February '26 update part II

I know what you are thinking - you wait ages for an update, then two come at once. So to explain, I thought it might be better to split the update as it became clear it was turning into a very long post!

So to continue, I mentioned in the previous post about new narrow gauge wagon chassis. Visitors at the Trent Valley Group's modelling day in Mickleover may have noticed a small collection of wagons on the stall with the sign 'Under development'. Here's a quick summary of what was on show:

First up, two of the long wheelbase 4-wheel wagons; NG09 covered van and NG25 3-plank drop side open with curved ends.

Test builds of NG09 & NG25 with revised chassis.

The covered van has a new cast floor which accommodates 3D printed underframes with leaf springs as are used in the 4-wheel coach kits but with the addition of long brake levers and single brake shoe each side. The 3-plank features the popular one piece cast body which will be supplied with the usual cast head-stocks and end stanchions, but will now include new 3D printed underframes featuring coil springs. These are similar in style to those used on some WHR stock and some more recent RNAD vehicles, many of the latter entering preservation. It is intended that all the revised wagon kits will be supplied with brass bearings and spoked metal wheels as standard.

Also receiving attention have been the NG01 2-plank open and NG28 1-plank open, both of which have only been available as bodies for some time.

NG28 1-plank wagon.

These have a shorter wheelbase chassis, also with coil springs, single either side brake and brake lever. The chassis assembles separately which is then fitted to the remastered body castings. In many ways they are new kits.

Finally the steel open. This wagon has been on the periphery for some time, a few were available on eBay and at shows while I tinkered around with the design.

Steel Open wagon.

The steel open again has a one piece cast body and shares the same chassis as the 1&2 plank opens. I hope in this latest form it will prove a popular addition to the wagon fleet.

Hopefully the first of the new kits will be available from the web shop in the next few weeks, suppliers permitting!

When time allows the cattle wagon, ventilated van and tool van will also be given new chassis.

Moving now to some scenic accessories, following requests for stone wall capping to be used with the stone building sheets, I have developed a flat style of capping to represent riven / split stone, typical of slate walling. The photo below shows a test piece used in conjunction with a strip of wall cut from the BC23 slate wall building sheet.

Riven stone / slate wall capping.

The second form of capping depicts slanted stones, a style commonly used in dry stone walling. The test piece shown below uses a strip from the BC21 rough stone walling sheet.

Slanted dry stone wall style capping.

Currently the wall cappings are only available at shows. As they are still a very new product I'm keen to canvass customer views before committing them to the product list.

Whilst on the subject of the building sheets, the B32 weatherboard planking sheet is now available. Sometimes known as lap board on account of its horizontal overlapping planks, or clapboard siding, it is a classic feature of many lightly constructed railway buildings. The building below was constructed to illustrate a possible use.

Scratch-built office building constructed using BC32 weatherboard sheet for the walls.

I often get asked about the best way to cut resin sheets. In the past my preferred method has been to 'score and snap' using a couple of passes with a heavy craft, then snapping along the score line. Recently however a customer suggested the Tamiya scriber II tool. I tried it out when making the model above. This cuts using a hooked blade. When pulled lightly towards the user it easily cuts into the resin, removing a satisfying curl of resin swarf in the process. A few passes are needed to get through the sheet, but the end result is a very clean cut. If you've not used one before, they take a little getting used to at first, but do give very good results. Probably best done on an old cutting mat, as a new blade is very keen and will go through the surface of the cutting mat before you have realised!

Our next show dates are in March, with Narrow Gauge North on the 14th in Pudsey and then Howden show on the 21st where the narrow gauge stock will be swapped for the standard gauge items. Hope to see you soon.