5 4 3 2 1 FAB Exhibition at Worcester Museum 2026

These are just some of the exhibits at the 54321 FAB exhibition at Worcester Museum this month. The displays show a huge variety of different toys, books and illustrations from the life of Gerry Anderson and his creations. For more information, see this link.

Tony

Make & Craft Embellishments from The Works

Last week I picked up this bag of what looked like ground foam from The Works. At just £3.00 I thought it was a great bargain and one that I was sure I could use for adding ground cover to my wargame models and model railway layouts.

For £3.00 you get quite a lot of material as it is really stuffed into the bag. On opening the bag I found that rather than being lots of fine foam it was in fact a mix of foam and threads more suitable for modelling bushes and trees. 

There really is much too much for anything other than a large layout and all being one colour it could look a little off. I therefore decided to experiment and see if I could make different colours.

The image below show the first tests. From left to right they are; basic colour, added Ochre, Linen and Ochre, red brown and dark green with a touch of black. As you can see there is quite a variety and I have not yet used 1/5th of the bag.

The new colours were mixed from acrylic paints with just a touch of water - remember to wear gloves as it is very messy. If you 'click' on the images you can get a better idea of the texture - a bit like natural wool with fine foam added.

Trust me this is well worth the outlay and should give you enough model greenery to last a very long time plus it is so much cheaper than model shop bought ground cover.

Tony

Spanish Horreo (Grain store) - Miniature Wargames issue 521

Issue 521 (September 2026) of Miniature Wargames features another scratch built building tutorial/article written by me - A Spanish Horreo or raised grain store.

For more information of the magazine contents, see this link. With T. G. Jones looking to close even more of their high street stores I would suggest that there is no better way of supporting this or any other gaming magazine than taking out a subscription. I fear that magazines are going to find it difficult over the next couple of years.

The final image shows the completed but yet to be painted model. The Horreo was first published in my limited edition and self published book - Dampfpanzerwagon Guide No. 2 - More Wargame Terrain which was published in 2014 and is no longer in print.

Tony

Car Boot Sale Bargains

Sue and I have just returned from the local car boot sale where I picked up this bargain box of sanding sticks for just £4.00. My best bargain buy of the year!

Below I have detailed the full contents which I have estimated to be worth in excess of £60.00. The stall holder was not aware of what they were and said I could have the whole box for £4.00. I later told him what they were and he was pleased that they were going to someone who both knew what they were and would use them.

On a different stall I bought this OLFA rotary cutter and spare blades for £2.00 - £1.50 for the cutter and 50p for the blades. In addition I picked up two A3 cutting mats one brand new for £3.00 and 20p for a used example. Even more modelling bargains.

Back home I just couldn't wait to post about my good fortune.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - completed

It's taken some time but Cold Comfort Lane is now finished.....

The 1/35th scale project was started back in 2023 when I built a 1/35th scale narrow gauge fireless loco on a Hornby 0-4-0 'Smokey Joe' chassis, since then I have been working on 'other' projects and magazine work but it is now finished (well as finished as any model railway layout can be).

Cold Comfort Lane is a 2 foot narrow gauge Inglenook or switching layout designed to be small enough and light enough to be easily transported between the garage (where it was built) and my computer room (where I am currently writing this post) and also allow me to have some fun playing trains!

The facia was painted black and then varnished with matt varnish before I added some vinyl name tags which were ordered off the internet. My son and two grandsons helped with applying them which is fitting as the G. J. H. and Sons Ltd  related to Gary my son and my two grandsons Finley and Charlie.

My daughter wants me to exhibit the layout and the earlier Yellow Pelican narrow gauge layout and is already talking about a show next March. We will see.

It has taken a while to get the layout finished and I am now looking at my next project - another narrow gauge layout? You will have to wait and see.

Thank you for all the comments they are very much appreciated.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part eleven

The low relief warehouse has now been fully integrated into the layout with the groundwork painted with 'tester pots' mixed up for me by my local DIY store with the first layers of static grass and ground foam added over PVA glue.

I have started to add the items of clutter - wooden barrels old drums and odd bits of greenery. There are still some additional items I want to add before I call it done (well as done or finished as any model railway layout can be).

