jetmorgan

Second of the updates this evening. Had another go with painting the roadway to get the colour I had in my head. Almost there and probably about the best I can get. Tired the sand wash again, only this time I thinned it down even further than it already is, about 50/50. I then used a wood stick from the coffee shops to drip small amounts onto the road and then used some foam rubber to stipple the paint about. Now looking a bit more like the idea I had in my head. Now that was all done I could now glue the track into place along with the halt platform, occupation crossing and the bridge. I also made a start on the ballasting but more of that in a future posting.

Well it's been a while since I updated my Wot Halt thread, mostly because I have just been posting on my facebook profile but decided I ought to get back into the habit of updating here too. Before getting the track laid and ballasted and the platform fitted I needed to sort out the roadway colour and surface look I wanted. What I really wanted was the look of a road made of fine sandy yellow coloured gravel spread over a bed of tar. I couldn't get the surface I liked from anything so I ended up doing the best I could with polyfilla and getting it as smooth as I could but with a rough-ish looking surface. What I did find during a visit to the Uckfield show I came across these Town and Country scenic textured paints. After a bit of playing around with them....they really need a long, long good shake and stir to get the particles mixed. The surface was looking okay but the colour of the sand was too light or white. So a first time visit to Squires in Bognor and I got a bottle of Humbrol Sand wash and also a spray can of desert yellow to see what I could so with those. First attempt with the sand wash was a bit of a disaster as it was just too brown when painted on with a brush so I tried stippling it with a small piece of foam and got what looked like a better result. So I started again with an overpaint of the textured paint.

Just resurrecting an old-ish topic. I bought a couple of bottles of N gauge ballast from The Engine Shed down at Ford for use on my 00 gauge diorama Wot Halt. I went for the N gauge for use on 00 as the grains are finer and look a bit more realistic. I bought a bottle of the dark grey blend LB 2SE (steam era - dark mix) as I wanted to create the image of a little used, little maintained branch line ballasted with a mix of cinders & ash with old dirty ballast and the dark brown/grey look with the specks of lighter material looked about right. However, while laying the ballast un-glued gave me the look I was after, a very dry matt look once I had dribbled on some drops of PVA mixed with water and a bit of washing up liquid it went very dark grey and the lighter speckles disappeared. Gluing it with the watered down PVA also gave it a slightly glossy look as well. As I'm returning to model railway building it could be I just haven't got the mixing technique right but the only way I've found to get the look I want is to put some undiiltued PVA between each sleeper and then sprinkle the ballast on to that and press it down, a very time consuming way of doing things. So I'll have to experiment a bit. Also I don't know what this product actually is...are they fine granite chippings or some other sort of stone.

While I was getting my greenhouse built and covered this weekend I had a visit from this little chap having a drink off my Verbena's. Only a common old Comma but it's the first I've seen in my garden so at least the plants seem to be doing their jobs.

If anyone gets Talking Pictures TV they are repeating the old Flockton Flyer tv series

Shortly after the rain stopped this little fella...or lady of course appeared. I believe a Gatekeeper but happy to be corrected.

They were already finding their way into the building...that's why I thought I had better get on and tidy things up a bit. I still have a couple of trees to remove.

I don't disagree but the brambles have to be kept under some control as they and the Japanese Knotweed are taking over, blocking the fire escape route. So I'll keep some of the brambles but I'll also get more pollinater friendly plants in as well. I have several sitting at home at the moment.

I think this might be another Ringlet. This time at work on the overgrown bramble ridden strip down the side of the building which I have to clear up. I'm hoping to retain some of the wildness of it but introduce bee and butterfly friendly plants. Do a bit of re-wilding while trying to make things look tidy so the landlord doesn't moan and the fire people are happy as the area is also a fire escape route

Been a long while I've posted anything on the forum, especially on this thread but I came across this butterfly this evening while giving some of the garden a water and it hid in the depths of a Hypericum. Not sure what variety it is.

This and Rod's donation all got a mention on the Last Leg on Channel 4 on Friday night

The story has just been on the BBC news on the Today programme as well as making the BBC news website

The kits were marketed under several company names Merit, Inpact, Pyro, and Lifelike. Some even went on to be released by Lindberg, their Gladiator certainly was. My dad had a few of them as well. I know he has the Depredussain (not sure that is spelt right) and i think he had bothet he Avro Triplane and the boxkite. I like the kits and think they are still very good for their age, even compared with modern day kits which cost 4 or 5 times the amount. One day I will get around to building them all but I have a batch of Spitfires and Mosquitos on the go at the moment as well as my railway modelling stuff.

Well for a second year we have had Goldfinch's in the gardens. I haven't seen any around here since I moved here over 10 years ago but last year we had a pair and this year I've seen at least 4 of them.

