More 3F’s

Posted on February 19, 2011 by bawdsey

Following from my earlier post I’ve now sourced a second 3F, this being a ‘keyhole’ variant, so called due to the sandbox filler which is visible in the lower centre of the side tanks. That sandbox filler looks a bit like the keyhole in the side of early tinplate Hornby O gauge, hence the nickname. I’ve got a further keyhole variant on the way, and will source another plain tank version for a sequence build later in the year. In the mean time I have to source some more data, the WSP book is being looked for at the moment, a few more Brassmasters detail kits, some bits from Mainly Trains, and a real one. Fortunately there are a few at the Butterly Midland Railway centre, so I may be able to crawl over one of theirs.

The RHS locomotive is as it comes, the LHS loco has had the body dissasembled, the rear window bars removed, cab roof vent removed and cab sides thinned. I’ll now await Mrs postie to deliver the other goodies.

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3F’s, Fowler, Finescale, and F …

Posted on February 2, 2011 by bawdsey

Bachmann 3F

Bachmann 3F

This evening I’ve started on a Brassmasters 3F Jinty upgrade. The idea behind this is for a Gloucestershire based BLT layout based on Barry Norman’s plan of Dursley. Hopefully it’ll provide a showcase for a couple of new ideas on presentation, and a introduction to the ‘finescale’ mindset, which I see as an ‘improving yourself and models’ concept, rather than a strict adhereance to a set of dimensional or scale criteria.

It's not just swearing, it's M&S swearing ...

The kit comes as a sheet of nickel silver etchings, with a few white metal castings. The first task to do is to get the locomotive apart, Tim Shackleton in his MRJ article remarked on how difficult this is to get to the cab, and he’s not wrong. This bit of the upgrade can certainly have you tiptoeing through the garden of the English language. I’m awaiting a second set of etches and hope to obtain a ‘keyhole’ 3F variant and I’ll add a step by step sequence, as I tear that one apart. It is one of those jobs however where if you’re personally wary of breaking something, getting into the cab perhaps should be avoided. The rest of the upgrade will work just as well without this additional work. I’m in two minds as to whether I should change the wheels to Gibson wheels to improve the look, functionally there’s nothing wrong with the Bachmann Chassis, but if I’m doing this extra work on the body and chassis, then theres good reason to include the wheels as well.

Next job is to check some prototype shots for Gloucester 3F’s and pick a couple of candidates to use.

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Rural idyl

Posted on January 29, 2011 by bawdsey

A lot of my modelling has recently been done associated with projects for magazines, books or for a couple of mates layouts. All this is ok but this week I’ve just built something for the fun of it. For a future undefined project I wanted to make a rural station building, and the ‘old box of stuff’ in the corner got ‘a coat of looking at’ as Mr Jackson puts it. In said box was a Ratio GWR four wheel coach.

That was my starting point, I’d also found an image that showed a grounded coach body in use as a station building, but with doors replaced by shed type doors and plenty of the windows blocked out. That gave the inspiration to do this particular model, together with raiding the spares box. The roof patch repairs are made from toilet roll which gives a good tarpaulin type of effect.

Now all I have to do is finalise the detailing and repaint it, the undercoat I normally use has reacted with some of the plastic, so it may be a rogue can. Its going in the bin and a fresh one bought once I’ve done the repairs ….

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New Directions

Posted on January 23, 2011 by bawdsey

Albion Yard

Albion Yard is just one of the projects I have under way at the moment, surprisingly it’s been in progress for about eight years! This blog was initially to record the progress of the work I did for the layout, but as it’s quite well know through a fotopic site which deals with quite a few different topics, I’ve decided to make this blog a ‘modelling’ blog. On here you’ll be able to read about some of the projects that are ongoing, as well as updates on Albion Yard itself, the other layouts will have dedicated webpages in the blog format of ‘Bawdsey’, so that I can use them to showcase the layout to an exhibition manager for example.

Collier Street is already complete, and the blog is being written showing the start to finish of the layout which was built to demonstrate one of Paul Lunn’s set track plans. The layout often appears in Peco’s N gauge rolling stock adverts.

