Model Rail Scotland Debuts

Excitement is building ahead of us taking Bron Hebog to Model Rail Scotland in Glasgow in a month's time, which will be our first show in more than two years.

While I was thinking about that the other day it occurred to me that there must be a number of models we built in that time which have not been seen in public yet (aside from on this blog and our social media).

I stopped counting when I got to 15.

So I thought you might like a reminder of what's among the new stuff.

The steam engines include NGG/16 130, which is all new, and in the last two years Himself has got round to painting Lyn and Welsh Pony.

The diesel fleet has been bolstered by the recent arrival of our green Vale of Ffestiniog, and the duplicate of Conway Castle in the livery in which it served with distinction on WHR construction trains and as the Dinas shunter for many years.

Now, we also have the locomotive which replaced it, the big yellow Baguley number 9, and at the other end of the spectrum the former Boston Lodge gofer Harold.

New carriages include 2048 and the fourth of the opulent observation cars Gwyrfai, as well the much less salubrious Ashbury replica 21 and the Pickering brake for the WHHR excursions / incursions. 

If Rule One is enacted at any point over the three days at the SEC you might also be lucky to see some of our new tow-along amusements including a derelict Livingston Thompson on ambulance bogies, and a freshly un-plinthed Princess.

Both are completely out of era - being 1980s representations - and completely out of place on the Welsh Highland section, but you never know...

More prototypical is a deconstructed NGG/16 loaded onto DZ flat wagons for transfer between Boston Lodge and Dinas.

This little tableau is a consequence of us being offered the chance to buy the remains of a Backwoods kit which someone made such a Horlicks of building that the best thing to be done with it was recover any parts which could be used as spares and turn what was left into a conversion piece.

2020 Review - Part 2

April

I finished off the previous post saying we had plans for an old England engine kit and a dead chassis which were lying around in the bits box, and this is what we turned them into.

I've got a real fascination with the FR of my childhood in the 1970s and 80s.

While Princess may look splendid now in her lined out maroon livery, this is how I first remember seeing her, when she was freshly liberated from a plinth in Blaenau Ffestiniog.

This model is an unpowered tow-around which may make the occasional, fantasy trip up and down the line.

Himself also finished off the construction work on our own version of Van 51 using one of my kits, improved with a brass roof, resin ventilator and railings on the balcony.

And we started another one of my wish list projects, to create a model of Livingston Thompson at its nadir, when the remains of the locomotive were removed from storage in Minffordd yard.

The donor in this case was Langley white metal kit which had been donated for the purpose many years ago.

May

Out of the blue were were offered the chance to buy another Backwoods Garratt kit at a knockdown price.

As you can see from the picture it was a bit of a wreck, and we had no intention of getting it going as a runner, but it came with a Farish 08 chassis - which is always handy - and we had an inkling of an idea of what we could do with the very battered body...

 

I'd finished making and fitting the interior on Gwyrfai and by this time Himself was well advanced with the painting, which is an epic job on these observation cars.

The paint job was also complete on Van 51 which looked very smart and was just waiting for the glazing to be fitted.

June

Some running repairs were required on Bron Hebog when we noticed one of the crossing gates was damaged.

Himself knocked up a replacement out of styrene strip.

The very intricate transfer work on Gwyrfai was complete and all it now required was a coat of varnish.

And so while he was in the mood for tackling tricky transfers - and getting through incomplete projects - Himself started re-doing the lining on Conway Castle which hadn't been touched since before he moved to Scotland.

Five Years Later

It's been a very drawn-out affair but the end result of our second Conway Castle was definitely worth waiting for.

Himself has fitted the glazing - which is a very tricky operation - and finished it off with the nameplates which include the badge of Conway on the cabside, supplied by our friends at Narrow Planet.

The one compromise we've had to make is with the headlights.

It seems its no longer possible to get hold of the large clear jewels we've used before, and we've had to settle for amber ones.

But given that Conway became rather neglected in its years as Dinas shunter and helping out with construction trains its headlights let in water and took on a distinct yellow hue.

