Ropley - Mid Hants Railway in N Gauge

[TomE]

Thanks Cav. 

 

The heads are relatively simple, being built around the SMD LED used to light them. Four pieces of 10thou plastic form the body of the head, and then a small piece of clear plastic sheet is fixed over the opening before the edges are painted black. The body is made up after the LEDs have been soldered to the support bracket to avoid melting anything, and several layers of paint are used to make sure there is no light bleed. 

 

Hopefully the quick diagram below clarifies the description. 

 

 

Tom. 

[TomE]

Hi all. 

 

Was it really July when I made the last post here? Goodness, time really does fly!  

 

Not a great deal of activity has taken place on Ropley since then, the reasonable weather over the summer meaning the layout remained mostly confined to it's storage cupboard, however now winter has arrived it's time to start making progress again. Hopefully over the next few months posts here will be a little more frequent. There is also the added incentive of a deadline. Ropley is booked to appear at the Uckfield show next October, and whilst this seems a long way away now, it will surely creep up on me and yell SURPRISE at an annoyingly loud volume in no time at all....

 

So, before getting stuck back into some hardcore scenic work, there was a little housekeeping to carry out first on the underside of the layout. Ropley's electronics have more or less evolved along with the layout (i.e. there was no plan...) and as a result needed a little tidying around the edges. With 2 of the 4 yard lights and 2 of the 4 signals complete, some thought had to be given to the wiring for these, with the signals previously having being lit temporarily using a 9V DC battery. This has now been replaced with a dedicated mains power supply which powers two 'lighting busses' with one for the yard lights, and one for the signal lamps. A third switch has been included for any future building lighting that may be installed. I am quite pleased that having spent the last couple of days sorting all of this out, that everything is working as planned and nothing has exploded, at least not yet anyway. 

 

So, more to come, but I'll leave you with one photo for now to show the yard & signal lights in working order:

 

 

Cheers, 

 

Tom. 

Edited December 4, 2016 by TomE

[jonas]

That looks awesome.

[cornish trains jez]

Superb work as always Tom.

[TomE]

Many thanks Gents. 

 

A little modelling time tonight has seen the access platform from the yard level down to the ash pit built up from various bits of plastic and wire. This will be blended into the surrounding ground area using my usual method of fine ballast, Kleer & weathering powders.

 

 

I've also had a quick play around with some old white metal 2mm FS wheels very kindly provided by Julia (Missy). These will add to the yard clutter which will be be vital to making a convincing scene. The wheels were primed, sprayed with some frame dirt and then the rims given a dusting of rust weathering powders to indicate a set which have not seen movement for some years! Other sets will be painted up to appear restored and awaiting fitting to whatever pops out of the shed next!

 

 

The motive power department has also seen a couple of additions post Warley. The first is a Dapol Class 33 which will become 33053, a resident engine often used as backup or as a banker for some of the smaller engines if needed. A lovely model let down slightly by some unfortunate overlapping of the yellow ends and sloppy assembly. I've never had so many problems when fitting a decoder to a loco as I did with the 33, including broken wires and the model almost ending up in it's constituent parts by simply trying to remove the body! Frustrating given the high quality of the body mouldings. 

 

 

The second is a Dapol Ivatt. Now 10 years old, the chassis shows its age with solid wheels, however the body moulding is decent with the biggest issue being the very sharp radius of the firebox corners, giving it a much too square appearance. It actually runs reasonably well, and will be fitted with a CT decoder in due course along with being renumbered to represent the lines 41312 (What a shame it has all the right numbers........) but my mind is now pondering the possibility of merging the Dapol bunker, cab and tanks with the Farish Ivatt firebox, boiler and much superior chassis. 

 

 

Cheers all.

 

Tom.  

Edited December 7, 2016 by TomE

[cornish trains jez]

Tom, brilliant modelling but I can't work out which photos are real and which are your model. It's that good!!!

[jonas]

What impresses me most about this is the cleanness and consistency of your modelling Tom. The photograph of the wheel set outside the shed really shows this, it's such a convincing scene. Love it.

[Atso]

I love how Ropley is turning out Tom! I was at the real location earlier in the year (first time in years) and was picking out bits that I recognised from your layout - exceptional modelling!

 

I think that you're Farish/Dapol 2MT hybrid idea has merit. However, you might want to think about adding pickups to the rear pony as the Farish 2MT has traction tyres on the rear axle. Alternatively, you might consider swapping the original driving wheels for some from a 9F (nominally the same diameter?) and the pony wheels for some more modern ones...

[Andy Y]

This topic should be compulsory viewing for anyone setting out on N gauge to show the standard which should be aspired to. I know I may upset some in saying that but...

 

I think Tom knows I've got a big soft spot for this one.

[TomE]

Many thanks all.

 

I think that you're Farish/Dapol 2MT hybrid idea has merit. However, you might want to think about adding pickups to the rear pony as the Farish 2MT has traction tyres on the rear axle. Alternatively, you might consider swapping the original driving wheels for some from a 9F (nominally the same diameter?) and the pony wheels for some more modern ones...

 

In an ideal world I would replace the traction tyre fitted wheel sets with a normal one, not only for pick up purposes but also because I hate traction tyres with a passion! However, given Bachmann's somewhat restrictive approach to making items such as wheels/axles available as spares, pick ups to the forward and rear pony trucks are probably the easiest way to go. Interestingly, the original issue of the Ivatt did come with pickups to the rear pony wheels, but they seem to have abandoned this on later releases for some reason. I also looked at swapping the pony wheels out with some spare Farish ones but that only emphasises the outdated, solid nature of the drivers.

 

I understand Dapol have muted the possibility of updating some of their earlier releases with new DCC ready chassis, so i'll let the idea percolate for a while and see if Dapol beat me to it!  

 

Cheers, 

 

Tom. 

[grahame]

This topic should be compulsory viewing for anyone setting out on N gauge to show the standard which should be aspired to. I know I may upset some in saying that but...

 

 

Yes, it's heady, measured and very fine modelling - a credit to the scale and Tom, and a superb example of what is achievable in N.

 

G.

[TomE]

Thanks for all the kind feedback on the layout, it is genuinely appreciated. 

 

This afternoon has seen some experimentation in a couple of areas. For some time now I have been struggling with how to convincingly create cut grass in N Gauge without it looking over scale or out of place. About half of the top of the embankment that runs along the rear of the layout needs to be cut grass so its is quite a large area which will have a big impact on the overall appearance.

 

Recent efforts have centred on 1mm static grass, which in truth is still probably too tall, but it does give a nice effect. The next issue is getting the colour right, cut grass actually being quite vibrant in colour, usually towards the yellower end of green. Most propriety static grass seems to come in shades that don't really bare any resemblance to this, some even featuring bright yellow, red and even blue strands which stand out a mile. Much of it also appears to have a glossy finish which really spoils the appearance in my eyes. 

 

So, I was really pleased when I found the Polak range of grasses which aside from being matt, also come in slightly more realistic shades. Some blending of the colours ordered was still necessary, but I think now I have a mix which will do nicely. 

 

The three Polak shades of 1mm static grass in use. 

 

The top strip was a first attempt with the brighter green mixed with a little of the yellower shade.

The lower strip is a mix of all three colours but with more of the duller shades to tone it down. 

 

Although it appears quite bright in comparison to the embankment, this mirrors my observations of the real location in similar times to that being modelled. The embankment also needs some additional foliage adding to represent brambles & small bushes as seen on the prototype. 

 

The second experiment has been with materials for building the brick built shed that covers the wheel drop and is attached to the main workshop. It did take some time to find some Flemish Bond brick plasticard, and this vac-formed sheet from Expo does lack the sharpness of other manufactures products. my usual method of painting embossed brick in N Gauge, which is to paint it a mortar colour then dry brush brick colours over the top therefore doesn't really provide the density of brick work I was looking for.

 

I had printed a quick paper mock-up made using photos of the real thing to get the dimensions correct, and I think this will be tweaked and printed as my own custom brick paper. It gives a much better impression of the real thing, as it is essentially a photo of the real thing! 

 

 

Cheers all. 

 

Tom.  

[TomE]

The start of a little more shed clutter..........

 

 

Cheers, 

 

Tom. 

[37058]

Stunning work Tom. I remember viewing this also speaking with yourself at RM Web live a couple of years back.

 

Really impressive.

 

Cheers, Anthony

[lilchris]

Hi there I really like your modeling excellent. I have done my goods yard using woodland scenics cinders but to be honest I am not totally happy with it yours looks like what I want. I have some Johnstons clear, mine is the new stuff though, and I have some weathering powders I might try your technique to weather it a bit.Thanks for that very inspiring.

[TomE]

Hi there I really like your modeling excellent. I have done my goods yard using woodland scenics cinders but to be honest I am not totally happy with it yours looks like what I want. I have some Johnstons clear, mine is the new stuff though, and I have some weathering powders I might try your technique to weather it a bit.Thanks for that very inspiring

 

Many thanks Chris.

 

I haven't tried the new Kleer myself yet, I still have a reasonable supply of the original which is stored in a secret location under armed guard, but I understand from others that it works just as well as the original.

 

Tom. 

[Atso]

The start of a little more shed clutter..........

