Well, the first completed one anyway. Something with a name needs a homepage:
Phoenix Yard, a OO inglenook shunting puzzle: http://mcaleely.com/jh/PhoenixYard/
Some of the scenery didn’t survive a period of storage, but the layout still works well.
Having started from a fresh kit, the first weekend of time I spent with Tornado was making some basic assembly decisions, and then getting started on the mainframe.
Given the kit’s design, the consensus of advice was to assemble it without the aid of a chassis jig. It is very carefully designed to fold up square and true. This seemed reasonable, but I certainly felt a bit wary getting started.
So far, the chassis seems to roll well as an 0-6-0, so the advice was sound!
After a weekend’s work I had:
So far, assembled exactly as the excellent instructions suggested.
Last weekend I was at Missenden Abbey, making things dirty! I joined Tim Shackleton’s weathering class, and wielded an airbrush for the first time.
After a demonstration on the Friday evening of basic coach weathering, Tim asked us to show the projects we had brought along. Mine was to be an Oil Tank wagon and a Class 20 diesel. Lots of other nice, and largely pristine models were also shown.
When it became clear I had a box of TTAs with me, Tim suggested the whole group use one each as a first exercise. We also weathered some N gauge wagons from another attendee. My first attempt:
Some of the effects I liked, and some I can’t really get beyond seeing the tools and paint I used. I’m pleased for a first attempt though!
Next up is the class 20. I really struggled to get an even matt coat of dark grey on the roof – a question of learning how to use an airbrush. The result is pleasing. Notice that I’ve picked out the axle boxes after the first weathering ‘brake dust’ spray.
It was clear that the basic techniques Tim was teaching us could be applied quite quickly. Many of us were reaching for stock we didn’t imagine we’d have time to weather. So I also got to detail an 08 and a 25. On these Tim used a pink mist to depict the very typical faded-blue seen in many photos:
Finally, a look at my fleet of TTA’s. One each from my fellow classmates, and a few I did myself. I think we all learned by seeing the efforts of others on the same project – I certainly did. As a bonus I now have a very unique fleet of wagons:
