Today I spent an enjoyable afternoon progressing with the winter module. After applying plaster I gave the whole lot a coat of white acrylic in the hope that this would look sufficiently snow-like in its own right, but it's clear that there's more to be done; the texture of the plaster still shows through so I guess I will have to apply another layer of polyfilla or something similar. In time there will be some hedges and undergrowth, suitably snow-covered, and a few wintery trees. No shortage o
Anyone watching this blog could be forgiven for thinking that I've given up on Shillingstone as a project, but in truth it's just been relegated to second fiddle while I spent half of this year cracking on with other projects. Along the way I've continued to add some details to the first module and think about where I'm going with the other elements of the layout.
My original plan had been to tackle the large station module next, but I've put that on hold for now, for a couple of reasons. Fi
I've added some Springside swans and cygnets to the brook, and some water for them to swim around in. I've also got around to putting in the 5 foot fluorescent lighting fixture, which is attached to an L-shaped beam running across the entire 7 foot module frontage. I'm generally pleased with the way it's brightened the scene, but I haven't eliminated shadows on the backscene from the big tree. They're softer than before, as you'd expect, but I still need to do a bit of work to make them less obt
I've finished the two tracks that run through the Shillingstone module. They're lightly tacked down since I want to tweak the alignment a bit but the wiring is done and tested. Since I don't envisage ever wanting to operate two locomotives at once, I've only used on-off switches, so a train can be parked in the station while another passes. I do want to run DCC-equipped locos on the layout occasionally, though, so there's a DPDT switch to select between analog and digital. Screwed to the undersi
This is my new Hornby 2P, renumbered for 40601, one of the Bath allocation (although I've yet to do the smokebox number, not having any of the right numbers in stock). There's a nice photo in one of Ivo Peters' books showing this loco in lined black with "British Railways" on the tender. The Hornby one came out of the box as 40610 so I decided to see if I could get away with just changing the last two digits.
Other than weathering, adding crew and lamp irons, about all I've done to it is sho
Not much progress on the first Shillingstone module lately, largely because I've been spending my modelling time finishing a continuous run through the other boards. Although it's currently just a loop with a fiddleyard along one side, I can at least run trains again - great fun after two years of not having a proper 4mm layout. Some of the engines I've been fiddling with over the last couple of years are at last getting a chance to stretch their legs, which has been very satisfying - it's been
I showed this 9F in its raw state on the old forum; here it is after painting, numbering and weathering as 92006. Still
a few details to add when I'm in the mood. It's an old Hornby model, with a lowered body, new wheels and valvegear
(ex-Chinese spares) and some Comet detailing.
As documented on the old forum, I'm building a 12x11 foot 00 layout based loosely on Shillingstone, on the southern portion of the Somerset and Dorset. The S&D has a strong family connection for me (and I was born within a week of the closure) so it's always been a line close to my heart. The arrival of Hornby's excellent Bulleid pacifics, and the opportunity to obtain a ready-build model of a 7F, were the final straws - that and the dismantling of my old layout prior to a house move, meanin
