An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - test #6 The Feldbahn Locomotive

Part One - The construction.

I choose this Feldbahn (narrow gauge railway engine) as my first 'scratch-built' engine. It is based on an image that I found on the PHB BB Creative Community site for full details see this post.

Image Two - The original works drawings were used to produce my own 11mm = 1 foot scale drawings. These drawings are also available on various Pinterest pages.

Image Three - I find it easier to produce these drawings on grid paper, first sketching the model in pencil and then confirming the dimensions with a 0.3mm drawing pen.

Image Four - My first try was not a great success.....

Image Five - But the second attempt was much better. The model is based on a simple Hornby 'Smokey Joe' 0-4-0 chassis.

Image Six - The old and the new alongside one another.

Image Seven - There are one or two modifications to the original design. I added an exhaust (for the paraffin starting engine), a tool box on the bonnet and kept a round view window to the rear. After all this would have been a much modified and long-lived workhorse.

Image Eight - The yellow detailing is 'sticky-back' plastic.

Image Nine and Ten - More detailing. The handles are thin, bent aluminium superglued in place. The buffers or coupling housings are multiple layers of plastic card with a paperclip hook and the headlight was 'scrounged' from a 1/50th scale Corgi truck.

Image Eleven to Fourteen - The roof was constructed from more aluminium sheet curved over the side of a glass jar and detailed with more sticky-back plastic. Most of the upper bonnet detailing was guessed at.

Image Fifteen - With construction finished, I have placed the un-painted model on the section of test track, seen in this earlier post.

The Feldbahn engine is 120mm long (over buffers) x 38mm wide (at the widest point) and 73mm tall (over cab).

The bulk of the construction is white 30thou plastic card (about 1mm thick).

It is built to the scale of 1:27.7 or 11mm = 1 foot so that 16.5mm Peco 'Crazy Track' represents an 18 inch gauge industrial railway. The original Feldbahn engine used as inspiration ran on 500mm gauge track.

For more details of the Narrow Gauge Adventure go to this label.

Tony

Pugs in Tricornes new from AA

This week I received an e-mail notification from Alternative Armies giving details of their most recent Flintloque release - The Von Mohnblume Line or cute little Pugs in Tricornes. The metal miniatures designed and sculpted by Rob Alderman of Hysterical Games were just what the doctor ordered and I have promptly ordered a set of ten Pugs on the pre-release deal, details of which can be found here.

For anyone who knows Rob and Hannah, the choice of Pugs should come as no surprise and Rob assures me that at least on of the miniatures will be wearing an eyepatch. Poppy celebrated in pewter.....

Well done Gavin - a great choice of character unit for Flintloque and with other earlier tricorne wearing figures, a possible sub-genre for gamers to enjoy.

I'll be basing and painting the miniatures as my 'On-Line Build' for September so stay tuned for updates.

Tony

Maigret Night at the Crossroads

An illustration from the Dominic Hyman web page - used without permission.

Last night Sue and I were searching through the 'Black Box' for something to watch and came across a recording from much earlier this year. Maigret - Night at the Crossroads with Rowan Atkinson as Maigret. We both enjoyed the performance but for me it was the authentic setting and superb props that were the highlight for me.

With sketch book in hand, I made many quick pencil sketches of the garage and forecourt. Then this morning while searching Maigret and Night at the Crossroads on the internet I came across this link which is just full of detailed set layouts and props. I have saved the link and expect it to be the basis of many future modelling projects.

I would expect the plans and illustrations to be of use to many period modellers and if you have a high quality printer, the ready made road signs and advertising plaques could prove a boon.

Check out the other projects here - I particularly like the detailed elevations.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - test #5

My latest 1:27.7 scale figure The Foreman. The character is based on Ronnie Barker in Open all Hours and converted/modified from a 1:24th scale figure bought from e-bay.

Image Two - The two figures next to one another, the new sculpt and the source.

Image Three - After coating the whole miniature with GW liquid green stuff, to smooth-out the clumsy sculpting, I basecoated the figure with Stonewall Grey from Vallejo. Harry stands 63mm tall.

Image Four - Tom, Dick and Harry. The first three 1:27.7 scale (or 11mm = 1 foot) test pieces.

I have commissioned Rob Alderman of Hysterical Games to cast these three figures in resin. my intention is to modify them and paint them as characters on my planned Industrial Narrow Gauge layout. Details to follow.

Should anyone be interested in purchasing a set of these or the planned additions, please contact me on dampfpanzerwagon@yahoo.co.uk

More to follow.....

Tony

Ford's Hospital, Coventry

Earlier today, Sue and I visited Coventry City Centre with Holly. While I was waiting for them to finish shopping I started exploring some of the many side-streets and came across this interesting building - Ford's Hospital a 16th Century half timbered building that was used as an Alms House and was later re-built using original timbers after the original was destroyed in the Blitz of 1940. For more details see this Wikipedia link.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - test #4

The second sculpt - another figure or workman in dungarees.

Image One - The figure was converted from another 1/24th scale plastic figure bought from e-bay. Here you see the finished sculpt alongside the original donor figure.

Image Three - After smoothing out the Green Stuff and Milliput, I painted the figure with some GW liquid Green Stuff before undercoating with grey acrylic paint.

Image Four - The flesh areas were built up over Snakebite Leather.

Image Five - The white shirt was painted over Stonewall Grey from Vallejo, then highlighted with Dead White.

Image Six - The workman from the rear showing how the work clothes were sculpted.

Image Seven - The first and second test figures alongside one another. They stand between 63mm and 65mm tall or around 5' 8'' - 5' 10'' in 1:27.7 (11mm = 1 foot).

I have to admit that sculpting these test figures is very therapeutic. I would expect to do more, many more.....

Tony

Printable Scale Rule

The 1:27.7 Narrow Gauge Adventure continues. However it was a thread over on The Lead Adventure Forum that was the impetus for this latest post. I saw the post which gave details of a site that allowed you to download scale rulers in any scale. I though I'd give it a go and here you see the result. A scale ruler marked off in 10 cms increments and the latest scratch built figure - a driver (more on this in a later post).

I printed off two scale rulers, both to 1:27.7 scale and then had them laminated and trimmed. For details of the scale rulers, see this link.

I can see this simple tool being useful in this and future modelling projects.

Tony