Friday Update: Thirteen Twelve Nineteen...

Seasons greetings and best wishes for 2020 to all my customers past and present, and readers of my blog all around the world, thank you for the support throughout 2019, I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog and sharing in my own small model making world!

This is the last Friday update of 2019, and it's been a busy week finishing off commissions, which I've already shared on the blog this week. As well as O gauge narrow gauge models and weathering OO gauge ready to run items I've pushed on with some more large scale commissions this week.

One of the Hudson Hunslet customers also ordered a rake of custom finished Model-earth budget skip wagon chassis based kits. These are great value for money as kits, but do require quite a lot of prep to assemble squarely, and in my experience do need some fettling to get them running. I started by clearing axle holes and then sanding the bottom surface of the axle boxes flat before marking the hole centres for the fixing bolts and drilling these. Once they were all done (3 wagons worth takes some time) I moved onto the resin frames, cleaning up the flash and mould lines which doesn't take too long. One wagon was twisted so I heated this up and pressed it flat under a heavy weight until it cooled and that straightened it out. The wheels were assembled to gauge, and retainers added from slips of styrene tube, as otherwise the axles can slip to one side and drop out of the axleboxes.

Assembly isn't; quick, applying two small nuts to small bolts for each axle box takes time, but does give a pleasing appearance and there probably isn't an alternative way to give such strength with the lovely channel frame design. Once they were all free rolling I lightly oil the axle boxes before adding the bodywork. The flat wagon had a brake added and a representation of the linkage under the floor. Finally they were primed, and put away for finishing in 2020.

I've also been working on the 7/8ths scale Campagne autotracteur - this now has a bonnet and cab rear sheet including wooden seat. Created in styrene, smoothing this into the distinctive profile has taken some time, but it's looking really promising. 2020 should see the control column, fuel tank and roof take shape in short order now.

Finally, I've been working on a model my Dad built in the early 1980s from an old Ratio pre-painted kit for the GW Iron Mink. I have fixed the brake gear, thinned the roof edge and added Accurascale buffers and Smiths 3-links. It's going to be repainted as a 'Devonport' van for publicity purposes for some more forthcoming products so watch this space!

That is just about it for the year, I have one more work related post which I'll publish in the next week or so, but other than that, holidays. What will I be doing? Well, I've been saving the Judith Edge Hunslet diesel up, hopefully the motor, gearbox and hornblocks will arrive over the weekend - otherwise tree making for the new modern 006.5 peat micro layout. I hope you all have a good Christmas and festive season, best wishes for 2020! More soon...