Gareth001

The thing that always put me off making buildings was the repetitive stuff, especially the roofing. Getting the slates thin enough to look right in the smaller scales means thin card cut into strips, and then laying them really carefully.....any tiny error stands out like a sore thumb. I've seen lots of nice buildings spoilt like this, and I'd been a bit worried about doing any sort of quantity, especially on the big warehouse which is going to hide the traverser. However, by setting the cutter to score 10 thou styrene (just under half a scale inch, which is still a little thick but I can live with it) its a doddle to cut out unlimited amounts. And every slate is perfectly square. It's also easy to put register marks on each strip to help keep everything square when sticking the strips down. I know this is only a tiny shed roof, which probably wouldn't warrant ridge tiles, let alone guttering, but I wanted to test it all out. Bigger roofs should be just as easy, I reckon.

Some progress made recently.....track all painted and the check rails laid on the siding which is going to be laid with setts. I'm going to use Das clay for this, but haven't yet decided whether to scribe it when dry (which seems like a sanity threatening exercise) or to make a press and do it while the clay is wet. If anyone has any thoughts on this, do let me know. The big step forward recently has been the purchase of a silhouette CNC cutter. (see JCL's thread). This very impressive piece of kit will cut 10 thou styrene with remarkable precision, and score 20 thou. I reckon it will pay for itself in windows alone. JCL generously posted a link to the drawings for a small shed, which I thought would be a good starting point. I made a few minor changes, and the results are below. The first thing I noticed was that although the walls are only 20 thou, hardly any bracing was needed. However good you are with a scalpel, getting things perfectly square all the time is a challenge....half a millimetre is nearly an inch, even in 7mm scale. a cnc cutter gets every component square, every time. Paintwork needs touching up, and door needs a knob.

Yes, I thought that, but the manhole scales out at almost exactly 2 feet, which isn't unreasonable, and drain cover come in different sizes, so I'm happy with that. I'll try the tiny drain cover and surround today...but the Hudswell Clarke was delivered yesterday, so a lot of time will be sent idly shunting it back and forth...it's an exquisite runner: Thanks Chris! I've made the mistake of having the embryonic layout in my office....must remember to do a bit of work from time to time!

I came across a very interesting site yesterday which I thought others might be interested in. www.dioramadebris.co.uk is well worth a look..I reckon we can learn a lot from the military modelling side: some of their stuff is stunning. I was particularly interested in the silicon moulds they produce, and ordered the manhole covers and drains mould yesterday at about 3pm. It arrived this morning, and not being the sort to read instructions or buy special materials, I mixed up some epoxy resin that I'd bough in a pound shop ages ago, slapped it in and went for a sandwich. The result is below....there are a couple of air bubbles but the whole thing is only 20mm square, so hard to spot with the naked eye. If I'd been a bit more careful with the mixing I'm sure I could have avoided this, and I have the means to produce an unlimited number of drains, manhole covers, etc. The pattern contains 6 different moulds...great value at about a fiver.

The plan is to motorise the sector plate with the actuator below, set at the limit of travel by the two microswitches. Via a cheapo decoder if I decide to go DCC...still on the fence with splinters in the proverbial.

Here's a view of the sector plate in it's infancy, made from a cut down Airfix turntable, some plastruct girders and C&L rail and chairs. The Airfix mouldings were pretty poor, but the tooling must be ancient now....I should probably have started from scratch. Need to make a pivot and bearing on the lathe, and some carrier wheels.

Here's the line's entire rolling stock....the board of directors clearly need to make some purchases. Photos can be cruel...the rusty bits don't look so orange in real life. I reckon I can do better in future.

Here's a pic of part of the baseboard join, which I have admittedly got a bit OCD over....still got a bit to do get it right. Once all the tracks are aligned for the traverser and sector plate, I'll superglue every chair anywhere near a joint of any kind. I need to adjust the sleeper spacing a bit too, and I should have set the points a fraction further apart to accommodate better spacing at the joint....hindsight is a wonderful thing. However, in the run down sidings of the type I'm trying to portray, lots of the sleepers were buried in the mud, grime and spoil, so I should be able to camouflage it successfully later.

