Best wishes for 2012 to all our readers around the world. (I know it's still Hogmanay here in GMT-land as I post this, but some of you will have already had 'the bells' by now.)
2012 is going to be an exciting year for Bron Hebog. We'll be taking the layout out twice in April and May to shows in Hampshire and Buckinghamshire.
Between now and then Himself, the Artistic Director and The Guru will be putting in a lot of hard work on the scenery. The layout will most certainly not be complete - far from it - but we hope you'll be impressed by what we do have to show you.
Up here at the Scottish end of the operation my modelling resolutions are to keep pace with the Boston Lodge carriage works and get models of the new Super Barns 121 and 108 made this year.
I would also like to make a start on a model of the prototype Parry People Mover, which I flagged up on the blog last year. I have a Kato tram chassis ready in the drawer so I've no excuse, other than lack of time and space on the modelling bench, for not getting it done.
I anticipate Himself will also be finishing off Linda in the next few months.
And there's one final aspiration, for this blog to break through the 100k barrier. Please help us along by liking Bron Hebog on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Thursday, 29 December 2011
MOTW - 'Bodysgallen'
The Model of the Week this time is the 4mm version of a carriage I'm currently building in 7mm for a client - WHR Pullman 'Bodysgallen'.
At the time I made this carriage, at least ten years ago or possibly more, I considered it the most challenging model I'd yet built.
Some of the trickiest bits were the oval windows, which I described making for the larger model a few days ago.
This model of 'Bodysgallen' is in the condition in which the carriage was delivered to the WHR, complete with the table lamps which didn't hang around for long. Our solution for modelling these was to break open and steal the cast lamps from a OO Hornby model of a Pullman coach which was lying about in a box at home. They were a perfect fit.
Other details intended for a 4mm standard gauge carriage are the transfers which are from the Fox Transfers range. They're perhaps a tiny, weeny bit oversize, but they do the job and look very effective.
My one regret with this carriage is that I built it with the corridor connections in the closed position at both ends, because that's how it was running on the railway when I researched the model. It's been on my mind for a while now to make some bits which I can graft onto at least one end of the carriage to look more like the corridor is open and in use.
At the time I made this carriage, at least ten years ago or possibly more, I considered it the most challenging model I'd yet built.
Some of the trickiest bits were the oval windows, which I described making for the larger model a few days ago.
This model of 'Bodysgallen' is in the condition in which the carriage was delivered to the WHR, complete with the table lamps which didn't hang around for long. Our solution for modelling these was to break open and steal the cast lamps from a OO Hornby model of a Pullman coach which was lying about in a box at home. They were a perfect fit.
Other details intended for a 4mm standard gauge carriage are the transfers which are from the Fox Transfers range. They're perhaps a tiny, weeny bit oversize, but they do the job and look very effective.
My one regret with this carriage is that I built it with the corridor connections in the closed position at both ends, because that's how it was running on the railway when I researched the model. It's been on my mind for a while now to make some bits which I can graft onto at least one end of the carriage to look more like the corridor is open and in use.
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
Bodysgettingthere
The bodysides for 'Bodysgallen' are almost finished.
The challenge on this carriage is creating the round corners of the panels. I've done it the same way on this 7mm model as I did on my 4mm version which runs on Bron Hebog.
I curl a small length of styrene strip and then feed it into the corner gluing it along the straight edges on either side. When all the corners are done I fix some more runs of straight strip in between to complete the panel effect.
Model filler is deployed to deal with the gaps that remain in the corners.
I've also used more strip to finish off the windows, starting with the long horizontal bar and then cutting some small pieces to very fine tolerances to fix in place for the vertical divisions.
The next stage is to complete the four door sub-assemblies and the two ends and join them all together into carriage shape.
The challenge on this carriage is creating the round corners of the panels. I've done it the same way on this 7mm model as I did on my 4mm version which runs on Bron Hebog.
