The Fat Controller - Review

Anyone who has seen the range of wind-up "Thomas & Friends" toys produced by Tomy for the Japanese market will have seen several figures are made to match the engines. Of these, the one I am drawn to is Sir Topham Hatt, also known as the Fat Controller.

As you can see, he is a tad bright and glossy, but some work here and there does wonders. One thing to be addressed is the solid base he is cast on. Simply removing it improves the figure quite well, and as such makes for a nice addition to a layout.

Shown here with a standard 4mm scale figure, he fits right in. The car he is supplied with, however, does not. I'll be using either a Oxford Diecast or Pocketbond Classix model as his car, but I suppose this could pass on a layout, as long as it is carefully placed. Not shown is the carrier wagon that came with my example, but this is set for a conversion into a generic OO9 wagon.

To cap it up, quite a nice figure and worth getting, especially as it's the closest you'll ever get to a ready made HO/OO figure of the main man on Sodor.

Jack

Stepney - Pictures

As promised the other night. Not much of an update, but my camera messed up on the front on shot. Will update this at a later dad to rectify that.

I'll add a picture of the real thing so you can compare it. (Attribution: Bluebellnutter at en.wikipedia)

Jack

Stepney - Purchased

So today I got the Bluebell Railway's famed locomotive in the mail, none other than Number 55, Stepney. Whilst initially looking at this model I was happy, but I later noticed it has a numberplate on the smokebox door and the splashers on the model are correct for an A1X, not the A1 that Stepney is. Small faults, but faults none the less.

It's a shame, because the model itself runs smoothly and is a fine addition to my collection, even if it has a few errors. Compared to the "Thomas" version that Hornby currently sell, the Dapol version is far superior. A fun fact that is useful is that the face from the Hornby version happily fits the Dapol model.

Pictures will be up tomorrow.

Jack

Victoria - Painting in progress

So far, I've sprayed it in primer, then applied the cream and masked, spraying the blue. However, when removing the masking tape I've found it's messed the cream, taking it off in areas down to the primer. Due to this, I'll be removing paint where it is rough and respraying them. After that, it's just a case of fitting detail here and there (painted seperatley) and she will be complete.

 

Jack

Victoria - Work Begins

Like Oliver, this is another model that I have wanted to make for a while. The main problem is there are not many kits for items of Furness Railway stock, so it's a case of adapting or scratchbuilding. With the former being the easier option, I went down that path. I started with Ratio kit number 612, a four compartment Great Western Railway coach.

As you may have noticed, it's not a accurate match. In fact, it's very close to several coaches seen within the Television Series, but it's good enough for now in my eyes. Truth is, you would struggle to get a closer match that ticks most of the boxes required for a model of Victoria.

Once the glue had dried, I removed the rubber bands in order to check the model was set. Once sorted and squared up, I've gone onto detailing her to suitable standards where she will have to wait, as I'm going for a 100% match with the Furness Railway colours rather than those from the illustrations.

Jack

Oliver the Western Engine - Donor Model

This is one thing I've wanted to do for a while, and an impulse purchase convinced me to do it. For the cost of the model, detailing kit and other parts needed, it comes close to the price of the Hornby version. Having said that, this will produce a far better version than the standard model available, which has many errors originating from it's Airfix GMR origins.

As you can see, it's got a long way to go yet but it'll become Oliver. Eventually.

Jack

Another blog?

I know, it must be the fifth time I've set one up. I just never got the hang of it before, but now I have. Guess I'll have to update it with some modelling and the like soon though, to keep you all watching.

Jack