Two Sister's Farm

[broadoak]

A wire fence was erected at the edge of the track over the railway that led to the cow sheds. A herd of Friesian cattle are being driven along by a herdsman and his dog. A bit different to the usual bus.
The cattle were originally Jerseys but the local farmer said they looked more like Friesians so I repainted them black and white, they are quite clean as it is summer. They tend to get mucky in winter when they are kept in.
The herdsman was a German military figure that I have modified the dog is a Britain's model.
The scale cow pats are made from a splash of molted solder painted greenish dark brown.
The long grass is made from an old shaving brush bristles.







Peter M

[broadoak]

The cold frame is made from balsa and clear plasticard and the vegetables are made from Milliput putty painted. Note the broken pane.
The milk maid, a Britain's farm model is feeding the free range hens that are wandering all over the place.

Peter M

[broadoak]

A photograph giving a better idea of the bridge with the cows that hides the entrance to the fiddle yard.

Peter M

[broadoak]

I felt the need to build something that could be used to haul the main line trains from the yard to the railhead or road interchange.
That is how the yellow beast came about. It is totally freelance and is supposed to have a Gardner four cylinder diesel engine which drives a small generator which in turn powers the rear bogie which has two traction motors. The front bogie is un-powered and is purely for load carrying and braking, this needed as the wagons don’t have any brakes. All this is fiction of course.
The model runs on another Athearn switcher chassis, this time with the rear drive shaft disconnected to give a bit more room in the cab area. The body has bits of its original donor loco, a Baldwin S12, with the cab removed and doors and handles on the bonnet sides added. The cab like the tractors of that time is open to the elements. The driver is a converted army figure with his tin helmet filed to look like his hair.







This last photo shows a typical Athearn chassis, this slightly longer than the switcher chassis as it is for a road switcher. When I bought these models they cost between £20 - £25 so very reasonably priced.

Peter M

[Bandit Mick]

Brilliant workshop, scary milkmaid!

[broadoak]

She is a bit frightening Mick I must admit. Not the sort of girl you would like to meet on a dark night.
Although thinking about she probably looks better in the dark.

Kind regards Peter M

[broadoak]

I found another 1/35 scale truck kit of an earlier version of the Opel Blitz, a bit more thirties than forties looking. It is in fact a gas producer. The long vertical tank shape on the right hand side was used to heat either coal or wood chips and the gas given off was collected in a pipe and directed round to the front of the vehicle. Here it passed through a radiator which cooled it then it was stored in a large tank fitted crossways to the front of the truck. The gas was then fed into a carburettor to power the engine. It produced about 40% of the power that petrol would apparently. It could run using petrol as well in a conventional way if required.
This time I managed to get it to fit over a Con-Cor switcher chassis. It is very similar to the Athearn but with a can motor. It came out of a loco I’ve had for years but never really liked because of its awful over scale hand rails. This time to get it to fit meant removing a flywheel and drive shaft to fit under the cab and bonnet. The body is held in place by two self tappers each side that press against the sides of the motor.
A large tarpaulin covered box in the back hides the motor and drive mechanism. I sprayed it with grey car primer then picked out the wings and radiator outer cover in black. I washed the whole body with a mix of black ink and grey acrylics to tone everything down a bit. The driver is a modified military figure.
I then added ropes and chains and a few oddments in the back to make it look more interesting and give it a bit more character.
Originally it was fitted with a Kadee coupler at the front but because the rail truck is rather longer than the other Opel Blitz it swings out too much and was a menace in the yard. Now the front sports a wooden buffer only to protect the front of the truck.
I fitted a kd coupler to the rear instead and added a petrol tank under the front near side wing. It is as far from the heat source as I can get it. Now the vehicle is started on petrol then when warm changed over to gas.
The first two photos were taken on my test track. The others on the model itself at a later date.









Peter M

[broadoak]

I found another truck I found attractive, an Italeri 6x6 GMC truck kit. This is also powered with a Bachmann urban trolley car chassis and motor. It meant making a scratch built Plasticard frame to connect the body kit and chassis together. I also added some more weight in the cavities in the truck body using milliput and lead wheel weights.
The driver is another soldier modified to look more like a civilian. The couplings are link and pin, the pin being a U shaped piece of paper clip.













Peter M

[broadoak]

Regarding the photos above, the truck in the kit should really have a large electric powered winch mounted on the front but I thought the front looked OK without it so I fitted the winch in the back instead. It has link and pin couplers at each end. The guard around the radiator I cut so it just fitted the profile of the bonnet.
I sprayed it a rather bright yellow which I toned down with several thin dark grey washes. The canvas hood over the cab I painted with a matt oil based paint in a fawn colour then gave it a wash of very dilute Indian ink. A spare jerry can of fuel is carried each side of the cab mounted on the running boards. I then added the usual tools, shovels ropes and chains draped over various parts of the vehicle. In the load carrying area is the large tarpaulin covered crate, a forty gallon oil drum, a selection of jerry cans, a spare implement wheel some folded tarpaulins and more rope. At the very back is the electric winch mechanism.

Peter M

[broadoak]

I felt that the farm needed more small locomotive power so my next model was a Simplex type 0-4-0 shunter. It was assumed the farm bought a damaged Simplex from the War Department and re-built it their own workshops.
The model is made of plasticard and bits of wire. It runs on a Model Power chassis with a vertical motor in the cab, so there is no room to fit a driver. I added more weight where ever I could and bent the pick ups outward to contact the backs of the wheels better. It runs reasonably well given its low purchase price, but needs an extra bit of welly when going over dead frog points sometimes.
It is seen shunting in the yard, the man sitting on the bonnet will be getting a lift out to the fields later when the shunting is done.





This was how the model looked originally, it was later re built in the farm workshops to look like the second picture. In the last picture she is seen leaving the yard towing a weed killing tank. Incidentally the driver sits sideways on the footplate.





Peter M