grahame

A little progress on the viaduct wall:

I'm contemplating using the cast parapet walls sections for the entire length of the viaduct from the end of the train shed and obviously excluding where the signal box overhangs.

The plastic bags do tend to keep the magazines clean, free from grubby finger prints, dog eared corners and people coughing and sneezing germs on them. ;-)

The test one out (I also cast one of the three arch lower sections as I also need more of those) seems to have come out well. They do need a little tidying and filing but the viaduct is old and the brickwork was crumbling, damaged and patched in places. Anyway I've started a production line:

This morning I removed the silicon mould from the shuttering and master. And was pleased with the result - no air bubble pockets visible. Later this morning, after a decent cup of tea (currently brewing), I'll undertake a test casting.

For information should anyone be interested, but I'll be 'demonstrating' N/2mm building construction at the forthcoming premier D&E exhibition 'DEMU Showcase 2024' which will be held at Sutton Coldfield Town Hall on June 15/16th. Pop along if you want a chat about my methodology and techniques, and to see some of the examples featured in this thread.

Details available on DEMU website, which also includes the demos and societies attending: CAD for 3D Printing Carl White shows you how to use CAD software to design stock for 3D printing. SR EMU Modelling Danny Havlik shows how he has constructed some of his fantastic 4mm EMUs. Modelling Structures in N/2mm Scale Grahame Hedges shows you how he makes his fantastic 2mm buildings from the London Bridge Area. Societies EM Gauge Society N Gauge Society Scalefour Society The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society

Yesterday, before going to the pub and then on to the village club, I glued the completed parapet wall master to a rectangle of plasticard and added sides to form an open box. This morning I've mixed up the silicon rubber compound (two part) and poured it in to the box up to the brim. I spent a while tapping the top edges to make any air bubbles rise and burst in the open - hopefully I've spent sufficient time on that. And then it has been placed in a safe location to cure and firm. I seem to recall it takes 24 hours.

Nearly finished now. Just to smudge in some filler where required, file and tidy up.

The brick plasticard turned up yesterday and this afternoon I've been able to make a start on building the parapet wall master:

There does seem a number of minor differences, but, to me, the most obvious is that the headcode box appears deeper on the left example and the horizontal handrail seems lower.

Chandwell is a nicely observed and modelled layout. And particularly as it is N gauge scale. It is well worth its exposure on the BBC.

Sensible. No need to take a cat to a vet more often than necessary. It causes them stress and they don't like the car journey. Marley hates it and it's always a fight to get him in the carrier.

Having rummaged through my stocks of brick embossed plasticard I found I had insufficient of the type I needed to use to match the lower three arch sections. I've ordered some on-line and I'm now awaiting delivery before I can progress. Hopefully the weather will have improved by then.

It's a month since I posted on this thread. Initially I was wood mangling and progressing the viaduct track-bed baseboards (which I reported on in the layout thread) and then this unsettled weather with low pressure has made my hands/fingers/wrists and elbows very painful and swollen (due to the rheumatoid arthritis I have) for the last few weeks which has meant very little activity. However, although the pressure is still relatively low, the pain has eased a little and I've decided I need to get on with some modelling. And that will be the viaduct walling along the front. As the lower three arch sections are resin and I need to cast more from a mould I made some time ago, I ordered some resin which has now been delivered. I also need to make a master and silicon mould for the upper parapet wall section so that when making up the casting resin I can cast from two moulds at the same time. There are two sections of different style for the upper walling - to the left of the signal box is lower and quite plain while the right is taller with more fanciful brickwork. There are four set back panels in each section but I'll be reducing that to three. With the plain left section I'll simply build the wall as necessary directly on the lower three arch sections, but I'll cast the ones on the right to ensure consistency. First task is to think through the build, draw up a plan and then make the master from plasticard. Below is how it fits over the lower three arch section (which is the original mould master with a line sketch to full size.

Here he goes again. I should have entered him in the London marathon.

Marley pretending to be a tyrannosaurus rex:

I've been making a little progress on my layout recently. I had to get some of the previously made buildings and structures in place to check positioning and working out the track bed board sizes that needed to be cut. Before clearing them away to be able to get on with the wood mangling (sawing, gluing and screwing) I took a few snaps. Although I posted them on my layout thread I doubt many visit it (being N/2mm and mainly third rail electrics) so here's a couple of them that might be of interest to Tony's followers:

All this low pressure weather (which has been causing the wind and rain we've recently been having) has been playing havoc with my arthritis. I'm finding it painful to grip anything and even lifting the tea pot to pour a cuppa is difficult and requires both hands. Consequently I'm going to have a rest from modelling until things improve a bit (both weather and joints). Perhaps I'll wander down the local later this afternoon.

Before clearing away the unfixed buildings and model structures, so that I can get on with some more sawing, gluing and screwing, I took a few quick snaps that might be of interest:

It's stopped raining and the sun has come out but it's phenomenally windy so I've spent a little time jiggling buildings and structures in to place to check on positioning and space, and to be able to cut the station board to fit. The room available for the terminus platforms is quite restricted and will need quite severe compression - but then I knew that compromise and compression would be necessary and the layout is only a representation. Here's a couple of snaps:

I've got the slope section (down to the lower level terminus station) temporarily in place and tested that a train can run up it. I used a small loco as it's not long enough for even a four car train. The NGS hunslet ran up and down okay, so fingers crossed for a complete train otherwise some drastic re-think and track bed surgery will be required. The slope section is effectively the station throat and will need to be removable as it will contain the points. Next is to get the terminus station board cut and in place and all the track bed boards will effectively be done. They'll just need some final fettling, positioning and securing to be ready for track laying. Snag is that it is currently raining so I can't do any sawing (as I like to do it outside to prevent huge amounts of sawdust in the shed).

I'd have thought that it doesn't really matter how long the wires are; long or short, you've still got to make a connection (probably soldered) at each end of them.

I've managed to get the necessary timber today, ready for some more wood mangling. However, I'm out again tomorrow working on the other layout I'm involved with - undertaking a load of wiring including lots of soldering (odd as I thought that DCC was supposed to simplify and reduce the wiring); not my favourite thing. Consequently this layout will be DC. So here's a pic showing the recently made layout edge buildings in place in front of the viaduct. Note the partial viaduct wall three arched sections just resting in place on the left which are cast resin from a mould I made a while back (see pic of master and mould below). I obviously need to cast more of them and paint them. Also the top part of viaduct (with the parapet wall) needs to be made as a master and a mould made to cast them. I ordered the necessary chemicals to make the mould and castings which has recently been delivered. Plenty to be getting on with.

The layout is looking a bit like a messy building site - well, I guess it is ATM. And I need to go out for some more timber for the lower station track-bed supports. Here's a shot taken through the end window down the length of the entire scenic section of the layout.