Count Binface And The Toy Trains

I never expected model railways and politics to collide in such a media spotlight, but here we are, and it's happening in, of all places, Clacton.

Many years ago, before anyone beyond private school alumni and city traders had heard of Nigel Farage, I was starting my career in journalism in that corner of Essex.

And like all well-trained reporters I do my research on the candidates in a by-election.

This unscheduled contest looks very much like it will be, in Essex - sorry, essence - a head-to-head between the aforementioned Mr Farage - by now much better known - and what until now has been considered an amusing fringe candidate known as Count Binface.

Except this time the Count would appear to be in with a 50/50 chance of getting elected to the mother of parliaments.

And this has what to do with our own spoof layout feature, a model of former Vale of Rhiedol brake van 2 in BR blue?

Well, my research shows that in previous elections he's stood in one of Count Binface's manifesto pledges as been to 'Nationalise Model Railways (and Adele)'.

And in election after election he insists that he stands by his previous manifestos.

So now that our dear hobby is at the centre of the political debate in the UK the question is what legislation would you like to see brought forward to reform railway modelling?

A legal requirement for all manufacturers to offer a no-frills, low-cost version of every new model?

A maximum RRP for a non-powered model like a carriage or wagon?

In the wake of the KR Models saga perhaps some greater protection around crowdfunding, or pre-orders?

A law to force a return to proper British TT standards?   (I put that in for our Engineering Consultant - it's a bit of a soapbox issue for him....)

Let's be hearing your suggestions!

Welsh Highland Heritage

With two weeks to go until Bron Hebog goes on show for the only time in 2019 at the exhibition in Greenock, here's an image to whet the appetite.

The two WHHR Ashbury corridor carriages are finished and ready for service, having been given a coat of varnish and reassembled.

What you see here is the rake used for Russell's historic trips to Beddgelert earlier this year, although ours seems to have ventured further north...

During the exhibition we'll also be using Gelert and the Baldwin on this set which will make a very colourful addition to the layout - especially the Rheidol brake van which we've depicted in the BR blue livery it carried for a short while.

The real one has since been repainted into a rather drab chocolate colour. (correction: maroon)

To which all I can say is: spoilsports!

Dark Side Of The Van

I've hit a snag in my effort to complete the transfers on the WHHR / VofR brake van - I don't know what the other side looks like!

All the pictures of it I've seen in its current BR blue livery are taken from the platform side and they show the stickers for the Midland Region running number on the right hand of the double doors.

The question is, where are they on the other side?

Are they also on the door? Perhaps the left hand one also at the Pen-y-mount end of the carriage? Or is it also on the right hand side of the carriage, in the big panel at the Porthmadog end?

Also, where is the 2 running number at the uphill end? In the top right hand corner of the lower panel as it is at the end with the windows?

Any confirmation from a reader - ideally with photographic evidence - would be much appreciated.

Weight Watcher

As a general principle of modelling in 009 you aim to make your locomotives as heavy as possible and your rolling stock as lightweight as you can get them.

I'm completely ignoring that with the WHHR brake van project because I spent time last night trying to discreetly add some weight to it.

Why?

Well, this kit-bashed Dundas van is made entirely from plastic / styrene and our thinking is that with it being the end vehicle of a set it pays to have a little bit of mass about it so it avoids being caught in a tug-of-war between the locomotive and the bogie carriages behind.

Especially if your coupling heights are a little off, you can end up with the first vehicle in a set wheelie-ing along the line behind the engine looking like a plane about to take off.

As I didn't have any sheet lead to hand to fix between the fames I decided the best thing to do was form a wee box on the floor of the van, fill it with some 'liquid lead' shot that I've had in the drawer for years, and seal it with a lid on top like a coffin.

(I was careful to leave it loose and not make the mistake of fixing it in place with PVA glue because the lead will react to it and expand, with unfortunate consequences.)

The other benefit is, should be wish, we can now form a Bron Hebog percussion section using the WHHR brake van as a maraca!

Blue Van

The painting of the WHHR van is going very smoothly so far.

The exterior has now had three coats of Rail Blue.

For a colour that was so ever-present all through my childhood it's very novel, and fun, to be applying it to a narrow gauge model.

It won't be properly finished in time for Bressingham but I'm hoping it might be possible to get the van, and the Bro Madog carriage, in a state fit to at least make an appearance as the first stage of a WHHR set.

First Coat

Yet another week has gone by with less progress than I might have hoped for on the brake van project, however I have been able to begin applying some of the final finish.

It's been given a coat of cream around the interior and the underframe received some matt black last night.

Hopefully over the course of the weekend I might also be able to begin applying a little bit of Rail Blue to the outside.

I ordered a bottle of Railmatch enamel from a very well known, large, model shop in the north west of England and was very impressed when it turned up on my doorstep within 36 hours.

