Alex Duckworth
Active Member
An oldie to start - still the favourite of my NG models, track gauge is 8mm.
Alex.
Alex.
Last edited:
4mm On the Narrow Gauge.
- Thread starter Alex Duckworth
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- 4mm narrow gauge wd
Alex Duckworth
Active Member
20hp. Simplex tractor from the Nigel Lawton kit, scratchbuilt gun transporter wagon carrying a W^D Models 18lb field gun.
Alex.
Alex.
Jon Gwinnett
Western Thunderer
Excellent in so many ways.
I'm finding the centenary publicity quite difficult, my little family lost two brave men in the first war, one a gunner with the Royal Garrison Artillery. We still have the letter his CO wrote to his mother, and it's heartbreaking to read this man speak in such mundane terms of the horrors he has seen, and which he cannot convey or comprehend the effect that will have on those back home.
The other, a private (Guardsman?) in the Grenadiers vanished in the horror of Passchendale.
These models, beyond their instrinsic quality, stand tribute to those two, and all the other brave farmhands and men of all professions who marched off to war and never came back.
I'm finding the centenary publicity quite difficult, my little family lost two brave men in the first war, one a gunner with the Royal Garrison Artillery. We still have the letter his CO wrote to his mother, and it's heartbreaking to read this man speak in such mundane terms of the horrors he has seen, and which he cannot convey or comprehend the effect that will have on those back home.
The other, a private (Guardsman?) in the Grenadiers vanished in the horror of Passchendale.
These models, beyond their instrinsic quality, stand tribute to those two, and all the other brave farmhands and men of all professions who marched off to war and never came back.
Alex Duckworth
Active Member
Thank you all. I started to model the WDLR after finding some photos of my grandfather who was a mounted driver in a RFA field gun team. He was the son of a railway worker and interested in anything to do with them - I like to think that he would have enjoyed the models.
Alex.
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
This little bit of the OP just tickled me - a simple statement that totally understates the effort required....
My paternal Grandad & maternal Greatgrandad were in WW1. They both survived, but died way before I was born. It'd be easy to say "I wish I'd met them", but I doubt I'd have heard much about it from them. Like the majority of those men, apparently, they never spoke about their experiences, even to their immediate families.... which almost says more about the horror they went through than a detailed account....
Alex Duckworth
Active Member
A Dick,Kerr petrol tractor built from the Worsley Works 'scratchaid' etches, with quite a lot of extra detail added.
Alex.
Alex.
Jon Gwinnett
Western Thunderer
It's a mark of quality modelling that the scale is nigh impossible to tell. I'll wager few if any of us would have known how big these were without Alex's notes...
Alex Duckworth
Active Member
Thank you all. Yet another, the Lawton 20hp. Simplex again, with the Meridian Models Pechot well wagon - figures by W^D Models, scratchbuilt 6 inch gun in the background.
Alex.
Alex.
ceejaydee
Western Thunderer
Fantastic models and I'll agree with Jon about the photos not giving away the size... I'd have guessed at 1:43 scale on 14mm track minimum but more likely 1/32 scale on 3/4" track; but 4mm scale on 8mm track - WOW 
The Dick Kerr petrol tractor is such an ugly beast but I love it
The Dick Kerr petrol tractor is such an ugly beast but I love it
Alex Duckworth
Active Member
Last of the W^D photos. John Bull resin 6inch howitzer with extra detailing on Parkside bogies, Parkside "E" well wagon modified to "F"class, Meridian 40hp. protected Simplex with interior detail. This gun mounting was an experiment by a Canadian light railway company, the gun would be swivelled sideways to fire with its trail in a semicircular metal track, just visible stowed in the wagon.
Alex.
Alex.
SimonT
Western Thunderer
Alex,
can you tell us anything about the use of these guns? The movement forward of the guns was a major problem because of the ground and it was sometimes the reason why attacks stalled as the creeping barrage couldn't move forward to protect the infantry. Was this an attempt to get around the problem?
Simon
can you tell us anything about the use of these guns? The movement forward of the guns was a major problem because of the ground and it was sometimes the reason why attacks stalled as the creeping barrage couldn't move forward to protect the infantry. Was this an attempt to get around the problem?
Simon
Neil
Western Thunderer
I've recently finished reading Christian Wolmar's Engines of War. If you haven't already guessed it centres around the roles railways have played in conflicts since the Crimean war. The largest part of it is devoted to WW1. I thought it might be a bit dry but it's been a fascinating read. More of a tactical overview than an intimate blow by blow account, highly recommended.
Alex Duckworth
Active Member
I'm sure that someone toyed with the idea of a mobile battery, but I've only ever seen or heard of two examples, this gun and a 60lb field gun similarly mounted. Some 18lb guns were moved on transporter wagons (photo 3) and heavier pieces such as the 6 and 8in. howitzers were sometimes moved on specially adapted "F " wagons. The great majority of 18lb guns and limbers however were moved by six horse teams and manpower whilst the heavier guns were pulled by Daimler or Holt tractors, early four wheel drive trucks, or in many cases also horse teams. Traction engines were used for the big guns initially but were too easily bogged down and their steam exhausts were a tempting target for German artillery spotters, this same reason kept NG steam engine use well behind the lines and out of artillery range. Front line supplies and shells for the batteries were moved up at night by petrol tractors.
Alex.
Alex Duckworth
Active Member
Non WDLR now, the WHR's NGG 16 converted from the excellent Backwoods kit.
Just noticed that the tail of the R is missing.
Alex.
Just noticed that the tail of the R is missing.
Alex.
Alex Duckworth
Active Member
The last of my current NG posts, a Muir-Hill tractor conversion, 009 this time. 3D printed Fordson tractor, scrap Perspex bogie on a Kato Portram chassis, CT Electronik decoder. I'm also making a powered skip to keep it company.
Alex.
Alex.
Alex Duckworth
Active Member
As it's been a good while since I posted, a few more 4mm narrow gauge items. First up, a scratchbuilt motorised skip running on a
Portram chassis, second a peat railway type Lister built on a skip chassis, model is scratchbuilt from scrap etch and whitemetal on a Saltford Models chassis. Also on a Portram. Lastly a Cranmore class Peckett built from the excellent Small Run Batch kit.
Alex.
Portram chassis, second a peat railway type Lister built on a skip chassis, model is scratchbuilt from scrap etch and whitemetal on a Saltford Models chassis. Also on a Portram. Lastly a Cranmore class Peckett built from the excellent Small Run Batch kit.
Alex.
David Varley
Western Thunderer
Worth the wait, Alex