westernviscount
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Posts posted by westernviscount
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A bit of progress with the ballasting. I thought it was a bit course but the more I have done the happier I am with it.
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19 hours ago, MrWolf said:
Quite the transformation I would say!
Note to self:
Must not start another project before getting the others finished.....
I am terrible for very long pauses in projects. Still, deadlines are for work and the man.
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And the inside...
With the deliberate mistake of ballasting the centre of the bridge before building the central girder.
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A few pictures of the girder temporarily stuck to the layout.
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I had another cock up with painting and lost a bit of heart in the prpject so 1458 remaines unfinished.
I have though had another go at the painting and lined it out.
I need to finish the cab roof grab handle and put coal in the bunker next.
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A bit work work on the bridge.
I have joined the upper panel section to the lower girder. The panels had decorative beading on the faces which I am assumimg were still in place in the early sixties.
The inside had angled L section
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On 30/03/2024 at 22:24, westernviscount said:A classic ratio kit given a bit of attention. Thought some folks might be interested. Happy Easter everyone.
A quick follow up on my previous post.
All painted and decorated. Croesnewydd wass assembled from an HMRS pressfix sheet.
Neat enough and in my opinion satisfying the 3 foot test.
Light weatheringusing an enamel wash and light airbrushing of made up dirt colour.
What was the point with excellent RTR? Lamps and couplings to follow.
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On 24/03/2024 at 22:28, Clive Mortimore said:
I will try to not be one of the "gatekeepers" of the hobby but someone who helps others develop what they want to do buy sharing what is in my pile of achieve material and with my modelling experiences.
I think shoe horning gatekeeper or rivet counter into a youtube video title does wonders for views and likes.
I honestly have not come across the mythical rivet counter but I have come across plenty in the hobby who seem hell bent on proving it doesnt matter very much to them and nor should it to anyone else.
This is why I haven't got a youtube channel because I too would spend more time ranting and less time modelling. Having Rmweb is bad enough ;-)
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Another rivetting evening...
I have started the upper pa els of the bridge. These will have decorative frames added later.
The two sections held together by hand.
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So I have watched a couple of youtubers getting very upset about rivet counters. They seem a bit like a weekend golfer missing a put on purpose to prove they dont take themselves too seriously.
So, with this in mind and fully schooled in the ways of not counting rivets I decided to...count some rivets.
In all seriousness (is that allowed these days?) I am starting work on the bridges for Caia Road.
The rivets, after counting, are lightly punched on the reverse of some thin plastikard using a scribing tool I picked up in the range for £1.
They are not perfect but I enjoyed counting them all and am pleased with the outcome so far. :-)
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51 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:
You mean you made the layout a foot too long!!
Mike.
Yes, but not at the end the paint ran out. ;-)
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A bit of wagonery for Caia Road. An old ratio kit uplifted ready for paint...
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- Popular Post
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A classic ratio kit given a bit of attention. Thought some folks might be interested. Happy Easter everyone.
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A bit of progress with the trackwork...
I sprayed the track tonight which has really moved things along.
I notice a little copper clad sneaking through but the overall colour blends the trackwork together.
A bit of ballasting later in the week I think. Although I ran out of paint a foot or so from the end of the layout!!
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My daughter used to deliver Woody his Stetson hat using her Thomas and a bogie bolster.
Also a bit of 4 year old painting! Lovely stuff. Can't ever get rid of this! Yes, I helped with the face.
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2 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:
Well, I normally spray Halfords red oxide primer on the track first and rub the rail tops clean when dry (I use cellulose thinners for this - takes no prisoners).
I then spray (from another rattle can) a generic 'track colour', from the likes of Precision or Railmatch.
After that, it's brush painting most, if not all individual sleepers and also the rail sides, if a different hue is required (brake dust etc.).
Once all that has fully hardened off (I use enamels, as they are in my comfort zone), I start the ballasting.
I mix the appropriate shade, mixing different colours of 'N' gauge ballast (much more scale appearance in 4mm) from the likes of Carrs or Woodland Scenics.
