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War Department First World War Narrow Gauge Layout O-16.5 WDLR

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A Grand Day Out!

Spent a very enjoyable time yesterday at the Warley show at the NEC where there was certainly a very varied selection of layouts on show and some very interesting bits to spend far too much money on. Also had a couple of very good chats with the War Office Loco Society and spotted some very interesting details on the films they were showing. Another very informative chat was had with Richard Johnson of DDC Concepts and am now a lot closer to deciding what to do about controllers and control pane
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Doomsaday Clock.

I was just looking on the Tracks to the Trenches website (the event for which this layout is being built), and they have a very handy countdown clock with days to go before the event. 293 days - a sobering thought. Now I reckon I could make another 59 Model T ambulances (although I would hope that I would get a bit quicker than five days each after the first fifty or so!), but this might not be the best use of my time. So has got me to thinking about what I should sort out next and if I should a
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Model T finished!

Well almost finished. The answer as to whether the head lights were fixed securely enough was answered straight away by them both dropping off! Noticed a bit of daylight coming up through footwell on pics but that will be easily sorted.           Have given it a bit of weathering but as with all the other component models I will add a bit more to all of them once they are in place to make sure that colours are consistent.   Here it is placed on the layout but not where it will en
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I like spraying acrylics!

There is a first time for everything, and today was my first time at spraying acrylics (other than in an aerosol), - and I liked it! I actually used the Tamia paint straight from the jar with no thinning (wouldn't get away with this with the Vallejo though), and it gave a beautifully solid matt coat straight away - why have I left it so long!     Here is the ambulance in my awfully messy spray booth in my cellar workshop, I did take some more pics down there but will save these for a day wh
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Model T Almost Finished

In the last post I was foolish enough to say that all the cutting was done. No, managed to find quite a lot more to do. Anyway, spent far longer than I anticipated on detailing the interior which has gone away slightly from the actual vehicle I am basing it on but is gleaned from period photos of similar models. All with the aim of making a slightly more interesting model.         The primer has shown up a few areas which need more filling but that is easily sorted. Will now paint the
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Ford Model T Ambulance

While I continue to ponder exactly what I am going to do with the village end of the layout I thought another little distraction would be in order, hence I have set about an ambulance based on a Ford Model T. I did wonder if I could get away with a Polish plastic kit that is available and is an ambulance but true to my usual form I have taken the hard route. I therefore got one of the Duncan Models parcel vans which I thought could be modified. The kit as it stands should build one like this but
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Poppies Mk2

While the ballast was busy drying (takes a while!), I amused myself by working on a little idea that came to me while doing the wiring the other day. Firstly I took a bit of red wire insulation with the wire removed and shoved (there is no better word for this!), a bit of thinner black insulation right up it (they don't like it up them Mr Mainwaring!). I then cut the very finest slices off the end of this then attached a bit of field grass which had been dipped in super glue and suddenly we have
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The last boards

Have put the other end of the layout away for a bit and have started on the final boards at the other end - not quite as complete as I remembered! It has taken two days to get them sorted out. Tidying up the wiring on the traverser board seemed to take ages and had to lay the run off roads. Had to finish off the track work on the other board after adjustments in the summer - seems a very long time ago. Here it is in a state where trains could actually be run!     After this I slapped a load
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Meet the Grass Machines

Having made such a huge difference to the layout I thought it was about time I introduced my static grass devices. When I first saw static grass in action a couple of years ago I was really knocked out by it but not very happy about the price of the Noch applicator which was the only one available then. A little while later I got the larger of the two off Ebay for about £15. Having given it a a go I decided two things; 1)It was too big and 2) It was just an electric fly swat with a sieve attach
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3 Way Fun

No not that sort of fun - actually not fun at all! I am , of course, referring to the 3 way point in the small fiddle yard and the fact that I had never actually got it to work properly - something which i had quite forgotten when I decided to make the first foot of the board scenic. Am sure it would still not have been easy but it would have been a bit easier. Anyway, only one road would work so I turned my attention to the wiring. What I found first was that one of the Peco PL-13s was faulty a
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Grassed up!

Have been busy with the grass machine, didn't take long actually but has made a huge difference and is making this end of the world seem pretty much finished. There is still a fair amount detailing to do but have made a start with weeds and you can just see the flags waiting to be used by the control point - need to find a suitable figure for here.         Did get a bit carried away and made a shell hole which I now need to fill with rubbish.     Altogether pretty pleased with th
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Lovely weather for duckboards

Very dull and wet today so a perfect day for building duckboards - but how. Firstly, what out of? Plastic micro strip would be great but could turn out pretty expensive as each board needs 30cm of material. Brass no go for same reason. Card cheap but too bendy so it had to be wood really. Guess it is the obvious choice for something made of wood.   Now, how? I first thought about making up a jig but the chances of getting bits glued in would be very high and if had to wait for glue to dry each
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A thousand sandbags later....

