L'heure bleue: a new French layout

[Neil]

I wondered if something like this partly demolished building would suit the area defined by the blue foam block. Keeping it to mainly the lower story would maintain the sightlines but also give a further focal point.

[Barry Ten]

Very characterful, Neil!

[JAMO]

What a very nice and atmospheric project!

 

About advertising, you can type "affiches anciennes" on Google, then click on "pictures" and you'll find a really good collection.

 

It can be interesting to write "DEFENSE D'AFFICHER" or "DEFENSE D'AFFICHER    LOI DU 29 JUILLET 1881" with white paint or on enamel letterings.

Edited July 15, 2018 by JAMO

[Barry Ten]

Thanks for the kind words, Jack. I must crack on with this layout again!

[Trevor_H]

While I accept the general premise that it is easier to model region 2 (Nord) than 5 or 6 (Sud-Ouest, Sud Est), it is not entirely hopeless.

 

http://82.240.92.237/dev2000/WebPagesGB/acceuil_fer.html&&2wxBSk6c662aNxMopLGoxlCoh24ckTWak6TakT6a

 

https://www.regionsetcompagnies.fr/media/catalogue/2018/catalogue-maquettes-carton-regions-et-compagnies-2018_web.pdf - only as far south as Bourgogne

 

http://www.boismodelisme.com/store/ho:-1:87eme/architecture

 

http://patrick-gazel.fr/index.php?page=catalogue&echelle=ho - a bit twee for me but can certainly be used.

 

http://www.architecture-passion.fr/index.php?item=&action=page&group_id=20000017&page=2&lang=FR - good range of Southern railway architecture

 

 

Of course you have to be picky and an alpine chalet will look wrong on the coast (west or south).

[Trevor_H]

Hello to you, a very interesting read the interchanges on modelling French outline. I have been really happy with PN Sud Modélisme stuff, bridges and signal box - love the textured results that you get. He is planning retirement soon (possibly active) so some lines may be discontinued -

Otherwise, please have a look at Cité Miniatures, his laser cut kits are amazing and a pleasure to put together. Have built a three lane maintenance shed and good shed both are brilliant. If you need any info please beep and I ll pont you in the right direction. Best regards Trevor

[Barry Ten]

I think the little shop wedged between the cafe and the bridge should be a model shop.

 

Ask and ye shall receive.

 

 

In one of those handy coincidences, I received a flyer in the mail from Au Pullman models in Paris. The sheet included numerous tiny logos for

model railway manufacturers, just right for some signs in a model shop. I avoided the more recent brands such as REE, sticking to ones I

remember being around in the 70s, and perhaps earlier.

 

The shop is tucked into a cosy corner so not hugely obvious from ordinary viewing angles:

 

 

Meanwhile, I've added lights and fixed into place another of the Artitec facades, on the other side of the river:

 

 

The two car autorail on the bridge is the LS Models item, which I picked up at Trainsmania in Lille last year.

[NHY 581]

Janvier 2019..........C'est bon, oui?

 

Rob

[Barry Ten]

Oui, oui ... je suis un rock star (or something).

[NHY 581]

Ça plane pour moi.......

[Baby Deltic]

Oui, oui ... je suis un rock star (or something).

 

[Barry Ten]

A few shots showing the beginnings of  detailing around the river/canal scene. I added some railings to the steps down to the quayside, soldered up from

brass rod. Much easier to do than I expected it would be. I glued the uprights in very loosely, then soldered the top rails an upright at a time, bending

where appropriate, and then adjusted the uprights as required.

 

 

Looking to the Left Bank, the idea being that they've had to reinforce the side wall at some point. I've started adding some weedy overgrowth but

there'll be more to come.

 

 

The railings in front of the corner cafe are from Decapod; really nice, just wish I'd bought a few more packs at the time. The chairs and tables are

from Auhagen; they're a bit on the heavy side but I plan to add some tablecloths and clutter, which I hope will take the eye away from the thickness

of the tables. On the plus side, they're nicely robust. The lone bicycle (resting against the cafe) is from Artitec.

 

In the background, still being worked on, is an oddly-shaped cabin made from the Wills taxi-mans' rest house. This might end up as a creperie or

something similar.

 

 

I used nano LEDs  to add some red and green lights to the bridges. Eventually the river bed will be varnished so I hope there'll be a nice effect of these

lights reflected in the rippling surface. I spent a lot of time looking for evidence of what side would be green or red, assuming there's a standard

convention, but in the end I went for this arrangement based on a vague memory of bridge lights in Strasbourg. If anyone quibbles, this is just the

way they do it at this point on this canal!

 

 

Cheers, all.

[Mike Storey]

This is looking even better with the added details, lights and weeds Barry.

 

It just struck me that perhaps one of those red, nano lights should be above a door, or in a window or two, in this area??

[Barry Ten]

This is looking even better with the added details, lights and weeds Barry.

 

It just struck me that perhaps one of those red, nano lights should be above a door, or in a window or two, in this area??

 

Definitely!

[Fat Controller]

Definitely!

'Somewhere where they never change the sheets', as Warren Zevon put it..My wife did an SNCF signalling course at La Chapelle, which this model is very evocative of.

