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Veja Megstra - RhB Nm layout


MrTea
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I’ve just discovered this topic and enjoyed following the thread. Starting at the beginning, in 2019, I looked at your track plan and thought “hmm, a rather limited roundy roundy, but potentially a useful test track.” But I have to say, what you’ve achieved with it has far exceeded my initial expectation. 
It’s a great example of how not trying to cram too much into a space and carefully researching the landscape can really make the most of this scale. 
I wonder whether I would have been tempted when I first started tentatively collecting HOm back in the 1990s, if the amount of equipment and models available now had been around then?

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We've been confined to the house this week after both our girls tested positive for Covid. They're both ok thankfully but it does mean I've had a couple of evenings to myself where I could do some modelling.

 

One of the challenges I've been avoiding is how best to replicate the ploughed snow drifts either side of the line. Having had some success with Smooth-It on other areas of the layout I thought I'd have a go at adding some either side of the plastic roadbed.

 

I created a spreader using a sheet of scrap card cut to match the profile of the track - the idea being to have flat snow either side of the tracks. The little tool that comes with Kato Unitrack has lots of uses and handily the bottom profile matches that of the track so I could use that for the cut-out:

IMG_1404.jpeg.48412fb0aa2a0b6027631da51186becc.jpeg

 

Next I masked the rails using Tamiya masking tape and applied sloppy Smooth-It to either side:
IMG_1405.jpeg.44e9e6f14c83af32b9df4eaa7c53c4f9.jpeg

 

This is the result after being smoothed down with a wet paint brush:

IMG_1406.jpeg.1b46963e576430af3a1b72942ad54d9d.jpeg

 

I had a bit of a nightmare with the left hand side of the track. After an interruption my pot of filler had gone lumpy but I put it on in a rush and didn't notice how bad it was until the next morning.

 

Anyway. all's well that ends well - the following night I managed to get another free evening and completed the filler-ing between the bridge at Crestas and the 3 arch bridge in the middle of the board. Hopefully it will all look ok when it's painted and covered in a layer of snow powder.

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Last night, after finishing off the filler-ing I spent some time working on the backscene.

 

Inspired by Bob Ross on BBC Four I discovered we had a fan brush that I could use to paint the trees.

 

This was mid-way through the work. I'd painted the distant mountain using watercolour based on the reference photo from a video I'd found on YouTube:

IMG_1408.jpeg.d512812005fe6224e766bd369aea6c42.jpeg

 

If you look closely at the print out you can see the rectangle I've marked which represents the area I was painting. I haven't tried to replicate the hillsides exactly (I'm not that good an artist!) but rather capture the essence of the location and create something that the foreground scenery can blend with.

 

The trees on the mountain side are strokes of the brush using a mix of blue, green and black with the odd splodge of brown thrown in.

 

Here's where I got to by the end of the night:

IMG_1411.jpeg.75bdc91fd441b2222928bb61a7ca6f7e.jpeg

 

 

Mid-way through I got distracted with testing my new purchase. It's not very Swiss but it does look quite at home on this side of the layout!

 

 

IMG_1409.jpeg.484b1935e007d577e072bedbbadc0f12.jpeg

 

Hopefully, over the weekend I'll get some time to finish the snow drifts on the left hand side of the bridge and I might make a start on painting the bridge itself. At the moment it's still in grey primer, with a wash of plaster highlighting the mortar joints. I'm still debating whether to represent the bridge as it is today after modernisation with walkways and railings or as it was in the years after 2000 when the layout is probably set.

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Hello everyone. Just to let you know that I haven't forgotten about Veja Megstra. The layout has been in storage since before Christmas but hoping to get some time to work on it and start adding the snow in the next couple of weeks!

 

Ian

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Good evening Ladies and Gents. An unexpected Covid case in the house this morning meant our plans for the day got swiftly cancelled. The side-benefit was that I got a couple of hours this afternoon to work on the layout.

 

First job after digging the boards out of storage was to do some more work on the backscene on the Bergun side, which I'd started in the autumn...

 

Before:
IMG_1407.jpg.e97affe561b74618ebdab73ab2761c40.jpg

 

After:

IMG_1612.jpg.c3e184ca94ca005cd096fec2aaebc4d1.jpg

 

As you can see I've added a lot more trees and taken the plunge and added a bold blue for the sky.

 

IMG_1608.jpg.a529798d7cbaf4ea3d694fe79e436cc0.jpg

 

The blue itself was something of a dilemma - I got two tester pots from B&Q but I wasn't sure if I was brave enough to go for the vibrant blue! Alpine skies are often, what feels to me to be, ridiculously blue in photos, and this seems to be accentuated by the snow capped peaks. In the end, based on my reference photos (screen grabs from a cab ride video) I decided to mix my own colour by doing a 50/50 mix of the two shades.

