A December Workbench Update - Preparing for winter and Christmas + A Wargame in a Matchbox test-play

Despite that I've postponed  some modelling project to attend to the 'Wargame in a Wee Matchbox Challenge', there are still some few other projects I needed to complete this month. This months Workbench update is characterized by that winter is here, and we're soon up for Christmas. 

The first project out this month started as a couple of photos on a 'WWII German Railway Facebook Group' I follow, featuring snowplows on German Heeresfeldbahn Narrow gauge locomotives of the same type as I've converted.last year (HF130c):

These photos made me want to add something similar on my own locomotive for our Garden Railway running sessions this winter, so I set off to resize and 3D-print some suitable files I found on Thingiverse:

I wanted to see if I could find any more information and photos of these snowplows in a German Heeresfeldbahns book I have, but there I also found drawings of other wagons and snowplows used by the German Heeresfeldbahn during WWII:

A couple of these wagons resembled one that I got in a lot with some other LGB-wagons I bought a long time ago:

Fitted with one of the snowplows I've made for the locomotive, it was loosely starting to look like one of the Herresfeldbahn snowplows in the book:

And it looked even better when painted:

This wagon is pretty light so to be able to move some snow, some weights were added and 'camouflaged':

In the same box l found another small stake-wagon from the same lot, which I haven't used in any of my military trains yet. I didn't buy the lot for any of these wagons, as there were other more interesting items in the lot. Therefore It's just been laying around for a while:

I think it looked almost OK for my use, just a little 'too clean'. I did not do a very elaborate weathering job on this one, just a simple black and brown wash:

I added some passengers and a braizer to keep them warm I made last winter:

One of the LGB wagons I bought at Faszination Modellbau has already made it to the workbench:

I added the (military) sleigh I made last year as a load, as it looks more appropriate on this car than the previous one:

I've wanted some kind of storage looking like wagon-loads to keep, for instance, my Piko remote controller for my locomotive when not in use or when it's parked in the fiddleyard. These crates has removable lids, so I 3D-printed 3 of them:

Last December I made a small H0e/009/H0n30 'Pizza-layout' in just 6 evenings as a Christmas decoration. Since I didn't spend much time creating it, I didn't feel it was quite finished. Even of it's very small size I think it needed more Spruces, so I tried to see how it would look like if I 3D-printed some actually made as wargaming terrain and cover it with snow. OK I think, so now I've doubled the number of trees at the layout (and you can't even notice).

This is not a 'military layout', nor is there any 'military trains' on it. But among all the (new) trees there are some military presence:

I also made and added another snowman (from one of my favorite Christmas shorts) for the layout this year:

He is made to 1:87th scale with a height of 19mm. Who claims small scale miniatures can't be made with fillametn/FDM printers??

I've also got a lighted Christmastree for the layout this year:

Not all the workbench- and modelling projects this month are of the too serious kind...

Finally completing all these 'projects' took a load off my workbench. It's still not a completely clean desk, but it's a start

And another important thing on my workbench this month is this little box (and what to fill it with or not). I've joined the 'Wargame in a Matchbox Challenge', and will cover this project in it's own blogger-posts except for this little 'Wargame in a Matchbox WIP'.

Inspired by the recent Man of TIN blog and Duchy of Tradgardland posts on Little Wars, I was kind of inspired to give my 'cannon approach' one more try with wargaming by firing objects on the opponents. The last one didn't fit so this time I reduced the size and 3D-printed another 'cannon' (merely just a barrel) so it would fit a matchbox along some troops and cannonballs:

The reduced size made the 'cannon' fragile and it malfunctioned, and completely broke down after a few shots. This was obviously not the way to go.

I'm OK that this approach didn't work nevertheless as I've already decided and working on (and are heavy into) another take on this challenge. It need to be completed and test-played before I can present anything, but I guess a (final) update shortly will follow.

I'm not sure how many who are into this challenge now, but it's very interesting and motivating to follow the 'Wargame in a Wee Matchbox Challenge' on other blogs. So far I'm familiar with these:

• The Duchy of Tradgardland
• Man of TIN blog
• Grid based wargaming
• Wargame Hermit: Solo Wargaming
• Deathzap

Those not already there, are now added to the links to other blogs in the menu bar to the right. If you know about anymore bloggers participating in the Challenge, please post a link to them in the comment-section.

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Many of this months workbench-projects has already had it's first outings as I initially wrote in this post; it's winter and soon Christmas and our Model Railway Club was invited to join a 'Christmas market' a local museum.Thais was also a perfect time for this 'mini exhibit' as the International Model Railway Day was at the 2nd December.

