Shiver me timbers!

Yet another job started and finished over the Christmas and new year holidays.

This is the third project I built and completed over the recent new year holidays, Made up from odds and ends found lying around in the bottom draw of my work station.

It's a pair of bogie single bolsters based on a Romanian narrow gauge railway design found by trawling the internet.

Here we see the two bolster units.
Built from scraps of plasticard on some bogies of unknown origin (Palitoy I think)
I used coffee stirrers as timber for the bolsters, bits of brass tube and wire for the hand brakes and steel piano wire for the stanchions.
Bachmann tension lock couplings were grafted on to the Palitoy(?) bogies in place of the original Carbuncle  couplings that came with the bogies.
Hornby 3 hole disc wheels are fitted with brass "top hat" bearings.

Here's the completed unit.

The "load" of three tree trunks was just some pruned branches from a young sycamore tree that overhangs our back garden!

The load is stuck to the bolsters with glue so it won't fall apart when in use on the layout.
Some fine chain is used as the "official" method of securing the load!





So there you have it, another useful piece of rolling stock ready for my (yet to be started) narrow gauge layout "Ashwood End"

More to come on the Narrow Gauge stuff and more soon!

Cheers
Frank.

What I did over the new year holidays (2)

I'm a bit slow keeping the blog up to date but due to family problems things have gone a bit haywire lately.
Hopefully things are now sorted and I can get back to normal service.
Anyway I digress, here's the second instalment of "What I did over the festive season"

The second project on my bench was this Narrow gauge gunpowder van.

Built from Plasticard  and Evergreen sections the van runs on an old Horby 00 gauge chassis with some decent metal wheels fitted.
The rivets (count them if you like!) were embossed using the pointed end of an old needle file.

Here's a couple of shots of the completed van painted and lettered.

I couldn't get any transfers for it so I used "Lettraset" rub down lettering for the G P V.

The skull and crossbones signs were found by doing a Google search on the internet and printing out before fixing with a dab of PVA glue.

Just needs a light weathering now to finish the job off, and that's another wagon to the narrow gauge fleet.

In this end on shot you can see the door grab handles and locking bar.
I made these from  0.5mm wire and brass strip cut from etched parts frets.
I always keep bits of scrap brass and nickel silver from frets for these sort of jobs. It's surprising how often these scraps come in handy for little jobbies like this.

As usual Bachmann type tension lock couplings are fitted.


That's it for this post but I will try and post part 3 SOON!

Cheers!
Frank

What I did over the Christmas holidays

Did you ever have that essay to write at school? Write about what you did over the holidays?

Well, in true tradition here is my essay on SOME of what I was up to over the Christmas / new year break.
Not being one for watching much repeated films and usual tripe they put on TV at Christmas most of my spare time was spent at my workbench doing these little jobbies....

The first job was this 0-16.5 gauge "Machine Flat" and load.

Based on a design sold by Smallbrook Studio as a kit
The under frame and chassis is an old 00 gauge coach bogie!
The planks are cut up coffee stirrers and the rest is Plasticard or Evergreeen sections.

The Load was also based on a Smallbrook studio design and is a skid mounted air compressor.
Again made from scraps of Plasticard and Evergreen sections, the air receiver ends being moulded from Milliput.
I wanted some fine mesh for the radiator grille but not having any I used some 4mm scale chequer plate, from a normal viewing distance it doesn't look too bad.

Door handles and lifting eye complete the job.

 Here's the completed job, complete with Bachmann tension lock couplings (my choice for my narrow gauge stuff) Painted and weathered.

I have also added some air hose from very thin electrical wire. (one core of an old computer mouse cable) and made a pneumatic paving breaker to make the compressor look the part.

This wagon will form part of a works or permanent way train when the layout is finished!

 And the view from the other side.
Note the air pipe and shut off cock on the air tank.

The "rope" was from an old Ratio signal kit,
The weathering was done with C&L weathering powders which I must admit I like using.




I'll post another "Holiday job" soon

Cheers
Frank

Another Year older (Part 2)

Well already 2014 is a week old and I'm just as busy as ever on the toy train set front!

With my own (finished?) 4mm scale layout "Steam on the Cambrian" booked for at least 3 exhibitions this year that project is going to need some time spending on it sorting out a few snags that came to light on it's first outing to Telford.
The advanced starter signal operating system currently using a solenoid needs changing for a servo motor operating unit. Some trees that foul the loading gauge need trimming back or replacements made and a poor electrical connection to one of the fiddle yard roads needs putting right. Apart from that I want to add more detail like people and some little cameo scenes. More about that when I get a round tuit.

During the last 12 months I have had this uncontrollable urge to build something in 7mm scale narrow gauge, I thought OK I'll just build one engine and a couple of wagons but it has snow balled out of control and 7mm narrow gauge seems to be taking all of my modelling time! I'm even going to build a layout (Ashwood end) for my models to run on!
Surprisingly though it will NOT be Welsh narrow gauge even though some of the locos and stock are inspired by the Welsh narrow gauge railways. again more on that throughout the year



I'm also committed to working on the Cradley Heath Model Railway club's new small exhibition layout "Halfpenny Green" a Western region BLT based in rural Staffordshire/Shropshire.
So that's another project to fill these pages!

Finally I am still Exhibition Manager for the Cradley Heath club and a lot of my time will be spent helping to organise this event.
We had our first show last year and that was so successful it will be a hard act to follow this year. Watch this page for more about this later in the year.

So, Here's to a busy modelling 2014 hope it's a good one for everybody!

Cheers!
Frank.