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Whitemarsh Yard


Will Vale

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Thanks for the kind words Pete! There are miscellaneous close-ups on my blog but they tend to show whatever's in progress at the time rather than complete scenes. Mainly because there aren't any really complete bits yet. I'm hoping to make strides this weekend though - posting stuff here is really good motivation to get it done in the first place :)

 

Cheers,

 

Will

 

 

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Thanks for the kind comments, it's been really satisfying to get these on the layout at last.

 

perhaps a bit bright though! :P

 

 

I *think* they're close to what they should be, although colour is very subjective. Have a look at this image to see what you think - they've had plenty of time to bed in here and are still fairly shiny.

 

http://geoffsangliaphotos.fotopic.net/p58633430.html

 

It may also be that when the weeds, sign and other sources of colour encroach on the ballast a bit more the yellow will stand out less? That said, I will admit that I made sure the yellow I used was a warm (sunny) rather than a cool (lemon) yellow - I really don't like lemon yellow, even though it might be more authentic hue for plastics like that :)

 

Will

 

 

 

 

 

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Thanks Cav :) The greasers are made from a mixture of likely-looking kit parts and scrap box stuff:

 

gallery_7119_994_77226.jpg

 

The inner part of the drum is two plastic N gauge wheels face to face, taken from this Green Max kit. I imagine that some salvaged plastic wagon wheelsets would do fine. The faces are made from roadwheel hubs (I think) from this Trumpeter Ostwind kit, with the locating rings and stuff sliced off the insides to leave a flush surface. I got the kit at a very good price as a source of handy plastic spares (it has a complete drivetrain which I have in mind for a 1:35th loco project in the future) but I suspect many tank kits would offer similar bits. The cool thing about the ones I used is that they have bolts in about the right places, and a pretty good representation of the profile of the rear face, although the front one should really be conical not convex.

 

The thick hose is stripped insulation from some hookup wire, and the thin is "tiger tail" (a kind of flexible plastic-coated wire) from the bead shop. Some bits of scrap etch, brass wire, and plastic make the grease blades and pump. Fixing to the rail was superglue - it's survived track cleaning so far, although I nearly ended up attached to the rail as well... The nice thing is that all the glue blobs, bits of stuck skin, etc. turn into realistic grease :D

 

Hope this helps - it's not exactly a recipe but you can see the bits at least.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

 

 

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Excellent.

 

I'll have to see what I can find to build some. Not before next weeks deadline though!! I'm assuming the chunky nature of OO wheelsets allows the flanges to simply glide past the plates. Theres lots of forgiveness in OO, quite a good thing sometimes as it allows us to do stuff like this without having to micro engineer everything!

 

Cav

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how have you prevented the blades from interfering with passing wheelsets?

Sorry' date=' managed to miss answering this earlier. The idea was that the blade would fit just inside the railhead up against the web (so it isn't full height) but I think it ended up being very slightly proud of it. I know I ran a 4w wagon up and down with my finger and filed a little at a time until it felt smooth. Luckily this is OO so there's plenty of wiggle room :)

 

 

As a bit of light relief I've been making flowers - cow parsley and rosebay willowherb. I'm not totally convinced but they're getting there, and relieve the greeny-brown of the static grass (which is now in 90% of the places it's supposed to be!) nicely.

 

[img']http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=blogentry&attach_id=62465[/img]

 

index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=blogentry&attach_id=62466

 

You can read more about the trials of the rosebay (note result of weeding in the picture above) on my blog.

 

The field drain in the foreground is coming on slowly - I'm almost ready to pour another layer of water, and I made a little sluice/weir which I'll post once I've got it painted up and installed.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

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Very nice flowers.

 

I wish I had time to do flowers!! I'm busy doing stuff like bridge girders and platform shelters!! I've got a mega push on for wednesday!!

 

I might add some flowery stuff if theres time though, something I was hoping to add from the start. I'll certainly add some after if not before!!

 

Cav

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Still bimbling along - I weathered all the track on board 1 and across the gap, had something of a disaster (which is worth a longer post later) and recovered it using what felt like magic :D

 

On the things to show subject, I made and installed a culvert and sluice, both of which I'm quite pleased with:

 

post-7119-065169900 1287699853_thumb.jpg

 

 

The culvert is based on this one under Upwell Road (yes, the Wisbech and Upwell Upwell) which is on the opposite side of March. The sluice is from this one by Beale's Drove, which is nearer Whittlesey than March, but I liked the look of it :) Both have been shrunk somewhat to fit the proportions of the site but they feel OK. I'm perhaps a little worried that the inside top of the culvert is a bit high relative to the permanent way, but when I top it with railings I think that may be disguised somewhat.

