Jump to content
 

Recommended Posts

Looking at the coal loading tower cover and I'm really not pleased with it. I will scrap it and start again I think. I will re-use some the timber as I like the colour of it but the structure is too weak and a bit spindly. I like my structures to be able to survive a knock and I know this one wont. If I ever get this layout on the exhibition circuit I want it to survive it!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest ShildonShunter

Luke I will look forward to see what you come up with re the coal tower great modelling all the same.:)

Link to post
Share on other sites

I've done some more on the layout. With the structures pretty much finished (apart from the coaling tower which is half way through construction) I can turn my attention to the scenery of the layout. To give a kind of ash-y, dirty look I have ballasted the entire layout with beach sand. Nothing special about this at all as I took a jar of it from the beach last time I was there. I let it dry out naturally then put it in storage for use. This was glued down with watered down pva mix and was mister over with water.post-32204-0-91842600-1523731807_thumb.jpg This takes quite sometime and I left it over night to dry. Today I come back to it armed with plaster. I watered-down all purpose filler (poly filler would work perfectly well too and so would DAS clay I think) and paint this on top of the dry sand. Frustratingly, some of the sand came up which was helpful and takes time to rectify. I have also gone over the areas built up with corrugated card board to create a smoother landscape. post-32204-0-17070600-1523731998_thumb.jpg Looks a bit dodgy but hopefully it will come out alright after some washes have been applied. The rail mounted land rover also came and I can guarantee that it will be an absolute pain to motorise so I will leave it static until I can work out how to do it. I dont want to spend much money on it which makes it more difficult for me! I dont have any pictures of it now but I will share some next time. I was a little disappointed with oxford diecast with it as I did have to go and clean up some problems with the moulding but apart from that I'm quite happy with it. Thanks for looking and offering advice - it certainly makes modelling a lot easier! :)

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest ShildonShunter

Hi Luke I'm sure it will turn out fine mate I think sometimes it's best to try different textures for our modelling. Look forward to seeing more.:)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Sunday night progress report. The plaster has been painted with a black acrylic wash which was air brushed on. Here is a picture of that.post-32204-0-81331500-1523819556_thumb.jpg I fairly happy with how it turned out and it will look much better under a layer of coal dust and ash. That will come at a later date though. I though id share a picture of the land rover as well. Its a nice model apart from some flash I had to clean up from the wheels. post-32204-0-84994200-1523819795_thumb.jpg Here is a picture of the coal loading tower card board structure I am working on.... Slowly....post-32204-0-15024300-1523819882_thumb.jpg My exams begin in less than 3 weeks (eek!!!!!) so I'm trying to get this layout done as fast as possible without it getting involved too much with my revision. I did tell myself that I would do very little modelling the first half of the year but I seem to have ignored that! Today I also paid a visit to pound land and picked up some of the essentials : Screws, super glue and primer. Very good value as always. Subconsciously, I seem to have drawn up some plans for my next micro (which I will probably start after colliery sheds is finished) . This layout will be the smallest layout I have ever constructed and I'm very excited for it but i'll have to wait! Until next time, happy modelling. :)

post-32204-0-73394400-1523819884_thumb.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest ShildonShunter

Luke the plaster and applying the wash has turned out really well and like you mentioned it will look better once the coal dust is applied. The landrover with track wheels is a great idea shame you had to tidy the wheels but it looks great on the tracks. Can't wait to see the finished coal tower Luke.:)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well the layouts really coming together now. It will need to be finished by next Wednesday so I can take it down to the club so they can all have a look at it. Fingers crossed they like it! Today i hate ploughed on with the scenery and its now looking much more like a colliery loco shed. Gone is the dodgy grey plaster stuff and in comes the muck, grime and static grass. Before any grass was put down i painted the areas where i wanted it with some burnt umber acrylic paint. post-32204-0-01976200-1523904105_thumb.jpg On top of that I put some static grass on it. I used the very cheap Javis summer hairy mix which is a bit of a standard on my layouts. This was puffed on with a gauge master puffer bottle. Nothing complicated at all and really something that anyone could do. I left this to set for 10 minutes before getting the hoover out and hoovering all the excess grass up. The grass is so cheap, I cant be bothered to save the few little scraps of it so it just got sucked up. The rest of the layout was then coated in full strength PVA glue. Crushed and sived barbecue ash was then tipped on to the layout with a tea spoon. Again this was left for about half an hour before the hoover was Brough out to suck up any excess. I left the layout for about an hour and a half then came back and pipetted some watered down pva onto the ash that was still slightly loose. The shed was then glued down and following that I tidied up the edges with some woodland scenics light green bushes. And that takes us to the current state of the layout. I took out my desk lamp and put it in the fiddle yard then quickly with my phone took a few pictures of a few locos. So here are the photos:post-32204-0-17772300-1523904586_thumb.jpgpost-32204-0-13227800-1523904600_thumb.jpgpost-32204-0-01932400-1523904652_thumb.jpgpost-32204-0-97896900-1523904718_thumb.jpgpost-32204-0-97631400-1523904732_thumb.jpg Thanks for looking. :)

