Leaderboard

Dear friends - those of you who keep track of my blog may have noticed a few (un)subtle difference recently. The most obvious of these is a change of username and the second is the way I have started to sign my comments. The reason for this is a personal one but briefly I have suffered for most of my life with severe depression caused by gender dysphoria. After many years of suffering in silence I have (finally) decided to take action. As a small step I am changing all my online accounts to my new name. I would really appreciate it if you use it. With thanks, Samantha

I wanted to make some fencing to start defining the field boundaries. The fencing I choose was concrete posts and wire. I felt the route of the fence should include the side of the old track down to the now disused loading dock, there will be a gate at the top of the track where it meets the minor road. I chose to make the posts on the laser cutter out of 1.5mm MDF. These were painted with humbrol enamel Matt 121 to give a suitable concrete colour. I found I had to blow on the posts to ensure that no paint blocked the holes the wires were going to pass through. The posts with the slightly large spacing are intended to be used as 45 degree bracing for the end of the fence runs. The first attempt I had worked ok, I drilled holes in the ground to take the posts and then spend an agonizing couple of hours trying to feed EZ-line through the holes. It was a complete pain! The end of the EZ-line would want to go anywhere except through the hole in the post. I managed it in the end but decided there had to be a better way. For the second length I tried something different. I thought it was worth trying to thread the Ez-line through the holes while the posts were still on the laser cut sprue. This worked out to be much easier as I could use tweezers and a lamp at what ever angle was easiest. The second run of fencing then took about 1/10th the time to install as the first! I'm very pleased with the results, I think once I get some long grass along the bottom of the fence and some small shrubs and bushes it should look pretty good. Thanks to Middlepeak for the EZ-line! David

I'd started the process of weathering my track in the last entry. I prefer to do this before laying ballast to avoid spoiling the ballast itself and to avoid a uniform colour across the entire trackwork. I start with a good coating of Halfords grey primer, my go-to for any painting project now. In the past I have applied paint direct to the track but it never quite adheres right and looks ugly. Next up is a coat of Railmatch sleeper grime. I mask/cover any areas I wish to avoid getting paint on/in and wipe all paint from the rail heads immediately. A cotton bud dampened with white spirit usually does the job. Although this can have the unfortunate effect of leaving cotton behind as it snags on the gaps between rails courtesy of insulated joiners! Lastly, I paint the rail sides to resemble rust. In the past I have used a Humbrol enamel which is a close approximation to a muted rust. However on reflection it wasn't the most accurate of colours. This time I opted for Phoenix Precision Paints' Rusty Rail paint. On the first attempt I unfortunately put it on too thick. The result was a glaring colour which looked too bright and like I had quite literally painted the track! It also took ages to dry and when it did it was gloss. What a disaster! Luckily I had only tried this on a small section, so I could respray with sleeper grime and start again. On my second attempt I gave the paint pot a much better shake/stir. This has always been recommended to me for any painting project, but I never really paid the advice much heed... until now. After a proper mixing the paint went on a charm, dried quickly and set in its proper matt form. Perfect! I was much more reserved with the paint, almost dry brushing this time. The result was a much more subtle colour that you almost have to look for. I'm pleased with the result. Although not ready to lay ballast, I started to consider what I would use when I did reach this stage. Ballast has been something I've never really been happy with; the size, the colour. It's just never looked quite as I expected it to. So I trawled forums for advice on ballast and found that there are as many options for ballast as there were frustrated modellers seeking a better way! The key appeared to be research of your chosen area/era. Addleford Green may be fictitious, but the line on which it is based was not, so that gave me a starting point. I found this most useful website: https://colourrail.co.uk and was able to purchase a few digital photos of considerable resolution for stations along the Hawkhurst branch - in colour! None of the books I have feature colour photography. Not only will these help me to get a feel for the general "mood" of the area for later into the project, they also showed me the kind of ballast I was looking at. I wanted something that was mostly brown/tan with some grey in it. I looked at the most recent ballasts to be released, hoping things had changed considerably since my last attempts. Hatton's own Constructor range and DCC Concepts Legacy ballast seemed like contenders. Hatton's ballast seemed too grey for my liking, the highland mix being closest to my needs but still too grey overall. Legacy's steam era ballast was much closer but ultimately seemed too dark and better for mainlines that see a lot of use - were I modelling Paddock Wood instead this may have been my choice. It's really very hard to tell for sure from photos but in the end I wasn't satisfied and decided to make my own mix, something that has always felt like a job reserved for "serious" modellers! I had some Woodland Scenics buff and brown in coarse which I had used for another project. I liked the colour of them when mixed so I bought a bag each of the fine variant and poured them together. I also had some leftover grey (possibly my first ever ballast, still going strong) and some black stuff - no idea of its origin! I grabbed a small jar and used an old teaspoon to mix a small amount together. I started with 3 spoons of buff/brown, 2 spoons of grey and 1 spoon of black, mixed and applied to a piece of test track. I was very pleased with the effect and surprised to have something so close to what I wanted so quickly. The only thing I'll change is the amount of grey, as I felt it overpowered the buff/brown mix by virtue of it's larger particles. Oddly I found the black was mostly lost in the mixture and actually gave a pleasingly subtle colour variation. My final mix will be three parts buff/brown, one part grey, one part black. Weathering of the ballast itself will be completed separately, after it is fixed to the track. I'm a long way off laying the ballast for now. I want to get the platform installed first and possibly some of the other railway infrastructure. On reflection I won't be using nearly as much ballast on this layout. In the past I have smothered every track in it. But this time I'm going to try for some more varied and realistic coverings; cinders/ash around the engine shed, tamped earth around the sidings and goods area etc. A lot of new techniques to try and learning curves to handle. All for now, Jonathan Next blog: Installing the station platform.

