Main door just finished. Looking at what to do with the windows to make it look less derelict.
Updated after tea, added rail for door, printed a strip of random photos and mounted inside first floor to break up the bleakness inside.
Thanks for looking.
Still fine details to attach and dereliction around the base, came out a bit more corroded than I wanted, and needs a matt varnish.
Thanks for looking.
Except for the additions in the previous post, which will be done once this is fixed, this is almost ready to go into place now. The awful seam down the end is covered, not an ideal but it does add a bit of interest to a blank wall, doors and shutters are now in place, the loading platform was build from several layers of card before gluing scrap textures onto it. All the roofing and tiles are done, along with some leading work.
Barge boards are on now, some bits of glue and weathering to d
Toned down the leds on the buffers today with a bit of wash and spent a good half hour watching locos pass over points. Found a few spots of glue on the inside edges of the rails, quite amazing how a small spot of stuff you can hardly see has such an effect. 05 still has some trouble, but after a good clean it wasn't too bad. Overall time over 7.5ft scenery length at low speed is 5 mins for 05 and just under for class 16. Under the bench is now clear, bit more clearing to do on the work table a
Completed most of the hard standings, gaps to be filled and some edges to complete. Cleared up stray ballast and thought about adding a goods platform... Factory at the far end just short of entrance to the fiddle yard (such that it is). The control panel linked to a cobalt ads8. Switches are wired to operate pairs if necessary, 2 or 5 will operate both points Still not sure about the location of the buildings, warehouse windows and retaining walls interfere. Haven't really thought about th
Capping and weathering done, time to begin moving down the backscene, 2 feet complete except for the front area. Already paved but still lacking ideas. Any suggestions? Now to move on to the retaining walls, then got to think of the industries. A Metcalfe brewery, warehouses and small factory and entrance in stock along with an engine shed. The engine shed could become a factory to fill up space before the brewery towards the other end. Will add the goods crane when I've moved down the back a
I’m done here, I’ll be finishing the goods crane when I begin work on the overhead at the far end. Seems to make sense so they can be finished at the same time. The veg weren’t the easiest to dress up, but they do the job. I cut a couple of them up so they could be used in different ways. These still look a little card like, from a distance their okay, but I might get a paintbrush out to blend them in a bit. Not today though.
Thanks for looking.
It's been a long time since I posted, the layout has progressed, but is still some way from completion. The track was laid, not without issues and the learning curve has been steep at times. Peco solenoids are controlled from a control panel and NCE powercab. I finally understand how electrofrog points work, the back scene was painted a couple of weeks back and have been placing the hard standings for the buildings. The warehouse has been dropped at the moment and the factory became a practice p
I’d actually lost the fence ‘wire’, but found it as I cleared the desk at the weekend so finally ticked off another job. The fiddle yard was landscaped as you can see a large part through the bridge arches. Fence needs a coat of paint and the red oxide doesn’t take well to the girders and the coaling station was recommissioned as well.
Thanks for looking.
The window frames are very white out of the packet, so added a dusting of a grey/green weathering powder before spraying with matt varnish. Put in the first pair before reading the instructions and having to pull them out to add the recess.
Didn't like the corner stones in the kit so did a swap for something I thought was a bit more in scale.
Continued on a roll and repainted the door frames to match the window frames. Stone door lintels suffer the same alignment issues as the windows, so
Well, had a bit of a shift around with the warehouse to add a bit of ‘weight’ further to the left, started to take some of the warehouse apart to rearrange and improve it a bit. Makes you realise how bad some glue is, spray mount is great for getting an even join, but after a while really loses its stick. This section was a spare from earlier and used as a test bed. Windows and frames were removed and the frames sprayed with an off white to tone down, I’d made the replacement frames some time ag
Sorry, no photos yet. Decided to kitbash the twin and spent a while considering what to do to make an entry/exit to the fiddle yard. Windows are in and removed a few for doors. Door frames are in and I'm working on a dock. Windows that were too low have been bricked up.
