ROSSPOP

Hi Julian, Thanks for your kind comments. The bridge kit is from Lasercutmodel railways.co uk. I bought two kits ( single span) and some Flemish bond brick sheets and cobbled them together. His quality control is suspect though. The bridge kit brick work was fine but some of his brickwork sheets are not lasered the same depth. His brick arches have `Wiggly Merchant Navy Bond` Sarsden is safe and well , but dismantled while I build Buncombe. The plan is to place Buncombe on top of Sarsden....watch this space john

Well, this week my love affair with laser cut brickwork products has started to wane. Never leave a parcel 4 months before opening....... Not at all happy with this platform brickwork facing................. ....so on with some modelling work and a spare sheet of Finecast brickwork as a glued on replacement.... I tried a new method (for me at least) of platform construction using a combination of 1mm, 1.5mm and 2mm card coated in Shellac before cutting to reduce the affects of moisture absorption in winter. I also used the traditional method of holding a pen to the side of a coach and tracing the platform edges, but used low tack masking tape as a workable stencil to trace out on the card as the platform topping etc... ...worked well for me ... So, the platform capping and edging to do and then the platform surface to be worked with Intentio laser cut chequer plate and stone work building sheets......no more cheap stuff!! A lot of Buncombe station to be done........

Slower progress of late trying to match up a laser cut building kit to a resin product. Matching up the painting of these has been surprisingly difficult due to the quality of the resin moulded brickwork. I can thoroughly recommend laser cut products from Railway Laser Lines, pity they mainly do modern image buildings. Not going to name the poorer quality brickwork products but let me introduce you to.... Not Flemish Bond.... Not English Bond... but the lesser known Merchant Navy Bond.........

That`s good to hear John.... I nearly snapped up some SC3`s before I discovered it needed to be SC4`s. The Peco set up does`nt have signal bounce as far as I can tell. I`m about a month off setting it all up...need to scratch build the platform next.... John

The extra signals have been constructed using a combination of Scale signal supply, MSE, Colin Waite, Modelu and Peco parts plus some micro LED`s. Planning to etch prime and airbrush them at a later date. Also decided not to add loads of extra wiring and switchery to the control box as I hav`nt got the desire to do so at 71. After deliberation and considering my NCE controller I investigated controlling the signals by DCC. I`ve come up with a stand alone control box unit that will be attached to the underside of the baseboard. Excuse the crude woodwork....but needs must........... Once installed underneath the flap can drop down so that I can set up the signal movements etc..... I`m using the Peco Smartswitch system to operate my home made signals using the Peco PLS Stationary Decoder which is the central of the three with the green terminals. My Dapol signals have Traintech`s SC4 DCC controllers specifically designed for the latest Dapol signals with the three wire leads. So, all I`ve got to do is connect all th servo`s up to the decoders....and no soldering in sight !!!!

Thanks John, I spent last Autumn getting all the model kits, track making parts and electronics and baseboard kits together and then started building this whole project on 31st December 2021 so it`s 7 months and one week`s work so far........keep up at the back !!! As you know all the locos and rolling stock has been built , on and off, over the past 8 years for my Sarsden layout. Cheers John

Buncombe has some older style signals in the goods yard and loop sidings. To keep up with the Dapol products I have managed to track down pre wired 12v micro LED and these have been used on some signal kits and accessories. I need a siding signal using some Colin Waite etches and decided on a 2` older version signal arm on a 15` wooden post. ....t`wer made in the usual way with drilling a hole in the cast lamp................. ......but lining the hole with some shrink black tubing to prevent shorting of the LED wires. Then sealing the back of the hole with black bath sealant and then burying the wires in the wooden post. The rest was plain sailing using good ol` Miliput and a Modelu finial................. Just the ladder to do and a base to design as I`m using Peco Smartswitch DCC control.

