Page 7 - November December 2001

Offenhauser, at an average of 113.58 mph. The kit is a fictional conception of what Wilbur Shaw’s Gilmore Speed Shop might have looked in his glory years of racing the Gilmore Lion Special.
The kit comprises of detailed instructions, full-scale drawings, pre-cut basswood walls, stock scale wood, Small- town styrene doors and windows, 80+ full colour signs, 20 cast metal details including three electric gas pumps, air dispenser, barrels, pallets, crates, engines, air cylinders and parts to make a Gilmore Lion Special racing car.
Once the openings were cut out, the walls were painted and then decorated with the colourful signs while still flat. I used Badger paints on the model - sand for the walls, boxcar red for the main doors and shop plus Santa Fe red for the trim. This stage takes about 8 hours altogether including the application of acetate to the windows, which were also liberally decorated with signage using white glue, which dries clear. The second stage is the erection of the walls using exterior corner posts cut from stock wood. The only problem I found with the detailed instructions was an error in the size of the front roof. The instructions called to cut the card stock roof to a width of a 1/4 inch when it should have read 15/16 inches. I used the cardboard from the kit box to recover the situation. The most fiddly bit of the kit was sizing the wooden support posts for the island canopy and the large Gilmore Red Lion Gasoline sign with chequered flag figure. I deviated from the instructions by turning this sign 90 degrees in order to mount the entire scene on a 228 x 330 mm polystyrene sheet. As usual this was scribed with a knife and then sprayed a concrete colour. My thanks go to my wife Jenny who painted the metal details and racing car for me as I was facing a tight deadline to complete the kit and this article. The kit came with more than enough colour signs and stock wood, which will be used to construct some “free” billboards when I find the time!
Ease of Construction:
7 out of 10 (10 being easy)
Construction time:
20 hours
Bang for your buck:
10 out of 10
Space required:
228mm x 330mm including base.
The hardest bit about this kit is cutting the openings in the wood for the windows and doors. That little task took just 30 minutes and from then on this kit was a delight to make. The petrol pumps, racing car and full colour signs are all available separately.
If you have trouble in locating this kit a good source is Valley Model Trains at www.valleymodeltrains.com, fax: 001 845 298 7746 who take plastic and offer most kits at a discount.
BEANERY
UNCOUPLED CARS
Paul Doggett...
...sent me a copy of an article printed in the newsletter of the Operations SIG, with permission to reprint it, which I will do either in this or some future issue. It is basically a review of a commercial (as in cottage industry) computer-based car-forwarding system, and is Part 3 of a series they have been running on various alternative systems available.
The review consists largely of the com- ments (e.g. likes and dislikes) of mod- ellers who have used the system. I’m not sure how many of our members are fa- miliar with SIG’s (Special Interest Groups) within the NMRA, but if you have a particular specialised field of in- terest within the hobby, they are well worth considering. Yes, they will cost you a few dollars for annual membership and newsletters but, taking this item as an ex- ample, I can’t imagine anywhere else you would get such insights into a small niche of the hobby.
Leslie Trill
...kindly sent me a spare copy ( July/Aug. 2001) of a very nice magazine called N Scale Railroading. Though aimed at N scale interest only, it is a remarkable magazine, fully comparable with RMC and MR etc., in quality. The vast number of excellent colour photos show N scale at its best.
A lead feature, which covered Grant East- man’s “Southern Alberta Rail” layout had some of the best scenery I’ve ever seen. At first glance this didn’t look like mod- elling in N... or HO... it looked like 1:1 !
Initially I didn’t even notice that in the first shot the locos were in Grant’s private road-name and colours - it just looked a bit like War Bonnet wide cabs trudging over a bridge and into the wooded mountains. I don’t know if this was a par-
FOR SALE OR SWAP...
...for US or British O scale locos or rolling stock, the following HO items:
Two Bachmann ATSF #3751 4-8-4’s, both excellent, boxed, smoke and steam sound, one with whistle also; IHC/Mehano Mikado and Mogul - both excellent, boxed; Athearn F7A ATSF liv- ery, mint, boxed, plus Bachmann F7B ATSF mint, boxed; Bachmann 2-8-0 ATSF, excellent condition, smoke, no box. Also 10 assorted freight cars/cabooses. Contact Dave Burditt
01858-463941 6-9pm or weekends. Email burditt@harborough.uk.com
FOR SALE:
HO Life Like (Proto 2000) SW9 NYC £35 and Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 NYC £55, both fitted with Kaydee’s and test run only;
ALSO WANTED:
HO scale NYC 2-8-2’s classes H5, H7 or H10.
Contact Dave Theobold,
Tel. No. 01782 641356 or e-mail
HELP WANTED:
Can anybody either let me have, or point me in the direction of plans and/or pic- tures of the roof layout and details of the first production series of UP gas tur- bines, numbers 51 to 60. I will happily re- imburse any costs.
Steve Quick, 15 King Edward Road, Leicester, LE5 4DD, tel. 0116 2128186.
FOR SALE:
Tenshodo WB series Motorised Trucks. £25 each plus postage.
Contact Derek Frow on 01225-832934 or e-mail ghiarail@rail.demon.co.uk
ADVERTISING IN ROUNDHOUSE:
Please send “BEANERY” (private sales, exchanges and wants) adverts. to the Editor. Insertions are free of charge though it is traditional to donate a small percentage of receipts from successful sales (particularly those involving larger sums) to the Region. COMMERCIAL/TRADE advertisers: send enquiries as to rates, deadlines and other details, to John Sammans, 32 Oker Ave., Darley Dale, Matlock, DERBYS. DE4 2GN
PLEASE MENTION ROUNDHOUSE WHEN REPLYING TO ADVERTS - PRIVATE OR COMMERCIAL.
DECEMBER 2001 7