 

I reckon it's turned out ok but I'll leave it up to you guys to judge.

 

Finally here's more of a close-up of the bridge area showing where I'm planning to add ready-to-plant conifers in front of the painted scene to help mask the join and add to the feeling of depth. Based on my experience on the Veja Megstra side I'm pretty confident a couple of layers deep, of differing heights, should do the job.

 

IMG_1609.jpg.1bc2141d36dac14284264ff21f50bd80.jpg

 

Next job is to add a few more trees to add a bit more depth and then give this a coat of matt varnish to seal it. After that I can crack on with painting the bridge, which I'm quite looking forward to.

IMG_1608.jpeg

IMG_1612.jpeg

IMG_1407.jpeg

IMG_1609.jpeg

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59 minutes ago, MrTea said:

ridiculously blue in photos,


It was pretty cloudy last time I was there but you could see those deep blues at times ;)  Yours is looking great and it varies lots so anything from grey through to vibrant blue is realistic. 
69656178-D1C0-49AE-B867-C7482A0C037B.jpeg.ffb1bef186d55c3ac8d4f83f9806a7f8.jpeg

 

63A5427E-599F-40D8-A0C5-85CCB366D81B.jpeg.69e05a5ddbda43e6a996d101d3edfbfa.jpeg

 

54C038B4-533B-4764-B3A7-FEEBBE443211.jpeg.11752ba0dc6e10673c17e0ef79f11b2a.jpeg

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Slight diversion this afternoon, had a photo session in prep for tomorrow's Twitter Model Train show and planted a few extra trees near the bridge at Veja Megstra station:

IMG_1670.jpg.79fccea251a0275b8e1bf105da7e9af9.jpg

 

 

 

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It kind of frames this end of the station board a bit and will help with the transition when trains enter from the Toua tunnel direction:

IMG_1671.jpg.b85d65246c49c3f254c22e9c62d77c0e.jpg

 

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The sun was quite low in the sky as the remainder of Storm Eunice blew through which led to some interesting lighting effects. IMG_1660.jpeg.a3edbff4eed029ad19a90b7da884af50.jpeg

 

IMG_1666.jpeg.e6aadd426fb6243d686471def4eb7359.jpeg

 

IMG_1653.jpeg.438de6ca19ef83ee45cb59ead15b6082.jpeg

 

 

 

 

 

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Veja Megstra now has it's own Twitter account:

 

It's the #TwitterModelTrainShow today if anyone is interested. This year's show is raising money for the Railway Children charity:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/twittermodeltrainshow2022

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Managed to get some time to do a bit of work on the layout this afternoon. First job was to add the bright blue to the sky on the God Tunnel board which now needs the trees tarting up to match. 
 

Then I moved on to something I’ve been meaning to do for ages - painting the 3 arch bridge over the road on the Bergun middle board. I used a mix of grey and beige acrylic paints on the stones. I think possibly it could do with a light grey wash to bring out the mortar joints and then a few dry brushed highlights on the stones. 
 

I’ve also finally fitted the replacement close coupler to one end of my Kato Allegra so now it can haul stock for the first time. I couldn’t resist posing it on the layout for a few shots with the Bernina Express panorama cars. 
 

E5819C8C-5AEE-4248-B24E-D243F0E26645.jpeg.ac5b8f5734bfa2703f469a8e17cc0deb.jpeg
 

BE9A1DEE-47C7-4289-8AC5-1D2A43A93949.jpeg.85a257d24029dba068e4d2480996783d.jpeg

 

686B9CB1-65A7-42E7-9564-EF7E07A7D775.jpeg.16a786b31b44fa29b41bb452113af026.jpeg

 

C60CE47C-7A1A-49BB-832D-FFF0946EB04C.jpeg.bda40413483cdb580f896d364868a021.jpeg

 

 

 


 

 

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Sorted out the sky above God Tunnel and repainted some of the trees last night. Took the opportunity to get the Glacier Express coaches out for a few photos. 
 

DC331FE1-CA2C-4DFD-94F5-DE3F9F645B85.jpeg.a614cbbcf476b5a623c9d7ab2f2a01e8.jpeg

 

9DF49CB3-CDDF-4B5D-B3FE-1C1667D89835.jpeg.f1023d894b7487f745455b1f0bc3f070.jpeg

 

235FE658-4680-477D-A5A2-01DA0EFEDFB8.jpeg.4a675d3388f013f04c37fbf0328e84e4.jpeg

 

Next job is to varnish the backscene and start adding the snow. Then I’ll add a few trees in front of the backscene to try and add a bit of depth to the join between landscape and sky. 

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A Welsh visitor at Veja Megstra:

 

 

I decided I’d try out my Bachmann FR Fairlie on the layout on Friday night. Amazingly, despite being 4mm scale, it fits through the RhB 1:150 scale bridges and tunnels. Although I only had two of the boards out I managed to run the layout on DCC power for the first time and had some fun shunting up and down with a rake of trucks. 

