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
At long last the time has come to make a start on the scenic side of my layout. The last time I built a layout was in the early 1990s and Barry Norman's excellent book on landscape modelling http://www.amazon.co.uk/Landscape-Modelling-Barry-Norman/dp/0906867444 was recommending the use of lint bandage to simulate grass. Hours of fun was had dying bandage green and then gently laying it on a bed of PVA glue, before ripping off the backing once it had all set. Although this technique worked well,
In order to refine the design and armed with a roll of Wickes linning paper and an assortment of C&L's templates, I've spent a productive day setting out the final full size trackplan. Everything appears to fit ok, but I'd love any advice/wisdom,if anyone can spot any potential problems! Having previously modelled in 4mm, I must admit I'm impressed with the size of 7mm. A B8 or B9 point is one heck of a lengthy beast, but I do think they add to the flow of the plan and hopefully the reali
I outlined the construction of the forecourt gates in a previous blog entry http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1131/entry-18977-signs-gates/ , these have now been installed on the layout. 5 minute epoxy resin was used to fix the posts into position and then various scatters and fibres from the Green scene range were used to blend them into the landscape.
Forecourt gates in position on layout
I'd always planned that the exit of the private siding from the layout would be m
Now the track laying has been completed, its time to make a start on the signalling and point rodding for the layout. Despite reading numerous books on the subject, I must confess that I find comprehending the mysteries of signalling to be one of the more challenging aspects of the hobby. With this in mind, I decided it would be a good idea to get some expert advice! Fortunately for me, Mike (The Stationmaster) was a fount of useful information and clarified what was needed during a very enjoyab
O.K. So here it is, my first 7mm point! Constructed using C & L plastic 2 bolt chairs, Nickel Silver rail and a Timbertracks B6 sleeper base. I also used a pre-soldered crossing vee and machined switchblades from the same supplier. The cost involved in buying pre made vees and switches is money well spent in my opinion, saving a lot of time laboriously filing and shaping lengths of rail. The machining seems very accurate and I found the switch rails sat really flush against the stock rail wi
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
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 April I mentioned that I was considering building an extension board for the layout that could be used at exhibitions.
The new board would hopefully have the following benefits.
1. It would eliminate the need to move the fiddle yard during shunting maneuvers.
2. If I give this base board full scenic treatment then the view under the bridge would be greatly improved!
3. My fingers couldn't be seen when moving the fiddle yard to set up roads
My V9 passenger brake van has been languishing on my work bench waiting for me to paint it for far too long. I applied a coat of acid etch primer at least a year ago, but since then made little progress. The main stumbling block in motivation to finish it was the fact that for my modelling period the V9 didn’t exist! I thought when I bought the kit that a coach that was originally built for broad gauge and then converted to standard gauge in the 1890s would be perfectly acceptable for circa 1
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
The President of the "Sherton Abbas Women's Guild" was mortified by the outcry in the previous blog entry caused by the lack of appropriate headwear displayed by some "gentleman" members of the community! The wives of the recalcitrant gentlemen in question were summoned to the following week's meeting and told in no uncertain terms that this "embarrassment" could not be allowed to continue. One can only imagine the conversations that took place behind closed doors that evening, but suffice to sa
Well it's taken a while, but my Dean Goods project is finally completed. I'm lucky enough to have access to micro-abraisive blasting equipment, so before painting could commence the model was subjected to air abraision. Fifty micron Aluminum Oxide particles were used at 3 bar pressure to clean the surface of the brass. This process ensured that the paint would have a clean matt surface to adhere onto. I like to use an acid etch primer on brass kits, but don't like the idea of spraying an etchant
I've spent the last week or so adding all the detail components, this always takes longer than I expect, but I do find very satisfying. I used a photograph contained in Locomotives Illustrated of No 2467 as running circa 1905 as a reference. Socket type lamp irons from Laurie Griffin's range were fited and handrails were bent up from stainless steel wire. The dome, safety valve cover and chimney top were polished using abraisive wheels and cotton mops. (they are just balanced in position for the
The boiler/firebox and smokebox sub assemblies had been temporarily fitted together with a brass screw to check their alignment. The footplate was also nearly complete apart from the front splashers, which can't be fitted until the boiler/smokebox have been fitted to the footplate.
Boiler/Firebox/Smokebox assembly and Footplate
The boiler assembly was checked for fit on the footplate, fortunately very little adjustment was needed to get the boiler to sit in the corect position. Once I
The footplate was cut from the fret, then the splasher sides were folded up at 90 degrees following the half etched lines. The valance sides, buffer and draw beams were folded 90 degrees down in a similar fashion. The kit provides a footplate overlay incorporating rivet detail, this was soldered into position using Carrs 188 solder paste using a miniflame. The addition of the overlay really stiffens the footplate and gives a good foundation to build the rest of the locomotive on. Similar overlay
I've standardised on Slaters wheels for all my stock, I'm sure there are better ones out there, but Slaters are easily available, come in most sizes and have a consistent profile. I have heard that some people have found them to be prone to rusting and oxidation, I must be lucky as I've had no problems so far! I like to blacken my wheels chemically and find that I get a better finish by polishing the wheels before I apply the blackening solution. Carrs Metal Black for steel was applied using a c
In between my plasticard dabblings I've made a start on my 7mm Dean Goods. I quite like having a couple of different projects on the go, when I've had enough of one, I can often muster up the enthusiasm to have a go at something else! As I enjoyed building the Martin Finney 2500 gallon tender kit, I decided to use a loco kit from the same manufacturer. The kit comprises of a number of Brass and Nickel Silver etched brass sheets, along with some very nice Brass and White Metal castings.
Its been a couple of weeks since my last blog entry, so here's the progress on the Dean Goods tender build. Part 1 ended with the body almost completed, but with the chassis needing more work to finish the project.
Chassis at end of last blog entry
Setting up the brakes was the next step. The components were removed from the fret, cleaned up with a file and the holes drilled with a 0.8mm drill.
The kit provides a choice of brake shoes, one mad
I haven't posted for a while, I'm afraid Mrs Wenlock has decided that the house needs decorating. Funny how painting walls is nowhere near as satisfying as painting models! The William Clarke goods shed has progressed to the stage where the walls are cut out, but I'm suffering from a lack of motivation to finish it. I think the time spent constucting the station building, got cutting plastic card out of my system for a while! One of the things that I love about this hobby of ours, are the number
Well it’s only taken 3 years, but the procrastination is over and I’ve finally finished my D14 brake 3rd! There are no real excuses as to why it’s taken so long, I could say other projects have taken precedence, or “life has got in the way”, but the reality is I just struggle with motivation when it comes to coaches! I find it it easy to get enthusiastic about building a new locomotive and freight wagons are reasonably quick to build, but coaches just seem to take me forever.
I’m pl
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
A previous blog entry described the building of these wagons http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1131/entry-21530-coal-wagons-for-sherton-abbas/
Once I’d finished building the four wagons they need painting. I’ve tried using acrylic paints in the past but still much prefer working using enamels. The insides were painted in a greyish yellow base coat to represent unpainted wood, this was then dry brushed in browns and gunmetal to represent wood grain. The under frames, i
Autumn is here, the nights are drawing in and thoughts once again turn to modelling!:-) As I mentioned in a previous blog entry http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1131/entry-20890-coal/ I've planned on building some private owner coal wagons for Sherton Abbas and now the layout is more or less complete the time has come to make a start. I wanted to represent wagons that would have been running in the Somerset / Dorset area circa 1905 and found the information contained in this book
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
