I guess sometimes these things are just meant to happen!
It was necessary to swap the 4MT i bought just before Christmas after it developed an aversion to going backwards. A fairly critical requirement for the Ropley project! The only available replacement was the smaller tender version, which turns out is what I should have picked up in the first place! During more research for the project I now see that the 4MT based at the Mid Hants has the smaller tender, and so the model will now just n
Hi all.
Planning continues for the Ropley shed project. After seemingly looking at every photo of Ropley on the net, I noticed a few changes which were not included in the original plan drawn from Google Earth. The main alteration is the addition of the recently built (then subsequently rebuilt following fire) carriage & wagon shed and the extra line installed. The station loop also appears to have been extended at some point.
So, V2.0 of the plan has now been drawn up and looks so
All my modeling life I've been a modern image modeller, with a small blip when I was about 14 and I bought a Farish Battle of Britain Class steam engine whilst on holiday. I think it was this which put me off steam models with it's very basic shape and unpredictable performance and since then I've only ever modelled the current scene.Â
Then about a month ago I bought a new Farish 3MT. Wow. What a difference from that blob of metal from 15 years ago. Lovely detail, smooth performance and gr
I wasn't expecting this to arrive until after Christmas so it was a nice early pressie when it turned up this morning!
like the recent 3MT this is a stunning model, and to my eyes looks to capture the tall and gawky look of the real thing just about perfectly. I'm not qualified to offer any detailed comparison between model & prototype, so I won't!
The enormous gap between the engine & tender, even with he supplied shorter draw bar, is a bit of a disappointment but expected. Howe
Hello all.
Well, not much has happened here for a few months! This was mainly due to a very modelling unfriendly roster at work which thankfully has now changed back to a more favorable 4 on 4 off. This hopefully means things should start happening on the layout again in the new year.
In the mean time, I'll just wish everyone a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year and leave you with a clue as to what might also be coming next year
Tom.
Ps. Thanks to all those who 'liked
A few spare hours has seen the equipment cabin which goes with the GSM mast finished bar a coat of paint. It's based on the type seen most commonly around the network. Next step is to make up the concrete base for it, install it on the board and surround it with security fencing:
Tom.
Well, what with work and holiday recently, time for the railway has been in short supply. However, I've had a go at weathering a Farish Class 66 and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. Perhaps the roof needs a bit more around the exahust though?
Hopefully I'll have a bit more time to push on with the layout itself soon so more updates on the way.
Cheers,
Tom.
I'd tried several different ideas for producing the tapered GSM-R mast, but wasn't really happy with the results. Either there wasn't enough taper, or it wasn't possible to get a consistent taper. What I hadn't realised was the answer was sat in the tool box the whole time......
After running a scalpel blade along the length of the plastic brush handle a few times it created representation of the flats on the real mast, and tapers just nicely.
All that remains to do now is fit
Here are a few photos and thoughts on the Graham Farish Cross Country Voyager. The model has been around for a few years now but still holds it's own against some of the latest releases like the Class 150.
The power unit is fitted in one of the front vehicles which means only 2 decoders are required for DCC operation compared to the 3 required for the Dapol version. Performance out of the box was excellent, smooth and quiet as you would expect with a Farish product. The units are joined by m
The cross country fleet has seen expansion with the addition of a Farish Voyager. A superb model it is too! I'll post a few more photos later.
Unfortunately the past few weeks have had little modelling time available so not much as happened on the layout but hopefully a bit more progress will be made soon.
Tom.
Hi all.
I'm planning on replicating one of the modern Radio masts that you see increasingly dotted around the network. The cabin which goes with them is easy enough, however the type of mast I would like to model poses something of a challenge with its multiple sided and tapered construction.
Does anyone have any thoughts about a possible method of construction or possible materials? Is it even worth trying to reproduce the mulitipe flat sides of the prototype?
Here are a couple of
The Farish 170 has been around a good few years now, and I think was one of the last Farish units designed in the UK. It is starting to show it's age when stood next to the same companies recent Class 150, but overall it still captures the look of the Turbostar quite well, to my eyes at least, and it is the only option if you want a 170!
I quite like the Arriva Cross Country scheme in spite of the lurid pink doors. It's one of the few schemes which works on pretty much anything it's applied
A new arrival today. I'll post a full review in the next couple of days once i've had chance to run it in but in summary, despite tooling which is showing it's age next to the latest releases, its a lovely reproduction of the Cross Country scheme.
Cheers,
Tom.
The building site area is coming along and tonight I've started soldering up some scaffolding, a result of which is burnt fingers and blue air!
The pic below shows the start of the work and it is yet to be properly cleaned up and so there are a few large blobs of flux still present. It also needs its wooden feet so looks a little lop-sided but hopefully you get the idea!
I'm hoping to get the roof trusses laser cut once I've drawn up the master, which will save a lot of time!
C
I picked up one of the new Farish MOA's today and have to say I'm extremely impressed with the detail, especially as it's in N! Here are a few photos:
Not being an expert on the subject I can't comment on its accuracy, but it looks like a decent replica of the full size thing and looks great behind a 66:
Tom.
This is Missy's fault. I wasn't going to bother with working lights but after seeing what was achievable I decided to give it a go. A few of the rooms in the flats will also receive illumination once some white miniature surface mount LED's arrive.
Cheers!
Tom.
Well, no RMweb left me with little choice but to do some actual modelling!
Work has now started on the top of embankment scenes, with the area surrounding the flat being first. The base for this is 5mm foam board which was sprayed with plasti-kote Tan Suede texture paint. Halfords grey primer was then misted over the top. The pavements were then added and curb stones individually added to the edges. Once dry, the roads were given a wash over with thinned black paint to give a weathered road
Exhibition flat now open for viewing!
The orginal building on which the model is based is actually 4 stories high, and I'm gald I cut it down by one, otherwise I think it might have been too imposing in it's surroundings. It would have also meant more window frames to make.....!
I haven't quite decided what to do about interior yet. On a few of the windows I have tried gluing photos behind but I'm not sure whether I'm happy with that as a solution yet.
Tom.
Just a quick shot of a second mock up for the block of flats, this time with brick pattern applied. I'm quite happy with the red brick, but the blue brick along the bottom came out a bit dark so some adjustment is needed there.
Tom.
One feature planned for the area at the top of the embankment is a block of modern flats, the brick built type that seem to have sprung up all over the place in the past few years and loosely based on the one where I live.
To get some idea of the size, I made a paper mock up to make sure it wasn??�t going to be too dominating, but it seems to fit in nicely.
Construction will be a transparent plastic structure, with my own brick paper overlaid onto a thin sheet of plasticard. Thi
A few people have asked how the overgrown line was created so here goes!
First the line was sprayed using Railmatch Frame Dirt and the rails painted with a rust colour. I used a slightly redder colour for the older lines than the mainline to differentiate between the two.
The line is then ballasted, with the scenic disused line done using Woodland Scenics fine brown. The still used older line is ballasted using a mix of the brown and fine buff to give some contrast between the two.
On the suggestion of James & Jim I've been playing with the depth of field settings on the camera:
Quite pleased with the results but probably need to invest in a tripod! I think it does show just how far N gauge has come in the last few years.
A few people have been asking about the grass and the methods used so I'll try and put up a few photos of how I do it.
Cheers,
Tom.
