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Mountain Ash


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  • RMweb Gold

This round of the Cakebox competition is very challenging. The topic of Industry opens things up to all sorts of typical dioramas of factory’s, wagon hoists, mines and quarry’s.

 

When thinking what to do, I happened across an image of a loco crossing the bridge at Mountain Ash between the various pits. The juxtaposition of industry and nature grabbed me. The trees also block the entry and exit of the track work making a lovely looking scene. I would post a photo, but I can’t find one without the copyright issues! 

 

I also have an old ARC models Andrew Barclay resin kit that I’ve wanted to build for a long time, but now redundant  since Hattons released their beautiful models. This would give me a chance to build this up.
 

So I’ve been busy building the loco and tonight I’m pretty much done on that part of the build.

 

95D14BE5-BBBE-44FF-AEAD-05B54D87BFC8.jpeg.b929b24bc368714d177717ab24873df8.jpeg

 

9E0C9D2B-2768-4739-824F-1ECD3BE2C968.jpeg.ddd10797c0b899f4acbe92d40a2d4ca5.jpeg

 

Its nowhere near a Mountain Ash loco, but I wanted to model an Andrew Barclay with the wasp stripes and striped buffer beam similar to the locos at Blaenavons Big Pit.

 

Its received handrails from an old Hornby Pug. The chassis is a Dapol static pug kit. The hooks are Slaters and the crew from Modelu.

 

As for the diorama, I’ve picked up a Wills kit and started spraying it up.

 

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Not too sure on the angle, but it’s early days yet.

 

And this is close to the angle that I'm looking to model:

 

OCT 74 05. 0-6-0ST No1 at Mountain Ash, September 1974

 

If you look closely, I know its double track and alot wider, but I have to fit it into a 8 inch square, so some compression is required. 

Edited by Captainalbino
Photo of original from Flickr put here for context
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  • RMweb Gold

A bit more progress. Bridge affixed into place and cut to shape yesterday, so today is time to get busy with the polystyrene to make the embankments!

 

A1167FA1-A50B-42F9-9ED6-8BA086C0AC6F.jpeg.7292de498d0a9f8306761089c3abb508.jpeg


My Great Western pug ‘Goblin’ is standing in for NCB13 which needs to receive some weathering.

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  • RMweb Gold

I’ve been also thinking about trees. Last time I made them from florist wire to make a plaster covered armature, and have a few left.
 

412E953A-633F-4E96-BC7F-9C40F51AF6C6.jpeg.f0f3523e5f97fc8a4ba695b39695b1ac.jpeg

 

However I might go Seafoam this time to try another technique. The armatures are also quite big and need trimming to fit in a 6 inch tall box!

 

In true Blue Peter style, Here’s one I made earlier:

 

CAFFB1F2-011A-4B3B-B35E-635BC8540357.jpeg.9b932d4b0065538a6fdd48b1875a3ecb.jpeg

Edited by Captainalbino
Additional photo
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  • RMweb Gold

If you are wondering what the original looks like, you can find a photo of the bridge on flickr here: 

Mountain Ash Colliery.

 

(Which if I knew pasting the link would have embedded the image, i would have done that ages ago!)

 

Edited by Captainalbino
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  • RMweb Gold

Another image from Flickr:

 

Deep Duffryn Colliery

 

Its really useful to find these.  Do I model the two poles either side and the telegraph pole?  Also the debris on the far side of the bridge is a must!  I've also been thinking about how to model the service pipe.  I think I might be looking for some of the last plastic straws in existance!

 

(I love studying the above image.  Would make a great model railway in its own right!)

 

Edited by Captainalbino
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On 28/10/2019 at 20:57, Captainalbino said:

Whilst shopping online for Mod-Roc, I decided I didn’t like the cliff at the front, so out came the razor saw and some more polystyrene was sent flying!

 

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Yes, I found the polystyrene worked quite well for my first cake box model, Captain Albino. It cut quite well with the long blade from one of those snap-off knives, then I coated it in a thin layer of DAS clay! Good progress!

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  • RMweb Gold

In searching around my various stashes of modelling supplies, I found my final roll of plaster bandage. There was more on the reel than I anticipated, so I decided to slop it about!

 

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Now to leave it to set overnight and trim off the excess tomorrow.

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  • RMweb Gold

Plaster bandages trimmed back and acrylic base coat applied.18E30F77-AE13-426B-B208-61A2360D7C20.jpeg.3ee71c43f41f00456c32fe7c5015d2c1.jpeg

 

I have a bottle of Woodland Scenics realistic water to use up, so the river needs to be black to look deeper than it is.

 

Once the base coats are dry, I need to tidy up the bridge supports. I’ve removed the bridge sides until the river has been finished as they were getting in the way!

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • RMweb Gold

Having a nightmare with the water to be honest.  I've put on the realistic water which looked like a millpond.  I've tried to give it some texture with a bit of PVA, but it dried flat.  It all went wrong when I put another coat of Realistic Water over the top, so i scraped it off and left a matt surface.

 

I've decided that enough is enough and ordered a pack of E-Z water (Its cheaper than realistic water and I've used it before) This hopefully will give me the depth I'm after.

 

As for trees, given the amount of unused tree armatures I've got, I'll make use of them rather than using Seafoam.

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  • RMweb Gold

E-Z water arrived, but I wanted to sort out some debris to put on the riverbank. I’ll probably work on the river bed over the next few days with a view to pour the river at the weekend.

 

Ive also dirtied the Andrew Barclay with some Tamiya weathering powders, but I feel like it’s not dirty enough!


F1F6C6B7-324C-4320-B6BE-B8CCBAC4C064.jpeg.a2d1513a9009a4ebeb02d5abcd211b19.jpeg

 

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14 hours ago, Captainalbino said:

 

 

'Ive also dirtied the Andrew Barclay with some Tamiya weathering powders, but I feel like it’s not dirty enough!


 

 

 

You could barely see the green paint in their working days.

toto2.jpg

Toto.jpg

 

I love the loose buffer hanging off the wagon.

Edited by Dickon
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4 hours ago, Captainalbino said:

I’m hoping that another go over with the weathering powder will allow a bit more to stick!

 

I've never tried weathering powders.  My favourite method is to use enamel washes working off a pallet so as not to get too consistent a colour, unless of course that's the effect I'm looking for.  The paint can be further worked by dry brushing, or even blotting with tissue or cotton buds.  Sometimes it will take several coats to get a suitably realistic effect.  With most of my locos and wagons that means the filthier the better.

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  • RMweb Gold

I find weathering powders to be far more subtle and textured than paint or washes. 

 

I have a hattons Andrew Barclay to weather for a similar project to this. 

 

 

Rob. 

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1 hour ago, NHY 581 said:

I find weathering powders to be far more subtle and textured than paint or washes. 

 

I wonder if the best might be to start with washes and finish off with powders for a more textured effect?  I'm not an expert.

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  • RMweb Gold

I am reluctant to use washes. A wash, funnily enough, will always look like.....a wash. 

 

The acquisition of dirt is mainly dust and grime which is then further weathered by the elements. In the case of the underframe, wheels etc, it can be quite claggy. 

 

I use mainly powders with an occasional dusting of acrylic paint from an aerosol. Usually dark earth as a base colour over which powders are applied. 

 

Powders are sealed with matt acrylic varnish. This provides further texture and can be burnished with a soft brush. 

 

Subtlety is the key here. Too many attempts at weathering are spoilt with a 'tar brush' approach.....

 

Rob. 

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