I’ve been involved with our club (the Greater Waikato Railway Modellers) building a loop extention/fiddle yard to compliment our existing one at the opposite side of our exhibition layout. Briefly our DC layout consists of interchangeable and controllable modules that are set to suit the available exhibition space. Primarily it was intended to give more mainline interest and flexibility. We used to have an end to end layout that dovetailed into a much larger oval one at our clubroom which it
The need to focus on what control system to run my layout has been evolving as I have been constructing the Garsdale buildings. Rather than having a continuous dual loop I may attempt to use twin tranversers, one at each end of the layout to enable consist/engine interchange. I am also working towards a dual DC/DCC system that will initially use a DC track controller along with servo turnout and signalling MegaPoint control system. Having constructed my first module, there are some further ba
The railway cottages block retaining wall to the Carlisle down line platform above has been an interesting undertaking due to correlating the Google earth image with the few others taken at ground level. It also affected the position of the rail side cottages to include the access road and enable a better baseboard/diorama joint for the next adjoining module two. The extra 50 mm for the above had resulted in revising SAC Bridge 115 being positioned closer to the South end of module one than o
I have flat surfaces that need some character and I’m using 50mm thick polystyrene off cuts of flooring insulation that are glued down with exterior PVA to create it. The outline of the access path to Platform one and road to the terrace railway cottages were drawn in with a permanent marker pen after studying many photos and determining a plan view. Then using a small flexible handsaw and a Surform rasp these are then carved out and shaped to simulate the embankments and general sloping terrain
Having built bridge 115 and before contemplating undertaking the construction of Dandy Mire viaduct, a start on the baseboard modules needs to be started. This is so I can prefit the bridge for the station approach and the stepped railway cottages to suit the diorama needed for future development.
Having read horror stories about baseboard warping and woodworm destroying hours of workmanship and even deconstruction when a relocation of residence has been undertaken, I determined from the sta
Well now the railings have been revisited. I am now using a brand new 0.71mm 60/40 solder and a Rosin soldering flux paste to see if the previous result can be improved. The styrene solution for the rails is an option of last resort for me.
The reason why I am persisting with this is because I really do need to sharpen my soldering skills as I contemplate the Dandry Mire Viaduct safety railing and kit building the semaphore signals and the Network Rail radio link tower, not to mention the la
Well welcome to 2018. Much of my time has been family orientated with time spent at our clubs museum layout and meeting visitors from Rugby and Dorset in the UK along with many other nationalities. My need to build as close to the prototype as possible meant the scalpel came out yet again and suitable adjustments were made to the plate girder bridge sides without destroying my previous efforts. The camera is certainly not kind! A general tidy up by using contract filler and nail files, I swiped
With the abutment built, the next challenge is getting the wing wall lengths measured. Using Google maps, the approximate length was ascertained reasonably well at the10m scale and by comparing this with the bridge dimensions I obtained earlier.
Both the Eastern wing wall lengths being shorter due to the rise in the road/terrain appear as a nearly identical mirror image on either side along with the end height. On the opposite West wing, both walls are the same in length but wall end heights
It's a busy time of year. Someone mad in a red suit is rushing around, or rather in this hot weather going red in 30°C rushing around! Just time for some progress pics.
Inspiration is a wonderful tonic! Progressing well now as modifying the bridge sides is a relatively easy task. The four outside plates are complete with the inner plates cut in half and glued. The end plates that are directly under the stonework abutments were cut from the original end pieces and end riveted detail cut from the same now spare panels. This is because the plates were turned through 90° to create the right number and spacing for replicating the bridge.
Going from the photos, y
Well items ordered sometime go astray! While waiting patiently for the Wills SS57 plate girder panel bridge to not arrive, I’ve had time to help improve the old layout and rolling stock down at our local clubroom and go over my original thoughts and plans for my own layout baseboard construction. With having the advantage of the newly constructed Railway Workers Stepped Cottages and diorama requirement around the Coal Rd. #115 bridge this forced me to rethink what I wanted to achieve.