I assure you I have better things to do than actually count the number of sandbags I have made in the last couple of days but it has to be around the 1000 mark. I have got pretty quick at making them now and thankfully this is probably all I will have to do now. The sandbag emplacement is a railway control post copied from a picture in the Davies book and is complete with lots of little details like the ammo boxes built into the sides and the plank for the flag man to stand on - all off which wi
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A quick test

Have just written an entry but error message says it is too large so just seeing if a smaller one gets through!
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Rosebay Willowherb day!

I hope the title of this one will be a little less controversial! So today I have been making - yes, you guessed Rosebay Willowherb to further liven up the bank. I adapted a method outlined in Gordon Gavett's book and got pretty quick at making them. Where I changed things was to use one full length of Hornby 'Field Grass' and dipped each end in tacky PVA and then a rather nasty Javis flock called 'Sandstone' (just about as far from sandstone as you can get!). When this had dried, which didn't t
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Poppy day

It's been a whole week since my last post and I have spent the entire time making this little scene. Well, no actually, there were a couple of windswept days in Brighton and another couple in a shed, sorry, camping pod in Dorset only a little less windswept. After having finally cleared up the debris of a twenty kid party yesterday I have managed to get back to some more serious business. Have finally managed to thread the barbed wire but will be much easier next time due some very useful commen
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Barbed wire nightmare!

OK, so I probable was getting too confident! Have now hit a brick wall with my barbed wire (groan!). Having perfected my picket posts and even making them a lovely rusty colour I came to plant them. Of course the wire is not strong enough to just push them through the plaster scenery so pushed a small hole through with a drill. Problem - hole is so small and completely invisible bellow the static grass and brown paint! Admittedly I am trying to do this at silly O'clock and the light is not good.
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Picket Duty

Today I have addressed another of the peculiar challenges that this project keeps throwing up but which could also be relevant to more conventional projects. This time it is barbed wire and its associated screw pickets. I have been thinking about / dreading this aspect for ages but have come up with a rather good solution. Once I had established suitable dimensions from photographs and various sources i made up a little jig;     Simple but eventually effective. What you do is just bend the
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Plastered!

Started to use a bit of logic at last and rather than working on the middle have moved to the end. So, removed the middle scenic board and attached the right hand fiddle yard and started to work outwards. Here I have a major problem compared to your average GWR branch line layout as there is a significant lack of tunnels, over bridges or even big buildings to hide the fiddle yard. My solution (allied to as much of a rise as I can justify is a defense in depth - I really have been reading too m
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Another dugout

This was really hard. After doing one dugout entrance I didn't really want to do another but forced myself and here it is (with a bit of a PhotoShoped background).     Was actually quite hard as wanted to make something the same but different if that makes any sense. In reality this would have been a second entrance to the first deep dugout so couldn't be really different but wanted some variation. Still needs some work on the colour of the sandbags and the wood a bit. Will really come to l
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Dug Out

Here is another first, something I can safely say I have never modeled before is a dugout entrance. As firsts go though I can thoroughly recommend it! Just the sort of modeling I like bringing together lots of different techniques and quite a few new ones.   I started off by making up a door frame from balsa which I then lined with some slightly cut do cigar lighting tapers. I then stained it with EDM's weathered wood mixture which at 99% alcohol is slightly eye watering at eleven o'clock in
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On top of the hill!

Well here it is my first bit of scenery in thirty odd years finished - and rather proud of it! Not perfect though! The hedges still don't look quite right to me although much improved by a pruning. They are spaced as per the picture I am using for reference and in this picture appear to have little vegetation left. I have given them a bit more greenery but there is still not enough to make it look like a hedge rather than a series of bushes. I have also let the grass creep too far under the hedg
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Up hill - but not a struggle!

Managed a bit more on my little hill today. Firstly I built up a couple of areas with decorators caulk as the picture I am working from shows a very defined gully which looks like it has been used a short cut many times and has worn a distinct groove in the bank. When this had set(ish), a good old dollop of chocolate ganache - well that is what it looked like! Plaster, brown paint and PVA in reality. I then made up some basic forms for the hedge that sits atop the rise out of various bit of wire
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Some scenery!

Yes, some scenery at last! I know, I should be finishing off the Hunslet (I have done a bit today honest!), but just fancied a change. So, with a reference photo close to hand it didn't take me long to make up some contour ribs from foam board.       Then some cereal packet strips     Then some thirty year old plaster bandage. Yes, that is how long since I last attempted scenery and if memory serves correctly I didn't get very far then!     Quite remarkably the plaster seems to h
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Wired for Sound

Spent a little session on the Hunslet this morning fitting the DCC decoder and wiring up the speakers. I had already fitted the speakers into the tanks and the chip went in the bunker. I am only going to wire up one speaker, the other is there as a spare as although it would be possible to get to them it would not be easy. The only thing that won't fit in the bunker is the capacitor which I have put up in the top of the fire box. I have run the wires below the foot plate inside some black heat s
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