jetmorgan

Looking forward to it...getting excited

Managed to get around to transferring to DVD an episode of Scotland Yard (Talking Pictures TV...as usual) that had a numerous railway scenes. The "White Cliffs Mystery aka The Matrion Case" apparently on the line between Seahaven and Waterloo. I think Seahaven is a made up place as I can't find anywhere named that on any line to Waterloo. The main station featured in the scenes is called Brandon or Brampton but again I think that is a made up name and perhaps someone can identify the station from the pics. Also noted are some carriage sidings which it wouldn't surprise me if it was Clapham Junction.

As the weather wasn't conducive to being out in the garden I got on with a bit of work on Basket Shed. Not much done except for making a start on the roof. Gable ends now built up for the outer wall, with pegs of plastikard to slip into slots between the exterior and interior walls so it can be removable. A couple of gables cut and fitted on the inside wall as well and joined by an end piece. Took the opportunity for a couple more playing trains photos with some Midland locos this time.

A bit of progress this morning but nothing you'd really see in photos. Exterior window frames now painted matt white, glazing fitted and interior window frames painted and fitted. Gable ends for the roof are cut out but I think I have made a cock up with some and won't have enough to do the entire roof so will have to get a pack of plain bond brickwork sheets for some extra gable ends and also finish off the decorative bits. The trackwork has now been cut to length so next job is to fix that down and get it painted but I'll have to take it into work to get that done as I don't have the space in my flat. I can also get the woodwork masked off as well and once the spray paint has stopped flying about I can varnish it. I did however decide to have a little play with my trains and get some of my loco stud out for photographs...

Well been making a start on the roof...made a bit of a cock up on it but still salvageable...Basically it was the cutting out of the northlight shapes, I should have thought about it a bit more as I may have more for one side than the other. Window frames are all painted and I now have to cut out the clear plastic from the Wills box to make the glazing. Then fit a second set of frames to the inside. Dimensions of the baseboard are(sorry I only work in feet & inches) 32" & 5/16ths long (that is just because of the size of scrap ply I had) 12" & 1/4 wide and 14" in height although it will likely get cut down a bit as looking at things it's going to be too high even with the shed and a backscene in place but I'll work that out at a later time. Right one more bit to cut out and then some lunch and a slob on the sofa in front of the TV.

Well has RMWeb was down and not causing a distraction to my modelling I decided to get on with a bit of work on building the engine shed for Basket Shed. Not a great deal done except to buildup some of the decorative parts of the shed walls, fit the window frames, make start on the interior walls and also the back wall which is to be solid brick wall. That will get painted white and then dirtied up. I'll see what I'm doing this weekend and I might get the track work cut to length and painted. I'll also need to glaze the windows and get more of the interior walls done and finish of the decorative bits. Then I can make start on building the roof which I'm planning to make removable. Even toying with getting interior lighting done as long as I can find something that gives a dull glow rather than a bright light like LED's do.

Sorry to add to peoples workloads. I was trying to access the various threads I have started and that I follow and have posted too but none of them are appearing in the "My Activity" section Is that because the forum is still being rebuilt??? I can still access the threads I have started by going through the "My Attachments" bit in the drop down box where my username is. Then scrolling through the attachments I have made so I can get to the threads and make any postings. I like the new refresh...just a matter of getting used to the new way of finding and doing things. Only one little gripe....is it possible to add one of those "back to the top of the page" boxes you find on many websites these days like Ebay to go back to the top of the webpage without having to scroll continually up and down.

Oh I wish The Engine Shed was local....£16.60 return trip on the train and it was a palaver getting there and back because of broken down trains and Gatwick station only having 3 platforms open, I presume because of the Quarry Line through Redhill being closed. I have thought about giving the platform a dusting with matt varnish and next time I go shopping I might get a can and see how that turns out.