Also a
With the Workers Railway Cottages virtually completed some of you may have noticed that the porch bargeboards are arranged differently from the previous trackside terrace cottages in as much as they are recessed under the roof tiles. I may return to make the remaining four cottages. This will depend on a possible diorama width decision and how well the landscape back scene can be devised to blend with the physical buildings. A 3D composite may have to be devised somehow, but that would be someti
The stepped cottages chimney stacks and pots are now completed. I checked for older images of the cottages on the Internet and came across my own, which was disconcerting, as I hadn’t placed them there! Then I resorted to look for video images using You Tube. These old videos at the time were taken using film and VHS technology; most reveal the loss of the number and types of pots since the 1950’s.They do however reveal the grime around the chimney stack roof tiles and the barge boards when comp
As before these are pre cut using Evergreen#103/122 styrene strips for the window sides and rails. Working through all 47 windows takes time and certainly patience, so to break the repetition another one was started! Same thing but different. The window assemblies did take time but I thought it was worth it as these workers cottages at Garsdale Head are, apart from scenery are some of the outstanding features as you approach the station from the South. My quandary is … should I extend the dioram
Now for a slightly different approach for assembly than my last effort. Ease of assembly is my excuse, particularly for window detailing such as curtains. Although this was a relatively easy exercise for me before, it only required the pre painting all the external walls with a grey wash. The glazing panels were fitted along with the flooring support strips along the internal walls, which also helped to keep the walls straight.
The intermediate walls were also fitted with support strips for
The weekend GWRM Exhibition at Cambridge was well supported and all members contributed to its success. I've included photos showing our ever evolving Layout. Being a work in progress there is of course a lot more to be done modifying and improving it, but visitors are always interested in how our modellers scratch build and make our module dioramas.We encourage many to have a go at one of the five controllers of the DC layout and gain new members as a consequence.
Back to building next time
No one slacking off here! The opposite would be true with involvement with the GWR Modellers forthcoming Cambridge Exhibition here in the Waikato and family visitors. Aside from those, I have managed to progress on the above and now have some progress photos to share.
Many soggy days here have meant plenty of time to refine methods for easier paper removal from foam board. I found that my fingers didn’t appreciate rubbing the paper off when dealing with large pieces. When the foam board is made, I understand the paper backing is part of the manufacturing process. Removing the bond between the two should be the answer. I tried adding white vinegar at a quarter to one-cup water ratio, but this added to material cost and only had a minimal effect on softening th
With the windows completed and the roof in place a ‘topping off’ ceremony has been held by yours truly by way of a brown ale or two before tackling the chimney stacks and painting them. I have previously used balsa wood for each of the station waiting room chimneys with moderate success, but I found detailing the stonework awkward, as the wood was too soft to maintain any close definition.
Now however using a foamboard core and then overlaying it with clear styrene detailed pieces with the s
The Hollies of course sang my title for this post. Now at last the glazing can be fitted to the windows. I had already cut these out at 25mm and 35mm square 0.4mm clear styrene sheet when I made the entrance lobby/porch windows. The immediate concern is window dressing as once the tile roof goes on the access to the inside of the building will no longer be possible.
Because there will be no internal lighting, I decided to apply the three-foot viewing rule to my building here and use 1.5mm th
Before I can fit the glazing to all the windows, I need to paint the building exterior. Being new to scratch building I have found painting with acrylics a challenge, in as much the matching of the paint colour to the images in photographs is always a compromise depending on the photographers use of filters, time of day, decade and of course the weather.
So with that in mind I started with a light grey wash, then I mixed a light grey along with yellow oxide, burnt umber, plus a touch of crim
Tennessee Ernie Ford might have been a handy help for roofing the original prototype building, but 16 tons is just my guess anyway. Now for a different approach than the way I used to fabricate the roofs on the smaller station buildings I made earlier. Because of the slight bow that occurred with them, (the roofs had to be massaged gently back straight), so this time I kept both roof halves separate whilst I glued the cut cardboard slate tile strips to the vanilla (paper still on) foam board.
Alright, here goes the marking out the front details of the railway side terrace houses. The entrance lobbies have a higher roof apex than those on the 3° slope stepped houses; otherwise all other details are similar. The gable roofs of the lobbies took a bit of fiddling around as I found out due to extra allowances needed for the 3.0mm foam board to line up correctly to the terrace house wall/lobby detail and their roof tiles.
All to do now is a spray coat of acrylic primer on each exterior
Now this is where we all might learn something, as this is a test of my observation! I tend to start with the quoins on my replica of the Georgian era buildings, because they provide the basis of the Yorkshire stone courses and how they fit with the doors and window openings, but I’m getting ahead of myself here. My earlier buildings of the Garsdale Junction Railway Station were a lot smaller in height and width. These Railway Workers Cottages are considerably longer and will take me into the n
Measure twice and cut once. I first learnt this when I fabricated steel that it was not appreciated if you wasted any material. Using a 1.0 x 0.76 x 3.0mm Foamboard sheet (they come in all thickness and sizes, 10,5 and 3mm and in sizes A2, A3 and A4), I lightly draw out the sides and ends using a 0.5 HB mechanical pencil. Ensure you start from a square corner, most are. Then for cutting out use a new sharp edge angle blade. This is because you need a clean cut through the paper both sides of the
