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Faffing with Fiddleyards part 3


wenlock

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The polystyrene sheet was coated in textured sealing paint, which I'd pigmented with some brown acrylic paint.  Once dry this formed a hard, flexible surface that I could use as a base for scenic treatment.  Point rodding stools from MSE https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/shop/signals/ls05/ were fitted to lengths of wooden sleepers and then glued in position alongside the trackwork.  Ballasting was done using Woodland Scenics ballast using exactly the same method that I used on the main layout. 

 

 

The backscene was then painted using white emulsion as a base coat for the "Sky"  The all important beverage shelf was painted using a chocolate coloured emulsion paint to match the rest of the layout's facia panel.

 

Ballasting, Point Rodding stools and Catch Point

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The "sky" was then painted a pale blue colour using acrylic paints.  The rear of the curved backscene on the main layout was "ridged" to allow it to bend and looked a bit unsightly.  To make it more aesthetically pleasing I covered it in some thin card and then painted it brown.

 

Sky

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The ground contours were then coated in a layer of PVA glue and Green Scene https://www.green-scenes.co.uk/  static grass fibres were applied using my "Flockit" static grass applicator.

 

Static Grass

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The static grass was then detailed with rubberised horse hair, postiche hair along with various flocks and scatters from the Greenscene range, all held in place with an aerosol of matt acrylic varnish.  

 

 

Scenic detailing

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The point rodding was added using 0.7 mm brass wire for the majority of the runs, however I used plastic rod where it crosses under the track to avoid electrical shorting!  This was then painted in my version of "Torbay Red" using enamel paints. 

 

 

Point Rodding

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I'm really pleased with the extra depth that this new board has added to the layout when viewing it along its length.  I've had to be careful in the past when taking photos because the fiddleyard was very conspicuous and spoiled any illusion of reality.  Here are a few pictures taken along the length of the layout to illustrate the view under the bridge.

 

Under the bridge!

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I'll finish this edition of the blog with a picture of the all important beverage shelf in action, I hope my fellow operator at exhibitions approves of our new "exhibitors mugs"🙂

 

 

Mug shot

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Until next time 

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

 

Edited by wenlock
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  • RMweb Premium

Brilliant! That gives so much extra depth to the whole thing when looking left! Excellent extra. And the mugs look good too! Cheers Ian

 

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  • RMweb Gold

That's fantastic, Dave - it opens out the vista no end.

 

I can't wait to drive the passenger train even faster than normal!!!

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2 hours ago, kitpw said:

...that worked, didn't it! It's extended the apparent length "no end".

 

Kit PW

Thanks Kit!  good to hear that "No end" was successful!:)

 

2 hours ago, NeilHB said:

Lovely work Dave, that really does make a big difference. 

Thanks Neil:)

 

1 hour ago, Barry Ten said:

That's fantastic, Dave - it opens out the vista no end.

Thanks Al :)

 

1 hour ago, Barry Ten said:

I can't wait to drive the passenger train even faster than normal!!!

I'd better finish building those carriages then! :)

 

47 minutes ago, bgman said:

Job done....now play trains !

 

G

That's the plan:) Toot toot!

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  • RMweb Gold

Not sure if this was mentioned earlier, but is the extension getting a light of its own, or will you just be relaying on ambient exhibition lighting for this bit? I'd imagine that it won't matter if the view through the bridge looks a bit dimmer than the main scene.

Edited by Barry Ten
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1 hour ago, Barry Ten said:

Not sure if this was mentioned earlier, but is the extension getting a light of its own, or will you just be relaying on ambient exhibition lighting for this bit? I'd imagine that it won't matter if the view through the bridge looks a bit dimmer than the main scene.

Hi Al, that’s a good point and something I hadn’t considered. When the layout is at home I don’t bother with the lighting gantry because the lighting is good in the workshop. I guess we won’t know how it all looks in a gloomy exhibition hall until we can go to one!  If the worst comes to the worst I’ll have to mount a spot light on the main layout gantry pointing at the new extension. :)

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1 hour ago, wenlock said:

Hi Al, that’s a good point and something I hadn’t considered...   I guess we won’t know how it all looks in a gloomy exhibition hall until we can go to one!

Sherton Abbas candlesticks at each end of the beverage shelf - illumination and a means of warming the brews.

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Excellent addition and as Kitpw noted - you have achieved a layout with no end... looking forward to seeing it in real life at some point!

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2 hours ago, Western Star said:

Sherton Abbas candlesticks at each end of the beverage shelf - illumination and a means of warming the brews.


I shall don my sparkly suit and swop the piano for the layout! It’s definitely the look for the 2021 exhibition circuit :)

 

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3 hours ago, Chrisbr said:

Excellent addition and as Kitpw noted - you have achieved a layout with no end... looking forward to seeing it in real life at some point!

