jamest

Hi all, I’ve taken advantage of having a good amount of time in the shed this weekend. First up was painting the wall shown in the previous post. You will have seen a door propped up which seemed to work so I’ve added a wall either side to sit up against the back scene. I have also fired up the grass master and started to add some basic greenery. I need to paint the fuel tank. I have also painted the guttering on the warehouse and built a wall to finish off the blend into the back scene at the other end. I might have some bushes on the top of the wall to blend with the scene behind, it depends on how the viewing angles work. You might have noticed I have also started adding grass patches in between sidings and tracks. It still looks a little stark, and needs to be blended, but it’s a start and I like the colour of the winter blend I’ve used. The front embankment has also had a coat of grass. There will be wilder growth on the sides and a fence running along the top getting closer to the front edge as you work away from the bridge. All the best, James

Hi all, Small update on the area next to my warehouse. I didn’t like the transition from bridge to building so I’ve decided to incorporate something in between that will break up the level change better between the bridge and ground level. So I cut the embankment to allow for a retaining wall. I also added a card pad that will be concrete. I then made a card base (2x 2mm card thicknesses) and added squires brick sheet. I plan to have the fuel tank as below. It is a 3D printed item made by my friend mudmagnet. Behind it, against the back scene, there will be a wall with a door….the door is shown roughly in place. There will be a low wooden fence at the end of the concrete pad. Cheers, James

Hi Rhys, Great to have met you, Ian and Mike for a beer and chat at Tonbridge. Ian kindly linked your layout so I can keep up with your progress. Very impressive.... And very jealous of the space.... Although that is a lot of work! Cheers James

Thanks for that Ian. I was hoping you'd link it cos I couldn't remember the name. It was a trouble free journey thanks. Ray did it in just under 4 hours with no stop! Not one hold up. Cheers James

Good day yesterday helping Ray at Tonbridge. The show was very busy so hopefully the club generated some funds. There always seemed to be a lot of people watching and I particularly liked the fact there were so many children milling around with their stools. They all behaved so well, a real credit to their guardians. I thought the stools combined with the metal ‘guides’ in front of the layouts worked really well for the little ones. It also proved the value of the phone control setup Ray has - as he could hand them the control or get them to blow the whistle. It’s nearly worth all the stress the technology can bring! one last highlight for me……hearing the surprise from people when Ray said we’d had a journey to make from North Devon - when he sounds like he is only 5 minutes up the road! Thanks for letting me tag along Ray, enjoyed the weekend and the socials on Friday night. James

Hi Ian, Unfortunately didn’t get much chance to see Tidworth yesterday - too busy trying to re rail the odd kettle on Feltham (only kidding Ray if you read this!)..but it was great to meet you Rhys and Mike and share a beer on Friday night. Thanks for the hospitality and look around your shed on the way up. Hopefully I can see Tidworth as a punter again sometime soon. I’ll keep an eye on your shed layout and try to find Rhy’s too. All the best, James

Hi all, Few more updates. First the warehouse. I’ve tiled the roof and decided on corrugated sheet for the lower extension. I’ve painted it tamiya dark grey with the odd tile picked out in a darker and lighter mix with plain black or white mixed in. The corrugated surface is gun metal but will be covered in a grime wash. The slates will also receive a black wash and the fascia will be the same blue as the doors. I also got organised and ordered my missing bits from modelu…the connection between guttering and downpipes. Here is the guttering attached with the Dow pipes offered up…I plan to paint them before fixing in place. I also need to bend the extension down pipe a bit to line up with its connector, as you can see. The actual guttering is a bit of a challenge as they come slightly bent in both directions. Understandable given the thinness of the section, but it means you have to carefully over bend it back nearly straight and then hold it down with masking tape while the adhesive dries. I used plain revel contacta and it worked fine. I have also experimented on a wash for the track. I did a short test section and ballasted. I speed dried the pva flood in front of the wood burner….perhaps a bit too close if you look at the sleepers! But it serves a purpose and enabled me to get on with experimentation quickly. In the picture below….. the very left is as ballasted. the left middle is my burnt umber wash. the middle/middle right was a less diluted wash of the same colour which was too brown. This also has black/brown powder applied for dirtier areas. I also had a bit of a go with white powders on the sleepers extreme right….not sure about that. it does not show up great in the photo but I like the middle section and will apply to the layout as a base soon. I have also coated the rest of the yard with the fine pet sand shown in my previous update. This was spread with a sieve over a thin brushed layer of neat pva. In between the track on the sidings….I scraped the excess down to the sleeper tops (ish) while the mix was still a bit mushy and not dry. I liked the effect of mess and some sleeper tops showing. It has now fully cured and will also need toning down a bit. Cheers James

