009

 One of the pair of 3D printed bodies aquired from e-bay. At under twenty pounds each for the body and fifteen quid for the Kato chassis I have a powerful loco.
The loco has been painted green and populated with a couple of whitemetal figures.
Weight in the form of sheet lead has been added making the loco more stable.

And now for something completely different.

 As if 3mm and 00 are not enough- I already have two 3mm layouts and am building another 3mm layout plus two 00 gauge offerings.
So I have always had a hankering for 009 and succumbed and bought a Roco 0-6-0 steam tank engine. This was followed closely by a 4 wheel carriage and wagon.
Looking on a well known auction site saw a couple more loco bodies arrive which have been motorised with Kato N gauge 4wheel tram chassis-shown in the lower photo.
The layout is 4ft long by 14 inches wide, 9mm ply framed by 2x1 planed timber. Seen with the track laid and track colour applied.
The track plan is pinched from Drury Lane and named Hillbrow.

Lynton and Barnstable part three.

Who forgot to change the light filter on these two? Still they are both well defined and it seems a pity not to publish these.

Lynton and Barnstable part two.

A few of Isaac which was in steam on the day we visited- unfortunately we didn't have enough time for a trip so we will look forward to our next visit.

3mm Society Westfest Wootten Bassett.

No pics today but a reminder that the 3mm Society Westfest takes place this coming weekend- 10th September 2016.
Held in Wootten Basset this year there are several layouts plus bring and buy.

Lynton and Barnstable.

Just a few days away in Devon saw the chance  to visit the delightful L&B railway...... Such a lovely setting, I was impressed with what has been achieved and will certainly re-visit with more time I hope. Some pics of locos next time.

Skytrex SR Water Column.

There are a couple of options for the appropriate water column. This is the offering from Skytrex which is part resin, part white metal.
After a minimal amount of cleaning flash, the whole thing was glued together in a couple of minutes.
Then down to the spray facility-shed- and a quick waft of grey undercoat. The water bag has a dark brown flecked black finish whilst the base is dry brushed with various pigments.
So that's the column- the water tower has the tank made and painted, just needs something to stand it on!

Thumper!!

I must admit that this is a bit of an indulgance.

Whilst browsing in Colletts in Exmouth, I asked if Leigh could get me a green Thumper.

He e-mailed a few days later saying one had arrived for me. So down to Exmouth to pick up this and some new Hornby non corridors.

It does run beautifully but doesn't get much of a journey on Woodlands- it is only 5ft 6inches long scenically.

Woodlands Station.

 Well, the station building is virtually complete, just a couple of down pipes to fit.
I waited for some Lanarkshire Models chimney pots and excellent castings they are.

Ratio fencing is shown on the left together with a Monty's Models ticket collector.

I must admit I am alittle frustrated with the clarity of the pictures buthopefully this will improve.

To the left isthe rearview of the gents facility together with concrete fencing by-again- Ratio.

The roadways are formed with a surface of 1200 grit wet and dry paper- Screwfix do ten sheets for about £3.50. I now have a lifetimes supply!!

Slowly the basis of the scenery is being formed , there needs to have the back scene completed with some more 9mm ply.

Well then-which one is best?

 Well, you wait many years then two come along at once! The Oxford and Hornby Adams Radial have both been released. Much has been said in the model press and on discussion sites but here is an honest, unbiased opinion.
Both have their pro's and con's.
 For a start the Oxford version is a radial, Hornby have made the radial truck separately from the chassis. The Oxford has silver handrails- easily sorted with a coat of black paint.
Much has been said about the lack of light below the Oxford boiler but unless you look closely or are in the know then it is not immediately obvious.
Perhaps it is unkind that one has real coal in the bunker but this is easily rectified.
The real difference is the running straight out of the box- the Hornby is smoother and quieter- not that after some running in the Oxford is not acceptable- far from it especially when you consider I paid nearly thirty quid less for it.
So, both are good models, Oxford must be congratulated for producing such an excellent first try into the world of Model locomotives and I think they have succeeded.
I must admit that I also bought the LSWR version- by Hornby- Colletts Models had sold out of the Oxford version!

Woodlands Station.

The first part ofWoodlands is the Station building. Based loosly on Downton on the Salisbury and Dorset Joint Railway, it is artist mounting card covered with Builder Plus brick paper and individually fitted roof tiles. The chimneys are to be finished with chimney pots.

Running In.

At last Woodlands is operational enough for running in to proceed. The Bachras Saddle is ideal for me due  to its versatility . I model in both 3mm and 4mm and this is capable of running both plus-at a stretch it will also accommodate 7mm!

This Oxford Adams Radial is part of the loco stud to be used on Woodlands-and yes ,I have a very far ranging Modellers License.

Oxford 6 plank wagon.

Picked this up from Collett Models in Exmouth. I was staying nearby for a few days and couldn't resist visiting Leigh again.
This wagon had arrived the day previously and is a well made, well running example- and the price- Leigh charges a price match price- so good that I also purchased a Bachmann Hawksworth Autotrailer for the extremely reasonable sum of £50.

Thoroughly recommend Collett Models as anextremely satisfied customer- even thoughI have to travel 70 odd miles to visit.

The end of the line.

The end of the line  see'sa Lanarkshire SR buffer stop of the later type. There will be three- two will have wooden buffers to represent the fact that the stop at the end of the platform has had to be replaced at some point.
Ballasting has taken place and will dry over the next couple of days- sooner if it stay's warm!

