David Holman

While I have hopes that such devices may have the same impact as photo-etching & lost wax casting, I'm still happy making my own stuff, however tempting the idea of 'off the shelf' is from time to time. Just remember - you are never alone with a clone! And if you can, check out Orphan black on BBC 3 and be very afraid...

Hear are a few pics of the 9 ton vans I've been working on. Three so far, using self made resin castings - see my blog for more details. Have included pics here because wanted to show the difference in size between the GNRI vans and the SLNCR 7 ton ones. The latter were built by using the Alphagraphix card kit as a scale drawing, but am a little concerned that they are noticeably smaller than the GNRI ones - 7 ton v 9 ton capacity notwithstanding. Alphagraphix seem to have used the same outline for the cattle van kit, as well as their own GNRI van & [much as I value everything they do] have been concerned about this discrepancy for some time, so would welcome any further comments.

Recently been working on some GNRI vans, from drawings found via the website. These are 9 ton versions & were made from my own resin castings. A picture of the master is also shown. As I've mentioned before, there is nothing difficult about making your own castings and there has been a regular advert in Railway Modeller for the all important materials. however, have found that the silicon mould material has a definite shelf life & the stuff I used was a bit too viscous, resulting in some bubbles. Think I will make another mould & add some detail differences to the master to make what I assume were later versions of the vans, with different door fastenings. either way, it seems from photos that one can never have enough vans on an Irish layout! The eagle eyed amongst you may just notice that the trackwork has been weathered somewhat, prior to getting busy on the ground cover over the next few weeks. No less than 9 tree skeletons are in the process of being coated with PVA/filler & I am looking forward to getting some colour on the layout. In the meantime, have also been building brake vans, so will hopefully be adding pics of these in the next couple of weeks.[attachment=:name]

A wonderful resource and many fine photos in their own right

Could not agree more! Colour is very much in the eye of the viewer and light, weather, weathering etc play an enormous part in how something looks. And that is before quality of film, memories etc kick in. For me, livery needs to be generally right, but the many shades that paint became over its lifetime mean that unless one is going for a museum standard, it is not worth worrying over too much. In any case scale colour is not necessarily the same as actual colour. Read the likes of Martyn's Welch and Ian Rathbone (professional model painters) and you soon learn that 'black' is a very difficult issue, but there are many colours in the Halfords range which work extremely well.

Have the drawings and a fair selection of pictures so Yes, will be having a go. Railcars and indeed diesel locos are very complex things to model because of the many subtle curves and shapes. However, did a 7mm Wagon und Maschinbau railbus a couple of years ago, so am aware of the issues and the need for filler and abrasives! Interiors a pain too and with big windows they need including. Am intending that the next item of motive power will be a second Small Tank, but all being well will start on B next year, so have already been thinking about how to best make the power unit. In 4mm scale a SPUD would be favourite but proper coupled drive unit is more practical in 7mm scale.

May I also suggest this is possibly the most useful thread ever. So many ideas and much amusement too. My favourite 'proper' tools that I could not do without are a 7mm scale rule, snap off craft knife [only really need the tip, so when it gets blunt snap off a new one], fixed and portable anglepoise lamps, electric drills [one for drilling, one for slitting disks], GW models rivet press and an RSU soldering station with a foot operated switch - saves much burning of fingers and resulting curses.

Have also seen eyeliner used to colour the edges of cardboard kits. eg Metcalfe. Indeed, methinks were a very much in touch with our female side. Among the many things I've acquired there is/are: - hair grips, v useful for holding bits to be soldered - hairspray: cheapest & stickiest. Used for holding crumb/flock/static grass for trees & ground cover - baby powder: wonderful for toning down models. Try a light dusting - works a treat - emery boards: great for cleaning up metalwork - Shiny Sinks cream cleaner: essential when scrubbing off flux after soldering brass or nickel. Equally I also use Birchwood Casey Gunblue, which is a very effective metal blackening agent. Helps me feel more butch, though opened the door the other day wearing my Gauge 0 Guild [say it quickly] green apron, with aforesaid logo and frightened the bejaysus out of the postman. Apron was a birthday present from my wife I might add and is VERY useful for catching small parts that ping off the workbench, as well as keeping paint off clothes of course...