I curl a small length of styrene strip and then feed it into the corner gluing it along the straight edges on either side. When all the corners are done I fix some more runs of straight strip in between to complete the panel effect.
Model filler is deployed to deal with the gaps that remain in the corners.
I've also used more strip to finish off the windows, starting with the long horizontal bar and then cutting some small pieces to very fine tolerances to fix in place for the vertical divisions.
The next stage is to complete the four door sub-assemblies and the two ends and join them all together into carriage shape.
Saturday, 24 December 2011
Nadolig Llawen / Merry Christmas
I'd like to wish a very Merry Christmas to all readers of this blog wherever you are in the world.
We appreciate you taking the time to linger a while and read about what we're working on as Bron Hebog inches towards completion.
Highlights of the year for me were the completion of our models of Lyd, K1, and finally finishing the KMX tamper, a project I had been working on for more than two years.
It was also a lot of fun to take Dduallt out on the road again and to get the chance to meet a number of readers face to face.
I can only hope you've enjoyed reading about our models as much as I've enjoyed writing about them.
PS. Thanks to the Artistic Director (Francis) for the lovely festive illustration of Dinas (FR) in times gone by.
We appreciate you taking the time to linger a while and read about what we're working on as Bron Hebog inches towards completion.
Highlights of the year for me were the completion of our models of Lyd, K1, and finally finishing the KMX tamper, a project I had been working on for more than two years.
It was also a lot of fun to take Dduallt out on the road again and to get the chance to meet a number of readers face to face.
I can only hope you've enjoyed reading about our models as much as I've enjoyed writing about them.
PS. Thanks to the Artistic Director (Francis) for the lovely festive illustration of Dinas (FR) in times gone by.
Thursday, 22 December 2011
MOTW - The Cherry Picker
Our festive Model Of The Week would be perfect for putting the fairy on top of a giant Christmas tree: it's the FR's Cherry Picker wagon.
It's one of our models that I am particularly proud of because of the challenges I had to overcome making it and because, as far as I know, it's the only model of this wagon.
The Cherry Picker was conceived, designed and built by the FR's Signal and Telegraph department staff and volunteers as a faster and much safer way of maintaining the railway's 'pole route'.
The guts of the machine is a self contained, skid mounted unit which was found in a scrapyard near Blaenau Ffestiniog still attached to a life-expired Bedford CF van.
It was bought and the hydraulics fully overhauled by the team.
Boston Lodge built the well wagon onto which the skid was mounted and the wagon runs on a pair of spare Hudson bogies, one of which has a hand brake.
The team had a stroke of good fortune when they discovered that the base of the lifting unit would fit neatly inside the shell of an old mobile generator unit, which in turn was a snug fit on the well-wagon.
Just as I wrote last week (about mess coach 1000) it's another fine example of FR recycling and ingenuity and the wonderful thing about it is the whole machine looks as if it could have been designed that way on a blank piece of paper.
My model is entirely scratch built (except for the Hudson bogies which are made by Parkside Dundas) and 99% of it was done in styrene. (The 1% is the etched brass non-slip chequer plate surface on the well-wagon.)
I am particularly proud of my representation of the picker basket on the end of the boom which was also fashioned out of one piece of thin styrene which was curved, bent, folded, and finally, bonded into submission.
If I was a much better metal-worker it would have been more logical, I'm sure, to have made this out of brass, but I'm not and so I didn't.
Neither am I much of a micro-engineer so I'm afraid the picker boom is very much a static model.
Unfortunately this is one model you'll probably never seen running on Bron Hebog unless the FR retro-fits the real wagon with vacuum brakes to comply with the WHR safety regulations.
But as there's no pole route on the 'Dark Side' why would they ever need to?
It's one of our models that I am particularly proud of because of the challenges I had to overcome making it and because, as far as I know, it's the only model of this wagon.
The Cherry Picker was conceived, designed and built by the FR's Signal and Telegraph department staff and volunteers as a faster and much safer way of maintaining the railway's 'pole route'.
