Doing some modelling

I've got my modelling mojo back and I'm enjoying doing a variety of bits and bobs. Sadly the weather has just been too vile to contemplate spending long in the garage so progress on Port Lucy has been mainly things I can do from the sofa. This includes ordering a pair of curved n gauge points which will help get a smooth entrance to the platform roads: hopefully

In other news, the new Bachmann Ashover coaches have hit the shops and I wasn't that interested but then I noticed that they do one ready painted in IoSR livery. It needs a bit of weathering and some people but it runs really nicely and fits in pretty well, ugly thing though. 

This is my ‘Burnmouth’ which is a bash of a Chivers Chevalier kit that I did years ago, it runs on a Bachmann 04 chassis with valve gear from a Minitrix dock tank. It also has a fake front pony truck making it nominally an 2-6-0. 

…consequently I was delighted when Fourdees dropped their Kintyre kit which is basically a slightly shorter version of my Burnmouth so it was a no brainer to order one. I knew these Contractor series of kits was expanding so I preemptively purchased a couple of quarry Hunslets for these kits as I would happily have most of them. My loco has coal rails so to make the new one look like a stable mate I’ve added some to the kit. I’ve used the same brass etch on both locomotives. It is actually seat slats from the Langley L&B coach etch; this is an excellent resource which has all the coach furniture and the seat slats which are very handy for this sort of thing. I’ve given the kit a mild tidy up and added liquid gravity and it now awaits some less vile weather to get a spray of primer on and then paint. 

I have three of the Fourdees kits and this one is the Little Issac which is based on Issac and Gelert which are both locos I really like in the real world. It is the least ready of the three but isn’t far behind. 

The first one I got was this ‘Windle’ which is now finished apart from some tiny weathering and a waft of Dulcote. Named Underhill I think it is a cracking design and just the little Hunslet that I have wanted for years. Thanks Dan. 

Three little maids…

Meanwhile I’ve been adding some depth to the building modules of Port Lucy. First addition is the brick built warehouse which is great and adds some depth as required.  

I’ve also added a Scenecraft narrow warehouse entrance which ties it all together nicely. 

I also decided that I needed another small building with a timbered structure so the obvious kit is the old Airfix thatched cottage which my dad made one of in the 1960s. I didn’t want the thatch so I replaced it with slates. 

I also knew that I had a laser cut kit for a shop front in the cupboard. It was just the right size so I chopped a hole in the wall and popped it in. Perfect. I’ve also ordered some 3D printed Tudor chimney pots to top it off. 

A while ago I bought this 3D print of the famous Talyllyn brake van but just put it in the pile of unmade stuff. I have a soft spot for brake vans so another one seemed like a good idea. I have an early, open verandah version in my green liveried TR set but this one will be done in late 1950s tatty red and brown to go with my Dolgoch. I’ll probably do a couple of coaches to suit too. A very nice print which went together simply and with the addition of some top hat bearings also runs nicely too. Another victim of the waiting for weather to get primed queue. 

 

Post Warley come down

Before I took 'Bont' or strictly speaking 'Pen y Bont' to the Warley MRC show at the NEC in Birmingham I had one last part to make. I'd been putting it off because I had made a measuring error when constructing the baseboard which was impossible to rectify by the time I noticed. Fundamentally I hadn't left a big enough hole to allow the incline cage to fit; it took me ages to come to the conclusion that if I just made the cage as it should be and then suspended it part way up the incline it probably wouldn't be noticed.

Here you can see the unpainted cage demonstrating the problem.

And here it is painted and suspended, No one mentioned it not fitting at the show so I guess I got away with it.

Port Lucy hasn't had much attention recently what with Warley and it being blooming cold out in the garage. However I have cut some platforms out of plywood and given myself a sense of what the station end of things will look like.

I fell in love with a new loco from Fourdees and had to have it ready for Warley. It is a 'Windle' class Hunslet style loco which I think is particularly handsome. It is an excellent 3D print which fits on a Bachmann Quarry Hunslet chassis with the addition of a pony truck.

