32. January - same leaf, new energy

I was thinking about the way forward quite a lot while I was unable to actually do very much.

A trip to Rob the Tram’s house for a train day was very refreshing - actually playing trains on a series of Hornby ovals was lovely. Particularly liked the Dapol Pug and a tiny Peckett.

So priorities ahead include finishing Coales Mill Yard in 2mm FS, this just needs doing, there's no real bottlenecks to getting the track and scenery down. Work is now progressing.

With the printer expiring we've decided not to replace it. I'll try and get by by ordering essential prints from mail order sites and hope that they are better quality than I could achieve at home. I can also buy brick papers AND some kits are now provided with the papers and all the bits, so I'm going to try one of those.

I'm still pondering 009.

I'm still hankering for space and a 7mm scale setup. As I said to Andy (friend) recently, a class 37 (66 for him) ticking over on the mantelpiece would be great…

Now the snow has melted, the sun has been out, painting could start soon.

The garden railway, well that needs a lot of work and tidying up, and the loco fleet is too.

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11. Lead us not into temptation…(1)

Seeing as I'm writing this on a Sunday, I thought a portion of prayer might be useful. In this case, the fragment will kick off a new regular series of items that have caught my eye, but which my wallet cannot afford. We’ll start with this beautiful render from Scottish Wagon Works - its a Great North of Scotland Railway Brake Third, and I think it looks fab. Unfortunately it's also the wrong scale (7mm), I can't be getting into that at this stage, the wrong country (Scotland), I'm modelling further south, and... well its currently priceless. Not yet released. Probably just as well! If you want one they're here —> https://scottishwagonworks.com/

31. Modelling out of plastic boxes

I'm still out of space as Operation Christmas has overtaken the kitchen table, so any modeling is being undertaken on my knee using the lid of one of many Really Useful Boxes (RUB) in which I store everything. These are pretty good at keeping things safe in the garage, which is where most of it lives. Anyway, work has commenced on a variation of the Scalescenes canal boxfile. I can't say much more than that because I'm still thinking very hard about how I'm going to use it. The same goes for the inter-building bridge which is glazed and mostly assembled. I'd pre-painted the side panels and the roof so it looks great now that its all together. I've also been building a pipe-bridge to hang below it. Construction is from plastic strip and tubes I've had laying about for decades. Mostly just needs painting now. The Stores have received a very nice 009 Glyn Valley brake from Nigel Brooks . This is another 3D-printed kit and I'm looking forward to painting it...

36. John’s log, approaching a new orbit.

As 64 looms and another orbit approaches, I’m progressing well on the (too?) many projects. The sun has been out, so the garden, and with it the Ness Garden Railway (SM32) has been taking up most of our time, clearing up, renewing and repairing, updating and planting anew. I’ve got quite a lot to do! Indoors, the Coales’ office is about ready to be textured with brick papers, etc, meanwhile, I’m pondering the arched sash windows and how to best make them. A nearly next project on this layout is a yard or so of bespoke 2mm scale palisade fencing 😮... Moving up to 4mm scale, the bothy has been a joy to build, paint, and now detail. Plumbing and gutters are going on now. Further Intentio products should be arriving soon, so watch this space. “But you don't have a 4mm scale layout!”, says the voice in my head. “What are you building these things for?” Well, there is a plan called Johnstone’s Wharf, which was based on a Scales Scenes box file kit, but the demise of the printer has pos...

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