Albion Yard

Feel Good Friday! Heljan’s LNER Beyer-Garratt (OO)

Posted on November 17, 2023 by bawdsey

Heljan today are bringing the UK’s largest and most powerful steam locomotive to the market. It’s one of those ‘X factor’ locomotives, in OO it’s been available as a DJH kit which I always thought an odd choice, but it seemed to sell well when we had it in stock. It promises a very interesting power train with the motors set into each chassis. So over to Heljan…

The LNER’s unique ‘U1’ 2-8-0+0-8-2T Beyer-Garratt was a true behemoth and our amazing articulated model will bring it to life in time for the centenary of the prototype in 2025.

No. 2395 famously made its public debut at the LNER’s celebrations to mark the centenary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1925 and 100 years later we will celebrate this remarkable machine with a unique high-specification model that will appeal to collectors and fans of historic locomotives alike.

For 30 years, the ‘U1’ was deployed on arduous banking duties on the infamous inclines at Worsbrough near Barnsley, and Lickey Incline near Birmingham. Although not always popular with those who worked on it, No. 2395 (BR No. 69999) was by some distance the largest and most powerful steam locomotive ever to work in Britain.

Our ‘OO’ model is the result of in-depth research supported by the National Railway Museum, the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry’s Beyer Peacock Archive and the Gresley Society. We’re also delighted to be working with Rails of Sheffield and Locomotion Models to produce an exclusive edition for their ‘Railway Icons’ collection.

Celebrating the centenary of the ‘U1’ and 200th anniversary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway opening in 1825, the exclusive model will depict No. 2395 in works grey, as it appeared at the LNER’s S&DR centenary cavalcade shortly after completion in 1925 (see below). This very special collectors’ edition will feature bespoke packaging plus DCC Ready and factory-fitted DCC Sound options and production will be strictly limited. Early ordering is strongly recommended to avoid disappointment.

See www.locomotion models.com/railway-icons and https://railsofsheffield.com/ for more information.

Using original works drawings and photographs we have created a collection of museum qualitymodels covering the entire career of the locomotive and the various modifications it underwent over its 30-year life. These include changes to the smokebox, water tank breather pipes, coal bunker, handrails, cab and additional vacuum tanks. Also included is a model depicting the locomotive after conversion to oil firing, which saw modifications to the former coal bunker, the addition of a turbo generator for the electric headlight and associated pipework/cable runs.

Packed with authentic details specific to period and livery, our ‘U1’ will be the ultimate expression of steam power for ‘OO’ layouts and a must for collectors of historic locomotives.

The model is currently in tooling and we expect to receive the first working samples for review in January 2024 with first releases planned for early-2025. Look out for further updates soon. Production of all versions will be strictly limited – contact your regular HELJAN stockist today to secure yours!

Premium Features – Delivered As Standard

• High Quality Design & Construction

• Twin Motor/Flywheel Drive

• Working LED lamps

• 21-pin DCC Interface

• DCC Ready and DCC Sound Options

• Factory Fitted Speakers

• Coal or Oil Fired Options

• Sprung Buffers

• Extensive Detail Variations

• Removable Cab Roof

• Smoke Unit Compatible

• NEM Couplings

• Separate Pipework and cable runs

HELJAN LNER ‘U1’ Models

#3000 LNER lined black No. 2395 (as built) DCC READY
#30003 LNER lined black No. 2395 (as built) DCC SOUND

#3001 LNER Stockton & Darlington Centenary Cavalcade Grey No. 2395. RAILWAY ICONS EXCLUSIVE – DCC READY
#30013 LNER Stockton & Darlington Centenary Cavalcade Grey No. 2395. RAILWAY ICONS EXCLUSIVE – DCC SOUND

#3002 LNER 1946-48 unlined black No. 9999 DCC READY
#30023 LNER 1946-48 unlined black No. 9999 DCC SOUND

#3003 British Railways black No. 69999 DCC READY
#30033 British Railways black No. 69999 DCC SOUND

#3004 BR Early Emblem black No. 69999 (coal fired) DCC READY
#30043 BR Early Emblem black No. 69999 (coal fired) DCC SOUND

#3005 BR Early Emblem black No. 69999 (oil fired/headlight) DCC READY
#30053 BR Early Emblem black No. 69999 (oil fired/headlight) DCC SOUND

SRP £399.00 DCC READY

SRP £520.00 DCC SOUND

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Feel Good Friday

Posted on November 10, 2023 by bawdsey

In the pub, The Ship good beer, good company, good toys, what’s not to like?

