30th September 2006

This is the Broad Gauge Models VR D3 kit referred to in my first post, completed but obviously unpainted. Subsequent to these photos the model was painted and sold.

Some elements of this kit were excellent - the loco body and tender are nicely detailed and capture the image of the prototype well, but in my opinion the overall quality of the finished product is let down by the tender bogies, which were hard to build properly and did not run well, and by the gearbox, which didn't sit properly in the boiler, and as a result kept stripping gears.

Anyway, building this model provided me with some invaluable experience as it was the first kit I've built where I experienced significant difficulties in putting it together.

Currently I've got a number of projects on the go, the most pressing being a VR station building for my layout (I can't progress any further with my layout until it's finished). As far as rollingstock goes, I've finished another couple of the SEM cattle vans that always seem to be lurking around my work-bench, and I'm part way through building the second of two of the original BGM K class loco kits. The first one is finished and delivered to it's owner, and the second is mine and about 60% complete. At some point in the future I will do a mini-review on these models with some photos of construction............

I'm Back!

I apologise for not updating this blog. Between running my family's business, starting a new business with my wife, building my first layout, and building models for clients, I haven't given this blog a lot of thought until now. I'd like to get things back on track (pardon the pun) soon!