Happy New Year!

Hornby 00 gauge Adams Radial.

Just when Ithought I had enough, this one was lurking on my local, preferred, Model Shop's shelf.
Now I have the three survivors which worked out of Exmouth Junction, mainly on the Lyme Regis Branch. A suitable code for Lyme has been added front and rear together with a suitable crew.
Thank you Father Christmas!

Premier Components 0 Gauge Mk1 Coach Bogies.

These bogie castings are excellent for the price and, being cast in whitemetal, gives weight right where it is wanted.

Also ordered with the kit is a set of Peartree coach wheels which come complete with bearings .

A dry run showed that these are excellent products and very clean castings.

The third Lima coach will probably get a set of these as well.

0 Gauge Lima coaches.

 The ongoing refurbishment of the 0 Gauge coaches has reached the respray stage.

After priming in grey, the top coat, BR Southern, green has been applied.

Two coaches have reached this stage with another Composite to convert.

Precision Paints BR Southern Region Coaching stock green has been used and I doubt if I would have gotten another coach sprayed out of one can!

Petite Properties 00 Gauge Little Acorns School.

Little acorns school was made during a particularly nasty time of inclement weather and, to be honest, I was too comfortable to fetch the camera. So this is the end result.

Again the finish is fine granite chips which, this time, have been fixed with a matt varnish which darkens the finish somewhat. This gives it a more aged appearance. Again the roof covering is the PP random stone.

Really looking forward tothe new year when I can get some terraced low relief cottages and shops.

Happy Christmas

 

Happy Christmas one and all.

T'was the night before Christmas.

Tomix 91085 Tram Track.

Ms Amazon delivered this track this lunchtime.

A basic oval of single inset track, the set consists of 12 curves and 4 straight sections.

When assembled the track is 39cm x 24.5cm so its not exactly going to encroach on ones living space.

The trams sit nicely on the track and it will be a simple layout to just run trams on.

A few more images below and, yes, I have ordered some more track to expand the proposed diorama.

1/87 Trams Galore!

This is the first Tram I converted. Obtained from the Wirral Transport Museum & Heritage Tramway- it is the model sold in Lisbon.

Motorised with a KATO 11-104 power bogie it spurred me on to convert others.

So, a look at Amazon and E-bay provided a couple of others which have been motorised with the help of a minidrill and files.

Firstly the Tramvia Blau, Series 5-10 from 1903. This type operated in Barcelona from 1903. This one also has a KATO 11-103 underneath.

This again is from Atlas- A2.2 Rathgeber of 1901. Operated in Munich which first started operations in 1875 with horse drawn trams.

Makes a good fleet- waiting for the TomyTEC tram track to arrive and then will see if it can be integrated into a 009 layout.

Petite Properties 1/76 Gardeners Cottage.

Well, it's just about finished and I think it has been a very worthwhile project.

The change in textures has worked out very well and the resultant finish is better than I envisaged.

These buildings do become very addictive as even if you built two or three of the same basic shells then the finish can result in a significant difference.

Alternatively a few finished in a similar way could form the nucleaus of a village .

Door knobs and a letter box have been added which finish the doors. Apart from that all parts are as supplied in the kit, which, at £11.99, represents excellent value. PP also supply the roofing covering which looks just right for this cottage.

Thorougly recommend this range- just one more to make then I will look at some of the low relief products.

Petite Properties Gardeners Cottage.

Hopefully, if you are paying attention, you will have worked out where \i am going with this.

The idea is to fill the bare area with a fine ballast- too mean to buy a specific product!

Once the pebble dash is done then the windows and roofs can be fitted.

Hopefully the next post will show this then I really get on with building some more 3mm items!

Atlas Editions Barcelona Tram.

The success of motorising the Lisbon Tram has led to me acquiring a couple more trams.

The first of these is a Barcelona example from the early20th century.

This one, again, has a die-cast metal chassis and a plastic body.

First thing is to split the model and look at how I am going to fit a KATO 11-109 bogie.

Petite Properties adding the detail.

To get the cornerstones flush , this is the method I use .

Once the corner strip is in place, I use a snap off knife blade, secured with magnets, to make sure the strip butts up square to the corner.

I seem to use these magnets for everything but they are great for holding items without marking.

As can be seen the use of a snap off blade is ideal to ensure an exact square edge.

The glue also doesn't stick to the blade which meas its a clean release.

Below shows the first stage of the finish that will be applied to the walls.

A band of bricks top and bottom with a pebbledash centre- hopefully!

It also shows a nice square corner with applied stones.

Petite Properties 1/76th Gardeners Cottage.

Petite Properties had a stand at Warley so I took the chance to acquire a couple more kits.

