It’s been a while since my last blog post. This is mainly because not a lot has happened!

Before I get on to our latest steam rally, I’ll briefly mention the modelling I’ve been doing…

I have been learning various techniques for use on the Warspite model and mainly practising my airbrushing technique. Airbrushing in itself isn’t too difficult, but finding the correct paint/thinner mix is the tricky part; get that right and the rest just happens!

Above you can see the tail end of a 1:72 scale Lockheed Martin F 16C Fighting Falcon by PM Models. This model was kindly donated to me by a work colleague for practising on. The paint finish isn’t perfect, but it’s significantly better than it would be with a brush, and once it’s had a coat of clear varnish, I’m sure it’ll look good enough for me!

The other thing I’ve started is sanding the base of the hull! A while ago I glued the two halves of the hull together and now I’m sanding them down with 1500 and 2000 grit wet-and-dry paper ready for their first coat of primer.

Above you can see the nearly finished bow and below you can see the not-yet-started stern.

The next thing to do is to fill the gap down the middle to make it perfectly smooth. I’ll do this just before the primer goes on, and hopefully it’ll then be ready for it’s first coat of paint!

The other thing that’s happened since the last blog post is Strumpshaw Steam Rally!

We didn’t take the Matchless to Strumpshaw because we were a bit late booking in, so Sarah and I paid our entry fee and stayed from Friday evening until Monday evening without the bike. We had a great time too; the weather was great and there was lots going on!

While I think of it, something I don’t think I’ve done before is explain that a Steam Rally isn’t actually just about steam engines. Above you can see some of the many Land Rovers that were on display amongst the military vehicles.

There were also tractors…

Motorcycles…

Goats…

Ostriches…

Scratch-built model boats…

An entire steam museum…

Cars…

A beer tent…

Live music…

An entire fairground…

Powered by Showman’s engines…

Wood sawing…

Train rides…

And a sheep dog demonstration!

The other thing that happened at Strumpshaw was a road run on Saturday and Sunday evening to a local pub. Sarah and I went along on Sunday having hitched a lift from a very generous Mr. Garrod in the back of his Foden steam wagon.

Above is S. Garrod’s steam wagon and below is the view over the roof as we were travelling down the road!

You can see our trip to the pub, plus almost every other aspect of the rally in the high quality 720p HD video below…

If the video above doesn’t work, you can also watch it in slightly lower quality here.

Photos of Strumpshaw Steam Rally 2010

Video of Strumpshaw Steam Rally 2010 (Also available on Youtube in HD!)

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