[Barry Ten]

I've been working on a building to fill the odd corner at the end of the current row of shops and cafes. I started with a Region et Compagnies

estate agents which was initially built as intended, but it didn't look quite right in the place it was meant to end up. In the end, faced

with fitting something into this corner, I decided to cut the estate agents' down and rebuild it to suit this new site, using the back as a new,

angled extension onto the front:

 

 

Not too much of the kit gets wasted in this way, and the resultant roof-line should look quite interesting, I hope. I've

made provision for lighting this one, and am just waiting on the red LEDs which may well find a use in one of the

upper windows.

 

I've also made a start on scratchbuilding some grottier, more industrial-looking properties to fill the plot of land

on the other side of the road, as can be seen with this white, single-storey building which will end up as an iron-mongers

or something. There'll be a cluster of these shabby properties in this part of the layout, easing the transition from

the pleasant, urban bit into the more open, run-down area of railway sidings on the right.

 

Finally, I've been working adding a few low-relief structures to the rear backscene. Some careful adjustment of verticals

may be in order!

 

 

That's it for now, thanks for reading.

Edited November 4, 2018 by Barry Ten

[Barry Ten]

I've got one Faller vehicle which I'm very happy with but it does look a little incongruous driving around with no lights when the layout's in night-time mode.

 

Hence, I've been trying to add front and rear lights. There's a rather handy-looking kit available from a German manufacturer but their website doesn't seem to

allow shipment to the UK, although I've emailed them to see if there's a possibility. In the meantime I thought I'd try a home-brewed installation using some nano

LEDS.

 

The ones I sourced are from DCC Concepts and come pre-wired, essential in my case because they're absolutely tiny and I'd have no hope of soldering them

myself. They're of a kind which have 3 wires, enabling them to switch from white to red. Figuring out which wire is which is a bit of a swine because they're not

labelled and the common positive is only slightly longer than the other two. They come with 1K and 10K resistors which need to be wired to the negative leads, 

but there's no guidance as to which is best for which. I wired them to the battery terminals in the Faller vehicle (which I think puts out 3V) and since the white

was already fairly faint on 1K, I left it at that. i was a bit disappointed at the lack of documention on the DCC Concepts website.

 

In any case, the results are unacceptably faint:

 

 

So, as a proof of concept it's all right but I'm going to need a brighter solution. The problem may li in my installation, the nature of bi-colour leds, or the

inherent low-voltage power supply of the onboard battery.

 

Back to the drawing board!

 

[Allegheny1600]

Very clever stuff mate, it's coming together nicely and your 'roof lines' are fascinating.

Wonderfully evocative stuff.

[Barry Ten]

Thank you, John, very kind.

[Joseph_Pestell]

Ça plane pour moi.......

 

He was Belgian iirc

[TT-Pete]

He was Belgian iirc

 

Allei une fois! Nondi jus.

[rue_d_etropal]

I've got one Faller vehicle which I'm very happy with but it does look a little incongruous driving around with no lights when the layout's in night-time mode.

 

Hence, I've been trying to add front and rear lights. There's a rather handy-looking kit available from a German manufacturer but their website doesn't seem to

allow shipment to the UK, although I've emailed them to see if there's a possibility. In the meantime I thought I'd try a home-brewed installation using some nano

LEDS.

 

The ones I sourced are from DCC Concepts and come pre-wired, essential in my case because they're absolutely tiny and I'd have no hope of soldering them

myself. They're of a kind which have 3 wires, enabling them to switch from white to red. Figuring out which wire is which is a bit of a swine because they're not

labelled and the common positive is only slightly longer than the other two. They come with 1K and 10K resistors which need to be wired to the negative leads, 

but there's no guidance as to which is best for which. I wired them to the battery terminals in the Faller vehicle (which I think puts out 3V) and since the white

was already fairly faint on 1K, I left it at that. i was a bit disappointed at the lack of documention on the DCC Concepts website.

 

In any case, the results are unacceptably faint:

 

van_lights.jpg

 

So, as a proof of concept it's all right but I'm going to need a brighter solution. The problem may li in my installation, the nature of bi-colour leds, or the

inherent low-voltage power supply of the onboard battery.

 

Back to the drawing board!

looks OK to me. Don't want them to be too bright. Also I seem to remember headlights being yellow. Memories of being able to buy a yellow liquid to paint on , if you took your vehicle to France.

Edited November 10, 2018 by rue_d_etropal

[Barry Ten]

looks OK to me. Don't want them to be too bright. Also I seem to remember headlights being yellow. Memories of being able to buy a yellow liquid to paint on , if you took your vehicle to France.

 

They've ended up yellow for some reason! I think it may be a reaction between the cyano and the PVA type stuff I used to glue them in. You are right about headlights being

yellow, I remember that from my first visits to France in 1979 and 1980.

[BernardTPM]

Have a look at this video of Paris by night - the headlights are hardly any more noticeable than the reflections from shiny paintwork.

Edited November 10, 2018 by BernardTPM

[wenlock]

Just been catching up with all this wonderful French stuff! Very atmospheric Al, You just need to add the smell of cheap perfume, Gitanes cigarette smoke and the sound of accordion music:-)

 

It all reminds me of 10cc’s One night in Paris!

 

Looking forward to watching this one progress!