devondynosoar118

Yep, your distance issues are certainly bigger than ours! You are in the right place for finescale inspiration though. Get hold of the Templot or similiar rail cad computer programme and start drawing your layout- its cheaper on paper! You have the baseboards so you can set up your mock up then get building- post pics here as you go and I'm sure if you hit any problems someone here will have the answer.

Welcome to bloggers corner! I too have marvelled at the work produced by others here and have learnt alot. Planning makes a huge difference, I would never have done half my layout without construncting it entirely on paper first. I found using a prototype of some sort as a base helped as it stopped me going off at a tangent and gave me the initial formation of track etc. Post some pics of board construction. What sort of control are you using?

LOL! It was really nice to finally get something moving!

Cool camera angle. I have never understood why more people don't use these cams for model railway filming- We are making a filming wagon for my layout so I can do the same as this. Looks really great!

Uncouted costs and grey hairs after beginning I finally ran my first fully digital train yesterday! Thanks to help from here I fitted the decoder myself, it was nerve wracking but worked in the end. I was slightly annoyed to find that my Lenz Compact only let me alter 7 CV's, even on the programme track. If anyone knows a way round this I would love to know as I was hoping to do some more tweaking to the CT chip I put in. I am going to be pretty busy this week as I have to get the Van ready for our holiday next week so I probably wont get any pictures until nearer the end of the month. The trackwork on the throat board is now finished and painted, just have to wire in and fix the point motors. So I'll sign off til later by saying thanks to those who have offered their help and advice that's got me this far.

Nice work- I like greenstuff putty too, really nice to work just takes a long time to cure.

I grew up with an architect for a dad and he made some beautiful building models, as did my grandfather and I don't think I have seen anything as astonishing as the work on your blog. Quite amazing

Lol- Phones and cameras should not be mixed! Especially on work this nice.

Did he use some "kraftwerk" on the Trans Europe Express?

Awesome work- Love the workshop equipment and lights. Buy a tripod, I got mine for less than £5 in charity shop.

I got all the pictures done yesterday, as well as nearly completing the throat and testing my first point motor! This is the track, weathered, using acrylic drybrushing on the rail and chairs, followed by two ink washes, with the lineside grit/ash/mud done as below. Ballast was dried and seived grey builders sand I found in the yard. The lineside area, stage 1. Fine playsand dyed with ink and PVA Stage 2, Grey drybrush- Dark first, then light I felt this was too bright, so I washed it back with an ink mix to dull the gray and add some grime to represent mud and dirt in between the stones of the embankment top. Just a quick shot down the scenic board towards the station

"Only fools rush in" to this kind of work, but we "can't help falling in love" with the wierd looks of this railmotor. Can't wait for it to "run on" the "green green grass of home" at Highclere... Certainly " Got my mojo workin"

Thanks- I have been collecting offcuts from skips! I have used it as the base for all the hills and embankments on kbridge and its easy to carve plus you can sand it for that Devon "rolling hills" look. You can also laminate it horizontally or vertically using T-stakes (scenic pins) to hold in place, or cocktail sticks to re-enforce joins. I can lean on my scenic section after plastering and there's no give despite all the insulation board only being loosely fitted and stuck. Sorley tunnel access can be arranged through the Combe Fishery for the KB end and by asking at Sorley farmhouse. Williams has pictures of both ends in his book. I am going to dig thru the computerized archive at the Cookworthy museum this month- its free to view all images but £9 for a print.

Nice boards- Will buy your leftover celotex boards- The way to stick it to the framing is to peel off the foil and use "no more nails" stuff. Burfords in K-Town do "Hard as Nails" ripoff for £1.40 a tube which did a 3'6"X 2'6" baseboard. The length of run is going to be really nice. Did you sort out your ZTC issues?

Hmm- Tender locos not common on the branch! Great models though. I would suggest that you have already decided that the 1st fiddleyard is going to be the best for what you want, thereby making it the best design by default! Have you fixed the locations you are addding in the scenic boards yet?