The kit comes with a dummy chassis so that the donor loco can still pose in a siding, here they are together.

The backhead is a separate part so it is a simple matter to paint it before fitting into the cab. Very nice it is too.

Here is the bulk of the stock I took to the show.

I was part of the 009 Society village helping to celebrate the 50th year of the society. I was very proud to be invited and was in illustrious company.

Fiddle yard view

I was also part of the F&WHR team and here we all are eating curry.

'Dennis' the railbus - Sunday afternoon service probably

Unusually for a show I went home with more working locos that I went with including getting 'Ned' to behave himself.

All went well on Saturday and then first thing on Sunday morning my controller went pop and would only output a full 12v output. Fortunately the Gaugemaster stand wasn't far away so a replacement was purchased and installed fairly quickly. Ironically I had had a Facebook conversation about not taking a spare controller because they never go wrong... 

The whole of the 009 gang with me acting the arse as usual.

Hmm, I don't think this one is going to bring me happiness.

After Warley was all done and dusted James Hilton and I finally managed to get together on The Isle of Stoner; as ever he brought some of his lovely models with him including a Bachmann 'Linda' with a KATO tender representing how it looked when it first ran on the FR having transferred from the Penrhyn. It came for a trip on the island with a couple of beautifully finished Dundas FR style coaches.

The train looked very good and was quite at home

He also brought a nicely finished 'Prince'

I've also acquired a set of three Dinorwic slate wagons from Bachmann. They are very lovely little things and they go very well 'Alice'. Here they are as they come out of the box...

...and here they are weathered. They do them in a grey finish too which is not that unrealistic for wagons left to bleach and rot in the Welsh weather but they don't have the numbers printed on like the red lead ones.

It has been an expensive couple of months for 009 stock as the much awaited PECO FR Bowsiders have arrived. I had to add one to my FR train and very lovely it is too.

Oh, and one more thing. I have another Fourdees/Bachmann loco ready to go onto the lap tray, this one is the Little Issac which is again an 0-4-2 much as you might expect. Based on the Bagnall Issac and Gelert. It looks like a lovely print and I can't wait to get it finished. More next time probably.

 

Getting ready for Warley and that...

I've been getting Bont ready for Warley and fingers crossed all is well. One of the things I've done is sort out my tool box into a smaller one for travelling. Wonder what I've forgotten?

Port Lucy has had a bit of a pause while I worry about Bont but this is the revised station building layout and the position of the loco release crossover. This arrangement also provides for platform 2A which will be the home of a tramway set.

What I've actually been doing with my laptray time is painting and finishing off the lovely Fourdess 'kit' Windle class Hunslet. Calling it a kit is underselling it really as basically the only bits you need to add are the chassis from a Bachmann quarry Hunslet, Nesta in my case, and the backhead and cab roof come as separate items to make painting easier.

Here is the more or less finished thing. I've used the works plates provided with Nesta for now although I've ordered name and works plates from Light Railway Stores. Ultimately it will be called Underhill.

This is Underhill with Nesta's working chassis and Nesta with the 3d printed chassis that comes with the kit so that original loco becomes a static model. I've also added a pair of RT models PQR couplers to finish it off. It will look very nice parked in a siding.

Come and see both of them at Warley.

 

Possibly the final plan B

Having sorted out the woodworking side of things it was time to put as much finished stuff in place to see what would fit and what wouldn't. The heart of my overly ambitious plan still fits for the most part but I've moved the carriage sidings to alongside the platforms, this way I'll be able to reach them easily and I think I should be able to stable four rakes rather than three in the first plan. The loco shed is now much less than I'd hoped but is actually much more appropriate for a railway of this size.

Pretty much the whole thing

Loco shed

The house on a hill will provide a bit of a scenic break between the old layout and the new bit

Port Lucy Station buildings, I wanted it to look as though the buildings had evolved

Hopefully the final plan