Friday Update: Six Ten Twenty-three…

This week narrow gauge from 16mm to 009 with a little personal N gauge thrown in for good measure, grab a coffee and sit back for a review of the week…

The weather has turned decidedly autumnal and it’s been less inviting although Janey and I got out early in the week for a nice walk - the wonders of working from home and for yourself. I’m the workshop that means a warm jumper as the cold outside directly correlates with cold inside too! The slow March towards Christmas has started where I always feel I’ve beaten the winter and can look forward to the warmth of spring.

What is this? Something larger than normal? Asked by a customer who has previously had me working on 009 commissions if I could work in 16mm the answer was of course… ladies and gentleman, the first lining job (on an aging Accurcraft) in 16mm. Pictured here she is half done, with cleaning up of the corners required before sealing with varnish, I’ll have a full ‘commission’ post next week.

I offer competitive prices and tailored to your exact requirements. I can offer a one stop shop with custom nameplates, decals and weathering but have limited capacity and I suggest you drop off and pick up the models afterwards (I’m located close to Llangollen), so if you’d like me to breathe some character in to your live steam model over the winter get in touch for a fixed price proposal married to you needs. There 

At the other end of the scale this Kato/Peco 009 England has donated its tender to a personal project whilst the locomotive is destined to become an unpowered Palmerston circa 1963. Work has included removing the nameplate and filling spurious detail. This is a small but fun little project alongside the layout build mentioned earlier in the week…

…track too, for both Boston Lodge and Leatown. I like to get the track first as it’s a place marker, a commitment. It helps me focus and so the next stages become clearer. Shopping lists are drawn up and I can make a start on acquiring other parts as well as the sheet materials required. These projects take up a fair bit of space but working in parallel allows quicker progress as when one layout is drying you can be working on the other.

Elsewhere in the workshop a mammoth job has broken out! Fresh from the success of the two Ffestiniog carriages shared last week (and they’ll be on the blog in their own post shortly) I’ve been asked to build 6 Fourdees ‘Barns’. This sort of project, when done to a specific price and detail level, need to be broken down into discreet stages, you can see here trucks are painted and assembled, interiors painted a single colour apart from the seperate arm chairs, and the carriage sides are ivory ready to be masked to spray the red. My biggest concern is the twist in these shells, and whether the roof will be sufficient to hold them straight when finished but I’m determined to do a good job on them! Time will tell… 

Finally, a fifth 08 has joined the fleet here! Tacked onto the track order this RSS example brings us bang up to date and will work alongside the yellow Hilton Mears example as business expands at their intermodal terminal. This model ran beautifully straight from the box and as you’d expect will be detailed and weathered shortly.

With Bygones on in Porthmadog and the DMU gala here in the valley - plus half an idea to go to Chester station again, the weekend feels full of promise. I hope you have had a good week and can look forward to some trains of your own over the weekend. As always, if you are interested in me helping you with a layout design or bringing a model to life get in touch for a personal fixed price proposal hosing the form here on the site or via Facebook or the forums. Until next time, more soon… 

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