 

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5 hours ago, MrTea said:

A Welsh visitor at Veja Megstra:

 

 

I decided I’d try out my Bachmann FR Fairlie on the layout on Friday night. Amazingly, despite being 4mm scale, it fits through the RhB 1:150 scale bridges and tunnels. Although I only had two of the boards out I managed to run the layout on DCC power for the first time and had some fun shunting up and down with a rake of trucks. 

 

 

Nice little video - on the scenic section of the line I think it looks impressive.  

 

I was wondering just yesterday about running trains of a very different scale on a layout (perfectly possible with Narrow Gauge - in many combinations).  Might it somehow mess with the fragile illusion in my head of a world in miniature - would it somehow give the game away, or could I reset the images in my head in time for the next train to appear…?

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On 03/04/2022 at 15:00, Keith Addenbrooke said:

 

Nice little video - on the scenic section of the line I think it looks impressive.  

 

I was wondering just yesterday about running trains of a very different scale on a layout (perfectly possible with Narrow Gauge - in many combinations).  Might it somehow mess with the fragile illusion in my head of a world in miniature - would it somehow give the game away, or could I reset the images in my head in time for the next train to appear…?

I think you are mixing up "an Nm RhB layout" and "playing trains" (aka Rule 1) - both are perfectly valid in your own home, although the second  might require consenting viewers in a show.  😃

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On 31/03/2022 at 19:19, MrTea said:

Managed to get some time to do a bit of work on the layout this afternoon. First job was to add the bright blue to the sky on the God Tunnel board which now needs the trees tarting up to match. 
 

Then I moved on to something I’ve been meaning to do for ages - painting the 3 arch bridge over the road on the Bergun middle board. I used a mix of grey and beige acrylic paints on the stones. I think possibly it could do with a light grey wash to bring out the mortar joints and then a few dry brushed highlights on the stones. 
 

I’ve also finally fitted the replacement close coupler to one end of my Kato Allegra so now it can haul stock for the first time. I couldn’t resist posing it on the layout for a few shots with the Bernina Express panorama cars. 
 

E5819C8C-5AEE-4248-B24E-D243F0E26645.jpeg.ac5b8f5734bfa2703f469a8e17cc0deb.jpeg
 

BE9A1DEE-47C7-4289-8AC5-1D2A43A93949.jpeg.85a257d24029dba068e4d2480996783d.jpeg

 

686B9CB1-65A7-42E7-9564-EF7E07A7D775.jpeg.16a786b31b44fa29b41bb452113af026.jpeg

 

C60CE47C-7A1A-49BB-832D-FFF0946EB04C.jpeg.bda40413483cdb580f896d364868a021.jpeg

 

 


Sorry about the lack of updates from Veja Megstra the summer. Life’s kind of got in the way - you know how it is!
 

I was looking through some old photos of my Dad’s from our trip on the RhB in the summer of 1989 the other day and I realised: I’ve only gone and made a model of this bridge in my Dad’s photo!

 

69C0A1E6-21EC-496F-91E1-BF5EBC9E5BC4.jpeg.7020a808951020ed7973aff1c2aeeed6.jpeg
 

Isn’t it funny how things turn out!

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On 13/11/2022 at 20:01, MrTea said:

I’ve only gone and made a model of this bridge in my Dad’s photo!

 

69C0A1E6-21EC-496F-91E1-BF5EBC9E5BC4.jpeg.7020a808951020ed7973aff1c2aeeed6.jpeg
 

Isn’t it funny how things turn out!

And your overbridge is just out of shot to the right! The bank on the side of the road just above the first & second coach connection is my favourite spot above Bergün 😀

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Posted (edited)
On 02/04/2022 at 12:14, MrTea said:

Next job is to varnish the backscene and start adding the snow. Then I’ll add a few trees in front of the backscene to try and add a bit of depth to the join between landscape and sky. 

 

It's been nearly 2 years, but over the weekend a renewed bout of enthusiasm for all things RhB resulted in me dusting down one of the layout boards and finally getting on with this!

 

It was a combination of a running session on the dining room table with the Glacier Express set and some EW1 coaches plus watching a few YouTube videos that reminded me what fun the Kato RhB stock can be.

 

 

Edited by MrTea
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Posted (edited)

Saturday afternoon saw the back scene varnished and the tunnel mouth masked up with some Post-it notes:
IMG_3976.jpeg.e5d3ef135872a17980954f958bc4ce7e.jpeg

 

First coat of snow completed last night:
IMG_4002.jpeg.ec7f5f13d5bda2e9efbd1890b7fe27ad.jpeg

 

I'm using Precision Ice & Snow's Krycell product, which appears to be out of production at the moment. It's fixed down with cheap hairspray from Superdrug!