Here are a few notes on the two turntables in last weeks 'photos' section. The loco turntable is a much adapted Dapol [ex Airfix] kit. Very cheap [about a fiver] and reasonably cheerful too. Turned the whole thing inside out & upside down, so it is now an underhung table. The plastic bearing surface is fairly robust, so the outer wheels are really only cosmetic. The design is influenced by the SLNCR's one at Enniskillen, though the well has turned out somewhat deeper at a scale 4'. The plastic kit was installed in a timber subframe, which is screwed to the underside of the baseboard. The walls of the well are 40 thou plasticard, covered in watercolour paper to simulate a rendered finish, while concrete slabs around the edge [more plasticard pieces] hide the small gap between them & the well wall. Running rails are the usual code 100 flatbottomed, soldered to longitudinal sleepers and the glued to the deck with 5 min epoxy. The outer wheels are 7mm scale 'lowmac' ones I had in the spares box and are about 2' 8" diameter. They used shortened stub axles, fitted to some U shaped brass section, this in turn is fitted to the ends of the deck by brass rod, which enables these wheel sets to 'rock' and therefore induce a bit of compensation. Power to the track comes from 0.5mm phosphor bronze wires at each end on the well & these are lightly sprung to wipe on small brass plates that are glued to the end girders of the deck . These are in turned wired to the rails. Though simple/crude, the system works well thus far. The deck is turned by a Frizinghall Models hand crank, which consists of a large gear wheel, plastic worm and some steel rodding. The turning handle can be switched from front to back of layout according to need. Late on, the design was changed slightly, by adding extension rails, so the track actually projects over the coping stones and extends the overall diameter to a scale 40'. This was because the new Railbus was found to be a very tight fit. however, perchance it will enable me to run small tender engines [sLNCR did have a few 0-6-0s]. Am also pondering the need to have walkways either side. The SLNCR's table at Enniskillen did without them, though the well was a fair bit shallower. for now one of the crew will have to dismount the engine before it runs on to the table [needs someone to crank the handle anyway]. If not, the a step ladder will need to be kept in the cabs! The other turntable is the fiddle yard. In the past I have used cassettes to good effect, but with each baseboard being just 46" long, I felt it would be interesting to have a full train turntable. Originally hoped to have 5 tracks, but the curves required on the outer roads become increasingly severe & in the end had to reduce to 4 roads. Even so the locos grunt a bit on the outer ones and I have increased the gauge to around 37.5mm to compensate. Alignment is by home made bolts. These use brass tube/rod, soldered to brass plates, which are wired to the rails. Two bolts are needed at the layout end, plus two receiving tubes for each track & at each end. didn't take long to make or fit & again, seem to work well thus far. This week, have started on a rake of GNRI 9 ton vans. Made a master for side & end on Monday, created a silicon rubber mould on Tuesday, then cast three sets of sides and ends on Wednesday. Assembled these Thursday and added wheels, buffers, brake gear on Friday and Robert is your father's brother' as the saying goes & I now have three more wagons. Course they still need painting, lettering & weathering & that will take as least as long again. Hopefully some photos soon.

Some fascinating discussion here - thanks everyone! Interesting [& a tad frustrating that John mentions Drumkeeran as a line through there [as a pure SLNCR route] was proposed in 1905... Frustrating because did not go that way on my field trip in June. Will have to travel by Google again. Also, according to my much thumbed Railway Atlas of Ireland [Maxwell Hajducki], this could have used the Creveela Ironworks tramroad of 1852 for a [short] part of the route. My love of maps now tempts me to mock up the Drumkeeran line [can still call the terminus Arigna, of course]. However, would have to have the SLNCR acquire and E class 0-6-0 to work the coal trains - or perhaps the GSR might have offered anyway???

Thank you kind sir. Have been pondering over the cantilevered walkways, not least because it is a scale 4' drop into the pit! However, not done it yet as the deck is only 40' long [including extension rails], which I'm concerned might cover much of the rest of the well - in which case a solid top would have made more sense. The deck is planked now though. Perhaps I'll do just one side. As for the layout name, check out my Blog, as have recently penned a full history [with maps]. A bit sad, but it does help me set the scene and work out the traffic & hence stock I need to build.