The first of these to be started is Gardeners Cottage which is shown below.

This one I am going to pebble dash centrally with brick courses above and below- if that makes sense.

As usual the parts fit perfectly with, in this case, on fettling needed.

The chimneys are made up of 12 pieces.  These will simply be painted Terracotta. Then they will have some white metal chimney pots added.

The lower part will have brick paper affixed.

I like these kits- they give a solid base with the opportunity to customise as required.
https://www.petite-properties.com/

3mm East Boldre Station.

The building for East Boldre's station is nearing completion.

The canopy has been added  but needs painting plus the chimneys need further work.


Still work will recommence on the layout scenery soon and hopefully completed by summer.

009 Dorset Group Open Day 2019.

Unfortunately Woody Lane didn't appear at Colehill. This was due to me being taken ill on the Friday night and there was no way I could attend. Apparently I missed a good day but there is always next year. Oh- and SWOONS in January.

Preparing Woody Lane for Colehill 2019.

 Whilst preparing Woody Lane for the Colehill open day Itook a few pictures from the back of the layout.

These views are not usually seen when displayed.

Track and points have been cleaned with methalayted spirit and it is surprising how much muck is removed after a while of storage.

So, the stock has been chosen and run for reliability and the controllers packed all ready.

0 Gauge Mk 1 BSK.

 I found this coach at Warley. It already had the handrails and door handles fitted although a few handles were missing.

Replacements were aquired from Aquitrains http://www.aquitrain.com/

Etches for handles, hinges and handles, replacement Lima buffers and coach transfers were ordered and supplied promptly.

The bonus is that this Mk1 had been fitted with correct bogies and wheels.

Seen on the right, little needs to be done except wheel cleaning and can be refitted once the coach body has been painted.

0 Gauge BR&CW Type3.

The bogie sides have been fitted and they make quite a difference.

Although too short, the footsteps will be omitted for the time being until I decide whether to move the bogies.

Till then I will undercoat and paint the castings and detail the buffer beams.

Dorset Members 009 Open Day 7th December 2019.

The annual Dorset Members Day takes place this coming Saturday 7th December.

Layouts:
'Pontfadog' N scale 5mm gauge GVT
'Tansey Bank' 009 - Bob Vaughan
'Achalraj' Himalayas 009 - Malcolm Harrison
'Woody Lane' 009 - Steve Fackrell
'Parracombe' 009 L&B modelled in 1920's - Pete Hollins
'Abergynolwyn' 009 set in 1920's - Andy Cundick
'Hirson Bellvue' HOe now extended - Howard Coulson
'Xaviers Creek' 009  set in South America 1950/60s  - Julien Webb
'Timber Creek' On30 Amercian  -  Tom Snook
Display of large scale Rolling Stock - Paul Steadman
'Meanwhile at the bottom of the Garden' 1/24th scale, a 'whimsy' - Clive and Wendy Harman

Also attending:
Avalon Models - Howard Martin
Display and discussion of 3D printing in our hobby, James of James Train Parts (James already supplies our Spares Team with gears and other parts to revive dud locos)

009 Society Members Sales attending
009 Society Members SPAREs for sale!!
Members Test Track - bring your locos for testing
Refreshments available
Car park and plenty of roadside parking

0 Gauge PRMRP Lima BR&CW Type 3 Bogie conversion.

 I looked for some time on how to improve the bogie sides fitted to the Lima 0 gauge loco.

Whilst searching the web I found an entry by PRMRP a father and son company which produce various 0 gauge components.

One of these is an adapted, length wise, bogie frame which is a fit for the Lima bogie which, as I know, is too short.

This is how the castings arrived. A bit of cleaning up and the trailing bogie frame fitted following the simple instructions provided- these are also available on line.

The drilling of holes is a bit fiddly but achievable .

This is the completed trailing bogie (i.e. Non Powered) which simply fits over the adapted bogie frame.

The powered bogie has the complete Lima frame removed and the replacement is built up in situ as it seems logical.

So, just the powered bogie to complete and both will be ready for the paint shop.

Warley Report 5- KATO/Peco Double Fairlie.

This is the first printed sample of the announced Double Fairlie and was a very rough sample- shapes of things to come.

An excellent couple of days at Warley with lots to see and new and old friends met- Thanks Colin for inviting me and a good couple of evenings putting the world- and mode3l railways- to rights.

Warley Report 4. New PECO 'Bugbox' coaches.

In my haste to capture photos of the newly announced and prototype loco's I almost forgot the PECO Bugboxes.

Shown is the First Class coach which has a superb finish and runs very well.

Can't wait for release to augment my 3D printed brace.