Popular Post HeatonLodge40 Posted October 9, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted October 9, 2018 Since Hattons are selling the Cargowaggens at a vastly reduced price thought I’d acquire a rake of the flats. Here’s 23 in a line..when they’ve got cement loads they’ll look great The ‘37 didn’t have a problem pulling them either - 2 with smoke and sound should look epic. 36 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ianLMS Posted October 10, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 10, 2018 Very impressive - you get the full persepctive of the size of this layout when you see a train that long on it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 Talking of perspective, even at the current bargain prices that's got to be nearly two and a half grands worth of train... and worth every penny! (the Mrs Dr G-F begs to differ) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d winpenny Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 That is absolutely awesome, your layout is the reason I nearly switched to o gauge but the I remembered I haven't got room for a layout as it is without trying to run full length mgrs in o gauge keep up the good work David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 Oh, my word, that is impressive! I don't model in this era, but is there a solution to provide the flashing tail lamp? best Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatonLodge40 Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 Yep they’ll be on all trains Simon. Not flashing tho - they were still a mixture of oil and electric constant red in the ‘80’s. Mate of mine makes his with a watch battery and tiny switch with an oil lamp fitted with a grain of wheat bulb 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Endacott Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 I don't model in this era, but is there a solution to provide the flashing tail lamp? Blink? Geoff Endacott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted October 10, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 10, 2018 Blink? Geoff Endacott I don't think there will be any Bonny steam engines on the layout Geoff. Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podhunter Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 a watch battery and tiny switch with an oil lamp fitted with a grain of wheat bulb Prefer to use a light-emitting-diode (LED). They come in a variety of sizes and colours, consume less power than a grain-of-wheat bulb and consequently don't become hot. Your battery will last much longer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatonLodge40 Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 I don't think there will be any Bonny steam engines on the layout Geoff. Mike. Ah there will be.. 2 x steam charters running every couple hrs from each direction 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HeatonLodge40 Posted October 12, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted October 12, 2018 This week I’ve completed the last few boards entirely. Apart from the rough cart track which is awaiting a coating of wood ash which I’ve run out of and puddles, grates and other bits and bats. The huge double crossover arrives a week Wednesday which will keep me busy until Christmas. In the meantime I’m back at the other end working on the first prototype rear extension trolley which will widen the model by 3ft and incorporate the backscene (and a lot of perspective I hope). The trolleys are aluminium tube with castors and 5.5mm ply to strengthen everything. A sheet of aluminium supports the (eventual) photographic backscene itself. I’m aiming to get each trolley below the £100 mark. A mate has a drone which will eventually take a panoramic view of the 1.3 miles modelled (in winter)and get it stitched together by a graphics company. Also I’m refreshing the first few boards with a vac and replacement leaves before they get covered up with polythene. Can’t believe the amount of dust after just a few months. 23 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HeatonLodge40 Posted October 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted October 13, 2018 Thought I’d experiment with two materials to create the base for the backscene trolleys. Polystyrene has taken hours to carve to give the impression of differing height hills fading away into the distance. It’s been partially successful but I need to cut down on the time it takes. The polystyrene is covered with masking tape and the whole lot given a coat of PVA. I’ll probably make a couple of OO building in half relief to ‘plant’ to increase the perspective effect. I’m missing out the plaster stage (used on the model itself) to save weight and I’ll use 2mm static grass to cover the hills. Anyway fingers crossed it’ll give the effect I’m after. Trolley no 2 I’ll use chicken wire and masking tape and see how the time taken to construct compares to trolley 1. If you’re wondering what the cutting is on the trolley, it represents the old disused Midland branch line towards Huddersfield which is now a cycle track. It’s handy because it helps give the distance even though the cycle track won’t be seen. That said I’m going to model it anyway! 21 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted October 13, 2018 Share Posted October 13, 2018 Simon, Have you experience long term with the masking tape? I wonder if it is likely to become brittle and lose its stickiness, and I’d hate you to need to redo work. You could be confident of papier-mâché mache or fibreglass, but I just feel wary of the masking tape. I’d love to be proven wrong, of course! Best Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatonLodge40 Posted October 13, 2018 Share Posted October 13, 2018 Well I thought I’ll give it a bash Simon since it’s now covered with PVA I figured it would probably be ok! