Sometimes I find it’s good to jump from one project to another. The piece or work required may be fresh, or favourite. The task may be bigger or smaller matching available time. It is like finding the right piece to fit life’s jigsaw in that moment… This small plastic van from Oxford Diecast (none of it appears die-cast, that’s a good thing) is one such distraction. The pen behind shows it’s small…
I have long respected those artisans, modellers, artists who master not only the application of paint to reflect dirt, but who master sheen too, to create a model that just sings with colour. Texture, shadow and wear and tear implied by just paint and lacquer… In the past I’ve practiced this myself - both before and after the dirt. I’ve polished Hornby steam locomotive pain finishes before and ’ve…
Welcome to Friday, and a hot one but we’ve broken the back of the heat wave and today promises to be cooler with a fresh weekend and week ahead. If you’re comfortable let’s take a look at what has been happening here in the past seven days… Last weekend was pleasant, blue skies and comfortable mid twenties heat… my partner and I took a walk up near Arenig, and heading back is this view of Llyn…
I was talking with Will Lloyd (Rye Sands) recently, and we both reflected how building a structure is a sort of promise or commitment to a project. Will reflected that perhaps it’s easier to let stock come and go, but a structure is personal… I think he is right - and not just because it is made by us, but because it captures something of our passion and intent for a particular prototype or layout…
In my quest for an introductory step for modellers in N, wanting to get started but not confident to build turnouts, I’ve taken a second look at Peco Code 55… Its robust and reliable construction and ease of use are huge benefits - however it has one massive draw back, one exacerbated for British use by two axle short wheelbase wagons. The gap in the frog is massive! This is a design decision. To…
A couple of weeks ago I kicked this ‘simple’ conversion project off with an introduction on the blog . You’d be forgiven for thinking that all this British N had been forgotten with the plethora of Canadian ramblings but no, the flame of Speedlink era freight continues to burn brightly here… In that introduction I shared how I would use the N scale ‘Cavalex’ PGA as the basis for the conversion…
Last year I built an Alan Gibson O2 kit in EM. My customer, happy with the result asked me to work on a few more kits for him and so let me present the next pair to have graced the bench, 30 ‘Shorwell’ and 34 ‘Newport’… These kits are complete apart from motor / gearbox, where I’ve opted for a high quality option from Chris at High Level. The etch artwork looks to have been older CAD, rather than…
This latest Canadian adventure was going well and nearly focused on just Canadian National - until the Budd RDC arrived in CP Rail… That meant, in my simple mind, that whatever follows has to include both CN and CP trains. My lovely Intermountain F7s would need to be joined by something else, something action red… It seems as if prototypical Canadian N, unless modeling the prototype in the last…
Several months ago HMLX 1000 was leased to Andrews Lumber, a shortline out west. They were experiencing a short term increase in traffic and we were happy to help with our roots in logging railroading… Alan Sewell photo. 1000 is today our only RS1, but was one of a trio we inherited when we took on the Ballard and Wantage back in the late 70s as Hilton Mears forest products looked to diversify…
Welcome to Friday! A chance to reflect back on a busy week, two narrow gauge train trips and a few project updates. You know the routine now, so if the kettle isn’t on, give yourselves a minute to sort that before we start… Sunday seems a long time ago now - but it is where we start this morning. A lovely trip on the Corris - somewhere I’ve not visited for some time. It appears not much has…
The arrival of the Rapido 009 models alongside the latest commission layout build have reignited a long dormant flame for narrow gauge modelling in my heart… This undated sketch recalls a simpler time in my modelling where East Works was still a pipe dream and something small and Welsh felt like the next step beyond the clay heath of Purbeck. It wasn’t built. I was distracted and then returned to…
Today’s commuters don’t blink as the rationalised railway passes the old Inkerman Street line on the approach to Denton Road from the west… The connection crossed the canal on its own alignment and the bridge and track bed are still in place, overgrown and strewn with the litter and detritus of urban life. The former Lancashire and Yorkshire railway terminus didn’t survive long after the Second…
You may have noticed that Light Railway Stores now offers personalisation and weathering as options on many of the new Rapido models… The first models to arrive since Steve and I introduced this service were the Sirdar. Steve has been fitting ‘plates only’ but any weathered come here, to North Wales where I do plates and dirtying them up! I couldn’t resist doing this line up of our limited edition…