To bring you all completely up to date. This month has seen the making of the offscene fiddle yard. For this I used two reasonably priced single road bridge kits and some extra lasercut brick sheets and cobbled together an `entrance` / `exit bridge. Because it straddles a baseboard join I`ve had to make it as a removeable item as I deemed it too vulnerable to damage as a fixed building. With the coming of Dapol`s motorised signals it is silly not to use them as well as making my own. So, I`ve modified some of them to suit their locations on the layout. I happened to have a ancient Colin Waite signal arms fret ( the best the ever was) and these are spot on to use with Dapols product. So with my head Optivisor fitted with the three inch thick lense I proceeded with the scalpel................. Separating the coloured lenses is easy after cutting off the spectacle plate. These were then glued onto the replacement using canopy glue. Which was then drilled and fitted onto the remnants of the plastic arm after I had removed the rivet detail. Now it has a correct pattern shunt arm which will have it`s `S` signage applied at the painting stage. So that`s it all up todate. Next will be the custom platform construction..................

As I mentioned earlier I have used various lasercut products to speed up the layout build. Having sold off a lot of never to be built kits to further fund this project I left myself with a set of Railmodel(ex Lasercraftdevon) building kits. So...... Buncombe`s station building and goods shed looks spookily like the ones at Chudleigh I used Yorkmodelmaking roof tiles for speed and Modelu drain pipe products....guttering is umbrella stalks sold on ebay . Chimbly stacks by 422 models. Railmodel does a lovely rendition of Helston snignal box...... And then their non specific GWR Weighbridge Office.

The time has come,and the decision made to stop making loco kits . Age has dictated so. This year I have started another lightweight portable layout primarily using up my stock of unmade building kits, trackmaking gubbins and electronicals that have been gathering dust. I`m aiming for 75% completion by the end of the summer. Plenty of short cuts and cheating may be the order of the day...we shall see. BUT ! contentment and enjoyment will be paramount... SO! Buncombe is a GWR branchline nestling between the rivers Loder and Utter on the borders of Dorset and Devon. The town is best known for making small arms and munitions manufacturing at Buwwets Rifling and Cartridge Works which was ,of course, helped by the coming of the railway in 1898 . The Works was made even more famous through a celebrity Mr Alma Fudd who ran out of Buwwets hunting for rabbits........ The project is 1200 x 600 cm which has meant using shorter length point work to make best use of the space available. It also has an inbuilt off scene fiddle yard for one man operation. It has DC operating point work mechanisms and DCC operation of locos and operating signalling using a combination of modified Dapol and handmade signals. To keep things simple I have used lasercut building kits wherever possible but in some cases altered to fit. It also has a combination of home made electronicals , NCE Powercab controller and JMRI remote working and Peco Smartswitch units. It also has the Flippem autocoupling system. So, plenty to keep a 71 year old codger busy in the evenings. Trackwork is a mix of Peco, C&L, Ambis parts using Peco pointwork templates but finer tolerances through the points to rid myself of the dreaded wheel drop associated with 7mm standard finescale . That has been January to Aprils work rate.... Once the trackwork has been thoroughly tested it was out with the Clostermans etch primer and then enamel track colour using the airbrush. Then a quick rub over with a very fine grade emery block and scalpel blades................... .....and the trackwork is all tarted up and ready for play.... ....NB: please note the trackwork error.... age related I`m afraid. Then a session converting some stock over to the Flippem autocoupling system and a bit of a play sees us to the end of May...............

Ah ! Bossington........... I remember standing and watching it many times at an exhibition in Bedford way back in the very late 1970`s. The memory of it`s performance and it`s impression on me has lasted all this time......

Just found this topic. I remember Bossington from a model railway exhibition in Bedford either at the Corn Exchange or at Mander College around 1977 I think. I was in my late 20`s. Also at the same exhibition was Barry Norman and his Wyndlesham Cove layout. I ventured into EM gauge for a short period following the exhibition. Although the name Bossington had eluded me, all these years, until I came across the recent article about the layout in October 2021 RM magazine. But the memory of a layout with perfect running to a taped commentary with working signals has stayed with me since then. I even remember commending Mr Eden on his fine layout and stayed watching it for it`s whole sequence and a few more times before I went home.. It has always been an ambition to emulate such a GWR layout but it has taken me all these years of railway modelling in many gauges to almost get there aged 71 !! Although I hav`nt attempted a recording !!! yet ! John

Thanks Steve, I 've got some powders and will use them when the LED lighting is up.......

