Workbench projects - ending the old year on a high.

Making the most of the time off work, the school holiday and the need to stay at home to comply with the Tier 4 restrictions, Christmas 2020 proved to be a quiet and enjoyable time in and around the house. With the children now at an age where they are able to entertain themselves, for some of the time at least, I was able to escape to the workbench for an hour or two on most days which enabled me to tinker with various projects that i have under way.

I spent some of the time trying to finish this standard gauge Hibberd Planet locomotive built from the excellent Planet Industrials kit designed by James Hilton. I bought it from the Narrow Planet stand at the 2019 Warley show (ahh, model railway exhibitons ... remember them?) but didn't get round to starting the build until the summer. In keeping with the designer's intentions, it's an easy kit to build combining 3D prints and etched panels running on a Tenshodo Spud chassis. The length of time taken to reach this 'nearly-finished stage' is wholly down to my own inability to stick to one thing at a time rather than any issues with the kit itself. The picture shows the almost completed model, which now just needs couplings, the addition of a driver figure and a little more weathering to complete. 

Check out the Planet Industrials website https://www.planetindustrials.co.uk/ to see their range of interesting products and to see their exciting plans for 2021 (I have no connection with Planet Industrials other than as a very satisfied customer and the occasional exchange of banter with the proprietors at exhibitions over the years). 

There are several other things on the bench at present as well, and slow progress is also being made with a permanent loft layout, but we'll finish here by wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year and let's hope it's not too long before life returns to normal.