King Of The Castle

The rebuild of Welsh Pony - being steamed for the first time in 80 years today - may have been protracted, but the build of our 2nd Conway Castle runs it pretty close!

The sticking point - excuse the pun - has been the lining.

Himself was never quite happy with the first effort but it's taken a number of years to summon the motivation to rip it off and have another go.

The complicating factor is that it's two thin lines together.

The solution he reached in the end was to begin with a thick line of cream / yellow - if you call 0.75mm thick? - and secure that with a coat of varnish.

Then on top of that he's laid a 0.35mm green line, all complicated by the need to form the 'whiskers' on the front and back.

I think it's looking rather good, and after many years on the back-burner it should be racing to completion now.

Completing ‘Conk Out’

Things must be bad if Himself is picking up one of those projects you avoid for years!

Our second Conway Castle - affectionately known as ‘Conk Out’ - has been in abeyance since Himself moved north of the border.

He’d got so far with the lining, then decided he wasn’t quite happy with it, and its been shunted into the ‘too difficult’ siding ever since.

The other major thing it lacks is glazing, which is an awkward job because all the bits have to be cut to fit flush in the white metal holes.

This same Chivers kit was the first 009 model he made - in ‘Bertie Basset’ orange/ black / grey livery -  and I remember the work that went into glazing it, only for the varnish we were using to turn it all cloudy!

But that colourful ‘80s livery is a step too far for Bron Hebog so we had no option but to make another in two tone green.

I’ve always regarded the Boston Lodge rebuild as a very handsome machine, and I’m saddened that the plan is to return it to something more like its original Planet outline.

For me it’s another example of the FR’s period of modernisation and innovation - which included things like the push-pull set - being lost.

Mastermind

Himself says he is itching to get back to doing some modelling after more than two months of enforced abstinence.

Getting settled after a house move is not the work of a moment, of course, so I'm doing what I can to get him back in business.

In this house his modelling den will not have to double as spare bedroom so he's spreading out, and I spent some of an afternoon at the weekend assembling this fancy chair he's bought.

It reminds me of the one Magnus Magnusson used to interrogate contestants in.

The quizmaster's famous catchphrase was "I've started so I'll finish", which is very appropriate because Himself still has a drawer full of stalled projects to complete including lining the new Conway Castle, painting the Brian Madge Britomart, finishing off models of carriages 15 and 19 and rebuilding our Backwoods Darjeeling Pacific.

Let's hope it's a comfy chair!

ROTY - Part 3

And so to the final part of our review of the year.

September

The three days we spent in the Goods Shed at Dinas exhibiting Bron Hebog and Dduallt side by side were the highlight of the year for Himself and I.

It was a major effort to have both the layouts there and we couldn't have done it without the support of a great team of helpers, so thank you once again to Graham, Max, Huw and Chris.

We also gave a debut at Dinas to the water tank wagon which has now been lettered and varnished by Himself.

October

After the upheaval of the exhibition and the effort to complete models to use on the layout I spent the early weeks of October catching up on a backlog of orders for my South African wagon kits which I cast in resin.

I also found the time to put the finishing touches to the farmhouse which had been shown incomplete on the layout at Dinas.

November

11 months after I'd begun work on them Himself finished painting carriages 11 and 12.

We had a little disagreement about the colour he chose for the droplights.

I won in the end and they've since been repainted in a shade that is more to my liking.

He spent a number of weeks convalescing from an 'intermediate overhaul' but once he was able to get back into the workshop he painted a couple of Barns which had been waiting in the queue for the paint shop for about 5 years!

December

In recent weeks I've been working through the backlog of buildings which the Artistic Director drew up plans for earlier this year.

One of them, which only took a couple of days to knock up, was this small outhouse which sits next to the farm house.



We rounded off the year with another of the projects which was begun at the turn of the year.

Himself had done a rough paint job on Conway Castle ahead of the appearance at Dinas but it still requires lining out.

His first attempt involved some home-painted and home-cut waterslide transfers to match the two-tone green colours with commercial yellow lines on top.

We weren't entirely happy with them and he's going to try again with some even thinner ones.

That's just one of the projects lined up for the year ahead.

