Tricky

Unfortunate typo….!!!

A couple of arty shots from a little diorama I’ve been working on.

Is my signal box still there?

An update - groundworks behind the wall and tunnel progressing well. Cellotex, polyfilla and grubby green/brown acrylic. Looks a bit ‘train set’ at the moment! Next will be static grass and build up the vegetation. Still thinking about the foreground! Also undercoated the woodwork, favouring Farriw & Ball ‘Downpipe’ as the top coat colour.

I also made horse poo! Except one was 7mm, not 4mm. There’s a previous post on here somewhere of how I did it. Poss on my ‘Midland in Bristol’ diorama.

Thank you for the kind recommendation. I did an article in a previous MRJ describing one technique of using sanded polyfilla. As a previous poster said, don’t be tempted to make the surface too undulating, especially in 4mm. The odd pothole here or there but easy to overdo. I would paint it with enamels and acrylics and use real ash from my log burner to soften the overall effect. Not a silly question at all - quite a good one actually!

A few photos I took today of progress. The retaining wall is almost finished, I need to weather the stone coping and capping and paint the back of the tunnel mouth black. I’ve finished the wooden hut too. I’m now on the search for atmospheric prototype photos to give me some inspiration for how I might finish off the scenery, details and groundworks.

Posting two days in a row!! Fab progress on the diorama, outdoor photos help too!

Thought it was about time I posted an update on the on-spec diorama. I’ve had one of those days where I finally got round to doing something about a few jobs that have been hanging around and literally gathering dust, so I blew (or hoovered!) the dust off and begun by adding ply and mdf packing around the trackbed to bring the ground level up. Then I began to build the mdf fascia surround. Tomorrow I will continue this work and perhaps get as far as machining up a moulding to trim around the mdf. I would like to think now I’ve actually begun work on the diorama again that I can maintain some momentum! Sorry if these photos just look like a mass of g cramps and weights! I reckon tomorrow once I’ve added the rest of the fascia and take all the cramps off it should make a lot more sense!

Thanks, yes, as mentioned above, hand scribed Das on a ply base from memory. The same method as I used on the dock wall on Midland in Bristol.

Thanks. They were hand scribed into Das clay.

Apologies if this has been on here before. A little building I made about 7 or 8 years ago, before the laser cutter arrived!

Shame on me as I see I’ve not been on here since Feb! Anyway, the latest kit to roll off the R&D bench is this GW Sand Bin & Furnace. This is in 7mm at the moment with a 4mm version to follow.

Not been on here for a good while. My meagre offering:

Not sure I'd attempt it in 4mm!

Thought I’d put a question out here - it’s a question I’ve posed on social media as well…. Ive developed a 4mm kit for a GWR coal stage which is beginning to sell reasonably well. I have been asked by a couple of people for a 7mm version but ideally I’d like a couple more requests before I go through the process of upscaling and producing. If you or anyone else you know would be interested then I’d love to hear from you. The photos here are a completed 4mm kit build and a fully painted and finished version. The kit includes all walls, brick detailing, chute canopy, internal floor, tank parts with engraved river detail, doors, windows and stair parts. The 4mm version is available to buy through my online shop. Thanks!

Thanks Dave, you will hopefully be equally impressed with today’s progress: I made a solid start on the 36 chimneys, each one having to be notched into the roof. I started in the centre and worked out to the ends where the last grill will be made to measure. All the chimneys were stuck down to a board and planks stuck along them all, then separated and the remaining 3 faces stuck with planks thus ensuring each chimney has the same number and spacing. It’s quite satisfying to see a nice straight row of chimneys! One row done, 3 more. Please note the roof is temporarily ‘plonked’ in the last photo!

I got the large Midland engine shed out again today and stuck a few more slates on, plus painted black where the ventilation grills will go. I have already made the grills including a million slats. I’ve positioned one here to show where they will go. After that, I will fit the glazing on the roof. I did consider cutting out for these but decided against it in favour of maintaining structural integrity. Instead the backs of the glazing will be painted a grubby colour so you can’t see through it.

Great article Mike in the Gazette.

Towards the end of the day today I managed to grab 1/2 an hour to do a bit more on the diorama. Before any further explanation the photos are terrible because I didn’t realise the camera lens on my photo was a bit grubby so apologies! Anyway, painting and mortaring brickwork seems to be one of those modelling tasks that has as many ways of doing it as there are modellers. And to be honest, I don’t think there is just one way that fits all situations. I’d course it also depends on how much of it you have to do. I just finished before Christmas a sectional retaining wall in O Gauge that was 12’ long so no, I didn’t pick out individual bricks in 8 different colours!! So for this wall, say 4’ long, I previously painted the mdf in a fairly thick coat of brick red and brown smudged around faultless randomly. When dry, I washed over with acrylic in burnt and raw sienna, black and off white. This is smeared liberally over and then mostly wiped off. Consistency is critical; you want it to not wet out and when dry if I’ve got it right will bead on individual bricks quite nicely. These poor photos show the mortaring process. It’s a brave move to slosh over a dilute mortar colour - in this case Precision Concrete I think. This is then mostly wiped off with an old towel. Then with a scrunched up ball of kitchen towel pick up some more dilute paint and rub over the surface. It’s important to work quickly and confidently and keep using a fresh surface of towel, so change it often. Lastly after a few minutes, dab fresh kitchen towel in grubby white spirit, dab off most of it and rub over the surface. This will gently take off concrete paint still sitting on the surface whilst not pulling the paint out of the mortar courses. This is only the first step - further detailing if mortar, staining and weathering will be next.

Although….I’m building the kit to dia 361 fitted fruit van so vacuum brakes both sides from new…so ignore the last post! The instructions say 3’7” spokes wheels and screw couplings but it comes with 3’7” plain wheels and 3-link couplings.

Can I ask - when roughly did they begin re-building with brakes both sides?

I was indeed expecting to have to cut the door from the side, but to my pleasant surprise they come as separate parts in the 7mm kit.

And also the completed GW signal box. It’s a bit drunk on the table because it’s resting on the connector for the internal lights!