There is a school of thought which suggests we often model what we saw in our formative years. Hence BR steam-diesel overlap worked for me & I still prefer green diesels to blue ones & Brunswick green to apple or malachite on steamers. GNRI blue is just fabulous. However, given the availability of off the shelf stuff these days, then the opportunity to model almost anything that takes our fancy is there for the taking. Personally, I have always tended to look for something different and being a builder rather than an operator, increasingly find the Irish scene, in all its forms, increasingly interesting. Only the ultra modern leaves me cold with its DMUs and other railcars, plus little variety in the way of freight. Early railbuses and DMUs are a completely different matter for reasons I cannot explain!

Looks very good to me & encouraging 21mm gauge can only be a good thing. Needless to say I'd be very interested in something blown up to 7mm scale, but guess I'm in a very small minority...

Have been working on two turntables - one for locos and railbus, the other a full train version in the fiddle yard. The loco turntable is a much adapted Dapol/Airfix plastic kit, while the train table is mostly MDF. The other pic shows the recently completed cattle dock fencing. Around 60 posts, each drilled 6 times to take the horizontal bars [0.8mm piano wire], so it was a somewhat repetitive process. Will put further details of all three in my blog next week, though you can read about why the project now has a name this week.

Spent a couple of weeks in France, so not much time for modelling. However, did take some maps and ref books with me to finally try and nail down a precise location and name for the project. Details below: Arigna Town [sLNCR] Opened in 1882, the Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway remained independent until its closure in 1957. Built & run on a shoestring, it never expanded beyond its 42 mile ‘mail line’ from Sligo to Enniskillen. However, at the end of the 19th century, there were proposals to build a railway to access the coal mining area on the mountains above Arigna, west of Lough Allen & to the south of the SLNCR. Coal being in short supply in Ireland, eventually the 3’ gauge Cavan & Leitrim Railway was extended up the Arigna River valley in 1920, but before that, there were several schemes that included narrow, broad and even mixed gauge railways. Indeed, Arigna station on the C&L [at the end of the mainly roadside tramway from Ballinamore, opened in 1888], was a good two miles from Arigna village and further still from the mines in question, so until 1920, coal had to be carted to the station along roads one assumes were less than perfect. Among proposals to get a railway to the mines, the SLNCR did consider a line from Dromahair, via Drumkeeran & the west side of Lough Allen, to Arigna in 1904. Before that, in 1895, an independent, broad gauge line, was proposed from Collooney Junction [where the SLNCR & M&GW met], via Ballyfarnon & Keadue, to Arigna. This was followed in 1907-8 with another Arigna – Sligo proposal, which would have seen the C&L converted to 5’ 3” gauge. Then, in 1913, the Arigna Valley Railway Bill propsed a further extension to the above scheme, with a 3 mile line from Arigna station [mixed gauge] and a 9 chain, 3’ gauge connection to the C&L. None of this happened of course, apart from the C&L tramway of 1920, but my model supposes that a project did get built in 1895, as a joint line between the SLNCR and the Midland & Great Western, from Collooney to nearby the C&L’s Arigna station. The latter was sited in a woodland glade, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. However, supposing a community had already begun to grow up there? Iron working had already started near Arigna village in the 18th century and even though that proved unsuccessful, my ‘imagineering’ supposes a community had emerged, away from the mines and works, that became known as Arigna Town. To build the joint line, it is supposed that the M&GW laid the track, while the SLNCR added the buildings, with signalling from Saxby & Farmer. The M&GW worked the coal traffic, while the SLNCR took responsibility for local passenger & freight. Arigna Town station was sited on the opposite side of the road from the C&L station [see map], while there was also a short mineral branch trailing in, just before the station, to the mine sidings. Apart from the GSR and eventually CIE taking over the coal trains, in practice little changed on the branch throughout its history. An ex MGW E class 0-6-0T & a few wagons made one or two trips daily, bringing coal down from the mines. These were linked to the sidings by aerial ropeway, as they were high in the slopes of Kilronan Mountain. The sidings had no run round loop, so empties were propelled there and the loco hauled them back, running round in Arigna Town station before returning to Sligo for onward movement, probably to the cement works at either Limerick or Drogheda. SLNCR operations would have closely followed those of the main line, with passenger traffic soon turning to railbus and railcar, with a daily steam hauled mixed train. Steam power would also have worked general freight and cattle traffic – probably the 0-6-4 ‘small tanks’. When the GNRI line through Enniskillen was closed and the SLNCR with it in 1957, it may well have been that the Arigna branch would have continued a little longer. However, in 1959, a new coal fired power station opened on the shores of Lough Allen & this would have effectively ended the coal trains, so the branch may not have lasted much beyond 1960. That said, given the [sensible] Irish attitude of mothballing, rather than dismantling, branchlines maybe cattle and other specials could have continued a little longer & C and G class diesels might have become the motive power? The reasoning behind all the above is that it provides a setting for my model and helps to map out not only what the line might have looked like, but also provides sources of traffic & thereby the types of locos and rolling stock to build. All of this should help sustain interest in what is otherwise a simple branchline terminus, with a model making programme that should keep me busy for at least another 2-3 years. The E class, one small tank and railbus 2a are finished, but will need another small tank, railcar B and a fair few more wagons to enable me to operate an interesting sequence. Add in C & G diesels, plus a MGW 2-4-0 for excursion traffic [with a short rake of Tyrconnel 6 wheelers and there is plenty to look forward to. After that, adding the adjacent C&L station could be very tempting! If anyone has any thoughts/comments on my history of Arigna Town, please let me know. My sources are not exhaustive and as none of it happened anyway, I’d be happy to adapt the story if more useful info appeared.

