Enforced layoff

 I had to take last week off work due to a visit from the Covid fairy. I was lucky in that it was an extremy mild case with only some issues with my sense of smell.

So being under house arrest for a week I had a chance to go through "der room" and do some stocktaking. A hunt through the various boxes gave up this collection.

The line on the left have been or are being covered on the blog. I must see if the Da's are still runners.

The other row is a bit more interesting. At the front is a Kato RSD-12. Bogie wheelbase (outer wheels) is 9' so no real use for anything. Behind is a DL-109 which has Dg bogies but not much else of use. The Da is Phase 2 1431 as TMS 345 after it was Dc'ed internally in the 1980's. It just needs the running boards added along with some handrails. Last up is a lifelike SD-9. While I could use this for the Da, its also the correct bogie wheelbase for a Standard railcar.

On Shored

A cryptic comment a couple of posts back on a new company in the NZ120 area. I've been wondering for a while now when it would happen and its apparently about a month ago. My spies are obviously either asleep, running magazines or distracted by larger scales (Mike you have no excuse, 200 lines by the end of the week please).

Lewis Holden and a 3D resin printer have decided to try to try to take on Shapeways and the UPS shipping monopoly by licensing CAD files from local designers and printing them out on shore at 3 foot 6 models. So not only do we get to stick it to the big companies but the print quality is far better. I'm not sure about the prices (my cries of "you are not running a charity" seem to go unhindered alot in this country) but if he can keep it up then it just shows how much shapeways have been creaming off the top.

Designers on board so far are Peter Bryant, Simon Lister and Michael Gee. From reading the legalease the designers get paid per print, and with lower prices should be seeing more money (I think, I only just passed 7th form Economics and got the supply and demand curve round the wrong way. Probably best I'm a scientist).

I must admit its awfully tempting and I've aways hankered after a phase 3 Da to complete the set (even though the SD-7 chassis is earmarked for a tandard railcar). I don't see this as being a wider competition with Trackgang (and indeed his bogie sales might go through the roof. I wonder what his sons like with a soldering iron...) as there's items that I don't see ever being put into rubbers for lead casting.

I wish Lewis all the best for his new venture.

Back in Stock

 It seems that after quite a few years Tomytec has started making its moving bus system again.

This time round they are just doing 1 bus chassis that appears to be very flexible.

The price has gone up a bit to $26 USD but its a complete unit with a better battery arrangement compared to the mk1.

 The mk2 has the battery in the rear part of the mech compared to the mk1which had the batterys across the front. This makes it possible to hide the main part under a rear deck and may make trucks possible depending on how much plastic can be removed. certainly the front piece looks like it can be stripped right back.

The graveyard

 A comment from SteveF on my last blog post seemed to have the expectation that I was planning to build a layout based on my idea. The honest truth is that while its a layout I would love to build, I'm just not in a position to build it. There are a pile of incomplete layouts on the property ahead of this and having one more wouldn't help.

Paekakariki has been dormant since we moved in 9 years ago. While I do look at historical photos and further models, unless I win lotto realistically it's not going to happen. There's a lot of models to build just on the electric side of the layout and the steam side will need a serious amount of money to build the locos required. It's a "sunk cost" project that maybe its time to cut it loose to a fool someone else. I would not be parting with any of the rolling stock for it BTW.

Higher up on the "possibly completable" scale is my wharf layout. The basic trackwork and backdrop are done and the only major job is to do the wharf piles (for which I have found a plan) and the layout base. Heres the wharf sitting behind a layout I had forgotten I had.

The freighter is sitting safely in the cupboard.

Finally there is the On30 layout that I've been working on for 10 years. Again it hasn't had anything done to it since I moved rooms a few years back.

So, who else out there has a pile of 1/2 finished or abandoned projects?