All was going well at this point, the wagons were ready to be painted. However I must remember moving small, wheeled vehicles on a painting turn table, is not a good idea; two wagons jumped ship onto the floor. Fortunately the only things damaged were the couplings. After robbing another kit for a replacement, off they went to the garage to be sprayed. (I hope Malcolm can supply some replacements)

The new wagons have been left in un weathered grey for the time being, but they look really good with the slate loads fitted.

Whilst working on the new wagons I have taken the opportunity to complete a half finished three ton wagon at the same time.

The end pillars have been fitted by bending round little tabs. The brake lever has been fitted along with the tiny bracket to hold it in place. It's a while since I did any soldering; some sore fingers- must remember how fast things get REALLY HOT! With a little cleaning up it will be ready for painting.

 The contents of one slate wagon kit...

 These kits have plain bearings so the pin points on the axles have to be filed off. I hold the wheels in a back to back gauge. Using a back to back gauge is a good idea generally as wheel sets often come with different spacings.

 The burrs are filed off the back of the wheels and then they are tested in the chassis casting.

 The wheels are captured in place by the axle box castings. When the chassis will roll across a sheet of glass every thing is glued in place. I add a dab of glue to the axles to make sure the wheels can't come loose.

 The etch for the body is removed and and tabs filed off..

 I use bending bars, metal rulers and knife blades to fold up the etch. There are some tricky folds along the bottom edge of the ends. Its rather like etched brass origami! My bending bars were obtained cheaply from ebay, and whilst not as fancy as some available, they do the job.

 The top edges are an easier fold.

 And there you have it, the wagon body. There are still end pillar wrappers to fold and fix in place.

Two finished chassis showing just how small these wagons are even in 5.5 mm scale.

 A lovely box of goodies has arrived from Malcolm Savage Models today. For anyone unfamiliar with the 5.5mm society, Malcolm is the main source of modelling materials. The slate wagon kits are quite exquisite,we  and one of the things that clinched my move from 009 to 5.5 mm scale. Malcolm produces a range of specific slate wagon models for the Ffestiniog. The ones I have received today were owned by the London and North Western Railway and have there own distinctive pattern of axle boxes. The etched bodywork produces a really intricate model which really captures the feel of these distinctive vehicles.

 Also in todays delivery, are a number of door handle etches for use with the Worsley Works carriage etches I have sitting ready to be built. Although the MSM range is small, it includes some superb detailing components.

Pilot cottages Borth y Gest

 With all but two of the cellar windows completed, I have started to work out the levels of the road and front walls. The cut outs are for the wooden strengthening blocks which are part of the baseboard. Several of the houses have iron railings, I've been looking to see if any of the Scale Link range could be used.

The end cottages were given two different 1930s style doors. The diamond window design seems to really work with the windows. I suspect this is the kind of detail that someone will one day put me right on; if so I can always change it. On my previous model of the Corris I was fortunate to meet lots of people who had recollections of the railway and were often able to fill in the gaps where no photos were available. The rear of Abberllefeni station building was always the most contentious; was its stone or wood panelled? Of course being a 'might have been' scenario I'm probably being a bit precious, after all there was no railway there in real life was there....

Have you ever had that panic half way through a model that you got the scale wrong? After a bit of hunting around I found my box of rather sad unpainted figures. Mrs Roberts confirms that all is well, although leaving the house a lone, with such a large suitcase will get the neighbours talking...

Having only made 4mm scale buildings before, this row of cottages feels really substantial and rather dwarfs the rollings stock; but then again that's what it's like in real life..

The first layer of the roof over the bay windows has been added today along with the upstairs windows. The bottom edge of the whole row of houses has been trimmed to take into account the slight gradient of the track bed. The line is already climbing as it passes the houses so that it can cling to the rocky promontory on its way to Black Rock Sands.

The line will run on a ledge cut into the rocks above the boats as I have imagined it, hence the need to gain height rapidly. The boats are at the very edge of the current baseboard

Although they look white, they have been washed over with a grey shade to tone down the white spray primer. The 1930s photos suggest these houses were painted white at this period. To see the reference photo follow the link here

As you can see the last two bays are now in place. The verandah roof joins the two together to create the porches.  There are lots of little details such as the decorative wooden brackets which make this such a distinctive building. I'm not sure what sort of doors to make. The ones in the photos are far too modern. I think they should have a window that echoes the small top light window panes. These end cottages are much more Edwardian in appearance compared to the left hand end of the row.

I'm finally on to the last bay windows for this building. They have been really fiddly to make, but once done things will hopefully speed up. This end of the row is particularly attractive with its decorative woodwork forming porches between the bays. Thoughts are now turning to how to create a slate roofing master sheet which can be copied on to art paper.

This cottage has no visible cellar at the front, unlike the one on the left. I wasn't sure if it originally had one and it had been covered over at a later date. The Francis Frith photo from the 1930s shows a lilac bush growing in front of the cottage so it seems to confirm that the it has always been different. I need to start to resolve these levels in relation to the baseboard before much longer. Because I have condensed the overall plan of the village the road level is slightly different to the prototype, but hopefully it won't detract from the overall view.

Sorry, but more pictures of windows this week! The upstairs windows for the red cottage were discarded and started again as I had used thin card rather than paper to make the glazing bars and this made them look too chunky from an oblique view. The replacement windows are much better. I have also finished the green cottage. Just the cellar windows to make and then I can move on to the more interesting rendered end of the building.

Hopefully I will be onto the roofs in another couple of weeks!!

 Not a brilliant picture but you can see what needs adding next in the photo below. The front gardens and steps are quite complicated with lots of different levels to work out 

A quick shot of the seaward side showing the completed bay window. The colouring against the new sky looks good.

The replacement back scene has been fitted today. This is a vinyl version so shouldn't in theory be effected by damp, which is necessary now the model is in the garage. I have fitted it with spray mount so in theory it can be repositioned.... 

The notice board is from Dulas; it was the only part of that layout I kept when it went to the Corris Railway museum. The dates on the various exhibition badges are reminder of how long it is since I exhibited!

Just a reminder that I haven't forgotten rolling stock! I have sent the second part of an article on the construction of Welsh Pony to the 5.5mm society editor. Hopefully he will find room in the next issue?  I am aware that there is no detailed background information about the layout on this blog so I will be writing an article to explain the overall vision and thought process behind the model for a future 5.5mm society article.

The upper sash windows are now fitted. Making these in two colours is really fiddly. The net curtains are made from tissue paper and look really convincing with the buff coloured curtains. Once again the methods are taken straight out the Pendon book of cottage modelling. The doors and bay window have been weathered but there is a lot more tweaking before its completely right.

The second bay window has retained the more modern style. The next job is to add the pebble dash render using pepper.

I notice that a picture of my Welsh Pony loco has made it on to the Narrow Planet website. We are really lucky to have organisations like this which will support rarer scales like 5.5mm.

Having gone back to look at the Francis Frith photo from the 1930's I spotted that the windows were not as I had made them... So the first window was scrapped! The roof needs tiling and there are lots of other details such as door knobs and guttering yet to be added, but I'm quite pleased with the look. To visit the Francis Frith site and see the source material I am using click here.