The 'bible' for all things weathering is Martyn Welch's book 'The Art of Weathering' [Wild Swann pubs]. First issued a few years ago, it has never been bettered & Martyn's genial prose makes everything seem achievable. He also tells us what colours to use for each job - mainly Humbrol enamels. Eg No53 [Gunmetal] and 133 [bauxite], plus a little matt black and or leather is perfect for the generic 'underframe dirt' and variations enable oily bits to be done too. he book not only covers locos, but also open wagons, vans, coaches and the ubiquitous BR steel mineral, with rust being done the right way - ie put on first & then [with some Maskol] the top coat on top. It is my most read/used book of all time & I always go back to it whenever the paint or airbrush needs using again. Still in print, you will not regret buying a copy.

Many thanks for all the positive comments, they are much appreciated. I also think that sharing one's work, either at the local model club or on sites like this is sort of akin to proof reading. In my teaching days, the kids could always spot my mistakes, but never their own, so if there are areas you think could be improved [or indeed simply wrong], please let me know - I will not be offended. Indeed it is the only way to improve our modelling, especially when so many of our subjects are now lost in the mists of time.

There is no doubt that Static Grass is the way to go. I have a proper 'Grass master' and a tea strainer variant and both are fabulous. Gone are the days of laboriously planting sisal, teddy-bear fur etc. With a bit of hair spray and PVA one can build a significant depth of grass in minutes. Gordon Gravett's books on trees shows how static grass can make very convincing conifers too, while his new book due out shortly [Wild Swan pubs] will detail all you need to know about grass and weeds. Check out his Pempoul layout too - just fabulous. 'Crumb' and other fibres still have their place for specialist uses, but static, especially the electric applicators is the way to go. Not cheap, but a fine investment. Share with a friend if you can't afford one outright. However, having recently heard that cheap mascara pencils are very good for covering the bare edges of Metcalfe card kits, I occasionally worry what my wife thinks about my shopping habits. Extra strong hair spray, teddy bear fur, mascara pencils hair clips [good for soldering & gluing]. Whatever next?

VERY, very nice. One day in 7mm perhaps?

The Jeep and the S look rather fine & splendid. Wheels suggest P4 or even S7, though an S in full regalia is fab in any scale in my humble opinion. Will look out for more

