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Kinlochmore – West Highland, 4mm P4


Kylestrome
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Basically, my approach is to do things as simply as possible and with the minimum of extra work. I don't want to start a debate here on the merits, or otherwise, of P4 but many modellers have gained the impression that it is hard to do and only for the real engineers and technicians. While it might be true that for a big layout like Mostyn you will need all the rolling stock to be sprung or compensated, I have found that for a small, slow speed 'shunting plank', like my layout, you can really get away with all kinds of mechanical sins.

 

At the start I made two short wheelbase wagons, one compensated and the other sprung. The compensated one stayed on the track and bangs its wheels over rail joints just like an uncompensated wagon. The sprung wagon stayed on the track and was very quiet. I next tried an RTR wagon just with replacement wheel sets (with just a little bit of slack from rounding off the pin-points). It stayed on the track just as well as the other two wagons. So the only benefit I could establish was that I could make everything run quietly. I have sound decoders in my locos so that cancels out that advantage. My philosophy now, if I may use such a grand word, is to only spring the long wheelbase wagons and the rest just get replacement wheels. I also make sure that all wagons have roughly 25 grams weight per axle.

 

With locos it's even simpler – they just get new wheels, and maybe a few washers to reduce side play, and that's it. No beating myself up because everything is not sprung or technically 'perfect', and it works.

 

David

David,one can be assured that not all of the stock on Mostyn is sprung/compensated so your approach is perfectly acceptable; nay, to be encouraged. Having built over 10% of it, it is not needed in many cases.

The simple fact is that you are making it work your way and enjoying it. Take it frae a long standing P4 renegade, leave the complications to those who feel that is their path, you stick to yours...

 

I shall now run and hide back in my bunker afore the Inquisition arrives.....

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This is fantastic! the track work and scenery is amazing, so realistic.

 

There's been a nagging voice in the back of my head about moving to P4.. and this aint helping!  :drag:

Edited by Jack P
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On 27/12/2017 at 23:38, davknigh said:

Couldn’t help but notice the class 29. Any tips on how you did the conversion to P4? Is it modified from the Hornby one or a scratchbuilt effort? Very nice whichever way it came to be.

 

David, my modifications to the Hornby model are described here:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/index.php?/topic/107181-Hornby-class-29-–-ex-works/

 

David

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On 27/12/2017 at 22:59, Rhysb said:

A superb looking layout, really great to see. I especially love the 3 pine trees in the rear of the layout. these look fantastic and would be keen to learn how you made these?

 

The pine trees are rather nice but I can't take any credit for them. They came from MBR Model.

https://mbrmodel.eu/en/

 

While we're on the subject of trees, the large fir (Spruce) trees are from the Czech firm Model Scene

http://www.fast-webshop.com/model-scene

and the smaller trees are Faller. These have been helpful to get a quick result but I will be building the rest of the trees myself in order to give them some individual character.
 
David
Edited by Kylestrome
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The pine trees are rather nice but I can't take any credit for them. They came from MBR Model .

 

https://mbrmodel.eu/en/

 

While we're on the subject of trees, the large fir (Spruce) trees are from the Czech firm Model Scene

 

http://www.fast-webshop.com/model-scene

 
and the smaller trees are Faller. These have been helpful to get a quick result but I will be building the rest of the trees myself in order to give them some individual character.
 
David

 

 

 

i too like your trees and have made many of my own but it is good to see some lovely pine trees.

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David,one can be assured that not all of the stock on Mostyn is sprung/compensated so your approach is perfectly acceptable; nay, to be encouraged. Having built over 10% of it, it is not needed in many cases.

The simple fact is that you are making it work your way and enjoying it. Take it frae a long standing P4 renegade, leave the complications to those who feel that is their path, you stick to yours...

 

I shall now run and hide back in my bunker afore the Inquisition arrives.....

 

There is no P4 inquisition.  And even if there were, no one would expect us...

 

Cheers :-)

Paul Willis

Scalefour Society Deputy Chairman

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Love the details in this model, David, and amazed that you ‘Photoshopped’ the backscene from an image taken in County Mayo?

I have asked my daughter to have a go at producing a backscene, digitally illustrated, for a model based in Sutherland. We can get it printed as a strip onto vinyl or heavy duty paper at one of the sign makers in Inverness, then mount it on the backboard. We’ll see how it goes.

Marlyn

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Kinlochmore – West Highland, 4mm P4

 

Introducing my 4mm scale layout, featuring a fictitious West Highland station vaguely reminiscent of those on the Mallaig line. It has just received some basic ‘green stuff’ and there is plenty of detailing still to be done.

 

Kinlochmore is meant to be the penultimate stop on a branch from Fort William to Kinlochleven. Apart from the Kinlochleven aluminium smelter, I have invented a small whisky distillery, giving the reason excuse to run some grain hopper wagons. I have assumed that, at some time in the late sixties, there was a massive rock fall which caused the line to the terminus to be permanently closed. Now the station at Kinlochmore acts as the passenger terminus, with a bus connection to Kinlochleven and Ballachulish, and the line beyond the station has become a long siding to the local industries. By a wonderful stretch of the imagination, the whisky company’s own private loco is allowed running rights as far as the station to pick up or leave wagons to and from the distillery.

 

The main period modelled is some time around 1968/69 which allows the odd loco in green to appear as well as a variety of older freight wagons. A later period (approximately 1985) can also be operated with air-braked wagons, Class 37s and a regular steam-hauled service. As you might be able to tell by now, this layout provides me the opportunity to run just about anything I like with the absolute minimum of justification! 

 

The track standard on this layout is what I call PP4 (Pragmatic P4) which is P4 without the hair shirt. Instead of trying to “get it all right”, as the Scalefour Society advertising goes, I attempt to get most of it right even though some of it is quite definitely wrong.

 

I hate long, wordy posts so here, with no further ado, are some recent photos.

 

David

 

attachicon.gifKinlochmore-1.jpg

 

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attachicon.gifKinlochmore-9.jpg

 

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attachicon.gifKinlochmore-11.jpg

Wow! Totally love this . They bothy with the landrover looks like Meanach bothy in the Mamores. Great back scene too . May I ask where you acquired it? I’ve been looking for something similar for several years !

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On 21/01/2018 at 12:02, meanach said:

May I ask where you acquired it? I’ve been looking for something similar for several years !

 

Thanks.

 

The backscene is self-made,  see post #10.

 

David

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On 05/02/2018 at 02:34, Regularity said:

The ballasting is very well done - as is the attention to trackwork generally. Can you share with use the materials used, and how they were applied?

 

I’ll have to scratch my head and try to remember what I materials I used. I started laying track 17 years ago and progress has be snail-like since then. I’m pretty sure that the ballast is grey granite and originally intended for N gauge. I could foresee that ballasting would be a tedious job so I made things easier for myself by doing it before putting any rails in place. This makes the whole process quicker and probably neater than doing it as the last stage of track building.

 

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The track plan was printed out, stuck down with a thin coat of PVA and allowed to dry. The sleepers were then glued in place and also left to dry. Ballast was spread out and fixed with diluted PVA and a couple of drops of wetting solution using a dropper. All very conventional but in an order that suits me better.

 

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The track was built with C+L plastic chairs, glued to the sleepers, and steel bullhead rail. The crossing assemblies (right and left hand) were constructed on a jig of my own making which is shown in the photo above. This was possible because all the turnouts are standard B6s which have a crossing angle of 1-in-6. The photos below show the stages of building a crossing assembly.

 

David

 

 

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PS. These are ancient digital photos, taken at a time when we thought 4 Megapixels was 'state-of-the-art'!

Edited by Kylestrome
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On 24/06/2018 at 19:20, 27016 said:

Great liitle layout and looking forward to more updates.

 

What materials did you use for building and weathering the platform edging? 

 

Thanks.

 

The platform facing was made using mounting board (1,5 mm cardboard) and was brush painted with enamels.

 

David

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Hi David,

I just happened across your thread and boy! I'm glad I did.

This layout is very charismatic and really captures the wilds of Scotland for me (despite the use of Irish mountains on the back-scene, very clever).

I love it and thanks for the tips on the trees too.

Cheers,

John.

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With the layout getting dangerously close to completion, one of the details that were still missing were some telegraph poles. The ones I have modelled are based on those that used to be present at Glenfinnan station. The measurements are all approximate and result from looking at photos that I’ve found on the internet.

 

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I have use 3mm brass rod for the poles, conveniently ignoring the subtle taper that they should have. The cross member is a short piece of 1mm square brass with a couple of grooves filed on the back to accept the insulator brackets, which are formed from 0.3mm nickel silver wire.

 

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The tops of the poles were carefully ground, with a slitting disc, to form a ‘peak’ with angles of 45 degrees, and a small scrap of thin sheet bent to make the rain protection cap.

 
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Everything has been soldered together for durability.
 
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Here is said telegraph pole in situ. The insulators were cut from some very fine electrical wire insulation.
 
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On another tack, my favourite glue is definitely PVA. It never ceases to amaze me how a complete mess, made in the evening with watered down PVA,  …
 
DSC03295.jpg.2fc6444cce94e7d836e35b4164f62b04.jpg
… can turn out just fine by the next morning.
 
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Here are some ‘quick and dirty’ bushes using rubberised horse-hair …
 
DSC03300.jpg.77d5890874ffd4ff00bd7ef67e460084.jpg
..and MiniNatur foliage net, also stuck together with the ever-so-useful PVA.
 
David
Edited by Kylestrome
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