Friday update: Five seven nineteen...

It's been hot here in North Wales, but it's been a productive week, and lots of progress on all sorts of projects...

I've begun work on what will be a pair of LMS hoppers. These wagons have a 10ft6inch wheelbase which has meant some judicious stretching of a Parkside donor, but after a little head scratching I've put together a rolling chassis, and made a start on the body, taking note of all dimensions to aid building the second model later.

I received a photo from a customer who had taken delivery of his Heljan 05 in time for it's exhibition debut over the weekend, he was pleased with the finish and it looks well at home with these other items on his layout.

I've also made a good start on the first Hudson Hunslet - the body has been assembled from production parts, which tests their fit as well as allowing me to make notes for the rest of the batch. This model is 32mm and destined for a good friend, so I'll be heading his way early next week for some bench testing and cab and buffer discussions.

A very large order from Shapeways arrived this week and I've been busy cleaning prints ever since - a third batch of Narrow Planet 009 Beyer Peacocks, second batch of 006.5 Brede wagons, production parts for two forthcoming kits and the prototype EuroNG C50 diesel. This is a direct fit onto the Bachmann Rusty chassis, and will be available at ExpoNG in October. The prototype is awaiting etches now, and busy running in on Kisten Torfwerk.

Finally, a little personal project, somewhere to run the new Bachmann 03 I picked up a few weeks ago - this little micro, currently un-named is 37x57cm and uses Peco Code 75 Y points and their bullhead track, and features a micro headhunt big enough for the loco and one wagon. The two outside sidings can take two wagons, the middle siding just one - so a bit of a twist on a shunting puzzle as well as a photo backdrop for Narrow Planet standard gauge projects. More on the layout in it's own post later...

Another busy week ahead by the looks of it too, with large scale carriages and a few other items making progress. More soon...