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.

https://iainrobinsonmodelmaking.blogspot.com/

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.

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. 

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

Svanda Gods shed redux

Our Mr. Hill has never been happy with the goods shed on Svanda citing it as non typical. So some thirteen years after the layout was built, a new plasticard structure has emerged from the workbench of the same gentleman.  Based on the extant shed at Mael it is somewhat larger, but lacks the platform of the original. The removal of the platform was somewhat problematic, but once gone it was a fairly simple operation to realign the road surface and get rid of the original flock surface and replace with what I think is chinchilla dust and some static grass.

 

Svanda at Steyning

Great little show with different stuff and lots of chat. Svanda appearing. Do come and say hello. 

Note to Mr Hill: this is four weeks away.

 

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.

I'm gradually getting to like this one even though I've got almost no suitable stock to run on it. That however is not the driving force behind it. 

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.