Leaderboard

Since my last blog entry I've been beavering away fitting the Plaster of Paris paving sections onto the platform substructure. The fact that the platform is set on a gradual curve meant that the front edge of each section needed to be sanded carefully so that it would fit neatly against the edging stones. Once sanded the individual sections were fixed in position using PVA wood working glue which allowed for a bit of fine tuning of the sections position before the glue set. Plaster tiles being fitted into position Finished tiled area Although the area immediately around the station building was laid in diamond embossed tiles, I wanted the rest of the platform to be covered in fine compacted ash. 2mm thick card was used to bring the surface level with the platform edging stones and the paving tiles. Once again PVA was used to fix the card in position, with drawing pins used to hold everything in place while the glue set. 2mm thick card pinned in position Height of card in relation to the plaster embossed tiles The platform surface was then painted with grey emulsion to reduce the stark white colour and provide a base for the ash surface. I reasoned that probably the best way of representing an ash platform surface was to use real ash and so the bbq was lit :-) Once the embers had died down and the excellent food digested, the ash was sieved to remove any large pieces and leave just a fine powder. Mrs Wenlock has yet to discover exactly what her best flour sieve was used for and as I'm fairly convinced she doesn't trouble herself with reading my RMweb ramblings, she's likely to remain none the wiser! The edging stones and embossed tiles were then masked out using "frog tape" prior to spraying the entire platform surface with clear matt acrylic varnish. While this was still wet and tacky the sieved ash was sprinkled across the surface and allowed to dry. Masking tape in position Once the varnish had fully set any excess ash was vacuumed up and the masking tape was removed. At this stage I couldn't resist putting the buildings back in position and taking a picture! Buildings in situ I then made a start on colouring the embossed tiles. I mixed a dark blue/grey using enamel paint and worked this into the plaster surface using an old brush. The porous plaster surface meant that the paint dried with a nice matt appearance and this was then left to harden off for 24 hours. Once the enamel was fully dry I mixed a dilute wash of creamy grey acrylic paint and worked this over the surface of the tiles. The thinned paint flowed nicely into the cracks between the tiles and highlighted the embossed pattern on the tiles. Once dry the tiles had a rather nice dusty appearance that I'm quite pleased with and to my eye looks quite appropriate for an Edwardian summers day! :-) Finished tile surface I'll finish off with a view under the canopy, but that's the progress to date View under canopy Until next time! Best wishes Dave

After the travails of the first 70 foot coach, I was hoping for a slightly easier time of the painting - but it wasn't to be! This was the sorry state of affairs a fortnight ago: The model had been primed and then sprayed with GWR cream, followed by careful masking and an application of brown. All looked good - until I started removing the masking tape. Great wodges of paint came off, right back to bare brass! After some cussing I decided that there was nothing to be done but to resort to paint stripper and start again. Once again the roof came off - only this time at least I didn't have to refit the roof ribs or more than one or two of the door hinges. For the second attempt I used Railmatch etching primer, followed once again by cream and brown, and - other than a tiny tendency for a sliver of paint to lift at one end - I didn't have the problems of the first attempt. A few areas were touched up with brush painting, and then I painted the droplights and roof. Everything else went to plan, using the same waterslide lining and pressfix letters as on the first coach. Glazing was next, followed by commode handles and handrails. As with the first coach, a few details remain to be added. I still haven't done the door-opening handles or the roof/end details. I've also still to devise a coupling solution and add MJT corridor connections, excepting for the rear of the brake where I used the white metal casting in the Comet pack. Over on Tony Wright's thread there's been a bit of discussion about what's meant by "layout coaches" (or layout models in general). I think these are definitely layout coaches, in that they're built to the best of my present abilities, look fine (to me) from normal viewing distances, and haven't got too many fiddly bits. They definitely wouldn't meet the superb standards attained by many, are inaccurate in some respects (roof profile, for instance), but they haven't taken months and months to build and I wouldn't find the idea of building a few more too daunting, especially as I hope not to repeat the same mistakes as I made on these! Famous last words...