Friday Update: Twenty-six Five Twenty-three…
Somehow another week, and a bank holiday weekend ahead of us again! Busy with large and small, work of all types and hopefully a few more commissions ready to go to new homes so let’s take a look…
The weather here has been really quite settled, blue skies pleasantly warm, a chance to get out in the garden with a good book at coffee time.
It is also seen the near completion of my own book, which is now just waiting on one forward from a good friend Paul before I can send it off for proofreading.
In the workshop I’ve made a start on a few new commissions, the first of which is demonstrated by the chassis above which will form the power for a Baguley Drewry industrial diesel, later to form a new kit in the Planet Industrials range. On a project like this work begins with making an accurate CAD model of the chassis so that 3-D printed the next components can then be designed to fit around this, with a confidence that things will just work.
The last commission to leave the workshop was ‘Shades of Mountain Ash’ last weekend, and its new owner dropped off a box of Accurascale MDO wagons for weathering. These are from the first batch and were in an uncompromising pale grey including the insides! This weathering I would describe as ‘layout style’ where absolute fidelity is balanced with a consistent appearance across a large quantity of rolling stock. That said it doesn’t mean detail is lost, just perhaps slightly generalised. The result is still convincing and I’m hoping that Gareth will be able to share a photo of the wagons on the layout when they return to him in due course.
Something a little different on the bench in recent weeks has been the recreation of an old model called ‘Falk #1’. My customer Pete, in Canada, as always found the original very appealing after seeing photographs of it in the Gazette, it’s a pleasure to recreate this for him, I’m really enjoying the process. We discuss progress regularly and working around the limitations of the re-gauged Bachman 0n30 chassis has meant some artistic license is required but I’m absolutely sure that the finished model will have all the character of the original.
And finally the South African Narrow gauge diesel has crossed the line! There will be a full ‘commission’ post next week but here she is on the garden line, although too big to run! This has been a real labour of love transforming the basic Bowaters shell into a much more realistic model with real presence. Matt, my customer has been very understanding in the development of this model, as we’ve tweaked the specification and I’ve added a lot of extra detail. All will be revealed next week anyway, but it’s great to see this ready to move to its new home.
I am blessed and honoured to work on such a variety of models, my job is one that dreams are made of. If you think I can help you with your own project, be that from layout design, building, scenic work or structures, weathering detailing or renumbering an existing model through to complete scratch building, get in touch for a free no obligation fixed price proposal. The contact form is in the menu on the top left corner of the website.
I read in the Guardian today that men struggle to maintain friendships in their 30s 40s and onwards. I have found since moving to North Wales the same, that those that we thought were good friends drift away through distance and in frequency of contact, and it can be lonely and difficult to find new acquaintances where you live, especially when you live in a rural community as I do here. I have a fantastic partner, loving family and I’ve been lucky to make some really great friends through the Internet but it doesn’t replace those face-to-face experiences we all need from time to time. I think it has affected my mental health, but perhaps has been masked by the lockdowns of the Covid pandemic. I don’t have an answer, or a happy outcome, it is still something that I’m working on and towards, and I’m only sharing this in the hope that it helps us all talk more openly about our emotional experiences and reach out for help from those around us if we ever need to.
I’m looking forward to doing a little more work on Lochdubh this weekend, physically firming up the left-hand side scenic exit and beginning work on the access road and bridge. There probably isn’t as much work left in this layout as I had feared, I was worried I was losing a little steam with it, not that I don’t love looking at it and enjoying it, but that perhaps its scope was too large for such a folly. I’m hoping with some concerted effort over the next few days I can break the back of the parts of work I find least enjoyable and get me back onto the scenic elements of which I really come to enjoy and look forward to in recent years. I hope that you can find some time for yourself be that with a book, running trains on your layout or scheming another great plan? Until next time, more soon…
A big thumbs up on all these goings on but particularly the comments about mental health. I've discovered over the years that I'm quite a loner and definitely an introvert, and actually content at last in both those aspects of my personality, but I do find that those face-to-face interactions you mentioned do often help energise me. I've discovered that they need to be the right type of interaction, though, to have that effect; for instance one-to-one (or very small groups) top up my battery, but I find that even small/medium sized parties drain me very quickly. I think we also become more discerning in our friendships as we age, which perhaps partly accounts for the struggle suggested by the Guardian article? By our 40s we have a better idea of the types of personality we are likely to clash with at some point in the future. For me, I spent far too many of my younger years trying to "fit in" with overtly extroverted personalities who seemed to thrive off all the parties, socialising and drama that I ended up tolerating rather than enjoying. I'm more content now that I've recognised and accepted that, however, doing so has inevitibly resulted in me having fewer friends, but I think truer friends. Sorry, that wasn't intended to rhyme and I only noticed after writing it how twee it sounds... oh well.
ReplyDeleteNot twee at all, and strangely resonates… although part of me doesn’t mind larger groups if I’m the ringleader! Certainly perhaps more in my twenties anyway…
DeleteI tend to go through life with just a few good friends, and they come and go dee ding on where I am, when I’ve moved it’s often been a reset. Just this time I’ve not managed to find like minded souls but that is probably more because I don’t work with anyone and I’m not down the pub every week anymore.
That idea of hosting modeling retreats I discussed though sounds more and more the right sort of tonic for many of us?
I really do think you're onto something with that idea
DeleteHi All,
DeleteOut of curiosity, is the concept of a modelling convention prevalent in the UK at all? Here is Australia there are several themed conventions (usually around modelling a specific state system, although there are also narrow gauge, O gauge, and I think early period themed events). They're usually held over a day and typically consist of talks, a modelling competition, some displays and trade stands, home layout visits, and a dinner and things. As they're theme based and not open to the public they're usually a bit more intimate than an exhibition and less free-for-all than a lot of club events. I know the same happen in the US but I'm not actually sure how similar they are to the Australian conventions. Perhaps there's a model there for the notion of a modelling retreat?
Tim
The NMRA have something similar here, once a year from my understanding Tim, but what James and I are talking about is a lot smaller and more intimate- perhaps me hosting 4-6 people, a weekend of learning new skills (me teaching), a rode on the Llangollen and a chance to be away from the world, focusing on the mindful experiences our hobby has to offer. The stumbling block for me is working out the insurance I’d need and negotiate with local halls / venues if using airbrushes, solvents etc… this year is looking too busy to put something together but I might look to try something in 2024.
Delete