In my previous blog entry I mention that I was looking for information about wooden plank loads circa 1905. Well I'm pleased to say that RMweb members came up trumps and provided me with loads of really useful information, thanks chaps! I've been very taken by the wagon loads manufactured by Richard Ellis (tricky) of Monk's Gate Models https://www.monksgate.co.uk/shop?category=Wagon+Loads, so decided to treat myself to some planks for my wagon The planks arrived in the following day's post an
Although I'm happy with the layout when playing with it at home, I've been conscious for a while that certain things could be improved upon when exhibiting the layout at model railway shows. The road over bridge acts as the break between the scenic part of layout and the "off stage" fiddle yard as show in the picture below.
Fiddle yard and rear of road over bridge
The problem at exhibitions is that the fiddle yard can clearly be seen under the road bridge spo
To relieve the boredom during lock down I've spent sometime watching YouTube clips on modelling disciplines other than Railways! Probably heresy on a Railway Modelling forum, but good fun and interesting all the same The Military Modellers have some very interesting weathering techniques that I fancied having a go at and thought would make a nice change from pristine Edwardian G.W.R. locomotives and coaches!
As a teenager I dabbled in 1/35th scale WW2 military stuff and I remember
Look what the postman delivered!
Thanks to Cygnet Magazines for publishing my article and to Jerry (queensquare) for his excellent photos.
I guess that although we aren't allowed to go out during the bank holiday, at least we're still allowed to read!
Best wishes to all during these unusual and difficult times.
Dave
The polystyrene sheet was coated in textured sealing paint, which I'd pigmented with some brown acrylic paint. Once dry this formed a hard, flexible surface that I could use as a base for scenic treatment. Point rodding stools from MSE https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/shop/signals/ls05/ were fitted to lengths of wooden sleepers and then glued in position alongside the trackwork. Ballasting was done using Woodland Scenics ballast using exactly the same method that I used on the main layout.
Back in mid August I posted an entry in the blog about the construction of the GWR 2 plank wagon.
Well since those balmy days Autumn has hit with a vengeance in South Wales, we're back in full lockdown and it hasn't stopped raining! Still the upside of this is that there's not much else to do other than a bit of modelling
The model was more or less completed and ready for painting , but I struggled to find a prototype photograph of a 2 planker in my admittedly fairly sma
Pleased to report that I'm back on track Railway Modelling, after my gentle excursion into 1/35th scale Military modelling I've been building a WEP etched brass wagon kit of a G.W.R. 2 plank wagon, to add to my wagon fleet.
WEP 2 plank wagon kit
The kit parts fit together well, with very little fettling needed to get a good result, although I had to use some Milliput Putty to fill a few gaps particularly around the top plank join. The kit also incorporates a rocki
During the Cardiff model railway show back in October 2019, I treated myself to a couple of six wheel coaches from Dragon Models. http://www.taffvale.wales/page1.php Although I thoroughly enjoy building locomotives and wagons, I always find building coaches a bit of a slog and consequently haven't got many to use on Sherton Abbas My entire passenger stock comprises of three Slater's 4 wheel coaches, a solitary Slater's all 3rd bogie clerestory and an etched brass V2 passenger brake van. I'm
Well its been a long time coming, but life is beginning to return to some kind of normality after the Covid 19 crisis! I've had my three jabs, caught the retched virus and recovered, so hopefully I'm full to the brim with antibodies I've really missed going to shows both as a spectator and as an exhibitor, so knowing that exhibitions are once again possible is very pleasing! I've definitely suffered a lack of modelling motivation over the last year, exhibition deadlines are great way of reki
So far the only coaching stock that I've built to use on Sherton Abbas, are a rake of 4 wheeler's along with a solitary all 3rd bogie clerestory. To add a bit of variety to operating sessions I've decided to build some more passenger stock and thought I'd document their build in my blog.
