My Layout and other projects.

[Father Dougal]

A belated happy new year.

The quayside is coming along nicely. Here are a few shots of the main quay, the cardboard cutouts are to give me an idea where the buildings will go. These will be loosely based on buildings at Mevagissey- as I like the size of them.

The 2 boys in the last shot are of my brother and I when we were kids. Sadly my brother lost his battle with cancer just before Christmas. I like the idea of having his likeness immortalised on the layout.

 

The station area has been tidied up. At present I have just built the basic framework. I need to clad everything in brick plasticard next.

 

I have also built a little Jetty to serve the clay siding.

 

 

This is my work bench.

 

I am going through a wheel cleaning frenzy at present. Some of the wagons had REALLY dirty wheels.

 

You can also just see my class 37 body shell. I have nearly finished upgrading this. The bogies are built. I just need a few more bits, which I hope to pick up at the Bristol show in a few weeks.

 

On a final note. My Railbus has never been a great runner. It's poor performance has caused several Tourette's style outburst over the last few years as It never ran well. I sent it back to Tower model's for a replacement, but that didn't really improve things.

Today I finally fixed it. I noticed the Railbus stalled on any curves. I looked underneath and saw that the wheel sets had a lot of lateral movement- almost 5mm each side and the pick ups appeared to have sporadic contact.

I prevented the wheel sets from moving by using Blue tak! The Railbus actually works properly. Result.

Dougal.

[Andrew Young]

Your quayside is coming along well Dougal. That’s a result with the Railbus, mine does the same so might have to try the same trick.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[Father Dougal]

Hello,

After cussing at that stupid Railbus again -( still haphazard running.) I decided to have a peak at my class 20 kit by Tower models.

Several hours later and I had 2 power bogies working!

I have to fit the pick ups next, but I think that should be ok.

 

I bought this kit off feepay a few years ago for about £200, if memory serves. Today I have had a good sort out and I am amazed at how well designed the kit is.

The previous owner built the bogie frames.I just had to clean them up a bit today and fettle the axles, worm gears etc to ensure everything ran smoothly.

 

The pick ups are wiper pick ups enclosed in a plastic plug. I have test fitted one and it looks good. I will solder these at the weekend and get one of the bogies running. Pictures to follow.

 

By coincidence I noticed another member of this parish has also restarted their 20- hopefully I can copy their build.

Dougal.

[Father Dougal]

What a great day at the Bristol show! Spent loads and bought alsorts of bits and pieces.

Best Buy for me today was a FNA nuclear wagon kit. I have wanted a nuclear flask wagon for ages and I thought only JLRT made them (who couldn't attend today). Very pleased I found this kit.

 

The class 20 is coming along nicely, by the way. I fitted the head code boxes which was a bit of a challenge. All windows fitted. I have one side almost finished and the other side to fit a few door handles and then I can move on to a few bits on the cab interior.

 

I will probably put the class 20 to one side for now as I have all the bits I need to build my Pub to go by the fiddle yard- loosely based on the Sharkfin pub in Mevagissey. I might call mine the Shark bait pub.

Dougal

[Father Dougal]

Gracious! Not posted since end of January.

 

I have not been idle.

 

Here are some shots of the Harbour / quay area. The building on the left is still under construction and is based upon the Harbour shop in Padstow. Next to it we have the Harbour hotel, loosely based on the Sharkfin pub in Mevagissey. The chip shop is based on one based in Bristol. About half of the buildings are done now, before the scenic break is complete.

 

This is a tool shed / store by the clay siding. The previous model was not quite right, so I built another.

 

From the work bench, we have the following; a Dogfish, a FNA nuclear flask wagon (both need transfers).

 

The Tower models class 20 is done! I even got the directional lights to work! Analogue for now, until my pocket money goes up.

 

And finally.....

The body shell of my class 37 is almost done. Here are a few shots.

 

I have yet to build the lower body / floor section, but the motors are done. Nit long until this one will be running.

 

Dougal.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Father Dougal

[Father Dougal]

Almost forgot these two shots....

 

The first is another shot of the new tool shed / store. The ECC Fowler is busy shunting a few CDA's in the background.

 

This second shot is of my new sound system.

You can see the size compared to the 1:43 scale ice cream van. The speaker has a rechargeable battery and it fits easily inside my buildings. I chose the seaside amusement sound card. Shame I can't play it on here as I may infringe copyright. The sounds are a blend of; amusements, pier rides, kids shouting, waves, seagulls, bells and a boat going by.

I have started using this when ever I operate the layout prototypically (play trains). It really adds another dimension to the layout.

No connection to the company, usual disclaimers.

 

Dougal.

