Aerial View

While waiting for the next update from the workbench I thought you might like to see an unusual view of the layout.

The venue for the Greenock show is a Kirk (church) which comes complete with a balcony around three sides which provides the perfect spot to get a bird’s eye view of proceedings.

It’s the only way to get a full appreciation of the size of Bron Hebog

Incidentally, this blog has now recorded over three quarters of a million page views, so a heartfelt thank you to everybody who clicks through to read it.

Round The Bend

Shock horror! I did actually get some modelling done at the weekend.

I had an hour of peace and quiet which allowed me to find the motivation to start on the hard bit of the WHR observation car build, which is starting to add the second layer of beading detail.

Boston Lodge has changed the design of these plush Pullman carriages so that where Glaslyn had its windows all on the same plane, and the FR pair have a gentle slope profile, Gwyrfai has a clear step with a curved corner.

And let me say it’s a bit of a pain to try and replicate using styrene strip!

I think I’ve made a decent attempt at it but it’s fair to say it’s one of the trickiest things I’ve had to tackle.

They really don’t make it easy, do

Sisters

I’ve not had a chance to do any modelling this week, so for today’s update here are a few more pictures from last month in Greenock.

Linda and Blanche spent most of the weekend coupled together hauling FR sets.

Both these locos are built from Backwoods kits which were not without their faults.

The tender for Blanche, as supplied, was too short and the domes too small, both of which we found work arounds for.

We finished our Linda in the midnight blue livery she wore in the 90s for the sake of being different, but it would be nice to one day get another in traditional FR green or even PQR black.

I’m sure before too long someone will come up with an RTR model of them, don’t you reckon?

Window Pain

Normally it’s Himself berating me for clumsiness but this time the boot is on the other foot!

One of the farm buildings has been returned to me for repairs because Himself put his thumb through the delicate styrene window bars at one end.

This small outbuilding straddles a joint between two boards so is kept removable, and it was during setting up at Greenock last month that the damage occurred.

I doubt anyone would notice, but we know, so it needs to be fixed.

Pressing Matters

A problem that anyone who has ever scratch built out of styrene will have experienced is that the material develops a life of its own, especially when you’ve used a harsh solvent like MEK to glue it.

This can be quite acute when building up several layers such as with a carriage side which left to its own devices will curl like a banana.

Many years ago I found a partial solution in the old-fashioned photo album - remember them?

Between sessions working on the pieces I store them on the sticky page beneath the cellophane, and then for good measure place the album at the bottom of a pile of heavy books, as if pressing flowers.

It might seem like overkill but it does make a difference, especially when you begin to laminate the piece.

If you have time to leave it for the styrene to fully cure you will find it stays pretty flat thereafter.

You can also reduce the tendency to curl by using something much more gentle like Limonene, but the downside is the joint takes much longer to bond, and pieces can move out of position while you’re handling the model.

Childhood Memories

An afternoon hacking back the vegetation in the garden set me off reminiscing about childhood trips to the FR.

John Firth

What did it was the wheelbarrow.

We didn’t have a wheelbarrow at home - the garden wasn’t big enough - but my grandmother, who lived on the Cambrian Coast, did - and every autumn half term I’d be allowed to join Himself on a trip to Wales to ‘megabash’ the garden, to borrow an FR term.

I got the job of disposing the clippings with the barrow while Himself handled the secateurs!

An incentive to get the job done in good time was the promise of a trip to Porthmadog to visit the model shop at Harbour Station and perhaps see a train.

Being the shoulder season this was usually one of the Ladies, or perhaps even Prince, on a shortened rake.

These were the days of all over red carriages and the restoration of services to Blaenau Ffestiniog.

It ought to be remembered as one of the high points of the railway’s history, instead it appears to be the era which dare not speak its name - something to be ashamed of.

You can visit the FR today and see every significant era represented and celebrated, except the 70s and 80s.

So much of it has been stuffed into storage or sold off.

It saddens me to see my childhood being denied in this way.

Twins

The painstaking job of applying the intricate Pullman livery to 152 has begun.

We use the 4mm Fox waterslide range - it’s probably ever so slightly over-scale but the quality and ease of use compensates for that.

Himself is complaining that it’s a little harder to fit the upright arrows on the window pillars this time.

As the casting is the same one we used for 150 I think the chances are this batch of transfers has been printed slightly larger.

He also tells me policemen are getting younger, too 😂