Monday 15 April 2024
Corner Pocket
Saturday 13 April 2024
Project 70 (a)
The 'a' is important. There are two possible directions post the Peco 009 which is stacked here. Firstly build a small selection of 16.5mm derived layouts with various themes. This will happen in at least a small way, but not sure to the final extent of it and this is very much dependant on exhibition invites. The second, but primary here, is something bigger, but in many ways much simpler. No name to hook it on so I'll go with that moniker for the time being.
What you are seeing is the corner of the room directly behind me. There is a clear space of about 9' square overall. This sounds huge, but in real terms the centre of this is needed for other general life stuff so the reality is really only an area that extends around the outside. picture now the endless Shows you How small bedroom illustrations and you are sort of close to what is going on. The shelving holding the magazine files is now fixed and a batten extends around to the right as the start of the next phase, except that is really the first phase using Rhiw2 as the initial, but disposable springboard. In essence I am returning to something I've not done since my teens - building a trainset. There is much to consider and I am still at the 'this may not work' stage.
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Thursday 11 April 2024
Do we need magazines?
Again, the mention of Swedish Death Cleaning in the last post got some reaction, not quite as much as the book ripping which got the predictable Nazis and Salman Rushdie mentions. This has got nothing to do with railways, model or otherwise, but does lead me to a question, the one at the top. I know at least two people with huge collections of magazines - whole collections in some areas. This would now be regarded as an 'old people' thing in many quarters. Not in a disparaging way, but in that we have moved on during this century. When I launched SRI a few years ago I was informed that 'print media is dead' and as much as it pains me to agree being a lover of paper stuff, as a populous, it is true. The purchase of magazines or newspapers is looked upon by anyone under 40 as slightly quaint. For example my step children, all born post 1985, don't own a book between them, don't own CDs or any hard form music, don't buy newsprint in any form and... this is important... lead far more vibrant lives than most of the people who are now arguing in their heads. Yes you could argue that if the internet goes off you can't access stuff, but the same would be true of the tills in Smiths, so that is fairly universal. We long stopped using coins and wooden drawer cash tills to facilitate the purchase of magazines. I reckon we have about 10 years before the fall in print makes it unsustainable in hard form. Books are slightly different and Kindles haven't really taken off, but any charity shop will tell you that they have more books coming in (mainly from over 60s) than they could ever shift. If you think that these don't get pulped or landfilled, then you are delusional. People are still buying new, but the second hand market is all but gone.
If you add all this up, it explains my thinking about getting rid of stuff now and the way that some of this is being done.
Tuesday 9 April 2024
Saturday Ramble: The last 009 in the shop.
This may be a quite momentous post, or one that time will reveal to be a complete waste of internet paper. And, as various internet memes are so fond of advising - don't overshare. Though as I've been doing just that here for well over a decade, it seems churlish to reverse at this juncture. Birthdays and new years are often points to reflect about what has gone before and what we hope may happen in the future. This can take many forms and I started noodling about this in a post earlier in the year, followed by the both contentious and popular post on Swedish Death Cleaning. This later point is well underway and I have thrown no small amount of stuff into the recycling bin and into the landfill, some of which has not gone down too well in certain corners. Apparently you cannot rip books up and recycle as you would a newspaper. Though why this should be so baffles me... it's just paper. I'd reduced all the magazines down to file pockets/ ring files some time back and now I am re-sifting through these again, though this is slow going. If that is the backward look then the forward look is also effectively backward. The photo is a hint at that and is of course a length of 44 x 18mm batten screwed to a wall. The anaglypta paper is the old dodge to cover a less than flat wall which may well be the original plastering carried out by Stevie Wonder; the floor is my next problem. This suggests permanence though regulars will note that I have been here before and there is still much to decide, though I find that I get more done by starting something than over-planning. Much of the thinking here is influenced by that very common emotion of looking back at childhood. I for one find the older lady/teddy bear fixation (a-la the Repair Shop) somewhat puke inducing though I am certain that the equivalent male and Tri-ang/HD is just as bad if not worse. It is this mindset that I find myself leaning. Not exclusively I may add, and there are other factors at play, but this is definitely a direction of travel.
Returning to the backward look; any 009 that I have is now effectively up for grabs especially post the first week of June. All of it. Anything that you've seen here that I still have is on offer including the arm-twist layout Seething. I may put a list up on here should anyone be interested. Contact via the profile page should you have questions.
And to the army of visitors from the Chinese government, 欢迎
Thursday 4 April 2024
Wyatt slate fencing
Back through the mists of time; well 1979 to be precise, the iconic Dovey Valley appeared in RM over two issues. One of these contained a method of constructing slate waste slab fencing using plastic sheet. This has been used by 009-ers ever since with a couple of slight variations and I've tried most of these. Here on the Peco epic Trefach, 20 thou black plasticard is the material. This has been given a coat of Humbrol 29 followed by coach roof grey. The latter unmixed to give some colour variation. Alternatives are to sand the plastic to break the surface to a grey or possibly to use card which was the method 25 years ago with Wood End. All have their pluses and minuses, but all fall into the 'tedious, but worth the effort' bracket of model making. I've done over 9' of this on this project and still not finished yet.
