jolt5

Apologies, it’s 1 day till the house move and things have been moving like crazy! Firstly I must say thank you to @hayfield for speaking to me about building my own track! Invaluable knowledge and something I will be picking up once I’ve settled in london! Here is an attempt at some wasp stripes, very disappointed. Firstly the masking tape didn’t hold properly, there was bleeding of the paint and I tried to fix it whilst still wet! Massive mistake. Here is a wagon turntable set up I’ve been playing with on an arduino Uno, a steep learning curve but something I’m keen to get my head around! since this photos I’ve added a potentiometer and 2 toggle switches! Just the coding to fix. Finally is the Crab, Lamprey and are doored lamprey I built! I reached out to @railtec-modelsfor decals but haven’t heard back yet. They’ll have to go back into the box for now as the move is here but I might make my own if all else fails! Very happy with them even if they are coated in gloss varnish now 😂

3 Generations of the Lamprey wagon. Crab Lamprey rebuilt Lamprey Original references taken from original wagons od the period in various positions of rust and decay! First coat of rust!

I move house in less than 2 weeks, Painful. The trip from Wigan to London will be long and the lack of space in my new London place has me worried trains might take a backseat. I guess we shall see. I have recently come into hand of (2) 1ft x 3ft boards that I'll be taking with me. l think I'll be joining The Model Railway Club. The Wagons are coming along (Images to follow) and the 2ft x 1 ft diorama has been relegated to being left behind.

I will be truly honest I’ve caught the bug again and can’t stop, waiting for masking tape to arrive and a few bits for the diorama I put together 2 Chivers Lampreys. I have a few more kits to go including a Crab, Ling and Tunny but these are incredibly fun to put together and are helping me practice many skills! 2 more for the Fleet! Painting to come 👀

All finished, very happy with the finished BPA, work will now progress on the diorama again and I have a lot of stuff planned! Currently waiting for more paint to dry on the diorama. Slow and steady

Simply Stunning!! Perfectly caught the faded yet dirty feel of the “Gronk”. Just as I remember them sat at springs branch unmoved as a younger boy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one move come to think of it 😂

I shall tell the truth… I wanted to start on the Judith Edge kit but it wasn’t to be. I need more tools including a rivet press! we decided to crack on with the Chivers OO gauge LNER pigeon van instead. Realistically the Pigeon Van stopped being used in 1970 and although one survived to preservation there was no use for such a vehicle by the 80s! I’ve always enjoyed the LNER support coaches that operated with Track Layers and Ballast trains so here is the latest addition to my engineering fleet. https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/erdepartmentalstock/h212dbb8e Assembled last night and primed in black I’ve just gave her the first coat of a random shade of green I have mixed. After weathering and general dirt I’m sure the shade won’t matter too much but it’s starting to take shape!

While the layout dries I thought I’d give this a look. Given to me many years ago by @Michael Edge I never had the skill to build this kit of the conflat P. It feels almost prophetic to start it now The Diorama is currently drying from a coat of all around muddy brown! Lovely

Wall built and the first coat of paint done, I can’t deny I’m a fan of being able to see over it even if not prototypical. The back scene is next once this is done

@Michael Edge an image I haven’t seen yet! Definitely something to think about. I’ve always been a massive fan of Steve Hewitts work and he’s inspired me many times to attempt my own signals! Maybe one day I’ll give up the old ratio kit and try to build this with MSE parts!

Steve you’ve always inspired me in your work! Those signals are beautiful. I can’t wait to see how this layout progresses! thanks, James

I am team little and often and as shown in the following photograph I feel as much my interpretation (instead of recreation) has been a success. This is not how I would attempt this in the future. Firstly the sizing of this new wall section is off considerably, we will continue down this path for now but we may have to revisit it in the future. I’m not sure!! Here is the real wall as taken by @edgehillsignalman on Flickr

@Schooner can I just say your work is impeccable and I appreciate the time you’ve taken to put that together! Incredibly inspiring and your cobblestones are simply exceptional. i will take note for my next attempt as this one is seemingly beyond restart and I’m quite happy to continue in an unprototypical manner. Stay tuned for my attempt in a month or 2!

Planks painted and final details to go on. This wagon has been a lot of fun and considering how many bad things I’ve heard about the kit I’m very proud of the job I’ve done. Sprayed gloss and awaiting decals! I’m very happy with this lightly weathered look! Brake wheels on the bogies, buffers and fitting the kaydees! This BPA is very close to finished!

Sometimes I post for fun, sometimes I post for advice and sometimes I post to keep me motivated! This is only the second thing I’ve airbrushed but I’m not discouraged. A little overspray here and there but she runs beautifully and has couples!! Result!

Couples!! As crazy as it sounds lining up couples has always been an issue for me. Here we have a set of Kaydees perfectly married up on the new BPA! Very happy with this result!!

As the diorama continues to dry we move our attention to another wagon kit. This Cambrian BPA is something I never really wanted to give a go after hearing terrible stories! we assembled the flatbed from 2 sections, what a nightmare! It has required heavy filing to fit and make square but we have started to see something that resembles the real thing! A very long way to go and I need to order some more bearings but it was fun to do something while we continue to wait for work on the actual layout! Some of the inspiration:- https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brboplateair/h641938a https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brboplateair/hed050fd

Thank you Mike! I’ll take a deeper look through your thread. I have used tile grout as a ground cover for dirt roads but never used it as a filer. I’ll try this next and give it a look over! Thank you again for your help!

@Graham T This is Das modelling clay which has been slightly watered down to allow it to be spread thinly. It might be a case that’s it’s not dry thoroughly yet. I intend to leave it over a week to continue the process. Will keep you updated!

Maybe this is a failure or maybe it’s a blessing. The material used to fill the tracks is too soft to scribe so we are back to the drawing board. It looks like it would make a convincing yard ballast so I’m not too disappointed but I need to work out how to best do this unique style of cobblestone in the future. We will continue and finish off the work to keep it consistent and to keep things moving!

A very impressive layout I’ve been lucky to see on a few occasions! Just wanted to say I’ve really enjoyed reading this thread

Very little going on today with my job dictating most of my time and the dreaded wait for payday! We’ve started some work on these Bachmann Lowfits! I’ve started by taking off all the strap and injection marks on the planks. I plan to have these loaded with Bromine Tanks from Octel Hayle going to Ellesmere Port. An unprotypical arrangement for my Era but one I found inspiring enough to use for a wagon project. I know the chassis is wrong on this wagon it should be a 8-shoe LMS so I’m considering the work needed to correct this mistake as I have 2 red panda kits to finish the batch of 4 I have planned! Decisions, Decisions

@Michael Edge Herculaneum dock is a very fine looking layout and one that for sure inspired my love for this forgotten part of the railway scene. Thank you so much for your input it’s definitely something I’m mindful of. I couldn’t find a better way to create the weird square cobbles of the MD&HB. Still awaiting the filler drying thoroughly although it looks promising!

After trying every technique under the sun we have tried yet another way to inset rails into concrete. This time running Evergreen L strip down the chairs and filling in the area between. We will see how it looks once it’s dry!

Starfish finished and I must say I’m happy with her! Still not decided on couplings but to say this is my first kit in a few years I’m chuffed! Side A Side B now back to the Diorama!