As you can see from the Models section, my SLNCR railbus is almost complete. It still needs a bit of paint touching up & plus some weathering, but is now looking the part I hope. Its initial trial run was a bit dodgy, to say the least, but then I realised the wheels hadn't been cleaned, nor the chassis oiled. No surprise that it couldn't pull its trailer and the [undriven] front wheels weren't turning round... However, a bit of fettling and it proved capable of trundling round the layout, albeit a little noisily. Hopefully it will quieten down as it gets run in. As said before, the chassis is a simple nickel silver 'ladder' type affair, with drive from a small Mashima motor to the rear wheels. The motor intrudes slightly into the body, but seats and a few Slaters passengers help to hide it. The body is nearly all plastic sheet and microstrip, though the nearside mudguard is nickel silver and the rear steps are brass strip, for strength. The roof is balsa, sanded to shape, though the rear entrance section is all plastic. Main body colour is Halford's 'Ford Laurel Green' spray can acrylic, with the top half brush painted with Model Colour 'ivory' acrylic. Transfers came from my stores box & must be over 20 years old! the luggage van lettering is Woodhead transfers 'pressfix' letter, while the SLNCR is water slide from an SMS 'LMS' sheets, plus the '&' from a Fox sheet. Just goes to show you should never throw anything away. The other photo is of my fiddle yard. Given the Irish railways predilection for turntables at ever terminus, it seemed to me that a turntable fiddle yard was also merited. Cut from 12mm MDF, with a pivot using an M6 bolt, all seemed very simple until I discovered that my idea of 5 tracks was not possible because the board is only 46" long and the outer curves were far too tight. Indeed, even reducing to 4 tracks has meant I needed to widen the track gauge to around 37.5mm [instead of the nominal 36.75]. Alignment is by home-made bolts, using brass rod & tube, bought on the cheap due to the sad demise of the Modelzone shops. We had two in my area, including the wonderful Signalbox in Rochester & now both are no more. Shame. The loco turntable on the layout itself is by Dapol, in other words, the old Airfix model. At 250mm diameter, it is ideal for the Sligo tanks, but a bit short for the railcar & trailer, so have fitted extension rails to make life easier & maybe one day enable a small 4-4-0 or 2-4-0 to visit on excursions. It is handcranked using the Frizinghall models kit [very Meccanno-ish & effective]. Will be working on track feed this week, so I can start doing some serious test running before the layout enters its 'scenic ground cover' phase. hopefully more pics of the turntable next week.

Here's a little tester for the historians out there. Recently got hold of a copy of the Fermanagh's Railways book, where there are several pictures of flat wagons loaded with one or two bread containers. Captions say they took bread from Belfast to outlying communities. Pics show them at Enniskillen and also in sidings at Irvinestown. It seems to me that this could make an ideal piece of extra traffic on my fictional SLNCR branch, but, first I need to know if such things ran in the Republic, as it seems the pictures I have are all GNRI. So, any views gratefully received, but then, if in the 'positive', need to know a few more details in the hope of trying to construct a model. I have a side on picture of the flatwagon, from which it should be possible to work out general dimensions & likewise the containers themselves - but liveries are a problem because pics are monochrome. 'Brewster' and 'Stevenson' are two names, so an idea of colours would be much appreciated. That said, if they didn't run in the Republic, then the project is probably a non starter. Interesting vehicles though, for which I've not seen anything in print before. Then there are the Butter Vans. Did any of these run in the Republic? Alphagraphix do a card kit, but there is no mention of where they ran. Will look forward to hearing what people know.

Here are a few pics of my latest creation. Scratchbuilt in plastic & nickel silver, but very much based on the Alphagraphix card kit. Will add more details in my blog later this evening.

The heat of summer is never a good time for modelling - certainly not in my workshop anyway! However did manage to make some wire 'tree skeletons' in the garden shade [a good way of spending a quiet hour or two] & since things have cooled down a bit, have been working on my Railbus 2A. Photos show progress thus far. The model is scratchbuilt, but using the Alphagraphix card kit as a starting point. The chassis is nickel silver, with a small Mashima motor & gearbox from Branchlines. Found one or two castings from the scrapbox to use for front springs, while the wheels [slaters] will be embellished with a slice taken from the tyres of a Corgi Classis road bus to represent the patent ones on the prototype. The body is all plastic, apart from the roof, which is sanded balsa. Buses and diesels are much more complex things than steam locos when it comes to modelling, because of all the subtle curves and a lack of fittings too. However, did find a suitable headlight in the scrapbox. Techniques used were those from David Jenkinson's book 'Coach Building Made Easy', plus a lot of head scratching on how to make the seats, fit the glazing, roof and rear passenger doorway. The little trailer is a bit of a compromise, as W irons and axles boxes of a suitable size are not readily available for some reason [!]. Thinking about it, S scale ones would probably be a best fit, but again used some spare castings - LSWR type, but very cut down. Have fitted pickups to help spread the electrical contact, not least because neither vehicle has any compensation. Paintwork is currently Halfords grey primer, which looks surprisingly effective in black and white, but am hoping that Ford 'Laurel Green' will be a reasonable match. Indeed, the paintshop beckons tomorrow, after which final fitting out [handrails, door handles, starting handle, drawbar & wiring] will take place, so may have further pics by next week.[attachment=:name]