Monday 1 April 2024
Farewell Miles and Susan
Sunday 31 March 2024
Grass at last
It would have been stupid to think that this was going to be a quick project, but my inability to play the game and therefore not build things at they were intended or to take the easy road has slowed things to a crawl. This has not been improved by making the decision to drift toward mid-Wales styling and incorporating some slate slab fencing. I've done this before so no prizes for forward thinking as I know how time consuming it is. As I'd finished roughly 25% of it (visible here) a morale boost was needed and I thought I'd get the first section of open land up to the buildings covered with fluff of various types. This has been worthwhile and has given an indication of how the rest of the layout will look. The barn pictured is a case in point of how work has been added (and farmed out) with not only a new slate roof replacing the stone version included in the kit, but also bargeboards and guttering which weren't. Still recognisable as the Wills kit, but different. The centre area is undeveloped and will include the new Peco Tan-y-bwlch station building kit, but not as they intended (natch) and masquerading as a cottage which is basically what the prototype was/is. This is the last building to be done, that is after the row of stone cottages have been roofed. April on Monday; I have two months.
Monday 18 March 2024
East Grinstead show
Another free Sunday and with the M25 closed there was no way I was going to attempt going to Ally Pally... not that I wanted to. So just a hop and a skip up the road to East Grinstead. The website didn't look promising with the traders listed first (but then this is run by a trader) and no less than six narrow gauge layouts. I'm a long term NG fan, but this looked a tad unbalanced. No need to worry though as the vibe had been retained and there was some lovely modelling and plenty to buy should you have needed anything. Though a chat with an inside source suggested that while it was busy, people were keeping their wallets closed. This may have a knock on effect for next year, though I didn't really help matters that much with little more than the entry and tea paid for. All in all quite an inspiring couple of hours with a huge amount of chat and the usual onward discussions.
Exhibition: 8
Parking: 9
Catering:8
Rucksacks: 0
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Saturday 16 March 2024
Saturday Ramble
Monday 11 March 2024
Wealden Railway Group exhibition 2024
Tuesday 5 March 2024
Svanda goods shed fit
Saturday 2 March 2024
Saturday Ramble: More death and disposal
Friday 1 March 2024
Tuesday 27 February 2024
IR quietly returns
A little pointer came my way earlier in the form of a web link. Mr. R. has a habit of quietly wandering off from the interweb and then just as quietly wandering back, and so it is here. Easily the most influential proper modeller of my youth, he still grabs my attention. Forget all the so-called 'modelling' that comes in blue and red boxes from China and the blow-ins. If you want the real deal, go to the source.
Monday 26 February 2024
A new shed for Svanda
A final push has seen the new goods shed finished. Rather clean for my liking, but the prototype photos show a very spick and span building - very Scandinavian I suppose. I am as always on these occasions, only responsible for the final layer and the build is pure Mr. Hill with his liking for not wasting a scrap of plastic. Unusually I can't detect any CD or cassette case material in here, but is does include most other possible bits and pieces. The final coat being a mix of Humbrol and artist acrylics. Fitting will hopefully take place in the next 24 hours in time for the Steyning exhibition on the 10th.
Wednesday 21 February 2024
Too much to do?
I find myself in the position of too much to do at the moment, to the point where I spent near on12 hours standing today working on the 009 project. Bliss some would say, but only from the position of having a choice. There is a 16t mineral on the bench which is headed for Rhiw2 that needs finishing, not to mention a runner wagon conversion promised for an RM Junior Modeller piece that hasn't even been started. That's without the small pile of book reviews to work through and the goods shed for Svanda which needs to be done ASAP. So why did I spend a couple of hours on the above? Simple answer is that I happened upon a handful of sack mouldings in a tobacco tin while I was looking for something else and quickly decided that there was just enough to form some loads for the three 009 Society wagons purchased at Statfold last year. This now means that they are ready for the Beccles show in June, but now I have to make up some couplings... and so it goes on.
Monday 12 February 2024
Tenterden show
This is one that I make a point of going to, despite...
Compared to some of the other shows in the South, i.e. some visited in the last few weeks it is, some would say, a bit of a poor contender. The feel is very old style and the exhibits are a bit iffy in places, not to mention a bit thin on the ground in two rooms. Why the effort to go then? Not this time, but it is minutes away from the KESR, so a train ride can be factored in, but I find the show strangely appealing. Not least as whilst there are a couple of major box shifters, the accent is on smaller dealers often loaded with second-hand and rummage boxes full of old Tri-ang and the like. Regulars will immediately get the attraction. If you are a scratch/kit-basher like me there is a wealth of material here at low prices. In the end the haul was some cheap Wills sheet and viaduct bits, a wagon and putty, though there was much I walked away from as tempting though it was, I have to keep the rein tight and only buy for specific projects.
Show: 5
Parking 10
Trade 10
Catering 6
Saturday 10 February 2024
Svanda Gods shed redux
Wednesday 7 February 2024
Svanda at Steyning
Note to Mr Hill: this is four weeks away.
