Distillery yard micro layout - back out on the exhibition circuit

[andyram]

Nice to catch up on this thread. The layout is coming together very well. I do like the buildings.

[luke the train spotter]

Quite a hefty update for you today. The rainy weather has kept me inside and modelling. Firstly the rock face has been repainted to be a much darker shade of grey. This was simply done with another darker wash of acrylic paint. Secondly I have weathered the ballast and the sand paper. Again this was done with a black whash except airbrushed. Apart from a bit of splatter on the sand paper I'm quite happy with how it looks - it certainly resembles the prototype more now. Lastly I have done all the static grassing. I must say that it doesn't look as good as the grass done with the fancy applicators but my home made one has done an alright job. Here is a picture of my current progress. the small white hut and details aren't permanent features yet just giving the impression of something that will take its space. The 08 shunter is also something semi new for the layout but I will mention that tomorrow. YouTube video to follow shortly hopefully. Thanks for looking.

[Booking Hall]

That's looking really good, the colours work well together.

[luke the train spotter]

Hi everyone, here is the latest YouTube layout update for the layout. It is up to date with the progress on this thread. Here's a link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IrpwovMrTs4

[Woody C]

Hello Luke,

 

Catching up on posts here and although only a few weeks since I last looked your modelling skills have moved on light years! Fantastic buildings and great scenery and a wonderfully atmospheric layout. You have a natural talent!

 

Woody

[sb67]

The layout looks great Luke, been watching the latest youtube update, great stuff! 

Steve.

[luke the train spotter]

Thanks Steve and Woody, your kind comments are very encouraging. Over the last two days I've been working away at a new lineside hut and beginning to paint up some of the details for the layout. Firstly the lineside hut is an all card construction with a plasticard roof. The bbricks used as the foundations are very small and are stuck on individually. A bit fiddly and time consuming but worth the effort. I'm not happy with the overall paint finish of the model so I may repaint it at a later date but at least the actual hut is completed. Like the rest of the buildings I will leave them loose to the last minute then stick them down with the smallest amount of glue. The details I have begun painting are the whiskey barrels/kegs that I bought from scale model railway scenery. So far they have been treated with 3 thin coats of valleyo cork brown acrylic paint. I may give them another coat before I paint the ribbing but I'm not sure yet. These will be barrels that will stand exposed (not as a wagon load) so I want to get a good general finish from them. Here is a picture of them: A quick question, would I need to paint the top of the barrel a different colour (ie: white/red/blue) as I have seen prototype pictures of distillerys with different coloured barrel tops?.

[Spotlc]

A quick question, would I need to paint the top of the barrel a different colour (ie: white/red/blue) as I have seen prototype pictures of distillerys with different coloured barrel tops?.

Hi Luke,

a nice little diorama with an unusual theme, which I've really enjoyed following! 

 

Now, about the whisky barrels. Almost all Scotch whisky is stored and aged in old oak barrels, even the current production may be placed in barrels more than twenty years old, often much more.

 

Oak barrels have a long and interesting life - they may start by being made in France and used to store wines before bottling for one to three years, then transported to either Spain, for sherry, or to Portugal, for port wine production.  There is also some use of Spanish oak barrels, made initially for storing Rioja wines.

 

They can then sometimes be as long as 20 - 30 years holding sherry or port, though generally less, and after this use they are shipped to Scotland for use by whisky distillers. The large producers of blended whiskys use quite short maturation periods, but almost all single malts will have been matured for at least 5 years, usually 12, and sometimes up to 20 years, in a barrel that is already perhaps 25 years old!

 

So, your barrels should not appear in any way new. You could try to simulate the delicious silvery grey patina  that aged oak barrels have, but only the ends of the barrels were painted, (and usually stencil lettered for identification by the Revenue!)    In the USA, the opposite methods are used, and Bourbon whiskey is always stored in new oak barrels, I think, by law.

 

Really, none of this will make a lot of difference to your nice model anyway, but I thought you might be interested!

 

Best wishes, Mike

[1722]

Hi Luke,

 

I think personally I'd probably dry brush them in some grey to pick out the grains, before brushing a diluted murky wash over them to try and give it that aged look. I certainly wouldn't make them appear new, in agreement with Mike above.

 

Just to say, watched the Youtube, and the layout is looking great. Top work.

[luke the train spotter]

Thanks Chris and Steve, I will paint and weather the barrels appropriately. I will vary their condition, some of the barrels will be on the actual loading dock but some will be out the way in a corner so probably the older, worst condition ones.

