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Will Vale

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    Will Vale

    Posted

    Thanks folks!

     

    The buddleia looks good in the picture of the 60 - did you say how you did that anywhere?

    I don't think I did actually - I was rushing towards the show deadline and didn't do as many updates as I should have. It's a bundle of wires twisted together for the branches, then painted with matte medium and dipped in/sprinkled a mixture of static grass and shreds cut off a plastic Christmas wreath. (They're flat matt green plastic strips supposed to look like pine needles, and have a bit more of a leafy texture than scatter). For the flower heads I left the last bit of wire without foliage, and when the green bit was dry glued and dipped that in purple flock.

     

    From what I recall the only really tricky bit was handling the plastic "leaf" shreds - they were ridiculously static and jumped like fleas.

     

    I'd seen a photo earlier in the week on Garden Railway Club, of all places. John (screen name JRinTawa) was one of the judges I think, he's got a lovely atmospheric garden line!

    Thanks for the pointer James - I'm guessing that might be John Robinson? I've seen some of his rolling stock but not the layout. Was brave of them to try and take a photo longways - I've tended to chicken out although I'm going to have another go with stacked focus soon.

     

     

    (PS: Some pics are missing as I write, looks like a flickr issue.)

    I think it's because I updated a couple of them - the one that didn't link for me was the tractor at the bottom which should now be fixed. Let me know if you still have any problems.

    Will Vale

    Posted

    That's a good point about the low forces involved. I'll have a try with 0.3mm brass wire and see if that works. The problem is that as well as the contact wire I'll then need to solder up catenery spans...

     

    It probably won't be for a while, but I'll post here if I get something working. Thanks again!

    Will Vale

    Posted

    Thanks again guys.

     

    @Mikkel, I'm glad you liked the seatbelts, it was my first experience with them and they are pretty fiddly. I've found Tamiya's gel superglue to be really useful, I don't think I could have done it with any of the others I've used. The nice thing is that once together, it takes very little effort to weather them since the printing is a good base.

     

    I'm sure you're right about the cross-fertilisation, and sometimes it's just that a break or a variation in what you do is good at keeping the motivation levels up. I admire your single-mindedness vis-a-vis Farthing though.

     

    I think my favourite of the "ZOMG small!" pictures is still this one though:

    6914487617_1a51aae15d_z.jpg

    • Like 1
    Will Vale

    Posted

    Thanks James, it was nice to get it out agan, not so nice cleaning the track but the scenery seems fine :)

     

    The galvanised look is similar to what I did on the lamp posts, although those had bigger "flakes" (I ended up reading about how it works in reality last time - it's pretty interesting);

     

    The boxes and base were sprayed with grey primer (Plastikote lacquer) and then I sort of scrubbed Tamiya flat aluminium into the surface with a stiff brush and cotton bud, using the goopy stuff from the bottom of the jar. Once that had dried I went over it with blotches of Citadel Boltgun Metal and a drybrush of neat white. The wash is an enamel from MIG, as recommended by Invercloy. It's great stuff.

    Will Vale

    Posted

    Thanks! I am intending to make the Oberleitung - if you look in some of the pictures you can see the concrete bases for the masts - but I ran out of time. I was planning to use the Märklin masts, which are close to the right pattern, but the Z-scale contact wire sections are very heavy - it might be better with just masts and no contact wire?

     

    I've seen your project before when I was looking for reference for mine, it looks fantastic, you made a wonderful job of the Ravennabrücke.

    Jon020

    Posted

    Looks like you're off to a good start Jon. FWIW I reckon four roads are a bit busy in the space you have available, for a couple of reasons: In real life I think having a bit of space on each side of the shed road on the apron would be important for working on the locos. And in the model I reckon a bit of vertical scenery (fence, lamp hut, low wall, maintenance catwalk, etc. etc.) would be good in the background, especially with the main lines behind it.

     

    If it were me I'd keep the front 3 in the positions you have them and delete the back one, or (maybe) have it peek out from behind the shed and then stop about halfway into the scene. That'd net you a nice buffer stop which adds a bit of interest as well, and allow a wagon or part of a loco to show behind the shed which I reckon would look good.

     

    Just my 2p.

    • Like 2
    Ydna

    Posted

    On the modelling side, many solvent glues intended for working with 'styrene (like Tamiya, Revell, Humbrol "liquid poly") won't work on the engineering plastics used in Peco's track, and possibly in the AWS ramps too? I can't be sure but some Peco detail mouldings are in normal 'styrene, and some aren't.

     

    Basically if your glue doesn't work, something hotter like Plastic Weld might work, or you could use superglue or even PVA.

    • Like 1
    Dukedog

    Posted

    I think satin black is a good choice for fascias: The contrast with the modelled scene tends to make the layout look more vivid and directs the eye to the bit you've put your effort into. I think having an edge is just something we have to accept when not building railways in real life :) That said, it can be a pain with photography unless you are prepared to frame your shots differently or extend the foreground in Photoshop.

     

    But I like the idea of trying finishes first with coloured paper, that could save a lot of work.

    Rods_of_Revolution

    Posted

    Very neat. You might be able to avoid the polarity issue by gluing the magnets sideways to the end of the elastic, with half the length of elastic at each end of the vehicle. Then when they get close enough together (I assume they're Neodymium?) they'll sort out the polarity themselves. The Lego magnetic couplings also do something interesting, where the magnets are mounted in swivelling frames so they can turn themselves around to present the right polarity, but that might be overkill (and difficult to do in such a small scale).

     

    Do you have any problems with the vehicles lifting off the track when uncoupling, or is their weight enough to keep them in place?

    Dukedog

    Posted

    Gesso is a canvas primer - it's acrylic with chalk in it. I use it like you use the gloop, sometimes with a bit of fine sand mixed in to add texture and body. The great thing is that the acrylic (and presumably PVA) gives the stuff a little bit of flexibility when dry, so it's less susceptible to cracking than a straight plaster finish.

     

    For the water, I've had success with Liquitex "pouring medium" from the art shop. It's a clear self-levelling glossy acrylic. Poured in layers of not more than 3mm, it levels out really well, doesn't wick into the banks too much, and dries clear and shiny in about a day. No smell to speak of either. It's probably more expensive by volume than varnish, and definitely more expensive than PVA, but you won't need to spend as much time layering the water so it balances out.

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