 

IMG_0726.jpg

 

Cheers, 

 

Tom. 

 

BofB, MN or something else???

[TomE]

Close! A West Country, intended to represent 34105 Swanage in it's current 'kit' form.

 

 

Tom.

[Will J]

Impressive stuff as ever Tom. Remember if you end up with a surplus Dapol Ivatt chassis there are plenty of things that can be done with the working parts.. (searches in vain for a picture of '1501' on the Mid Hants...) What other unrestored / dismantled locos are you planning. It might be fun to have one or two that are on wheels and gently 'shuntable'?

 

Maybe something like: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allan5819/9734048007 with bits of air smoothed casing missing?

Edited December 12, 2016 by Will J

[TomE]

Hi Will. 

 

I'd like a couple of other under restoration locos for the yard, but being a relatively small area it does tend to fill up very quickly, something the real place also suffers from! 

 

I've had a go at making a sheeted over bogie of unidentified description this evening. Not sure the sheeting effect has been totally successful but it doesn't look too bad. It's a very simple set up with two spare wheelsets fixed to a piece of plastic and then a piece of tinfoil moulded over the top before being painted. 

 

 

I've also made up one of the severn models etched step ladders. These are really simple kits to assemble using only superglue and really do look the part. Ideal yard clutter!

 

Cheers, 

 

Tom.  

[TomE]

Some serious discussion occurring at Ropley by the looks of it.

 

 

Tom.  

[cornish trains jez]

Some serious discussion occurring at Ropley by the looks of it.

 

CU0J9274.jpg

 

Tom.

 

 

They are discussing what a masterpiece this layout is.

Edited December 13, 2016 by cornish trains jez

[MikeTrice]

I've had a go at making a sheeted over bogie of unidentified description this evening. Not sure the sheeting effect has been totally successful but it doesn't look too bad. It's a very simple set up with two spare wheelsets fixed to a piece of plastic and then a piece of tinfoil moulded over the top before being painted.

Personally, I think it looks brilliant.

Edited December 13, 2016 by MikeTrice

[TomE]

A couple of spare hours this afternoon so a start made on one of the two S15 boilers needed for the edge of the yard area. This is simply plastic tube with 10thou plastic wrapped around for the smoke box and fire box areas. I need to order a new set of archers rivet decals to add a bit more relief to it before painting. 

 

 

 

Cheers, 

 

Tom. 

 

 

[Will J]

Hi Tom,

 

love the boiler, it compares well to this 3D print of a 'rusty boiler' available on Shapeways: http://www.shapeways.com/product/9GRUL29SD/rusty-boiler-british-n-1-148?optionId=58505434

 

Which, browsing 'Rail N Scale's 1:148 Shapeways catalogue got me thinking about your car park. (Tom will no doubt roll his eyes at this point as I'm always waffling about the potential contents of Ropley's parking area)

 

Knowing a little of your modelling style you are going to want something a little more 'modelled' than just a few freshly opened Oxford diecast cars (good though these are, they have a 'new' Mini on the way apparently and some other vaguely modern models)

 

From my experience of their Volvos, the 'Rail N Scale' range is exquisite but tends towards the retro end of the market! See http://www.shapeways.com/shops/rail-n-scale?section=1%3A148&s=0#more-products I do like their Citroen 2CVs in 'parked' and 'cornering' poses.. with the front wheels printed at a jaunty angle....

 

The drawback with these models is the need to glaze them which is tricky, but far from impossible. I managed a half decent job on one of these Maestros http://www.shapeways.com/product/65CTVZZ2J/nam01-1-148-austin-maestro?optionId=42373118 with a surplus window 'prism' from an old N gauge car, but more by luck than judgement.

 

Another option is this shop http://www.shapeways.com/shops/madaboutcars?li=pb&section=1%2F148&s=0#more-products (with a huge range helpfully categorised by scale) which has much more up to date vehicles, and a useful mix of the usual muscle cars alongside more mundane contraptions. The drawbacks here are the solid windows (not strictly a problem if you decorate them all in a consistent fashion)and the relatively high price, which is a problem when you have to purchase the cars two by two. This gives you a weird 'Noahs Ark' of a carpark but that could be remedied with some swapping with fellow modellers (I have 'swops' ready if you were interested....).

 

Why all this talk of cars.... ? I guess it is the modern bits that help set the context of the layout, especially to exhibition viewers who might not be familiar with the 1:1 scale location. It helps to set the story of a modern preserved line, with its attention to historical detail, with the odd hi-viz jacket and reasonably priced hatchback parked somewhere incongruous. As folks keep telling you (I'll choose to agree with them because they are right!) Ropley paints a remarkably beautiful picture.