Saturday morning

Hmm, its only 2 weeks to the convention. might be time to pull my finger out and do something....

-Layout sides are coming along, will get painted this weekend, and I'll install the flat bits as well. I'll probably have time to make some card buildings (just the basic shapes) but that will be about it. However I'm not planning to make any side trips at the convention, preferring to sit round and talk s**t (which I excel at...) so there will probably be some modeling done while I am there.
-Competition entries.....yes well...
have started at least, but will need to get some castings pronto to get them finished.
-There is a clinic to write, fortunately I have plenty of pictures taken over the last 3 years to fill it up.
-Does anyone have any objections to the NZ120 SIG being held in the bar (any preferences Russell, since you are the only other one who has indicated that they will be there?)
-ITS ONLY 2 WEEKS TO THE CONVENTION AAAAAHHHHHH (footsteps running off into the distance).

So, quite a bit to do, so why am I sitting in front of the computer writing about it?

In other news, the latest Railfan is out. A good selection for everyone, with a sizable spread on Kiwirail trains, as well as some articles for us old time fans (I am continually astounded by the amazing George Emmerson collection, and and thankful that Richard is allowing many of the images to be used). Looking at the center spread I thought 'that style looks familiar, wonder where I have seen it before' I flip to the next page to discover its from one of the blogs other contributors. Well done that man!

And to finish, one of the finest Youtube clips ever discovered.

Uga 'kit'

I promised this earlier in the week, and here it is.
Its not a kit, but a scratchbuilders aid, and very nice it is too.

the first thing you get is the wonderful smell of burnt wood. if they could do it in fragrant ply the sales would go through the roof.

1/2 way through pealing off the cover film stuff. pretty isn't it.

The whole thing goes together well, with just a few head scratchers which are sorted with some reference to photos.

Here it is mated with the 2mm old time bogies (which are not quite right, but close enough for me at the moment).

Hills up

Dragging myself away from the workbench tonight, I managed to get another panel done on the layout. This one was a bit more challenging. The seaside hill at Paekakariki is an odd shape, being cut off square by the railway. I've had a go at it....

I'm sort of happy with the shape at this end, which is a bit less square close up. The other end is a bit more of a struggle to get right, and I'll have to shape the hill behind it first to see how the shape ends up.

The view of the loco depot is OK I think.

I may have to make some changes to suit the camera happy photographers as well.

Now I have to start on the backside of the layout, which will be a bit more of a challenge as I am not getting any thinner.

Sidetracked.

Ok, so I know its less than 4 weeks to the convention, and I have a layout to get mostly complete and there are a stack of jobs to do...

But the damn thing is just so tempting.
Added the brake spreaders, sidechains and some solder to 3D the flat brake cylinder. Still needs some NZR couplers.

'Damn you cabbage!'

In the post II

Its been a week for packages. 2 in 2 days in fact. The first was the bits for a Uga, of which I'll get on to later in the week. The second was the 3rd iteration of the J sheep wagon underframe etch.

'Mouth watering brassy goodness'

There is only so much temptation that a man can stand, and it was not long before I had one cut out and on the workbench

'Don't worry, I'll be gentle...'

Firing up the old soldering iron, and out with the solder paste (what a fantastic invention). being the 3rd iteration, Mark has worked out the bugs we have pointed out, and added a few nice bits as well.


The spring and axle box assembly folds up in 6 layers, and Mark has worked out how to get the axle box lid set at an angle. A nice touch I must admit. The underframe is a scratch aid rather than a kit, and there are some tricky bits which nearly tripped me up first time round. Finally it was time to add the re gauged 2mm finescale wheels and put it in front of a camera. Note the nice brake cylinder which is a one dimensional fold down.


The brake shoes need a bit of tweaking but apart from that its good to go.
And of course I could not resist putting the J top onto the underframe

Still a bit of work to go, mostly with adjusting the fit of the top to the underframe and add some couplers. Then I have 4 more to make before the convention. I must have a think about the amount of weight that will need to be added as well, which will be a key factor in the running qualities and also the shunting

Saturday morning

Trying to keep up with this slot, as its a good time for philosophising.

First up, and one of my least favorite topics, an obituary.
Last weekend marked the sudden passing of Greytrainz. I never had the opportunity to meet Graham, or even talk to him on the phone, so we only had email exchanges. Graham was a true enthusiast for the scale, and did a fair bit of work on his own to further things with his own modeling as well as providing models for others.His keenness will be missed, and I extend my/our condolences to his family.

Though it feels a bit odd just to carry on to the next topic, nevertheless....

I've been having a few thoughts on exhibition displays. Reading through the British exhibition threads it is common (standard?) to run the layout to a timetable, or at least to a sequence of moves. the standard here is to leave a train running until the operators get bored with it then swap. Unofficial comments from some members of the One track minds group suggest that this is not quite enough operationally. I must admit that I am inspired by the European Freemo groups in their get together's with an actual timetable to operate to. I just can't remember if I have ever seen anything like this at a New Zealand exhibition.

Oh, and its 4 weeks till the convention and counting. Can anyone give an indication if they are going or not? Will it be worth having a special interest meeting at all? or can we just hold it in a hallway cupboard?

((nd that reminds me, I must actually write the talk and workshop I'm giving. Does anyone have any areas that they would like reviewed in trackmaking? I won't be touching on other methods, only the ones I use. maybe a bit on laying out yards etc?)

In the post

A package I had been waiting for arrived in the post earlier in the week. My bush tram wheels arrived. They are a bit on the large side (2' diameter) but have curved spokes.


Not perfect, but they have to do. I have the brass to knock up some bogie frames so will have to do a jig to make life easier (and less burnt fingers).

Also, progress on the module sides continues, held up by more fishing trips (catch a fish and there is an expectation that you can do it again).


Its coming along well, and I guess I will have to make a decision on the colour it gets painted. I do like black (simple, elegant and frames the layout) but am willing to listen to REASONED argument for another colour, preferably with photographic examples to demonstrate that the proposer isn't on a short list for the loony bin.