Collier Street N Gauge

There are a couple of other layout projects that I’m working on, two in 4mm OO, East Dursley, Ashworth WR and New Burn NER 4mm but gauge still to be decided. Today I’ve been finishing the station buildings for East Dursley. This is a small branch line terminus based on the real terminus at Dursley in Gloucestershire and a Barry Norman design in Wild Swan’s Designing a Layout ISBN 1 874103 39 9. These buildings are just about ready for painting, they’ll be undercoated with Halfords white acrylic and then finished with Midland Region red and cream with signage for the 1950-60’s era.

East Dursley MR Station Buildings

Ashworth WR will be based in the Forest of Dean,, and the design isn’t yet finalised. I spend a good deal of time ‘imagineering’ the finished layout, and the shots below show part of that sequence. The era again will fall into my core interest of the 1950’s to 60’s era, and will feature locomotives and stock specific to the era and location.

Visualising Ashworth WR

Visualising Ashworth WR

The buildings you see will not be the final buildings for the layout, they just help in the process of looking at space and volume in full 3D and how they relate to the track design.

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Reprise V

Posted on November 6, 2010 by bawdsey

This is the latest addition to the layout, a simple scratchbuild using Wills and Peco components, and the first item out of the workshop since it’s makeover.

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Reprise IV

Posted on September 26, 2010 by bawdsey

This week it’s time to strip down Albion Yard so that I can assemble Bawdsey for its shakedown test prior to the Manchester show. The 03 is a real charmer and I think I’ll succumb to a blue version in due course. Whilst taking the layout down I had the opportunity to have a look at the wiring, which with the benefit of hindsight I can see will need improving. Its always been reliable but with two exhibition appearance’s under offer, I can’t afford for it not to be as good as possible, so that’ll be the first makeover task, not the most exiting I can think of …

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Reprise III

Posted on September 12, 2010 by bawdsey

The planning is now pretty much finalised, a single line extension to one of the sidings. The useful feature of having detachable buildings is that I can re-arrange them to suit a new scenario. Above you get an idea of the blocks/sizes of structures that'll be required, if not the actual buildings themselves. Thoughts are now turning towards the track now, inset or overgrown weeds, a connecting line to an industry or an industrial siding in a factory yard.

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Reprise II

Posted on September 3, 2010 by bawdsey

This week the layout has been reassembled in preparation for a new phase of work on it. At the moment it’s standing without any buildings permanently fixed allowing me to spend looking at the structure of the layout, its track plan, and how to maximise its display potential, including the possibility of it becoming US eastern seaboard HO gauge, rather than UK outline OO.

Being able to look at the layout from all sides as opposed to just one, is showing some of the design faults as built, but as above, lets me look at making the best out of what I have. There’s also a good deal more photographic potential than perhaps I previously realised, the two shots here being quick snaps out of the Canon G10.

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Reprise I

Posted on August 15, 2010 by bawdsey

Over the past couple of weeks the question has been asked a couple of times as to what will be happening to the layout. In simple terms it will be finished. This weekend I had a request for images of the layout to use in a layout planning book, which was particularly nice as the layout hasn’t yet been seen in public. As part of the discussion of which images to use and why, it got me thinking again as regards the final look of the layout. Historically I’ve moved buildings around for photography which has worked most of the time. Now however I’ve come to the conclusion that whilst working for photography purposes, as a layout in its own right, for this trackplan and board size, the scenic module concept won’t work in achieveing the final quality and impact I want the layout to have. Originally the fiddle yard area board was to be blocked off, but I’ve now decided to include scenery along the whole frontage. The actual fiddle yard won’t change, but the area of the board in front of it will do, dramatically.

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Albion Yard

Posted on June 2, 2010 by bawdsey

Albion Yard is the result of wanting to get a layout up and running easily and to that extent is OO and uses Ready to Run motive power. It has also been flexible enough to act as a photo set, and has appeared in Peco Videos, Railway Modeller, Hornby Magazine, and Model Railway Journal.

Like most projects it has suffered from a bit of stagnation, recently this has occured whilst getting ‘Bawdsey’ ready for its three outings this year. I’ve been fortunate enough to have had many offers of places at exhibitions over the past few years for the layout despite it being incomplete. This week I’ve decided that layout must be finished, and have made a provisional agreement to show it in 2011, and have one other show under discussion. I’ve been thinking about how much of it will need altering, and I hope the final display I have in mind will be an unusual and interesting talking point.

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