Model Rail Scotland

 Yesterday l traveled to Glasgow for Model Rail Scotland’s 60 th Anniversary show. It is a big event both in the sense of it being eagerly anticipated and also in its size. It is on all weekend if you fancy going along. Held in the SEC it has something for everyone. I like to go early Friday before it gets very, very busy .It is so big one hardly knows where to begin. Anyway now for the pictures

This was worth the admission price alone , for me . P D Hancock’s Dundreich in the flesh, sorry card etc.  This is the only bit surviving and what a joy to see. PDH is the Featherstone, Young and Grant of model railways , a pioneer and a true artist. His is an imagination railway set in an extended East Lothian.

Spent ages just taking it all in . I have his 1975 book , b and w illustrations only so it was lovely to see in colour.

The man himself and some info. The exhibit was very busy .

Utterly charming rail bus in a bigger scale on a GW line . 

Interesting stuff from Japan , as ever. Kato have great family friendly ideas, full of fun.

Another highlight for me Lego trains and scenery. The Forth Bridge and other uk landmarks. Made by LUKR Lego UK Railway club.

Such fun, lovely modelling and charm. Lego has come such a long way since my childhood. I recall l had an early Lego trains and then, it was fun.

More Lego, loved the sea, sand and wild swimming.

The Forth Rail Bridge, a masterpiece.

Swiss scenery caught my eye.

An interesting display of vintage trains that was new to me, they went really fast round a loop.

Loved the smoke and tenement blocks plus the garden.

Immersive modelling talking us back in time , beautiful details.

More of the same layout in this photo and the one below. Gardens and beehives magnificent.

Just really taken with this street scene…

Brr chilly Swiss trains in snowy landscape.

Back to PD Hancock for another look…

And again 

Info about his layout. The bit coloured on the plan is the only bit surviving and represents the part we see displayed.

Dorset railway, modelled well with much information.

More info for the above layout.

I am a sucker for a winter scene, this was one of the best l have seen

All in all it was terrific, lots to see and be tempted by, to day dream about. Open 10:30 to 18:00 today and 10:30 to 17:00 tomorrow. Well worth a day out or brief pop in.

My haul, exhibition guide ( included in entrance cost) a Peco catalogue, Kato catalogue, leaflets and a magazine. Lots to read and ponder over. Really would like a very small indoor layout , to do come autumn winter , but what ? We shall see , the planning should be fun.

Diverse matters on recent days.

 

Some new passengers at Penedredfel station. My middle daughter has been a power in the land working on the garden and has really begun to bring it under control. Yesterday afternoon we worked together to tackle pruning of apple trees and a rather over expansive rose.

Beautiful model in a charity shop, sadly not for sale.

Up and out early due to tides. My daughter finished her sea swim and was out by 09:15. Then off to Dune Bakery…

Lovely craft work on top of a local postbox, it changes with the season.

Some renovations on the Mythical Earth collection in preparation for a game.

Some wonderful Minifigs mounted elves , only have four of them but they are Rodney Matthews inspired treasures.

About the Britons

 I was interested to read in the comments to my last post the information that the Airfix Ancient Britons were based on an illustration in a Funken book. That was fascinating news to me. Can anyone help us track down the aforementioned picture?

I did wonder if this illustration, first published in 1959 might have influenced Airfix’s design, especially in the helmets on the figures?

Finally l looked out my old catalogue and thought you might enjoy the picture of painted figures from it.

I look forward to finding out more re the Funcken book…

Looking back and forward 2 or Airfix Romans too, hmmmm , perhaps not.

 

As one of my commentators noted the Airfix shields were fiddly. I kept losing mine. I also never liked the chariot. Solid wheels for the Britons yes, Roman chariots no, I’m fickle. I did like auxiliary eastern archer particularly. Anyway the aforementioned reasons and the finding of some Strelets Romans in the shed recently ( see above picture of these splendid chunky, legionaries on the march) means my current plan is not to buy the reissued Airfix Romans. I also like the idea of old figures battling new ones , past v present, but we will see no need to definitely decide yet.

I’ve looked out my copy of DBA  3 which l bought during Covid for those Zoom games mentioned a couple of posts ago. I will probably use them for the “ Airfix “ project, maybe in the big battle mode eventually but we will see . 

Also found the updated “ Purple Primer” which is a splendid introduction to ancient wargaming, plastic figures and DBA , not to mention terrain making ideas etc. A veritable one stop shop. Looked it out and have been having a read. Great fun, good solid advice and highly recommended for newbies and veterans alike.

Also found the original “ Purple Primer” from 1975. It was an introduction to ancient wargaming through the lens  of WRG 6th edition. Well worth a read if only for its nostalgia value. 

So here we are plastic coming and plastic here already. Can’t make up my mind whether to start the Romans now or wait to summer, the AB’s arrival and paint them together. Hmmm we’ll see.

Looking back and forward

 The other day l get the first instalment of my State Pension. A slightly momentous time , possibly a milestone passed. It certainly caused me to think about the passing of the years and my lost youth in particular . This got me thinking what would be a good way to mark this albeit in a small low key hobby manner. So l went for this-

As a boy l loved my Airfix figures and fought across the sitting room carpet endlessly. I recall buying my Airfix boxes at the newsagent’s near Happy Valley . I mixed WW1 and WW2 with careless abandon until my father explained the difference. I was also blessed with a dad who was a Roman aficionado and taken to Hadrian’s Wall and museums. Amongst my favourites of all the figures were the Ancient Britons and the Roman boxes!

So , in the light of Airfix re releasing them this summer what better a thing to do than pre order those Ancient Britons l loved then and still do. So l will need to be patient as I await their summer arrival and enjoy the anticipation of their return. I have gone for three boxes to give some options. Summer , sun and Airfix  what could be better ?

A reminder of what seems ages ago.

 Found these the other day. They are a 28mm DBA Swedish army l sent to a friend during Covid to participate in the games we played by Zoom then. The letter l sent in the box was there too. I am not sure whether to keep them intact in their postal box ( in the end they came back in person when we could meet again) as a memory or rebase and redeploy. Hmmm 🤔 

More Reivers

 Another enjoyable game yesterday. Here is the battlefield through the eyes of a passing crow-

We are getting to know the rules better and carrying much of them in our head. Again l umpired, made coffee, kept the players in check and added in a pun or two to proceedings.  This time we pitted a smaller force of better quality Reivers against a larger force of townsfolk with a unit of Warden’s men to give backbone. Reivers were to steal the cattle and pigs and the opposition was to stop them.

The reivers entering the farm complex and going to get some fine sausage material…

The Warden, his men and the townsfolk advancing to stop them thieving taking place.

A reiver makes off with cattle. There are rules for driving off cattle, controlling them and potentially losing control of them. Cattle may bolt if they hear gunfire and do so away from the noise. They may also bolt in a random direction at other times, same applying to the pigs.

That crow passing over the battlefield again seeing the ebb and flow of ascendancy during the fight. The reivers have been partially successful.

All in all terrific fun, not too taxing rules wise and full of tactical decisions. Looking forward to the next game…