I had one of those messages from a good friend recently. You know one of those that makes you think, sending you off on a path you’ve never previously considered, they said ;

another one of those projects I can’t talk about, overtime I don’t want, hopefully I will live long enough to enjoy some retirement.

Do some modelling for me, I could use the inspiration…

So that got me off on a mental wormhole on this blogging lark. There haven’t been many updates here recently, for similar reasons to that first quote. Obviously, you, the readers, come here to read whatever I’ve written, either because you follow the blog, or have picked up a link from the Insta Facebook and Youtube channels or a reference from another form of social media.

My friends first paragraph underlined how precious ‘time’ is to us all, it’s the one thing money can’t buy. You can pay people to do stuff for you, but unless you’re spectacularly well connected, you can’t say to the big man ‘I’ll have another twenty years please’.

So that got me thinking about the vicarious modelling and other interests I do. I guess like many of you we follow threads of interest through all types of media, and I could easily write either of those quotes, please do some cycling for me, especially my bucket list of ‘The devils staircase’ at Abergwesyn, or Bwlch-Y-Groes below..

I follow a few railway modelling blogs and social media sites, the same with plastic kits and cycling. Often they too fall into the vicarious ‘mode’, reading about a project or event I’d like to do, but currently can’t, or realistically will never be able to.

Vicariously’s not a bad thing though, it keeps you connected at the very least to that interest. Even if like I did a few years back, you fail on your own devils staircase, it’s still good to see and read about those who’ve made it to the top, and how or why they did it. That drives me on and enthuses me to try again.

This leads me to why those two models, Bachmann’s BR standard class 5 and 350HP class 08 are illustrated. Both are makeovers from examples out of the seconds or spares and repair market. The Standard 5, well that is one of the mismatched releases from Bachmann, and heavily weathered to boot. I’m going to correct the discrepancies, and adjust the weathering. The 08, well it’s had a hard life, bought as spares or repair, it’s sitting comfortably in the repair and improve department. Neither particularly big projects but they might resonate with other shelf queens out there that have been sitting waiting for a new lease of life, not fifteen minute heroes but firmly in the ‘I can do that’, or ‘that reminds me, I’ve got an ‘abc’ to finish’ camp. Perhaps drawing people to some primary, hands on modelling.

That would be neat!