Ho, Ho, Ho!

Merry Christmas one and all!

T'was the night before Christmas!

 All I want for Christmas is a Radial, all I want for c
etc. etc.I have always wanted an Adams Radial or
Class 0415 if you want.
As boasted earlier- I now have one- well a kit of
one anyway.
The body and chassis are excellent- and I am going
 to justify this one on my Southern Region layout
even if it means the truth is somewhat elastic!
No chat tomorrow-enjoy the card-
Happy Christmas to all.

Dorset Group

A quick update on the group- I have missed posting a report in our 3mm Society Newsletter!
However , all is not lost as the latest details are all on the Meetings and Exhibition schedule list on the blog- look to the left!
I will post a Dorset Group report when I have time- quite a long one this quarter.

Just to tempt you!

Branchlines were at Warley and they relieved me of most of my hard earned!
Having only one of these was a relief- or the wallets anyway.
I will keep you all in suspense as to the contents of this box but the lid is a bit of a give away!
Also supplied are gearboxes for 3mm scale plus chassis spacers plus a 9F- maybe next year.

Finney and Smith BSA Bantam.

At last a motorbike we can use on 3mm layouts!
Another casting from Finney and Smith captures the prototype exactly.
The pictured offering as well as the recently mentioned Fordson Tractor both come in a cage which is very useful.
It aids the handling and painting of these fragile castings- very useful when it comes to detiling such a small model.
Just need to research-ask my Father- what colours these were produced in.

3MM Dogs!

Some canine friends from that nice Mr Langley wraps up the trio of packets bought at Warley.
Dogs big and small- the lone pooch on Hennock (sitting patiently outside the signal box) can now have a friend.
Once again- well done Mr Langley for some crisply cast dogs- some would say they are the b******* but being a nice chap I won't- I will just think it!

Something different. 1936 Rudge Special.

This is the familys pride and joy, my Fathers 1936 Rudge Special. A 500cc single that is a classic inasmuch as Rudge always did things their way.
The bike has been in the family since the mid sixties. It came to us in a very sorry state but was restored and won several Post Vintage concors at the Isle of Man vintage TT's.
Languishing in the workshop for almost a year she fired and then started first kick, just fresh fuel and a quick wipe of the points was all that was needed.
Not railways I know but very dear to me.

Langley Models Loco Crew-in 3MM!

 One of several recently introduced castings from Langley Models.
There is always a dearth of loco crew in most scales- we don't want the same figure leaning out of the cab or shovelling coal as in the rest of our collection.
So something different and most welcome by me.
These are cleanly cast and have a spigot on a leg to aid fixing to whichever footplate I choose.
Just got to paint them- and a lot more.

Cambrian Models- for the 3MM Society LMS Brake Van.

 This model, marked in memory of Eric Bruton, has been mentioned before.
However, I didn't appreciate a couple of features so I unashamedly show it again.
The main deviation from the usual cast whitemetal or moulded plastic buffers is thes rather fetching clear plastic ones.
Wether these are a Shapeways type castings I know not- but they are good!
I think that a better photo of the chassis is reproduced here as well.

3MM Scale Chickens from Langley Models.

IT is what it says on the packet except in my packet there is ten-bonus. Hope Mr Langley doesn't want the excess back!
Again, as I have come to expect, cleanly cast with a mounting spigot on a claw.
These, or some of them, will peck around the Farmyard on Teignford to their hearts content- give the Geese something to chase as well!

MSE Lattice Signal Post.

 One thing with a large exhibition is that you get to see lots of things you otherwise wouldn't know about.
These will come in useful for the planned Southern Region layout being planned- a long way off yet though.
The etch is very fine as shown in the lower picture with comprehensive instructions enclosed.
I think somewhere I have some upper quadrant signal arms which will adorn these posts.
Whilst on the subject of finding things at large shows, I also got a bottle of solder paint from Squires stand- to me expensive, but in the scheme of things it probably isn't.

Finney and Smith Fordson Tractor.

 Dave Finney and Co have just released some more of their castings.
This one, cleanly produced, I know not how or with what is an excellent model of a Fordson Tractor with metal wheels- no pneumatic or even solid tyres here.
I do remember them shod thus, especially in very muddy fields during my childhood- so I will use unashamedly on one of the layouts.

This takes me back.

It's funny the things you come across.
The Ian Allan stand at Warley had a jar full of these so one had to come home with me for No 1 Grandson- and one for me.
I was, in the long forgotten past a member of the Locospotters Club- collected the tokens from the back (or was it front?) of various Locospotters books- sent off the required amount and some time later an envelope dropped through the letterbox containing one of these.
Memories of standing at Bournemouth Central come flooding back!