A major decision to split the front vertically to make a lower-relief facility didn't pay off so well, and I'm worried it simply looks like half the building is missing. I think a change of roof should solve this now though.
Warehouse coming along, ran out of windows so time for a break. No major calamities today, most parts were reusable though I had to go to the reserve for a couple of parts. One panel is temporarily in the wrong place, it should be at the end and a door panel needs to be put in. New quoins need to be cut, getting straight edges along with a straight fold for such narrow pieces is a morning job.
Thanks for looking.
Rather than just join the existing parts of the warehouse together, I’ve cut out the floor plan out 4 times from mounting board. Hopefully the walls can be assembled onto them.
Thanks for looking.
Well, work got the better of me, but I was determined to get somewhere so 30 minutes on Tuesday to build the crane (what a great kit), sprayed it Wednesday morning before work, finished first swipes at weathering last night. Looks like it could be a derelict, so maybe using some ratio ‘halt’ platforms perhaps as a newer drop off point. Lets me make the ground between crane and bridge waste ground, so maybe some abandoned rails and other rubbish. Letting it settle for a day or two now to see how
It's been busy at work but I've tried to keep up the progress. The warehouse is close to completion after several setbacks including putting the main roof section on wrong way up, so all the tiles were upside down, the air was blue when I spotted that! Built the side loading dock and strengthened the inside.
Moved on to the baseboard, which was a 6ft X 18in plywood base on a pine frame built at the end of summer 2 years ago. I want to operate from the front so opted for a sliding fidd
Continued to make retaining walls and move along the front edge. Extended the waste ground, still some work to do but happy so far. Began to work on the hard standing before the bridge using the workshop from the Metcalfe engine shed, the height of the buildings will gradually increase towards the left hand end. Glad I’ve got the brewery on the shelf as it’s now discontinued. The ale house opposite is a temporary fix and the incline is in the wrong place. New windows have been fitted, And a
Saturday always seems to be a day for the backscene. The last sections of retaining wall are in, issues with fit required a sharp knife. The second set of gates has been added and is now drying before greenery grows up this afternoon.
The chimney was been slightly slanted to rest against the wall, but it looked better without the gap. The weathering looks a bit severe here, but that’s for this afternoon.
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This afternoon flew by, need to get the weedkiller out, but the bre
Got to give this time to settle in now. The greenhouse was touch and go for a while, particularly while looking at it in situ and thinking that the back face ‘glass’ was so clear it looked like I’d missed it out...given that it was all planted, I had a few choice words. It’s missing some planting and general detritus, good news though, the pigs got a trough of feed today.
Thanks for looking.
The last couple of locos I bought were diesel, but it looks like I’ll be running more steam eventually. It just seems to be heading that way. A few more bits to do, the shed at front left is still not compete, maybe a bit of loading to be done at front with a bit of open shelter, nothing too heavy though. The loading platform has been fully assembled and painted, all the goods need to be painted up, might stick them together in groups so that it will be easy to change over and place on wagons. S
Thinking about things a couple if days ago to possibly move the crane platform from the right hand end to the left. Finally got around to it today and replaced it with coal staithes, which makes better sense as it had been looking like that area needed a function anyway. The crane platform does the job, now just need to fit a crane. While I was at it, one of the buffer stops was loose, and took the opportunity to move it forward 2”. Adds a bit more of a busy feel somehow. Factory not moved on an
This is where I’ve really struggled, but happier with this than anytime previously. I’ve built the crane housing by adding windows to a Wills lamp hut, inverted the walkway along the crane and removed the original crane platform. Looking in Monk Bar models this afternoon made me dig out a Metcalfe brewery warehouse, and it might be combined with a workshop. I think I’ll remove the rear two columns of windows and replace with brick to allow for a clean join between the two. The brick section join
