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UP THE JUNCTION


PaternosterRow

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It's an age since I posted anything, but that don't mean that I haven't done anything. So here goes with the latest model. It's a four by three foot micro that has been connected up to three continuous loops so that I ran run trains to my heart's content - a real train set at long last. There's also a small shunting yard at the front for various departmental wagons and freight - depending what mood I'm in. The shunting yard is all operated by Spratt & Winkle - I just use a hand held magnet under the board to avoid the old 'hands in the sky' method. Whilst it is a Southern type scheme I can run any train depending on what I fancy - I've added some third rails (lengths of code 75 glued down beside the running rail) but you can't see these from the yard level etc.

 

I wanted to create real depth to the cameo hence the yard, the double viaduct behind and single viaduct to the very rear. The viaducts are glued together Scalescenes Bridge kits.

 

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A Lima HST going over the front viaduct - a test shot and demonstrating that I can use just about any train from the corporate era.

 

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Setting up the scheme and playing about with positions of the viaducts.

 

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A test shot to ensure the holes in the backscene can't easily be seen from the front. Scenic breaks are the bug bear of all micro layouts.

 

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I took this picture of Bordesley Viaduct way back in 1995 from the third floor of a warehouse in Digbeth (long expose using 35mm film - the bad old days of photography - modern cameras are brilliant aren't they?) and wanted to emulate a part of this sodium lit night scene.

 

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My take with a block of flats (the right hand side scenic break) lit with a single light bulb inside.

 

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The flats are a super detailed Kingsway model seen here in the set up picture.

 

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Preparing the flats - each have windows with Scalescene's curtain textures etc.

 

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The front of one of the sections - I used sand that was glued to the front with a watery mix of PVA.

 

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The flats in daylight - Hornby 2 HAL with a Bachmann Class 416 on the front viaduct. Note the detailed Lima Class 73 on the rear viaduct travelling from behind the flats.

 

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You can get a feel for the depth of the cameo in this shot.

 

I'm finishing off the departmental wagons, cranes etc for the yard at the moment and will post update pics at a later date.

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  • RMweb Premium

Great work (as always). The extra depth really pays off, and the night shot is very effective. Looking forward to some more photos.

 

Alex.

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Wonderful detail and photography :)  Even the parked cars manage to look realistic - I usually find model vehicles stick out like the proverbial 'sore thumbs'.

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  • RMweb Gold

Fabulous! I love the contrast between the Victorian brickwork of the viaduct and the "modern" block of flats.

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You make a great case for smaller models.

The attention to detail is excellent. At a  first look it`s almost the real thing.

Great modelling.

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  • RMweb Gold

The master of light is back! Great to see you post again Mike, and with some superb scenes. The one with the flats at night is my personal favourite, haven't seen that before I think.

 

Interesting about the hand operated magnet, so you simply move it to below where the uncopuling needs to be done?

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  • RMweb Premium

That first photo really is brilliant.

Thanks Killybegs - it's one of my favorites.  I love the Lima HST - it's cheap, easy to update and is a much better offering than the old Hornby type.  However, it's woeful on performance and can't pull the 6 Lima Mk3 coach and additional dummy car.  I've put Keen couplings on these and think that's where the trouble is - it's no wonder other users motor up the dummy car when they improve on the couplings.  It looks great though.

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  • RMweb Premium

Great work (as always). The extra depth really pays off, and the night shot is very effective. Looking forward to some more photos.

 

Alex.

As always, very flattered to get praise from a master finescale modeller such as yourself.  

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  • RMweb Premium

Wonderful detail and photography :)  Even the parked cars manage to look realistic - I usually find model vehicles stick out like the proverbial 'sore thumbs'.

Thanks Mike.  The Cortina Mk1 was my Dad's first car.  He had it second hand in 1967 and we went on some brilliant holidays in it - Margate, Weymouth, Isle of Wight etc. - very happy memories so it's appropriate it is in the setting.  I've since given the cars a coat of Matt Varnish which helps tone them down and removes that shiney toy finish.

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  • RMweb Premium

Fabulous! I love the contrast between the Victorian brickwork of the viaduct and the "modern" block of flats.

That's how it was back then - a lot of crumbling Victorian stuff with brand new concrete monoliths rising up from the rubble.  I remember that world so well as a kid.  The new replacing the old - it was an exciting time to grow up in (late 60's/early 70's) - the future was full of so much promise.  We were all supposed to be living on the Moon by now!

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  • RMweb Premium

You make a great case for smaller models.

The attention to detail is excellent. At a  first look it`s almost the real thing.

Great modelling.

Thanks a lot Black5.  With the price of modern stuff now and the cost of converting to EM or P4 I've found myself on a mission to prove that you can make realistic 00 gauge scenes on the cheap - it really doesn't have to be a very expensive hobby.  The Hornby 2 HAL was only 62 quid from Hattons and it's an absolutely brilliant model. Great little runner to boot.  But the old second hand Lima/Hornby market is a great source in the battle to keep costs low.  A bit of detailing really improves them - however, the motors are terrible and lack power - there's a lot of scope for double heading though (and that's given me an idea!). 

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  • RMweb Premium

The master of light is back! Great to see you post again Mike, and with some superb scenes. The one with the flats at night is my personal favourite, haven't seen that before I think.

 

Interesting about the hand operated magnet, so you simply move it to below where the uncopuling needs to be done?

Cheers Mikkel.  Again, very flattering to receive praise from one of the masters of this hobby.  

 

The sodium night scene is one I remember so well as a child growing up in Birmingham.  When it was a cloudy night you'd get this pink glow in the whole sky above the city.  It was very reassuring to me as a child - guess that's part of the reason we model - to recapture that feeling and the happiness of our childhoods (maybe getting a bit too deep here!).

 

That's about it with the magnet as far as the coupling goes.  It wouldn't work through 12mm ply so I had to cut access holes under where the track went and relay it on a 6mm ply placed over the holes.  I took your advice about the S&W couplings and only use 1 hook per wagon - as long as they are all run in the same orientation it works fine.  However, my patience runs out when it comes to fitting them and have opted for the lazy, slung underneath fashion.  They look fine to me and look much better than propriety stuff - brilliant system and so very cheap compared to Kadee stuff.

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  • RMweb Gold

Thanks for the explanation Mike. I certainly understand the "slung underneath" approach to the S&Ws, just getting around to fitting them is a challenge for me.

 

Not to deep about the reasons for modelling. I think a lot of our modelling can be traced back to childhood - recreating the magic of it all, for example.

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  • RMweb Premium
I like your micro layout. Great atmosphere and nice CARD modeling.

 

Cheers Job - the viaduct scheme you made a while back stuck in my mind and provided a lot of inspiration for the scheme.

 

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  • RMweb Gold

Great to see you back Mike and what a fab post.

 

Just that first photo was another to draw me in but I loved seeing how it developed and the shots at the end are very compelling.

 

The colour balance looks spot on and once again you have demonstrated how much atmosphere you can create in a micro...plus you still get to run trains!

 

Looking forward to see some more pics :good:

 

Pete

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