The Slater's kits comprise of really well moulded plastic components for the majority of the coach body, accompanied by lost wax castings for for detail parts. The coaches run on etched brass bogie
Before I start painting and ballasting the trackwork I want to tackle the point rodding. A number of years ago I made the mistake on a 4mm layout of ballasting first, I then spent hours digging up small patches of ballast so that I could install the rodding stools! Armed with a copy of GWR journal number 89, Steven Williams GWR modelling part 1 and some useful advice from Mike (Stationmaster) I made a start by drawing a schematic of where the runs needed to go. Once this had been completed I pla
I find it much easier to paint coach sides "in the flat" rather than when the coach is fully assembled. This is obviously impossible with etched brass kits, soldering painted sides would be a challenge, however with plastic kits it's not a problem. The Slater's sides come in two halves which have to be joined, fortunately the Guard's ducket helps hide any join line. I think it looks more realistic if coaches have a few windows open, so micro strip was used to represent the top of the dropligh
When I built the original fiddleyard for Sherton Abbas, the plan was to have a 4 foot six diameter "turntable" that would avoid having to touch the stock during operating sessions. The reality was that it was just too unwieldy, heavy and cumbersome to spin right round, so ended up just being used as a sector plate. I've been considering building something lighter and more manageable for sometime now, but other modelling projects were always much more interesting, so it remained a "get round to
Although I've got a few horse drawn vehicles on the layout, I haven't got anything suitable for transporting goods from the station into the town. While I was at Guildex, I found a white metal kit from Duncan Models http://www.duncanmodels.co.uk/ that looked like it had the potential to make a simple flat bed wagon.
Duncan Models flat cart
They also make a nice range of horses, I chose to use their Shire horse. The horse is cast in a running position,
I usually take pictures of the layout using my iPad, but thought I'd have a go using a compact camera for a change. I've had a Panasonic Lumix https://www.panasonic.com/uk/support/discontinued-products/cameras-camcorders/dmc-tz60eb.html for a few years now, that I use on motorcycle trips and for general photography. Although generally happy with the results that I get from it, the smallest f stop that it will go down too is F8 and I thought this would cause problems with depth of field on mod
I mentioned in a previous blog entry that I was trying to to make a representation of the diamond embossed edging stones that the GWR commonly used on their platforms. I tried scribing some using a fine tooth saw on plastic card, but they didn't look very convincing I'm afraid. I thought that something manufactured by cadcam might be the answer, but quite how that was achieved was something completely out of my skill set!
At the Bristol O gauge show back in January I met Chris Ward of CW rai
Once I was happy with the overall size and shape of the bridge, the underside of the arches, parapets and abutments could be tackled. South Eastern Finecast brick embossed sheet was wrapped around a curved former of a suitable diameter (Empty bottle of Aussie red wine!), then placed in a bowl of boiling water and allowed to cool. Once back to room temperature the sheet stayed in a reasonable curve and was glued to the underside of the bridge side walls. Flat embossed plasticard sheet was also cu
One of the drawbacks of modelling a rural location is the number of trees needed to make a convincing landscape! There's only so much fun to be had twisting lengths of wire together and I find stippling an Artex/PVA mix onto wire armatures soon loses its magic:-) Despite all this I've managed to summon the enthusiasm to make a few more trees for Sherton Abbas! I used the same techniques as discussed in a previous blog entry http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1131/entry-17699-trees/
I outlined the construction of one Parliamentary models wagonettes in a previous blog entry http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1131/entry-18072-horse-drawn-wagon/ but have only recently got round to painting a horse to pull it. There then followed an enjoyable bit of research into how horses and carts were connected together. Equine harnesses, traces and reins are a lot more complex than I first thought, thank goodness railways didn’t employ anything similar to connect their wa
Just a quick blog entry to show that a water trough and some horse poo have been added to the scene:-)
The water trough was built from 40 thou plasticard sheet, then "distressed" using a rose head bur in a rotary hand piece to give it some texture. The water is a represented using a clear sheet of plasticard painted on the underside with a dark green/black colour and held in position with a dab of epoxy resin. Once painted the trough was sat into the yard surface and some weeds around the ba
The uncharacteristic sunny skies above Wales this Summer have meant little time has been spent modelling, motorcycling and other outdoor pursuits have taken precedence. I have however managed to finish the coal yard scene that I started in the previous blog entry http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1131/entry-20890-coal/ back in the middle of May! As Stubby pointed out the ground around the coal heaps looked a bit too clean, so coal dust and artists pastels were used to blend the co
During the Newport show I had an interesting conversation with Ian Pope of Lightmoor Press who was exhibiting his collection of private owner wagons. I'm explained that I was interested in building some coal wagons for Sherton Abbas and would like them to depict coal merchants that were trading in the Somerset/Dorset area circa 1905. He recommended a book on the topic http://lightmoor.co.uk/books/private-owner-wagons-of-somerset/L9877 and said that he would do some research for me. True to his w
There's not much new modelling to report, but I though I'd let people know that Sherton Abbas will be appearing At the Newport Model Railway show on the 14th April. https://newgog.wordpress.com/
Hope to see you there!
Best wishes
Dave