I have made some progress with the *F, some details added (smokebox door handle, whistle etc) and have now painted and numbered it. Still a little work to do (glaze cab, fit rear steps etc). I have also been workingh on some Pre group wagons, all Cambrian Models. The transfers for the Hanwood wagon are from Coast Line Models and the Cam Rys are from the Welsh Research Group. I commissioned the Lilleshall ones from Alan Jones at Coast Line models and they are now generally avaliable. The etched underframes are from Brassmasters and are suitable for Gloucester and RCH all prior to 1923. David

My last post on the new format web page posting pictures caught me out slightly. The acrylic mounting and index plate has ensured good servo to point alignment Further progress has been made with 3.0 mm cork to raise the track for drainage detailing later on between the platforms. DCC track dropper wiring and point bonding to stock rails is being done to provide for future development because at this stage a DC operated layout will be my starting point. The track is now pinned ready for ballast, but I’ll probably hold this off until I’ve got the second module made and fitted to the first module to check the rail and platform alignments. My other challenge will ensuring that the platform and the diorama joints are as close as nearly invisible. For the platform width and height, I used a Mk 3 HST 125 Intercity sleeper to give me clearance for the platform curve radius and found that the OO Gauge Standard Dimensions Chart was a great guide. BTW I also found that rail joiners come very handy for centralising point throw bars. Being half blind, finding the hole in a Peco point throw bar for a servo motor drive was for me a learning curve that gave me tunnel vision. Apart from Tortoise, Cobalt and solenoid under baseboard point motor mounting there are scant mentions for of how you ‘experts’ do it. I found by using a longer throw wire length (painted white on its very end), a back light from the track behind to shine through the hole the process was achieved easily. I’ll be a real ‘expert’ on the last one after 20 points! The double slip was an issue as the servo 0.6 mm arm wire being used would not throw the point blades sufficiently across. The increased flex may have been due to the combined thickness of the 12 mm ply baseboard, the 3.0 mm cork and the 3.0 mm acrylic Index/servo mounting plate. However I found up sizing to 0.8 mm piano wire did the trick and the desired operation of the double slip was achieved. Although the single points operated OK, I also increased their arm wire to 0.8 mm to avoid any potential problems later.

Well a few days away last week witht he Domestic Overlord and our two dogs meant that progress on the Workbench of Doom came to a hault, but getting up to North Yorkshire is always a good thing in my view. Even better though because naturally I am always a good boy the Domestic Overlord decicded to treat me and I now have a an additional coaches to the my passenger stock. Anyway I digress, before we went away on our little trip I managed to do a little more lining to the splashers on my last two Jubilee's and add this to the other one that has been clogging up the Workbench of Doom. So impressed was I with the progress I decided to get a move on and actually give the locomotives their identities, thats where I hit a wall as I could not decide which of the many options to portray (I think this is the modelling Gods way of saying get more Jubilee's :)) This is where the Domestic Overlord stepped in, remarkably not to shout at me for having too many locomotives but to actually select the names for the actual locomotives. So now No's 5641 Sandwhich, 5702 Colossus and 5730 Ocean have or will soon be added to the fleet, all too apparent in the photograhs are a few areas that need to be touched up, its strange how they appear obvious in photo's but not to the naked eye so much. I tend as projects are progressing of taking pictures just to see of there are areas that are not so good, its a tip I was taught years ago. So whats next to do? the first job is to get the nameplates sorted and then I think they will all receive a little or even a lot of weathering to not onlly hide the ropey lining but also represent typical LMS loco's in the 30's-40's some of them appeared very very grimy, oh and they need a crew. I only have the lining for a Princess to finish then all my attention will be on future "plain black" locomotives, so it will be simple freight locomotives for me, well maybe I should consider some plain black Jubilee's. So the good news is there should not be many more posts on these Jubilee's which must be a relief for anyone who has read the previous ones. Hang on I think I have been had, if the Domestic Overlord helped me select the names for these three, when we went through the list of Jubilee names, I may have said "already got that one" for the nine examples in the fleet. DOES THIS MEAN THE DOMESTIC OVERLORD HAS WORKED OUT HOW MANY I HAVE HELP Until the next time, if I will ever see a next time, Happy Modelling