Summer Time Modelling or Top Landing Gear

With the summer now well and firmly here its now the time when the modelling season like the real world has a holiday. Its the time of year when modelling is fairly low down on the scale of things. Me personally I prefer to fly my RC aircraft despite there being a distinct windy feeling this summer it is still possible to get up to the flying field and fly until your hearts content or until the battery gets flat. My current flight is this

Its an FMS P51D Mustang. It features flaps, retracts with sequenced gear and I quite frankly a hoot to fly. It was always my aim to get one of these and given ive only been flying around a year or so (in fact a year in 7 days time) im pleased my fight skills are now good enough to get hold of one. Loops, rolls and even things like Cuban 8s are possible although it does lack a little power when doing low strafing runs to make it look really realistic. This is all despite it being both electric and foam and it can be had for around £220, the lipo battery, charger and radio gear will cost extra but a dx6i radio set and battery can be had for around £190. Im currently looking at what to get next and my choices are either a P38, lightning, B25 bomber or the DH mosquito. I did find a nice stuka which id get simply so I could do dogfights with the mustang but im not sure whether its worth the outlay or not. Anyway chocks away!

Llwydd Lives again pt2

This last week ive been reconsidering Llwydd's rebuild and im considering reinstating the semaphores as previously I was going to use colour light signals. The problem is the colour lights don't really work and I think id also be doing the layout a disservice. This leads to an important question which is, which signals do I use? The Dapol ones aren't available at the moment so realistically it looks like a lot of ratio kits which to be honest is what the layout currently has. Answers on a postcard please?

Down the Drain

Today ive been working on some transfers for the Birmingham R.C.E drain train. This was a rake of 4 TTA tanks recoded to ZRA which were used to clear the drains in the Birmingham Area. They were bright yellow wagons. . The could be seen pretty much as far as Preston and down as far Watford area but mainly seemed to have been stored at Bescot. The transfers are now home made as the black lettering is pretty standard and I now have a template for the Tops panel which means I can whip up some very quickly. along with a new ink jet printer it means that I can do most of my own transfers again. The trouble being I cant do white however which is slightly annoying to say the least.

Back to basics modelling

One thought thats recently come to me was to get back to basics modelling. This will involve making use of the of older lima locos and using bits of plastic, etches and other bits and ending up with detailed models. Thats how we used to do it but it seems now all we do is get a loco and stick it on the track. That to me isnt really modelling and i have to say i feel like i dont have the skills so i also felt this would be a good way to improve my skills. The bonus being i would end up with a fleet of unique locos and it would also be relativley cheap. There are a few layouts that the stock could run on so it most certainly wont be a wasted effort. My thoughts are on the 31,37 and 47. Obviously they would need etched fans, and in the case of the 37 and 47 there would need to be removal of the roof straping on the 37 where needed and the the boiler port on the 47. On the 47 id also like to do the correct fuel/underframe tanks to the correct type for the loco. The 37 would also benefit from the correct window frames but i might leave this, they also need roof mounted horns as but they might be slightly compromised as the real ones are slightly inset but that cant be seen once the horns are in place. The 47 would also get the flushglaze. The 31 doesnt really need to much modification other than handrails which the 37 and 47s already need. Obviously all of these models will have full bufferbeam detailing. The other classes i will be looking at will be the 50, 56 and 60. The 60 doesnt require too much work and most of the work can be completed with requiring repaint. If you avoid the first 5 sector liveried models 60001/002/003/004/008 have an incorrect sized grill on one side wheras later ones have the grill corrected. The grills themsleves can be replaced without a repaint as they can be masked up once its been replaced. It will also need the internal equipment added as with grills opened up you can see straight through. The 60 also needs bufferbeams and the bogie footsteps. The 56s are only really correct from 56056 onwards without alot more work to modify the front ends. Apart from etched grills and working lights the bodyshell is pretty good. While some of the paint jobs are ok, the yellow is generally a very odd shade so needs to be repainted but again it can be done quite easily without needing a full repaint. Flsuhglaze is also required to help improve it. And finally the class 50. This could do with alot of work as the body has numerous detail faults. Below the underframe the biggest problem is that the bogies are incorrect and undersized however lima class 37 bogies can be fitted with ease with the footsteps modified. Above the underframe the model will obviously have etched grills, opened out exhaust ports and filled in sandboxes as they were removed when the refubished them back in the early 80s. The front ends could do with the wires for the multiple working boxes. Also the indicator box needs to be correctly plated over but etches are available for all of this. One other thing that can be added is the lifting points which are just behind the doors. This model also benefits from flushglaze. most of these models should cost no more than around £30 each and that includes the purchase of the original model. I would then have a completely unique fleet which might not worth much despite all the work its still a one off fleet and it will be all my own work.

