Firecracker

And as promised, here’s my version of Rugby test plant in miniature. First up the old testbed had the redundant P4 track removed, replaced with OO and was shortened. Two lengths of ally angle were added to the edges to pull a bend out and strengthen it. Then a churnk of scrap ally (hence the superfluous holes) was fitted as a mounting for the SPROG (attached with cable ties). The toggle switch above it switches the tracks between DCC and DC, provided by the 30 year old gaugemaster. The second track feed on that is connected to two wander leads with croc clips, for testing chassis and wheel cleaning. The rollers are Direct Train Spares and the block adjacent is for when something such as a DMU with an unpowered bogie or a tender loco where there’s issues in detaching the tender comes in, so the unpowered bits can sit on there. Owain

Exactly as per title, Digitrains have come through again. Was wanting to order a SPROG, went with them because I’ve bought decoders from them before and was impressed with the service. Emailed Sunday with a query about a suitable power supply for the SPROG, reply came early Monday (which I didn’t see until late due to internet issues), order placed Tuesday, SPROG and power supply arrived by RM this morning (Thursday). That’s the way to do it folks, I’ll use them again and recommend them to anybody. Owain

Another update, on the control front. A while ago I enquired what the current approach of choice was for a decoder programming interface. The answer came back a SPROG and the JMRI software on a suitable laptop. However, this lead to realising the then laptop needed an upgrade (this was complicated by an extra need for it to cope with CAD software). So I approached my tame computer wrangler and suitable was ordered. Then due to an absolute comedy of errors, starting with the supplier having a backlog of orders due to a shortage of processors, followed by Christmas, followed by Chinese New Year, followed by this virus, meant that a machine ordered in November finally arrived this week. Anyway, with the new machine sorted, a SPROG plus suitable power supply was ordered from Digitrains and a jury rig was built on the bench to test it (power feed to that bit of track is via two croc clips out of shot). I’m very pleased, it makes decoder tweaking a lot more straightforward, so the next stage is a proper testbed track, including a servicing cradle and a setup for the rolling road rollers. Stay tuned for more... Owain

A quick update, figures and wagons. Other irons in other fires have been demanding my attention, but it’s some progress. A start’s been made on the ModelU figures, with the Vallejo acrylics I use for skin tones. My technique (such as it is) is use the basic skin tone as a base, adding dabs of the dark or light flesh colours to get some variation. Next up - wagons. The 24t tippler got its interior weathered with the usual games workshop products and the exterior lightly weathered with the watercolour pencils seen above. Then pads from scrap styrene were added and no.5 kadees fitted. This then lead to the pair of 16t minerals getting breathed on, with their wheels being swapped for the correct 3 hole discs they should have. Weathering is the pencils again and the remains of the factory weathering, after it’s been attacked with a fibreglass brush. Finally, two loads for the macaw and the warwell emerged from a scrapbox. First up this boiler (aparently its a GEM (they still going?) kit, sold as a loco type stationary boiler. With the firebox sides altered to a more railway loco profile, it got a good rusting and becomes one of those projects found on every preserved railway. The macaw gets a spare C&L crossing, with cosmetic chairs added. Owain

Another update, with an increase in the layout population. The Hardy’s figures seen above, plus some whitemetal figures of unknown origin (nicely sculpted, a bit cartoon-like in proportions, but nice enough) have been primed and painted. And in position (along with a hound or two, care of Noch and a fundraising stall, care of Woodland Scenics) The next batch arrived (ModelU, slightly crisper detail than Hardy’s, but dearer, so you pays your money and all that). The accordion player is planned for a scene in the goods shed. Just need an audience and a couple of accompanists on the most noble of instruments, the Mendoza (and if you know what one of those is, you should be able to guess who’s playing the accordion). Owain