Woodlands

 Well- finally finalised the trackplan and laid track. A sunny Saturday saw the trackbed sprayed with Humbrol matt brown and the rail sides with light rust.
As shown I have obtained the Woodlands sign from Station Signs.

The platform edges have been fixed- Ratio concrete- and painted after undercoating with matt grey.
Doesn't look too bad?

So- ballasting next!

Testors.

This stuff was recommended to me and it took a while to track down.

In the end I got a couple of cans from one of the wargaming suppliers- not cheap about £16 delivered.

However, not absolutely convinced about how good it is as a coating across some transfers which had been applied over gloss varnish didn't remove the gloss that Railmatch did- the  Railmatch can is bigger also.

So the jury's out until I get something more substantial to varnish.

Woodlands Station Building.

Well, the roof is on so now starts the task of covering with slates/tiles.

Firstly I need to measure out a sheet of A4 card into 6x4mm tiles. This is tedious and only a severe masochist would do this. However, Allan Downes gave me the tip many moons ago for the roofs on Teignford 3mm. His advice was correct and the effect really justified the effort-so- pointed snap off knife and PVA plus lots of bits of card, a strong Brandy- other alcoholic beverages are available- but not so good!!!

Woodlands Station Sign.

Nice little whitemetal casting- can't remember by who but provides the running in boardfor Woodlands.
The lettering is Slaters Mek'd onto clear plastic then stuck with varnish to the casting- have reset the S!!

Parkside Dundas Wagons

Some Parkside Dundas 4mm scale kits purchased from Platform Models. Helped me get back to building something- also will run on Woodlands.
Useful thing is that the latest kits have mountings for the cranked Bachmann coupler so no need to muck about trying to mount couplings at the right height. Mistake was to mount them too far forward near the buffer beam but hey ho you always have something to learn.

Woodlands Station Building.

 Starting with the station building this is, as usual, constructed with artist mounting card purchased from my local artshop as offcuts.

The building is based on Downton on the other S&DJR-Salisbury and Dorset Junction Railway- and is taken from one photo.

Anyway, only the platform face will be seen by the public.

The layout now actually works since Nigel rectified my mistakes- plus the transformer specially recommended, and purchased, to operate the point motors- didn't!!

So the station building is progressing and is being tiled- more pictures later.

I also seem to have got into building wagons- mostly from Parkside Dundas kits , more later.

Woodlands.

These are the new baseboards for my new
4mm layout-Woodlands.
With a 2x1 inch softwood frame topped with 9mm ply it has integral legs also of 2x1 softwood.
The legs are kept in place with stays rescued from a broken paste table. These are located by plastic furniture blocks.
The wiring is in place but I think my electrical skills need help as the bit I have done- the rest was wired by Nigel-has resulted in a short and the point motors won't work.
So more work needed before ballasting and scenic work can begin.

4GROUND Signal Box

I do apologise for the poor resolution of this image- for some reason the  camaera would not focus correctly.
However, this is the 4GROUND model
which I have made as well as the Station Building- more of which later. The 'box' has been southernised and looks good in my humble opinion-any one wrongly disagree?

I will show images of the station later but the 'box for under a tenner I feel is good value- and it goes together like a dream.

Chivers LSWR RoadVan.

This road van is the Chivers etched brass version which I was lucky enough to pick up at the 3mm Society Northampton Group exhibition earlier this year.
One of the attractions of this day is the excellent bacon baguette that is served by the cafe next to  the church.
The detail on this road van is superb and, being a brass etch, is so much finer than the resin kit available currently.
The great thing is that an adaptor for the Bachmann coupling is available from Parkside Dundass which gives the same coupling height as RTR wagons.

Swanage Steam April 2016.

 A few shots of steam at Swanage in April 2016. First time I have seen the Mogul in steam.

Victory MRC Exhibition.2016.

An image of Nigel's St. Levan taken at last weeks Victory MRC Exhibition. Fairly well attended with a reasonable range of layouts. Discovered Freestone products, excellent brick paper by Howard Scenics as well as printed acetate for leaded windows and factory window panes. Look forward to using these.
One idea is to use the leaded light sheet for crossing gate mesh-will let you know how I get on.

A new beginning.

After having my previous blog-Dorset 3mm hacked and subsequently deleted- I have decided to start anew. This time though, the posts will not be so frequent and will cover Railway modelling and any other subject I feel is relevant.
The header shows my 3mm layout, Teignford, at the Warley National Exhibition at the NEC in November 2015. My other 3mm layout, Hennock, was shown there in 2013.
No pictures this time but once I get the hang of Windows 10 then hopefully images will be included.
At present I am working on a 4mm layout-as yet un-named which is 8ft long including fiddleyard. Based on Martin Brent's Arcadia, I want a small easily useable layout to test some, new to me, ideas.
My preference for 3mm scale is BR(Western Region) and for 4mm BR(Southern Region).
Several exhibition bookings have been made- shameless plugs for these will be posted- speaking of which- my mate Nigel is showing his 3mm scale layout St Levan at the Victory MRC exhibition at

Admiral Lord Nelson School, Dundas Lane, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO3 5XT

next Saturday 14th May 2016.

So if you are lucky enough to read this and can visit next Saturday we will be pleased to chat- and occasionally operate the layout!