New Layout possibility

Well while ive been away ive been thinking about the possibility of doing a small engineers layout. I did build one a few years ago but it was never shown but im planning to do it again as ive too many engineers wagons and need somewhere to put them. The track plan might need a little tweaking as ive been given a few points that I can use which will mean I only need a few small radius points and some lengths of flexi track.

Llwydd goes south!

Some people may be away that Llwydd Town had been sold. Well its now safely back at home in my garage. The plan now is to do a few little jobs that I feel it needs. These are essentially the following - - Fitting DCC - Adding point motors - Boxing the scenic boards up to protect them - Build some legs (they weren't included in the sale) - Replace the semaphore signals, they were only temporary nearly 10 tears ago so I will now have to look at replacing them, just not sure whether I need colour lights or semaphores. At the moment there isn't any time frame on when the work will take place but id like to have it done by next summer. In terms of the stock, some of it was purchased with the layout but there will be additions from myself and the era and location will remain the same.

Its back for good.

Well the blog is back. Ive been meaning to get it back into it so I will get the posts flowing again and begin showing what will be going on as quite a lot has been going while this blog has been off line. I will be updating it over the course of this week and hopefully there will be some interesting posts to follow.

Studley which did have a road but it seems to have gone missing?

Well i know its been three months but its impending show booking at Cheltenham has meant ive had to divert my time to something a little more important but the work is more or less complete. i will update the blog in a few days with a full update showing the photos taken during the rebuilding.

Its back....

Well the blog is back. Whats happened in the mean time, well lots and lots. When i wrote the last blog post Westleigh was still two months away from its first show which was not overley successful. It all stemmed by the fact that the fiddle yard was 2cm was too long which meant the layout wasnt sitting correctly and the joints were out of sync. What else has been going on since this show? Well ive be dablling in N gauge but im not quite sure what to do at the moment but i have plenty of ideas written down so whatever i do choose i have a basis to be begin from. Recently due to the entimely demise of Jo Thompson i had a chance re-encounter with a layout i built many years ago. This was called Studley Road and was a layout i sold to Jo years ago but its been donated back to me and im now planning to get it back onto the exhibition circuit in a few months but it does need some work. The board and the trackwork are fine but the scenic section needs some work and there is a need to do some basic re-wiring. When i know of a possible show appearance i will update this blog. Until the next time which hopefully will now be every few days.

The 3rd Rail

As some of you may know ive been collecting some SR stuff along the way with the view to building an SR layout. Now i was going to make a much smaller layout than Westleigh to run them all on. However the point was then made to me that as most SR EMUs are 4 cars they wouldnt work on a small layout, so why not convert Westleigh and then build a much smaller layout for all the 2 car North West DMUs. So its a question of using lots of IL-1 and IL-120 to change it, there being nothing else that locate the layout anywhere. There is much else to report at the moment but there will be alot of updates within the next month as ive got lots of things to do.

Summertime Modelling

The subject this week is the reduction of modelling during the summer. I spend most of the winter season locked up getting modelling projects done but the drive seems to wane around the summer months returning in the summer. After all who wants to be sat at a desk with a soldering iron sweating when you can be outside seeing the real railway network. Its when we dust down out cammeras and get out there while the sun shines (which its done alot so far). I always find this is the time when i get the impetus for the new modelling season. Ive already got a new layout plan to do and a list of projects as long as my arm. How much of it will get done i dont really know but id be amazed if a least 10% of it is done. Im also going to showcase for two days next weekend to see some of the stunning layouts that have been booked. Coppell for example is a fantastic example of modern image modelling and im planning to spend a good few hours looking at! www.demu.org.uk/showcase Enjoy

And because Westleigh is getting too big ive decided to begin a much smaller project about 7ft scenic section with a casstte fiddle yard. Its designed to go in the back of a small car and be operated by one person. Its going to be southern region but im not sure whether to have a convetional platform or have a siding and a cleaning platform. The juries still out but i have all the points so the costs of this should be less than a £100 to get to a reasonable state. Much cheaper than the £1300 of Wetbury. Richard

Wetbury Begins

Id mentioned in my previous post that im working on an N gauge project based on Westbury in the period 1990 to 1993. Ive uploaded the track plan which is 16x3 in size on 4 4x3 boards. The fiddle yards are going to be either cassettes or standard ladder yards for The east end, salisbury and frome routes. Or i might make it roundy roundy with a central operating well with seperate fiddle yards. Ive done a tot up of the track required and ive valued it at £1300 just for the scenic section, not cheap is it? Richard

Its been a while!