The latest progress, another coach has joined the fleet. This older mainline RB(R?) was unearthed in the attic, so was examined and due to being a rather nice set of mouldings (certainly considering its vintage) it got breathed on. The effect on the blue and grey is an experiment with more games workshop paints, Imrik and Hoeth blue, with Terminatus stone (have I said before that I love the GW names for paints?) drybrushed over the bodysides. The dirt is then provided with Mig’s dark, track, light rust and engine grime washes. However, I’ve also been consorting with the military modelling mob and was introduced to the use of watercolour pencils in weathering. Simply rub on, then streaking effects are achieved with a damp brush. So care of hobbycraft, here’s a selection of pencils. and the results, both rust and algae, nicely subtle as well. Rather taken with this. Once the weathering was done, kadees were fitted (with Bachman NEM pockets) and finally it poses with the rest of the spare tatty rake. Who hasn’t seen or ridden in coaches in this state on a preserved line? Owain

And a little bit more, first up the fish van got gently weathered (dark wash and dry brushing with Verminlord Hide (Games Workshop)) and is now back in service. The presflow got a coat of white primer, having bitten the bullet and decided to go for the yellow livery (just got to match the yellow used to something airbrushable) Finally the postie delivered another batch of figures from Hardy’s Hobbies, the usual excellent quality and highly recommended. Owain

Absolutely, there’s just two small holes in the body side to fill if you do so. EDIT - Having looked at photos, there’s also some plumbing that’s hidden by the boards that unsurprisingly is missing on the kit, so you might want to add that as well. But all the strengthening ribs are present and correct under the boards. Owain

A bit more - the presflo project! In progress, basic chassis and body with lead ballast (scrap lead flashing, obtained from local builder in exchange for a bottle of alcoholic refreshment). And ready for primer. Ignoring an impressive amount of flash, considering this kit dates from 1961 it was a very satisfying build. A few small bits of filler needed on the body and in the sole bar/end floor unit joints, but nothing major. Owain

A very brief update - the iron ore tipper seen above has been treated to a coat of grey primer and finished in bauxite. Then it and the fish van seen earlier have started to gain their transfers. The van is being finished as a tool van to run with the crane. Owain

Right, a bit more. First up, a problem that’s been bugging me for a while, but not necessarily modelling. That’s jars of wash, decal solution or anything else that’s messy, expensive and/or stinks getting knocked over on the bench. Now in the stocks of pack-ratted material I’ve accumulated over the years were a selection of offcuts of white nylon slab, so I wondered if this could be used. Following a bit of design, a modular system was developed, slabs were cut to size, marked out and suitable holes were drilled (a 35mm kitchen door hinge cutter makes a perfect hole for a bottle of MIG wash). And nested in the drawer Others were produced for the decal setting solutions and glues (a pocket was milled for the two tamya bottles and the drilled hole was opened out in the lathe for the plasti-weld bottle) Finally, I received news that my local was reopening! So off I trotted to Monk bar, to restock (paints, glue, static grass, foliage and all the other bits I’ve used up over the last three months). Then followed a bit of local economic stimulus. I’ve wanted one of these since they were released, but couldn’t justify it. I wrote it off as the money I’d have spent on fuel...so, the Lowgill, Sedbergh and Ingleton Railway now has its own breakdown crane, a 45t Ransomes and Rapier. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Fantastic model. Owain

Right, apologies for the delay, my services as a respite carer were required on the other side of the Pennines. Anyway.... Whilst on furlough, I’m taking the chance to get the house sorted. An outstanding job was blitzing the attic, however,this was waiting for a day with lousy weather. When the monsoon heralded the arrival of the British summer Wednesday two weeks back, the moment was grasped. Here’s the aftermath, the two black bags just out of shot are for the bin, the green thing with the mug on top and the tray in front are full of goodies to come downstairs, familiar boxes may bee seen in the under bed store adjacent and the items wrapped in clear plastic to the right are the boards of ‘Teesside coil’ the previous, unfinished layout, which one day I’ll decide what I’m doing with. They’ve only been up there eight years, no rush... Among the bits that arrived downstairs was this beast. Modified in 2002-ish for an earlier layout ‘Backbarrow’ (based on the idea of the Ulverston-Lakeside branch remaining open into privatisation) with the prototype entering preservation, I decided it had potential. So the chassis got its wheels cleaned and then spent a couple of hours on the rollers. Whilst the weathering on the body got breathed on. Finally reassembled with a Zimo decoder (my decoder of choice for Bachmann motors), she poses for photos. Other projects include one of the first Parkside kits I built, with some decidedly spurious writing removed, along with an aged load and the original tension lock couplers, now awaits a paint job (currently a toss up between the correct bauxite, incorrect unfitted grey and battered Dutch civil engineers), ballast (god knows where that’s going) and kadees. Also this project, which considering the shop it was bought in (O’Loughlins of Kendal) closed in 2008, has been in stock a while. Just got to decide if it’s going into the yellow or grey livery. Owain

