The weekend

Well, its been a busy weekend here at Chateau Dandruff.

First up, I had a fellow modeler drop by looking for some help assembling some Trackgang kit sets. He was trying to assemble a Cb with solder, and was hoping I could help him with some problems that he was getting himself to. Now somehow I've managed to acquire a reputation for actually knowing what I'm doing somehow, but I just tend to make it up as I go along (don't tell anyone). In this case the prognosis was relatively simple, I managed to use some low melt solder to fill in the holes. I then suggested that he use glue for assembly. OK, I know solder is supposed to be the be all and end all for kit assembly and you shouldn't use anything else less you get excommunicated from the brethren. The reality is that some of us just don't have the right tools or mentality for the job. Personally I'm quite happy using glue. if I get it wrong, I just get a knife into the offending seem, open it up and start again. I don't have to worry about burning my fingers.

The afternoon was spent tracking a short in a friends layout. Fortunately this was found in the second section of track that we checked, so the rest of the afternoon was spent at the modeling desk chatting. One thing we did come up with was the possibility of having a day for local modelers to get together and learn some different skills. I've been tapped on figure painting and might look at doing a short seminar on resin casting. The day finished with me at my workbench continueing the assembly of some more J shep wagons (appart from the strapping)

Mr Trackgang is currently trying to set up an NZ120 modelers meet in Christchurch on the weekend of the second of October. I'd attempt to do something similar here, but unfortunately the number of local NZ120 modelers is such that we could hold the meeting in a phone box.