A week that started with blue skies has ended in grey, as we struggle to shake off the spring in North Wales. The blue skies over the Llangollen Railway are deceptive, as the lines of coaches await their fate after the recent auction following the PLCs bankruptcy...
Rusty rails, hopefully a brighter future awaits as I’ve missed the daily sound of trains in the valley. Early in the week Railroad Model Craftsman arrived along with a pair of N gauge Lifelike SW1200, more on these in a future post, the dog has not been impressed with the change in weather..,
It’s surprising the volumetric scale reduction of N gauge, but these tiny EMD switchers run really really well, despite their age, and I’ll enjoy working on something in a smaller scale. It may open up opportunities for a longer more scenic layout in future, something I’ve toyed with before but put off by the wholesale scale change, and my personal comfort with the scale balance of H0, in terms of detail on both structures and stock. This will be an interesting experiment...
In the workshop have been lots of smaller models progressing through assembly and painting. This pair of kits from 6point5 and Narrow Planet are the same scale, but whereas Dolgoch is 009, the Ruston Proctor is an 18” gauge prototype that runs on the Busch H0f system.
At the other end of the scale spectrum for me is the final final Hudson Hunslet that has entered the paint shop, shown here with a green undercoat before the final application...
...and a trio if Industrial models including a Peckett cab conversion, a Barclay with scratchbuilt half bunker and a re-chimney’d Austerity are getting new identities, involving custom hand drawn and designed custom transfers. This sort of work is great fun, as it’s a combination of work I really enjoy.
Last week saw me share the Planet Industrials feature I’d written in Railway Modeller, this week my article on Pont-y-dulais appears in BRM. This is not the BRM of old, and the production standards are much improved, perhaps even rivalling RM in this regard. It does feel like there is space for a slightly more traditionally styled but clean amd modern cut on the layout modelling magazine aimed in the middle ground, between the RM/BRM/MR and MRJ. We will see...
Finally, today should see the release of the
Hornby Sentinel conversion kit I’ve worked on for Planet Industrials. Available at Light Railway Stores, designed for all-comers and priced as a ‘pocket money’ kit that is more affordable, for a model many of us have, yet is available cheaply second hand. It will be great to see what people achieve with it.
I’ve a weekend full of Canadian modelling planned between family commitments and the rain. I hope you all have a good weekend, until next time, more soon...
There was a 'middle ground' magazine once, the late lamented Modelling Railways Illustrated, edited initially by Rice. it contained what I consider to be the best articles on soldering etched brass and plasticard modelling that I've read, as well as thought provoking content and some very impressive modelling.
ReplyDeleteMore recently we’ve seen Rice’s ‘Rail Model Digest’ and the late Bob Barlow’s Finescale Review.
DeleteAre they all doomed to failure, because if the lack of a market, or just have never lasted long enough to establish themselves as permanent names in the model scene?
Finescale Review had promise but stalled with Bob Barlow's early demise. Every magazine Rice starts or edits disappears, which is a shame as unlike most modellers the man can write. But, writing has been replaced by captions and bullet points these days, have people got time to sit and properly read a magazine (I suspect that the answer is yes if folk put down their phones and laptops for an hour or two).
DeleteI wonder about the potential market as well, we already have 5 magazines on the newstand, is there room for another aimed at a slightly different market? The ones mentioned above were subscription only I think, which worked well enough without buying room on Smiff's shelves. But would they have done better with that extra exposure?
James used the words 'we will see'. See what I wonder...
Indeed, we will see... ;)
Delete