To add a brief addendum, I’ve also been playing with a pack of Games Workshop’s ‘Middenlands Tufts’. I’m very taken with these, very sticky, like the colour, their variation in size and shape. So some of these (along with a few Peco tufts for variety)have been added. The idea is that the track in the cutting has been recently relaid, hence the clean ballast. To create a nice effect, a little fresh ballast was added to give a ‘tail’ effect on the old, dirty, (and going by the weeds) badly draining ballast. More tufts have been added in the 4 foot of the shed road, which might get a little short static grass added as well in the ballast. Owain

A bit more of an update, attention has returned to the south end of the station. First up the point rodding and the bank by the water column were looked at, the rodding weathered and static grass applied (the demarcation between long and short marks where a fence will go). Then a bit more airbrushing was done on the track, including adding a patch of filth where anything that’s using the loop to run round it’s train will stand briefly, whilst the points are reset. Finally, the static grass was touched up. Owain

Right. A brief update, showing some of what I’ve been up to. First up, got offered a new toy at a very good price, so decideded to spend some of the money that would have gone on fuel over the last 8 weeks on what I’ll call a bit of private economic stimulus. Efforts haven’t been all modelling, some eyesore storage in the garage finally got too much, so on a budget of nothing, using only stock material, offcuts, skipraided bits accumulated over the years and cabinets from the local car boot (£15 inc. contents) this trolley has emerged. That then over spilled into sorting the modelling bench, with a spare cabinet displaced by the above. Finally, some actual modelmaking. Tackling the road vehicles, to make them look a bit less toylike. Mix of Mig washes and games workshop paints with varying degrees of dirt. The camper has had windows blocked out, to suggest curtains. With the diamond T, I was aiming for a more weatherbeaten look, to suggest a vehicle that’s been out in the Cumbrian climate for a while. It’s a tribute to the one ex. Hudson’s of Arnside that was/is resident at Haverthwaite. Owain

And nearly there! First up, the angle crank was shifted and the ballast shoulder touched up. Then the point rodding and the track had some work with the airbrush using Mig acrylics. The static grass was touched up to fill any gaps. Not too bad, a definite improvement. Very much ‘rust in peace’ (and this scene is a tribute to anyone who when restoring a vehicle fell down the ‘get another as a spares donor’ rabbit hole). Owain

Couple more shots - the angle cranks have been made up (the one for the trap point’s not quite in the right place) and th shrubbery has grown a bit. The pale grass tufts are Games Workshop I’m trialing. Little bit more to do, but it’s getting there. Owain

And it’s come on yet further! First up the containers suffered a lot of rusting. Then a start was made on the second JCB. First it gained an engine ‘shape’ from scrap styrene. Then an offcut of a small plastic bag was secured over this with plasti-weld and superglue. Finally the paintwork was touched up and the tarpaulin painted. Then, onto the scrap heap and the scrub. The existing static grass was removed. The area was coated in glue, the scrap located in the glue and ground foam added over the remainder. Then a second coat of glue went over the foam and a layer of static grass was added. A similar pattern followed for the rest, a layer of glue, the machines, tyres, scrap sleepers etc located, then a layer of static grass applied over the top. Still needs the point rodding glueing down, weathering, angle cranks adding and a bit more scrub, but rather pleased with the ‘rust in peace’ effect. Owain

And it’s changed already! Whilst rummaging for some bits, the remains of a second JCB came to light. This was missing it’s frount boom, so a gentle attack with a razor saw later, it lost its bonnet too. Idea is it’s going to get an engine sized lump in there, with a tarpaulin over it. Then, the scene’s rebuilt with the pair. Idea is they’re going to be buried in scrub and nettles. The static grass will be redone so the scrap heap at the end will grow in a bit. Owain