Not every Rapido Manning Wardle due to cross my bench this summer is having a cab conversion (!). This example started out as Forward and has just been renamed and detailed and weathered, demonstrating just how good the original model is to start with… A Modelu crew and 3 links start things off, Light Railway Stores custom etched plates cover the printed examples completes the model beautifully.…
In the 90s I always wanted a VIA passenger train or RDC for my HO scale collection… This latest arrival is a Rapido N scale example - I bought the CP Rail just because I liked the Hockey Mask front end and have had a soft spot for the Multi-mark… In recent weeks I’ve wondered where these N scale models will lead, wrestling ideas around for how to create a layout to play with them and channel the…
Just over a month ago I allowed myself to dream once more of a prairie based model railway. It’s a dangerous pastime filled largely with disappointment, the Canadian prairies are a massive expanse of rolling agricultural land spreading across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta… The wonderful photos I can use to remind myself of first hand experience show long trains dwarfed by that big big sky.…
When Steve and I worked with Andy at Rapido to create our limited edition GWR range of their 009 models we kept the crowning glory under our hats until it was about to arrive… We were certain it would sell well and we were right - the batch sold out in just a few weeks. This time, since you’ll all be expecting it, we’re announcing our next model to pre-order. That said, we have already placed the…
Good morning and welcome to Friday, a much cooler and more comfortable week here in North Wales under cloud and not much more than 20degC all week - sorry, it sounds as if many of you will have been suffering more than that. Let’s hope that the usual wander through the week here in the workshop helps distract from that, grab a cool drink (!) and let’s take a look… The next 009 models are nearing…
I like to include a thank you in every commission, and to help with that I produce a range of bespoke cards. This is the third batch and they continue to give me a great deal of pride and joy when I fold them carefully to pen a few words to a customer… £8 from Light Railway Stores This third collection of 6 is available in one of two ways… commission me 6 times or just visit Light Railway Stores…
I am surrounded by reminders and good intention, of projects started that will not be used or finished, and duplicate models that take up space and are not my current interests… I don’t often have such a broad scale clear out but I have been ruthless in my assessment of some of these, especially Creech Bottom, but this will be a positive move forwards in many ways, and help free up mental space as…
My good friend Simon has long held plans to create a HO scale model. The 44t switcher seen here was bought new many years ago and reworked for such a scheme which until recently lay dormant… My own Coalbridge Street layout was a catalyst when he saw it last year at the Small Layout Design book launch event - and one of Chris’s wonderful concepts, the overlap, fuelled a small scheme sketched by…
There have been a lot of models crossing my bench in recent weeks so there is quite a delay in them appearing here on Commission Monday, I’ve got them stretching out into September now already! This week let me introduce an 009 model bigger than some OO commissions of the past - a South African 2ft gauge NG15 2-8-2 tender locomotive… This particular example is based upon the one that is now…
Distraction (noun) “ a thing that takes your attention away from what you are doing or thinking about”. Perhaps it is cruel to describe this as distraction ? Yet these small models have taken my attention, it is no longer focused on the layouts and other projects already in hand. Childhood connection points, blended with adult skill and experience - recreating a sense of innocent excitement and…
Well well well, I’ve had this idea of doodling something inspired by Wenford Bridge - but after a fantastic conversation with blog regular and friend Tom I have moved from idea to reality - well, sketch… Taking the Penpont name allows me to simplify and distill a scheme inspired by rather than directly Wenford. Celebrating the simplicity and success of Paxton Road it is a pointless scheme, two…
Another week, where has that gone! Loads and loads of parcels out the door as I had a clear out of smaller items via eBay. Some higher value stuff will go up here next week (including OO, N and a layout). It has been slower on the bench, progress on various projects but not much to show for it… In evenings I’ve been enjoying more N scale 08 bashing - 08994 my latest is looking the part in…