Friday Update: Twenty-seven Nine Twenty-four…

Welcome to the workbench and another round up of progress and activity here in North Wales. After a week of appalling autumnal weather let’s dive right in and enjoy that five minute break away from whatever you are supposed to be doing this morning…

Last week you will have seen progress on a range of 009 models and mention, I think, of another… this Dolgoch from Fourdees is being finished like the last one to grace my bench, maroon lined with yellow/black but this time with custom names as a nod to a lost family member. I’ve been taking my time with this one as I do enjoy lining with Fox transfers. I’ve added most of this now, and touched in the edges with gloss black so later today I’ll begin the rest of the detail painting to bring this finish to life. Patience and some good radio are a great supporting act to this sort of work, if you’re thinking of having a go. If you’d like me to rescue your efforts, or even start from scratch do get in touch for a no-obligation fixed price proposal.

Earlier this week I shared ‘Fancy another beer’ in progress, in its own post because I was so excited with the lighting. This project has been the main focus this week and it’s is nearly complete, most of the modelling is now complete, just a few tidy up jobs to finish up on the casework and she’ll be finished. The palette is my usual subdued range with just touches of colour - in this case, yellow - even that slightly subdued. Whilst I’ve ’straightened out’ the prototype to fit this presentation, the structures more impressionist than realistic, I feel it has captured the essence of the inspiration and am looking forward to running the sound fitted Susquehanna GP40 once it is weathered - a job for the next day or so… video hopefully next week, all being well. You can learn more about the initial design intent by searching for Susquehanna here on the blog.

A few new arrivals here this week - as well as the Y turnout that allowed Coalbridge Street to become a reality a Rapido Caprice - this model was not cheap, and to be honest, was probably an extravagant extra but I didn’t have anything 70s road related for the project - and this sort of thing sets the time and place of a scene so perfectly. That glossy finish will have to go, and some gentle weathering to follow but with a prevailing wind, and some fairer weather today, we will see the baseboard cut and track fully wired for the layout his weekend. The construction will follow my usual methods - something I’m often asked about, and a topic that will feature in a new book I’m aiming to prepare for next year.

Talking of books, my latest ‘Model Railway Companion’ has been reviewed in Model Rail (thanks Peter, a fair and honest - and exciting - reflection) which should raise awareness - as well as being stocked shortly by Rails of Sheffield - a departure from the norm perhaps, but this is a cross over book I think, and one that would be a great gift for a loved one this Christmas… be quick though, the first print run is selling very fast indeed!

I’ll wrap things up here for today, I know that is a little shorter than usual but I need to crack on with a few projects quite quickly this morning. Weathering to fit in before starting next week on more large scale models! This weekend will be filled with more ‘work’ for me with the European shelf being collected on Sunday. It will be nice to meet my customer - it is lovely to meet new faces, despite sharing messages and emails for months. That will create a bit of breathing space for me, it’s been a lot of layout builds this year, four commissions once the Mosslanda is done, and that does take a bit of a creative toll on my own work. Not that I’m complaining, but I’ve noticed the difference between the different kinds of work and the balance they bring to my headspace and creativity. Wherever you are and whatever plans your weekend brings I hope you can find a moment to indulge your passion for railways (real, model or both) and until next time, more soon…

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