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

A bit of paint has been applied to the layout. In part of finishing the layout for Wednesday (an ever approaching deadline and now I'm feeling the pressure!) I have painted the baseboard black. I find this gives quite a professional look to the layout and makes it look more finished than it actually is. Thanks to the hot weather, the paint was able to dry over night in the garage. The paint smells too much to want to paint it in the house. The paint is just some cheap stuff I got from Yorkshire trading ages ago for £1.99 . The tin has painted 3 layouts ( 2 small ones and 1 large one) so its pretty good value for money. Here is a picture of the layout now. Just next to it is pastry lane.post-32204-0-04780300-1524162069_thumb.jpg I thought that id just run through what needs doing on the layout to get it ready for Wednesday. Here's the list: Finish off the coaling tower, build the pipe line that goes over the fiddle yard entrance, make a fence to go along the rear backscene, paint and fit the details I've got set aside for the layout. Oh and of course make a sign for the layout and build a window for the loco shed. Once the layout is finished and you are interested in having Cronton Colliery North Sheds at your exhibition, reply to this post and we can exchange contact details. The aim of this layout is to exhibit it so if you're interested please let me know. :) something else I forgot to mention about this layout is that I will need to make a lighting rig up for it but I won't have to do that by Wednesday. Thanks for looking. :)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest Bishoptrains

Luke this little layout is looking really great nice work with the weathering and scenery i do like what you have done with the engine shed..

Link to post
Share on other sites

Luke this little layout is looking really great nice work with the weathering and scenery i do like what you have done with the engine shed..

Thanks Bishoptrains. I'm quite pleased with how the layouts turned out. The scenery is a bit of an experiment but its worked quite nicely so it will be a method to keep for a future layout.
Link to post
Share on other sites

Well 3 days the the deadline!!!! I'm really pushed for time at the moment so i hope I can get it all finished. Yesterday I picked up this lowmac wagon for £3 at a second hand model railway shop. It's got a bit of gluey resin stuff on it but that will come off with a knife. A paint and weathering will make it a nice addition to the fleet. I dont think it will be specifically for this layout but I'm undecided wether to put some sleeprs on it and use it for a p way train or put a tank on it. Here's a picture of it: post-32204-0-02246300-1524406351_thumb.jpg this afternoon I am working on the loading tower cover and its coming along nicely. I'm still working on the corrugated iron bit but these things take time. I will try to update you all again later. Thanks for looking. :)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest Bishoptrains

Luke that's not bad picking a lowmac up for £3 not a lot to do now and Will be waiting to see the finished coal shoot..

Link to post
Share on other sites

Luke that's not bad picking a lowmac up for £3 not a lot to do now and Will be waiting to see the finished coal shoot..

In the current market id have to agree with you. I think the prices are getting a bit ridiculous in my opinion. I know they are going to rise in price like everything else but the price rises seem to be a bit too high. I've just finished the wooden structure for the coal shoot and that is currently being glued down the baseboard. I've finished the sides of the corrugated iron top and I will need to wait for that to dry before I can trim the sides and lay the roof.
Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest Bishoptrains

Luke your right prices are ridiculous and will inevitably rise but if you look there are still bargains to be had. It's great that the shoot is coming along and will be waiting to see it finished and in place..:)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Luke your right prices are ridiculous and will inevitably rise but if you look there are still bargains to be had. It's great that the shoot is coming along and will be waiting to see it finished and in place..:)

You dont have to wait long! I have just finished laying the last pieces of corrugated iron. The roof now consists of 91 individually cut and laid sheets. This has been quite a big effort to get it finished but I'm pleased its done. I've gone through quite a lot of plasticard in this layout so I will need to get some more soon. Anyway, here's a picture of that roofing bit for the coal chute.post-32204-0-23263400-1524414343_thumb.jpg
Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest Bishoptrains