[hartleymartin]

On one layout I never finished, I actually wired up some speakers above and below the baseboards and experimented with "ambient sounds" using a couple of cheap portable CD players. I used my computer to burn a few CDs of various random noises. I can't remember what they were, but I seem to remember a few bird sounds, random animal sounds and some water sounds. I would set the CD players to play random tracks and it seemed pretty cool at the time - this was before the introduction of things like MP3 players such as the iPod or DCC sound, so I thought I was on to something!

[Father Dougal]

Today I think I went a bit mad!

After finishing the Harbour shop front, I decided I needed the usual holiday related tat often sold at the seaside.

I have now made; beach balls, spades, fishing rods, windbreakers, ground sheets / towels and body boards.

I have started a few rubber dinghies, butI have run out of green stuff to finish the sides.

I will post some photos when they are painted in suitable garish hues.

Need beer now!

 

Dougal

[Derbys65]

Just to let you know you’ve been shafted a bit with that speaker and sounds lol. I bought a load of those on eBay for less than £10 and you can download free sounds from quite a few sites too mate .

[Father Dougal]

Hello,

I am having a spot of bother sourcing a rattle can of EWS side panel gold.

There used to be a chart showing suitable Halfords paints to match, but this appears to have been deleted.

Rail match and Phoenix don't appear to have this shade in a rattle can any more.

Another headache is that this shade can be described as; yellow, gold or buff.

I have tried BR cream, which isn't too far off the mark as the bands faded and lost their gold sheen.

 

Any suggestions?

I really want to avoid airbrushing if I can or brush painting. I find rattle cans nice and quick.

 

Dougal.

[Jintyman]

Hello,

I am having a spot of bother sourcing a rattle can of EWS side panel gold.

There used to be a chart showing suitable Halfords paints to match, but this appears to have been deleted.

Rail match and Phoenix don't appear to have this shade in a rattle can any more.

Another headache is that this shade can be described as; yellow, gold or buff.

I have tried BR cream, which isn't too far off the mark as the bands faded and lost their gold sheen.

 

Any suggestions?

I really want to avoid airbrushing if I can or brush painting. I find rattle cans nice and quick.

 

Dougal.

 

 

Hi Father Dougal,

 

The Halfords colour specs are still around and can be found here:    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/55966-raf-kinloss-mrc-halfords-paint-list-2012-version/

 

 

Regards

Jinty

[Father Dougal]

Hi Father Dougal,

 

The Halfords colour specs are still around and can be found here:    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/55966-raf-kinloss-mrc-halfords-paint-list-2012-version/

 

 

Regards

Jinty

Thanks Jinty.

 

I ended up having a play around with my Valejo acrylics and I achieved good results. I will post a photo when I can wrestle the camera from Mrs Doyle.

Dougal.

[Father Dougal]

Ok so, Here is my almost finished class 37. Not sure if it's a kit bash or a scratch build. I have hacked and altered the Skytrex bodyshell quite extensively. Cutting the side grills out was a pain, but the scratch built replacements are much better.

Lots of front end detail added, all from my bits box.

The floor/ underframe is all scratch built and fits snugly inside the body. The power bogies move freely, but I need to all more weight to the nose areas as the front axle needs a bit more weight over it.

The paint job came out ok. I like the grubby body side. Here are 2 shots;

 

I have painted the beach balls, spades, wind breakers etc...

The Cod Father has some more signage...

I have started the Fishmongers. Very basic at this stage. Loads to do, but run out of supplies!

I made a few billboards. I still have some 1970 style ones to make. I plan to swap out depending on the era I'm running.

My Railfreight class 20 has been busy in the clay siding.

 

The station area and factory area still needs lots of work.

 

Dougal

[Andrew Young]

Looking good Father Dougal, your 37 especially is coming along nicely. Makes a nice change to detailed Heljan versions.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[Father Dougal]

Looking good Father Dougal, your 37 especially is coming along nicely. Makes a nice change to detailed Heljan versions.

Cheers,

Andrew

Thanks Andrew. So far the 37 has been a cheap build. It's not perfect, but no model ever is.

 

Body shell £100

Styrene strip, various £9.00

Paints £ 12.00

 

The power bogies were a present from Mrs Doyle- from ABC, strong enough to pull any of my rolling stock.

 

Just got to sort a method for fitting the bogie side frames to the power bogies and she will be pretty much done.

 

Then just 2 Hymeks and a 26 to do!

Dougal

[Andrew Young]

Excellent value there! And proving O gauge diesels don’t need to be £500ish a pop! Will look forward to seeing the others when they emerge.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[Father Dougal]

Dilly dilly,

Bank holidays are great. I spent mine finishing a few builds.