I suddenly thought a few minutes ago i havent updated this in a while. It turns out its nearly a year. Well so whats happened in that time . In some respects not very much accept ive built another layout. However it will look very similar to original Westleigh, why is that? Well about 6 weeks before its first show i noticed a slight hump on a board joint and it was of course, warped! So what did i do, well i rebuilt it in 6 weeks flat, three new scenic boards from scratch. Amazingly i did it with nearly 10 days to spare. Ive also changed the home board so its covered so you cant see any of the tight curves that were present on the old version. Apart from that not much else has changed really, the only other new development concerning the layout has been the control system has been upgraded to a lenz set 100 with two handsets so i now have two cabs which makes operating it alot easier. In other news my scheme to build Westbury in N is progressing well. Ive nearly got the plan sorted so i can start building the structures on the layout. Its a very long term project but its something i can do work on it when i want to so i dont get bored with modelling. I shall upload some photos to accompany this blog post tomorrow. Richard

A new update

Well i promised i would do a fuller update and here it is. Since my last post i have had to completely change one end of the layout. This being the town/station raised area. I have was having so much difficulty in doing the retaining wall that i decided i wouldnt bother for its first show and have changed it to a flat design as can be seen in the piccies. Since then i have added the foliage, some trees and the fence. The bridge has also been extended and modified to suit. Ive ordered some more Knightwing fencing so i will continue this up to the footbridge with an area of hardstanding behind the fence. I've also just finished the wiring for all the points. Although i still have the route setting for the 5 main fiddle yard roads which wont be done before the show all of the other points are operable. The only other electrical jobs is to now install some extra signals in the station area due to the extention, this will be done although i am having to replcace two tag strips as i didnt put enough capacity in the first time, lesson learnt! Anyway i hope to have more to show next week when there something to see.

Dont go away...

Literally as the title says. Ive been busy with everything and anything at the moment so i havent really had the time to update this blog as much as i would like. Having said all that i hope to put a post up tomorrow detailing everything to date and some things have changed quite drastically from what was planned. My plan has always been, make it up on the spot!

A new update for a new month....

Well its been a while again, so many things have taken over my time since update so here it is. The last few weeks, months even i have been debating to see if its possible to do hands off uncoupling. I was going to bodge a system using the tension locks but after having heard of various trials with them i decided it was the way to go. Basically my main problem was a 1st radius curve so having tried some out today they all sailed round fine. I could probably even drop it from the long to medium shank length which is what surprised me especially as i keep getting told you cant do it on less than 3rd radius, i proved that wrong! The layout was set up today and run for the first time and it all works fine. Not a single problem even on the uneven patio. This is something i wanted to get out of the way as if anything didn't work i wanted to find out as soon as possible. Ive also got my On-On-On switches courtesy of rapid and Ive also fitted some new signals to the front to protect the run round loop. This should mean the major electrics are done although i do need to sort out how many buffer stop lights i need so i can get an order off to Mr Barrow. The wiring is done for this however through the panel, Switch and onto a connection on the panel so it would be a quick job to install. I'm going to upload some video to youtube tomorrow showing it working and it up in its full size. It looks so small in a show hall but its massive at home. Still its just under 16 weeks to go now! Also for some reason it isnt putting the paragraphs in properley, i dont know why though!

Weird Posts

Some of you may have noticed three posts of utter gibberish this afternoon. Thats what happens when you let your three and half year old nephew use your smart phone! Anyway getting back to the layout. The other end of the fiddle yard has been completed. All i need to do now is to join it all up together. The only thing i need to do now is to lay all the straight tracks on the rear. They should be lined up ( i think im 2mm out) but until i set the 4 up together i cant really say for certain. Anyway just a quick one this as there isnt really very much to report.

Fiddling away

Well work is progressing on the fiddle yard. The other end is now up and tracklaying has commenced. Ive also extended the two sidings but ive left the loco headshunt the same length.

The only other thing to report is a change in location. Its now in the wessex area. My eventual plan is to fit 3rd rail to the main lines and the loop. This will mean i can add a Hornby 4Vep to my fleet. Assuming i can find one that works of course. A 4cig wouldnt go amiss either.

Nothing else however is changing as nothing needs to be changed. The only job i have to do is to add two shunt signals as the fixed signals will be off scene. Then its just a question of ballasting, flocking etc to make it look all presentable.

And im still waiting for my dynamis command station back from Bachmann Its been 7 weeks now!!

Fiddling it all

Well ive been working on the fiddle yard and have now got to the extent that one end is done. Ive used code 100 track with set track curves and points to save space. Once i cut two rails tomorrow i can start the other en and then set up the entire rear fiddle yard so i can get it all aligned. Then its wiring it all up so i can have auto matic route setting to make things easier.

Ive also been working on the other scenic break. Its difficult to describe but there is a station building along with a bus depot and a row of shops. I have a sketch of it which i will upload tomorrow. But for now youll have just imagine it all :D