Charlie Strong Metals (and Watery Lane Sidings)

[Kevin Johnson]

I absolutely love the scrap yard area of this layout, life like and very realistic.

[Ruston]

A second KJO has joined the wagon fleet. This one uses the Parkside 26-ton iron ore tippler as its basis. I cut the sides down and added a new rim, made from Evergreen strip. The cradle is also Evergreen strip and the coils are plasticard.

 

 

[Ruston]

Danny Wizzbang's customers don't always use the litter bins provided.

I am experimenting with adding some litter to the track and trackside. I took some pictures of a Tesco carrier bag, a Walkers crisps packet, and suitably dated front covers of The Sun and Daily Mirror, and shrunk them to scale before printing them onto plain paper. Most of it, however, is just plain paper that has been screwed up and glued down. Some pieces have been given a dirty wash to make them appear as if they have been there for some time.

I must try not to overdo it and to also add other rubbish.

 

I'm not happy with the wiggly tin loco shed. It is too tall and blocks the view when operating the railway. I may replace it with a brick shed, in the same style as the workshop. Then again I may remove it altogether and have a small canopy for daily maintenance to take place and small shed for keeping oils etc. in.

[37114]

5 minutes ago, Ruston said:

I'm not happy with the wiggly tin loco shed. It is too tall and blocks the view when operating the railway. I may replace it with a brick shed, in the same style as the workshop. Then again I may remove it altogether and have a small canopy for daily maintenance to take place and small shed for keeping oils etc. in.

I think the corrugated iron rather than brick approach probably suits the location Dave, almost like it was a later add on. It is a personal thing but I actually like it when viewers have to look over or around buildings as it draws them into the layout, and the photo above is a lovely cameo. It is a nice model so seems a shame to scrap the shed, one option could be to reduce the height as I think the shed is too tall; having looked through the last couple of pages the end on shed photos show a scale 6 to 8 ft gap above the roof of the stock to the door lintel whereas in reality it appears more a running repair shed which wouldn't need the extra height?

[Acklam]

I agree with Rob, that feeling of I wonder what is through there but you just can’t quite see adds something to a scene.

[Ruston]

52 minutes ago, 37114 said:

I think the corrugated iron rather than brick approach probably suits the location Dave, almost like it was a later add on. It is a personal thing but I actually like it when viewers have to look over or around buildings as it draws them into the layout, and the photo above is a lovely cameo. It is a nice model so seems a shame to scrap the shed, one option could be to reduce the height as I think the shed is too tall; having looked through the last couple of pages the end on shed photos show a scale 6 to 8 ft gap above the roof of the stock to the door lintel whereas in reality it appears more a running repair shed which wouldn't need the extra height?

The gap above the stock isn't as great as that, Rob. The gap is around a scale 18in. above a BR Class 08 but due to the low height of the industrial locomotives it may appear greater . It's the pitched roof that then gives it so much more height and I would cut it down but the sliding doors are designed to fit it. The sliding doors were meant to work and they do in a fashion but if one is closed too far it tilts inward and can't be opened without lifting the shed off the layout; this is because the doors are barely wider than the entrance. They were meant to open and close with the touch of a finger.

 

I may be able to salvage this shed if I cut around 8mm from the height of the walls and rebuild the door as one piece and have it run outside the width of the shed, suspended on a runner. The rear end of the shed, which has never been fitted with doors, will get ordinary hinged doors. I would also like the roof to be lower but that would be so much trouble that I may as well start from scratch.

[PenrithBeacon]

3 hours ago, Ruston said:

...

I'm not happy with the wiggly tin loco shed.

...

 

I'd be over the moon with it

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Re the litter.

You're short of the wind blown shrapnel which adheres itself to the chain link fencing.

 

Mike.

[Gibbo675]

39 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Re the litter.

You're short of the wind blown shrapnel which adheres itself to the chain link fencing.

 

Mike.

Hi Mike,

 

Would "specialist" magazines in the bushes be a step too far ?

 

Trying to look at the pictures in 4mm scale would make you go blind !

 

Gibbo.

[sb67]

The litter looks superb Dave, something so common but rarely modelled. If you remover the loco shed I think a canopy would look good, plenty of stuff lying around, oil cans, tools etc lying around.  

[Ruston]

1 hour ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Re the litter.

You're short of the wind blown shrapnel which adheres itself to the chain link fencing.

 

Mike.

You're right and I thought about doing that but I'm not convinced I could make it look right and it's one hell of a lot of aggro to have to renew the fence if it doesn't work out.

