Friday update: Eleven ten nineteen...

It's been another week full of Hudson Hunslet's this week I'm afraid so not much of a variety in terms of the models in this update, but despite this plenty to share that hasn't warranted it's own posts yet...

First up, this was the state of play with the HH's at the end of the day on Monday - these three are all now painted in various shades of green and detail painting has begun before weathering can commence. You will have seen 'No.9' already in a separate post this week, well currently there are four HH's on my window sill, and all completely different in terms of detail and finish!

Work has started on the next 7/8ths project for 2020, this will be the Ruston Proctor, 32mm gauge outside frame only. The bones of a plan are forming, and my good friend Steve and I are working out how this can go together as a production model, rather than a one of commission, which requires the same level of design worm that the HH did in 2018. Frames have been drawn and I've a pair of test cuts on the workbench to mull over other details.

Whilst at Steve's I took along 'No.9' to pose with some of his stock. In my collection I don't have any metal framed slate wagons, but Steve had this Penryhn one to hand, which shows that despite the narrow-ness of the prototype loco it looks perfectly at home with the wagon, almost a miniature version of the example at Blanau!

The trip also garnered some good discussion about the 'Simplex' based crew brake van I've been building. Steve helped me out with ideas and then we laser cut some parts, which I had hoped to avoid, but the 'rolled' angle roof supports would have been impossibly difficult and time consuming any other way. This model will have it's own dedicated post in the coming days...

As well as all these models, a pair of trestles arrived from eBay and have been loosely assembled and tested with East Works - which shortcuts a load of effort in making some - still got a lot of 'to do' items for that layout ahead of the exhibition though! Hopefully with a quieter family weekend planned I can get on with a few bits on this as the weather doesn't look great on Sunday. Have a good weekend, more soon...