Then, neat PVA (not the quick drying kind) is brush painted with an appropriately small brush in each sleeper bay and either side of the track. I can normally manage about 3 or 4 sleeper bays at a time, before the glue starts to go off too much. I then immediately sprinkle the ballast mix onto the wet glue and leave to dry (usually overnight). I can normally manage about a foot of this, before I start to go mad...
The excess ballast is vacuumed off next day, hopefully saved for reuse by a bit of old nylon tights or similar over the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner.
Thanks Captain. Do you have any special procedures for motorised points? I havent had many problems in the past but wondered how others go about things.
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3 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:
Yes, I thought I'd spied that you'd done that - well done!! I think it makes a major difference, once the track is ballasted.
As you seem to have used the thin sleepered kind of track (which is what I use myself), will you be adopting the 'paint the neat PVA between the sleepers and then drop the ballast onto the wet glue' approach?
Although very time consuming, I find that the much higher degree of control over where the ballast goes makes for a much more convincing scene...
Thank you Captain. I am unsure at this point bit I have seen excellent results using the method you describe.
I am going to start painting the track next I am there. Do you jave a preffered method? I am toying with airbrushing with acrylic which I have not done before.
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A flavour of things to come...
Some wagons shuffled into place to mimic one of the few pictures available of Caia Road.
I spent the evening removing the webs between sleepers ready for the track to be painted and ballasted. The fun bit!!
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36 minutes ago, sb67 said:
The signal looks mighty fine David, glad to see the layout coming along 🙂
Thank you Steve. Now the trackwork is fully operational (death star like) the modelling can get going which will hopefully see tge layout transform a little steadier. Up until now it has looked very much the same for many months.
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This has been a "just get on with it" piece of modelling by my standards.
The addition of the back blinder sees the signal arm permenantly fitted into the spindle.
It has been a nice piece of learning too as I had no idea how a back blinder should be positioned on the signal.
The lenses were cut just bigger than the apertures and set in place with thinned gloss varnish. The fronts were varnished also as the instruction recommend.
The operatimg wire is .3mm I think amd blackened with a permanent marker.
The blance weight and lever operate the signal arm very nicely and the signal finds its level using the lever crank.
Very pleased with it all...except that finial. Talk about splodging the paint on.
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3 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:
This is lovely.
There is little to me that is more evocative of the slight mystery and unknown potential of a little used railway byway than a single, semaphore distant signal...
Thanks captain. I know exactly what you mean. Beyond the signal the line proceeds over a bridge and gently curves to the right which adds to the mystery.
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The post and arm were primed with halfords white rattle can.
The arm was then airbrushed with phoenix precision signal yellow.
The post was very carefully masked so the base of the post butt, ladder and lamp could be airbrushed black. Personally, as a novice airbrusher, I get best results with revell paints thinned with white spirit.
The arm was masked using tamiya masking tape with a chevron cut out. I printed the instruction sheet a few times as it includes a to scale diagram of the signal chevron.
It isn't perfect but the results are pleasing. I was able to line up the front and rear chevron on the arm well.
Next come the positioning of lenses in the spectacle plate and the installation of the back blinder and operating wires.
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A welcome step forward into modelling proper (away from lectrics and trackwork) is the construction of the distant signal for Caia Road.
I used the MSE gwr tubular post signal kit and enjoyed putting a representation of the Caia signal together.
I find soldering to be the most engaging and rewarding process in model railways. I do not profess to be an expert but really enjoy it.
I like the kit in terms of detail and the construction of the signal arm from two pieces was tricky but worth the effort.
I didn't do a great job of interpreting the dimensions of the signal and built it too tall in the first instance.
As a result the butt of the post is too tall, but next to the shed, having chopped the post down and rebuilt the arm bearing, I feel the dimensions are right against the mockup shed.
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Caia Road Goods Station, Wrexham
in Layout topics
Posted
And 1458 edging forward.
Red buffer beams next and the handrails for the cab. Also some coal in the bunker.