Flacky

The bridge has now been glued together so I can begin the landscape work around the layout. I have used pieces of polystyrene to build up and shape the terrain which will eventually be covered with Sculptamold and then various scenery can be applied. The Bridge can still be removed for now so I can cut an exit hole in the backscene and the weather it away from the layout. Matt

The focus over the past few days has been continuing work on the plate girder bridge which will be scenic break. After the priming of all the pieces I sprayed the brickwork in Humbrol 70 and left the plate girders themselves in the grey primer as it was very similar to the colour I was after anyway. Whilst the abutments were drying I set about weathering the metalwork first with a panel wash (thinned Precision Dirty Black) to highlight the details and to start some streaking effects caused by the rain. Then I used some offcuts from a sponge and stiff brush to dab on various rust colours randomly to build up the effect of very old rust and new surface decay. This was given a Matt Varnish to seal it all in place. (excuse the poor quality photo here) For the brickwork I mixed a mortar colour wash out of acrylic paints and gave the whole structure a liberal coating which was left to dry overnight. Then using cotton buds and Acrylic thinner I rubbed over the walls which removed the paint from the bricks but not the mortar course. The last step was to dry brush some more brick tones over the walls to build up some variation. I am really pleased with how the bridge is turning out. the next step is to paint the concrete plinths, glue it together, add some wing walls, capping stones and then give it some more weathering effect with the airbrush. Matt

With my previous layout Finbrough Junction now dismantled as the space is required for storage, and the desire for a smaller more manageable project to complete, I have started working on the creation of Mill lane Depot. I wanted a layout with plenty of scenic potential and a 'less is more' approach to track work. The scenic section is 6ft x 20inches and features a 2 lane shed with inspection pits, a further open storage siding for locos or a couple of wagons and a small refuelling point. The idea of it is a very small Depot which provides stabling and general maintenance for loco's possibly coming from a rural set of small exchange sidings or dockland. I do want to be able to model quite a broad era, mainly from early 80s to mid 90s with some even more modern stock that I already have as well, and so hopefully by modelling a TMD time periods can be changed fairly easily. I have used peco code 100 as although I do want to eventually move onto building my own track, there was so much left from the previous layout that it would be a shame to waste it and it meant that I could get the initial stages of track laying and wiring completed fairly quickly too. The Layout is DCC controlled with a SPROG 3 command station which means i can use my phone or tablet to operate the trains, but as there are only 4 points I am going to have a simple analogue control board for them which saves me purchasing accessory decoders. Here's some pictures of the track plan and other building positioning. The Engine shed is a Hornby Skaledale product which I have had for ages and featured on the previous layout. With some slight alterations e.g. blocking the end so it is not a through road shed and some general weathering I feel it will look quite good. In regards to other structures, I am going to reuse the knighting fuel point and ratio fuel tanks however, they will probably be modified / reduced in size in order to be more in-keeping with the layout. For the scenic break I have started to scratch build a small plate girder bridge which will have a single lane road or farm track running over it. This was made using plasticard, Wills varigirder section and some plastruct I beam. I'm very pleased with how it looks so far. I am looking forward to progressing with this layout as and when time allows, thanks for looking. Matt

I have also just received a Cambrian Turbot to make aswell which I got for a great price the other week. So now I can start to build up some engineers trains aswell. Just need to order some Alan Gibson wheels now and some coupling hooks. Matt

Some progress made on the SPA this morning In-between lectures. So far it's going together very well even if the instructions are a bit hard to follow in places. Matt

Just received this Cambrian SPA kit in the post. This will be my first wagon kit so I'm excited to give it a go and hopefully get some more kits to keep me occupied whilst I am up in Glasgow. I will post how I get on with it and I might look into buying some extra parts like metal buffers to add more detail to the kit. Matt

Unfortunately I'm now back in Glasgow so layout progress has come to a halt over the next few months untill I can come home around Easter time. I did manage to sand down the filler on the platforms before I left which created a seamless join between the edging and the card surface. I also managed to attempt a small area of static grass between the mainline and the branchline however the static grass applicator I had couldn't quite make the 6mm fibers I had stand on end so this area was mainly done with 4mm from mininatur and I will look to invest in a better applicator for next time. In the meantime whilst Im away from home I will try and make some kits for the layout. Particularly wagon kits to start building up my rolling stock collection. Matt

This afternoon I focused on the platform surface again by using polyfiller to smooth the joins between the card and the platform edge. Once fully set I'll go over the filler with some fine sandpaper and I can then really start to develop the station area which I am looking forward to doing. Matt

Just a few small jobs today. The buffer stops have been painted and been glued in place. I have also installed a security fence at the rear of the TMD ready for an application of static grass to make the area look overgrown and poorly maintained.

