Moving on up!

Given how troublesome OO9 has been, I've decided to move all narrow gauge work up to 7mm scale. Whilst it may seem like a bit of a foul move, it's far easier to model at this scale.

First Skarloey loco to be built should be Skarloey, but I can't be certain.

Jack

Duke The Lost Engine - Steady Progress

Whilst I find the colour of this loco a little dark, it's also more to my liking. Got to say it'll be a nice change compared to the other locomotives in red and black. As soon as it has a crew, nameplates, chassis fixed and lining, hopefully it'll be a good addition to the motive power.

Even when positioned with some of the Mid Sodor Railway stock, it looks the part. Hoping to get a few more of the Skarloey engines done and out the way, always been something I've wanted to do and now I'm getting it done. Do prefer them in the books though, the rainbow liveries of the Television series

Jack

Skarloey Coaches - 1st Attempt

This project has been somewhat interesting for me, as it's how I am going to do Duck. Working with a friend, who fixed errors and such, I've been able to make myself custom bodies for coaches. So far, I've had one test sample done and delivered.

It's not much. Just a coach body and a roof for the vehicle. What makes it special is that it has been designed on a computer, using Google's brilliant sketchup. For a first trial with the software, it's worked well and is certainly a method I will be using again. If you are wondering how it compares to a normal Talyllyn coach, look closely at this picture and you'll see it's a good match, despite not aiming for a accurate model of the prototype.

I designed the coach to have a flat base, hidden by sideplates. Whilst this may seem lazy, it's just so I can use N gauge wagon chassis in order to improve running qualities when the coaches will be in fixed rakes. I've stuck to using Graham Farish chassis, simply for the metal wheelsets and the fact they are common over here.

Going by the rate I've been working at today, it should be complete bar couplings and buffers by tommorow. Hopefully that'll be the case, leading onto a rake of 5 or so.

Jack

Duke The Lost Engine - Work begins

This is one locomotive I've wanted to do for a long time, and as such, starts a whole new fleet of Narrow Gauge engines for a proposed layout I'm doing. Failing that, it'll make for a nice collection.

The kit itself is the Langley Models kit for the Larger Englands. Whilst not correct, it's as good as i'll be able to do Duke for now. Not a bad model, although the ammount of work needed on the parts is a bit of a pain. Considering kits sold for half the price are nowhere near as bad, i'm not looking forward to tackling any more Langely kits.

When I took these photos, I got a few people to check the running height. When they said it was sat too high on the chassis, it meant I had to drag the files out and remove a fair bit of plastic from the donor chassis.

Mine may have been a bad casting, but at least I got it to fit together. Now the task of filling gaps and drilling the spectacle plate draws nearer.

Jack