann Blue Pullman computer image
  • Model Rail Live photo-feature
  • Review: Farish 'A1' 4-6-2
  • Hornby brake van
  • Heljan Class 55 (O gauge)
  • Finescale Brass O gauge 'Manor'
  • Dapol N class 26
  • Ramsbottom 1950 layout
  • Workbench: How to brush paint
  • Build a Command Station
  • Upgrade MGR coal wagons
  • Supertest: Fillers
  • Masterclass: Figures, How to paint/modify
  • Paint Hornby's new Skaledale buildings
  • Make a scene: Dave Lowery's Dunmere Crossing - the main photo taken by yours truly at Model Rail Live - this diorama was the catalyst for my Cornish project.
  • Clive Hardwick's bespoke buildings
  • How to create realistic loads
  • Ruddington OO layout (photos by yours truly, not as credited) - a super-huge layout of the fromer GCR station at Ruddington. You can visit this latyout for real at open days.
  • Show & Tell
  • Fen End Pit - 16mm scale narrow gauge, with actual working dragline and gravel grading machinery. The gravel moving in shots is not Photoshop, but long exposures. Its was great fun to shoot and one to keep an eye out for at shows! If you have kids, they'll love it!
  • Repairing Townstreet stonecast buildings
  • Q&A
  • Exhibition Diary.
Order your copy of Model Rail here!

Monday 3 October 2011

Micro progress

The little GWR/LSWR-Cornish-esque 2'10" x 12" micro continues to take shape. Not bad I guess seeing it was only a twinkle Sunday before last - but it is only dinky winky so no great challenge.

Yesterday you saw the GWR 'pagoda' and platform manifest, and the afternoon before saw a little track construction using C+L components. Note the lower level siding and catchpoint, something that's nearly always missed from sidings joining main running lines on models.

Here we see much of the whole caboodle from roughly where the level crossing will be. Note the bridge marking the boundary to the fiddle yard on the left hand side; the rather delightful structure being courtesy of 'GWRrob' on RM web. Currently it's halfway through the paintshop and it sitting in primer ready for the dry-brush top coats. I hope you'll agree that it's got some lovely stone rendering, but it might surprise you (it did me) that it's made from fiberglass, the moulded gel-coat representing the stonework suggesting a 1960's kit maybe? Tell me if you know more.....

Sunday 2 October 2011

Something for the Weekend

Cornish Interlude (working title) update

What better that to move the workbench outside when the weather is as good as it has been! No need to hoover up after either!

This weekend saw the repaint and weather of a Bachmann Scenecraft GWR 'Pagoda'. The weekend also saw the construction of a short platform from foam board, embossed plastic card and Das modelling clay. Note the faded BR Southern Region colours, this to display ongoing region changes between the SR & WR.