Sunday 21 April 2019

Bike

This has been sitting on the bench for a couple of days and in an effort to clear up... 
Bikes on layouts are good, but surprisingly absent in many cases. Seeing as the vast majority of people model pre1960s periods, and therefore pre-high car ownership this is strange. Therefore I've always tended to add at least one bike to a scene, often in a slightly obscured position; after all human nature tends to park a bike either in something, or behind something where it won't get nicked/tripped over/damaged. I'd earmarked one for Dury's Gap in the last few details. It came out of the tobacco tin marked 'barrels, drums bits' and may be a Wills product. 
It started life in bright blue - possibly OK for 1960, but the 'trusty Rudge' would more likely be black so this was all about a repaint. Handlebars and pedals were touched in metallic, the frame matt black and the tyres in German grey. I though it might need a saddle bag, so a slice of scrap strip with the corners rounded off and painted brown was added; the saddle became a red brown. There's also a dot of red on the rear mudguard for a reflector.
Tucked half behind a shed it can hardly be seen, but adds a little human existence without a human figure. More bikes please.

3 comments:

  1. I agree about the need for bikes. I had an onion Johnnie and bike on Castle Quay. I say, ‘had’, as the ‘onions’ draped over the handle bars were eaten by a bloody mouse along with half the bike.

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  2. A couple of little points. The seat post immediatly below the saddle and baove the top bar, and the front and rear mudgurad supports would all habe been chrome. The saddle bag is a lovely touch.

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  3. I like adding bikes to layouts. The Wills bike shed is a useful source.

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