Paint special!

Part 1: Stuff I use. Paint. Let’s start with the basics: paint. I mostly use humbrol and revell enamels, because that’s the stuff I’ve used for years (and we have a ton of the stuff at work.) Humbrol paint used to be really good as evidenced by some 40 year old cans my dad used

New fleet additions

After finishing blast furnace 5 it was time for something a bit different. As I already have more engines than I can use on the layout, well, why not make 3 more? So, here we go. Fauvet Girel Espérance-Longdoz had 4 locomotives made by the french company Fauvet-Girel, 72 ton diesel electric engines that look

Blast furnace 5 part 2

So, here we are two and a half months later, with blast furnace 5 more or less finished, for now at least. Time to show the second half of the build and think about what project to attack next, go right ahead with blast furnace 7 or first some trains, or a smaller building? Maybe

Blast furnace 5 part 1

Well, it’s been a while, as usual. With Ougree mostly finished, time to turn my attention back to Cockerill. A part of the layout I had been working on when the project was started but was then put on hold to finish Ougree, so I could have a sort of finished working layout for shows.

weekend update 8: no pigeons were harmed…

Well, it’s been a while, but now we got rid of the old fridge, time for another odds and ends-post! In the meantime there have been many hours of just being around the layout, not doing all that much but nonetheless continuously adding detail bits, tufts of grass and as of this weekend, pigeons! So,

poking gravel

Well, it’s been a while, but here I am again! Custom plague-mask and all! Lately work on the layout itself pretty much came to a halt as I was mostly busy working on the most important part of any steelworks layout fleet: the ballast tamper. Indeed, priorities-wise I have not learned a single thing after

weekend update 7

Well, the last couple of weeks has mostly been about making little detail bits, adding them to the layout, designing and making more detail bits, waiting for resin castings or etched parts for those detail bits and generally not feeling like there is heaps of progress, for lack of big projects. So, this time just

steelworks layout problems

When modelling steel industry you need quite some background knowledge of many things, like for example price tags of consumer electronics in belgium in 1988. Well, as I had no idea about that, I first made a pile of washing machines, tv sets (with led inside of course) etc… Then flooded several people with questions…

weekend update 6

Well, it’s not a weekend, but here’s an update anyway, and since I once called them weekend updates, why not stick to the tradition. Also, I get to drink a bit while writing this, so yeah. Some heavy belgian craft beers this time. not complaining. So, on to the more interesting stuff: progress on the

it’s all painted!

This time, a little milestone! But first things first: wrapping up work on the rolling stock workshop for now. Things were mostly there already, so sticking random decals on things, then add dirt of various kinds. After adding a light to the hydraulic press I decided the whole thing was officially good enough for now