It's been a long time coming, but after a lot of procrastination I've finally started laying the track for my branchline project. I bought some rubberised cork sheet from the C&L stand at the Bristol O gauge show back in January to use as a trackbed foundation, so the first step was to get that laid in the correct position on the baseboards. I cut the track plan into sections, so that I could use the pieces as a template to dictate where the cork had to go. I started by positioning the mainl
I'm afraid very little progress has been made with the track laying for my project, It's far too cold, wet and windy here in Wales at the moment to contemplate crossing the garden to the workshop! I decided that a smaller project that I could build in the warmth of the house was in order, at least until the weather perks up a bit.
I decided that a little weighbridge hut would look good near to the entrance of the yard and shouldn't take too long to complete. Once again I used Southeastern Fi
I'm relieved to say that I've finally finished building the pointwork for my branchline terminus. The points were built using parts from C & L components. Although I've hand filed rail section to make Crossing Vees' and Point Blades in the past, I decided on this occasion to splash out and buy pre-made items. The points are built to 31.5mm gauge, using roller jigs supplied by RMweb member "Debs." I think the finer flangeways created by using this 0.5mm narrower gauge result in better looking
Well its been a month since my last blog entry, so I thought it was about time I posted something up! Once the number plates for the Dean Good's turn up I'll post up some pictures of the finished loco. I've been promised delivery by the end of the month, so hopefully not too long a wait!
Although not much progress has been made on the modelling front, my modelling room has come on considerably. I've finished skimming and painting the plasterboard walls and laid a laminate floor. It used to f
I've finished painting and lining my Dean Goods, but it needs a final coat of satin varnish and some number plates before its ready for viewing on the blog. While I've been waiting for the various coats of paint to dry, I've made a start on building the baseboards for my proposed Edwardian, GWR, branch line terminus. As a reminder of what I'm trying to build, here's a picture of my 1/7th scale foam and cardboard mock up.
Mock up
The layout will fit along one wall of my workshop and com
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
Now the station building is complete, I'm giving thought to a design of accompanying goods shed. I like the idea of a shed abutting the platform with a line running through it into an end loading bay, in a similar position as the ones at Ashburton and Bearley. Although the station building is based upon Abbotsbury, I'm not a fan of Abbotsbury goods shed, which in my opinion shares little of the aesthetic style of William Clarke's stations!
I'd like my model to complement the architectural
Nothing much new to say, just some pics of todays progress. The chimneys are now in situ and the roof is ready for the application of slates. I must admit I'm releived that the brickwork inlaying is finally finished!
Platform view
Forecourt view
Additional views
Loads more still to do!
Dave
I've mentioned in previous posts in my blog, that although I was happy with the basic construction of the station building body shell, I wasn't sure how to best tackle the awning brackets or valance. William Clarke's station buildings have a distinctive valance style, which I wanted to capture in my model. The canopy brackets are also quite ornate, some of his designs had a monogram of the railway incorporated in them. The first thing I needed was a decent photo of the bracket style, ideally a
Considering the diminutive size of William Clarke's station buildings, they have one heck of a lot of windows and doors! I've been busy with the micro strip and plastikard and the results are below.
I'm going to try using slide glass in the windows of my next loco, but for this building I've used a clear plastic sheet for the glazing. The glazing bars are held in place with a tiny drop of liquid poly, applied with a 00 brush. I find capiliary action, rapidly bonds the bars to the glazing m
I've finally got round to finishing my D & S etched brass horsebox. Its been on the list of "things to do" since I last published pictures of the finished build back in June. It was primed using an aerosol can of Clostermann acid etch primer, before using an airbrush to spray the enamel top coat. Lettering and numbering were applied using HMRS transfers and the wagon was glazed using off cuts from a box of chocolates ("you spoil us ambassador!")
All in all, I'm pleased with
Excuse the title, I couldn't resist! I'm still plodding along with my model of a William Clarke station building. Progress has hardly being made at lightning speed, but I'm happy with the end results so far. As I've said before, I think the chimneys on William Clarkes buildings are their crowning glory, so I wanted to capture their appearence as closely as possible. I used layers of plastic card to construct the stacks, inlaying "bricks" as required. Once the assembly had dried, the corners
Its been a couple of weeks since my last blog entry, so I thought I'd post a progress report on my station building project. Thanks to information provided by Buffalo and Tim V, I've got a much better understanding of how Will Clarke's buildings were constructed. The main body shell is nearly complete, window sills and corbels still need to be added. The next stage is to start construction of the ornate chimneys that adorned the building, before moving onto the roof and then the platform awni
I'm sure you all gathered from my last post that I was not entirely happy with my station building project. Although I'm happy to accept that the main building doors would have been an imposing 8' 6" tall, setting the right impression to the Victorian passenger, Im not so convinced about the Porters store room / Gents Toilet situation. Buffalo's information about Camerton's, (another William Clarke building) doors being 6' 6" for the store and 6' 9" for the toilet sounds far more likely in my
I thought the building was progressing along nicely, I still needed to sand down the quoins to get them flush with the brickwork, but that apart I was fairly happy with it. All was well until I decided to place a figure in front of the building, it was at that point when doubts started to set in!
The figure is 41mm tall, which works out at around 5' 11" in 7mm scale, a fairly decent height for a chap in the Edwardian period. He appears to be dwarfed by the doorway as can be seen in the pho
One of the few good things about a wet Bank Holiday weekend, is the opportunity to get some modelling done! I've long been a fan of William Clarke's buildings, I think they have great proportions and just cry out to be modelled. Paul Karau's combined edition of "Great Western Branch Line Termini" contains a good drawing of Abbotsbury in 2mm scale so I used that as a starting point. I enlarged the plan using a photocopier to the required 7mm scale, I find it much easier to measure directly off
I'm still busy building pointwork for the proposed layout, 4 points completed so far and I'm about halfway through the double slip. The C & L timbertrack bases, preformed crossing vees and milled switch blades, really help speed construction up. I was never much of a fan of building 4mm pointwork and viewed it as a "necessary evil," drilling sleepers and tapping in rivets wasn't much fun in my opinion! I'm now a convert and find 7mm track building very satisfying and almost pleasurable!
In response to the comments and advice I received from Buffalo regarding wagon numbering, along with suggestions from BlackRat and Ian Smith, that straw might make a nice addition to the wagons, I decided to get busy! Thanks for all your interest and advice guys, i hope you like the results.
GWR cattle wagon diag W1
GWR cattle wagon diag W5
GWR cattle wagon diag W3
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
GWR Horse Box
I picked this kit up from Danny Pinnock of D&S models at Telford last year. The etches go together very well and the castings although white metal, were remarkably flash free and well detailed. I'm going to add some vacuum pipes from Slaters brass castings, as I like their use of springs for the flexible hose. Almost ready for priming and then painting in chocolate brown.
Here's my attempt at resolving some of the issues previously discussed.
I'd appreciate any input as to whether a double slip would be used in this way to provide a catch and protect the main from the loop and sidings.
Thanks in anticipation
Dave
