I actually finished the model back in February so in total it took about five and a half years from start to finish. I had every intention of blogging about the finished model, I even shot the photos and video for this post, but then I got side tracked by one thing or another, and that was before the world went crazy. Anyway, roughly five years and eleven months from starting and I give you a completed Canopus...
I'll be the first to admit that these close up shots are rather cruel (I'd not noticed the odd shape to the chimney in real life, or the gap under the cab roof) but in normal viewing I'm really quite happy with how it's turned out. Given it was, and still is, the first etched chassis I've ever built and all the problems that made it difficult to build the fact I've finished it at all seems like a triumph. Just to prove it still works here's a short video of it on the test track (it won't go around my tight circular track as the wheelbase is too long now the rear pony truck is fitted)
It's never going to be the best runner (it's locked up a couple of times but I think this is the gearbox shifting and not the quartering) but I'm really rather proud of how it turned out.
Apologies it's been so long since the last post on this blog. I have been doing quite a bit of modelling and railway related research I've just not had the time or enthusiasm to write proper blog posts. Sorry. Hopefully this will mark the re-start of more frequent posts but no promises.
Good to see you back and good to see Canopus.
ReplyDeleteThanks Adrian. Now I just need to do a few more posts to catch up with what I've done since I last posted. Hopefully I'll actually get them written rather than letting cobwebs grow over the blog again.
Delete"the fact I've finished it at all seems like a triumph" - even an imperfect finished model, and this one looks very good to me, is better than one left in a box unstarted or in a drawer half-built. Sometimes you just have to plug away at a project and decide the most important thing is to finish. The lessons learned and skills picked up are worth the effort - or at least that's what I try to persuade myself!
ReplyDeleteAnd camera are cruel. If it looks OK in real life then it's OK.
I most certainly agree that "The lessons learned and skills picked up are worth the effort". Given all the things I've finished since I started building Canopus it's interesting to realise that it contains the first etched parts I drew up myself (to replace the connecting rods) and it's the first model I've finished which contains brass parts I've turned myself on the lathe. So yes, definitely worth the effort even if there were occasions when I wanted to throw it out the window!
DeleteNow I just have to decide if I want to finish one of the other half-built models or hunt through the unstarted pile for something new...
I think it's a triumph Mark, you should be very proud! It may have taken some time, but model making is a personal pursuit, not a sprint, or at anyone other than your own timescale. It's great to see the finished model - I remember you starting this and discussing the issues you found as you went through the construction.
ReplyDeleteLooking good and running nicely. Getting sidetracked is no bad thing, there's more to life than modelling, however recent events have shown just how important a hobby can be, especially one that is as absorbing as ours.
ReplyDeleteAs for your next project, how about starting something new whilst finishing something else. I like to have two or three projects on the workbench at the same time and do a little on each every day.
Lockdown has actually been quite frustrating as I'd have loved to have relaxed a little with some modelling but with my wife at work (she's a hospital doctor) and our son's nursery closed I've done the full time childcare role. This meant I couldn't work (I did try working while looking after him and it was impossible) so had to try and do little bits of work here and there in the evening once he was in bed. What I wouldn't have given for some time for me.
DeleteAnyway his nursery is now open again and I'm back working. As there is no time lost to commuting I'm planning to fit a little bit of modelling time in here and there which will hopefully help me sanity.
I did dig through the part started projects earlier today, but they are all either new kit designs I'm working on or need lots of scratch building. I think what I need is something reasonably simple where I can just follow the instructions and don't have to think too hard. So yes, I think one of the unstarted kits is the way to go.
I've worked most of the way through lockdown, apart from 2 weeks off when my wife woke up with symptoms (which turned out not to be Covid), and another 2 weeks when I burned my hand with a steam hose. But, lockdown came around just as my mojo returned, and the time off was used to get a lot done.
DeleteI like simple projects, and I make sure that there's a few kits stashed about that I can just build without too much messing, one's where there's always scope for extra detailing should I feel inclined. I look forward to seeing what you choose.