So, after another indecently long pause, I have finally finished the second point and laid the remainder of the track which I've initially stuck down with jolly old No More Nails. I thought that once the points were down the rest would follow swiftly...no chance. It's taken quite a time to get the plain track down, because I've been quite fussy about alignment, etc...I want the slow running to be spot on. I went to a recent exhibition (Folkestone) where, incidentally there were no O gauge layouts, and I only saw one exhibit which didn't involve the giant hand from above within a minute or two of viewing. I know it's easy to criticise, and I'm sure I was just unlucky, but I want to aim for a bit more reliability. Interestingly the one layout which ran perfectly was dcc controlled, which has started the cogs turning. I really enjoyed building the points, and the whole exercise in 7mm trackwork has been very satisfying....the gauge looks right, steel rail is a massive improvement (I've never been happy with nickel silver) and the small details such as the beautifully cast fishplates from C&L make a big difference too. I've still got a bit of fettling to do, including re-soldering the tie bar on one of the points....I've got the blades just a fraction too far apart. I'm actually looking forward to the ballasting (must get out more!) and getting something running. As my entire stock consists of 2 wagons, it's time to take the plunge...I've ordered one of the last maroon Ixion HC tanks. It was always going to happen! I remember the review of it in RM when it was released which went something like " all you now need to get started in O gauge is a couple of points, a few wagon kits and away you go.." Well, that's exactly what I did! I've already been inspired by other contributors to make a few mods...but it'll take a few days to pluck up the courage to start the surgery on such a cracking little loco...watch this space! A couple of pics of pretty much the entire system attached. The stuff that looks like custard is expansive foam, which is easy to cut and shape, and will form the base for some coloured flexible filler which will give the final ground cover.

With a bit of motivation derived from having the full layout surface stretched out in front of me, I'm waiting on a delivery from C&L to crack on with the trackwork. In the meantime I'll cut out all the trackbed from 6mm mdf...laminating that to the baseboards should give even more rigidity. Meanwhile, during the ridiculously long planning process this has all gone through, I've re thought the track plan (below). Only two points, and not too crowded, but still some good operating potential.

I've also put a traverser in by setting in some cut down drawer runners into the baseboard, stuck in with silicone sealant. This allows the traverser deck to slide above the main baseboard. I'm going to cut the track plan out of more 6mm mdf so that the track sits 6mm above the baseboards: If you build onto a plain board, you can build up, but you can't go down: real ground doesn't work like that, and I think this will allow me just a little contouring to put in some dips, puddles etc. It'll also allow me to plant buildings below ground level.

The other thing that spoils a lot of exhibition layouts for me is the baseboard join. I know this is a tricky one, and whilst my focus isn't exhibiting, I want the layout to be portable. I reckon the best way is to really beef up the join, so the boards clamp together tightly and accurately. I used some 6mm 50x50 Aluminium angle, offset across the join. I put washers between the two lengths of angle and bolted them together before fixing to the boards with M8 countersunk hexhead screws and Nylock nuts. I then took the washers out before bolting together (screws and wingnuts) to really pull the edges together. worked pretty well.

Well, it's been a little while, but I did say this would take forever! I've knocked together a couple of wagon kits, built a point (which I'm quite chuffed with) and I'm much less apprehensive about building my own trackwork. Although I did say I'd have a go at a building before I finally took the plunge, rules are made to be broken, and I've addressed the loathsome job of building the baseboards. I went for 6mm mdf, all glued together with pva. All a bit wobbly at first, but when I got all the bracing in it became pretty solid. I've seen lots of high quality exhibition layouts which have been a bit questionable below baseboard level, so rather that go for rickety legs or big constructions, I recessed the bracing so each 5' baseboard sits snugly over a portable Keter workbench (secondhand on ebay for £30). These things are brilliant: can be carried like a suitcase and set up in about 5 secs. Couple of pics below.

