All the small things…

Every now and again I am proud of something. Not just happy, as I always need to be with customer work, but actually proud…

This is the first act, the statement of intent. As such, I have perhaps approached it with heart rather than head - this is a tiny structure which will be mostly ignored at the right if the layout where most will look at the left and the screens of the coal disposal point. Head would have said dimensionally about right and consistent in colour and visual texture is good enough…

But heart said I love this project. I can’t wait to express that in N on a larger canvas. I want every piece to show just how excited I am - and so we have this - the ground frame, scratch built in styrene, removable floor and roof so I can add some interior or lighting, should I choose later. She has a cover to protect the window from local yobs (strangely not the side windows though - that’s my bad, I thought they’d unbalance the look) which even has a non-working twisting wooden chock to hold it open. 

The finish is a happy accident. I sprayed it with Humbrol Matt 30 and left it for a week to harden but when I came to add the usual Humbrol 98/33 wash it was a bit softer than I expected. The damage by the brush revealed primer and my heart sung, the potential, to model a peeling and knackered finish was too great to ignore. The results aren’t perfect but it has added an awful lot of extra character for fairly minimal effort.

The finishing touch, and really the last line of this scene is the name. Crafted on my MacBook to match the look of the prototype at Blaenant - itself had the feel of one of those 1970s road name signs in housing estates. Cwmbach it is then, and from here all uphill! The turnouts are made, yes, but not wired, the baseboard has been started (yesterday) and I have the trees from the failed Ffesty 009 cameo box. The rest is going to be quite the journey, but with this marker, I have not only a model I feel proud of, but a standard established for the project. Until next time, more soon…

Support my work

I love writing and creating material for the blog. If you enjoy what you read and engage with I would be appreciative of any donation, large or small, to help me keep it advert and restriction free. Alternatively, feel free to buy me a coffee.