All that remains is for us to wish you a Happy New Year and thank you for coming here to read the blog in 2016 and look forward to welcoming you in 2017.

ROTY - Part 1

It's always interesting in the last few days of December to look back at all the modelling - and blogging - we've done over the course of the year.

I'm always surprised by both how little and how much we've achieved.

Often I'll look back and see that a model that we've only just completed was started in January and in other cases we've finally finished off something that has been lying part-built in a drawer somewhere for years.

So here, then is the first part of the Bron Hebog Review of the Year.

January

Himself began 2015 by getting down to work on painting our 3rd Garratt, 138.

We'd chosen the colour of the red together at the the exhibition in Hull a few weeks before (he's never been good at reds) but at this stage I had a few doubts about whether I'd got the shade quite right.

I was getting started on a project I'd been thinking about for many years, to make a replacement pair of models of FR carriages 11 and 12 in their current condition.

What finally spurred me into action was the recent death of legendary FR GM Allan Garraway.

During FR Vintage events these carriages run in what's known as the Garraway Set and so I felt it was really time I got around to making them as a little tribute to him and his huge contribution to making the FR what it is today.

February

Turns out I really didn't need to worry about that shade of red at all!

Himself finished painting and lining 138.

It looked truly magnificent!

He also began on one of the Christmas presents he received.

This was my not-very-subtle way of ensuring that another of my long-term projects - an updated Conway Castle - got started.

March

Some things never change - I was building houses for the layout!

This was the early stages of a row of houses that run in front of the cutting into Goat Tunnel.

As spring sprung it became warm enough for Himself to venture into the 'Grandad Cave' again and he began filling the Afon Cwm Cloch with fake water.

April

As you can see, I was making good progress on the houses this month.

All of the houses in the Oberon Wood scheme are different and not one of them is what you would call a conventional house design.

On the other hand, with over a dozen of the to make, at least I could never complain that the task was becoming repetitive, even if it did involve a lot of head scratching some times!

April was show time again!

We took the layout to a show at Crawley and 138 made its public debut.

Apologies if this sounds a little conceited, but it doesn't half look good!

We'll look back at May - August next time.

Double Yellow Lines

They're always a cause of trouble, aren't they?

In this case it's the lining on Conway Castle which is causing the headaches.

This diesel emerged from the works at the start of the 1990's with a rather intricate tri-tone livery to match the new push-pull carriage set - intricate for a narrow gauge diesel, that is - and Himself has been trying something clever to get the ultimate definition between the colours.

He has been making his own transfers by cutting very thin slivers of waterslide transfer paper and then painting them with both the shades of green used on the model.

Then he's applied them give a perfect break line either side of the cream band around the middle before adding on the straw lining.

The problem is that the lines are too thick.

(I suspect I wasn't too popular when I told him that after he asked my opinon.)

The first time he was using a 0.5mm wide straw line but there is a 0.35mm available so he's going to take a little break, give his tired eyes a rest, strip it all off and try again.

Colourful Carriages

Himself is very busy attempting to finish off some more rolling stock with the exhibition at Dinas just a little over a week away now.

Carriage 16 looks a real rainbow of colours when it is disassembled like this..

He's also been putting the finishing touches to the third of the 1st generation Super Barns 108...

It isn't just carriages, either.

Work has restarted on our new Conway Castle

The main blocks of colour are all there and the challenge now is to add the rather complicated lining where they meet.

Testing, Testing - 2 Weeks To Go

Himself has erected the scenic bit of Dduallt to check it all still works and all the bits like trees and signals are still in place ahead of the show at Dinas.

A fortnight from today we'll be there running Dduallt and Bron Hebog side by side in the old NWNGR goods shed for what might possibly be the only opportunity you'll ever have to see them together.

Apart from some track adjustments at some board joints it runs well, and at nearly a quarter of a century old I reckon that's quite a tribute to the builder!

There was one fault which left Himself scratching his chin for a while.

On the control panel are push buttons which return the home signals to Danger to permit wrong line running in the Down direction but they weren't working.

To begin with he thought perhaps a diode had blown somewhere but eventually it dawned on him that for some reason, which he's long since forgotten, he took the feed for this function from the upper fiddle yard, which at that stage wasn't attached!