 

I think based on the instructional clips I watched it'll need a few coats but I gather you can get some interesting blown snow and drift effects with a bit of practice. Erk!

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On 07/03/2024 at 12:26, Mike Beard said:

I have missed your updates. Glad you are back

 

Thanks @Mike Beard. I've started the process of reinstating the images on the thread too. It's not necessarily a quick process as it's not always easy to work out which image I'd used originally but I think it's worthwhile. Without the images the thread doesn't really tell the story of the layout, it definitely makes more sense with them inline.

 

Here's a quick update showing where I got to at the end of last weekend:

 

IMG_4004.jpeg.1afda15c7c47bdacedf64957a11fc6bf.jpeg

 

I peeled back the masking tape on the track and around the tunnel mouth and temporarily installed a few OHLE masts for the photos.

 

The first layer of snow seems to have been quite successful but as you can see I got impatient and installed a layer of trees in front of the backscene while the snow was still drying. They're a mix of Footpath pine trees and Model Scene spruce trees. I particularly like the dead branch variety here as they're in keeping with the trees I've seen on reference photos in this location.

 

There's quite a good sense of depth now but I think a few more trees wouldn't go amiss overall.

 

I need to replace the tunnel mouth as it's become discoloured in storage and whilst scenic work has been taking place. I'm tempted to replace it with textured stone material if I can find a good match, although the original print from a photo method was very quick and convenient.

 

IMG_4007.jpeg.bb3906a3fdec212059a2ddf3516e4944.jpeg

Close in view showing the snow texture. It needs more deep snow around the tunnel portal and some representation of ploughed compacted snow along the trackside. You can see how good some of the trees look but there are also some weird shadows going on with the lighting that you wouldn't see in real life.

 

IMG_4008.jpeg.f80bfb219ceb087d0a0421a3044d53d7.jpeg

Drone shot. This shows how I probably need to add some fallen trees and general undergrowth to help mask the join between the snowy hillside and the painted back scene. The exposed ballast, cleared of snow, is prototypical based on the cab ride video I'm using as a reference.

 

IMG_4009.jpeg.945f81ebabe4c3dbc58c7c1270a81072.jpeg

The Veja Megstra track gang hard at work.

 

I think the scene is coming together quite well. I'll look to add another layer of snow and revisit the forest in a  future update. Meanwhile there's another 3 feet or so just off camera to the left that needs covering in snow!

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Posted (edited)

Managed to fit in an hour or so of work on the layout yesterday in between essential domestic activities. The back scene on the middle board of the Bergun scene has now had a coat of matt picture varnish (I still have occasional flashbacks from when I used the wrong sort on the Chaneletta Galerie back scene...). And I added some more snow to the God tunnel board. It's quite a messy activity (best conducted outside) as there seems to be a fair amount that doesn't stick to the hairspray - maybe I need to watch the instruction video again!

 

What I did do yesterday morning was make a plan:

IMG_4014.jpeg.ede753d53f3c91221c53298b03e79b78.jpeg

 

I think I've worked like this from a marked-up photo before but not necessarily one of the part-complete layout. It was quite a nice quick way to get my thoughts down on what I need to do next. The smaller details came from revisiting the location on Google Streetview, which is my go to research source for this section of line. The fact that you can pan around and zoom in makes it great to see what there is in the real location.

 

I'm going to have to order some more trees as I only have ones that are too large or too small in my stock. I suppose I could look at making my own but I think there are other things I'd rather be getting on with.

 

Does anyone know of a good source of winter bushes for n scale? I need something to go along the ridge line on the cutting where the gradient flattens out e.g.

Ridgebushes.jpg.a8303a9b6be068f9d60e5d6134cd4772.jpg

 

Everything I've got is a bit too leafy or green. I suppose a few grass clumps might do the job with a bit of a black/brown wash over them?

 

This is the plan for the next board:
IMG_4015.jpg.d65b6a7cfd593c5e75f55f32624affa1.jpg

 

I'm hoping I might get some of this done during the evenings this week. Again this board needs an initial layer of snow and then I'd like to repeat planting some trees along the back scene where the hill joins the painted scene. I'll also have to add some ballast to the shoulders around the track even though I'll probably end up covering up some of my good work with snow powder.

 

 

 

Edited by MrTea
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Your layout is coming on well.

 

winter bushes - because you are working in N you will not need anything too tall!

 

you could try faded brown static grass say 2 and 4 mm fibres. After these have dried brush a little white glue over some of the fibres and sprinkle on a little brown scatter to represent dead leaves. Of course less will be enough.

 

second method could be a little teased our poly fibre which has been sprayed mid brown. Tease it out a lot and fix to land with PVA. Then try adding a few dead leaves as before.

 

hope one of these methods works!

 

kind regards

 

peter

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