kirtleypete

I have seen someone stuck - me last year and I was far from the only one. Grass parking in February is asking for trouble.

I have just had an e-mail from Emma at Warners saying that parking will be on 'hardstanding with overflow on grass'. On grass - in this weather - seriously?!! We'll be parking in town and catching the shuttle bus. Anyone parking on the grass will probably still be there for next year's show.

I've pretty much finished the back of the terrace that faces the river; it's complicated because this part will be on a different board from the front half. The join along the roof will have to be done when it's in situ and made as discrete as possible. The chimneys for the main building are on the other half. There will be detailing in the back yards but there's no point me ordering anything now until new year. Peter

I have finally been able to get back to 'York' with the terraces after two weeks of weather delays. I needed to put them in place and to do a template for the backs of the river terrace. Thankfully after a bit of tweaking it all fitted. Steve, the window sills are simply pieces of square section Plastruct glued in place. Nothing highly technical! Apart from the terraces themselves all the remaining work will be done in situ in the new year. Peter

Good point Ian, I can easily add that. Peter

I realised I'd made a pigs ear of the back of the pub so I've altered it and incorporated the path. The door to the cellar is a bit low but it will hardly be seen. Peter

I've finished the three terraces apart from some of the chimneys. I buy these from Model Railway Scenes and they are brilliant; imagine making that lot one at a time! I'll be painting them all together when they are all in place. The back of the pub is pretty much fiction as it was a much bigger building but it will hardly be seen once it's in place. The tiles on the upper walls are correct. I can't do the roads on the far board here as the levels are critical, it will have to be done in situ. I don't want to do it and then find it all needs changing. Peter

That's very kind of you chaps. I'm really enjoying working on the layout again.

Having said I couldn't get outside today the rain hasn't arrived so I've grabbed the chance. The big challenge is to match the rear of the river terrace with the existing model. I can't make it as one piece as the boards may have to be moved. I'll complete the models I've been working on first. Peter

The third terrace is coming along nicely. I'm waiting for more materials to be delivered, hopefully today. There are some very challenging angles on these models! The space in the foreground will be the backs and yards of the terrace facing the river. To put the boards together for marking that out I need to work in the garden and today that's a non starter. Peter

I've been working on the first of the terraces, quite a complicated model. The street facing wall is complete at the back, the rear wall is being worked on. Again as it straddles two baseboards it is built on it's own base so it can just rest in place. 'M' stands for master, I cut it out and then just drew around it so all the other walls would be identical. Not only does the terrace go uphill the base isn't rectangular! Put in place for the first time. More pavement is on order. It will sit vertically when it's finished! I should finish this terrace tomorrow and then begin work on the third one which will be on the other side of the road.

I've been able to complete the house backs, the two terraces will be next before I do the rear of the pub.

I've placed the buildings on their base so I could work on the road and see how they look bedded in. They won't be fixed, they will just stand in place as the pub overlaps onto the next board. The pub sign is now straight!! I'll be working on the backs now but I'm running an art exhibition for the next three days so there won't be much progress until Monday. Peter

Thank you. I've grabbed a couple of pictures before it starts going dark: It's amazing what a difference it makes once you add a bit of colour. Peter

The shell of the building is pretty much complete apart from the back of the pub. As it spans two sections of baseboard it will just lift off; it was much easier to build the pub and houses together. It looks a bit odd with the clear plastic roof but I use this because it is very rigid. The house backs are smaller than the real thing due to space constraints. Time to add some colour now. I won't get anything done tomorrow because I'm setting up an art exhibition so the next update will probably be on Thursday. Peter

There is more than one Bay Horse in York but this is certainly one of them. Peter

I am working on a section of urban landscape created by infilling what had just been a gap: This will mean adding the other half of the terrace alongside the river and three rows of houses. I decided to begin with the row in the foreground as they are the most complex with a pub, the 'Bay Horse', at the end. Can't understand why I was drawn to the pub like that! Google street view is very useful at times like this: There has to be some compromise as space is limited and the three bays of the pub have been reduced to two. Hopefully it will be recognisable though. The street is 'Marygate'. The walls were cut from 1mm plastic card which was then doubled in thickness by laminating it to a second layer. I should make good progress now that the basics are in place. Peter

I am delighted to be back building models for York; while some materials I've ordered arrive I've done a painting to get me back in the swing of things. Hopefully work on the models can begin tomorrow. Peter

Excellent pics; welcome to the club! 😃 Peter

I've been down today to do some more on the layout, on the day that BRM was published with the article on the layout so far. Following the release of the video my customer Giles Baxter can now be named and even watched in all his glory! The backscene has been extended and the join tidied up. I delivered 'North Eastern Terrace' and installed it, a short curved terrace of houses right next to the loco shed. It fills in a dead area of baseboard very nicely. I also delivered the arched retaining walls which had to be curved along this section. The rest of the backscene will be completed when I've got the right sheets, I'd ordered the wrong ones and the blue was totally different. The incline on the right is quite gentle but it's still going to be a test with long trains. Some of Giles' superb trackwork. Peter

I've completed the layout today so here is another set of pictures. I'll be going back to take more in a few weeks when the owner has unpacked all his loco's and stock. This is the section I finished off today. The odd grey shape is where a wooden platform used to be. Creak!! The ground won't be shiny - the paint wasn't dry! Peter

Pretty much 15mm to the foot; I enjoy it, I'd love to have room to do it myself, Peter

I spent yesterday working on Ophir and should finish it on Monday. My customer decided to have a water tank and to move the trolley shed, not correct but it does maker a nice scene. The road is Woodland Scenics buff ballast, coarse on the edges, then medium and fine down the middle. On the right is the area I still have to finish off. The steps will be replaced with a scratchbuilt structure. This view is impossible to see but the camera can get there. Peter

How could they see what they were coupling onto? The view forwards is non existent. It certainly wouldn't win any beauty contests. Peter

I've been back today working on the layout; I delivered all the buildings and spent the day painting the backscene. The space below the painting will be the hillside. Hopefully it looks a bit like Colorado. The raised store in the background disguises the corner of the room very nicely. The little hut in the foreground housed a trolley for track inspections. I've brought the pick up home to tone it down, it looks very bright at the moment. I don't go back now until a week on Monday but it should all be finished by the end of that week. Peter