Future Echoes

It's been a quiet few weeks since I posted at Christmas, and it does seem a bit late to be wishing readers a Happy New Year!

I have spent a little time recently considering "what next?" and "what's achievable?" There are various thoughts at play and despite the appeal of something that the Shifting Sands stock can run on, another part of me wants to push in a different direction. I've always struggled with non-miniature railway O9, but I may now have a helping hand... my dad wasn’t sure what else to buy me for Christmas and I was out of ideas, so this was a complete surprise on Christmas day. I thought “that's too light to be a mug” when I was passed the almost square box...

This is  3D print from FK3D based on the 2ft gauge Abbey Light Railway's Simplex rebuild 'Druid' to fit a Kato 11-109 chassis. It is certainly not to miniature railway proportions but very believable as an 18" gauge locomotive. 

The irony was that I had actually asked for a FK3D print from my sister, who I wouldn’t see after Christmas. I was relieved it was not the same print, although I suppose there is no limit to how many of these you might want and potential variations thereof...  

So a few days later I opened up this little Lister, a very finely detailed print that will require careful painting. I was contemplating adding it to the 15" gauge fleet as a companion to the railcar on a slightly crazy micro layout scheme, but the arrival of the Simplex has meant that I am presently working through a few ideas for something else... 

There's not a lot of modelling underway at present, the Leyland National is slowly heading through the paint shop, currently in reverse, but in a few idle moments I have been working on a driver figure for the Simplex, but he's being photo-shy for now!

Colin