You can also see the painted sign - G.J.H and Sons Ltd. The bare sign was designed in WORD, printed on to plain paper and then painted with acrylic paints before being glued in place with Pritt paper glue. The name is the initials of my son and the Sons are my grandsons Finley and Charlie. A family affair.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part ten

The warehouse was mounted on to a piece of 5mm thick under floor insulation to raise it up to the correct height. I used a mixture of PVA and superglue to keep everything in place and give a good strong join.

Then DAS modelling clay was used to model the groundwork. Once again the DAS was laid over PVA glue. When everything had fully set I added the rusted air tank to the side. This was built from a simple cardboard tube wrapped in plastic card and with a deodorant roll-on ball for the top. It was painted in browns and orange acrylic paints and when fully dry brushed with some rust powders.

The low relief warehouse was mounted to the small Inglenook layout base with the help of some scrap wood which I held in place while the glue dried, this meant that it was 'square' with the MDF layout facia.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part nine

The windows came from a HO-OO plastic building kit that I purchased second-hand some time ago (see below). I had six large windows that were first cut from the kit walls then trimmed with plastic card and glued in place with superglue.

I still have the smaller, end wall windows and green coloured doors for future projects.

The final image this post shows the nearly completed low relief warehouse on the Cold Comfort Lane layout but still to be glued in place and bedded-in.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part eight

More detail painting following the original plan and Kidderminster building inspiration. The doors have now been finished with metal bars and the main sign painted green, both doors and sign have been 'aged'. I have also added damp stains to the lower walls this was done with washes.

The roof has been painted as asbestos sheeting with earth coloured ageing and even some bird droppings on the very apex.

The next stage will be to add the windows and I would expect this to be done soon.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part seven

I have started the detail painting. The concrete plinths above the doors and windows have been painted in a muted grey/cream colour. I have tried to add some variation in the colour as seen on the original inspiration. The doors and large wooden support above them has been painted in a utilitarian green colour which was highlighted to show some worn woodwork.

For larger images, please click on the image.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part six

I have used a couple of techniques to paint the brickwork, first I 'sponged on' a pale orange to the whole surface, then drybrushed certain areas with a deeper orange/brown colour and then picked out individual bricks in a wide range of brick coloured acrylic paints. I have used orange, yellow, brown, black and white acrylic colours to add variety to the brickwork.

I have used  a number of different brushes to achieve this effect and a mucky grey wash (dirty water) helped to bring everything together.

The brickwork took most of the day to complete but far from being boring I found it therapeutic.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part five

The building was basecoated with a dark grey acrylic paint to which I have added some ModPodge matt medium.

 

I find that this helps with both sealing the foam and bringing all the various material together ready for painting.

The first real colour was a dull putty colour or dirty cream which will be the basis of the mortar, the gaps between the bricks as well as acting as a base for the orange/red brick colours.

The next step will be the painting the bricks. Please check back for further updates very soon.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part four

With the construction of the walls finished it was on to the roof. I had some railway wagon siding or contoured plastic card profiles in my collection and cut this to length before gluing the panels in place with superglue. Once in place I trimmed the panels to size and later added more 3mm thick plastic card to the apex. The large sign was also constructed from plastic card.

Any gaps or missing detail on the roof/sign joins were either filled with DAS modelling clay or the joins were trimmed with lengths of tape which was sealed with superglue. I cut small squares of plastic card to act as fasteners for the roof panels and these were glued in place with liquid cement.

The final image for this post shows the low relief warehouse in place on the layout (Note - not glued in place). My next posts will give details of how I painted the building, but for now you can start to see how the building will fit in or on to the layout.

Tony

Grand Manner Iberian Windmill - Miniature Wargames issue 520

The latest issue of Miniature Wargames (520 - August 2026) includes this article written by me showing how I painted a resin windmill for a friend. The model was available from Grand Manner (but is no longer in production).

The four part resin model was purchased on ebay and was very well cast in a putty coloured resin.

I re-based the windmill on to a piece of 3mm thick plastic card and built up the groundwork with ready mixed filler and DAS modelling clay which was then decorated with sieved stones and sand applied over PVA glue.

Painted followed my usual techniques but was a little more subdued than normal using washes and acrylic tints to produce the sun drenched effect.

The sails were painted in a Linen coloured acrylic paint and highlighted with white. When finished the whole model was varnished with a Galleria matt varnish and ModPodge mix then presented to my friend earlier this year.

Tony