Well as I woke up to a thoroughly miserable Sunday morning I decided to get plastered....and I got completely plastered and not a drop of alcohol passed my lips, mind you I don't drink. So I used up a roll and a half of modroc on the scenery on Wot Halt, glad I bought the 2 packs when I went to Ford on the Saturday. There is still some fine tuning to be done as there is modroc in the area for the halt and also where the cattle creep and bridges are going so I'll have to do some carving. Already tried a bit using a Stanley knife but it doesn't like it and won't cut properly. I might have to see if my brother has one of those multi tool affairs to see if I can borrow that next time he is down, Next job will be to get the whole thing painted....so I'll have to find somewhere near here that does matt emulsions in brown colours, our local B&Q & Homebase (Tonbridge) closed down a few years back so it's now a matter of Tunbridge Wells and the out of town trading estates. Also had a go at painting the trackwork today at work. This didn't turn out too badly...I gave it a light spray with Humbrol rattle can grey primer. gave that an hour to dry, then Humbrol rattle can dark brown, again a random light spraying. Let that dry and then a spray of Humbrol matt black. That was left for the rest of the day to dry off and once I got it back home it was out with the Railmatch dark & light rust acrylics. These I thinned down and dry brushed them along the chairs and the rail with the dark rust and just the chairs with the light rust. The light rust I really thinned down as I didn't want the track looking like it had been given a spray tan. The photos make the track look rather red but that was just the desk lamp I was using. I also made a start on painting the platform of the halt...this wasn't so great. Used my old enamels for this, a medium brown first off, then a dry brushing of a darker brown. I had left that to dry and then gave it a wash of slightly thinned acrylic Humbrol dirty black to give the impression of old creosoted but dusty timber but it has ended up have a slightly glossy finish to the platform. I will have to have a think about that as to either leaving it like that or repainting it completely. I still have to paint the fencing and the shelter so I still have the option....I really will have to start replacing my old enamels with acrylics. They seem to be easier to work with but I'm loathe to chuck them despite being a number of years old. I also need to see how other people have painted their shelters and how they have done an aged going slightly rusty and paint peeling look.

I decided to have a morning away from the flat and ended up spending more money than I ought to have done. But came back with some gear to get the next stage of Wot Halt done, 2 packs of Modroc. Also a few tools, including some Xuron track cutters, that was a real "ouch, my wallet" moment. Some acyrlic spray paints from Humbrol and pots of weathering paints from Railmatch so I can also make a start on painting the track. I also bought a second Wills engine shed and some brick sheets so I can make some more progress on my other diorama Basket Shed.

I'm not sure the runway at Duxford will be long, wide or strong enough to take a 747 landing now, even if it has been stripped to lighten it so the landing weight isn't too much

A subjective question but personally speaking I find it a lot better than Warley. Granted I have only been to Warley once, in 2015, and I was a bit underwhelmed by that show, I was expecting something a lot bigger at Warley considering the adverts in the magazines etc and that it's in the NEC. It was still a perfectly good show but I still think London is the better. Only downside to the London show is the climb up the hill to the Palace. Will be my first time back since my heart attack last year (annoyingly right before last years show so I had to miss it) But I did do the 193 steps at Covent Garden tube station a couple of weeks ago so should manage the walk up the hill.

That's the Wills kits Halt with platform shelter. I've used the Wills kits for nearly everything on this one. https://peco-uk.com/collections/wills/products/station-halt-with-waiting-room They do a second version without the platform shelter. I bought mine through Hatton's though as I was buying some other bits & bobs from them

A smidgen of progress on Wot halt the other night. As there was sweet fanny adams on the television I thought I'd make a start and get the cattle creep painted. Also gives me the chance to use up the old tins of Humbrol enamels I've had lying around. I'm going to move over to using acrylics rather than enamels in the future but I want to use up what I have. Started with a dry brushing of a dark grey for the stonework and then a very thinned down light stone colour for the mortar. Which didn't work out so well, probably should have done the light stone colour first. Then gave it a dry brushing of a darkish brown and then a red brown and used the same red brown to pick out some of the stonework. I have the 2 bridge abutments to do yest so with those I'll try the lighter colours first. The first photo makes the red brown look rather too red but that is probably because it was taken under the desk lamp I have. The other pics are with it in position on the diorama with a few of the locos in my stud.

Some interesting stuff there and I'll have to go through it in more detail ate a later date. I have a lady friend who lives in Ballachulish and it would be lovely to visit her but without the railway there now it's a major trip. I did find this photo in one of my copies of Steam World which might be of some interest

Going through a folder I have for my 1/35 scale tank & armoured vehicle modelling I came across this scale conversion chart with a scale conversion formula for up & down scaling plans on a photocopier. While these are more ship, aircraft and vehicle modelling scales rather than railway modelling scales I'm sure this may be of use to some people. Doing a quick check the relevant UK gauge to scale ratio's are N gauge 1/148 (so 1/144th is as close as you can get) TT gauge 1/101 (1/100th as near as damn it) HO gauge is 1/87, OO gauge 1/76.2 and O gauge varies from 1/48th to 1/43.5. I understand that other countries have slightly different variations, I understand Russian TT scale is 1/130th and N gauge varies between 1/148 to 1/160th Scale conversoin chart.PDF