Hi all, Had a go with some fine ‘sand’ in the yard lines this morning. Here are some in process pictures of the sand and the resulting pva flood. I find with finer stuff like this, and ash, that you really need to soak it first with water spray or the pva will just sit on top and ball up. Here is what I used, I got it a while ago from pets at home…. I laid it fairly thick and I have not bothered about cleaning it from the sleepers as a lot of yard surfaces seem to have very little sleeper showing. The colour changes a bit…..it will be interesting to see how it dries. The actual yard surface that you see is wood burner ash….depending on how the ‘sand’ looks I might cover the whole yard in that and then colour to suit. The dark grey area between the siding and platform road is road stone. Regards, James

Hi, I have been mucking about with ash for the yard but I do have some fine sand I got from a pet store. Its tucked away in my shed somewhere - thanks for the reminder! regards, James

Hi Ian, Those gates look great, it really adds another dimension to the layout. I am not very experienced with the electrical side of things but I am thinking of joining merg to learn a bit more. I have a few fellow modellers in the Barnstaple area who are members and are way ahead of me on such things. It would be good to explore options for other movements on the layout and general use of servos. You mention the WSR….my neice’s boyfriend does a lot there I think….Phil Sizer…he is an actual signalman as a day job now. But I’m sure there are several people volunteering there. Cheers, James

Here are a few more where I’m happier about the blend with the back-scene. You can only really plan to make it ‘fit’ from the front. It also shows that I have put some of the led strip in the station building and connected it to the lights above. Cheers James

Hi Andrew, I should have added that an essential part of card construction is a good adhesive. I would recommend deluxe materials (brand) Roket card glue. Basically superglue for card! cheers, James

Thanks Rob, I’ve used some of your layouts as inspiration……I like the high setup with a framed ‘picture’ approach you take. Regards James

Hi Andrew, Thanks for the kind comments. The base for the goods shed is 2mm card. In OO with scalescenes stuff you need 2mm and 1mm card with the odd thing thinner which you can use cereal packs for. I used to get my 2mm stuff as grey mount board in A2 size, but I’ve now found a better source of A4 card from Amazon….where I also buy the 1mm stuff. Cheers, James

Hi again, Ok, here are some more pics that pretty much bring you all up to date. We will then enter the ice age and the updates will become glacial in their movements! I can still go over the fiddle yard and the cassette design and I still have to add some signalling, people, clutter, signage, etc. Here are the pics of the rest of the layout with basic scenics done. You will see I have also worked on a fascia. This was a bit more challenging than normal as the scenic section is in two pieces. It’s my fault it is an old size as the layout was going to be 6 feet long and ending just beyond the signal box and provender store. I had to add some over engineered supports reaching from behind the back-scene to support the open end of the fascia top at the end of the 6 foot board. Here is the signal box….a Bachmann one based on the one at Blue Anchor. This angle is a bit cruel on the back-scene lumps! And the platform road and bay background. The canal…..the boat needs a bit more detail….and a driver! Some overall shots with the bare fascia. The superstructure! The horizontal strip has a double warm white led strip under neath. Cheers, James

Hi all, It’s been a day or so since my last update, we are at the point where greenery is added and I tweak one of the sidings a little. I’m afraid I seem to have been deficient in taking photos during adding the greenery, but if there are any questions please ask and I can focus on a particular aspect…..not that I would ever claim to be an expert….I’m just standing on the shoulders of others on here. First the left hand front siding. I was going to add another platform here for offloading of goods - perhaps with a crane. You can see below how it would have sat - I was going to have my goods shed on the platform. In the foreground you can see the tapered left hand wall to provide access to the platform level. But I decided I did not like this and it was a little too much. It did have the effect of leaving a witness after extraction…..making me use wood burner ash to blend and dirty the surface further. I am very happy with the result and I am currently trying to replicate this in 7mm on my other layout. Continuity error alert! The eagle eyed will also notice the platform option above did not include the goods yard gates and end walling you have already seen in a previous post. The platform was going to wrap around the end which you can see in the top picture if you look hard enough. Another thing I did not think worked scenically. It would have been far more difficult to blend into the back scene. So here are some pictures of the new siding complete with wood burner ash surface and patches of grass applied by a grass master. You can also see the water tower which is a resin Bachmann one. The near siding is shortened to accommodate the shed. I think this works much better and you can see the wall and gates reinstalled by magic….and the bushes to blend with the ‘end wall’. Regards, James

