gazmanjack Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Platform has come up a treat and the signal box is looking good ! Your station building, did you scratchbuild it or is it a kit ? I also have to ask, the crashed 767 or 737 ?? Out of curiosity, which hobby shop do you use ? (so many questions...!) Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted March 19, 2013 Author Share Posted March 19, 2013 G'day Gary, yes the platform is starting to look quite nice. I want to put some Matt board on top to give a few mms of overhang on the top so it's not finished yet. The station building is the beautiful Bachmann Sheffield Park collection. I bought them online from Hattons two years ago and they have sat patiently in their boxes waiting for a permanent home. As for a local hobby shop I have been using Vaags hobbies in Miranda. They have a great stock of paints and accessories. Not a lot of 00 stock but there are things in there that may come in handy one day. I'm looking forward to painting the baseboard sides and legs with the Machalite green today. That will really finish the baseboards off. I'll get a totem made up at a local sign makers and put that on the sides, then it will look like a proper railway. Have you seen the ads for the open day at Mortdale, I'm going to go and have a look as its not too far from me. Cheers Steve MORTDALE – NSW. April 6-7, 2013, AMRA NSW Branch Clubrooms, 48 Barry Avenue, Mortdale. 10am-4pm. Gold coin donation. (02) 9153 5901. http://www.amransw.asn.au Australian Model Railway Association NSW Branch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_1066 Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Great layout. Can I make a suggestion? The lines coming off your turntable don't look cramped enough to me. On the real thing they were often very tightly packed and maximised the space. How easy is it to shove them tighter together to get that look? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard brown Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I like the lights on the loco how did you do them. Richard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted March 21, 2013 Author Share Posted March 21, 2013 Great layout. Can I make a suggestion? The lines coming off your turntable don't look cramped enough to me. On the real thing they were often very tightly packed and maximised the space. How easy is it to shove them tighter together to get that look? G'day Jon, there is plenty of room down that end of the layout. I need to put a coaling staithe on one of the lines but I can definitely put a couple more tracks in to make it a bit more cramped. Thanks for the suggestion too, it's nice to know that people are watching the progress. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted March 21, 2013 Author Share Posted March 21, 2013 I like the lights on the loco how did you do them. Richard. Hi Richard. Yes the lights are wonderful aren't they. I think they really give an extra element to the locos. The lights on the Battle of Britain are using DCC Concepts nano LEDs and loco lamps. The lights on the Q1s are DCC Concepts loco lamps with some yellow tinting. The lights on the Black 5 are also nano LEDs for the head code lanterns and for the flicker firebox, as that one has a sound chip in it with flicker function. The whole layout will be lit as I have about twenty Brawa lights to go on there and fifty or so globes to go into all of the buildings. The engine shed will get a blue/ orange flicker function to look like an arc welder or grinder working away. But that is a little down the track so to speak. Thanks for the feedback / question, great to know the posts are being read. Cheers Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted March 21, 2013 Author Share Posted March 21, 2013 A quick update from the week. I primed all of the wood for the baseboards and legs in white only to be told by the local paint place that I should prime with a grey to help preserve the Malachite colour when I paint that on. So that's what I did. I reprinted the whole lot in a grey primer ready for the green to go on over the weekend. I took a Hornby Southern BR Buffet car down to the paint shop and had them match the colour. They were a great help and came up with an exact match. I'm away from home at the moment so can't upload any photos but its looking good. It will look even better once its painted with the Semi Gloss finish. The other big job was to mount the back scenes on to the primed ply. After reading many forum posts and seeking advice from the paint shop I went with a wallpaper paste for the job.This worked well, but I would have to caution anyone else thinking about doing it to go lightly on the paste as the paper does absorb a bit of moisture and then start to stretch a bit. No matter how carefully I tried to not get wrinkles.......I got wrinkles. But from a distance they aren't too obvious and to be honest they aren't really intended to be a focal point. There will be plenty of things in front of them to distract ones eyes away from a few little wrinkles. The great thing is though the paper has hardened up after 12 hrs and feels quite stiff and will do just nicely.I'll mount the backboards up on the walls when I get home and post some photos on Saturday for all to see.With the excess wallpaper paste, and there was a lot of excess left, I stuck down the large piece of Noch grass sheet for the airfield, which means I can start doing a bit of scenic work up the end of the layout. I need to lay some concrete (plaster of Paris) I think will work nicely, for the airfield hardstand area and I can scribe concrete slab lines into it, and if it cracks that's fine too because it will just look like the real thing. It might even give me some cracks to stick some tufts of grass into. The Warrant Officer Disciplinary wont be happy about that, will he. I'm thinking I will tint the plaster when mixing it so that even if cracks develop over the years it will always be a concrete colour and I won't end up have little white lines crazed all over the surface.I'm going to try scratch building a hangar or two as well with some 3mm MDF I have and a heap of Wills corrugated iron sheeting.I also painted he signal box last night, no photos yet but it looks a treat in light stone, bright green and interior cream.Right well that's it for now, it's off to troll the forums for more ideas, as the are so many great ideas to be borrowed on this forum. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 Platform has come up a treat and the signal box is looking good ! Your station building, did you scratchbuild it or is it a kit ? I also have to ask, the crashed 767 or 737 ?? Out of curiosity, which hobby shop do you use ? (so many questions...!) Cheers, Gary. Sorry Gary, just realised I didn't answer the question about the aircraft that was sitting on the layout. It is an A330. The Horizontal Stabilizers are broken off it and I took in to the train room to fix it up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 After a week of no work on the layout I was able to get some painting done today. After having to re-prime the whole layout with Grey last week I spent a few hours today painting the boards and legs with the Malachite Green that I had mixed up for me last week. I must say it is looking rather splendid, almost to the point of where I wish I could take it out to show it in public. Anyway now that the job is done I am very glad that i made the effort as it adds another element to the layout. I have never bothered with it on previous layouts because they were always going to be dismantled at some point. A few other things that were done last week were the painting of the signal box as I mentioned in post #82 (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/64812-st-james-station/page-4&do=findComment&comment=987919) and here are some photos of that for your viewing pleasure. I will be detailing it this weekend with the interior fittings. Progress on the Signal Box The backscenes ready to be fitted to the baseboards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 More painting tonight, but with a much smaller brush...... brick by brick, stone by stone. On the Wills Goods Shed I I used a light stone for the mortar, thinning it down and using capillary action to draw it along the mortar lines. It worked well. Then Dark stone to pick out some individual stones, and a medium Stone with some clear red to tint it for the brick work. Also I have fitted the windows for the Signal Box and glazed them using Micro Krystal Klear. I will know for sure in the morning how it turns out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Hi Steve, The painted block work on the goods shed is awesome, looking really good. Can't wait to see the finished product. In regards to the glazing of windows on the signal box, what is the method of achieving that ? Do you paint/fill the individual window frames or is there some clear glazing involved ? Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 Hi Steve, The painted block work on the goods shed is awesome, looking really good. Can't wait to see the finished product. In regards to the glazing of windows on the signal box, what is the method of achieving that ? Do you paint/fill the individual window frames or is there some clear glazing involved ? Cheers, Gary. Thanks Gary, yes the stone work has come up nicely. It took a while but sometimes its just nice to sit in the dark painting little rectangles. I am particularly happy with the mortar effect I achieved as well. It took a couple of hours but is worth the effort. The Glazing on the windows uses Krystal Klear and the method is quite easy and the product was $4.50 for a small bottle, so cheap. The idea is to use a small applicator, I use a cotton bud stick with the bud cut off. Run the adhesive around the edges of the window then drag it across to form a membrane. It is very quick and very easy. And the results are great. The big plus..... no windows that are fogged up from glue or have fingerprints all over them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 Some more photos of the signal box after spending several hours putting all of the items from the kit in place. The macro lens does show up the average paint job on a few of the instruments and the flashing on the boss's coat. That will have to be touched up. The box will be lit but not until I light the rest of the buildings on the layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Signal box has definately come up a treat ! The interior is very nice, although the back of the signal mens coats could do with a little sanding ! Thanks for the info on the glazing. I have a bottle of the Testors product which is pretty much identical, but thought that the Microscale product may have been a different application method. Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 Today I fitted the scenic backboards to the layout and they are looking quite nice. There are a few wrinkles in some of the sheets but generally it's pretty good. I had a bit of spare time tonight so I quickly cut out some polystyrene sheeting to build up the area behind the station. I've been thinking of what I am going to do in that area and am thinking that the station master's house and grounds will go in there. I have roughly placed a few fruit trees and hedges down and sketched out where I think the road might run. I'm aiming for a country lane type of feel so thinking perhaps rock wall and brambles along with hedges and old wooden gates. On the railway side of the lane probably some type of fencing to keep the cattle and sheep from wandering into the way of oncoming trains. Anyway I'm just tinkering at the moment and will keep looking for inspiration. I keep finding myself looking at Kirkby Luneside as it is surely going to be something quite impressive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Platform has come up a treat and the signal box is looking good ! Your station building, did you scratchbuild it or is it a kit ? I also have to ask, the crashed 767 or 737 ?? Out of curiosity, which hobby shop do you use ? (so many questions...!) Cheers, Gary. Yeah I wondered about the aircraft too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 Yeah I wondered about the aircraft too! Well it's been a month since I took it in there but I still haven't repaired it. I keep looking at it thinking 'I must repair that soon', but I don't. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 A few spare minutes presented themselves before dinner so I quickly knocked up the RAF hangar that I have been wanting to do for some time. I used some 3mm MDF which I had lying around. I clamped the mdf to the workbench on a cutting mat, and cut it using a stanley knife and steel rule for guidance. By clamping it the mdf doesn't move and you get a good clean cut and no chance of slicing your fingers as you do it, which is nice. I have several packets of Wills corrugated glazing which I had bought by mistake (I wanted corrugated iron). Once the hangar is assembled and glued I will sheet the sides and roof with the glazing. It will then get a coat of paint and the usual weathering treatment. The hangar is large enough to fit two Spits inside or one Lanc. I have made it as a half relief hangar so it is angled against the wall to try and give the perception of depth. I think it will look good once it is finished. I can picture the result I am trying to achieve in my head. I just hope it translates the same in real life. I've not built anything from scratch before and have been inspired by the amazing structures that georgeT has built on Abbot's Bridge. ( http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/65362-abbots-bridge-72g/page-20 ) As always here are some photos and I welcome any comments or suggestions...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Hi Steve, Would you be able to tell me how fine the corrugations are in the Wills Clear Corrugated sheet, or how many corrugations per cm. I have been thinking about using this product on one of my models where I will be using BGB (Broad Guage Bodies) Corrugated Card, but unsure about its match. Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted April 7, 2013 Author Share Posted April 7, 2013 Hi Steve, Would you be able to tell me how fine the corrugations are in the Wills Clear Corrugated sheet, or how many corrugations per cm. I have been thinking about using this product on one of my models where I will be using BGB (Broad Guage Bodies) Corrugated Card, but unsure about its match. Cheers, Gary. The corrugations are 7 per 10mm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted April 7, 2013 Author Share Posted April 7, 2013 I was plastered the airfield hardstand today with some help from my four year old son, very good tradie he was too. I mixed up some plaster of paris and tinted it with some black acrylic paint. It is a bit darker than original envisiged but i can always spray a matt grey over it if I'm not happy. I also did some more work on the hangar and sprayed the 4 model aircraft that are for the airfield. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
werdna Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Nice airfield, and nice idea of using plaster of paris, tinted with some black acrylic paint. I've always used wood filler spread out with a pallet knife quite thickly, left to dry, sanded, and then scribed with a blunt tool for the lines. Yours has come out very well though Looking forward to more pics soon, Andy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 The Airfield is coming along with quite a bit of work done on it today. As mentioned earlier, the hardstand is a bit darker than I wanted so I think I'll give it a grey wash to give it more of a concrete colour. I have finished airbrushing the four new aircraft to go on the airfield and have to do the decals and some weathering on them but so far they are looking reasonable. The hangar has also had some more work done on it with it now sheeted in the clear corrugated glazing that I had laying around. It will get airbrushed and trimmed up tomorrow morning which will ensure that the pva i used to stick the glazing on is well and truly dry. I also made up the six sliding hangar doors and have set them in place in the open position. I placed a few aeroplanes and vehicles around for some photos and once the painting of the hangar is done I will take some more but for now please enjoy.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
werdna Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 Nice progress. Looking forward to seeing that hangar airbrushed Andy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StJamesStation Posted April 13, 2013 Author Share Posted April 13, 2013 Hangar painted...... A beautiful sunny day today, so what better way to celebrate by having a bbq and painting the hangar. I still need to weather it and then build some workbenches and toolboards, jacks and general hangar junk etc for the interior, but its coming along nicely. In fact I am surprised at how convincing it actually is. I also need to put some single lengths of track into the ground for the doors to run along. Anyway as always here are the photos using actual sunlight sourced naturally from the great outdoors, something we shed dwellers rarely see..... Nice progress. Looking forward to seeing that hangar airbrushed Andy. Wait no more Andy for here it is...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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