Railways, photography, modelling and moving

I originally started writing thiis post in October, but suddenly it is 2014!! How on earth has so much time elapsed??? A happy new year to everyone. Time is literally flying by, with many aspects of life getting in the way of doing any modelling. Recent working trips have involved Africa and Europe and a move of house is on the cards. Life is full on and fantastic and I am enjoying much travel, great work and new experiences.

Finished whale wagon

My updates have been sporadic at best for the last few months and throughout the life of my blog one thing I have always struggled with is photography. I am rubbish at taking photos and my working knowledge of cameras is non-existent. However, a recent work acquisition has been a new Ipad, and recently when home I took a photograph of my finished whale wagon. The photograph quality I think is much better than my normal. So hopefully in February next year, when life finally settles down again I can produce some better photographs!! Until then - updates will be sporadic at best.

Other side of the finished whale wagon

So here are a couple of photographs of the kit built whale wagon, it looks ok (I think), although the canopies are an area I was never quite satisfied with...and a couple of trains from my travels. Other than this all normal modelling has stopped, until life settles down. In the meantime I am looking forward to the release of class 101 DMU from Bachmann and also fancy a new class 24 as well. I might take a few wagon kits away witth me and do a little bit of kit building while life is fluid and transient.  Hopefully a house move will allow me to start working a new layout before long.....

Some trains in Africa!!

Whale wagon nears completion

A huge amount of time has elapsed since my last update - so apologies. My railway modelling activities have ground to halt in the last few months. This has been caused by a variety of factors, but mainly work related. A few changes have happened recently professionally, all of which have been positive and welcomed. However, this has left no time for anything else, so playing with models has been firmly on the back-burner.

Anyhow, today I managed to take a couple of snaps of the almost completed whale wagon. I can't remember how far I got with this one, but I think I have to varnish it still. The bearings are a bit gunked up, so they need a light oiling, but it is pretty close to the finished article. This project was held up for months by not being able to source suitable transfers. However, I managed to get hold of some from Appleby Engineering - a hearty endorsement for them. The wagon is finished in engineering olive, with a heart coating of rust. I am pleased with how it has turned out. I have another one or two of these to build along with some walruses.

The photos were taken on the small diorama my son made. This is partly due to fact that Potting Quay, my new layout, is still miles away from getting the tracks soldered up properly. This means I am not running any trains and I think that must be part of the reason for my lack of general modelling enthusiasm at the moment. I am away now for another month, so it will be even longer until regular updates start happening again. However, I am hoping that life will settle down again come autumn and I will have more time for modelling again.

GWR tunny

Sometimes it can be really hard to find time to do any modelling, and this certainly describes me at the moment. I guess my desire to model is at a bit of a low, the layout is still not soldered up properly and work is just all consuming (a product of working for yourself).

Anyhow, a few weeks ago I managed to finish off the GWR tunny wagon, which has sat in a box on my workbench until now. So here it is, a completed tunny. The transfers are from CCT and applied with microsol/microset they have gone on perfectly. This wagon has been on the workbench for ages but is now finally finished. A hearty recommendation for Chivers Finelines and CCT transfers. Now I just need to find a little motivation and inspiration.....

Intercity liveried class 37/4

A very quick project has been completed recently, which is the Intercity liveried class 37/4, which has been kicking around my railway room for a while. The model was taken apart with the bogies and the body shell removed from the chassis. The various parts were masked off and then treated to a light weathering. The weathering is an attempt to mimic and almost clean locomotive, just with a bit of grime around the bogies and underframe. The various detailing parts that are supplied with the loco were duely applied and painted. Then the model was weathered using railmatch enamels, applied with an airbrush.

The bogies were weathered with the snowploughs attached. However, I was amazed to find that these were completely incompatible with the various bufferbeam detailing parts supplied with the locomotive. Hence the snow ploughs were left off. However, as this locomotive is converted for 3 link couplings (as all my locos are) I still have a large hole in the bogie for the coupling/snowplough attachment. If I had of known the snowplough would not have fitted, then I would have filled this hole.

Anyhow, another one on the layout ready to do some work....now I really must get those points soldered up......

A bachmann brake van

Having just got hold of a SR 25t pill box brake van, I have spent a few evenings weathering this model. I built the cambrian kit a few years ago, which I still think is a pretty good model. However, the Bachmann brake van is also very good, with lovely fitted handrails, and separate underframe detailing parts. With a little bit of work I think this model really comes up well.

As ever the model was fitted with 3 link couplings, which on this Bachmann model is not too arduous a job. The model was given a wash of mixed framed dirt and weathered black from a paint brush. Then a number of shades were applied from the airbrush. Weathered balck was first applied on all the upstanding details and then sleeper grime applied to the van sides and frame dirt applied to the underframe. All in all a lovely little project and quickly finished.

I have been doing odds and sods of modelling recently, not really cracking on with anything substantial, but bits and bobs here and there. I still have not soldered up electrofrog points though - a task I keep putting off. However, the tunny wagon and whale wagon are very close to completion, so hopefully some pics of these to follow soon....

Potting Quay buildings

Not much time for modelling at the moment, but I have been attempting to get the buildings constructed for Pottington Quay. Two of these are well known Wills kits, one being the timber yard and the other being the goods shed. The timber yard has been modified a little a will hopefully represent some form of merchant trader on some land at the quay edge. This is placed at the front of the layout on the Ilfracombe side. The goods shed will be placed with a platform, on the Barnstaple side of the layout. This will be close the to the warehouse building, both of which are hiding exits to the fiddleyards. Both the goods shed and warehouse are an attempt to depict steam age infrastructure still present but derelict in the diesel age.

Barnstaple side of the layout, with goods shed and warehoue disguisng the fiddleyards.

I still have not solved the issue of disguising the fiddle yard to Ilfracombe. A few thoughts have come and gone, but I am not sure. It might be a disused platform and building. However, I still have the main platform to build, a signal box and have two partially constructed knightwing portacabin kits. I think it will be a few weeks until these buildings are all made and glued down. Until then, I have three electrofrogs to solder up. Soldering and making buildings are two things I am not particularly proficient at, and consequently progress has been slow. I am really looking forward to getting the whole thing soldered up and all the buildings down so I can start running trains.

The Ilfracombe end of the layout

Pottington Quay micro layout - further progress

It has been a while since my last post, mainly due to working away the last few weeks. I have been doing bits and pieces of modelling, but none of my current projects has really significantly moved forward. One thing I have been trying is to position buildings around Pottington Quay to disguise the holes in the backscene for the entry/exit of the trains. Originally I had planned to only have two exits on the Barnstaple side of the layout, but added a third on the Ilfracombe side of the layout to allow through-running passenger trains. This has complicated the layout a little bit as I had originally constructed one building to disguise the Barnstaple side, but I now need something else for the Ilfracombe side. I am thinking of using the Bachmann maintenance depot as per the picture, but this will remove the use of the siding for goods vehicles - which is something I want on this layout. So for now I am stuck for ideas - I have purchased a double portacabin kit from Knightwing to see if this will fit between the mainline and the siding. Otherwise, I am a bit stuck on how to disguise this break.....

Barnstaple side - this end will also have a goods shed between the railway and the quayside

And the Ilfracombe side - this exit needs disguising but I am not sure how....