 

I've also poured the first water in the larger drain, I'm waiting for the second pour in the field drain to dry (it needs to be higher so it can flow over the sluice/weir) at which point it'll get a third I think. The water is Liquitex pouring medium, which seems to be doing a good job so far, although it takes a while to cure sometimes - best to pour on dry days.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm in the process of finishing up the area around the drains, which means grass and pondweed. The water is more-or-less done, a couple of areas could do with a Klear topcoat and the field drain hasn't stopped being cloudy yet - the previous layer took a week or so.

 

post-7119-019381000 1288407223_thumb.jpg

 

I've planted the banks with Noch grass mat, with strips of beige/brown along the bottom where the grass has died following (I assume) a recent rise in water level. The problem is it's waay too long in most places, I'm hoping to let it dry properly and give it a haircut - at the moment you can only see one fish out of five!

 

Will

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Thanks Martin! The pondweed is sieved Noch laub/leaf, which is sort of flakey and flat - it was a good way to use the green I bought which is otherwise too bright :)

 

I sprinkled it onto a layer of wet Klear on top of the existing water, using a brush to tidy up the edge. Once it'd dried a bit I hoovered off the loose bits so it was a really flat layer and dropped on more Klear (like ballasting) to set it. The nice thing is that like ballasting, it doesn't get very glossy so you get the gloss/matt contrast. It should probably be finer and denser than it is, but I reckon it's going the right way.

 

Will

 

 

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looks like a fish

Well spotted! They're a bit easier to see now that I've trimmed back the grass. The drop is a blob of gloss gel with the middle flattened out (cotton bud) to leave a ring - it's dried up now (it went scarily white when I put the top coat of Klear on) and looks better for it I think.

 

Some point machines (modified Peco) appeared! I haven't weathered the slip properly yet - it's had "track" weathering but it needs all the grease still. I also need to make some rodding for the machines since the mechanism covers look a bit empty like this.

 

post-7119-066417600 1288482101_thumb.jpg

I'm taking rather a scattergun approach at this stage, but at least I'm doing summat :) Board 2 (with the depot and hardstanding) has been rather neglected...

 

Will

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Well it's about midnight, I think? We're at GMT+12h, plus or minus whatever daylight saving time adds and removes. I've put my tools down and taken a couple of pictures to show where I got to.

 

post-7119-016793300 1288568402_thumb.jpg

 

Obviously not finished, and the glue is still wet... But the left hand board is substantially complete, the right hand board has scenery, but the depot is missing entirely... I thought it was better to focus on one area and get that looking half decent given the time I had left this weekend.

 

post-7119-023389700 1288568416_thumb.jpg

 

Ironically, I do now have a fair bit of free time so I'll be carrying on with stock and the rest of the layout for its exhibition deadline on the 20th of the month. I'll take some beauty shots later this week hopefully, and work on bits to install on the layout so I don't get tempted to add things before then :)

 

Big jobs still to do on the left board:

 

* Finish off the interface between the bridge, embankment and cycle path.

* Fences for the bridge and cycle path.

* Finish the near bank of the drain and the field (waiting for water to dry in case it needs another gloss coat)

* Weather all the trunking and add lots more grass and weeds.

* Various cabinets and track details.

* Buffer stops + point lever.

* Figure out what to put in the small square area (waiting so I can scenic across the boards in one go)

 

And on the right-hand board.

 

* Finish weathering the track (nearly done)

* Weather the depot hardstanding, install drains, details.

* Finish the office buildings and parking area.

* Build the fuelling shelter.

* Signs and fences

* Add more lights

* Buffer stops again!

 

Other jobs:

 

* Fiddle yard

* Backscene?

* Lighting rig?

* Paint all the fascias black.

 

It's quite a long list, but I think it'll work out now that I'm not working 12+ hour days and public holidays! Just need to take a deep breath first.

 

I just want to add that I've been amazed by the quality of the entries in this challenge, the whole thing has been very inspirational, especially for me as a "new boy". Thanks for the support and good luck to everyone!

 

Cheers,

 

Will

 

PS: Oh dear, someone took a wrong turn at the Chunnel...

 

post-7119-002801000 1288587559_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

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Thanks for the interest folks!

 

Unfortunately for 98% of the people in here, the show is Railex in Wellington, NZ - 20th and 21st of November. Taigatrommel of this parish is showing Bad Horn, and I'm taking Whitemarsh,  Igelfeld and Tanis. That's a useful reminder actually - I need to get Tanis out of its box and give the loco a once over. Plus take some pictures of the new tree!

 

Nate, if you make it come and say hello! I have no idea where we'll be yet as I haven't seen the floor plan, but we'll be there somewhere. I will be the worried-looking one realising all too late that an uppy-downy layout is a lot more work than a roundy-roundy  :blink:

 

Will

 

 

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