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougN Posted October 13, 2018 Share Posted October 13, 2018 Just catching up on this epic layout! Regarding 1984 steam specials the best place to see what was running aroundwould be the rail scene videos.. I have the railscene "Rail tours " VHS tape some where.. so I recall practically wearing the tape out as a 14 year old about 4 years later... the locos I remember were "Sir Lamiel" duchess of Hamilton Mallard and I think Evening Star. You could have quite a selection. All of those are available RTR. I also recall they were running Mk1's which were blue grey but could at random have alsorts of other things mixed in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Crepello Posted October 16, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 16, 2018 Are we going to see this great layout at a public exhibition one day soon? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denbridge Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Just catching up on this epic layout! Regarding 1984 steam specials the best place to see what was running aroundwould be the rail scene videos.. I have the railscene "Rail tours " VHS tape some where.. so I recall practically wearing the tape out as a 14 year old about 4 years later... the locos I remember were "Sir Lamiel" duchess of Hamilton Mallard and I think Evening Star. You could have quite a selection. All of those are available RTR. I also recall they were running Mk1's which were blue grey but could at random have alsorts of other things mixed in.add into the mix numerous Black 5s, Lord Nelson, 5XP Leander, Princess Elizabeth, Flying Scotsman, Green Arrow the mid 80s saw a good variety. I think the SLOA MK1 pullman set was also operating them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Borrowing on from theatre scenery, which in turn has borrowed from industry, the optimum material is likely to be IDENDEN. It is a thixotropic PVA based compound which is sold as fire-protection for lagging etc., but in theatre we use it for scrimming carved foam sculptures and scenery - both to fire protect them and to give them an unbreakable, paintable shell. Being PVA based, you can pre-colour it, or you can paint it afterwards. We would normally lay butter-muslin or similar over the foam, and then stipple this stuff into it, or sometimes just paint straight over the foam. You can create texture, you can water it down, and it dries in the same way as PVA, always remaining flexible. I always use this technique for my scenery, but I cheat, and instead of using IDENDEN, I use the readymix polyfiller, and put a large quantity of PVA into it, so it becomes a paste. This bulks the PVA out and gives texture, and gives a bomb-proof, crack-proof scenic shell. Available in white, grey and black if my memory serves..... The stuff isn't cheap, but iitt certainly does a good job. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatonLodge40 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 (edited) Giles thanks for that I will track it down on the internet! Crepello - it will be at Warley in 2020. I wrote an article for BRM some months ago and whoever edited it decided to insert 2019 which has never been the case. Thanks for all the steam charter suggestions ..favourites are the 9F going west with a Copy Pit charter & the Duchess going east with ‘The Downesman’ (yep good old Allan) Edited October 16, 2018 by HeatonLodge40 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted October 16, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 16, 2018 ... the Duchess going east with ‘The Downesman’ (yep good old Allan) Nice touch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted October 17, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 17, 2018 Giles thanks for that I will track it down on the internet! Crepello - it will be at Warley in 2020. I wrote an article for BRM some months ago and whoever edited it decided to insert 2019 which has never been the case. Thanks for all the steam charter suggestions ..favourites are the 9F going west with a Copy Pit charter & the Duchess going east with ‘The Downesman’ (yep good old Allan) I've got a photo somewhere of Evening star taken at about that time haling the crab through Cross Gates heading for Keighley. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatonLodge40 Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Finished the long dirt track up to the gas bottle compound which I’m now pretty pleased with. I wanted to show lots of different surfaces some of which had worn away so I decided to mimic the real thing by ‘layering’ surfaces. In other words the first layer is a coat of Humbrol no 5 grey gloss paint neat. Second layer is chinchilla dust from pets at home. Third is more grey gloss paint followed by a heavy sprinkling of wood ash (from the log burner). Then the whole lot is left to dry for a couple of days. Used a vac to get rid of all the loose surface before an old toothbrush was used to distress the top surface in a number of places revealing the different layers beneath.. After the addition of dead leaves, AK interactive ‘puddles’ the odd drain cover and sieved grit for the middle it’s done. Other thing worth mentioning is now I’ve a lot more time to devote to this project I’ve taken on the track construction and laying too. Fortunately on the real thing there was no more concrete track or pointwork (the huge crossover arrives on Thursday which will be the subject of the next post). So I’ll be using Peco flatbottom track albeit with the sleeper webs cut to move the sleepers to correct BR spacing and cut into scale 60ft sections (each of which has its own power feed) connected by dummy fishplates.. 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bri.s Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Lovely work on the path Brian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium iands Posted October 23, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 23, 2018 Hi Simon, I don't think the "Craftsmanship/Clever" button does you justice - this is an absolutely outstanding piece of modelling. I only wish I had a fraction of your undoubted vision, skill, patience and techniques to produce such realistic models. Keep up this most excellent work. It will be a sheer delight to see the finished layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatonLodge40 Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Ian that’s very kind thanks a lot - and to everyone else for the support. When you work alone it really makes a big difference. Thanks again Simon 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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