Monday 26 December 2011

South London store

I'm looking around for some uncomplicated background buildings for the forthcoming 7mm project(s) and noticed this in one of the salubrious parts of South London on the way to work this week. I'm guessing that it was part of a builders yard or similar. My first thought was a stable, but the remaining plinths are in the wrong places and either too big or too small.South London store What caught my eye was the RSJ and pulley to access the first floor door which would indicate the need to get heavy or bulky items upstairs. There is no evidence of a chimney either so a store seems favourite.

Tuesday 20 December 2011

An 0-16.5 brake van

After a gargantuan effort I managed to get the BV all but finished yesterday.0-16.5 brake van Nothing much to add to what has already been said other than in a nutshell it's a Tri-ang shorty brake van chassis some 60thou sheet and various sizes of Evergreen and Slaters strip. Some bog paper,a biro refill, some 1mm brass rod and a pin.

0-16.5 brake van

Monday 19 December 2011

0-16.5 brake van steps

making 0-16.5 brake van steps With virtually no spare time at the moment due to driving into London daily to watch transvestites hurl insults at each other, the modelling has stopped. Though I did manage an hour to stick some top quality bog paper to the roof of the brake van and fashion some steps from 60thou sheet.
I might get this finished by the New Year.

Wednesday 7 December 2011

0-16.5 brake van

7mm brake taking a bit more shape and roof now on.0-16.5 brake van There are three rolls of Asda bog roll in stock which is quilted and thus totally unsuitable for the roof. In the time I have available in the next few weeks it'll probably be footboards first.

0-16.5 brake van



Tuesday 6 December 2011

Cardboard loco in 7mm scale

I think this may have been here before, but I couldn't find it. A Schoma diesel built in 1995 from card and plastic from a drawing in Narrow Lines and published as a build article a while later.

Cardboard loco in 7mm scale In true PDH fashion I need the chassis for something else, so as the Schoma hasn't been used for over a decade it is seen as a suitable donor. This then could be it's final portrait.

Craig Tiley monthly dropped onto the mat yesterday and with it my FREE kit for a Metcalfe signal box. I'm not great fan of Metcalfe kits - they don't have the feel of the old Biltezi and Superquicks and the method of folding the corners with a cut on the outside screams card kit at me.

However.
The accompanying article by young Craig... ... ... did get me thinking. I need an 'Eastern Region' box (is it Great Northern influenced?) like I need rickets, but would it be possible to take it one step further? Craig uses the Peco line bits, but stops short of detailing the inside and adding window woodwork... but then why not scratch build? A competition idea for Peco?

Monday 5 December 2011

7mm brake van ends

After slopping a coat of earth brown all over the brake van body it was time for a little glazing. The closed end was simple enough; just a few quick cuts and a drop or two of superglue. The open end needed something more... flush. After a few trials of solvent to see if the acetate(?) would be attacked a happy half hour was spent grinding a piece of shirt packing to exactly the right size and dribbling some plas-weld into the joint. So far so good.

Bumped into long-term 3mm modeller Peter Bossom in Eastbourne today and stopped for a long chat in Boots. Well it's not everyday you can stand next to a rack of condoms and discuss two-stage gearboxes is it?

Friday 2 December 2011

More paint and other stuff.

There's been more work on the everlasting brake van, basically getting the second side done and the handrails, then painting the inside to kill the white in Humbrol 31 enamel which by its age and the colour makes me suspect it was bought to aide the Luftwaffe. This was partly a trial in conjunction with the post below. Result: dried paint, revived with a little thinners and stirred - impossible to use otherwise. And I had to open the windows as after a while the smell gets to me, even worse than solvent which I'm quite happy to bathe in - it being cheaper to get than asses milk here in Sussex.

The stir thing seems to split. The two gentlemen at Warley said stir. The two below say not. Iain Rice says not. On the tin it says 'SHAKE THEN STIR WELL' in red caps. So I'm glad to announce that this is the new Marmite - some do, some don't. CF confused.

Other stuff: doing my best to measure (from angled photos) and draw to 3.5mm the derelict boat house for 'Svanda'. This is the next job - probably start today. A mix of card plastic and matches me thinks; the matches to set light to it when it goes wrong of course.