Stoke Courtenay

[St Enodoc]

11 hours ago, checkrail said:

4018 Knight of the Grand Cross on the Wolverhampton train pulls through Stoke Courtenay and meets 5975 Winslow Hall coming the other way with a stopping passenger train.

 

Spent quite a bit of time this afternoon exploring Affinity Photo and other photo software to see how to paint in uniform backdrops (or paint out unwanted contrasts), but have retired baffled.  I read thousands of words and came across dozens of icons, none of which I understood at all.  Will have another go when brain working properly again!

John C.

 

Every time I see your Toplights it makes the urge to build mine stronger.

[Regularity]

11 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Every time I see your Toplights it makes the urge to build mine stronger.

Do you mean that it strengthens your urge, or that when you made them they weren’t very robust?

I do think we need to be told...

(Although I am not sure what it is we should be told. Not that there would be any point in being told, if I already knew.)

[St Enodoc]

25 minutes ago, Regularity said:

Do you mean that it strengthens your urge, or that when you made them they weren’t very robust?

I do think we need to be told...

(Although I am not sure what it is we should be told. Not that there would be any point in being told, if I already knew.)

I can tell you anything you'd like to know Simon, whether it's true or not (I'm a consultant after all).

 

No, I haven't built them yet. I've got about four kits that are on the list of about 30 still to go.

[checkrail]

Here's a view of the end of the down stopping train, revealing that the fifth vehicle tagged onto the usual M set is the daily Paddington - Earlsbridge through coach, being brought forward from Newton Abbot.

 

Meanwhile the Star accelerates through the end of the station, heading for the tunnel

 

John C.

[checkrail]

The through coach has now been uncoupled, allowing the Plymouth stopper to resume its journey - you can just see the M set van 3rd moving away, while on the right the tail end of the Wolves express moves off the scene..

 

And here's the other end of the platform as the Hall pulls out.

 

John C.

[checkrail]

5557 has retrieved the through coach from the down platform and propels it towards the end of the B set to be coupled up.

 

Not sure when Bachmann first produced their small prairies - quite a while before I returned to this game I think - but I think the model has stood the test of time.  Still one of my favourites.

 

Then after running round the train, and after the fireman has repositioned the headlamp, she gets the signal to depart for Earlsbridge.

 

John C.

[Jules]

27 minutes ago, checkrail said:

Not sure when Bachmann first produced their small prairies - quite a while before I returned to this game I think - but I think the model has stood the test of time.  Still one of my favourites.

 

I have four of them, I have to resist the urge to buy any more! They all run smoothly and do what is asked of them.

 

It is always a joy to catch-up on your layout, I am very envious!

[checkrail]

5557 pulls away along the branch as 6027 King Richard ! approaches on a Plymouth - Paddington service.

John C.

[checkrail]

Had another minor disaster when preparing King Richard I for traffic, but eventually turned it into a learning experience.   I originally sprayed loco and tender body with Humbrol acrylic gloss, after masking off all the black, as I'd done with Henry V.  Unfortunately, when I came to spray the R hand side of the tender the spray can had been standing much too near a heat source, and I ended up with a sort of acrylic porridge of rock-hard lumps all over the tender side.

 

There was nothing for it but to order some Deluxe Materials 'Strip Magic' (usual disclaimer) and take it right back to the black plastic.  Then several thin airbrushed coats of a Railmatch/Precision GWR green mix were applied, followed by new lining and monogram transfers from Fox.  First time I've used loco lining transfers and was reasonably pleased with the outcome, though I haven't got the match quite right with the green. 

 

Fettling Richard I was also the first outing for my new airbrush (an Iwata Revolution CR), which seems much more forgiving and user-friendly than the 'Neo for Iwata' one it replaced.  I enjoyed using it - a big improvement on the love/hate relationship I had with its predecessor!

 

John C. 

[88C]

The tender looks really good John, are you tempted to do the loco to match or claim that it is a tender swap?

 

By the way I do like your passenger train with a real mix of coaches.

 

Brian

[checkrail]

7 minutes ago, 88C said:

or claim that it is a tender swap?

Tender swap - I'm lazy!

 

Or just run it on down trains.

[gwrrob]

Out of interest John, what is your criteria for choosing which King to model especially as Laira had quite a few allocated in GW times. Of course, so did Old Oak.

[checkrail]

15 hours ago, gwrrob said:

Out of interest John, what is your criteria for choosing which King to model especially as Laira had quite a few allocated in GW times. Of course, so did Old Oak.