The packing was perhaps a little over the top for a small glass jar (and thanks to postal restrictions these days the courier charge was more than one and half times the value of the product) but these are just minor grumbles,

I'm really looking forward to having narrow gauge model in BR blue - the colour of my childhood.

Running Out Of Puff

Being a legendary cheapskate I decided that rather than buy a whole new can of primer just to coat the new brake van, I would try to eak out what was left in an old aerosol on the shelf in my modelling den - with predictable consequences...

Well, at least the outside is more-or-less covered - it's a thin coat but it'll do.

There wasn't any paint (or puff) left in the can to spray the inside, but I'm sure it won't matter too much in this case if I paint the top coat straight onto the styrene - it's not as if anyone's going to see much in there because the van doesn't have many windows.

As it is I've already had to set free the digital moths from my wallet by ordering online an entire bottle of BR blue paint for one wee model - I'm hardly likely to need it for anything else!

In the same manner I'm also facing the prospect of having to fork out for a whole sheet of double arrow transfers when I'm only going to need 2 of them.

My dedicated to the cause is unstinting, as you can see.

Van Rails

I've been adding the final details to the WHHR ex-VoR brake van, such as the couplings, air brake pipes and grab rails.

The holes have also been drilled for the T door handles and the glazing cut to size.

The next stage, I suppose is to prime it.

I Love It When A Van Comes Together

I was able to enjoy the best bit of a model build last night when I glued all the basic parts together and you get your first impression of how the finished thing's going to look.

The plan to graft a new body on top of the 'frames' of the Dundas kit for the VoR brake van seems to have worked out well, and I've clearly been able to accurately replicate the dimensions of the original kit because the roof still fits on perfectly and when you offer up the redundant sections of body side (which I sliced off) they match the new ones.

I've made a couple of adaptations to improve it's longevity and performance.

Just as with my scratch built carriages I've installed a flat false roof at the top of the body shell to try to ensure that they don't bow inwards over time.

On the chassis, before I glued the parts together, I drilled out the axle boxes and fitted brass bearing cups.

Experience teaches us that pin point axles running in plastic axle boxes is a recipe for wheelsets working loose, and eventually dropping out.

Plastic Surgery

I had a couple of hours free last night to do a little bit more work on the WHHR brake van.

First, I cut out the windows and then added the panel detail - such as it is - onto the two end pieces.

Then it was onto the make or break bit which was slicing the frame and footsteps off the Dundas kit mouldings and grafting them onto the bottom of the new body sides I'd scratch built.

It seems to have gone quite well but I need to add the window drop lights to the back of the doors on each side and fix some blocks on the back to set the height the floor sits at before I glue it together into a box, but I'm very satisfied with how it's progressed so far.

Side By Side

With anything in life once you've got the first one out of the way it's always easier to do a second, so it only took me around an hour to panel up the other side of WHHR brake van 2.

I've been pleased with the positive response I've received to my plan to finish it in the BR blue livery it's wearing in 2018, complete with the 'arrows of indecision'.

I suppose this might be because narrow gauge modellers are by definition rather deviant from the mainstream, and perhaps a lot of you share my affection for quirky items.

However I'd also like to think that perhaps my generation - the children of the '70s - are beginning to reclaim their own heritage which has decried and denied for too long in my humble opinion.

On the big railway diesel preservation came of age a long time ago and so many of them are now being proudly displayed in rail blue livery.

In fact, nostalgia for the '80s is creeping in with more of the machines sporting the large logo livery again.

I'd like to think that one day the Vale of Rheidol might be brave enough to explore its own unique heritage as the last outpost of BR steam, but sadly, for me, they seem determined to present it as a 1930's 'chocolate box' GWR branchline.

It's perhaps not the most original offering in UK railway preservation, but they have a business to run and they must do what they feel they need to do.

They're not the only ones apparently determined to forget the '70s, alas....

Van With A Plan

My Dundas kit for the VoR van arrived just in time for the weekend and I managed to snatch a few minutes to see how I could use it as the basis of a model of the vehicle as it runs on the WHHR now.

The main issues to address are that these days the van has lost its matchboard sides, replaced by large, smooth panels, and windows have been cut into the ends.

The look out duckets are also gone.

My plan all along has been to make a new body shell from styrene, but looking at the injection moulded parts - which are as fine as you'd expect from Dundas - I decided it would be a shame to waste the solebars and the footboards which are nicely detailed and a stronger part than I could make myself in styrene.

So what I've decided to do is to try and cut them off and then graft them onto the bottom of new sides and ends.

I've already got as far as measuring and cutting out the blanks and making a hole for the window in the single door on each side.

Now I shall be getting out the fine strip and starting on the panelling.