The Harbour area is coming along nicely. The fishmonger's is almost done.

Some of the shops now have CCTV and the odd seagull.

I have made a start on the Aquarium. This is based on the marine aquarium at Mevagissey. It's very Art Deco. I have run out of strip again! You can see some of the details like flag poles and CCTV cameras.

The Cod Father has an awning and a customer sat at the table.

And the Station is finally detailed.

This little job, took all of last weekend!

I quite like the little shelter.

I need to scratch build a brick footbridge and add station signs and some lights.

The second platform will be built next month. I need to replace the point at the clay siding first as it is knackered. (I really shouldn't have bothered reusing this point from the last layout.)

Dougal.

[Father Dougal]

Anyone know if Peter Clark is still trading. I can't find his website anymore.

Dougal.

[muddys-blues]

Anyone know if Peter Clark is still trading. I can't find his website anymore.

Dougal.

Good morning Dougal, he is still trading I have just had a 3 car Thumper off him this week, funny enough his website details seemed to have disappeared from the etha, his email address is

 

peterbclark205@gmail.com

 

Best regards

Craig

[Father Dougal]

Time for another update.

 

Today I started a cut and shut of Mark 2. The Windows will be filled in and the model will depict a network rail coach. Early stages shown here.

 

I finished the first barrier wagon. I cut down an HEA kit and built up the base using plasticard off cuts. Just needs buffers now and transfers.

 

I made a few containers.

 

I finished my Aquarium.

 

I started my accessory control panel.

 

I modified my fuel point. Now I can see through it!

 

And I built a tool shed to cover up the point motors at the station throat.

 

Dougal

( sorry about the last image. No idea why the orientation is out- taken exactly the same as the rest)

[Father Dougal]

Gracious, 2 months since I last posted.

 

I have been very busy and finished off a lot of jobs. The whole layout now has a basic scenic covering, apart from the caravan park.

The station area is now largely done, except lights and a footbridge.

I replaced the failed point (a reused point from a previous layout), with a curved peco point. This gave more room and led to a change of design for the yard area. I now have a small engine siding and fuel point to service the end of the clay line. As I want to change eras, I plan to use my stone, steam age shed and also build a more modern diesel shed.

I also took the radical step,of buying a CDU. Never had one before, but now my points work without any issues, despite a few still being a bit stiff. Should have bought a CDU years ago.

I can now sit back and play trains. Over the last week I have been testing my stock and doing a bit of weathering.

Photos likely to be posted tomorrow, assuming we have a bit better weather.

Dougal

[Father Dougal]

Photos.

A busy scene with a class 47 pulling away with a mail train, whilst the Fowler fuels up in the clay siding.

A few scrap wagons await pick up.

Looks like some local hooligans have been out again- look at that graffiti.

A closer shot of the ECC Fowler taking on fuel.

My HEA coal hopper / barrier wagon, looking nice and grubby.

The Harbour side. All tidied up now and looking better for it. Still need to fit a few more fences. Oh and water.

A few HAA hoppers.

And, I moved this shelter to near the wooden pier. I guess it is used for storage.

 

I think the layout is coming together now. I have tried to declutter a lot so the layout doesn't feel too crowded.

What do you think?

Dougal.

(Note to self- finish the ballasting!)

Edited August 11, 2018 by Father Dougal

[Father Dougal]

Ok so, another update.

I have almost finished my rake of merry go round HAA hoppers.

I have built 10 of these kits now (5 were built as CDA's for my clay facility).

The prototype has a lot of subtle curves and as a result the folding required to make this kit is a challenge.

I have got much better with practice.

Here they are...

A rake of 5. The two red ones were previously shown.

The three yellow ones will carry full coal sector markings once my order arrives from Fox. They also need sprung buffers (the kit ones are white metal castings).

Here is my Railfreight class 20 pulling the rake.

 

This means that my kit mountain is now cleared (apart from 3 loco builds). I had best start buying a few more wagon kits!

Dougal.

[Father Dougal]

Today I have mostly been fitting transfers to my HAA hoppers. They look great. I need to weather them just a bit to blend everything in.

I have also decided to harmonise my fleet and focus on BR Blue (rather than straying into the 1990's and privatisation), as a result all my diesels, apart from the Railfreight class 20 will be repainted to Blue.

I made a start today on my Heljan class 20, which was Green. I wil post some pictures once I have made more progress.

Dougal.

[Father Dougal]

A few shots of more progress. I have started to add more detail to the clay siding. I built a few brass signs and some fencing, as well as a crude depiction of point rodding. Oh, I also applied the coal sector decals to my HAA's.

 

Dougal