Finishing this bridge should`nt have taken so long but as mentioned before the lasercut brickwork did`nt take to my way of painting. Good kits are easy and quick. to paint up. My own personal brief was to use lighter shade colouring tones so as not to overpower it`s scenic position in the centre of a two foot deep baseboard to give an attempt at distance. The shallow engraving of the brickwork pattern meant that the `mortar` was`nt deep enough to take properly and so it all looks too patchy to me. The other difficulty was that it was meant to be in two separate units straddling a baseboard joint... but I forgot during assembly and made it as one unit so it has had to be made removeable complete with it`s own section of `screen at the back` Out of the number of 7mm laser cut products there are very few convincing looking bridge kits with the exception of those costing £150 -£200 which was too expensive for me to chop about. But it is what it is. T`aint bad in parts.......... Acrylic rattle can basecoat. Enamel hand painted brickwork pattern. Acrylic `tester pot` mortar. Before I sign off... a shot of a not expensive quality lasercut brickwork building kit... .........with the `shallow` brickwork stuck on the end as comparison..........

Not to be sneezed at John......😘

Well I think I`ve managed to rescue the issues with the brickwork tonight................. Using enamels for the colouring and then using a suitable acrylic `tester pot` as the mortar which is painted on neat and then wiped off with a damp cloth. I`m also using ground black pepper for the stone capping and will tidy this up tomorrow when its all stuck down .

Nothing heretical about quality brick papers John. Have seen many layouts in 4 and 7mm that have used them to excellent effect. My aim , this year, is to build a second small layout even lighter ( cranky 71 year old back, eyes and fingers) than my first one in a shorter time frame as possible ; hence using/modifying building kits throughout to save time.

Thanks for the compliment John, I agree about the balance. I`ve looked long and hard at Lcut but they don`t spin my prop as their brickwork is iffy and the structures look a bit flimsy. I`m currently working with Laser cut Models UK products as we speak and struggling with using my usual brickwork painting method as their depth of brickwork laser cutting varies from kit to kit and even piece to piece.................. Also using a Railway Laser Lines structure. For me , Railmodel products have got the price and quality well balanced......... As you know John, Buncombe is down south between the rivers Utter and Loder.................

Like all things.... the better and expensive laser cut kits are easy to assemble, robust and have accurate brickwork and detailing due to the high quality laser cutting.

Well.... if it`s this kit folkies.... The detail lines look laser cut to me..... if they are `printed` I`d want me money back as that`s akin to `tinplate days`....🙃

Hi Jack, One observation is dependent on where your model will be kept/displayed.as wood/mdf etc laser cut kits will warp and distort in damp/humid environments over time. I use Halfords Plastic primer rattle cans to seal my laser cut buildings which will also give a good base for whatever paints you use. Halfords products will not obliterate shallow laser cuts as the paint does not seep into the `grooves` if it is applied carefully (ie not too close with the nozzle)

So thats why I showed pics of THE CONNECTIONS AND CABLE i use....the control panels are incidental.....😊 So, what connections do you use Brian ?

I`ve used ribbon cable ( 15, 25 or 30 core) plus their associated plugs and sockets for the past twenty years in both 4mm and now 7mm projects. I made several sets of `looms` twenty years ago which are still in use , but now using DCC. On the floor of this pic is a `master` transformer box I made with mains in and 8 x 16volt 2 x 12 volt and 1 x 9volt outages using 25core cable connected to the control boxes of my choice. Still in use today. Ribbon cable input from the control box and then between each baseboard using `jumper` cables. The latest incarnation. Slightly more simplified with DCC.

The `pseudo` finescale track is down.... Just the wiring to get on with over the next week...

I think I said I use their Flockit and as you say it is a tad better than the Grassmaster..... it`s Greenscene static fibres that I find ineffective particularly as, in some of their grass shades, they include the dreaded red fibres