Steve

SM32 ? Seriously ??

I’ve long admired the SM32 kits by Phil Sharples.

I’ve tried to resist buying them because 1:19 scale is BIG and I really don’t need to model in another scale / gauge combination.

This week I finally succumbed… and I’m pleased I did, the kits look great.

One other factor helped me decide to dip my toe in the water. Chris Rennie at Loco Remote has designed a full set of SM32 track that you can download for free and print yourself. Thanks Chris, this makes trying SM32 possible for people like me 🙂

I’ve printed some of the track…

Regular readers will know there are a lot of ideas floating around in my mind.

The solution is a year long meditation retreat in Ladakh, but that’s unlikely to happen.

Instead I will be experimenting in a BIG scale 🙂

9 comments

  2. Excellent! I’d like to see how you get on with the loco as I have my eye on that one myself.

    I find smertytoo to be a nice counterpoint to my 006 modelling, big and chunky with loads of character, and fun to play with. I’ve never had a garden line, just temporary tracks here and there with battery powered Saltford Models diesels and Binnie skips, a far cry from the usual idea of steam locos pulling rakes of coaches along heavily engineered permanent way.

    I like the look of that track, like the type of panels that Hudson or Decauville would have supplied. Up here I have an oval of plastic Faller, and I’ve also some tinplate and Tri-ang Big Big in storage which I can’t lay my hands on right now.

    You would also I think enjoy building harvest waggons from lolly sticks!

    I had to Google Ladakh. I’d settle for a week in a cottage in the North Yorkshire moors.

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    • Hi Paul, I didn’t realise that you modelled in 16mm too. You really have two different extremes with 006 and SM32 !
      It sounds like you have some interesting stock and track. I will have to look into those manufacturers.
      I must admit, I prefer little locos with little stock too. I rather fancy a shunting layout in 16mm… but that’s a virtual layout in my head at the moment 🙂

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      • I started with 16mm in the 90s, then paused for a while, and I started again this year. Back then Saltford Models were still trading, now the range is long gone but fondly remembered.

        On the workbench at the moment are two harvest waggons to go with the two that I’ve recently built and an Invicta Model Works RAF Calshott wagon, and there are two more kits under the bench awaiting their turn.

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  3. This 16mm stuff is so cool. It’s a funny sort of scale because there’s no denying how big everything gets but then how it all still feels like it fits into reasonable spaces. And the offset for me remains how it doesn’t feel as dedicated to the hobbyshop as the smaller scales do—I tend to look among found materials and “gee, I’d like to make something with this” kind of curious thinking.

    Enjoy!

    (That retreat sounds very attractive)

    —Chris

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    • Hi Chris,
      Yes, 16mm is a funny scale, with a range of modellers, some very serious prototype modellers, through freelancing, to other people producing Emett style flights of fancy.
      It is big and the parts feel lovely in my hands. I’m having to use different tools too: sandpaper, large pliers and a hacksaw. I’m finding that rather refreshing.
      I’m going to build the first kits ‘straight’, no modifications or upgrades. I want to just enjoy building a kit.
      Interestingly I’ve been drawn into ‘can I make something from this?’ for O9/On18. That gets fiddly and the timelines become protracted. Perhaps ‘just building a kit’ will be a refreshing change!

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