My Pizza layout

Another H0e layout by another member of our Model Railway Club

A H0 standard gauge Norwegian layout by another member in our MRC

The Garden Railway temporary train display

Nearly all this wagons or loads has been covered in this month's workbench update

A November Workbench update - and some new acquisitions

So far in November there hasn't been so much time by my workbench as I've been on a trip to Germany to visit Faszination Modellbau in Friedrichshafen with other members of Gleng Model Railway Club. When returning from this great Journey there was time do do some catching up at work.
-But one of the first workbench projects this month was actually while we were in Germany. The rolling-stock for my German G-scale Heeresfeldbahn are mostly LGB items, and as you might expect those are usually (very) expensive. Since I'm dismantling, repainting and detailing them anyway, I usually buy well used second-hand equipment without boxes as you can get those much 'cheaper'. -But then you usually gets what you pay for, so when I found some flat wagons to extend my G-scale Heeresfeldbahn rake at this exhibition, they were so well used and dirty that I barley could handle them and less bring them in my luggage. So when we returned to the hotel I put them in the bathtub and gave them a propper wash. When I was done it looked like the rest of a small German garden in the bottom of the bathtub...

When I came back home I put them in the dishwasher (while mrs. was out) for an even better wash so they can be painted.

While speaking of the Model exhibition in Friedrichshafen; Norwegian currency are weak these days, but Germany are usually cheaper than Norway regarding scale models and model trains so you can do some really good finds. So what did I buy while I was there? 

Obviously I bought 3 LGB G-scale goods-wagons and I got them all for just € 110. My plan for them is to repaint (in 'gray'), weather and add them to  my G-scale Heeresfeldbahn/ W^D trains. Perhaps making and adding some military loads to them in the future as well??

At the Bachmann Trains stand I found these well painted and highly detailed WWI characters in G-scale for only € 8 (!) -That's very cheap for ready painted figures in G-scale, and I think they will make a nice addition to my British W^D train. I'm quite not sure what kind of wagon to place them in yet. Any ideas? They are discounted so get them while you can.

At the Kato stand I found these N-scale (1:160) track-sets for a small 'oval'. These are impossible to find in Norway, and I got them pretty cheap too. Only € 31 pro set. My intention is to use them for a couple of small H0e/009 layouts as I have an old military ammunition box with very tight dimensions. When I do, updates will follow on this blog.

A nice new announcement on the Kato stand was the presentation of their new narrow gauge 009/H0e track in 9mm. They are comparable with their N-scale tracks, but they'll have larger sleepers with larger space between: 

This is only 'close to N-scale' being in 1:144 scale. The wheels don't turn and it seems like a static model. As I have plans for upgrading a N-scale layout soon, I decided to buy this as I got it for only £ 3.55. Despite it's scale is highly detailed:

I got a couple of LGB wagons from another lot I bought, and decided to paint up one of them. Some of the LGB stock has really nice wood grain details which looks really good when bringing them out with paint. The unpainted one I usually use as a camera-wagon:

I don't think there will be spent too much time by the workbench this weekend eiter, as I think it's about time for another wargame trying out new rules. Updates will shortly follow on this blog. Please follow.

Two model railway exhibitions and one Garden Railway running-session - A summary

As I've written in this blog earlier; Neither Wargaming or Model Railways are particularly 'big hobbies' in Norway. Perhaps that's why there are no 'toy soldier shows' and just a few Model Railway exhibitions. The autumn is usually the time for such exhibitions and even if they are few I can't attend to them all as some are arranged on the same weekends (!)  and others on weekends I am coincidentally working. But I've managed to join a couple of Model Railway exhibitions and a day out in a friend's garden for a running-session. Here are some brief impressions:

The Norwegian Railway society's exhibition at Mysen

This was a very small exhibition with few layouts. This Norwegian Gauge 1 (1:32 scale) layout deserves honorable mention though:

On this layout there were running trains from the nearby private railway 'Solbergfossbanen', which was closed many years ago.

And in the engine-shed where the exhibition was held, one of the  prototypes was undergoing preservation too:

A day out at Erik's awesome Garden Railway

Even if it's autumn and the weather is usually not so good anymore (actually it hasn't been all summer), we were quite lucky when Erik invited the club-members to a running-session on his garden railway:

This Rhätische Bahn locomotive is hauling a very long and very heavy rake:

Erik's petite French narrow gauge:

It was heavy traffic on Erik's garden railway during the day out:

I wonder...

...whats read while spending time here? -Something about Simplex narrow gauge locomotives (military) obviously:

This is on the very social end of the hobby. Thank you for your hospitality Erik!

The Model Railway exhibition at Skedsmo

This weekend I managed to visit another model railway exhibition located just some hour away by car. There were some few layouts that caught my attention there.

The winter layout below is a N-scale (1:160 scale) ready made layout by Noch, customised into a Norwegian railway during winter:  

The fellow who exhibited this winter layout also displayed a module in H0e (1:87 scale narrow gauge running on 9mm track) of the Norwegian Aurskog - Høland line:

The layout in this old television was made in Z-scale (1:220 scale). Even if the railbus was German, the scenery and buildings looked 'Norwegian'. Very cool with the old railway magazines on the shelf below:

This was not a very big H0 (1:87 scale) layout but built to very high standards:

All the trams are scratchbuilt after Norwegian prototypes:

And even if this layout was still under construction I immediately recognized this street and buildings as I walked by them daily to my earlier job located on the next block:

A modular Norwegian H0 layout:

N-scale permitts running long trains on a modest area:

Another Z-scale layout: