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Ketton Cement(ish) - 2mm Finescale


Rammstein2609
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Hi all

 

I have been asked on several occasions when I was going to start a topic on my current layout which I've been working on since mid 2015 and now seems the best time since I've got a little time before things at work get really busy again!

 

Ever since Graham Farish released their Metalair PCA wagon I really wanted to build a small cement works to use them but as is usually the case, small plans get bigger and bigger and before you know it you have a roundy roundy exhibition layout on your plans.  After sketching several designs and looking for real life inspiration, I found it in an old Update Compendium produced by DEMU.  Phil Eames was the author of the article and the idea was to provide inspiration and plans for a small 4mm shunting layout but it was the prototype photos that caught my attention even though they were printed in B&W.  

 

The reason I found the article is I was sorting through my magazine collection and trying to find articles I wanted to keep.  The same day as finding the Update Compendium, I also found an issue of the short lived but excellent MRM magazine which had an article by Phil again, this time with colour photos.  Google Earth was my next stop and after a few hours I had the track plan drawn out full size on some wallpaper and some ideas of the buildings I wanted to include.  I was limited with the baseboard size as I had two perfectly solid baseboards sitting around doing nothing from a previously abandoned layout plan.  The track was to be flat bottom using 2mm Association Easitrac flexi track and my own flat bottom turnouts constructed with my custom made jigs (see here and here for details).

 

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The track took several nights to lay as every section of rail has a dropper for DCC soldered directly to the bottom and fed through the baseboard then that section of track was glued down with Easitrac glue.  I was quite pleased with progress at this point as the track plan turned out how I wanted and gave a spacious feel to the layout instead of looking crammed in on the shallow baseboards.

 

Now at this point I have to mention that this is the point where I strayed from the prototype.  I decided I wanted to run mainline locos through instead of just running shunters so then the idea came about of running the trains you would normally see at Ketton but with the addition of others such as engineers trains and ferry wagons for bagged products.  This is also where the (ish) was added to the name as I've seen several examples of people approaching operators at an exhibition to tell them the layout is wrong!  I thought I would get in there first and pre-empt the attack by 'that brigade'.

 

Next up - More progress

 

Thanks

 

Martin

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Look forward to seeing how things progress with your Cement Plant based layout Martin :)

 

I've just started my own thread on here .... Wortley Dale Cement, which I am basing around a Cement Plant and Gravel Loading facility.

Purely fictitious setting, and not tied down to any particular time period or company. I'll follow you with interest !!

 

Cheers.

 

Simon.   

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Now, things slowly crept along at this point but sometimes I would get the urge to try something out with the scenery or the baseboards and the below is some of my early results I was happy with:

 

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I was particularly happy with the Terre-Armee (sp?) retaining walls purchased off Shapeways and the way I had sculpted the foam hills.  The idea here was to create a scenic break for the trains to disappear into the fiddle yard but create a nice view point for trainspotters to look through some trees and just see the tops of a loco and wagons as they appeared onto the scenic boards.

 

Once I was happy with the land forms, I started spraying the trackwork and building some of the buildings.  It was at this point I was invited to bring the layout to the 2mm Association Supermeet in Perth and give a presentation on my turnout construction jigs.  I tried to make the layout more presentable and the photos from a few days before and on the day of the meet show the state of progress:

 

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The meet went well and it was great to spend a day with other 2mm modellers and see their work.  It was at this point I was messaged by Phil Eames who had written the articles which inspired me to build the layout and he kindly provided me with around 100 photos he had taken around the site.  These proved extremely useful but also confirmed a few glaring errors I had made in building the silos and other buildings.  I set to work producing some drawings from the photos and trialled different modelling techniques and materials until I was happy with progress.

 

I have to mention the back scene at this point as it has been the topic of several conversations.  I wanted a back scene which would give some depth or perspective to the layout and its shallow baseboards.  The area around Ketton isn't particularly hilly but I chose this back scene as I liked it and the colours were right for the effect I wanted to achieve.  The landforms are also uncharacteristic of the area but that's what modellers licence is for.

 

 

More to follow.

 

 

Martin

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The buildings play a major part in getting the feeling and look of the layout right and I give a massive thanks to Phil Eames for providing me with loads of detailed shots of the buildings, some of which have been attached below with Phil's kind permission.  The main feature of the layout is the loading silos with extensions and I had to get these right or as close as possible.  I mentioned before that the first version of this building I built was wrong and I unfortunately forgot to take photos of the construction process for the final version.  The main body of the silos was made from gutter downpipe bought for a few quid from B&Q then various bits of plasticard and Evergreen sheet were attached.  The silos were made from a frame of Evergreen/Plastruct I beam and clad with Evergreen sheet.

 

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Photo produced with kind permission of Phil Eames.

 

 

The building right behind the silos was constructed at an angle to the back scene which proved a little more difficult than I had originally thought.  The first build made from various bits of plasticard and Evergreen sheet warped badly so had to be thrown out.  The final version was built from a 3mm plywood frame clad with Evergreen sheet.

 

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Photo produced with kind permission of Phil Eames.

 

The last big building is actually situated further back from the silo in real life but I rather liked it so thought it would be fun to build from scratch.  I again started with a frame of 3mm plywood then clad it in Evergreen sheet.  The silos are made from larger diameter drain pipe bought for a few quid from B&Q.

 

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Photo produced with kind permission of Phil Eames.

 

There are still loads of details to add to the buildings and more weathering but I'm happy with progress so far as I feel it captures the prototype well.  The other thing that struck me while building them is how massive they are.  They wouldn't look too out of place on a 4mm scale layout!

 

More to follow.

 

Martin

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A great looking layout!

 

What sort of static grass did you use - it is very effective.

 

Hi Douglas

 

I tried several brands and lengths of static grass but found my favourite to be from Green Scenes.  I've used:

 

Straw Short 2mm

Summer Green 2mm

Spring Green 2mm

 

I mixed them together randomly until I had a nice mixed colour I was happy with.  I've applied the whole lot with a WWS static grass applicator but I changed the mesh out on the applicator end for a finer car body repair mesh I bought from Halfords for a few quid.  I used a diluted mix of Matte Medium bought from Hobbycraft, this is basically a version of PVA but doesn't really dry glossy.

 

Where I've planted trees, I've used an earth coloured scatter to show the muddy parts which are usually underneath trees where either sunlight or rain doesn't reach or where the roots suck all the moisture from the ground.

 

I will just mention that I have no affiliation with any of the above companies other than I've had a good look at their products at various exhibitions and decided to purchase and try them for myself.  I know a few of my friends use similar techniques but with different products and the results they achieve are really nice too.

 

I hope that helps

 

Martin

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Hi Martin,

 

Thanks for the information.

 

I do have some GreenScenes static fibres, but haven't tested them yet. I find many of the fibres available from other manufacturers are too shiny or have too many colours mixed up so they don't look realistic to me.

 

I had the same issue with a WWS micro static applicator but used a different solution - weaving an extra strand of wire into the mesh.

 

Douglas

Edited by Douglas G
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Hi all

 

I've just found these two shots on my phone while looking for something else:

 

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I don't remember taking them but thought they were worth posting as they show the three sections of pipe I've used as the basis for the silos.  Getting the shape right for the cut outs was a pain and even more of a pain was making sure they were all lined up as the pipe isn't perfectly round as you would expect.  Still, it's always good to show what can be achieved with a few quids worth of materials.

 

Thanks

 

Martin

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  • 2 weeks later...

A little bit of an update on work carried out between Friday and today.

 

I've gone over each of the fiddle yard boards and installed proper fixes for the issues I had at Glasgow.  I have added some new servo control boards which now work and installed Gaugemaster frog juicers to replace the relays I was using.  One of the things bugging me now is the wiring is more untidy than when originally wired up - Something I can't justify the time to make it all look nice.

 

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I have also gone over the electrics to correct the control panel route illuminations - They now show the proper route selected and the toggle switches also indicate the chosen route with their direction.

 

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I've had a good play with some rolling stock today and I'm happy the fiddle yard now works as originally intended.  My next day off will be spent correcting the electrics on the scenic boards then I can crack on with finishing the scenics and rolling stock.

 

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Martin

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Martin,

 

Very impressed with this layout, I just hope we in the Basingstoke Area Group can reach the same standards with our Camford Junction layout currently under construction. We also have a cement train of Metalair and dropped centre wagons that will feature on Westbury-Exeter workings.

 

Congratulations on the 3rd place too.

 

Pete

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In one of your photos above there is a dozer on the back of a low lowder. Can you tell me who makes the dozer please?

 

Carl

 

Hi Carl

 

I've just had a look at it and the base is stamped with Tomytec 1:150 2010.  No model number though.  I got hold of this as part of a second hand lot of vehicles so not sure where it was originally purchased.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Martin

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In one of your photos above there is a dozer on the back of a low lowder. Can you tell me who makes the dozer please?

 

Carl

Hi Carl,

 

It's a Tomytec one - only occasionally find them over here and when they do turn up, they go very quickly!

 

Keep an eye on Ebay Ja[an as they appear more often on it - they still dissappear very quickly!

 

Thanks

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  • 3 months later...

Hi All

 

I thought it was about time I added a quick update to this thread so here goes:

 

The layout electrical issues were all sorted out before the layout headed off to the 2mm Association NEAG 35th Anniversary day and it ran well.  The only issues we came across was one of the turnouts had a switch blade which had slightly bent out of gauge due to my shoddy tie bar fix, this caused trains to derail so I have now fixed this and it runs well.  The other issue was with a few locos where the couplings would get caught on the chassis or body so I need to revisit a few of these before I start weathering and detailing.

 

I've recently been using my airbrush to try and tone all the layout colours down and blend everything together.  I've also been playing with my camera to get some good shots of the track to its full effect.  A few of the results are below:

 

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(These are still in factory weathering condition, I'll be stripping this back and doing my own)

 

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I'm quite pleased with the photos so far and you could be forgiven for thinking this is a photo of a larger scale (if I do say so myself).

 

I am working on the layout as and when I can between work so I'm hoping there will be a big visual difference when it appears at the Falkirk show in November.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

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