A playground J94
Entry posted by Phil Parker
1,719 views
On page 87 of the June 2016 issue of BRM, I've built a little diorama recreating a scene from my youth - a J94 marooned in a park as a climbing frame. Space precluded a full step-by-step build on the page, but we've plenty of space on RMweb, so here we go:
The locomotive come sfrom an Airfix kit supplied by the Kitmaster Collectors Club. Apparently this model the fire at Dapol's factory so isn't in the current range. Fortunately, for this project, a part-built kit is perfect and there are loads of those for sale second hand.
As with many diorama projects, the base is an off-cut of 9mm plywood. Size isn't important, but flat wood is so no using up warped stuff!
While the playground might have been reasonably flat, a model looks odd if the ground is as level as a piece of wood, so some contours are built up using cheap ready-mix DIY wall filler. Once dry, this is painted with cheap DIY brown matchpot emulsion. I find a surprising amount of my modelling materials outside the "proper" suppliers, but if it does the job, I'll use it.
Grass is easy enough, normal electrostaic stuff from Greenscene is perfect, although flock powder would also do the job as playgrounds tended to be fairly well mown. Around the locomotive, I recall tree bark intended to cushion the fall of children plummeting from the footplate. This not being (as far as I am aware) available in any scenic range, some improvisation with the dried contents of used tea bags filled the gap.
Fencing is laser cut card from the modelrailwayscenery.com range. It requires bending to follow the ground and some weight to hold the posts in place while the PVA glue dries.
Locomotives in parks tended to have many of the removable parts unscrewed before the kids got their hands on them. Thus, the clock hands are gone from the smokebox door, cab detail is simplified (much like the kit) and even some handrails were taken away. All easy enough to do on a plastic kit. For real prototype fidelity, I should have removed the dome cover and scratchbuilt the inside, but that would have taken as long as the rest of the model!
While installing the fence, one of the bars broke. Instead of repairing this, I added a muddy path from chinchilla sand behind to show where dozens of people had hopped over and damaged the wood.
Benches from Metcalf Models complete the scene. The livery is a bit of a guess as the only photos I have are in black and white, but local councils always seemed to go for something gaudy. My childhood memory is that the real locomotive spend quite a lot of time painted pure red oxide but photos show this wasn't always the case.
If a steam engine doesn't suit your model, I know of an 03 diesel, steam roller and even tiny diesel roller that were found in local parks, perhaps a good use for old and tired models?
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