Nystrup Fox

So far the only animal having been seen around the small gravel line in Nystrup has been a shunting horse. The railway yard wasn't a natural habitat for many larger animals, but a fox or two made regular appearances straying from the nearby forest. That's why I had a pair of foxes in the package from Modelu last time I ordered figures.

Always on guard a fox cautiously approaches the open ground next to the lorry loading ramp. The fox measures 2 cm. over the shoulders and 7 cm. from nose to tail.

The fox from the Modelu set 31101 was intially removed from the maze of printing supports and with a sanding stick I could remove the few attachment points remaining on the figure. A few unnatural looking indentations were filled with model filler. After priming with Games Workshop 'Chaos Black' I stippled on a covering of acryllic paint: Humbril 113 'Rust', Vallejo 818 'Red Leather' 70.983 'Flat Earth' (the paint's name makes you think, doesn't it?) and 70837 'Pale Sand'. The stipple method gives a slightly rough surface and a random application of paint allowing underlaying paint to partially show through. I found it extremely difficult to choose colours for the fox and to add depth to the animal's fur.

Once resonably satisfied with the painting, I added a faded mix of Red Leather and Pale Sand to the fox's upper back and a dry brushing of the rest of the animal. When dry I gave the red areas a wash of heavily diluted rust coloured oil paint. Eyes and mouth were added with black oil paint. Finally the nose was topped off with gloss black paint.

Painting the fox was part of my summer cottage project portfolio accompanying the 1/87 scale TU4 locomotive. 

Something has obviously caught the attention of the fox. It has remained stationary and vigilant for a long time. The workers have left the area so the fox may have found interesting prey?

It's nice to be able to begin adding some of the fine detail to the layout. The fox from Modelu will be moving around on the layout in the future to add a little life.

New Figures

Risk of overstaffing at Nystrup Gravel? It could be the case with the latest delivery from the busy 3D printing maternity clinic in Bristol, also known as Modelu. 6 new employees were included in the package. The figures were accompanied by two foxes to add a little life to the area behind the loading ramp. 

One of the new figures resting againgst the footplate of the Fowler (with added detail parts yet unpainted). Small remnants of the 3D printings supports can still be seen here and there on the figure.

As with earlier purchases from Modelu I've not planned getting all figures ready for service at once. The most pressing need is to get a driver figure for the Fowler locomotive. The idea is to select one or two figures from the two crew packs to be converted to a Fowler driver. I'll probably have to do minor surgery and a little sculpting as I did a lot when I modelled in 1:35 scale.

Modelu crew pack 11208 for the small England engine. Photo: Modelu

Modelu crew pack 11219 for quarry Hunslet engine. Photo: Modelu.

After a switft production time of one week and a one week postal and customs trip to Denmark I couldn't wait to open the package. Safely wrapped in several layers of bubble wrap inside a solid cardboard box the figures waited for me to examine them and test fit them in the Fowler cab. I had a surprise waiting for me. My earlier deliveries from Modelu have been of figures with the 3D printing supports removed. Now the figures are supplied with the complete support structure of a web of thin posts. They help the figure to remain firmly supported during printing and initial curing. The removal of the support posts isn't a difficult task. Only a sharp knife, a side cutter and some time is needed. What surprised me the most is the new level of detail. My 1/19 scale figures from Modelu has been adequate in detail, but I have often been disappointed by weak facial detail, soft and missing detail in clothing and bad demarcation from eg. trousers to shoes. Most of those objections are now gone. I'll be going into detail when I start working on one of the new figures. And by the way: the price has gone down as well!

The right figure from pack 11219 resting his back side on the low rear wall in the Fowler cab. To call him a perfect fit isn't quite true, but it's a close call.

Here the figure is seen from the side.

The left figure from pack 11208 was my second bet on a possible driver figure for the Fowler. He looks good too, but needs something the rest his right arm on. 

Peeking out from the cab. 

I'm quite confident that I now have a decent driver for the Fowler. Adding a little material to the back side of the figure from pack 11219 and adjusting the height (trimming shoes and cap) will obtain a near perfect fit in the cab. And the figure will even be removable and at the same being able to keep its position while traversing bad track (as all track is at Nystrup Gravel).

As for the rest of the figures pictures will have to wait. It's Spring and I'm too busy with the 1:1 scale vintage railway, maintenance of two wooden houses and real work. But one of the Modelu foxes sneaked out and was photographed near the lorry loading ramp.

A Modelu fox in 3D print has crossed the meadow covered by static grass from the photographic rendition of a wood where it usually lives.