These are the tales of the creation of the model of the Isle of Stoner Railway. It is a 009 model being 4mm to the foot or thereabouts.
Since my last post on here I've actually done quite a bit of modelling so I'll start in no particular order with a loco kit I swapped for a 'Dolgochification' kit. I had intended to make an open cab - not Dolcogh using the kit and the alarming yellow Bachmann loco but like many things I hadn't got around to starting it. A nice chap on Facebook asked if anyone wanted to swap a Fourdees Dolgoch body…
Since my last post I've rebuilt 'Monster' which is my version of a skip chassis with a Lister power unit as seen on the world famous. I had the first version in action on my cheese factory layout but the loco got caught on something and the Portram chassis overheated and melted into a blob of plastic, expensive and annoying. Any old how with the impending Minffordd show including the cheese…
I've been continuing to try to finish off some things that have been hanging around and this started with a couple of brake vans. I do have a bit of a thing for brake vans so a couple more joining the stock list isn't a surprise. The first to be completed is a rather tidy 3D print of the TR van, I have a green version which runs with the IoSR rake of TR type coaches but I wanted a more…
So... The first two of my four new Fourdees locos are here; two shades of green; a Hunslet and a Bagnall. I'm really happy with both of them and they will be very nice additions to the IoSR fleet. Next on the list was the loco I've made a few modifications to. The most obvious is the turned brass chimney which I added for two reasons; firstly that I really like it and second that I dropped the…
Since the last outpouring when I was all about the new locos I've made a slight detour and they've got no further really. They need priming and the weather has been foul so a trip to the cold damp garage for a visit from a rattle can; they have been for a bath in the ultrasonic cleaner along with a sneaky addition. That terribly nice chap at Fourdees has added a small range of his lovely prints to…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Life keeps on getting in the way of the growth of Port Lucy but tonight I took a big step forward; and a couple backwards. As I mentioned before the base board I had built was too big and so I needed to chop nine inches off the rear, ideally some more would have gone but if I cut anymore off Port Lucy would be even smaller than it now will be. I took the plunge and partly un assembled the pre…
I’ve been away on holiday and busy at work and now I have a filthy cold which won’t go away but I’ve really got the urge to get on with Port Lucy. What I really need to do is to get out in the garage and sort out the baseboard but that’s not been possible. While I was away I did lots of thinking and scribbling of track plans. This needs to get simpler and less ambitious as usual. The latest plan…
Well my little diversion is virtually finished. Amazing how fast I can build a small project while prevaricating. I painted the rocks and earth with the usual acrylic paints and coloured the mdf paving/platform with acrylic paint pens. I also used these for the rail colour. The rail would rust heavily in a position where the sea might break over the track. Next was ballast and greenery. I fitted…
I’m very good at not doing what I should be doing and doing something else. Even when it’s just a hobby. So rather than getting on with Port Lucy, more on this later, I decided to make a little diorama that I’ve had in mind for a while. Some good friends visited a month or so ago and by way of thanks they sent us some wine from M&S; it was very nice and came in a lovely wooden box. I immediately…
I've done a bit more woodwork and it has left me scratching my head somewhat. The area of the new bit is pretty big; obviously I knew that when I 'designed' it but it's all very well scribbling in a note book but when the full size of the thing emerges it is quite another. The plywood sheets aren't attached but I wanted to get an idea if my track plan would vaguely fit in the space available. I…
It’s been ages since I’ve done any modelling but today I have made a leap forward. I tidied the workshop. This meant that I had room to start on the woodwork which will form the basis of Port Lucy the terminus of the Underhill branch and the Isle of Stoner Railway mainline. I’ve had a plan in my head and on paper but as ever reality is slightly different. However I re drew the basic idea tonight…
I haven't been doing much modelling recently as it has been too cold to go into the garage and Bont is virtually finished. I've also lost my modelling mojo a bit too although I can feel the urge the urge to get going again bubbling up. Port Lucy needs building to give the IoSR another end and I've got stacks of kits to build too. In the meantime I thought it would be nice to publish some of the…
I haven't had a huge amount of time to get on with Port Lucy but I have purchased timber and track so in actual fact real progress has been made even if it seems it hasn't. I join these two Scenecraft low relief buildings together and added a pavement and some details. The bay window has got a big grey face looking out if you look closely. I don't know why, it just seemed like a good idea at the…
Christmas was rather a modelling hiatus so thankfully all that jollity has been packed away and the lap tray has been restored to the lap. 'Nadine' above and 'Veronica' below are both now complete and attached to their chassis. 'Veronica' is next to have her crew painted and installed. Another marvellous Fourdees print has had some attention including a bit of a rub down here and there and the…
I had been so busy with buildings that the large pile of locomotives waiting to be finished had stalled however with the long evenings of winter and now the Xmas holidays upon us I’ve got my finger out and the results can be seen here. First to be finished (again) was Nadine mk2. The first version got spoiled by a cat based incident, Dan very kindly sent me another print and I’ve finished it off…
It doesn't look like I've done much but I've finished The Old Vicarage with a coat of Vallejo Ground Texture - Grey sand. It is virtually the same colour as the filler but has a fine sand in it so it now seems to have a painted pebbledash finish which is quite subtle and just the job. Also now complete is the signal box, I wish I'd not glued the interior details into place before painting them but…
Since the last post most of my modelling time has been spent progressing the buildings for Port Lucy. The loco shed is finished with just painting to do, the machine tools for inside are also waiting for the paint brush to visit before they are fixed inside. The water tower is also complete and primed. The house is also just in need of painting. One bedroom is furnished and illuminated. The signal…
Well, I said I'd carry on updating this so here comes the next splurge. The next section goes here covering the area of the fiddle yard and the toolbox on the left. I've started gathering timber to start the baseboard but I'm still a bit in two minds how to approach this as the track plan will be reasonably complex. The basic shape of the new bit will be town at the back then railway and harbour…
Well then, time passes when you’re having fun and what with one thing and another I haven’t posted anything on here in just about a year. Sorry about that team. It hasn’t been hugely busy in The Island in this time but there have been a few developments; the quarry has a loco shelter and there are lots more trees. The layout featured in Model Rail magazine which is very flattering as were the…
This week I've been endeavouring to sort out a couple of locos that don't run as well as I'd like. The first one being the Narrow Planet/Minitrains 0-6-0 Bagnall. Mine is named 'Jim' after our cat, here the similarities end. The chassis has always been rather hesitant so I decided to dismantle it and get it going, I thought the problem lay with the pickups as it seemed to run freely enough without…
Despite the bulk of the work being done (for now) I keep on fiddling with things which don't look quite right or which need a little more detail. A wise man said to try black and white pictures as they show up whether it looks realistic better so I did. I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with these shots. The next big job is the creation of 'Port Lucy' the other terminus which will replace the…