[Signaller69]

Your layout is really taking shape Luke! Regarding the Whisky barrels/casks I'm not sure when coloured ends became popular, but from photos of them in the 60s/70s they generally appeared to be unpainted (though specific to the distillery I'm assuming). Google images has lots of useful photos under "whisky cask" or "whisky barrel" which show a good variety of wood finishes, although mainly from the recent past of course.

 

Martyn.

[luke the train spotter]

Firstly thank you everyone that comments and views this thread. I'm really chuffed that people are interested in my layouts. I only get to my local model railway club every other month and rarely meet with other modellers for any modelling/running session so having rmweb is really good for keeping me motivated and full of inspiration! Right, on with the layout, I have been limited in time as I prepare to go back to school this week. In the few moments I've had I've mostly been operating the layout but I have also managed to weather the grain wagon. This will be one of a few I hope to get. I covered it in a grey enamel wash and rubbed it off with a cotton bud. I think the wash was a bit too thick so I've got quite a heavy weathering but I think it'll do. I don't really fancy rubbing it all off though I may try and take some off with some thinners on a cotton bud. That's all for now and thanks for looking.

[luke the train spotter]

Well fencing has begun on the layout. I'm using a kit from scale model railway scenery which I've weathered. I used a spare fence post to make a private property sign. The sign itself is also from scale model railway scenery.

[Guest NorthernRail]

Fantastic modelling Luke the bank side is totally transformed and the weathering on the grain wagon is spot on but most of all the private property sign is a great touch. It’s the small bits of detail that bring a layout to life.

[luke the train spotter]

It's that time again when the summer holidays come to a close and I have to go back to school. Unlike many other modellers my most productive time of the year is summer when I can enjoy the summer holidays. This time I am going to be starting my a levels which I have heard are even more work than GCSEs and will require much more work after school so that may bit into my modelling time, I will have to see. I have been experimenting with making some gorse bushes for the layout as I noticed they were a common feature around dailuaine distillery - what I'm drawing inspiration from for the layout. I have now made some and stuck them down to the layout. The other job Ive completed is the lineside fencing on the embankment closest to the viewer. This is a scale model railway scenery kit which is very fiddly and not the best kit in the world (some of the fence post holes weren't cut all the way through) which lead to some alternative solutions but on a whole I'm very happy how it's come out. I've tried to make the wire tense but i can't seem to get it any tenser and it's all stuck down now. Here is a picture of the fence. At 90cm long it was bit of a mammoth task but I really like the completed look from the track level. I have already weathered the posts and will need to weather the wire to dull it down. Thanks for looking.

[TechnicArrow]

Excellent modelling! The fence looks great as it is, in a dilapidated state. Perhaps you could add some extra posts at angles, "supporting" the main ones, to represent attempted repairs. The trackwork is good too, but I think the ballast/grass border needs a little blending.

RE school - I was in your place 2 years ago, except I wasn't working on such a good model! A-Levels are certainly harder, but with good organisation you should be alright; I found them the most enjoyable part of my compulsory education. You can still come back to modelling as a relaxation between working. So however you go, good luck!

[luke the train spotter]

Excellent modelling! The fence looks great as it is, in a dilapidated state. Perhaps you could add some extra posts at angles, "supporting" the main ones, to represent attempted repairs. The trackwork is good too, but I think the ballast/grass border needs a little blending.

RE school - I was in your place 2 years ago, except I wasn't working on such a good model! A-Levels are certainly harder, but with good organisation you should be alright; I found them the most enjoyable part of my compulsory education. You can still come back to modelling as a relaxation between working. So however you go, good luck!

Thanks Technic Arrow, education does certainly throw a spanner in the works and messes up those long modelling sessions I would love to have. The run up to my GCSEs meant that I had virtually no modelling time unfortunately. I don't have any exams coming up soon though so I should be alright for a couple of months. As you say, planning is essential to succedful time management.

Excellent modelling! The fence looks great as it is, in a dilapidated state. Perhaps you could add some extra posts at angles, "supporting" the main ones, to represent attempted repairs. The trackwork is good too, but I think the ballast/grass border needs a little blending.

RE school - I was in your place 2 years ago, except I wasn't working on such a good model! A-Levels are certainly harder, but with good organisation you should be alright; I found them the most enjoyable part of my compulsory education. You can still come back to modelling as a relaxation between working. So however you go, good luck!

Thanks Technic Arrow, education does certainly throw a spanner in the works and messes up those long modelling sessions I would love to have. The run up to my GCSEs meant that I had virtually no modelling time unfortunately. I don't have any exams coming up soon though so I should be alright for a couple of months. As you say, planning is essential to succedful time management.