Another film off Talking Pics TV which has some railway scenes, What Every Woman Wants. With William Sylvester (of numerous other films including 2001: A space Odyessey. Joan Hickson, Brian Rix, Joan Syms and Prunella Scales. Not sure where abouts it's set but it looks like shipyards in the north east somewhere...perhaps someone can elaborate on that (I've included a couple of location shots as well) One set of shots as a railway line running along the road and views of wagons being shunted

Yes I just caught that as well. Brannigan has been a couple of times this Christmas but I've never bothered watching it as I'm not a fan of John Wayne. If it's on again I'll try to record it to DVD then I can get some screen shots....that signalbox has given me some building ideas

If anyone gets Talking Pictures TV. Tonight 1st Jan, at 19:45...that's 7:45pm in english the BFI film Snow is on - A look at the efforts of British Railways in coping with the 1963 cold wave. Not sure if this is the same film as Snow drift at Bleath Gill

Well Santa Claus must have made a visit to me as whilst having a tidy up of the model railway cupboard, I've just found my Gaugemaster controller that I've been looking for for the past few years. all under a pile of other modelling bits & bobs. So I've now connected it up to the bit of track on Wot Halt and testing out all the Ebay & exhibition purchases I've made over the past 5 years or so to find out which are runners, which are non runners and which are a bit in the middle. So far non-runners are a Hornby Railroad Jinty, A Bachmann class 20 that is missing it's bogie frames and is shorting out the controller and one of my Mainline J72's. So will need to get all of them looked at to see whats wrong and the rest will all need a good service as they are all old Mainline, Airfix/Dapol, Replica and Hornby.

Something for Fiat 126 fans. Found this in the RAF Yearbook for 1974, which was in a pile of aircraft magazines my dad has given me. How times are different these days....in 1974 you had to pay extra for number plates and seat belts. And full anti rust treatment...on a FIAT!!!

Decided to make a start on a second diorama in addition to Wot Halt. Again to try out techniques for scenery and buildings and re-educate myself railway modelling. Also to be a photographic background for models. Started off with the timber, plywood & hardboard reclaimed from pallets at work. Cut down to rough size and then squared up as best as I can on my new toy of a table saw. I decided on a 4 road track plan with the engine shed at one end and just one end of the shed. I was pondering if I should enclose the end of the shed or not but have deiced against it so I can have as much of the inside of the shed on view as well which means I can look at detailing the insides. I'm using the Wills 2 road engine shed but modified to be a 4 road shed. But I will need some extra wills brick sheets to get the interior done. I'm having to rethink the backscene area as I haven't got as much room between the engine shed and the backscene as I thought I would have so I may just keep that as a retaining wall of wills brick sheets with some sort of paper industrial scene on it and then I may have to trim the height of the backscene down.

I'm just getting back in to model railways with building a couple of dioramas, the first of which is Wot Halt, so I can experiment with scenery techniques and re-learn how to do things as it has been over 20 years now. I've been following this build with interest. I'm at the stage of laying down modroc, painting and getting the grass areas done. browsing your postings you have use hanging basket liners for the rough grass areas and I'm thinking about following your example but having a look on the internet for hanging basket liners I find there is Coir liners and coconut liners, can you recall which ones you used or is there any real difference?

A couple of screen shots from the film Sons of the Sea. Showing an RAF Bristol Blenheim mk 1 being a mystery aircraft...bombing a Royal Navy launch in this espionage drama. I know there is inter service rivalry but the RAF bombing the Navy!!! Sadly not a very good film apart from some very nice colour film of the Dartmouth naval college and the surrounding area, including Churston station (see the posting in the Railway footage in feature films thread) Only thing interesting about the film is that is was a colour film shot in 1939 just before the outbreak of war. You can clearly see the undersides of the aircraft with the early camouflage pattern of black on the port side and white on the starboard but with the ailerons on each side in the opposite colour.

Sometime ago I mentioned on here(I think!!!) a film called Sons of the Sea on Talking pictures TV. Well it's finally been repeated and I got it recorded and got some screenshots of the railway scenes. This is an early colour film, 1939, although the colour does look a bit odd. It looks like it's been colourised but reading up about the film, it is a genuine colour film and it's just the film process that makes it look a bit odd and no doubt the passage of time. It's not a very exciting film,about a German spy at Dartmouth naval college but it does have some very nice film from that area just before world war 2 as well as secens shot at the naval college. Also included in those shots was Churston for Brixham station as well as a couple of Dartmouth station and the ferry terminal. There are also some scenes involving what to me looks like an MG TC car (I could well be wrong) and a Bristol Blenheim Mk 1 with the early underside colours of white one one side and black on the other but I'll post those in the appropriate forums.