[Ruston]

Before:

 

After:

 

 

The runner needs support from a narrow A-frame but I don't have any suitable plastruct at the moment. The shed has acquired a stove chimney, too. I may keep it now and so will probably add smoke vents in the roof to make it suitable for steam engines.

 

 

 

[AlfaZagato]

Don't necessarily need an A-frame to support the runner.   You could probably do with a simple brace to the wall, or a guy wire to the peak of the roof.   Unless you're supposing that door is RHA, you don't need a lot of support.

[Ruston]

33 minutes ago, AlfaZagato said:

Don't necessarily need an A-frame to support the runner.   You could probably do with a simple brace to the wall, or a guy wire to the peak of the roof.   Unless you're supposing that door is RHA, you don't need a lot of support.

What is RHA?

[AlfaZagato]

Rolled Homogenous Armor.   I meant the reference to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, honestly.

[Enterprisingwestern]

9 hours ago, AlfaZagato said:

Rolled Homogenous Armor.   I meant the reference to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, honestly.

 

Sheesh, you wargamers!!

 

The shed looks brilliant, got me thinking now, how do you fancy building another!

 

Mike.

[Enterprisingwestern]

13 hours ago, Ruston said:

You're right and I thought about doing that but I'm not convinced I could make it look right and it's one hell of a lot of aggro to have to renew the fence if it doesn't work out.

 

My 2 cents worth.

If you hadn't added the ground litter you would have gotten away with it, I never really realised there wasn't any litter in the first place, but now there is some it makes the lack of litter elsewhere more noticeable. Go for it, what's the worst that can happen?, if you cock up then just cut that bit of fence out and leave a hole, very prototypical.

 

Mike.

[NHY 581]

Cracking article in BRM, Dave. 

 

One of the best as of late. Lovely photos, supported by very enjoyable words. 

 

 

All in all, top stuff. 

 

Rob. 

[Osgood]

15 hours ago, Ruston said:

....

The runner needs support from a narrow A-frame but I don't have any suitable plastruct at the moment. The shed has acquired a stove chimney, too. I may keep it now and so will probably add smoke vents in the roof to make it suitable for steam engines.

 

 

 

 

The case for the A Frame.

 

An A frame would look good, and provide a foil for the runner which on its own looks bulky and takes your eye up, emphasising the height of the building.

It would also enhance the asymmetry of the shed that adds interest, and would take your eye down - to the litter.

It would also stop some eigit unbolting the door stop and letting the doors over-run......

[Caledonian]

2 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

My 2 cents worth.

If you hadn't added the ground litter you would have gotten away with it, I never really realised there wasn't any litter in the first place, but now there is some it makes the lack of litter elsewhere more noticeable. Go for it, what's the worst that can happen?, if you cock up then just cut that bit of fence out and leave a hole, very prototypical.

 

Mike.

 

I wouldn't worry about it as its not actually that much of a problem. Paper and the like tends to drop to the bottom of the fence and just accumulate there. The big problem these days is with plastic bags, which do attach themselves to fences - and wrap themselves round the OHL - but even allowing for the nature of the business the steam locos and the other rolling stock in this layout belong to the days when shopping was still carried in string bags and not throw-away plastic ones.

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

 

This sort of thing plus some newspapers?

 

Mike.

[Ruston]

I've been back at the Airfix kits again. Five down, five to go.

[Ruston]

Another one rolls along the production line. Any colour you want, as long as it's rust.

 

An unfitted this time. It has been given a coat of etch primer to cover the etched metal parts and matt black, from a rattle can for the underframes. The bodywork hasn't had any actual paint on it. Instead, and as a rust base, I've mixed weathering powders into some Humbrol Mattcote and have daubed that on in two shades of rust.

 

The darker stuff is for the original metalwork that has weathered and become dirty, whereas the lighter shade is new plate that has been let in to the body and fixed, welded in, top flap. The line of the new plate is scribed into the plastic.

 

Maskol, hairspray and top coats, tomorrow.

[Ruston]

It needs a few little tweaks and possibly the replacement of the TOPS lettering. The decal has become slivered in parts, despite my using that decal stuff, which I can't remember the name of.

[Ruston]

 

Trial fit of the tin shed's replacement. The far side will be sheeted to provide shelter from the prevailing wind and, of course, it will have a roof.

The new structure is 10mm narrower and being open at the near side, it will allow things such as the barrels and stillages to be placed partly under the canopy. These things combined will give more yard space. It is also lower in overall height so allows the layout operator in improved view and should at the same time lessen its impact on the scene as a whole.

Being open on the side will allow interior views and so detail can be now added. The plan is for a diesel fuel tank to be provided, and a redundant ex-BR A-type container to be used as an oil store. Possibly even a second container with the doors removed to store dry wood for lighting up.