Friday Update: Twenty-nine Five Twenty...

Well last week I had an update every day, and this week nothing - I'd like to say it's because I've been taking a well earned rest, or perhaps I've been on holiday, but neither - just the kids aren't at 'school' this week so I've had more time for work, but also less time for work in a way...

First up this week, a minor personal update - I've finally added crew to my pair of Hattons Barclays fitted with Planet Industrial cabs... there is a third Barclay on the way, but more on that another time. IN the meantime, these figures are from Modelu, I'm driving the Devonport loco, and an industrial footplate crew is manning the NCB loco - these are painted in Games Workshop acrylics and washes, and secured with superglue.

Last weekend I made some progress on my own 7/8ths Bedford lorry, I've grabbed a few minutes on it this week here and there, and it's now more complete than above, and the cab is pretty much ready for painting. It's going to have a black chassis with dark blue cab, and will be lettered up with some custom transfers nearer the time.

Mollington Road has gone into hibernation for a while, I find these periods 'away' from projects gives me fresh renewed vigour and a critical eye when they come back out. Before it could go though I added some lettering to the box, and varnished it to reduce the dust. The lettering was designed on the computer to match that on the North British shunter I built, and Borcester is a made up place I've used before on projects. The text is reversed, and then printed out on the backing paper of stickers, and then rubbed onto the box carefully transferring the ink to the wood grain.

During the lock down, the Narrow Planet etch supplier has massively reduced output - so I've progressed the next 6point5 project to be a 'print only' model. The bonnet above is about 18mm long, and the kit will be a three piece print, like I've used before, but you'll need to add a skim of plastic to the roof. If it fits as planned, this will be released shortly, ahead of the Manning Wardle...

...talking of which, I've been building one (on the right) for a customer this week. It's a fiddly but rewarding build, and works well on the Busch chassis. It's fashioned after the later models at Chatham and Royal Arsenal, specifically photos of Khartum, and is based upon scale drawings with a few small adjustments to allow the Busch mechanism to fit. On the left is a Bagnall 0-4-0st from the Narrow Planet kit I designed five years ago - I've added dummy valve gear and return crank. The crank arm is glued to the wheel coupling rod pin, and centred over the wheel centre and rotates when the model is driven. The longer arm is stationary, that connects to the slide bars, but rests on the end of the rotating rod giving the impression of it working. A cheat, but an effective (and robust) one.

I've been working on some more custom transfer artwork this week too - based upon North East NCB and LH&J prototypes. These shaded numbers and letters are hand drawn to match photos (see above). I start with a true type font that is close to the required shape, and then hand adjust each letter. This results in a transfer that captures the character of a sign written prototype. I've been pestered to add this to the Planet Industrials range - something that I may consider at a later date.

Finally this week, work in 09 on a Duton kit of a Heywood 0-6-0. The kit is a neat piece of resin with some etchings, and was designed for the inside framed Farish J94/08 chassis. My customer wanted me to retrofit and redesign to allow a new outside framed 08 chassis to be used. The overall width meant I had to respace the cylinders, and adjust the valve gear. I cut down and smoothed off the outside frames and secured these to the resin footplate. The chassis is secured using the Farish screws a the front. It's a neat runner due to the integral weight inside the Duton resin body. I have commissioned a good friend to turn me up a replacement brass dome to finish it off, so it's gone in hibernation until that is ready in a few weeks. 

Next week will see more small scale commissions started, and I've worked out a way to source the laser cut material for some of the larger scale models so things are getting back to some sort of normal here. However, I continue to appreciate your support and custom, thank you for reading and showing interest in my modelling and blog. I hope you're all fairing well, best wishes and enjoy the weekend. More soon...