Harry McTavish

I do hate to be a pest, but as I'm sure many others are with me in the club of wondering how you're doing. Even an interlude is welcome! Harry

Time to bring the topic up to speed! Do note these photos are still prior to Dutch_master's feedback, and certainly the footpath slant will be altered. Firstly, an overall view of the diorama as of now Starting with the shopfront, I've made the basic construction from styrene strip and rod, based off general designs I like from the 40s/50s. Then to the side door, with a frame constructed of bass wood, a plastered wall has been made from a thin application of plaster to bring some texture to the model. On the subject of texture, moving to the side walls, the beginnings of the embossed brick can be seen, done with a variety of filed and blunt scalpel blades to suit, this will then be coloured with watercolour pencils. Moving inside, the bakery itself. Though little more than an oven at the moment, it's served as a testbed for brickwork and scribing in the floor. The walls are scribed brick in the same manner as described before, but I cheated with the oven and used some spare brick plasticard, which just allowed much better detail and the chance to fix mistakes in such a small area was far easier than what card would offer. Heading to the storefront, a glimpse of the floorboards, a combination of inks and pencils bring some scribed lines to life! Centre stage is the counter, display case waiting for some tempting cakes and baked delights Some neatly curved packaging for the glass, with tin foil for detail, encased inside a bass and balsa wood counter, stained with inks. And to wrap up, some shots of the overall scene as of now Cheers, Harry

Thanks 009 Micro, certainly another possibility!

Thanks Dutch Master! And yes, unfortunately the footpath does slope towards the buildings, something I need to look into as the kerb is also very high. In regard to the single tramline, I have had the single line bugging me the whole time, however I'm now at a stage where adding a second line would be too destructive. My initial thoughts were a double line would be too overpowering, and I've been toying with the idea of a tram stop or similar obstacle, something of significance that caused the tram line to deviate. My aim is for the bakery to be a very new construction, so the possibility of the tramway being equally new is still on the cards! Harry

Well, moving onto the model now! So far I've got the bare bones of the roadway constructed, along with the bakery walls and shopfront. Unfortunately I always tend to work solidly for a few days before I manage to take a photo, so the earliest progress photo is this one; So to explain the fairly simple construction, I began with a square of plywood, cut down to 8" either side. Followed by a series of card risers to add an incline, (uphill in the direction the Land Rover is facing) and on top a thick card roadbed allowing the nice curve that real roads feature for drainage. Following this a card base for the footpath was glued on, and then the whole lot covered in polyfiller. In between this, rails for the tramway had been laid, and then the whole lot was sanded smooth down to 1000 grit or thereabout. Much scribing later left me a footpath and tramway, on a solid foundation for the model. Until the next update! Cheers, Harry

Cheers for the kind words Kevin!

G'day everyone, Having been amazed with the quality of the entries for the past few months, I've finally quit browsing and decided to share my progress as of now. Taking the cakebox as a size restriction of course, I also sought inspiration, and have settled on a bakery as a key part of the model. So, the photos; Starting with 3 resident vehicles on the diorama, we have a very small van Moving on, the Austin Healy 3000 And lastly, the tram Do of course, bear in mind that all 3 are works in progress. With small detailing and paintwork to be completed on the Austin van, minor paintwork and cleaning on the Healy, and windows, paintwork and detailing on the tram. Next I'll share some of the progress that has been made with the diorama itself, and what I'm aiming to create. Criticism is more than welcome, and let me know if there's anything I can improve on! Harry

I do indeed like the rws locos, and you've got a sizeable fleet so far indeed! I have a few pointers which you are most welcome to accept or disregard, however in my experience; -Brush painting is most successful with several coats, and a cleaned, soft, brush. It's also much easier to achieve a smooth finish on a primed surface, any cheap grey or white spray primer works. -Crucially, the paint needs to be thinner, allowing it to flow smoothly, with acrylics, water is perfect to thin, and enamels, either commercial thinners or methylated spirits (depending on the paint). -And finally, always allow the paint to fully dry before the next coat, (especially if using masking tape, as it may pull away paint, or allow wet paint to bleed) ! Harry

Very intrigued with this layout! any progress? Harry

I'd certainly be interested in seeing potential items for sale, would there be a chance of an ebay link once items are posted ? Thanks in advance, Harry