Another Avenue

 With my 16mm scale micro layout pretty well finished. I’ve been looking around for a new challenge to develop my skills. 

I firmly believe in working in more that one scale, and vastly different scales at that. Techniques are transferable between sizes. Gluing a couple of pieces of .5mm styrene rod together is the same thing wether you’re working in 16mm scale or 4mm scale. It’s just in a different context. Your .5mm rod might be a drainpipe in one scale and a door handle in a larger scale. Working with that change of size and context also helps me develop patience and analytical skills. As I try to work out how things go together.

To that end, I started out doing some work in Nn3. I have been a huge fan of Mark Fielders Nn3 Pizza layout for the longest time. Nn3 uses Z gauge mechanisms and track in N scale to model railways of 3’ to 3’6’. Back in 1995 when this layout was begun, the model railway world was different, there were only Märklin chassis’ to work with to build your projects. Now there’s Rokuhan, and more relevant to me Busch H0f . I remember thinking that Nn3 was the province of mysterious, highly skilled, model makers with watchmakers tools and high powered magnifiers enabling them to see what they are working on. 

But in the years since that layout came out, I work with a magnifier and in some cases, watch makers tools, as well as having a whole new range of skills. Could I work in Nn3?

Following my work with Busch H0f, I had a lot of stock. Locomotives and wagons as well as track. The Busch locomotives are a very clean design, all sealed into a rectangular box. All very easy to scratchbuild a body around I surmised. Before going on to a locomotive, I tried a few wagons. Open wagons, box vans, and a brake van. All simple structures that enabled me to take simple skills, work with them and develop them into something. Overall they worked. Curved roofs were problematic but other than that I had gained confidence to build a simple loco. A simple steam tram. An easy, box like structure that really was simple to work on using styrene strip rod and sheet. There it is, a whole train in Nn3, using my simple skills.

A complete Nn3 train, scratch built on Busch products

The steam tram model I was working on was inspired by Alford and Sutton Tramway No.2. A long defunct steam tramway system in Lincolnshire, England of great interest to me, as I was born and raised in the area. 

As I was completing the model, I came to realize that using 6.5mm gauge track in TT (1:120) scale would be a close approximation to the 2’6” track gauge of the line. That was all I needed, I immediately set out to recreate No.2 in TT:120n30 (more correctly TTe) 

I referred to my copy of George Dow’s book on the line, which has a few handy dimensions, and some reasonable photographs and set out to make the best model I could.

Alford and Sutton Tramway No.2 

All the parts were just a tiny bit bigger than in Nn3, Which helped a little. But I was still using styrene strip .25mm thick, so things were a little fragile. But in the end, I got there.The roof has shaped better than the Nn3 wagons. I feel like it’s quite the passable representation of No.2 especially considering the small size (30mm, just over an inch long).

All this success spurred me on to try and model No.1. It’s a slightly different design to No.2 and has caused me a few problems. But with patience I’ve solved them. I had three failed attempts at it but the fourth time was a charm so to speak.

Three previous attempts at No.1

Cliché “tiny model on finger” shot.

Each attempt solved problems and created new ones. Problems that I could solve in the next version and so on. There’s a little trimming to do and a couple of details to add, but once I get it painted and finally assembled then I think I’ll have a very passable model indeed. Of course, I now feel that my model of No.2 doesn’t match up to my model of No.1 and will probably have to be rebuilt. But confidence breeds confidence and I’ll rebuild it shortly. Though right now I feel like I want to have a go at building a coach or two. I have made some drawings…

In short, don’t be afraid to try something new, something different. Work in a vastly different scale, develop new skills, hone them and transfer them. You may be surprised at what you can do.