Table For Two

Such is my dedication to accuracy that I drove more than 350 miles at the weekend to the 'top left hand corner' to confirm some details about the interior of 150.

Don't feel too sorry for me, though, because some of this 'research' was conducted while quizzing (they may say interrorgating!) the carriage builders over a pint or two in the pub.

My main query was about how many tables are in the observation section of 150.

(It was a good job I checked too, because my initial information was wrong!)

With that all confirmed I've been able to have a go at making a master for the main saloon tables.

I'm doing these a little differently and will attempt to cast them in one piece.

The usual superbarn tables I make have a vertical pillar to support the table top along its centre.

For 150, though, I thought I would try to be a little more prototypical.

Although the real ones are fixed to the side of the carriage - not self-supporting like mine - at least there will not be a bloody great pillar to see.

In fact, this is how the smaller free standing tables in the front saloon are made, although I can't promise mine will be as fancy.

There are only two of these - which is part of what I needed to check - but the question is whether I cast them or just make both from scratch?

Best Seats In The House

Half a dozen lucky passengers get to sit in comfort at the business end of 150.

I've made these like I did the armchairs in the main saloon as a mix of castings and bits of styrene glued on to complete them.

The main 'bucket' section of the seat is one casting and the other is the square base and four legs.

The base has proved to be a very awkward piece to cast reliably. It is the devil's own job to make sure that there are no air bubbles trapped in the legs which are just short sections of 1mm square strip.

Even the smallest bubble fatally weakens them and on half of the seats I've had to graft on styrene replacements.

Anyway, that's good progress on the interior with all the seats made.

Now just the tables to go before I begin gluing these bits into position.

Farm Painting Finalised

There has been a burst of autumnal activity from Himself which bodes well for the winter.

Among the projects he's been finishing off is painting the Cwm Cloch farmhouse.

He's applied some weathering to the south gable wall which looks very subtle.

The house was tarted up around the period we're modelling Bron Hebog so this explains why the render looks more like a royal palace than your average Gwynedd farm dwelling.

Clearance Test - Failed!

This is a problem that I suspect only narrow gauge modellers encounter, when your new rolling stock doesn't fit your layout!

Having mounted 150 on its bogies I took it over to Himself's place to give it a wee test run on Dduallt.

We had an unwelcome surprise when we came to run it through Rhoslyn Cutting - it hits the bridge pillars on the engine side.

This caused some consternation, as you can imagine.

Closer examination, however, revealed there had been a fundamental (and rather foolish) error during the making of the chassis - the bogie pivots are off centre!

For this I must hold my hands up.

I have been sloppy and careless - and I've given Himself a damned good laugh into the bargain.

So the holes will have to be filled, re-drilled and the bolts re-inserted.

In future I shall remind myself to measure twice and drill once. Doh!

On Its Wheels

There's been a little bit of progress on 150 although it probably looks rather more significant that it is.

I've finished off the bogies by adding the bolster strip to bring them up to the correct height and added the Greenwich couplings.

This involves soldering them on which is always something of a hit or miss affair, and this time it was very much miss.

In fact what should have been a 5 minute job stretched to over an hour and involved some burned fingertips.

(There might also have been some bad language too were in not for the fact the children were within earshot.)

The difficulties were due to the unusually inward positioning of the front bogie which means the tongue on the bogie frame to which we can usually attach the shaft of the coupling was not long enough, so I had to try to solder on an extension.

I lost count of how many times I had to re-do it because the coupling and its enormously long shaft was not sitting straight, or the coupling head was too near or too far away from the end of the carriage, or the everything overheated and the previous joint fell apart as I was doing the next one.

I got there eventually, however, but it would not surprise me in the least if Himself takes one look at it and decides to do it again.

He'll do it better, of course.

Sound Check

Himself has finished the painting, varnishing and final assembly of the model of Tin Car 121 in Disco Car mode.

Before handing it over to the customer he decided to take it for a test run around Dduallt.

It's been an interesting project modelling a carriage with virtually no interior detail.

I'm very pleased with the way it's turned out. I shall be sorry to see this one go.

Armchair Critic

So, the first few of the main saloon armchairs for 150 are cast and have had the extra details added in styrene

What do you think?

As you can see I've decided they do need some support at the front but I've drawn the line at adding individual legs - there's only so much detail you can see inside a 4mm scale carriage, especially one with curtains each side of the window pillars.

To give you some sense of the size of these seats here's a hackneyed shot posed next to a penny piece.

Now you're really not going to quibble over two wee bits of styrene on that, are you?