Thanks Chaz...you're right of course. I'm very much at the "will it fit" stage, and I'll certainly be looking to vary the angles, etc. when it comes to finally positioning the buildings. So...thought I'd pop the transfers on the Mogo, light dust of weathering and job done....no such luck. The transfers were a nightmare, and it took ages as each individual letter had to be positioned with the point of a knife. Not sure if I was doing something wrong, but lots of swearing, some muck and grime and a coat of matt varnish later and it was time to leave well alone before I lost the plot and threw it out of the window! Reasonably happy with the result though, and learnt a lot....I reckon I can do better next time. Results below: Stage 1 complete....order a point kit from C&L tomorrow! Does anyone know the radius of an A4 point ( I can't bring myself to call them turnouts!)

Thanks for all the encouragement! Well, the plunge has been taken, and a Parkside Mogo van duly appeared in the post. First impressions: loads more bits than a 4mm kit, and fantastic detail. I did think that perhaps a Mogo van wouldn't be at home in a small industrial setting, but I think that quite a few of them were used on general duties as well as the car transport that they were designed for, especially towards the end of their lives. I'm thinking of a time period of around 1947- 49, ( early nationalised stock a possibility ) so this van would be in a careworn condition towards the end of it's GW ownership. The kit went together pretty well, with only a few tiny bits pinging off in all directions....loads of hinges/brackets/clamps etc...and I found them all except for one, so carved a replacement from a bit of sprue. I also stuck 2 sheets of lead inside with silicone sealant, so it's big (to me at least!) and heavy. Lovely. I'd also invested in a few jars of acrylics, having only ever used enamels before, and about a year ago I treated myself to an Iwata airbrush and a compressor, on the basis that I'd get around to learning how to use it one day. Today was the day. Much easier than I expected...the airbrush is a really nice piece of kit, and I'd certainly recommend it. So I now have a grey van, and tomorrow it gets transfers, rust, grease and all the rest. I'll post a pic or two when it's done. It took a lot longer than I expected...I seem to remember 4mm wagon kits going together pretty rapidly...but I have to admit I can't see myself going back to a smaller scale. I practised with the airbrush on an old unpainted 4mm Slaters kit, and it felt tiny and quite crude.

After a 30 year break from modelling (!), and despite a couple of false starts with 4mm branch lines in the intervening years, it is time to embark on the last great project....not because of my advancing years, but because I know it'll take me forever to finish it!. That having been said, I'm determined to get the basics sorted in a reasonable time frame. Why O gauge? Well yes, it is expensive, but cash is less of an issue than it was. I'm also starkly aware of how my eyesight has deteriorated (I'm only 52), and I've always been drawn to the gravitas of the senior scale. I've also always been frustrated by the narrow gauge of 16.5mm, and not confident enough to build pointwork in what now seems a small scale. So...having spent years thinking about all this, I've set myself a target or two. If I can a.) build a wagon kit and make a decent job of it (not too challenging), b.) build a point from a kit that actually works (slightly harder) and c.) scratchbuild a building to a decent standard (might be an issue) then I'll get on and tackle the rest of it, which will be a small industrial concern, details to be thrashed out as I go. But...it's good to have a plan, right? So, after more hours of research and sketching than the CEO (domestic) could believe possible, I downloaded AnyRail and came up with this: Which I didn't like much (too contrived, kickback siding all wrong), but led to this: which involves a double slip....help! but also looks too cramped....so I finally came up with this: By adding 6" to the 10 feet I originally wanted to stick to, I think the track plan looks a lot better, including a small sector plate for loco release which I really like. The depth of 21" (driven by my cunning plan for baseboard support...watch this space) gives the opportunity to clutter the foreground a bit to give depth and realism...there are a lot of inspirational layouts around that use this technique, and I'm not too proud to pinch a good idea! All comments welcomed.