 

Nothing more than historical associations really Robin (my degree was in mediaeval history).  Henry V was at Laira in 1938.  Richard I started life at OOC in 1930 and I think stayed there throughout the 30s.  But by 1946 it had been transferred to Laira. 

 

There are plenty of pics of both of them on West Country expresses during the 30s in the various photo albums.

[checkrail]

On 04/04/2020 at 12:40, Bogie said:

Do not want to sound critical - this is more out of concern.  But does the yard crane have a lean on it?

 

Only just remembered this and just checked it out with the set-square.  You were right.  I thought it was solidly glued down but perhaps it took a knock during track cleaning.  Now restored to vertical. So thanks Bogie - the more pairs of eyes the better.

[checkrail]

8709 about to start a bit of shunting after arriving from Newton Abbot with a pick-up goods train.

 

 

Meanwhile 5041 Tiverton Castle hurries through with an up express.

 

John C.

[checkrail]

And a few more, in which the goods train guard gets a good view of 5041.  (Though I don't know why he hasn't got out of that Toad to give the crew of 8709 a hand.) 

 

 

John C.

[Regularity]

2 hours ago, checkrail said:

Though I don't know why he hasn't got out of that Toad to give the crew of 8709 a hand.

Paperwork!

[checkrail]

Whole lotta shunting goin' on!

 

 

 

John C.

[checkrail]

… and a bit more.

 

 

 

John C.

[Bogie]

22 hours ago, Regularity said:

Paperwork!

No it's called social distancing.

[martin_wynne]

Hi John,

 

Thanks for some great pics.

 

I noticed in some of them that the foreground is a bit bleached out, as a result of being closer to the lamps you are using. Or maybe you are using flash?

 

It is very difficult to avoid this problem when taking layout photographs. Getting enough light on the whole subject inevitably means that some areas are going to get too much.

 

So I wondered if it would be worthwhile creating a Windows utility program to try to improve matters, by progressively darkening the lower part of an image. I'm sure that can be done in programs such as Photoshop and Affinity, but I thought a dedicated utility might be easier to use. It has worked out quite well, and I can tweak it further in the light (!) of experience. I'm happy to make it available (free) for anyone who would like to try it.

 

Here are some of the results on your photos, first the original, and then with a darkened foreground which helps to focus attention on the main subject:

 

 

 

__________________________________________________

 

 

 

_____________________________________

 

 

 

____________________

 

Here is a screenshot of the utility in use. I will write more about it in a separate topic:

 

 

I'm hoping that you won't mind if I use one of your photos as a default image in the program?

 

cheers,

 

Martin.

[martin_wynne]

One more, original and modified:

 

 

 

and with slightly less intensity:

 

 

Martin.

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by martin_wynne

[checkrail]

Thanks Martin.  No, don't mind at all if you use a Stoke C. image as your demonstration.  I'm delighted you thought it a suitably photogenic subject.

 

You're right re the slightly 'washed out' foreground effect being due to the auxiliary light source I often use - a DynaSun 500w photographic studio lamp found on eBay.  There's often a balance to be struck between getting enough light on the trains without the bleaching effect.  That said, we all see colours differently, and have personal preferences and perhaps my eyes are not as discerning as others'.  Though the more I look at your re-worked images the more I like them, I've always liked a 'pale' look to model railway photographs - makes things look lighter, more open and spacious.  Maybe something between my versions and yours would be my ideal.

 

I'm grateful, as ever, for the interest and suggestions and am sure lots of us will find this a useful tool.   Like 00-sf and Templot, another innovative contribution of yours to the hobby!

 

Cheers,

John.

[Bogie]

On 08/04/2020 at 19:24, checkrail said:

Nothing more than historical associations really Robin (my degree was in mediaeval history).  

 

Oh oh - do not read my recent post on Little Muddle about King Stephen then.

[martin_wynne]

24 minutes ago, checkrail said:

I've always liked a 'pale' look to model railway photographs - makes things look lighter, more open and spacious.  Maybe something between my versions and yours would be my ideal.

 

Many thanks John, and thanks for the kind words.

 

The program has several adjustment sliders, so if you prefer a paler look it can produce something like these, or maybe somewhere in-between:

 

 

 

p.s. You could achieve similar results direct from the camera if you reduce the "colour saturation" setting on the menus, and maybe increase the contrast a bit.

 

cheers,

 

Martin.