Thanks Chris!  Hoping to meet up again soon:)

 

2 hours ago, Tricky said:

Very neat. Nicely done. 

Thanks Rich:)

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  • RMweb Gold

Very effective Dave, certainly worth the effort (cue some know-it-all punter: "Nice use of mirrors").

 

Looking at those first shots, it occurs to me that a bath-tub with one side sawn away would make a useful baseboard. Naturally curving backscene and all. Simples. 

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Beautiful, seamless piece of work.  Love those shots under the bridge.  A master class in how to extend beyond the scenic break - a personal bug bear of mine.  Really is a well worth exercise doing this to enhance what is an already beautiful layout.   

 

Mike.

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3 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Very effective Dave, certainly worth the effort 

Thanks Mikkel:)

 

3 hours ago, Mikkel said:

 (cue some know-it-all punter: "Nice use of mirrors"). 

Lol! I shall ask him too look under the bridge and watch his face when he realises there's no reflection gazing back at him:D

 

3 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Looking at those first shots, it occurs to me that a bath-tub with one side sawn away would make a useful baseboard. Naturally curving backscene and all. Simples. 

Now there's a thought!  A cheap fiberglass or acrylic version would work a treat, not so sure about cutting and lifting a proper cast iron job though:)

 

2 hours ago, PaternosterRow said:

Beautiful, seamless piece of work.  Love those shots under the bridge.  A master class in how to extend beyond the scenic break - a personal bug bear of mine.  Really is a well worth exercise doing this to enhance what is an already beautiful layout.   

 

Mike.

Thanks Mike:)  Its funny how somethings grate on people and others just blank them out.  Corners in backscenes irritate me for some reason! I probably should try to get out more! :D

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19 hours ago, wenlock said:


I shall don my sparkly suit and swop the piano for the layout! It’s definitely the look for the 2021 exhibition circuit :)

 

E624B7B0-842B-4515-B97D-5B40B4912EDB.jpeg.a040fde5bd376f9068c9d2a07a1017c2.jpeg

I see you have been taking Al out as your support operator again...

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5 hours ago, Regularity said:

I see you have been taking Al out as your support operator again...

Oh I’m afraid I’m the support operator! I may well have built the thing, but Al manages to operate the layout, talk to the public and drink his coffee before it gets cold. Something I’ve yet to master:)

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Great stuff - the view through the bridge arches is excellent.

 

One thing that did jump out at me was the colour of the point rodding. It seems too 'pink'. Yes, rodding got rusty (although stained with oil at the moving bits) but was usually a dark rust - more brown. And rarely a homogenous colour.

 

Edited by Miss Prism
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38 minutes ago, Miss Prism said:

Great stuff - the view through the bridge arches is excellent.

 

One thing that did jump out at me was the colour of the point rodding. It seems too 'pink'. Yes, rodding got rusty (although stained with oil at the moving bits) but was usually a dark rust - more brown. And rarely a homogenous colour.

 

Hi Russ, The pinky/red colour is my interpretation of a colour called "Torbay Red Bright"  evidence shows that during the period that I'm modelling the GWR signal department painted point rodding in this rather bright colour!  There was an interesting discussion with Nick (Buffalo) who provided a link to a copy of the 1894 and 1907 Signal Department painting instructions.  I've put a link below but irritatingly the link in the thread to the painting instructions no longer works:rolleyes:

 

 

Here's the relevant part of the conversation.

 

  On 29/10/2014 at 17:52, buffalo said:

Just a thought deriving from the rodding before/after ballasting question, Dave. Will you paint them before or after ballasting? I'm really looking forward to seeing some correctly painted rodding. I think most folk probably believe it was always a dirty black or unpainted but, if you're not aware of it, there's some useful information in the 1894 and 1907 Signal Department painting instructions. Copies of these can be found at the bottom of this page. The Victorian/Edwardian GWR was rather colourful 

 

Nick

Wow! Thanks for that Nick, the information about the rodding colour is completely new to me :-) I wonder what shade of red "Torbay Bright" was? it's obviously different from "Torbay Signal Red" or they wouldn't specify the two colours. The early GWR was as you say a much more colourful beast than I realised, I love the idea of red rodding, cranks and even facing point lock covers! I think the logical way of moving forward on my project is to stain the sleepers, paint the rodding red and then ballast the track. I can then tone things down a bit with some airbrush weathering:-)

 

If anyone's got a pot of "Torbay Bright" they don't need, then I'm your man!

 

Dave

 

All fascinating stuff and typical of the good old GWR to do something different! 

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

 

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7 hours ago, Regularity said:

Why would you want to master drinking his coffee?

It's nice to share!:)

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Ah, I think I have a copy of those Signal Department painting instructions somewhere, but it will take some finding.

 

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