I said I would update today, sadly no pictures- will add them to this block as soon as I can take them. So far- Controller has arrived- I can now test some wiring and scrimp for a decoder. The ballast is all laid on the scenic section and I added the finer cinder edges around the track. This was then dyed with black indian ink added to the PVA mix, which will form the basis for paint fx- Will try to illustrate this with my pics. The tricky join between the curved throat board and the main "yard" board is about half done- once final alignment is sorted I can begin to fix the point motors and build the control board. The final points for the throat are on order I have got most of the parts for the 2 main running lines to the station. I laid the lane surface with fine sand and ink dyed PVA Problem wise- Still haven't got the money for the last bits of trackwork and point motors Don't have a DCC loco for testing Have no scatter/ scenic material for scenic board Have not designed or built a fiddle yard Boards have no legs- Parts are there, will to wordwork is absent. None of these are insurmountable (I hope!) and I am generally pleased with the work so far. Will try and get some pictures Friday as I have to work tomorrow:angry: W***- It is a four letter word for a reason...

I am dreading testing my layout! Bloody soldering and wire...

This is essentially how all motor vehicle bodies were repaired and filled before the advent of polyester fillers. The alternative for those of us more cackhanded with the soldering iron is to use a low voltage iron and low temperature solder for filler work. Exceptional bit of building- I would struggle with that as a plastic kit, never mind one completely made from flat brass sheets! The cabs look like a total bstard to do and that roof sounds complicated...

You don't need specialist paints for weathering! A good range of earthy coloured acrylics, some black, chesnut and bown inks plus some cheap brushes will do the job! If you want powders I remember seeing a suggestion that powder cosmetics were cheap and usefull. Good to see quick progress! I too don't like getting bogged down in track detail for weeks.

I have tried a number of finishes on celotex. Bandage followed by a coat of casting plaster has worked ok. Have also used bonding plaster (available from builders merchant) applied direct. That works too, but doesn't bridge gaps as well as the bandage. Cheap tho, and when wet floated very easy to smooth. Probably good for roads or runways as well.

I will take that advice- I have been looking carefully at both your layouts as they are the kind of standard I am aiming for. The original line snakes and flows through the landscape and this was the single most important aspect of the look for me, so I'm glad that its looking "right" to others! The only stuff thats going on it is what was there originally, field boundaries are coming off the pre-war OS map and station is strictly to prototype. My brother is hopefully doing the carcasses for the buildings on CAD (haven't told him yet!) which will help. I'm just pleased that people whose skills are proven as yours are approve! Just need about another £200 to drive it forward. Sadly I'm not getting any more done for the next 5 days as I have to work, but will post as soon as I can.

Just got a Lenz compact to run the layout with. I know it only has 2 digit addressing but with a maximum of 2 locos running at once I can live with that. At least it can read and write CV's which other options in this price bracket can't. NCE powercab was my numer 1 choice but can't get one for sensible money. The Lenz system is also very expandable. Now I just have to chip my 1st loco and I can run some tests.

Admittedly I didn't have to build all my track like you finescale nutters! That and trying to fit 2 full days a week in the workshop has certainly helped progress. Just hope it looks half as good as some of the 2mmFS layouts on here. Looking forward to the next installment of Avonwick. Have started paper planning of next few boards and am thinking about Brent- has anyone done it?

Despite my slowness with the wiring the track work is slowly coming together, all the sections laid so far have their droppers soldered and the points have now all been converted for DCC. The scenic board had its track sprayed and track bed painted ready for ballasting. I even managed to run a few trains on DC to test the joints and it all worked, which was a nice surprise. The big stumbling block is now cash for the remaining points and then fitting all the point motors. I am still looking for a control system and a good Dapol Syphon C or G which are ridiculous money at the moment. So far I have bid close to RRP on 5 and not got a single one. The classic view from the hill above the station again. The bridge scene, with kit bashed peco bridge, wing wall ready for some DAS clay stonework. Station throat and PW siding Looking up the scenic board towards the exit Backscene isn't attatched yet as the underbaseboard wiring isn't complete.

Looks very nice set up! If you want a cheap, powerful lighting solution, I would consider T5 flurocent tubes, they are thin, high output daylight bulbs. Small fittings are available for aquariums, check out Endsleigh's fish section, get the model and makers names and buy online. I have two T5 tubes on my big fishtank and they provide really good quality light without massive heat or energy use. Alternatively a good electrical factors will have convetional T5 fittings in standard 2 or 4ft lengths which would work too. Reflectors are a must for tubes.