A Visit to the Gravel Pit (1/35)

As the weather was sunny I took a bike ride to one of Nystrup Gravel's active gravel pits. I wanted to see if I could get a glimpse of some of the equipment Nystrup Gravel used for digging up the precious gravel. There were no problems entering the pit and no one objected to me taking a few photos.

Nystrup Gravel's large Menck M 60 was working in the eastern end of the gravel pit. It looked as if it was preparing to relay the 600 mm. tracks in that part of the pit.

An action shot of the Menck swinging its bucket while working in the pit.

Apart from the new Menck excavator I also located the old Stalinets tracked tractor. The tractor was used to pull equipment in the gravel pits and to pull up trees before removing the topsoil when expanding the pits.

The Soviet tractor in service at Nystrup Gravel. I forgot to remove my bicycle before taking the photograph

I didn't manage to locate the Ruston & Bucyrus excavator, but it could have been working in the western part of the pit or in the other pit. Read about Nystrup Gravel's excavators here.

Firefighter's Helmet (1/35)

When I finished my Land Rover fire tender I wanted to display a typical period fire fighter's helmet in the car. I didn't know where to find them in 1:35 scale, though. A few days ago it dawned on me that I had my grandad's helmet in the shed. Examining it, I thought I could make a model of it using a World War 1 French helmet - the M15 Adrian. I had such a helmet from a Scale Link white metal kit and it only took half an hour to turn it into a model resembling my grandad's helmet with the help of files, sand paper, AC-glue and thin plasticcard. It is not an accurate scale model but a resonably approximation.

My grandad's helmet from when he was a volunteer fire fighter in rural Butterup. The helmet is made from a sort of fiberglass and I doubt it would stand up to much heat.

The tiny 1:35 helmet in front of the real thing. I filed the French helmet flat on the underside and glued a piece of thin plasticcard on. The plasticcard was filed to shape, making the rim wider.

I painted the finished helmet 'Pale Sand' and gave it a covering of gloss varnish. The insignia on the helmet's front was given a drop of copper paint. The helmet is now fitted on the middle seat of the Land Rover.

A cruel enlargement of my little Danish firefighter's helmet in 1:35.

The helmet resting in the Land Rover.

Second Hand Locomotive Jacks for Nystrup Gravel (1/35)

In the early fifties the management from Nystrup Gravel was on a shopping trip to one of the light standard gauge railways being closed due to competition from road traffic. Among the stuff being brought home over the next weeks was four locomotive jacks. Probably a tad large for the Nystrup locos, they had the benefit of being cheap.

Having just arrived, the jacks are being examined by two of Nystrup Gravel's workers.

In my last post on the 1:35 scale jacks, I was half way through the assembly. I met no obstacles gluing the remaining parts together. I primed the four jacks and the two girders and air brushed the jacks a medium grey. Bolt heads and iron fittings were painted dark brown and black. Before priming the girders needed a little putty and sanding on the top to hide some mould seams.

The four jacks ready for a layer of primer. The jacks are secured to the plywood with a small piece of double sided tape.

Primed and ready for painting.

After the main colours were dry, I gave the moving parts on the jacks a mix of dark grey and black from the air brush. Finally the jacks were given a wash of thinned oil paints, dry brushing with acrylics and picking out oily details with gloss varnish. The parts of the jacks closest to the ground were air brushed with a thin mix of light earth and thinner. I added Roman numerals in red.

The lorry backing into position to unload the jacks in front of the loco shed.

There isn't much space to spare. A worker helps to guide the lorry driver getting into position in front of the loco shed.

Close up of jack no. 2. Solid equipment for a 600 mm. narrow gauge railway

With the jacks ready for action, Nystrup Gravel's chief mechanic is now confident that even the heaviest locos can be lifted for thorough running gear maintenance.

Land Rover Fire Tender Finished (1/35)

After a very long production time I have now finished the Series 1 Land Rover fire tender. I really have been tested on my build and paint sequence planning on this kit. A true puzzle. Now the little car is ready to deliver sterling service to the Nystrup community.

The local volunteer fire brigade's Land Rover left all by itself in front of Banke's Bakelite factory?

With the kit building finished enough to start painting, the little Land Rover received a layer of primer before I took up the difficult task of choosing an appropriate red colour for the car. I ended up with a choise of Vallejo 'Ferrari Red' chosen over the obvious 'Fire Red' for its lighter tone.

The little car air brushed red. Detail painting next.

Detail painting was mostly a question of painting tires dark grey, seats a nice contrasting medium green and metal parts in varying metal colours. The license plates and writing on the doors came from 'Skilteskoven' and were applied without any fuss as usually. Dials on the instrument panel and pump control panel were made with dry transfers from Archer. After that I glued hose reel, pump assembly, doors, suction hoses and pump control panel in place. I applied a light covering of matt varnish over the entire model.

Detail painting in progress.

I chipped the cab floor and gear box top lightly with brown and gun metal paint and dirtied up the floor a bit as well. The tires were lightly dusted and painted with light earth in the tire treads. I used dark brown oil paint heavily thinned to give the car a light wash to make it look a little worn and enhance details. A little further wear on exposed parts were added with a soft pencil.

Two volunteer firefighters ready for an exercise one early June evening. Perhaps they wait for a pal to show up for the training?

A view from above showing the general layout of the Land Rover.

The last parts to be added was windscreen glazing, steering wheel and the windscreen wiper. A few rolled up fire hoses were placed in the rear. Now I would like to locate some firefighters' helmets in 1:35 of a typical Danish 1950's model. The volunteer fire brigade must be properly equipped.