An Old Friend.

On the workbench recently has been another 009 locomotive, who's story goes way back to 2012 when I originally started it! Visiting the Wigan Show that year I picked up a Five79 white metal body kit for 'Beddgelert' which I proceeded to butcher to turn into the dreaded Kato Chassis based tram engine....

From these basic beginnings I was quite pleased with the lines of the engine and thought it gave quite a credible Hunslet look. The tram skirts could have been considered a cop out but been a school student at the time the price of a Kato chassis was quite appealing!

The model was finished in a light blue livery, although I forget the actual shade, paving the way for the Ford Wedgwood Blue I use today for my models! 

To finish the model off I fitted some Narrow Planet nameplates and work plates, as well as some A1 Models numbers, from the same packet I still use today. A friend finished it off for me with some weathering, and bar some crew figures in the cab I called it finished.

Unfortunately not long after that the model was dropped resulting in the 3D puzzle that can be seen above. Although perfectly repairable the model stay sat in its box as I had lost enthusiasm, both for the model and 009 in general at the time. 

Some months later, in 2013, I stuck the model back together before selling it on eBay to gain some spending money for my relatively new found interest of 16mm scale.

Fast forward to March 2020 and a very familiar looking locomotive appeared on eBay! Still in the exact same condition as when I sold it seven years previous I placed a bid and the model ended up back in my hands. I had intended to just keep the model as a momento to my earlier modelling, but sat there in a shelf it kept nagging me, so out came the paint stripper, the result been a kit of parts again....

The kit of parts was reassembled, with more care and filler this time, resulting in better joints and a cleaner finish. New RT Models couplings were fitted (They're simply lovely!!!) before a fresh coat of paint, blue again of course!

Details were picked out with a brush, including a cream cab interior, before I set to with my first attempt at lining a model! Using HMRS General Purpose White Lining I am quite pleased with the result. Its original plates were then reattached.

Feeling more confident with my own modelling I bit the bullet and weathered the model myself this time round, using various AK interactive enamel washes, and dry brushing Humbrol acrylics. 

A set of Bachmann figures were used as a crew, once suitably butchered and weathered, before a coat of matt varnished sealed everything in.

And that is how, 8 years after starting it, I finally finished a simple 009 tram bash....

Little Lily

I've heard many good things about N-Drive chassis and long admired the kit there produce for a small Contractors locomotive named 'Lily' based on a drawing by Colin Binnie. Having recently got back into 009 I decided to take a punt and order a kit. Despite many stories of long wait times I received the kit within a month of ordering, which considering the current circumstances I thought was excellent!

The kit comes supplied with this excellent little RTR chassis fitted with Mashima style motor! Its runs lovley and smooth, if a bit growly, but for £65 for a complete kit with RTR chassis who can complain!!

The body kit itself is very simple and made up of only five white metal castings that need minimal clean up. This both gives the tiny loco pleanty of weight but is also ripe to a bit of personalisation. I thought the cab looked a little bar so made up this little reverser from some microstrip. 

It only took a couple of hours work to assemble the basic kit and add a few details. To counter act the reverser on the opposite side of the cab I fitted a brake handle found in the scrap box, originally from a Merdian Models Bagnall Wagon kit

Simple detail was also added to the smokebox door representing a handle and hinge, simply using some lengths of microstrip. Finally a tiny piece of square microstrip was used to give the tank filler a handle. 

Once the bits of detail were added it was time for some technicolour! Body work was sprayed Ford Wedgewood blue, with Humbrol RC401 brush applied for the black sections, another Humbrol colour was used for the bufferbeams. A Vajello acrylic was used for the brass work and I'm quite pleased with the effect it gives!

Lining was done with HMRS Pressfix transfers, generic white lining been used, sealed with some matt varnish. I find this compliments the blue livery quite nicely! Nameplates were random ones bought from the Narrow Planet sale and number plates are from a set purchased from A1 models many years ago. The five pence piece gives an indication of how small this loco is! Although looking lovely, it was far too clean at this stage...

Weathering was added using AK Interactive enamel washes and Tamiya weathering powders, before the entire model was given a coat of matt varnish. Once fitted to the chassis the motor was painted black to help it blend in.

A crew was added using weathered Bachmann Scenecraft figures. Orignally I was only going to fit a single figure, but I was quite a fan of the chap leaning on the rear cab sheet! With the crew glued in and a RT models oil can added to the running plate, the loco was complete and ready for service!

Big Scale, Small Rails.

While working on the Gn15 items, I also dug out the selection of Gnine items also in the box. For those that don't know Gninie is G scale running on 9mm gauge track to represent 7 1/4 inch gauge, roughly at least! 

In the box was a loco kit, complete with the Bachmann Plymouth chassis required, and two tub wagons, all made by Sidelines. I had clearly attempted to build the loco years ago, as it was badly brush painted in garter blue!

This was stripped and the whole thing sprayed in a Humbrol green shade, details then picked out with a brush. 

I was quite happy with the controls all picked out, including the cable on the brake lever! A number, from a Woodland Scenices dry transfer sheet, finished off the bufferbeams before the entire model was given a coat of matt varnish.

I've yet to finish off the two tub wagons that were sat with it, or locate the third wagon which I know is in the draw somewhere!!!!!

Gone Green.

