5&9Models

Thank you. It was a struggle this one but I learned a lot from it, mostly about my limits!

Thanks very much Ian, much appreciated.

I've finally completed my scratch built Bodmer single no.124 of the London & Brighton Railway. It's taken a year of blood sweat and tears, trying to be too clever and paying the price! Details of the project have been promised to the HMRS in the form of an article for their Journal, so rather than spoil that I'll just deposit a couple of images here in the meantime. Further details of this project can be found on a previous blog entry entitled 'Build a Bodmer Competition - not!', or a more comprehensive write up should be in the next HMRS Journal out this summer.

At last it's complete (more or less). I have to say this build has been the most complicated I have done to date. Perhaps I've been trying to be too clever in fitting a Portescap motor and gears in the loco. There's really only just enough room (and if I'm really honest there isn't)! In hindsight tender drive would have been much easier but at the time it seemed like a cop-out. The next few locos I build are even smaller so I plan to develop a little motor bogie to install inside the small four wheel tenders required for the two Rennie locos likely to be the next projects. Onwards and upwards! In the meantime I'll just leave these images here and take some time to recover from this build. It's been a roller coaster of emotions to say the least. Thanks for looking.

Hey, welcome to RMWeb Dan. A great place to show off your amazing work, inspire us all (and it's easier to return to these beautiful picture than trying to find them on FB)!

Lovely to see these on RMWeb Dan. Beautiful work!

Thank you.

Thank you, much appreciated.

Thank you. Yes, I tend to drill a 0.5mm hole up a leg and glue in a piece of brass or n/s wire so I can hold the figure whilst painting but also glue it into a corresponding hole in the layout. My baseboards have to be stored on end (lack of space) so I don’t want my figures going walk about should the adhesive not quite do the job.

The same issue applies to Slaters. Sometimes the definition is good and sometimes is a bit dodgy. That’s the advantage of buying at an exhibition, you can examine the quality before you buy. Damn! I’ve just noticed a flaw in my suggestion...

Hi Ian, good to hear from you and thanks for your comments. My ‘ballast’ if you can call it that, is Sandtex ‘Old Stone’ masonry paint decanted into a smaller tin (golden syrup) and several spoons of sharp sand (children’s playpit) thrown in and mixed well. Then it’s brushed in, left to dry and then a second coat applied to fill in the gaps and holes that only become apparent when the first layer dries. Wipe it away from rail tops and sides or live to regret it! A general thinned wash of mixed Burnt Sienna and Black acrylic dulls everything down and once all is completely dry, a dry brush of the Sandtex highlights the surfaces. I also glue thin card over the sleepers and over the sides first as it builds up the ground level ready for all over ballasting. The most important thing of all is to experiment on dummy track lengths first. Don’t use this technique on your layout until you’re 100% happy with the process and the results.

Thank you Mikkel. I use Slaters Plastikard sheets. They’re fine but you can’t mix bonds as the courses are slightly out which is really irritating. The other trick is on corners; score a groove in the back and bend the sheet round so you use it like a wrapper. That way your courses stay in line and you don’t get that giveaway joint all the way down the corner edge. I only discovered this half way through my project so some of the earlier buildings don’t have it and it shows. The best disguise for this is to pick out some of the corner bricks in a slightly darker shade, painting around the corner joint with a fine brush. The eye then picks up those bricks and the brain tells you the corners are more realistic than they really are!

Thanks Dave. I find it makes a huge difference taking the photos outside. Artificial light, even ‘natural daylight’ LED lighting tends to make the colours too intense. A little tweak when editing the photo can help too.

Thanks Eric. Yes, I was thinking ‘scratch n sniff’.

An opportunity presented itself to drag the baseboard outside yesterday and take some photos in the rather dull afternoon light. At last I feel some progress is being made, or in other words, what a difference a bit of ballasting makes! I took a few more photos to show how some of the areas are finally tying together after some further detail was added. Oooh look, ballast at last! This is my own somewhat unconventional technique since the ballast in the 1840s was all over with only the rails showing. This can be a bl**dy nightmare when it comes to keeping things clear enough for smooth running. A view under the bridge. The stables with the tall Greyhound in the background. The tannery, with a little more detail added and some 'bedding in'. The somewhat neglected back yard between the Greyhound and the Tannery.

A dozen per fret. How many do you need?

Brassmasters provide them in their very useful etch for coupling hooks. I only ever need the coupling hooks and have dozens of draw hook plates I don’t need. If you’re interested I can pop some in the post?

I agree about crossing a Rubicon when you paint ModelU figures. I wouldn’t use anything else now. I’ve even had a go at sculpting my own figures in 4mm and my layout has a few of those. They’re ok if they have their back to you! Personally I prefer enamels for painting anything and that includes figures. I stir the paint very well, wipe the stirrer onto a palette and then have a black, white and dark brown handy for mixing lighter and darker shades. A very pale dry brush is helpful afterwards to highlight the fantastic detail these figures have. I certainly agree about avoiding shiny figures at all costs, I think glossy figures must be my no.1 pet hate, they look so plastic. You’re doing a great job on your figures, trial and error and lots of practice. Keep up the good work!

I’ve been saving it up all year!

That is a very neat solution. I’m just beginning to think about point control on my own layout and I’m rather inspired by this, thank you for sharing and explaining.

‘Reflect upon your present blessings... not your past misfortunes ... fill your glass again, with a merry face and contented heart. Our life on it, but your Christmas shall be Merry, and your New Year a happy one!’ Sketches by Boz, Charles Dickens.

Thank you, much appreciated.

Thanks Chris. I don’t know how old the building is but by the time this picture was taken c.1865 it looked pretty knackered! I haven’t copied it exactly but used it for inspiration. My version is a bit cleaner being 20 years younger. I’m also slightly spooked. The second image is of people working in a Tannery, only I didn’t upload it. It uploaded itself....!

Thank you Mikkel, much appreciated. To be precise the barrels are Dart Castings L71 hogsheads, £3.95 for three. I have a mixture of Dart and Langley. I prefer these though, there's something 'old' about them. One thing I did notice whilst looking at old pictures of London docks is that many of the barrels had whitewashed or painted ends with initials and/or numbers on them, presumably to identify owner and contents? It's an obvious requirement really but one that's easily missed.

Just a small filler project to sit between the Stables and Greyhound Place at Bricklayers Arms. Bermondsey was the centre of the London leather trade chosen because it was sufficiently south of the Thames for the inevitable stench not to trouble the great and the good, notwithstanding the fact that at that time they had their own stinking cess-filled river to contend with. Apparently, at their peak, the tanneries of Bermondsey supplied one third of all the leather in the country. I chose to reproduce a section of Alfred Hunt's chemical works as it can be interpreted as such or perhaps the back wall of an actual tannery. Either way it plugs a gap and provides a relevant talking point. The building itself is embossed styrene or 'Plastikard', the dray and 'Old Sal' are Dart castings (excellent quality), and the figure is an old Airfix US Marine with his hat filed down and a tissue paper leather apron. The rope for the hoist typically runs round a small pulley and disappears inside the building. I can image it was then tied to a small Victorian boy or two depending on the load! There's still a bit of work to do in terms of bedding in the building itself, a bit of dirt and detritus to add. The only picture I have so far of 'Old Sal' the horse is temporarily posed in from of the stables so I've included that as well. A wider shot beckons when all is stuck down and weathered in. Better get those barrels in before it chucks it down...!