The observant among you may also notice the presence of our 2nd Conway Castle at the head of the push-pull rake.

The loco got halfway through the paint shop earlier this year but the process became stalled.

Himself was talking about using the remaining days before the trip to Wales to complete painting some of the rolling stock that is currently unfinished so there is still a chance it may make an appearance at Dinas.

Planet Painting

Himself has sent me a snap to show progress with painting our new Conway Castle.

It's a very complicated tri-tone livery and its still at an intermediate stage so please don't be alarmed by the somewhat untidy appearance.

When it's finished the colours will be separated by very fine straw coloured lining which will make it look much tidier.

The trickiest bit is getting the 'whiskers' at each end nice and even and it looks to me like Himself has made a good fist of it so far.

Primed Planet

Our replacement Conway Castle is coming on a treat and has been given a coat of primer ready for painting.

This one, you'll recall, is being built because our original engine - our very first OO9 model, in fact - sports the orange / black / grey so called 'Bertie Basset' livery of the 1980's and so is totally inappropriate to use on Bron Hebog to represent this workhorse of the WHR reconstruction and Dinas yard factotum.

There are also a few detail changes on the body such as the proper cab doors and the square cornered windows and some air filters which sprouted on the bonnet in the intervening years.

Conway Castle II is again built from a Chivers white metal kit running on an Ibertren chassis, but it has received an organ transplant in the shape of a Mashima motor donated from our original model of Blanche which was forced into retirement when its outside frame motion self-destructed at an exhibition with Dduallt a number of years ago.

The motor was still a good 'un though, and Himself tells me this 'Conk Out' runs very sweetly.

Conway Cab Alterations

We've got so many projects on the go at the moment it's hard to keep track of them but Himself can never resist a new kit and has soldered together the body for our 2nd Conway Castle.

The Five 79 body requires a few alterations to represent the locomotive in its more recent condition.

For a start it had proper cab doors fitted after a few years in service and he's knocked up something in brass to represent these.

It also needs two small grills cut out of the whitemetal panel on either side nearest the cab.

Other modifications will include a pair of air filters protruding from the bonnet and the headlights will be drilled out and replaced with some blingy jewels.

Christmas Kit

We've had a bit of a tradition going over the last few years that Himself finds a new locomotive kit beneath the Christmas tree.

First there was Lyd, followed 12 months ago by the NGG16 he has turned into 138 which is being painted currently.

And this year we're going back to where it all stated with another one of these....

(I forgot to take a snap of the Five79 (ex-Chivers Finelines) kit for Conway Castle before I wrapped it up. Oops!)

It was the very first OO9 model he made back in 1989 in its orange, black and grey livery dubbed Liquorice Allsort.

It's still going strong a quarter of a century later, although its Ibertren chassis has had a motor transplant, being exchanged for a Mashima unit.

On Bron Hebog, though, it looks very out of place.

Conway Castle played a big part in the reconstruction of the WHR along with Upnor Castle, but all the while wearing the push-pull green livery its had since the early 1990's.

Making a new one has been on my To Do list for a long time now and at last I've got around to buying one,

I do, however, have a small supply of spare Ibertren chassis so we'll be able to have two 'Conk Out's in operation at the same time should we every have the need....

Test Train (VIDEO)

As if the teaser snaps of the tamper posed in on the new section of Bron Hebog weren't enough here's something even more exciting!

One of the first test trains in Cutting Mawr caught on film.



Appropriately it's Conway Castle and mess coach 1000, a typical construction train formation Himself has chosen for the task.

It was a genuine test train to check the wiring of the new sections of track.

Conway Castle, was our very first OO9 locomotive, built 25 years ago from a Chivers Finelines kit, mounted on an Ibertren chassis and still going strong.

It is, of course, in the wrong livery for use on Bron Hebog and building a replacement body has been on my To Do list for a long time now.

If you'd like to see more pictures of our veteran 'Conk Out' then here's a link to a post I wrote about it a couple of years ago, or you can take a look at the Model of the Week archive - its on the menu over on the right hand side of the page.