And so we come to the last Gn15 model I've built so far. This is another Sidelines Kit, although I'm unsure of which one! Rather than a tenshodo it runs on a BEC models tram bogie, which seems to run quite well for how basic it is!

This one was mostly complete when it came into my hands, although I did partially dismantle it due to some dodgy joints.

Green was the choice of colour this time! I think this is a Humbrol shade but can't quite remember. Red bufferbeams help set it off nicely, as does the single nameplate attached to the rear of the cab.

A wooden seat in the cab and a few details finish it off. Once it's weathered and has a driver figure added I may add a bit more clutter here, such as an oil can or battery.

And thats all the Gn15 for now! 

Wheels on my Wagon.

With one Gn15 loco complete, it was time to look at some of the wagons that remain unfinshed in the box!

The first three I completed are bog standard Sidelines kits, a tool wagon and a pair of bolsters. These are made up of some castings with lovley detail and make up into very attractive pieces of stock. Like the locos they could do with been finished of with some weathering!

The fourth wagon I've completed so far is an eBay purchase. The more Gn15 bits I started to build the more I go into the scale. I found a pair of wagon kits for £22 Inc postage. Similar in style and size to the Sidelines wagons they consist of only two castings (!) and metal wheels running in brass bearings. The end results is quite nice, with me adding simple dumb buffers from plasticard, using a track pin for a coupling hook.

I really must sit down and do some weathering!

Going Electric.

About five years ago I was lucky enough to be given a big box of Gn15 models by a good friend after they had started modelling in 16mm scale. The box contained many items, from lovely complete scratch built whimsical models to unstated kits, with everything in between!

I had started to build a couple of the Sidelines kits in the box, but never really finished anything, Gn15 been a scale I hadn't particularly thought about modelling in. Recently, after sitting for five years in a cupboard, I dug the box out and made a start!

My first victim was a Sidelines 'Firefly' kit, running on what I beleive is a BEC models chassis. Originally the full cab version I had clearly made a start on it at some point, hence the remains of black paint. In a moment of madness (!) I chopped the cab off and rebuilt it into a open cab loco, adding the bolt detail back in with nail art gems!

After giving it a spray of Halfords finest grey primer, I was quite taken with how well it looked in grey, so the details were picked out using a brush, such as the axle boxes and bufferbeams.

Some random Narrow Planet plates I had in stock with fixed to the ends, giving the little loco the grand name of 'Prometheus'!

The kit included various details for a cab interior and I'm quite happy with how it looks. The heavy gauge cable running from the controller is actually aluminium coated wire. I don't know what its actually meant for but it looks good here!

It still needs a driver, and I have a couple of suitable figures in stock awaiting painting, and a possible weathering, but for now I'm quite happy with it in its clean grey livery!

At least its another unfinished thing no longer lingering in a box!

Little Rusty Planet.

Like many of us, I've had more time on my hands recently, with going to work and not been able to go many other places! With this extra time I'd decided I would try and (nearly!) finish some things that have sat around for years!

The first of these was this rather rough 16mm scale Planet body. I have no idea of its origin except it was given to my Dad with a rather nicely made metal chassis. He kept the chassis and threw the body my way....

Its sat in a draw ever since, and Ive had a couple of attempts to make it into something! It appears to be made of card and plastic and is rather wonky in places, but that's part of the charm! It also, for some strange reason, doesn't have a rear window....

The first step I took was to beef up the chassis using some plasticard. I just found the originals too narrow and struggled to add depth using them. I also cut a floor to fit a PS Models chassis that was also in the bits draw that allowed the body to be a push fit.

Unable to find any suitable axle boxes that suited, I used bits of microstrip and a Cambrian Models bolt head to create something vaguely similar to the prototype, a scale model this definitely wasn't going to be! You can also see marks on the body where bolt detail had once been. 

Been too lazy to model a cab interior, and the fact the batteries will have to be in there, I decided to add a wooden door, using a saw blade to create a wood grain style effect in the plastic. The rivets here are actually 'nail art' gems, perfect for these large scales, cheap too!!! (And been Yorkshire, that's what we like!)

A coat of grey primer brought it all together, and showed how wonky it all is.... 

I'd also added hundreds of tiny Cambrian Model's bolts and rivets, giving a somewhat armoured look! A window frame was also added to give some relief to the cab front.

The multi-height couplings were added to a plasticard back with some Cambrian rivets to give the impression of a casting that had been bolted on.

With all that done I decided to add the top coat! This was chosen based on what I already had in stock, so green it seemed to be! Details were picked out using a brush, and transfers added for 'JS Engineering' on the cab side, because why not!

And the (almost!) finished product! Weatheirng was done by dry brushing various appropriate Humbrol acrylics allowing the paint to gather around raised details where muck would. I also used some Tamiya weathering powereds for a little texture before sealing it all with a coat of matt varnish.

I say almost finished as its sat since waiting to be wired up! I'm still undecided whether to fit RC or leave it as a switch on and go loco. 

Either way I'm quite happy how it turned out for a model built from bits in the draw!

Revival.

So over two years on and I'm back again! Let's be honest, the first go at this blog didn't go particularly well, but then that's just my track record with these things! Since my last post I've done numerous things, including finishing my HNC and HND in mechanical engineering and learning to drive! I have been modelling, but nothing particularly worthwhile! Recently, with the world in the state that it is, I decided to finish some of the kits sat in the cupboard! I'll post about them in due course, but for now, here is a taster!