Friday Update: Five Six Twenty-six…

Where did the weather go? I’m not lamenting the loss of 30+ degC temperatures but it has been low teens here this week and wet. The grass is growing like mad but too wet to cut, the workshop is cold again and I’m in a jumper! However, despite this plenty to report from the bench this week, grab yourself a nice hot drink and sit down for a few moments…

We’ll start with this lovely thing - the 16mm Simplex, built from the Slaters kit and modified for battery and radio control. I have been painting it over recent weeks and the weathering has now begun to inject real character into the finish, bringing out the detail and telling the story of a well loved but hard working industrial machine. The effects you see here are all crafted using Humbrol enamels, custom made washes, detailed micro-painting and dry brushing… but that wood surface, the worn edges of the sandbox lid, the grease and oil around the framing of the engine bay - magic. There are a trio of skip wagons to finish next, and then she’ll be heading to a new home across the Atlantic.

As the 16mm models are nearly done, next up are some tiny European N gauge models entering the paint shop for various make overs. Lots of colours to apply to these over the coming week or so before some custom designed transfers to refinish and then reassemble. A tonic in some ways to the etched brass and chassis construction of recent weeks.

That said, look at this! I find that resin 3D prints are often deformed - adding a further constructional headache when trying to put them together. This is a frame from a Leek and Manifold 2-6-4T locomotive, and with some hot water was encouraged a little straighter - but not perfect. However, since the footplate was also deformed in the opposite direction and the body was straight I hoped combined all would be well. Assembling the chassis of these kits is no mean feat, the results are pleasing and run as well as you’d expect with a Farish 08 chassis at the heart. The good news is the body does indeed straighten everything out, but rather than keep the large seperate I’ve glued things together and will have to glue the body on, to ensure the whole thing stays together. These troubles aren’t seen in every kit though and it is pleasing to report the second of the kits exhibited much less distortion and has assembled as a straight and level chassis out of the box. Having the confidence to work with these kits, to understand what is ok and what will cause later problems and learning my own approach for pre-painting and finishing gives me a good chance of getting a great result. If you’d like me to assemble your similar models, perhaps even just the chassis, do get in touch for a no obligation fixed price proposal.

After enjoying last weekends diesel gala I’m planning to head further afield this weekend. Originally I hoped to head to Bradford to see Michael’s beautiful model of Bradford Cathedral but it was working out to be an incredibly expensive trip - the train ticket was over £70, and it began to feel an extravagance… at the same time I had pondered visiting DEMU in Sutton Coldfield, a much more manageable £35 train ticket for a similar length journey. I haven’t attended one of their shows since 2010, it will be nice to be out and social able. Do say hello if you’re attending.

Let’s hope the rain continues so I can’t then cut the grass on Sunday! Progress was made on wiring Cwmbach earlier this week, so I need to look at starting some track painting next whilst the layout lacks the ends and back scene, something I usually really enjoy so a pleasant way to reset before another busy week in the workshop.  Work continues at pace on a myriad of commissions whilst squeezing in time to continue creating case-studies for the new weathering book and making sure Coalbridge Street is ready for Larkrail. To this end, a small ‘fiddle stick’ extension board might be created to ‘clamp’ on and allow a bit more flexibility of operation beyond the home environment. The model isn’t really self supporting, so a suitable plywood ‘shelf’ structure might be required too… I’m getting ahead of myself, there are still a few weeks to panic about all this! Anyhow, I need to give my eldest step daughter a lift to her penultimate GCSE shortly, so we’ll sign things off here - have a good weekend and until next time, as always, more soon…

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