Station Signs.

Finally found my good glasses and cut the lampost signs from their backing.
A quick coat of matt black on the rear and a spot of superglue see's them all attached to lamposts.
Pretty good I think but a nightmare for my shaky hand to get right.
Worth the effort.

Get on yer bike!

After the ages spent assembling these things it remains to give them a coat of paint.
Acrylics were used for these as I have a number of suitable colours.
Acrylics seem to dry that much quicker so this was only a few minutes job.
The only thing that uses enamels is silver for the handlebars.
Just a mater of fixing them in position.

Branchlines Bikes!

This is a cruel enlargement of a useful lineside accessory. As can be seen I have six etched bicycles, four for gentlemen and a couple for ladies. The etch is delicate- look at the handlebars!
They will, however, look good propped up around the layout.
Do take the time to view Branchlines blog  and take the trouble to get their list of 3mm products- remember use it or loose it!

Signpost and a horse.

The signposts have been planted as have the road nameboards- one can just be seen along the fence.
The signpost had the top pair of signboards superglued to the lower section. The base was drilled to accept a brass pin, a hole drilled in the scene and the pin pushed through and glued in place.
The horse? I came across this casting during a routine clean up and put away session recently. Thought he looked just right looking over the fence under the tree so thats where he will stay!


Please be reminded of the Wessex Open Meeting for members:- Saturday 13th April 2013
 Glebe Hall, Winterbourne Earls,Salisbury,Wilts,SP4 6HA.
I am reliably informed that ex-GWR steam is running in the county during the day. The engine is being turned on the Laverstock Triangle at approx 13.10.

Which Way?

 The really time consuming part of building a layout is preparing all the bits and pieces that make a layout believeable.
These signposts and road name boards I picked up some time ago.
Made by Dart Castings, these are to 'N' Gauge. They do look about right for 3mm though.
Computer skills are not my forte however and the names for these took me some time.
For the technically minded the names are printed in Arial and printed at 4 point (think thats right anyway).
To give you some idea of size, the squares on my
 cutting mat are 10mm square.
Painted with Valejo Acrylic White paint and the names stuck on with canopy Glue, the printing probably took the longest to do.
So, it just needs a spot of superglue to complete the 4 poster and they are ready to be located.
The road names are from the same source and made in the same way.
So now we know at least where we are going.

RAC Box.

Nestling in the corner adjacent to the fiddle yard entrance will be this lovely models home for the foreseeable future.
It is one of those classis 'I have a spare corner' scenarios and this one literally is a couple of square inches.
First, mark where the box is to be placed-draw round the base, bit of dust for some gravel by the front of the box.
Then a coat of brown paint and cover with flock. When dry-coat of Elmers and more flock- this is then added to with the aid of spray glue-glue box in place et voila!

Furzebrook Meeting Tomorrow 5th January 2013.

Railway Scenics.

Had a nice note the other day from Steve at Railway Scenics who I mentioned after exhibiting at the Gillingham , Dorset show.
Looking at the site now shows not only Texture Building sheets and a Platform as downloads but also a range of  Railway Sineage all in 3mm Scale.
Please take time to look at the site  www.railwayscenics.com/3mm-ft-tt-scale-texture-sheets-c-42_22.html
Having seen Steve's products, I am sure the latest produced for the Premier Scale, will be to the same excellent standard.
Don't forget that these items can be downloaded or available when Railway Scenics attend shows.
No connection other than a satisfied customer.

Yeoman Models RAC Box.

This is the fourth casting to have been painted and it really is a cruel enlargement- it really highlights my painting skills with a brush.
From normal viewing distance it doesn't look too bad!
Cleanly cast this really does capture the prototype of the boxes so familiar in the halcyon days before mobile phones which, I suppose was the main reason for their dissappearance from the roadside.
I thoroughly recommend this manufacturer who also produces similar models in other scales.
P.S. There are more photos of Teignford-click on link on left.

Yeoman Models.

The first effort at painting these. I am concerned how shaky my hand is getting. The castings are excellent and take cheap aerosol primer from Poundland (other similar emporiums are available).
The colours are all acrylic and there may lay the problem.
I am so used to enamels- having used them for more years than I care to remember- I don't seem to get the coverage right or the edges straight. The answer may be to invest in some new decent brushes as mine are beginning to show their age- Bit like me really!

Yeoman Models.

Yeoman Models appeared a short time ago offering items to 1/100 scale on e-bay.
When first sold they could be purchased ready painted although I now believe this has been discontinued (but I stand to be corrected).
The K6 telephone box, pillar box, AA and RAC boxes are the ones that I was presented with.
The casting is superb, nice and crisp- even the plate on the post box is there.
I understand that a Nissan Hut is also available and there have been some whisperings about a GWR Pagoda Hut- Recommended www.yeomanmodels.com/

Hornby Scaledale Street Lamps

Every so often I come across a proprietry product which suits 3mm scale just right.
Such a case in point is the Hornby R8673 Scaledale Street Lamps. When comparing them with the lamps supplied in whitemetal by 3SMR they are exactly the same height and width.
Even better was the price- Hornby retails at £6+ for four, I paid £1.50 for eight of them.
So it's worth while hunting through those bargain boxes, you never know what you may find!
Unfortunately the link for the new blog, Teignford, was incorrect so it has now been corrected. See Teignford,a 3mm Scale Model Railway

Don't forget Westfest on the 17th September.