Well another small step for learner kind on Wot Halt. My attempts at the roadway ended up a bit of a disaster. I was wanting the look of a stone grit road....that sort of country lane that was tar spread over the surface and then grit spread over the top of that and I tried using the grass powder and painting it to achieve that sort of effect but it really didn't work so I gave it and the footpath up to the platform a thin layer of polyfilla again and this time I'll just paint that various shades of sand colour with light browns as well...so that will be another trip to The Engine Shed for a shopping trip. I've also paitned the fencing on the platform, Humbrol matt brown 110 and when that was partly dry a dry-ish coat of humbrol matt white. Once that was all dry a a dabbing of humbrol dirt black acrylic wash. It will probably need some more work on it to make it look more un-cared for. The foot crossing is also now in place which will need some more painting as well.

After a bit of a long gap I've got a bit more progress done on Wot Halt. A small parcel arrived from Hattons with some scenery bits for Wot Halt and Basket shed. i also got some work done on buildings for Pant-y-Loon. So I've got the first layer of grass down, Woodland scenics soil and earth fine turfs although I was expecting the soil to be more brown than it is. It was very dark green so I'll use that sparingly in places for a bit of contrast. I still need to find something that is a dark brown to simulate mud for areas around the cattle creep. Also I got some work done on painting the girder bridge to finish that off...just needs some fettling to get it to fit properly. Also need to find something to simulate a gravel and stone roadway.

Another Talking Pics TV film on a short while ago "Jigsaw" starring Jack Warner as yet another policeman. Shot around Brighton, Saltdean and Lewes with a few railway shots in it. Brighton station is very recognizable as is Lewes. Not sure where the pic of the Standard tank was taken though

I've always found that the years that I have been to the London Fest they have got mostly right and the one year that I went to Warley (2015 I think) that they got wrong. Warley didn't even fill up the whole building they were in and it was easier to get around by going behind all the stands and layouts as the aisles seemed too crowded.

Had a very good day at the show on Saturday. A good mixture of layouts and sales/trade & exhibitors. I did like the West Hall as it seemed to be mostly full of layouts...all though a check on the floor plan showed that it had just less than half of the layouts at the show. It just seemed a lot quieter than the main hall and nicer to get around and view the layouts. Got plenty of photos which I need to start going through. I avoided the main trader stands (Bachmann, Dapol etc) as it was just looking too busy around them (granted I never look at what is on those stands as I can't afford anything there) On the subject of rucksacks, I didn't seem to be too much trouble there with them....there were a few that were quite large and the people having them on their backs seemed to have forgotten they were there. The problem I found were the couple of people I came across walking around with large suitcases on wheels. Picked up a couple of bargains...well I think bargains. 3 old Hornby Gresleys (China made, I presume Railroad range) and a couple of spare Gresley bodies for a total of £39 for a cut and shut GNR coach project

And in the window is there a saggy old cloth cat....and the mice on the mouse organ?

Like many others here I'm also into aircraft modelling. Like my railway modelling I'm just starting to get back into things but here are some pics of the kits stash that has been sitting about waiting & waiting & waiting. Mostly 1/48th

After a bit of an inactive spell a bit more progress on Wot halt. Paint for the scenery base finally arrived (other paint manufacturers are available I believe) I couldn't find a brown dark enough for what I thought was right so got a tin of black to mix in. However it turned all grey but should still be okay once it is covered in a layer of dark brown earth type scatter material. Next time I'll have to find a pot of orange or red paint to get it to a proper brown. Not the best job as i couldn't quite get into the nooks and crannies behind the bridges but they should cover over to hide that white of the plaster. Next time I'll have to remove that backscene to get to everywhere. Once that is all done I'll get down to practicing with static grass. Well things are now going to have to wait until pay day near the end of March and I'll make another visit to the Engine Shed for some more bits & bobs. Also I want to pick up some bits for Basket Shed.

Personally my transport recommendation would be to leave the car at home and take the train. If you book rail tickets now you can get 2 singles for a total of £55 (Leicester to Alexandra Palace with 2 changes) and you would probably spend that in fuel and parking charges, and don't get caught out with the Low Emission Zone. A friend of mine got caught out with that when coming to London. He thought his car derived van would be okay as he thought it was only large vans and lorries and he got charged the £100. Also less stressful getting a train driver to do all the driving...you can sit back, relax and watch the world go by.

I'd forgotten about your loco doctors...I'll have to remember to bring one of mine in for him to have a look at

I did wonder if Seahaven might be Hastings considering the sign for express trains to Tunbridge Wells. I'd no idea what the other station was but thansk for the info