Hello
Plenty of new items have just been added to the bargains section of the website including lots of second hand locomotives such as Thomas, Percy, Wrenn, On30 locomotives and wagons, continental engines, tramways, ... And also lots of new figures from Busch, chrome and silver markers, magnetic paint mixer, wet palette, etc... Click on this link to see them.
Don't forget to read our latest modelling tips and unboxing videos located at the bottom of the newsletter.
Feel free to send this newsletter to your friends, family and club members if you think they will benefit from it. They can subscribe for free.
This week in history
On Saturday July 23rd 1983, an Air Canada Boeing 767 airliner
inadvertently made one of the most remarkable flights in aviation
history. Due to a faulty fuel gauge and manual fuel calculation, Boeing
767 C-GAUN ran out of fuel at
41,000 feet whilst flying between Ottawa and Edmonton. After the first
engine failed the crew suspected a fuel pump problem until the other
engine failed and a master fuel alarm sounded. Flying without engines
had never been covered before in training. Realising they could not
make Winnipeg, which was the closest realistic alternative, the pilot
opted for a disused Air Force Station at Gimli in Manitoba. Being
experienced in gliders, the pilot flew the aircraft as a glider for over 70 miles and executed a forced landing.
The nosewheel gave way on landing, which was a blessing as the
landing speed had been high. The added friction of the nose of the
fuselage on the runaway helped slow the plane to a stop. All 69 occupants onboard survived and after repairs, C-GAUN, now known as the Gimli Glider, returned to
service with Air Canada and was subsequently retired in January 2008
after 25 years of service.
Do you have one?
This week's Tool for Thought is the Contour Sanding Stick by MIG Jimenez. This is a set of six sanding sticks,
each with a different grain to allow a modeller to choose the most
appropriate tool for the task. At just 4mm wide, these sticks have been
developed for work in tight spaces and on delicate parts. The available grades include:- 120 /180 /240
/320 /1200 /1500. The sticks are effective on a range of materials
including wood, white metal, resin and plastic and can be used either wet or dry as is most appropriate.
Horticulture and Smallholdings
In the past, we looked at the options for developing various
configurations of woodland on a OO/HO gauge layout or diorama (you can read this past newsletter by clicking here). On a similar theme, for the newsletter this week, we will look at some of the options for developing areas dedicated to horticulture, such as nurseries, smallholdings and market gardens in a the same OO scale. Incorporating an area specifically dedicated to horticulture into a layout can greatly benefit a modeller.
In many cases, areas given over to horticulture such as
smallholdings and market gardens have a finite amount of space to work
with. This last factor alone can bring significant benefits to
modellers working with small layouts. Additionally, these activities
can be quite colourful, which means they can add significant interest and visual appeal to a layout or diorama.
The German manufacturer Busch has a significant range of items that will help us to develop a horticultural theme, such as their 'Plant Nursery'. This comprehensive set has a selection of trees, shrubs and planters together with fences and associated scatter material to produce the appropriate soil substrates. Similarly, their 'Grape Vines' and 'Grape Harvest' sets are complementary and capture all the hustle and bustle of a busy vineyard as the grapes are manually gathered at Harvest time.
With a range of potential uses, the humble sunflower is as useful as it is appealing. The 'Sunflower Field' set contains sufficient parts to assemble up to 60 of these impressive plants with bases. Strawberries are a very popular crop at any time of year but most especially so in summer. The 'Strawberry Plants' set allows a modeller to incorporate 40 plants, complete with ripe fruit into a layout or diorama. Although economical on space, these plants are likely to make a significant visual impression, especially when used in conjunction with the eye-catching 'Strawberry Sales Stand' set. All of these sets are manufactured by Busch.
Market gardens are a great feature for a modeller to develop in a layout. As a theme, they can easily be developed from a country garden or an allotment. Inevitably, in these environments, vegetables destined for the kitchen table are a popular choice to grow, such as the 'Cabbage and Lettuce' set by Busch. On a similar theme and provided by the same manufacturer is the 'Potato Plants' set with its 30 plants ready for harvesting. The 'Pleasure Garden' scenic set by Faller is an interesting contrast to the previous items; it provides a selection of bushes and flowers in full bloom ready to be incorporated into a suitable scene.
The 'Pumpkin Field' by Busch will be a good option for modellers who are looking to add both colour and variety to their layout. The set provides 80 pumpkins of varying hues and sizes, together with their associated leaves and foliage. For modellers with smaller layouts looking for visual impact then what better option than a hop field. The 'Hops' set by Tasma, with its 32 plants will allow a modeller to develop a truly eye-catching vignette. For those looking for smaller and more subtle touches, the 'Hanging Baskets' set, also by Tasma will help add those final touches to a scenario.
Horticulture-based items offer the modeller the dual benefits of visual impact whilst being generally economical on the space required to incorporate them into a layout. Inevitably the sets chosen can act as a suitable setting to integrate a variety of figure sets and other complementary cameo sets such as a fruit and veg market, all of which add significant interest and visual appeal to the layout for a casual observer. Why not take up the challenge and incorporate a horticulture or smallholding-based theme into your next project?
Modelling tips
We keep on adding modelling tips to our website. Here are the latest ones:
- What is a sprue on a scale model kit?
- What is the difference between plastic and resin?
- What is the Iron Duke class of locomotives?
- What is detailing?
- What was Wrenn?
- Whare are GWR "bloater" vans?
- What is flock as used for scale modelling?
- What colour is the Mallard engine painted?
- What are flatbed wagons used for?
- Where should I put the canopies on my platform?
You can read all the articles sorted by categories or from the most recent published one on our website.
Unboxing videos
You want to know what is inside the boxes of modelling products? We open them for you! Subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified before everyone else or simply click on this selection. Please note that videos are at the bottom of each page:
You can access all the unboxing videos by visiting this page or simply click on the link called "videos" on our website.
Events and exhibitions
Do you need to order?
Send us an email or give us a call to check availability or to reserve anything, whatever scale you model in. As usual, if we do not have in stock what you are looking for, we will order it for you and you will get it fast (usually within a week if the manufacturer has it in stock). We place weekly orders with most suppliers.
Remember, you can park for free for one hour on the High Street. So no excuse not to come and visit us!
Upstairs Downstairs is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am till 4.30pm. Obviously, our website is open 24h a day and we can post to most locations, including Europe, USA and Australia.
Upstairs Downstairs
3 Pier Street
Sandown, PO36 8JR
Isle of Wight
Tel: 01983 406 616
http://www.trainshop.co.uk or find us on Facebook
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