Friday Update: Twenty-five Nine Twenty...

Well apparently, according to the new NHS T&T app, we're a medium risk here, and with the foreshadow of a Covid-19 winter upon us it's been harder to be cheery this week in the workshop, despite new Planet Industrials announcements and a good variety of work...

One small element of joy is Pont-y-dulais, and shuttling one of my OO industrials up and down usually helps me switch off momentarily... I was very pleased and honoured to be the first guest blogger on Phil Parker's blog last Sunday where I talked a bit about accessibility as a key factor in enjoyment of the hobby.

The layout continues in this vein and I've had the Planet Industrials kits out for a run. The ability to combine a quick operating session with a photo shoot are two elements of the hobby I'm particularly fond of... I've been reading Lance Mindheim's books this week about layout design, and thinking about the hobby as art. The former is quite an interesting approach, one to take into consideration alongside my usual technique and combined with some notes I've got from Iain Rice have helped slow down and make the Canadian Adventure a lot more mindful. The latter book is interesting, because it's a very 'American' style, but the content chimes home with all the things I do but hadn't distilled into a book. I wonder if perhaps there is a gap for a more British version, in my own words? Maybe one day...

Between commission work designing transfers and 3D parts for future commissions I've begun work on this old Like Like Proto 2000 covered hopper - my plan is to repaint it into a Saskatchewan Potash livery as a nod to the province in whatever layout I end up settling with, the 'sour cherry' is custom mixed from my old favourite Humbrol enamels, gloss orange and gloss crimson in this case. I mixed a dark colour first and sprayed this over the edges of the under frame and the body stancions and around the hatches on the roof. Whilst still tacky I mixed a lighter colour and oversprayed the whole model. I've used this pre-shading before and it gives a really nice variation on the sides of a model when finished, difficult to achieve post painting. Next up some 20 year old decals!

The quadruplets of Hudson Hunslet are moving forwards, engine bay detailed and bonnets constructed plus cab handrails all fitted - next up fuel tank so bonnets sit level, then the cab control stands next week...

Finally we close this week with a glimpse of the bench this morning, with a tease of another PI product that will appear next week. Once these two prototypes are painted and finished I must do a PI line up photo with all the models laid out! It's been good fun setting up this brand with Steve, and we hope to share some new products again next month, including the revised Hibberd...

... this is the flameproof design, but features a re-designed body and chassis incorporating our own drive train with push together assembly. I've got the wheels on order and then I need to cut up the layshafts, but it's not far from release. I hope you're all well, and surviving the pandemic, and that model making proves a tonic for you as much as it does for me. In the meantime, I've a weekend of decorating ahead here! Until next week then, more soon...