Warren Branch

[chuffinghell]

5 hours ago, sb67 said:

Everything is coming along nicely Chris. I love what you've done with the Pagoda and the planking on the bottom of signal looks superb. How did you get that effect?

 

I used Vallejo model air, I found that if you tried brush painting with it you get a streaky finish (it’s designed for airbrushes so it’s too thin to brush paint)

I mixed up a base colour using white, black and brown to get a grey/brown colour and painted the plank then while the paint was still wet I put a tiny spot of brown on the plank and dragged a dry brush across then did the same with black

 

I must admit the pagoda hut turned out much better than expected and I don’t often say it but I’m actually quite pleased with what I’ve done

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by chuffinghell

[Gypsy]

So you should be Chris

[Bogie]

1 hour ago, chuffinghell said:

I must admit the pagoda hut turned out much better than expected and I don’t often say it but I’m actually quite pleased with what I’ve done

 

 

Shock horror!  My God man are you feeling alright?

 

You should stop selling yourself so short.  I (and I dare say many others on this forum) insist!

Edited April 15, 2020 by Bogie
Typo

[chuffinghell]

As I’ve done previously I’ve attached little ‘feet’ to the fence posts to hook under the platform edge

Reinforced with styrene strip

 

the fence is now self supporting

 

 

When I did the static grass behind the fence on the removable section I spent weeks afterwards removing stray fibres

 

so this time I made a cardboard template.....

 

....and cut a piece of plasticard to slip behind the fencing that I’ve grassed separately

 

Its not dry yet but this is the idea

 

 

[Stubby47]

That's what's so good about documenting what and how you do things, not just for us but for yourself too - you can then see how to improve and refine your methods.

 

That's a clever little trick.

 

Will you be painting the fence?  It looks very 'new-paint-finish', rather than ' "it's about time you repainted that fence", said the station master'.

[chuffinghell]

4 minutes ago, Stubby47 said:

That's what's so good about documenting what and how you do things, not just for us but for yourself too - you can then see how to improve and refine your methods.

 

That's a clever little trick.

 

Will you be painting the fence?  It looks very 'new-paint-finish', rather than ' "it's about time you repainted that fence", said the station master'.

Thanks Stu

 

When I did the feet on the previous fence I still had to hold it in place while gluing, this way being self supporting I can just add a spot of solvent/glue and leave it alone

 

Funny you such mention documenting things, luckily with documenting what I did before I’ve got the ratio of brown and white I mixed for the fence on the removable section so it will be painted the same ‘dirty white’

 

[sb67]

The fence looks great with the grass behind it Chris, nice idea 

[chuffinghell]

1 hour ago, sb67 said:

The fence looks great with the grass behind it Chris, nice idea 

Thanks Steve, the board depth was a compromise otherwise I’d have liked a little more to play with. So I’ve basically made the most of what’s available

 

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by chuffinghell

[chuffinghell]

I think thats it for today, the fencing on the ramp was a little trickier to get just right but I’ve managed to sort it without any problems

 

I could quite easily spend the rest of the evening doing stuff but I think Sarah and I deserve a ‘film night’ tonight
 

Edited April 15, 2020 by chuffinghell

[chuffinghell]

One other thing I have done whilst waiting for Sarah to finish work is to add a little flock to the tops of the grass because I wanted more of a rough, wild, weed, bush type effect instead of just long grass

 

Not a clue what I’ve created but I think it looks quite effective

 

Its a shame I don’t have any yellow flock to make it look like common gorse, I may have to do something about that

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by chuffinghell

[chuffinghell]

After leaving it to dry (unlike me) it’s worked quite well

 

 

I’m quite chuffed with that

 

Just got to do the same at the ramp end then I can paint the fences

[chuffinghell]

Not really done much today other than to do the hedgerow for the ramp section and paint the fencing in a new colour called ‘sh*te white’ 
 

 

I’ve also managed to sort the gap between the platforms when mating up to the removable section

 

Believe it or not it was just a single stray bit of ballast stuck to the bottom edge at the back of the platform on the removable section that stopped me fitting the sections tightly together....I do like easy fixes

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by chuffinghell

[chuffinghell]

Relaid the line that runs parallel to the platform, I’ve had to redo it because with the platform hard up against the wall the track wasn’t running parallel.