Tuesday 6 February 2024
009 groundwork
Getting some ground shape in place is always a good thing especially when the the picture in your head is in the lumpy side and you are staring at a flat board. The back boards had been cut quite a while back as part of the baseboard building process and these were painted and fixed using some enormous screws. With a bit of profiling at the ends, the shape could go in using... a shoebox. Well what else would you use? I always return to the root of Ahern and Freezer in these matters and this lightweight packing card is strong and more importantly, light to lift. The signature boy on the bridge is waiting to be fixed in place.
Friday 2 February 2024
Seething jobs
While the Peco grand epic is at the present the day job, odd fifteen minutes here and there are being put to use on a few round tuit jobs on Seething. Although the deadline is more or less the same, this is by far the more advanced but the little bits and pieces are getting ignored. Therefore, this week an effort to do things. The three in view here were repair the vac pipe on the bogie flat wagon, add a length of chain to same and put a set of Greenwich couplings on the GVT loco. These have both been around a while: the former built for the Small NG book, the later for the Welsh (both visible to your right). The horse and cart in the foreground, or more accurately the cart (from Dart Castings) was the only item purchased specially for the project, the rest coming from the 'one day' cupboard. The horse is another story which I may return to.
All of this will be visible at the Norfolk & Suffolk 009 member's day on June 1st for its first and final showing.
Tuesday 30 January 2024
Eastleigh show
Like Goldilocks' porridge this is just right. The Southampton club have a reputation for turning out a good show and this was no exception. The exhibition manager has changed since my last visit, though if I didn't know that I wouldn't have noticed. The usual medium to high quality mix of layouts with a lean toward the finescale on one hand, but enough to keep a general family audience entertained. Trade was a good mix with not too many pure box shifters. Good to see a stand of ABS bits back on the scene and the ever expanding H&A Models who took a little money off me.
Strangely my only issue was with food, but because the servings were a little heavy handed, and not because of quality, and the staff in this area were super friendly... unlike a rival show just down the road (maybe it's a scummers and skates thing. If you know, you know).
Show 10
Catering 8
Rucksacks 2
Sunday 21 January 2024
Squeaky bridge
One of the boxes to tick on the Peco epic (I must settle on a name) was to make it generic and yet as un-generic as possible; and that it would use the brace of FR RTR that is now available. One of my pet peeves is the current crop of what are essentially narrow gauge GWR branch lines but running all the RTR small Welsh stock. If it was going to be an FR inspired layout, it had to look as though the loading gauge demanded the stock's styling. This meant some drastic chopping and would definitely preclude all the 'large Welsh' stock that will undoubtedly turn up, not to mention the Heljan L&B locos. The longest stock would be the Peco FR Bowsiders; here some pre-production items from the hand that designed them.
Some testing with a Bachmann Dolgoch which just scrapes under the loading gauge and the FR coaches. All looks well thus far. What will be required is some proper stock for it.
Saturday 20 January 2024
Back to the 009
Various other life issues have slowed the return back to the Peco 009 layout build, not to mention a rush brace of book review that were requested for the same company. It's like I never left. Some serious forward planning was required and with a couple of things jotted down, I settled on getting the tunnel mouths installed. These are the Peco NR15 humped bridge sides which will in fact allow for a FR Bowsider to clear even on a 9" radius curve. As opposed to the proper curved tunnel mouths in the same range which cut in too much at the foot. Kudos to Dick Wyatt as always for using these on Dovey Valley and pointing the way. The problem was that they were too bridge-y, so some butchery with a razor saw and a Stanley knife got them into constituent parts and with the addition of the matching stone sheet a squat square portal was created.
Wednesday 10 January 2024
Demise?
On Monday night almost everyone in the known universe (or so it seemed) had an email from Hattons. This in itself was not unusual, but the information contained in it was a bit of a surprise. I'm not in the habit of perusing RMweb and the like, but I can imagine that the people who buy lots of stuff will be up in arms and scrambling for an alternative pusher.
Interestingly, included in the reasons given on the website are 'changing demographic' and Brexit. Or are we at peak price now and people are saying 'I really think that £300 for a DMU is too much?'
Quite honestly a toss I do not give. It's a shop. The population as a whole would say toy shop and if you really dig down deep they'd be absolutely correct. Disregarding the history (and there is a little of this over on Phil's page) they have been of late the king of box shifters with a token shop front bolted onto a warehouse full of racking. So let's flip this around for a minute. In recent times, and by this I mean the last 20-30 years, people have endlessly bemoaned the demise of the local model shop and that wonder word... service. But then, happily pick up the phone to save £5 and order the item they desire from Hattons/Kernow et al, the ones with the big ads in the magazines. Result: these do well and the one-man-band local shops disappear. Will this change things? No, because this business will be picked up by Olivias/TMC/Cheltenham/Kernow and it will all be the same next month. The losers as ever will be the smaller retailers and the magazine advertising receipts.
Keep calm and carry on. Maybe Railmatch will return.
Thursday 4 January 2024
January thinking