The guts of the machine is a self contained, skid mounted unit which was found in a scrapyard near Blaenau Ffestiniog still attached to a life-expired Bedford CF van.
It was bought and the hydraulics fully overhauled by the team.
Boston Lodge built the well wagon onto which the skid was mounted and the wagon runs on a pair of spare Hudson bogies, one of which has a hand brake.
The team had a stroke of good fortune when they discovered that the base of the lifting unit would fit neatly inside the shell of an old mobile generator unit, which in turn was a snug fit on the well-wagon.
Just as I wrote last week (about mess coach 1000) it's another fine example of FR recycling and ingenuity and the wonderful thing about it is the whole machine looks as if it could have been designed that way on a blank piece of paper.
My model is entirely scratch built (except for the Hudson bogies which are made by Parkside Dundas) and 99% of it was done in styrene. (The 1% is the etched brass non-slip chequer plate surface on the well-wagon.)
I am particularly proud of my representation of the picker basket on the end of the boom which was also fashioned out of one piece of thin styrene which was curved, bent, folded, and finally, bonded into submission.
If I was a much better metal-worker it would have been more logical, I'm sure, to have made this out of brass, but I'm not and so I didn't.
Neither am I much of a micro-engineer so I'm afraid the picker boom is very much a static model.
Unfortunately this is one model you'll probably never seen running on Bron Hebog unless the FR retro-fits the real wagon with vacuum brakes to comply with the WHR safety regulations.
But as there's no pole route on the 'Dark Side' why would they ever need to?
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Hairy Moments
Himself has been cracking on with the scenery around Goat Tunnel and things a have been getting pretty hairy!
The hairiness in this case is dyed carpet underlay which we use to represent long, straggly wild grasses, a technique we previously employed on Dduallt.
In the first shot above, of Goat Tunnel Cutting, you're seeing the underlay as it is first applied in a thick layer. When the top layers are pulled off and it is teased out it looks much subtler, as here below..
Here you can also see how other flocks and tiny pieces of stone have been scattered on top of complete the effect.
Of course, what you're looking at in these pictures is but one tiny corner of Bron Hebog, so Himself will have many more hours of teasing and sticking the underlay to cover the many scale acres of layout.
The hairiness in this case is dyed carpet underlay which we use to represent long, straggly wild grasses, a technique we previously employed on Dduallt.
In the first shot above, of Goat Tunnel Cutting, you're seeing the underlay as it is first applied in a thick layer. When the top layers are pulled off and it is teased out it looks much subtler, as here below..
Here you can also see how other flocks and tiny pieces of stone have been scattered on top of complete the effect.
Of course, what you're looking at in these pictures is but one tiny corner of Bron Hebog, so Himself will have many more hours of teasing and sticking the underlay to cover the many scale acres of layout.
Sunday, 18 December 2011
Total Ellipse
More elliptical entertainment for you today - this time as I begin work on the main bodysides for 'Bodysgallen'.
These are quite simple to knock up with relatively few, thick, pillars compared to your average carriage.
It also has two distinctive Pullman windows at either side so it was ovaltime again and the challenge was not to make a horlicks of it.
(Did you see what I did there?)
It took me a few goes to get them right. The key is getting the size of the guide triangles in the corners correct.
My first attempts were either too thin or not tall enough. These windows are a lot fatter, and more circular than the ones on the doors. I got there in the end though.
Here's a before and after shot.
These are quite simple to knock up with relatively few, thick, pillars compared to your average carriage.
It also has two distinctive Pullman windows at either side so it was ovaltime again and the challenge was not to make a horlicks of it.
(Did you see what I did there?)
It took me a few goes to get them right. The key is getting the size of the guide triangles in the corners correct.
My first attempts were either too thin or not tall enough. These windows are a lot fatter, and more circular than the ones on the doors. I got there in the end though.
Here's a before and after shot.
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