Personally, one of the great joys and challenges of model making is to make something that is not only an accurate scale model, but also looks like the real thing. This is, I suppose, the crossover between the science and art of modelling. I have to admit with struggling a little on the artistic side,…
It’s been a bit quiet while I’ve been beavering away so here is a progress report on the F kit… To recap a little, the kit will be etched in nickel silver with cast bronze parts and some 3D printed plastic details. There are also some design novelties as well. Test shots of various parts…
The F class is an iconic NZR locomotive. It was one of the most numerically predominant and longest lived locomotives in the country. Examples continued in industrial service after withdrawal and a number of examples are preserved. Just about any NZR layout can justify one. The Fs were built by seven builders in the UK.…
It has been a busy couple of weeks here at New Zealand Finescale, and the blog has been quiet as a result. So this is a bit of a catch up of things that have dropped through the mailbox of late. First up some nice steel dowels. I use these for piston rods and the…
When designing a loco a fairly early decision to be made is how to drive it. This is the stage I’ve being going through with the F. Decisions to be made include: Where to put the motor? Practical and cosmetic considerations. Which axle to drive? How to fit the drive around suspension, compensation and other…
In which your intrepid correspondent continues his wrestle to reconcile 150 year old draughtsmanship with rusty iron and sepia tone prints… The last week has been rather bleak weather-wise, so being tied to the PC has not been an unattractive option. A number of fellow F aficionados have contributed photo collections and drawings, and I…
As keen students of this blog will know, the idea of an F kit gestated for longer than the proverbial elephant. Having rashly displayed the newborn idea in a more public forum, I now find myself with the task of raising this problem child. One of the many issues besetting this unfortunate infant is a…
Every product reaches the point where I feel the urge to produce my definitive build, whereupon I move on to other things. Thus it was, and here it is, for the gig. I was rather taken by a photo on the web of a bright yellow gig. This may not be very typical of a…
The last vehicular distraction was self-inflicted, but this one came by email from Mark Andrews asking if a gig kit was a possibility. The answer to which is absolutely, and here are the first images. The original gig (see here: https://nzfinescale.com/cart-before-the-horse/ ) was drawn by Mark based on a gig in the Fielding museum. That drawing was…
I’m not sure why that title sprang to mind other than this article is written about a Ruby on Tuesday – and the Rolling Stones song of that name is, apparently, Rolling Stone magazine’s 310th greatest song of all time. Just saying. In case you wondered. Maybe a little bit? In an earlier missive (read…