Luke it looks exactly how a tin roof should look and 91 individual sheets is blooming good i bet your so pleased it's about finished..;)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Luke it looks exactly how a tin roof should look and 91 individual sheets is blooming good i bet your so pleased it's about finished..;)

Thanks. Often I find its the jobs that take a long time give the best results. I am definetly pleased that this stage is over. Here's a picture of it sitting on its wooden frame. Excuse the bottle of thinners as that's holding the frame up.post-32204-0-92196300-1524414949_thumb.jpg
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Massive push with the layout today. Its pretty much done scenicly with just a few little things to finish off. Before I go into detail about what I've done, here is a picture of the scenic area. The lightings not great and I'm only using my rubbish phone camera but you get the idea.post-32204-0-78247500-1524506186_thumb.jpg So I have built the pipe line which goes over the fiddle yard entrance. This was a quick project using some dowel and spray paint. The dowel/pipe sits on some plasticard pieces which were painted black. Its not particularly weathered or detailed at the moment but I can always come back to it.post-32204-0-59736900-1524506282_thumb.jpg Next up is the fence. I have chopped up coffee stirrers into scale 6 foot lengths and died them in a black wash. All the coffee stirrers looked the same and has the same wash but they have all turned out quite differently in colour. These were then stuck onto the back scene with pva glue. I dont know how many individual pieces there are but I will probably count them up for those who like statistics. post-32204-0-00891900-1524506431_thumb.jpg Every layout needs a train spotter right??? Well I thought id put one on this layout as I know for a fact that people took photos of Cronton colliery. Now there is something quite special about this figure. This figure is in fact a mini me in a train spotter pose which was done for me by modelu. I painted myself up and there I am, spotting at the sheds! In the back ground you might notice a limited clearance sign - another new bit of detailing for the layout. post-32204-0-09827600-1524506597_thumb.jpg Since the layout is based on a colliery, it would be wrong to not feature a coal wagon. So here is one I kit built and modified from a Dapol kit. It has been modelled with an open door so I have made a pile of coal by it. It doesn't have a bulky coupling but a small piece of wire so I can discretly couple up to it and take it into the fiddle yard. post-32204-0-22634500-1524506733_thumb.jpg The layout now features a wealth of detail: Buckets, pallets, connecting rods, wheels, limited clearence sign, sheets of wood etc. It would take a long time to mention each one individually so you will have to pick them out from future photographs. In the mean time I will try and make a youtube video of a running session of the layout and just to let my subs know where I am with my modelling. Thanks for looking everyone. :)

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest Bishoptrains

Very nice Luke I do like your attention to the small details within the layout, the Dapol kit coal wagon is a nice touch with the open door. Wooden coffee sitters are ideal for fencing and yours has come out really well. Looking forward to see the last finished touches..:)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Very nice Luke I do like your attention to the small details within the layout, the Dapol kit coal wagon is a nice touch with the open door. Wooden coffee sitters are ideal for fencing and yours has come out really well. Looking forward to see the last finished touches..:)

Thanks Bishopstrains. I think details bring the layout to life and add another depth to interest which keep people looking at your layout even when there aren't any trains moving.
Link to post
Share on other sites

Last night I got round to painting the top of the coaling tower and putting a dirty wash on it. I think the wash was a bit too thin so the weathering isn't as heavy as I would like but I cna always put another wash on top. Here's a picture of it on the layout. Proper pictures with stock and stuff like that will be posted when I can find time to set all the lighting and cameras up.post-32204-0-04876700-1524552611_thumb.jpg I tried to give the layout a good run last night but the locos weren't having it. The track wasn't the cleanest I have to admit so I gave them a rub down with the track rubber to see if that helped. I then tried to move the locos again and they were still stuttering and stalling along. Rubbing my finger along the track, I was still picking up a lot of muck. The track rubber doesn't seem to have really helped to be honest. Any ideas for getting the track sorted without spending a fortune. The layout is going out tomorrow to the model railway club so I need everything working tip top. And before any one suggests it, yes my wheels are spotless. Its a shame because this layout was designed for me to run my small engines but they can't run cause of the track. I do like my larger diesels and they run absolutely fine but I don't really want to rely on them on this sort of layout. Thanks for looking. :)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...