A bit more progress, this time it’s all modelling! Adjacent to the signalbox is an area I decided would be the pway overflow storage dumping ground. Work started with the bisectioning of a spare 40’ container to form a backdrop for this scene. This left half the container and whilst playing an idea formed. The unused half of the container yielded a low relief 20’ container, which then tagged onto the 40’er. A bit more posing and I decided to incorporate some more bits, including the Coopercraft ganger’s trolleys, some stacks of used sleepers and an example of the kitmaster/airfix/Dapol JCB 3C which has posed in various places on the layout. I decided to go for a more derelict look for the JCB, so this had its weathering breathed on. Finally, the scene is given a dry run. The point rodding needs glueing down and painting, plus the container backdrop needs weathering and a bit more palletised stuff (probably some dummy point motors) behind the JCB. Owain

And now for something slightly different and a bit of progress. Observant eyes may have noticed the metalworking machines which appear in the background of several pictures of the layout and occasionally they are used for jobs related to it. Here’s one. The spraybooth seen earlier needed a little job to finish it off, an adaptor to convert the 2&1/2” diameter output on the fan to 4” diameter flexible trunking. So take a suitable lump of white nylon, roughly Mark the centre and set it up in the lathe (before anyone gets overexcited about the tea mug balanced on the headstock, it’s a running joke on a series of daily furlough photos I’m putting up on Facebook and was removed before any work was done). Machine an external register and bore a hole through the middle to fit the 2&1/2” fan output spigot. Reverse it, and hold it on the register. Support with a dolly and centre and turn the rest of the outside to 4” diameter. Add a split with the bandsaw and fit onto the spigot. Fit the trunking and secure with jubilee clips. The split ensures it nips onto the spigot and locks tight. Now for slightly more relevant progress, the station building. This has been glued to the batten base of the platform (g clamps and packing whilst the glue dries). The ramp is secured with hot melt glue Finally the ballast is touched up. Once that’s gone off, it’ll be touched up colour wise with the airbrush. Also the back scene base is being trial fitted. Owain

Right, a bit more and another milestone! The last bit of bare baseboard has disappeared under the north end ramp of the rear platform. The ramp is mounting board card supported on offcuts of foam core board, stuck together with hot melt glue. Edging from scale model scenery is fitted, this has already been sprayed with grey primer. So here it is masked off, ready for a coat of plasticote ‘stone’ textured spray paint. And with the masking removed, with fences, gates (ratio) and anti trespass grids (SMS) added. Before the worlds’s much older that point rodding needs painting and a hoover running over the trackbed to remove those bits of stray ballast. There’s also more weathering, ballasting and detailing to do, but the basic form’s there. Also in the package from SMS were some field gates, one of which has been installed. Observant eyes may notice that one gatepost had to be shifted slightly to accommodate it. The gateway has gained a little more mud, rather pleased with this area now. Just needs the handrails fitting on the bridge walkways (they’ve also delivered from SMS). Another weathering job job has been revisited. I wasn’t happy with the work on the seacow fleet, so they’ve all been breathed on. First the EWS and Dutch examples gained a more ‘rustbucket’ look. Then the mainline example gained a bit more rust and the remnants of a load. The dogfish also gained a load at the same time, (for anyone of an operating/technical bent, I’m assuming the dogfish has gained through piping for air brakes, to allow the two to work together). Owain

Thank you very much! I criticise my own work harshly, you always do when it’s your own work. But even I’m impressed with what I achieved on the provendor store. Being honest decent paints that cover and reliably dry Matt (I’m looking at you, humbrol...) are what give results like that, I’m very taken with the Vallejo acrylics and the Mig washes. Owain

Thank you very much, that exactly the effect I’m aiming for! On that theme, I’ve revisited a few older weathering jobs. I finished the BDA and the Bobol-C a while back, but for some reason they developed a white bloom over the weathering (suspect Humbrol Matt varnish) so they’ve been breathed on a bit more, with Mig’s Wash for wood and a gentle scuffing with a fibreglass brush. The warflat I simply wasn’t happy with, so it got similar as well. Owain

And a bit more! Here’s matey repainted and installed in the Ruston. Also the macaw poses in the yard. Inspired by a YouTube video I’ve played with the wood finish a bit further than usual. Owain