Wow! I've not updated this for a while...
Well, Isle Ornsay's first exhibition came and went, I learnt a few things to improve re. operation, particularly replacement of two 12" radius Peco points. I will be swapping these for the newer 'mainline' ones which will necessitate the realignment of two sidings, but it will be worth it in the long run to improve reliability of operation.
Photos of stock made by myself, Mick Thornton and Ted Polet in operation on the layout at Narrow Gauge South at Sparsholt this year.
Isle Ornsay has at least two exhibition appearances next year, the 009 Society Beds and Bucks Members Day in January, and Narrow Gauge South West in February. For both of those there are a few things that were realised after exhibiting at Sparsholt that I'd like to alter, mainly the two 12" radius Peco points on the quay which will be replaced with 'Mainline' ones. This will entail partial realignment of both sidings on the quay. I've also decided to do away with the tippler as being primarily for marble it's unlikely that much of the output of the quarry would need a tippler, therefore the realignment of the sidings isn't an issue.
Other changes are more minor and mainly focus on DCC control or providing operators with more information on addresses of various locos, I'm thinking of producing a photographic stock list with the address of locos shown, along with a track diagram with the addresses of points.
Here's a recap of how things stand at the moment:
There are a couple of bits of plaster casting to do then that task is finished. I'd also like to make progress scenically, so adding of roofs to all the buildings will be a marked improvement.
Another thing I'd like to sort before NGSW is a lighting rig using LED strips, mainly to enable me to add a splash of colour to the layout, particularly the rocks.
All the buildings use a foamboard shell which will either be clad in a very thin skim of filler to represent whitewash (or stone if it's carved), or plasticard sheet. The roofs will be built up using strips of card, but they obviously need a strong base with a few cross members to support them to avoid any sag. What I've been doing this evening is adding those cross members from foamboard. Because a few of the buildings are to have curved corrugated roofs I added a few cross members for them to help keep a smooth curve.
Those that sit against the backscene are designed for the apex of the roof to sit about 10mm away from the backscene. This means that the roof will drop away right before the backscene, and thereby hide the join which can often look clumsy, and also hopefully help create a slight illusion of greater depth.
Loco Shed
Customs House
Croft and Post Office
Goods Shed
Fishery
Harbour Street
Ice House
The station building already has the cross members added.
As you'll notice I've crudely chamfered a few of them where the square edges of the foamboard projected beyond the walls of the building. Hoping to get some basic roofs on them in the next few days. A few have complex dormer windows (especially the Customs House) which could take a while to add.