Remember remember… yes, the night I have to keep the radio on and the curtains closed as the dog hates it, and the kids are desperate for bonfires and firelighters... bringing you an update from the cold, wet and dreary Dee Valley on bonfire morn...
 |
| Planet Industrials MDOs after weathering for the forthcoming instructional video - the first I've done in this style, hopefully it will be well received! Note the turnout finally has a lever, I just need to weather it and add a touch of light grey to the handle. |
Well after a busy start to the week I've slowly found myself more and more under the weather, and as I type this from the sofa with a blanket pulled up, struggling to get warm I think it's fair to say I've got a bug (thanks kids) and my long COVID symptoms are making things worse (sleep and shortness of breath - which comes back whenever I get a cold now)... that means it feels like today's update is a little thin on the ground, but that's mainly because I've finished another two commissions this week,
filmed a video which I can't share yet, and done a fair amount behind the scenes on new projects.
 |
| Beaverbrook - the mounting board road applied over cork to give some variation in height and camber. I can't wait to get some paint on this in time. |
The MDOs at the top of the page are now in stock and selling well, better than hoped, at Light Railway Stores - and to help them along, and to encourage new modellers, I've filmed an instructional video that looks at some relatively simple techniques to weather these using widely available model paints and materials. At home, I've been fitting the second section of mounting board 'road' on Beaverbrook (above) and dangerously mocking up
cameo layouts (below).
 |
| Another cameo? Cromford Bottom perhaps? The Cromford and High Peak scheme mocked up in 'LACK' size on the old dining table. It fits... could something like this replace Pont-y-dulais? |
I've been able to use the 'down time' (of being under the weather) to write a few longer posts, some in collaboration with my good friend Chris - these are great fun but do take time, and so the chance to spend a little longer on them was both enjoyed and valuable and I look forward to sharing them over the coming weeks and months.
As the nights turn darker, and days colder perhaps the lure of our railway rooms, often colder parts of the house or shed, is greatly reduced. Now is the time for good books, projects that can be completed in the warmth of the house, be it the kit you've put off for years, that structure that needs completing or perhaps a handful of trees to make - enjoy the evenings, and your craft. Enjoy the weekend too... more soon...
I am, as always, so grateful that checking in on my friend and the exciting things he's working on is as easy as opening a tab on a browser. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSeeing that photo at the top of the post of those wagons posted on Pont-y-dulais triggered, in me again, that thought: "I know how large this layout is but it's so beautifully designed and built that it's super-saturated with the cameo locations out of which terrific photos blossom". I love seeing this layout.
Sorry to read you're not feeling well. I wondered what effect the pandemic and our various in and out of quarantine periods would have on classic cold and flu season since our patterns of social interaction have changed so much. Sorry as I truly am to read you're not well that scene of being tucked closely into a blanked on a fall evening still sounds like a perfect place to be.
Chris
I’ll be resting up - I did my best written and design work for years last time I was hauled up in bed or under the blanket on the sofa…
DeleteThe Friday update has been a fixture for a fair time now, but it’s good to look back each week and see how much I’ve achieved as day to day it’s easy to get lost in it all. I hope others enjoy checking in and my conversational dialogue too, but even if no one read it, it helps order my thoughts for the following week anyway!