[luke the train spotter]

Well it's been a couple of weeks maybe even since I laid the track and had trains running on the layout. Now I'm thinking of altering it to include a run around loop in the fiddle yard. This would allow me to shunt the distillery without the need for an additional shunter and would allow for more interesting operations hopefully. Here is a quick diagram showing what I want to achieve (the improvements in red) Tonight I might order a left hand electrofrog code 75 point from Hattons to complete the work. It may seem a bit of a faf but I really want to get this layout right and it'll be easier to replace a point now that in 6 months. It's pay day soon so I can put a large order into Hattons for some new rolling stock and enough kaddees to convert the stock to hands free shunting. That reminds me I better add some neodymium magnets to the shopping list. Thanks for looking.

[luke the train spotter]

So the point from Hattons has arrived. I've begun fitting it but everything isn't going to plan but at least I'm making progress. It still need wiring up and the wire in tube installing. It is installed so far, here is a picture of it. Thanks for looking.

[luke the train spotter]

Well I've managed to finish installing that point. One more little tweak and I'm pretty sure it'll be perfect. I have attached it to an sdpt switch so that it can be moved using the wire in tube method like all my other points. Now that the wiring is all done I can have a single loco running session instead of depending on two locos. Yesterday I did order a new loco which I'm very excited for and it's one that I've wanted to get for quite some time. We are also trying to move house at the moment so things are beginning to be boxed up even though we are still to work out when our moving date will be. This means that progress is slowing down for now but the upside is that in the new house I will have my own 'railway room' to contain all my railway stuff. Anyway, thanks for looking.

[1722]

Luke, it all sounds great. Well done. The photo looking down the line, where you’ve recently installed the fencing, looks fantastic. And do I recall there’s a Railway Modeller article forthcoming too?

 

Are you going to give us any clues on the loco? Diesel or steam? I’m thinking it’s a Barclay or Peckett?

 

Finally, if you don’t mind, a quick question. When you use the wire in point, do you have the sdpt switch pointing up from the baseboard, or out from the fascia? Does that make sense?

 

Thanks, and keep up the good work!

[luke the train spotter]

Thanks Chris, the article isn't actually of this layout but will be off Cronton collier sheds, one of my other micros. Im afraid the loco I've ordered isn't a pecket or a Barclay (though I've got my eye on one ) and it's also a diesel. From the sdpt switch I have it sticking out from the baseboard. I drill a 10mm hole then open the ends up slightly with a bit of sand paper then this allows the switch to be pressed into place and it is held in with tension of the hole. I pre wire the switch prior to it getting put into the hole to make wiring it much easier. Here is picture which may show it better than I've described All the other points on the layout are done like this except they have tube round the wire and also have holes cut in the fascia to allow access to the switch. Hope this is of help.

[Guest Nero]

Nice work on the points Luke.

[1722]

Thanks Chris, the article isn't actually of this layout but will be off Cronton collier sheds, one of my other micros. Im afraid the loco I've ordered isn't a pecket or a Barclay (though I've got my eye on one ) and it's also a diesel. From the sdpt switch I have it sticking out from the baseboard. I drill a 10mm hole then open the ends up slightly with a bit of sand paper then this allows the switch to be pressed into place and it is held in with tension of the hole. I pre wire the switch prior to it getting put into the hole to make wiring it much easier. Here is picture which may show it better than I've described IMG_20180916_130249879.jpg All the other points on the layout are done like this except they have tube round the wire and also have holes cut in the fascia to allow access to the switch. Hope this is of help.

The description and picture are great. Thank you very much!

 

Ah Cronton, of course. Cracking micro. And looking forward to seeing the mystery loco.

 

Hope the house move goes well!

[luke the train spotter]

Well last night I managed to find some time and crack on with some rolling stock. I really enjoy this part of the layout and may get some older, cheap wagons to detail up but that's an idea for the future. My main job was to fit kadees to the wagons which required draft boxes as the Ben pockets were either out of place or not there. They have all been fitted with the medium length couplings which allow the wagons to comfortably negotiate pointwork. Here is a picture of all the wagons now 'kadeed' A quick note on the lowmac, now im pretty sure that they didn't really work in Scotland at all but I wanted to have a p way wagon (it will receive some detailing, repainting and weathering) and a warwell wagon was too big so I settled for this. I picked it up for £3 a couple months ago so couldn't really say no. I have got some other wagons to fit kadees to and I've got a br standard 16 ton box car coming in the post but they'll all use kadees which will plug into nem sockets. If you're still trying to guess the new mystery loco then here is another clue, it is made by Heljan. Thanks for looking.