Gaps between modules (1/35)

On a small module you are literally always standing close to the edge. Even more so in a relatively large scale as 1:35. How a module is designed, how the track runs across it and how buildings and trees are arranged all contribute to how obvious the connections between the modules are.

When my modules are set up my primary visual concern is to disguise the narrow gap between them. I have tried to hide the gaps with grass and shrubbery. But having grass every 80 cm will end up being far too obvious.

My newest module - the one with the bridge over a small stream - is for the next few years the end of the line. The left end of the module is designed to enable a connection to be made to the only other established industrial railway in the scale range 1:35-1:32 in Denmark. My friend's modules are not of the exact same profile as mine and to help disguise that the module is finished off with a wooden fence, grass and shrubbery.

A tiny piece of fence. Should I be able to build a bit of the bakelite factory in the future it will be hiding behind a brick wall. The wooden fence was almost completely levelled by one of the factory's lorries in 1942 and replaced with a more sturdy wall. On the nearer side of the track shrubbery will facilitate a smooth transition to the next module.

My 1:35 fence is supposed to be surrounding the bakelite factory 'Bankes Bakelit'. The fence is made from wood and quite simple. Just like a real fence. The lettering on the fence is hand painted after the letters were marked out in pencil. Not as difficult as I thought.

New 1:35 Kit - O&K MD2 (1/35)

Having modelled industrial railways in 1:35 for more than a decade I have not grown accustomed to the luxury of having a selection of kits in the scale for neither locos nor wagons. Most of what pulls skips at Nystrup Gravel is more or less home made or cobbled together from a resin upper body and a drive unit that has been adapted to fit. The only exeption has been the kit of the Swedish Sala-loco currently undergoing maintenance and updating at my work table. I have accepted that without any problems as 1:35 is not a traditional railway modelling scale.

But now a new company has announced what looks like an extremely promising 1:35 kit of the Orenstein & Koppel MD2. And from my interpretation of the company's post on the FS32NG-group it seems it will be the first of a series of locos in 1:35. Something I never dared to hope for. 

Finshed MD2 with cab. Photo from Mark Hesketh.

I have always fancied the sturdy looking O&K-locos. Because of their slab sided construction, many of O&K's locos designed before the war lends them well to etched metal construction.

You can see more images of the model on the web site of the small company that makes the kit – Hesketh Scale Models. You will even be able to start planning the build of the model, as the instructions are online as PDF-files. A nice drawing of an MD2 can be seen on the Dutch website Industriespoor.

A Ferguson Has Arrived (1/35)

After some pleasant modelling I have finished my first model in 2013 - a white metal kit of the Ferguson TEA-20. It is finished as a rather newly imported machine and consequently only lightly weathered.

Waiting for the next task. An almost new TEA-20 having recently arrived from the United Kingdom.

Assembly done and ready for priming.  Bonnet and steering wheel is not glued in place. The wheels have been primed already in an effort to contain the soft vinyl and prevent splitting and/or melting.

Primed and ready for the characteristic 'Ferguson grey'. The bonnet sits all wrong. It will need some sanding and physical persuasion to fit properly.

Ferguson grey applied and details painted. Weathering of wheels started.

My Ferguson grey was mixed from several Vallejo greys and a bit brown and some gloss varnish was added to the mix.The wheels were weathered with heavily thinned paints and pastel chalk.

If you have any interest in Ferguson tractors I would recommend you to have a read on the blog 'ploughmyfield' This post in particular shows what has happened to the size of agricultural machinery in less than 40 years! And if you thought that models of the Ferguson is a recent thing see Danish toy manufacturer LEGO's Ferguson models from the 1950's.

Excavators at Nystrup Gravel (1/35)

The building of my Ferguson tractor is still in progress. I'm on the final stages of weathering and it'll be finished soon. While the paint dried I assembled a little info on the excavators of Nyestrup Gravel. When gravel production started at Nystrup the only tools used were shovels and skips. It seems that Nystrup Gravel went straight from hand digging to a diesel excavator. It is not known if the first excavator was the RB-17 in the image below or if it was preceeded by a smaller model. In the mid 1950's a new Menck M60 machine supplanted the old Ruston. In the beginning of the sixties the R&H excavator fell out of use and was sold. During transport from Nystrup the excavator fell from the road trailer and almost blocked the road for two days.

Nystrup Gravel's Ruston & Bucyrus RB-17 excavator. It came to Nystrup in 1938. In this image it is photographed at the loco shed in the summer of 1954. Probably the excavator was in need of some serious repair. Minor repairs were usually done in the gravel pits.

The Menck excavator was the first new major piece of equipment Nystrup Gravel bought after the war. In the first 10 years after the German occupation the company made do with it's old machinery or obtained used items. For a photographic record of the build of the model see my Flickr-site.

The R&B excavator in an awkward position. The machine was put upright again and continued to serve the new owner for another decade before being scrapped.