The OO class 11 above, a Heljan and Model Rail collaboration is estimated to arrive very early 2024. I can see me falling for one, they look exceptional. Frustratingly the 48DS below also looks beguiling, I’ve always said ‘nah’ to 7mm, but….

And for the record, it’s not the beer talking!

Posted in accurascale, Bachmann, blogger, British Rail, Cameo layout, DC, DCC, dcc sound, feelgoodfriday, finescale, fridayfunday, heljan, HO, hobbies, Hornby, Inspiration, layout design, light railway, man cave, model, model photography, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, new release, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, peco, product news, Rapido Trains, scale modelling, shelfie, toy train, train set, TT Gauge, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Feel Good Friday, Accurascale’s classic 37

Posted on November 10, 2023 by bawdsey

My first thoughts on the Accurascale class 37. Shot almost in real time apart from changing camera position, what you see is what I got, so no preparation as such apart from having the box ready to open. I did that as no one wants to watch a bloke struggling with plastic and cardboard wrapping, you can find your own videos for that. They’re probably out there…

Accurascale Class 37

Overall an impressive model. Weight, finish and finesse of details are the elements that immediately were apparent. The running was literally straight out of the box on DC, and very quiet and controllable. There were two small components that were loose in the box which are going to be easily fixed. I think like it’s more recent livery versions it’ll be well received, and bodes well for the class 31 to come.

Posted in accurascale, Bachmann, blog, BR Blue, British Rail, Cameo layout, dapol, DC, DCC, dcc sound, Eastern Region, feelgoodfriday, first look, Hattons, heljan, HO, ho scale, Hobby, Hornby, Inspiration, man cave, model, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, new release, O Gauge, o scale, OO, OO Gauge, peco bullhead, product news, railroad, railway, Rapido Trains, review, scale modelling, shelf layout, shelfie, test, toy train, train set, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

F***ed Up Friday, not Feel Good Friday!

Posted on November 3, 2023 by bawdsey

Well it’s one of those Fridays. A quick bit of modelling before heading out of the corral, what could possibly go wrong? Well, the above basically, that’s what could go wrong, and has.

Having completed the painting and decal application for the four Parkside hoppers, this morning was to be a quick brush application of a matt varnish to seal the decals. Best laid plans and all that.

Like myself, I’m guessing a few of you will have paint that has erm… matured. So today started with digging out a tin of Humbrol enamel matt varnish.

Enamel, because I’m going to lay various weathering effects in different media over the top. All good so far.

Well the Humbrol enamel had separated with the Matt pigment elements forming that gel type consistency. So a good stir to break it up, followed by a blast of heat from a hairdryer gave me my initial starting point. I still wasn’t happy with it and used a paint shaker/vibrator to finally get the consistency needed.

That was then applied by brush, but the number decals were clearly affected by it, with the edges breaking away, see above…

I realised that brush application wasn’t going to work this time, so with time cracking on I dug out some Tamiya acrylic matt varnish which again seemed a bit gooey. Except I didn’t. I had picked up Tamiya Flat base, (didn’t read the label obvs, I’m male), and in my rush thought I’ll thin it significantly with water. This means I can put it on as a wash. Well that was just fine until it started to dry, and then the pennies started to drop.

This, this is not looking good I think, it should be paler but not like smeared chalk. It starts to dry clear of course, but as it dries further the white opaqueness comes through, which is what’s occurring in front of me. This paint must have gone off really badly I think picking the jar up to look at it. And then the punchline, it’s not matt varnish, it’s literally all about the base!

The first thing I did was to get back onto the worked areas with plain water, which has reduced the effect quite dramatically, but still far from ideal.

So this is where we are now, two wagons were treated before it all went south, so I’ve been really lucky in not getting caught out doing all of them. Next step I’ll run some darker panel washes into the right angle joints and we should be back on track.

The late Roy Jackson often mentioned he thought the mark of a modeller was how and if, they recovered from making a cock up of something. Well Captain Cock Up certainly visited me today and hopefully he’s now left the building.

Note to self; Today’s lesson, read what it says on the tin.

Posted in accurascale, ak interactive, Bachmann, blogging, BR Blue, British Rail, Brutal, Cameo, Cameo layout, DC, DCC, decals, feelgoodfriday, finescale, freelance, ho scale, Hobby, Hornby, Industrial, Layout, life, man cave, model, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, n gauge, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, OO9, paint, peco, railroad, railway, repair, scale modelling, shelf layout, shelfie, toy train, transfers, TT Gauge, Uncategorized, wagon, waterslide | Leave a comment

The Art of Railway Modelling, James Hilton (Book Review)

Posted on November 1, 2023 by bawdsey

The Art of Railway Modelling £18.50

Wild Swan Books Ltd

ISBN 9 781912 038558

The Art of Railway Modelling” by James Hilton is a very different look at the captivating world of railway modelling. James, an experienced modeller himself, shares his passion, and insights, on elements of artistically interpreting our world of model railways.

The book delves into the evolution and development of the art of modelling railways, offering valuable insights, with threads or paths for those seeking a deeper artistic approach to railway modelling. As such it’s not a traditional track or layout planning book, and I have no doubt that some modellers won’t get the artistic processes, or thoughts discussed. That’s not a bad thing, after all we’re all wired differently. This book isn’t a technical manual, it’s much more a recognition of the art form itself. Like the earlier Small Layout Design Handbook it’s printed in landscape format, and has the typical excellent production values we associate with a Wild Swan publication. The book is particularly well illustrated with photographs and James’s distinctive and engaging artwork.

One of the book’s standout features is the author’s choice to use illustrated examples of other modellers work, and asks them to provide a paragraph or two in their own words, on why they chose their approach to model their particular examples. Those examples cover a range of scales, eras, genres and geographical areas, for me making this all the more interesting for its inclusion of these different styles and approaches.

Following the discussion using James’s own models and guest examples, there are plenty of good track and layout ideas to inspire, (see the content listing image above). Co-ordinating with the guest examples these cover a similar and good selection of scales, genres etc. The design section layouts look at each location and prototype including considering artistic elements.

Within the text James explores observation of the chosen prototype, inviting modellers to bring their modelling to life with their own artistic interpretation. The plans provide plenty of ideas for inspiration and motivation, to create personal and distinctive layouts.

In conclusion, James Hilton’s “The Art of Railway Modelling” provides a different and perhaps a bit ‘left field’ resource, for both beginners and experienced modellers alike. It asks questions, and provides some answers. Importantly, in an interesting and engaging manner, it has the potential to encourage readers and modellers to explore a wider range of influences in their layout building and planning. As such it’s another good value book from James Hilton and Wild Swan, and I consider well worth adding to the library.

I have to declare a small interest here in that James asked myself and Chris Mears to contribute a few words for the foreword (which is a rare privilege),as we have done previously for James’ Small Layout Design handbook. Both of us were fortunate too, to be asked to provide examples within the publication. If you follow this blog, Chris’s and or James’s you’ll almost certainly be on a similar wavelength and will enjoy this book.

https://wildswanbooks.co.uk

Posted in accurascale, americana, Art, art reference, artist, Bachmann, baseboards, blogging, book, book review, Cameo, Cameo layout, DC, DCC, Exhibition, finescale, freelance, HO, ho scale, Hobby, Industrial, Inspiration, Layout, layout design, life, model, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, OO9, peco, planning, railroad, railway, Rapido Trains, realism, reference, research, review, scale modelling, shelf layout, track, track plans, TT Gauge, Uncategorized, united kingdom, wild swan | 1 Comment

The Vicarious Modeller

Posted on October 27, 2023 by bawdsey

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!

Posted in accurascale, Bachmann, blogging, British Rail, cycling, dapol, DC, DCC, Facebook, heljan, ho scale, Hobby, Hornby, Inspiration, instagram, journey, life, man cave, media, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, n gauge, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, peco, railroad, railway, repair, scale modelling, social media, toy train, youtube | 1 Comment

Wordless Wednesday Shelfie 2 (Guyzance)

Posted on October 25, 2023 by bawdsey

Posted in accurascale, Bachmann, black and white, Branch Line, Cameo, Cameo layout, DC, DCC, Eighties, fall, finescale, freelance, Hattons, heljan, ho scale, hobbies, Hornby, Industrial, iphoneography, Layout, LED Lighting, man cave, model photography, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, n gauge, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, peco, peco bullhead, railroad, railway, scale modelling, shelf layout, shelfie, shelfie2, toy train, TT Gauge, woodland scenics, wordless wednesday | Leave a comment

Monday Motivation ‘Sable’

Posted on October 9, 2023 by bawdsey

Many of us will have the SABLE (Stash Aquired Beyond Life Expectancy) pile. Actually mine is quite manageable, at one time I did have a collection of plastic kits that with brutal realism wasn’t going to get built, and they were sold on. I’m now much more discerning about what I acquire.

