New Air Compressor

Having just taken a new air brush in use my trusty Italian air compressor suffered a terminal breakdown. It must be close to 20 years old and has never given any warning that it needed repairs of any kind. Oil changes have been faithfully executed and I don't know what I could have done to avoid the breakdown. A new compressor was needed and from ordering at a Danish air brush shop to delivery only four days passed (even including a weekend).

The new compressor in place on its little wheeled platform that allows me to roll the compressor under the worktable. 

The compressor is a Polish produced Adler AD-5000 compressor with a 4 bar limit 3 liter tank and a 150 W motor. I have test run the compressor and it is pretty silent in operation with a noise level comparable to my old Italian compressor. With a new air hose and connections the preassure stays the same and there is no air leaking. That could not be said about about my old equipment, probably due to leaking hose connections.

Solid box for the compressor.

Discard the box and this is what's left. The instructions are basically needless. Plug the cord in the socket and switch on the power and you are ready to paint.

Time for modelling has been very limited lately, but now the equipment is no longer an added challenge. I'm longing for some time at the modelling table!

New Airbrush

My old Gabbert airbrush had begun to show declining performance the last few times I used it. No fault of the airbrush itself, but probably the somewhat negligent cleaning and handling on my side. Having served me well for over 25 years I guess it's time for a new airbrush to take over the thankless task serving me.

The new tool in my workshop is a Harder & Steenbeck Ultra 2024 airbrush. A good quality airbrush without it going over the top with features I'm not going to use often. 

I didn't buy a load of accessories for the air brush. I only added a cleaning station and new 3 m hose as well as better cleaning tools to the order.

I actually managed to get the Gabbert airbrush working again and now I'm in a situation where I even have a spare airbrush to help me over periods of troubles with the new one. You can't be too well prepared these days.

With the large scale skips almost finished I'm now ready for painting the 1/19 Fowler. If it wasn't for a terminal breakdown of my Italian air compressor! New one ordered and expected to arrive this week. No end to the obstacles served me on my way to finishing my second 1/19 scale locomotive model!

New Mini Drill

I'm not a modeller with a huge collection of tools and a workshop full of fancy machines. Basic tools, airbrush and a mini drill pretty much sums up what I use in my modelling. Recently my more than 25 year old Dremel-type mini drill from a supermarket stopped working. Time for a replacement.

Decent tool in a conservative design. Notably more silent in operation than my old drill.

To replace the cheap (probably Asian-made) broken mini drill I chose a European-made Proxxon with speed regulator. It's a type Micromot 60/E and has so far worked fine with the small range of mini drill attatchments in my possession. It may cost a bit more, but I'm not shopping mini drills every week and it's good to know that there is an endless range of accessories to the machine. If the Proxxon can keep working as long as my old mini drill (and I expect it to) It'll keep me company for the rest of my life. One thing less to worry about!

Drill and power supply is placed to the right on my work table. Usually I don't leave a drill in the tool. That's bad workshop discipline.

Turntable for Nystrup Gravel

No, it's not a substantial infrastructural upgrade for the little gravel line! I seldom receive Christmas presents with a railway modelling content. My interests in scale and theme are too narrow and specialised. Christmas 2021 was a different year as my father presented me with a wooden turntable from IKEA. The turntable is designed as a 39 cm diameter rotating tray for smaller dishes etc. I will not be using it for its intended purpose, but as a useful tool for air brushing difficult to handle models in 1/19 scale.

A brand new IKEA turntable with the Accucraft Baguley-Drewry posed for an illustration of the turntable's function as an easy and cheap painting accessory in the larger scales.

I received the turntable as a gift, but should you want to aquire one yourself it's quite affordable at 10.5 € in IKEA stores worldwide under the name 'Snubba'. The turntable spins easily even when loaded with a heavy locomotive. The diameter is sufficient for every model that can be put in service on my little gravel line and doesn't take up too much room on the worktable. When stored it can be squezed in between two boxes.

As the IKEA designer meant it to be. I will be mistreating my turntable as an air brushing platform. Photo: IKEA.

Static Grass Applicator

My early Christmas gift from myself arrived from Germany the other day. A dark plastic suitcase with a static grass applicator to allow me finally getting grass to grow on my Nystrup Gravel layout. 

Click, click, the suitcase opens and reveal its contents.

After having watched a number of youtube videos with more or less credible hosts presenting static grass applicators - some homemade and some aquired from manufacturers, I decided to buy a RTS GREENKEEPER of the 55 kV model. To have something to experiment with I bought the Christmas sale starter set as it, beside what usually comes with a kV 55, added 3 bags of grass fibres, glue and an extra container in the suitcase.

A sturdy plastic suitcase protects the gadget and will be useful for storing some of the associated materials.

A 55 kV applicator may seem like overkill considering my very small layout and the limited amount of grassy areas I have room for. Some modellers will probably find the investment outrageously large and build themselves an applicator from a 3 € fly swatter. I'm not that talented and with the 55 kV I should be well equipped for applying the long grass fibres I need in 1/19 scale. And who knows if I one day will have more area to cover with grass? I hope the coming holidays will provide time for testing the new machine before I dare to deploy the gadget over the barren ground of my little layout.