Hi, Thanks. I got that surface from the narrowboats and lock set - T018 I believe. I've also done a narrowboat which will appear later! £3.99 but loads of useful stuff in there - I have a lot of scalescenes stuff and I have the advantage that I can print the sheets in work. I also got the edge paving and vertical canal sides from that set - although you can't really see much of the side in these pics. cheers James

Hi Ian, I will try to explain it later when I show the result - the photos to date just show the road stone ballast laid in the yard via the PVA flood. I have had varying results with wood burner ash over several layouts - I "lucked in" a bit on Bratton Lane with the yard surface. I first painted with textured paint and then applied neat PVA and rubbed the ash into the rough surface - perhaps fixing with hairspray or varnish later. I never have any luck with laying ash dry and then wetting and applying PVA like ballast. It always seems to behave badly, when applying said diluted PVA, and lack texture when drying as a grey lump. So going forward I like to have a textured surface to apply the ash to - like textured paint or this fine ballast - then apply over neat PVA, perhaps with a sieve - then rub and re-apply as necessary after with hairspray/varnish. Hope that helps - the pictures will follow soon. PS - looking in your signature link I notice I was only looking at your thread with admiration the other day - first for the electrics (not my thing) - then a bit of shed envy - and of course the actual layout and buildings, etc - very nice! Cheers, James

Hi Peter, I do look prolific here….but it is just an illusion! What you’ve seen so far is a record of a good few months work. The signal box will indeed change for a more appropriate one in the future. cheers James

Hi again, Updates thick and fast! I mentioned the station building above and how I coated the plastic Fordhampton building with brick paper. It didn’t really go that well so I decided to make the base structure in card using the windows and doors from the kit. I also decided to try and copy my Bachmann resin shed used on my North Molton layout. I shortened it very slightly to suit the wills corrugated sheet material. The inside will use printed sheets again…..you will see the finished shed in position later. I can’t show it in situ without jumping too far forward. So new frame next to resin building Clad in wills sheets Inside paper surfaces Roof clad and door runner added Painted up next to the resin building again I will show it on its brick base with door and down pipes later. Regards, James

Hi again, Here are a few more updates on the progress. This is still catching up - I don't work this fast normally! Once the basics are bone - track laid - bridges and platform done - I started to plan the greenery. First the road - it will merge with the backscene behind the signal box and some hedging. I have also formed the land and plaster bandaged behind the bay platform. And added a wall and gate at the end. The station building is a gaugemaster (is it fordhampton?) effort and is covered with scalescenes paper to match the other structures. Although this building will change slightly later. The pagoda shelter is a Bachmann scenecraft item. regards, James

Hi, Not great at links, etc, but here is my attempt.... Magenesis 52 Pieces Neodymium Magnets 10x2 mm Disc Magnets Extremely Strong Approx. 2 kg Adhesive Strength https://amzn.eu/d/2ZYyuiI It was from amazon and looks to be about a tenner. Regarding the axle draw..... I've not done a lot of running and testing yet but you do still get some movement. I can't confidently say whether it is worse or better than the kadee magnet. Regards James

Hi Paul, I’ve always bought from them at shows….I always find it better to see and ‘feel’ it to judge what grade to buy. I don’t know if they have an online shop? Regards, James

Hi again, Thanks for the kind comments. Here is the progress on the scenic run over the canal. Profiled front for the embankment Road bridge behind against the backscene…..when I add it! Wills bridge primed first and then washed over with a dark mix and wiped off. The canal sides are from scalescenes as well. Water surface is also scalescenes covered in several brushed coats of varnish. The rear road bridge is red brick and wills varigirder. The rail bridge is still removable at this stage. I then filled the embankments in and applied plaster bandage….sorry no photos of that….then out with the grass master and apply some grass. Also started to fit the back-scene here. Regards, James

Another quick update, Here are some pictures of some finished ballasting. I've used woodland scenics grey on the main running lines and some Attwood aggregates grey road stone in the yard sidings to represent finer stuff. The yard sidings will have wood burner ash rubbed into them later - to make it look a little dirtier and non-uniform. I was intending to use my peco platform edging as you can see, but as it is the concrete variety I planned to face it with brick plasticard. The views you see below are with it painted in a basic red brick colour. It is just pinned in place to enable ballasting to take place. After ballasting, and trying to paint a good varied brick colour, I decided to scrap that idea and revert to scalescenes printed sheets and card. See below - I've used aged brick and gone for a half paved, half tarmac platform surface. It was useful to ballast with the peco edging in place as the card platform would not have liked the PVA flood very much. You'll see I've also used my standard gaugemaster backscene as well! Cheers, James