Progress on the layout has been very slow for the past months, with lots of work on and a move to study in Glasgow has meant that I can now only work on the layout in my holidays unfortunately. However over the past few days I've managed to finally get some work done to the layout around the station side. The tracks have been ballasted. And the card tops of the platforms have been installed ready for a skim of poly filler over them to create the concrete platform surface. The road which goes over level crossing and fuel point have received their first layers of paint and I have mocked up the storage tanks and pump room roughly in their final positions. Hopefully I can get much more done over the next few weeks at home before the holiday is over More photos to follow soon Matt

Not much progress over the last few weeks due to working most days however i have been able to play around with the peco station building kits. Ive come up with two options which i think could work well however im still a bit stuck with which one to go for, or if there are any other options for these buildings. Matt

Road has been sanded smooth and i have started to add the anti-trespass panels. Matt

Yes i did. I found that because the crossing is on a curve i had to sand the road bed for it to fit between the tracks. When doing this i made sure i sanded enough of the plastic away to give adequate clearence for the wheels going round the corner

Continuing with the level crossing area. I have glued in the road bed between the tracks which took a little bit of sanding to get it to go round the curve. Next i used woodland scenics paving tape and smooth it plaster to create the road up to the level crossing and between the tracks. Its really easy stuff to work with and once sanded and painted it should create quite a convincing road surface.

I have also been working on the depot area. The track and ballast have now been weathered which now blends in much better with the weathering on the mainlines. I have also placed down a base layer of scenery around back of the depot and glued in the stone retaining wall. Im really pleased with how it is all coming together however i still have plenty to do. Matt

Ive been quite busy over the past week creating the frame work for the platform. I started by adding a mortar course and dry brushed various brick tones onto some southeastern finecast brick sheet. I think the results look good and i will add some grime and weathering in due course. The next steps were to glue down the platfrom edging using lots of weights and rocket card glue to hold it in place. I then cut out card braces for the platform surface and glued them in. Finally i glued the brick sheet onto the platform edging and now the area is ready for ballasting and weathering. I am very pleased with these results and think it looks much better than the previous metcalfe platforms i have used before. Matt

A quick photo looking up the layout towards the junction. Matt

This morning i have been glueing in the road bed from the wills level crossing kit. I have had to sand down the parts to make them fit aroind the curved track and i am happy with the result. Still lots more work to do in the area however. I have also now primed the bridge using some plastic spray primer as i found this to be much better than using enamel primer through the airbrush. Once dry i can add the brick colour and weather it down. I have also been thinking of names for the layout and have decided upon Finborough Junction. As the layout is set (loosely) in the eastern region and Finborough is a small village in the area around Stowmarket. It never recieved a railway due to its close proximity to Stowmarket station and haughley junction. However i feel the name fits well. Matt

Moving around the layout the next job i have started is the level crossing area. I have mocked up a road and footpath out of match sticks and temporarily placed in some wills security fence along the edge of the fuel point to get an idea of how the area will look. Matt

Looking really good. The scenes coming together very well Matt

Ive been giving the shed a good clean out over the past few days. Its incredible the things you find which you thought were gone forever or didnt even know you had. Ive decided to move the my workbench round to the other end of the shed where it is much brighter due to the double windows and it is much nicer to work at. Another reason i moved it was so that i could extend the branch line fiddle yard to let me have 4/5 shorter sidings for dmus or locos for the tmd. Hope you're all well. Matt

I have now started scenery along the embankment. Ive used the same techniques as i did for the area between the mainlines and the branch line and i will be applying static grass when all base scenery areas are complete. Matt

Over the last few days i have been doing various small jobs on the layout. I have completed more track weathering on the mainlines and now i have started doing the first bits of scenery. Using a mix of various woodland scenics turfs i have created this base layer which i will be adding static grass and bushes once it has dried. The next job was adding another loco storage road into the TMD which has now been ballasted and the fuel point has been moved to the other side of the yard so i can have a 2 loco fuel area away from the rest of the depot. And finally i have also been starting to paint the brick for the platforms. I have used Humbrol 70 for the basic brick colour and i will be adding the mortar and weathering in due course. Hopefully i can keep making good progress and get more scenery done soon. Matt

And now with all the brick detailing added. It can be now primed and painted Matt

I have been adding buttresses and walls to the road bridge which runs over the station. I still need to add the far side walls and a few other details and then i can start to paint and weather it which im looking forward too. For my first scratchbuilding attempt im very happy with it however next time i will make the main framework out of plasticard or mdf as there has been some slight warping of the walls which had to be straightened out the best i could. Matt