3mm Diesels.

There has been a couple of days I have missed posting.

Due entirely to me being busy painting and making things.

Firstly I have  painted the first of the Type 3's into original green without warning panel as delivered.

Some touching in to do and buffer beams painted red. The indicator panel will be black with code then glazed.

The engine room windows will be black then either glazed or glossed with varnish- not sure yet.

The Hymek has had the first coat after the Sherwood Green lower stripe has been applied- shown masked. It is amazing how long this takes and to be honest have lost track of time hence no posts!

3mm Scale BR&CW Type 3.

 A new 3mm casting appeared on the scene recently.

Lenny has been producing quality resin castings for 3mm for some time. Indeed, I have one of his 4MT 2-6-4T which replaces the ancient GEM offering which was produced to fit the Tri-ang TT Brittania chassis so had some compromises.

This is a really excellent casting, crisp with no flash.

Also available from Lenny is a set of bogie sides which, are well cast in whitemetal. These are also suitable for the class 26 and 27 which he also produces.

Lenny's products are offered on e-bay and feature quite a large selection of both steam and Diesel outline.

Both products are strongly recommended and will be a pleasure to motorise.

3mm East Boldre Station Building.

The roof has now been fitted. I have used Wills tiling sheets for this.

 They don't look too out of scale and will look better once the roof has been painted.

However, I am not happy with the chimneys, the edges are too rounded and will have to be re-done.

Whether I will use brick plasticard or brick paper remains to be seen.

3MM East Boldre Station Building.

The station building is based on East Budleigh which was on the L&SWR branch from Sidmouth Junction to Exmouth line which was opened in 1903.

With a structure of artists mounting card, this has been covered with 2mm Builder Plus (sadly no longer available) red brick paper.

The windows and doors are supplied by The 3MM Society and Worsley Works.

The central chimney stack is balsa wood which will be covered with said brick paper when dry.

3mm East Boldre- ballasting.

 Here are the tools to ensure the ballast stays in place.

Firstly the dry ballast is given a mist of water with a drop of washing up liquid.

Then, dilute PVA, again with a drop of washing up liquid, is applied using a cheap pvc pipette. I prefer the pipette rather than an eye dropper, for me it is more controllable.

Just the wait for it all to dry and the track can be cleaned and re-tested.

3mm East Boldre weathered rails.

After undercoating and liberally coating with track colour, the rails themselves have been painted.

Using rust matt the viewing side has had the rail sides painted.

Tedious that this job is it isone which enhances the trackwork considerably.

Now it is dry the ballasting can be started- another dose of tedium coming on!

East Boldre point operation.

KISS- keep it simple silly- Is a phrase I try to adhere to.

Yes, I know I have electrically operated points on other layouts but in the main I like good old fashioned wire in tube with changing polarity enabled by a simple slide switch.

To the left is a close up of the business end with the lower pic showing  a couple mounted and with holes through the backscene to enable grubby fingers to actually change (slide) the things!

ID Backscene.

I love these products. Used on Hillbrow and Woody Lane, they always attract positive remarks at Exhibitions.

The ones I use are designed for 2mm scale but are just perfect for smaller layouts.

The 00 scale products are too deep for my use- 15 inches which makes the backscene too high.

By the way, the next Dorset Modellers meeting is tomorrow, 15th September from about 1pm at The Avon Causeway Hotel Pullman Car.

East Boldre 3mm Trackwork colour.

The whole of the trackwork, with the exception of the point blades and tie-bars, have been undercoated and then had a coat of Humbrol Dark Brown applied.

Once this had dried the  masked parts were touched in and all of the point mechanisms tested.

The top of the rails had excess paint removed and then burnished with fine wet 'n dry paper.

When this is thoroughly dry then the tedious job of painting the rail sides begins.

3mm East Boldre- Baseboards completed.

The frame for the fiddle yards have been completed and bolted into position .

The total layout is just under 8ft long and will rest on the L girders on the trestles.

The trackwork has been fully tested and works as designed.

 The base for the fiddle yards have been fitted to the aluminium sliders which still need easing slightly for smooth operation.

Sidepieces attached to the base which ensures rigidity and prevents accidental stock damage.


The track fitted to the left hand fiddle yard and with the rail ends soldered to single sided copper clad sleepers.

The copper clad has been glued and nailed into position.

A brass handle has been attached to aid  moving the fiddleyard.

Just the alignment fixings to attach once I have made them!

I have found some ID backscenes for the layout whilst visiting Buffers at Axminster in Devon whilst on a short break.

3mm East Boldre fiddle yard.

Everybody needs a fiddle so they say, well here is the start of East Boldre's.

Basically it has been cribbed from a layout that I saw at the South Coast Modellers exhibition at New Milton earlier in the summer.

The idea is that the yard is attached to a runner which slides in a channel to enable tracks to be changed.

The channel and bar can be sourced at many of the DIY sheds locally.

Below shows the frame with channels awaiting the fiddle yard bed.

3mm- East Boldre. Progress update.

 This is the control panel for East Boldre. The panel comes from Model Railway Solutions which I purchased some time ago.

I am not sure if I have overdone it with such a simple track layout.

the section switches have been fitted together with the control DIN plug.

Below are the fitted point control slide switches which change polarity at the point frog.

The handbuilt points- or turnouts- are by Hugh Martin and are superb!

3mm New Layout- EastBoldre.

 I am extremely lucky to have a friend that can advise me of the electrical isolators and feeds.

A complete drawing of the scenic board is pictured showing feeds and isolating locations.

Once this weekends exhibition at Pewsey is over, work can commence in earnest on East Boldre.

3mm scale Worsley Works M7.

It has been  a long time in construction but at long last, minus couplings, it has been completed.

I must admit that the lining has been quite a challenge as my hands now shake and make exact positioning difficult- so please excuse.

Slowly the loco stud for East Boldre is increasing- now have an M7, Q1, Adams Radial, Crompton Diesel plus a G6 kit to make and , when I am feeling brave, a 'N' Class mogul.

3mm new layout East Boldre.

 For sometime I have been contemplating a new 3mm scalelayout.

Inspiration was fueled by Mutton at Minehead so a 4ft x 16inch board was rescued from the loft and a start made.

I have used track produced by Ratio for the 3mm Society and the excellent handmade pointwork by Hugh Martin.

The trackplan has been tested and fits the stock which will be used.

 The track is, at present, lightly pinned to the board which has had the turnout tie-bars marked for drilling.

After some thought, unusual for me, it has been decided that I will use wire in tube to actuate the points with slide switches.

Whatever I choose will probably be influenced by a visit to Railwells and the MSE stand!

East Boldre.

Several attempts have been made to build a 'new' East Boldre. The original 00 layout was sold some time ago but it was always my intention to build a replacement.
So with L shaped boards, track laying has commenced. Although slightly cramped- a couple of shots to show how far i've gotten.