Friday Update: Six Nine Twenty-four

Here we are again, another week another Friday update. A shorter one after last weekends Durham adventure yet busy as always and with the kids back and all that entails. Rich variety here though this week so grab your coffee (or tea) and join me for a tour of the hilights…

Over the summer I have finalised a little more of the CAD design for the large scale Ruston build. These large 44/48hp machines are much bigger than anything else I’ve done in the scale - as usual there is a mix of techniques and materials. So far, I’ve worked in 3D for 3D printing and 2D for laser cutting. There is a requirement for some etched brass (radiator parts and I think, the side bonnet doors) and I need to CAD up the cabs, but the basic chassis looks like it’s right so I’ll order those parts to get on with building the rolling chassis. It’s refreshing to be working in the large scale again, I hope that these models will have real character as they come to life!

The European cameo composition is on the home straight now - I feel like I’ve said that for sometime, but we’re really close to the finishing line now. I need to add some interior walls to the structures, then bed them in - and perhaps add some signage - but then, we can call it complete. That isn’t the end of layouts this year though, it just means I can focus upon the N gauge Mosslanda ‘Fancy another beer’ that I started before the holidays - and with Kohlenbachbrücke sold and going next weekend I’ll be able to start on whatever comes next for me - currently the Irish OO is top of the chart… it would seem I’ve become a serial layout builder.

On the bench this week have been a few more weathering commissions - the last for a while, as next up are some 009 builds - and then etched brass kits… so it has been refreshing to work over some out of the box finished models. This Bachmann class 31 is a wonderful model, to me it captures the prototype just right and the lustre in its paint is lovely. Whereas with my 24 recently I added a matt laquer to represent tired paint in the early 80s, the 31s were in better condition - this time, I worked straight from the Bachmann finish with, in this ‘in progress’ photos the washes applied to chassis and body (not roof or ends yet). Actually, the display this sits upon is ‘for sale’ so if anyone wants to make a sensible offer please do as my attempts to sell with a fixed price have so far failed!

In the smaller scales, the abandoned MGR hoppers have had a wash applied (above) and the 31 has seen its buffer beams picked out in red (the donor model had black ones as remember this has had a body swap with a Railfreight Coal example). Paxton Road remains the most wonderful muse - so much that Gerald Road’s structures are back in the box for now!

On Beaverbrook there have been departures (5606 is due to land with Chris in Canada today) and arrivals as this Bachmann DCC sound value Alco S2 has arrived along with another covered hopper. The latter I’ve already weathered, after removing its ADM markings. I’ve been looking for a pale rib sided hopper for some time and a friend had one for sale, it’s nice to give things a new home. The Bachmann S2 is delightful, so cheap yet so full of character and purpose. The drive isn’t whisper quiet, but at slow speeds it is acceptable. More, the DCC sound is very basic but actually, all you need. The plan is for this to be cut down and modified to fit under a Kaslo RS23 that is on its way from Canada - the GP11 I was working on has found a new home - so the RS23 will be the another HMLX patch, this time of CP Rail… I’m excited, I enjoyed the CN S13 I built a few years ago now… 

All this Beaverbrook activity has seen another miracle… progress on structures! I’ve added the details and started with the windows on the largest structure at the rear of the layout. This now needs me to build the ground up along the base so it helps to hide the joint and I can keep it loose… as well as the other windows adding! It is so nice to see this come together and although the previous styrene state was a big step forwards from previous cardboard this time we’ve actually not just replaced card with plastic, at the same resolution, we’re now adding detail, increasing that resolution and paint will only add further in the weeks and months ahead.

Whilst commission work often whistles across my bench it is healthy to realise that our own projects wax and wane, they flow with us and through us - it is only natural that when mood dips or exhaustion sets in we struggle to ‘make progress’. The proliferation of ‘how to guides’ and magazines and YouTube channels that also then contribute to a feeling of inadequacy - all these other great modellers work endlessly and produce amazing results , why can’t I replicate that… it’s a vicious downward spiral - and not accurate. We all have good days, we all have bad days, we all have the in between. We build, we play, we procrastinate. The only thing that is certain that at a deep level we love what model railways bring to our lives, that love, however it is manifested, connects us all.

I’ll end with a light hearted and enthusiastic link, George and I did a live stream a few weeks ago and you can now watch it on in his channel. I do a lot of the talking (sorry George) but it was a great chance to reflect and talk about the books - should we do it again!? You help us decide! Let me know what you think. If you haven’t seen George’s channel, I’d highly recommend it - and hope to corrupt him to some N gauge modelling sooner or later! If you haven’t seen my channel, where have you been? Seriously, it adds depth to the blog, I hope if you can, you check that out as well. In the meantime though, the day beckons, one of invoices and emails as I start new commissions and wrap up old ones… possibly some primer on the Beaverbrook structure later? Whatever your weekend holds I hope you find it restorative. Until next time, more soon…

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