Another new month is upon us… what modelling have I been doing, and to be fair it’s not very much, certainly feeling the pinch of not much money around to actually buy or do very much. However that doesn’t mean I haven’t done anything. A fair few months ago I managed to buy another etched chassis for a Hornby Magazine Stove Van R which was produced by Dapol, these for what ever reason when they came out were terrible… the chassis design made no sense and was quite disconnected with no linkage to coupling cam meaning each end set of wheels had a mind of their own. I ordered this etched kit from an RM web member Ian Macdonald and he provides some very nice small kits as well as improvement kits especially for the Stove van I mentioned. I have already built one of these but for the second, as the Bluebell’s Stove Van is currently in Pullman livery I decided to have a go at repainting one, as I picked up this van pretty cheap! The etched kit has the whole chassis and buffers ect, and NEM pockets, and you must find 14mm wheels, as Dapols were undersized, and possibly the wrong profile which is another rumor what is wrong with them. In other developments, still awaiting the arrival of KR’s Leader, which may be delivered after Dapols little Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0T Invincible, closely followed by the former Hattons model of a P-Class, now being produced by Accurascale. On Vectis 3D Models business has been extremely slow and poor which is also understandable, I have been working on some new items, one notably not too far away now the Consett Ore pumps kits for the 9F which are now in the assembly and testing and checking phase. Some interesting new announcements from Bachmann this morning too! New Mk1's in OO, some which haven't been done before, certainly I will be looking at an RBR buffet/restaurant car. Nice to see the EFE or Kernow O2's now back as well in new liveries and a new Isle of Wight one W26 Whitwell. This May as well we have the Isle of Wight steam railway’s Model railway event which I’ll be attending on Saturday. Check it out in this link! You can get to the railway from Portsmouth to Ryde Pier head via Fastcat and Wight link, catching the train from pier head to Smallbrook junction, double check it does stop there, as some do and some don’t. All exhibits are at Havenstreet station.
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4/17/2024 0 Comments Hornby and the missing liningCould be the name of an epic new book... but it ain't... A number of years ago, Hornby released the Maunsell Kitchen car 2018, the olive green version of which had no lining, when I enquired as to why no lining... the answer was a surprise... I was expecting cost, or price point, but no, it was because they never ran with lining... confused... as I had a photo from a book with one in 1930's olive green with lining on... which of course I promptly replied with the image attached... no answer... Fast forward to 2022 when we had the Maunsell open third dining saloon, again unlined, which they were originally, but hey ho there we go again. The problem that gives me that all the Hornby releases previously were lined, and now I have 2 which aren't so as a set, it looks a little odd. So 2 carriages from Hornby and £30 of transfers to buy plus some custom transfers for the dining saloon. Fox transfers delivered their lining sheets quickly, and John at precision labels working his magic again producing the odd, squashed lettering to fit inside the lining between the windows. In addition to the transfers I also painted some wood effect around the windows just to add to the look, I masked the windows then sealed them in with a light coat of varnish... overall a significant improvement and again more cost... but at least I have a matching set of Maunsell carriages.
First trip of 2024, was a birthday treat to myself, I usually do at least one railway in March despite the rubbish weather and challenging light conditions for photo's and videos, this year it was Swanage Railways turn after 14 years of last going. This for me was a chance to see not just the SECR O1 away from home, but also the LSWR T3 locomotive after 70 odd years being back in steam. Jokingly the gala was called the Victorian weekend.... there were only 2 locomotives out of 4 that were, and would have been nice if the T9 was pulled back to be on display at the station in Swanage. The other 2 locomotives were a U-Class, and Bulleid battle of Britain Eddystone. It was nice this time to actually get off the train and do some walking and photography from different locations, as I have never really done this much up until recently, while at the Bluebell's giants of steam. The day was overcast, mixed with rain, and muddy fields. First train out for me was the U-Class to Nordon, leave the train and walk back towards Corfe, whilst on route seeing some red dear which was rather nice and different! I spent sometime at the footcrossing with challenging light conditions to get the T3, O1 and then walk back to the station at Corfe to see Eddystone, which I boarded to Harmans cross. Things started to go wrong, with the T3's set of carriages running a hot box, meaning we were treated to not 1 not two but 3 double headers during the day, which was good and bad if you just wanted a single locomotive in the shot... but make do. Overall not a bad day, avoided the rain just about, and as you can see at the end of the video, the sun came out, typical really. But a good event, however probably a spring gala title might be more appropriate, but every railway needs people to visit to survive, as you may or may no Swanage is one of a few railways struggling for money... if you can help, give them a visit, or donate if you can! DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS LAUNCH £450,000 ‘SAVE YOUR RAILWAY’ APPEAL (swanagerailway.co.uk) 3/19/2024 0 Comments First Quarter 2024....With the arrival of 2024 and various exhibitions having taken place, spring is now here, with Alexandra Palace/London festival of railway of railway just past us last weekend 16/17th March, where are we at in this hobby. The exhibition seemed a bit low key again this year, with exhibits and trades more spread out, comparing that with 2023, there was a massive gap in the main hall near the organ, so a bit more public friendly at least this year, but again it was noticeable that smaller traders were seemingly disappearing... possibly due to cost of getting in to London, or due to the cost of having a stand of which I heard much about last year. Once again no Hornby, I would guess due to attending Model Rail Scotland, but the other manufacturers were there, Bachmann, KR Models, Accurascale, Dapol, Rapido to name a few. I always find the big shows a good opportunity to find out and catchup on what's going on with models I have on order as well as their progress. Accurascale had the Hattons originals P-Class, and Andrew Barkley tanks decorated samples on display, Dapol provided updates on their models, and Bachmann had some new announcements and some samples of the Palvan, as well as tooled samples of new Diesels and locomotives which have been announced. Most manufacturers are still in a catchup phase, being quite behind, and changing the way they announce new items Bachmann being the first to swap over followed by Hornby. Only problem for us public, with our disposable income now less, the announcements come pretty much just before they leave China, leaving us less time to put money to one side and save for a model which are always increasing in price. For me my buying patterns have changed, I only buy what I need, not what I want, but with most of my models on pre order the one that's been on there the longest is Bulleid's Leader due this quarter waiting almost 4 years now, to be followed by Dapols Hawthorn leslie 0-4-0 which are due April/May 2024. Should be busy first quarter at least for me! As the Ex-Hattons P-Class are also due May/July. As a small business I am increasingly seeing people not spending, so we are changing our buying habits, only spending on things that are unusual or odd, rather than the small things which will always be in stock... I myself 20% down on last year at this same point. Is the hobby in good health for the most part yes... despite the loss of Hatton's and Warley last year and early this year respectively but I as a customer want more for the money I am spending... to make it worth my while, so I wait like others for discounts or offers, picking up a Dynamometer car recently, and I decided to buy a Kernow Steam Railmotor... as I knew they would sell out if I didn't... and yes that took 10 years... for various reasons... Happy Modelling! |
Matt WicksBuilding models and model railways for over 20 years.... and of course still learning and something new every day. ArchivesCategories |