Friday Update: Twenty-six Eleven Twenty-one…

From cold crisp mornings and our first frost to dark wild and blustery we've had the whole spectrum of winter mornings here in North Wales this week, and as I type this on the sofa in our lounge, the wind noise gusts over the tapping of the keyboard...

Hornby unmodified 08 (left) with my own Bachmann improved model (right)

In the workshop I've been continuing to source parts for the Ruston LB in 7/8ths, the first customers will be getting their models in 2022, but these things take time to come together and sourcing and modifying parts is all part of the build process. Alongside that, after finishing a few commissions last week I've made a start on some new ones - mostly a mix of modified and weathered ready to run models using conversion kits and the like, I will share more next week on those... one of the models in for repair and weathering is the green Hornby 08. I've seen plenty over the years in photographs but this is the first one to come over my bench and it's as I expected - the detail is finer, but somehow I don't get the same feeling of character from it... I suppose there is something to be said for taking one of our existing models, as I did with the older Bachmann 08, and bringing the detail level up and creating something of our own. However, we will see how it responds to some weathering in the coming weeks. 

I'm full of another cold, luckily for me I don't really get a streaming nose, rather a bunged up head... I've been trying to get out for a longer walk every day, its easy to become cocooned inside in this weather but on occasion the Dee Valley delivers views like this and the fast paced walk up to this point was worth it... panting out of breath looking across the green field to sheep in the middle distance and the Berwyns beyond, as the cloud separates and brings a lovely medley of colour to the trees, ground and sky. Wonderful.

G-scale logging commission.

A few weeks ago I think I shared a photo of parts of a few American G-scale logging items that had been damaged, close to unrepairable... well I've managed to salvage enough parts to build four trucks, and rescued a lot of the details on the caboose - this just needs one replacement handrail and the corner steps repairing now - along with a swap of couplers. The skeleton car is also repaired, but will need a touch up of paint and perhaps a wash to tie the colours in with the other items I am working on for the same customer from new kits. Remember, I'm happy to work on models in any scale so get in touch for your own proposal.

GE44t with roller bearing journals and exposed fuel and air tanks.

On my own bench I've been working on a Bachmann GE44t I picked up from Kernow Model Centre a few weeks ago in their sale... brand new for just £60! This is being modified to represent a unit in industrial service that has survived a few period changes - foot boards are gone at the front, headlights replaced with a pair of sealed beam each end (these will need some thoughts on wiring as space is tight). I cut off the central skirts and designed some 3D fuel and air tanks, shown fitted here. I also substituted the trucks with some 70t ones, and replaced the axle bearings with open ended roller bearing journals. These small 3D parts worked well, and it was a nice exercise in designing smaller parts again after all the work on the 7/8ths Ruston. This process isn't just drawing something to scale, it's actual virtual modelling. I have to consider how thick to make parts, and what I can get away with to create a 3D model that is printable and will withstand some handling. These have come out well.

Finally, closing with a little shameless plug... this year I decided to try and raise a bit of money for Movember by growing a moustache for November. If you visit my page you should be able to see a few photos of this years (and previous years) attempt... as the month draws to a close if you feel able to support me in any small way, men's health charities really benefit from the money raised. Perhaps historically more about male cancer research, more recently mental health has become an important part of the charities supported by Movember, and having suffered from depression in my life I recognise the importance of getting quality help to those that need it, when they need it.

My page is here, where you can make a donation large or small...

https://movember.com/m/jameshilton

The weather looks a little mixed here this weekend, and I am in desperate need of a few nice lie-ins... with Christmas around the corner my workbench is pretty busy, but as ever, if you have anything you'd like me to work on then get in touch for a personal proposal, that matches your requirements to your budget. In the meantime, more soon...