Part of the stash is railway kits, in particular Peco Parkside OO models, and over the past week a batch of these has been dug out to get me modelling again. Life and domestic stuff taking priority this past year. The thing with these kits is that they are relatively simple, and to a degree, time absorbing tasks. That engagement is good as it binds you to the project. The PC77 hopper at the header is definitely one that draws you in, and the Toad E PC89 another one too.

The Toads core structure has been built and some modifications made. As this will be an industrial railways internal use brake van I’ve decided on a simpler handrail configuration seen above. Joining the two inner horizontal rail to the inner vertical is always a bit sporty using a soldering iron, it keeps you honest!

As this is going to be a battered example I wanted to try salt crystal weathering on the guard’s landing. This is where there’s been significant foot traffic and wear. So here’s some of Cornwall’s finest flakes being added to the mix. Basically wet the area you want masked and sprinkle the flakes into place. Let them dry and they adhere to the surface providing an irregular mask.

I’m using my usual Halfords white primer for these, a good solid key for the next layers.

The idea is to make a similar match to the Planet Industrials 21t MDO wagons, a limited edition partnership with Accurascale for these models, (more on those later).

Using the trusty Tamiya masking tape the body was masked and undercoated in matt black. This is to give a good key and slight darkening of the orange top coat, as part of the livery is black this naturally becomes part of the finished scheme.

A reasonably close colour match is Halfords Warehouse Orange, and this was sprayed over in several light coats, and left to thoroughly dry.

The Tamiya tapes get really good demarcation between colors so it’s quite a buzz watching them peel away!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyK4-b7I1dc/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

Then the crunchy satisfaction of seeing that the salt weathering worked!

This was a really satisfying bit of the task, trying a technique I’d not used before, and finding it works as I hoped it would. Again this acts with considerable impetus to finish the core model, steps, handrails and glasing, then get stuck into the final weathering.

I’m quite happy with the color matching, the Pi MDO wagons tone down nicely too. With the 21t hoppers underway and nearly ready for paint I’ll soon have a useful fleet of private owner industrial wagons. They can operate on Shelfie 2, or does this mean another dive off into another new layout!

Posted in accurascale, autumn, Bachmann, blog, Branch Line, British Rail, Cameo layout, Conversion, DC, DCC, Eighties, finescale, freelance, heljan, ho scale, hobbies, Hornby, Industrial, instagram, layout design, man cave, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, Modelu, monday motivation, motivation monday, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, paint, peco, planet industrials, railroad, railway, scale modelling, shelfie, shelfie2, Tamiya, toy train, TT Gauge | Leave a comment

Motivation Monday

Posted on August 7, 2023 by bawdsey

Sometimes just flicking through the pictures taken during projects is a useful little reminder of how things have gone, and a prompt for going. The image above is of Shelfie4 in March 23. It’s a key picture, almost a milestone in the project, this is around when the water ‘worked’, really popping into life with the colours and reflectivity.

That image at the header takes me back to the start of the project, and pinging messages backwards and forwards across a hundred miles or so with James Hilton and thousands of miles with Chris Mears, about how it might look and operate in a plausible and prototypical manner. Part of that was moving stuff around on the footprint and taking pictures. Monochromatic images help with that as I’m not distracted by color, the grey tones just neutralising elements to the core components.

So what’s the motivation today, just looking and seeing the progress really. I’ve been speaking to a friend who’s just getting his layout together for a show, taking it as work in progress. What was interesting was listening as he said this was probably his first whole solo effort. Pretty much ch every other layout project he’d worked on has been a collaborative effort in one way or another.

And that got me thinking that all the Shelfie’s 1,2,3 and 4, and Albion Yard* have been solo builds. And that’s quite a motivating thought, ‘I did that, and can do it again’.

I don’t know what I’m going to do today, on a walk back from the stables today I came across the view above. What was interesting was the foreground hedgerow, it’s a farm track so is maintained to their own needs. This is what a hedgerow probably would have looked like along a rural road before faster ‘industrial’ methods were introduced to look after farmland. Plenty to note n the image on how the foliage has developed and interacts with each other. So just a simple five minute pause observing helps the thought and imagination process for the next one!