BR 9F in scap yard condition.

I started making this quite some time ago. It has been waiting for other versions of the same thing to be completed before I painted them. However I decided to start painting this now, along with a BoB, also in scrapyard condition. Both are a culmination of a lot time spent on online research, mostly finding relevant images of the various parts and areas I have upgraded from the original Dapol/airfix kits.

Georgian house model

Model I built back in January, low relief. Used old Linka system windows but they needed a large amount of clean up as the casts were very bad

 Here are some pics of models I have been working on since my last post. None are yet fully complete but are as complete as they can be without a final destination for each one. 

This pictures of two derelict and in the process of being demolished houses. They will form a very impressive cameo on a layout one day.

This is a project that I have not worked on for a number of years, however it will be a static diorama of an old goods yard repurposed as a scrap yard. Of course, inspired by Woodham`s  Barry scrapyard. I have elected to produce some very detailed scrap locos, which are based on Airfix/ Dapol kits, these have become more detailed as time goes by, and with the advent of 3D printing I have now turned to slowly producing very detailed parts to enhance these locos. 

 

Nostalgia time again. This time building a super detailed update using the Superquick country pub.

 

This is an adaptation of a laser cut kit made by Fair price models. They are basic kits that are designed to be finish with your choice of materials etc. However I have changed this one more than was probably envisaged, giving the roof a cornice and parapet. Slater's Flemish bond, with individual bricks painted. Its not yet finished, but the time consuming work is done. I will probably 3d print some chimneys for it as do not have the right style or number required for this.

 Yet another much loved Airfix/Dapol kit, the engine shed , much altered and awaiting roof fitting. Windows are by Scale Model Scenery,  they have a growing number of very useful laser cut kits. The modifications I have made to this kit are very extensive, only the basic shape and the doors (also modified) still exist. The slatted vents on the clerestory roof are 3d printed, which I designed to fit. It has a inspection pit and a lean to workshop/office.

 3d printed Gardner 8l3 Engine. This is my first ever home 3D print. I had the design made based on freely available information. It will be going into a super detailed Dapol Drewrey shunter static model, that will form a scrap scene or maintenance depot scene.(probably both because of how easy it is to reproduce these in any numbers.) Over the moon with the quality I was able to get first time, will be using 3d printing a lot from now on, I think!

I love Ex Airfix (Dapol kits ) I definitely have an emotional attachment to them. They are far from the best but, you can improve on them easily and have great fun whilst doing it. Here is the Dapol Garage, given a detailing uplift. Still some more to do but as usual I got carried away with extra details and have scratch built some interior detail and fitted lighting outside and in.

Finally finished some terraced houses(a few small touches remain) This was a bit experimental using foamboard to construct the walls. Everything seen here except the roof tiles and people was scratch built. many rooms are fully detailed with lights and individual interiors. Please excuse the bad photography, My phone really is junk.

Ongoing projects nearing completion

Here are some pics of a couple of exercises that I have tried. The first was to build something with inspiration from the great Allen Downes. This was in the form of an adaptation of his much published "Wheelrights plan" Below represents the progress so far, however I have not done anything to it for months. I need to do a base for it to enable completion. I used his old method of embossing fire cement to create the stonework. However I did not use a resin embossing tool produced using plasticine, as he ones recommended I believe. Instead I made the tool using thin short stips of brass soldered together so the edges would form the stamp tool to impress into the wet cement. this worked out far better and more precise than when I had tried to develop my own resin embossing tool. the tool I created is very durable and can be used very effectively to emboss foam board if you wish to use Emmanuel Nouilliers`s method of producing stonework. I aim to produce more of these stamps to produce cobbles and other patterns.

Why the Incidental model railway modeller, you may ask! Well, its because I got back into the hobby by chance. My partner happened to bring home some copies of Model Rail that the local library was getting rid of. As I read them, a long forgotten love of mine for the hobby began to bloom once again. I had been so busy in the intervening years with silly mundane things I had completely forgotten the fun I had always gained from it. I also have to confess that at this time I have no real modelling direction, and therefore tend to build whatever inspires me at the moment. So I may seem a bit random as to what I may be working on, but that lets me try out new or experimental  methods.

Dapol BOB modified smokebox

One thing that I will try to do, and explain, is hopefully efficient ways to do things. Personally I am terrible at this when working on something, I end up taking longer because I want too much detail or want to start something else. A good example of me putting far more into a model than is really necessary is in the picture above. This much modified(improved I hope)Dapol Battle of Britain class is part of a small Barry Island inspired scrapyard diorama. Although I love the fact that I recreated the interior of the smoke box as accurately as I could, even down to the full compliment of super-heater pipes, it is wasted because in normal viewing, there is not enough light to see what I have done. Even the photo had to be taken in a certain way just to show it. So in this situation this is probably wasted time. I still had fun building it though, and was very happy with the result. I could always put a micro LED and a person in there I suppose. (a preservationist perhaps filching parts for their pet project)

Just some more pictures of the scrapyard project I mentioned above.