Monday 18 May 2020

Kung Flu strikes again. Aylsham Exhibition cancelled. SORRY FOLKS!!!

Just to let all the avid readers know,, unfortunately,, the Aylsham show in October has been cancelled.

To be slightly serious I think it is the right decision,,, I hate to admit the fact but some things are more important than a model railway show.

The good news is we should have loads more engines to introduce to the public by the time we do all get back to normal!!!!

Just to cheer you all up I attach a few photo's to prove we have been seriously self isolating in the garage ALL WEEK.


The L1 now has brakes on the rear bogie,,, what a phaff that was!!


Jersey Lily looking decidedly nervous before she is pushed into the paintshop.



A long time ago a fortunate few could call this their office!!!



Keep Calm,, keep safe and SOLDER on.

Sunday 10 May 2020

L1 Progress Report

Have had a couple of good days jousting with not only the rear bogie on the L1 but a couple of Leylandii roots in the garden,,,, the Leylandii is my least favourite weed of all time,, why people in the 70's & 80's saw them as trendy is a complete mystery to me,,, they are a pain,,, and if you don't keep on top of the pruning with the wretched things they take over.

When the 2nd one went crack / snap then pop I decided it was time for a celebratory refreshment,, such is my distaste for the bloomin things.

Onto more pleasant things,, the rear bogie on the L1,,, apparently the brakes on these things were just short of hopeless,, which is not ideal if you have 30 or 40 laden coal wagons behind you on a downhill gradient,, so it was decided to put brakes on the rear bogie wheels as well in an attempt to improve the situation,,,, unfortunately that didn't work either and so the reputation of not only being ugly as sin but difficult to handle was born!!! which is good co's that's just how I like my freight engines.

This has made it quite an interesting challenge for a modeller as component parts for rear brake shoes on bogies do not appear to be available so I have had to make my own,, what a phaff,, but now one side is finished they look OK even if I say so myself.

The first picture is of the bogie with the power cylinders fitted and fiddling the shoes into place,,, the tatty wheels are "build wheels" which I use when making loco's as bogie wheels go on and off umpteen times in the process of getting the bogie to look and work correctly.
The second picture is the bogie fitted to the loco with one side complete including the proper wheels and apart from a good clean up I am quite pleased with the result,,, it is also interesting to look at pictures of a build as I will have to put some dummy frames in over the rear bogie to hide what appears to be an enormous 10BA nut,,, as no discerning modeller wants to see that or daylight in the wrong places.
I do hope I'm not starting to take this too seriously as I have a manic urge to go and count my rivets!!

Good value blog this as this is the second post in a week!!!!! ENJOY



Sunday 3 May 2020

I can't afford to be a rivet counter!!!

For many of us modelling is a serious business and you may be aware of my opinions on rivets,,, and as mentioned in previous posts the cosmopolitan breed of accountants that pursue them.

Now this may come as a shock but I have recently bought some more,,,, to go with the 19 which are  already in my collection.

The new one's are "special" as they are 7mm long and 0.5mm diameter dome head rivets.

A packet of 10 cost me very nearly 2 weeks spending money,,, and the really worrying thing is "the management" is not yet aware that I have invested in some more rather expensive "twiddly bits" [ her terminology,, not mine ].

I have to say I'm rather glad rivet counting is not for me as if I decided I did want to use them in prodigious fashion it would cost me a small fortune modelling even a very small modest tank engine.

Whilst being locked in the garage for the duration I have been resurrecting yet another white metal kit I started over 20 years ago,, back then I was a dashing young batchelor in the oil rich Gulf states who modelled not only in 00 gauge but shorts and flip flops as well.

Soldering was "character building" especially when one of those shiny little bullets leapt off the end of the iron onto your foot,,,, and that's how I learnt to do my version of a caledonian square dance.

This weeks efforts to avoid the Kung Flu have revolved around one of Mr J G Robinson's finest creations the 4-4-2 Atlantic,,, also known as Jersey Lily's,,, but we won't go there as it is getting dark.


Now I  know I am slightly biased when it comes to Robinson's designs,,, but if you don't find the above image ,,, elegant,, attractive,, special,, shapely,, then you have probably caught some nasty kind of virus,,, or even worse,, Swindonitus,, in my opinion the above image is "Edwardian Elegance" in it's purest form,,,, not only did they look rather special but they performed rather well into the bargain,,,, most of them lasting  for well over 35 years.

How this beauty ended up in an unmarked box on the "wot to do" shelf is a mystery,,, but when I found it again and looked at it I knew it needed finishing off and is there a better place or time to do such a thing as "right now".

As you can probably see when it comes to the look of a model I am also a bit of a stickler,,, I spend hours looking at my models and if  "in my opinion" it just is not right or perhaps more importantly conform to an accurate drawing then it's offending bits will be changed for some of mine,,, usually in brass,,, so quite a lot of the bits from Mr Millholme's model were consigned to the bin and I changed them for items which I felt looked more the part,, namely, cab, front footplate, cylinders, steps and whistle.

Now working with something as aesthetically positive as a "Jersey Lily" has put a real spring in my step and it won't be long before it is off to the paintshop,, along with the Q7, D2 and J3,,[my word we have been busy] and then I can get back to working on something slightly more challenging the L1 Zeppelin,,, you will be pleased to know the drawing is back on the workbench and whilst I will not  be able to replace any parts to make it look nicer as they were pigging ugly by design I have to say I find this avoiding virus's a lot more fun than spotting rivet's and so far I have no temperature,, sniffle or cough,,, so it is all looking good for the L1 from here in the wilds of East Anglia.