Not so quick

This'll only take about half an hour....

'Which one do you want?' I asked the customer. He pointed to the pub. Yuk. My least favourite and least convincing of the range. It took me  most of the day. They're very well designed, but I literally just put the bits together without any refining. If you were to double the time, paint all the edges, add drainpipes, decent chimneys etc, it would be better. But here I didn't think the extra effort would be noticed, after all the customer is only just five.

GWR 5 plank wagon kit

And so it begins. The third and final volume. Anyone guess the title? First of the blocks is this Ratio 5 plank built more or less as per the instructions. I'd not done one of these before and was a bit flummoxed for a bit with the earlier Ratio design of having the solebar and bodyside as one part meaning that you can't adjust for the (now) under length axles. A bit of jiggery pokery with the bearings simply sorts it out, but they don't say that on the paperwork. This is supposed to be an entry level kit, but if the wheels fall out...

Didcot Railway Centre

Thursday saw a quick trip up to Didcot, specifically for research purposes. I'd never been before so only allowed a couple of hours for a walk around and a spot of lunch. That didn't quite work out and we stayed for three and only managed to wolf down a bit of cake. It's a lot bigger than I'd envisaged and in the end I mentally split the site into broad and standard gauge.
Well worth a visit. It is very clean, so if your thing is industrial grot, don't bother. This is museum quality presentation. Tip unless you want to see the choo choos running then the quiet 'exhibition' days may be best for photos, plus it's almost half the price. Five stars.

I'm still here.