So I’ve spent all day taking up the track, scraping and sanding away the glue

 

I’ve just finished relaying so It’s now weighed down while the glue goes off, fingers crossed it still runs parallel and it hasn’t shifted when I put the weights on

 

The problem with having to redo it makes me feel like I’ve not done anything today

 

I wanted to get the track sorted so I can airbrush it with the platform out of the way

[chuffinghell]

One thing I forgot to mention was the reason for the ‘gate to nowhere’ on the fencing

 

Its a marker for one of the uncoupling magnets, I’ll be using a lamp as a marker for the other magnet

 

The random tree on the removable section is also a marker

 

Method to my madness

[St Enodoc]

13 hours ago, chuffinghell said:

Relaid the line that runs parallel to the platform, I’ve had to redo it because with the platform hard up against the wall the track wasn’t running parallel.

So I’ve spent all day taking up the track, scraping and sanding away the glue

 

I’ve just finished relaying so It’s now weighed down while the glue goes off, fingers crossed it still runs parallel and it hasn’t shifted when I put the weights on

 

The problem with having to redo it makes me feel like I’ve not done anything today

 

I wanted to get the track sorted so I can airbrush it with the platform out of the way

Nice weights.

[Alister_G]

9 hours ago, chuffinghell said:

One thing I forgot to mention was the reason for the ‘gate to nowhere’ on the fencing

 

Its a marker for one of the uncoupling magnets, I’ll be using a lamp as a marker for the other magnet

 

The random tree on the removable section is also a marker

 

Method to my madness

 

That's blooming clever Chris, what a great idea!

 

Al.

[chuffinghell]

13 minutes ago, Alister_G said:

 

That's blooming clever Chris, what a great idea!

 

Al.

Thanks Al

 

I try my best.....I’m very trying apparently

[chuffinghell]

A bit premature but I couldn’t resist messing about

 

The distance between the platform and track was a compromise to allow room for point rodding

 

 

[chuffinghell]

I’ve made a start on stripping the lamps for repainting

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why I can’t just buy something and leave it alone I’ll never know

[Stubby47]

7 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

Why I can’t just buy something and leave it alone I’ll never know

 

Because you're a modeller

[chuffinghell]

I’ve got to do that thing I’m not very good at.......waiting for paint to dry

 

You can put the top coat over the primer after half an hour according to the bottle but I would prefer to leave it over night to harden then apply a second coat of primer and the top coat within half an hour
 

Assuming I can leave them alone that is

 

 

As I’m not changing the colour of the lamp heads I’ve just given them a coat of black as some needed touching up after dismantling

[Alister_G]

20 hours ago, chuffinghell said:

I’ve made a start on stripping the lamps for repainting

 

You're a braver man than me!

 

Al

[chuffinghell]

1 hour ago, Alister_G said:

 

You're a braver man than me!

 

Al

Fortune favours the brave (and the insane)  

It is a bit scary, you have to score a line with a knife at the top of the post and twist the lamp head without deforming it to break the glue and continue to twist it back and forth as you gently pull it away

 

Then use your knife to crack the top off the lamp head

 

Only four of the five I had left have survived the disassembly but I’ll have to get another pack when I get around to doing the goods yard anyway

 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by chuffinghell

[chuffinghell]

1 hour ago, Alister_G said:

 

You're a braver man than me!

 

Al

I’m trying to get a similar effect to these

But not as ornate

I’ve painted the darker colour further up the post than I did on the yard lamp

 

In true Chuffinghell style I cut down the base pieces so that the lamp heads on the platform are at a similar height to those in the yard 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by chuffinghell

[Alister_G]

23 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

I’m trying to get a similar effect to these

 

Yep, I think you succeeded.

 

Al.