Tidy up for Christmas

After much moaning by the Household Authority I have tidied away my modeling equipment until the New Year. I can't do very much at the moment as I need my new airbrush to continue and we need the room in the kitchen corner that was the home of my tool boxes, spare pc etc which now live in the tin shed.
Plans for the New Year, apart from finishing the Kestrel, Baby Deltic and Metrovic, include building a workshop and getting the second phase of the layout started.
Building a spray booth is alos high on the list, I just need a fan, will have a look in the DIY stores to see if there are any seconds on cooker hoods going cheap, failing that a few 12v computer fans should do the job.

Prototype Deltic Finished

Thats it, after 11 months I have finally finished my model of the Prototype Deltic. Tonight I fitted the weight into it and put in the glazing. Hopefully I will get to test it out on Sunday on my circle of test track if the weather isnt any good. Pictures will be updated soon and then I hope that the Kestrel model will follow soon, just need to send off for some white stripe decals.

Warley Model Railway Exhibition

Another Warley has come and gone and I must say it was a good un.
There seemed to be more room around the stalls and layouts although chairs and tables were rather scarce, a few more in the large space between the eating areas and the exhibition would not have caused any safety or access problems.

The range and variety of layouts was excellent as was the standard of modeling. The range of trade and club stands was also good with every type of model railway accessory available and at some very good prices.

The show-you-how area was very large with craftsmen and women showing you how DCC works, how to paint and line models, soldering, kit building, scenery creation and more. Really worth going for 2 days just to spend some time in this area.

For me Warley has become a good place to buy myself some Christmas presents, after all I really don't want DVD's and socks when I can buy stock and tools for use on the railway. This year I got a compressor and airbrush plus a turntable. I had thought of buying a spray booth but I have plenty of wood in the garage and cooker hood filters and PC fans are cheap so a home made one will soon appear.
I also got a brand new Bachmann class 24 diesel, the latest model with lighting etc for only £40 as a returned 'sold as seen' model. I took it to the Model Railway Club stand where they were offering to try out your purchased models and it ran beautifully. Two more Silver Fox models were also purchased, a Lion and a DP2. Paint for the Baby Deltic and Metrovick plus flush glaze for the prototype Deltic were other purchases which are not Christmas presents.

I will get pictures of the new toys after Christmas along with my views on the airbrush and compressor.

3 days to go...

till the Warley show and I have almost finished the Deltic which was one of the kits that I bought at last years show!
The transfers are on both nose ends and one side. Decided to leave the other side transfer till the one applied has completely dried so there is less chance of damaging it. Hopefully will get that done tomorrow evening.
Still need to get some weight in the loco so hoping to pick up some Artificial Gravity from Deluxe Materials at the show.
Kestrel is also nearing completion and only needs a few tweeks to the paintwork, a coat of gloss varnish and then her transfers can be applied.

Did a little work in the garden, planted lots of bulbs in pots and in the beds, hopefully I will get to work on more beds around the railway in the spring as well as getting on with the extension and building a new shed as a train storage and workshop area.

1 week to go

Just 1 week till the Warley Model Railway Exhibition in Hall 5 of the NEC in Birmingham. There will be a huge number of models and traders to look at and spend my money at.
This year I will be looking at airbrushes and if I see one at the right price I will get one. Otherwise a few more Silver Fox models will be the aim along with some rolling stock.
Looking forward to seeing the new models and perhaps a few famous faces in the crowd.
The camera will be used to the full and pictures will be posted as soon as I get home. Cannot wait.

Halloween

Had a very quiet Halloween, we don't tend to get many kids knocking on the door as we are at the end of a terrace and there is no way through at the end of our path. Instead I masked up the Kestrel and applied the first coat of brown to the lower bodyside. Hopefully I will get the loco finished very soon.
The Deltic will get a coat of the correct colour blue but I will have to do a lot of masking before this happens.

Nothing else has been done and the wetaher and a lack of time has prevented the hoped for running session. Oh well, perhaps later in the month.