RMweb Gold young37215 Posted January 20, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 20, 2021 7 hours ago, mallaig1983 said: A very good question and one I need to find the answer to. I had assumed it was an era thing. I’ve seen photos of grey TTAs in the early 80s and black TTAs later in the decade. I could be putting 2 and 2 together and be coming up with 11 and a half but research points at this but to homest it’s something that I do need to prove or disprove. My TTAs are black so I am expecting to repaint them anyway. However the photo included on this thread earlier clearly shows one grey and one black tank in the consist. So I’d love to hear from anyone in the know. My understanding is the colours of a TTA denoted the content of the wagon primarily for safety purposes so that people can tell from a distance what is in the wagon should an emergency ocur. In simple terms which is all I want to know, black is for heavy oils and grey for lighter ones. There are plenty of pictures around showing wagons in both colours at Mallaig so no need to think of re-painting. Given the nature of what they were carrying, the wagons were usually filthy and need plenty of weathering. I am sure someone more knowledgeable than me can provide greater detail on this, bottom line for me is we can run wagons of either colour and be prototypically accurate! 6 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 03060 Posted January 20, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 20, 2021 Another couple of great photos, Rob, for us to study, thanks. A quick look again on Paul Bartlett's photo site suggests that Class B tanks would be mainly black although there are some grey ones, whereas Class A tanks 'seem' to be exclusively grey. I know from previous research that this is a 'massive' subject on it's own and as Rob rightly points out we only need to be able to represent either colour or both, I just wondered how this related to the storage tanks and pipework at Mallaig, presumably one set for heavy oils and another for lighter oils. Of note also is that there are at least 2 different types of grey tanker in the lower photo. The furthest away looks like it carried an ESSO plate at some point. Sorry for the distraction. Regards, Ian. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted January 21, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 21, 2021 Despite the grunge they light grey ones had red solebars as can be on that first wagon... ... just. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallaig1983 Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 A very pleasant afternoon spent today at the table renumbering coaches. I have been collecting coaches for many years which I’m glad about as the cost of them now seems crazy. Always get £100 worth at Warley. In fact discussions with friends about what’s on ‘The List’ would usually be followed with “apart from your MK1s” I’ve had some of these over ten years and they’ve never been out of their boxes so it was good to get them out and actually do something with them. 9 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold young37215 Posted February 1, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 1, 2021 Well done Andy, the renumbered coaches will add to the realism of your layout. If you are feeling really adventurous you can now start checking that the bogies match those which were on your renumbered coaches. Changing bogies around is very easy, the single screw in on the underside of the bogie is all that has to be removed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallaig1983 Posted February 1, 2021 Author Share Posted February 1, 2021 Thanks Rob. I have actually done a bogie swap on the BCK that will become 21246 and as you say it is indeed a simple process. Others will be swapped around in due coarse. I do now need a couple of different transfers sheets or maybe just the one with individual numbers for a couple of the remaining vehicles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted February 1, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 1, 2021 Are you going to try and reduce those oversized roof ribs? I started to do some but decided that life is just too short. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallaig1983 Posted February 1, 2021 Author Share Posted February 1, 2021 I don’t think so. I will remove the steps on the end tho but all in good time. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallaig1983 Posted February 27, 2021 Author Share Posted February 27, 2021 Just read Rob’s update on WHL4 with regard to the Ethel units. I was only aware of the forthcoming Heljan release so the SLW announcement came as a surprise as it had escaped me. Since deciding to include a version of Fort William on this layout I have been tracking down and purchasing MK1 sleeping cars. Also paying down my Accurascale balance so I could of really done with these Ethel’s being released in the future! Add that I would also need the MK3 sleeping cars to go with it. All this when I’ve not even built a baseboard for Fort William. I’m hoping that having two manufacturers releasing Ethel’s will mean that they won’t sell out to quickly. Exciting times tho for us West Highlanders. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold young37215 Posted February 28, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 28, 2021 You will be pleased to know that Hornby have added a re-run of their Mk3 sleeper to their 2021 products range. This should stop these coaches appearing on Ebay at inflated prices. Get saving! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallaig1983 Posted February 28, 2021 Author Share Posted February 28, 2021 2 hours ago, young37215 said: You will be pleased to know that Hornby have added a re-run of their Mk3 sleeper to their 2021 products range. This should stop these coaches appearing on Ebay at inflated prices. Get saving! Great news indeed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallaig1983 Posted February 28, 2021 Author Share Posted February 28, 2021 Quite a productive Sunday cracking on with the Atlantic coast rocks at the right hand side of the layout. Today the plaster cast moulded rock pieces have been cut and snipped to shape and glued to the plaster bandage former. I have just finished filling the gaps with carving plaster which will be carved to match the moulded peaces and then painted. I had hoped to be at that point by close of play but I had my vaccination on Friday afternoon and although not exactly suffering from side effects I was a little bit achey and lacking in energy yesterday so I lost a day’s modelling. Not a wasted day though as I spent it reading RMweb and watching YouTube. Oh and the rugby of course :-) I wasn’t going to include a photographic update as it obviously shows the amount of work still to be done but then I thought someone might be interested to see how it looks at the midpoint. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold young37215 Posted March 1, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 1, 2021 16 hours ago, mallaig1983 said: I wasn’t going to include a photographic update as it obviously shows the amount of work still to be done but then I thought someone might be interested to see how it looks at the midpoint. I am glad you included the picture. Progress looks impressive and I am watching the rocks develop with interest as I have several areas where I will need to do a similar job of joining moulds together. Please keep the pictures that chart the evolution of this area coming. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Bell Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 Those rocky outcrops look the business Andy. It will look impressive once coloured up. Cheers David 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium coronach Posted March 4, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 4, 2021 On 28/02/2021 at 17:06, mallaig1983 said: Quite a productive Sunday cracking on with the Atlantic coast rocks at the right hand side of the layout. Today the plaster cast moulded rock pieces have been cut and snipped to shape and glued to the plaster bandage former. I have just finished filling the gaps with carving plaster which will be carved to match the moulded peaces and then painted. I had hoped to be at that point by close of play but I had my vaccination on Friday afternoon and although not exactly suffering from side effects I was a little bit achey and lacking in energy yesterday so I lost a day’s modelling. Not a wasted day though as I spent it reading RMweb and watching YouTube. Oh and the rugby of course :-) I wasn’t going to include a photographic update as it obviously shows the amount of work still to be done but then I thought someone might be interested to see how it looks at the midpoint. Looks really good. I look forward to seeing the completed result 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallaig1983 Posted March 7, 2021 Author Share Posted March 7, 2021 Yesterday I painted the rocks. This little project was quite daunting when I started out but has actually been a very pleasant experience. During the week I’d been spending some time in the mornings before work carving the plaster between the rock moulds. I have a nice set of wax carving tools that I had bought for this purpose. For a tenner on a well know internet seller they have proved to be an absolute bargain and something I would definitely recommend. I just had a couple of tweaks here and there to make yesterday morning and once hoovered and the pigments made up as per the woodland scenics YouTube tutorial I was ready to go. The pigments I used were Stone Grey, Burnt Umber and black with also the black used as the wash. I applied these with a one inch decorators paint brush. Once the whole area had been ‘leopard spotted’ it was left to dry. I was happy with the result and left it at just the one coat. I sprayed it al with scenic cement and once that was dry I applied the black wash later followed by another coating of the scenic cement. I’m really pleased with the result. I've run through how I did it as there has been a bit of interest from others on here. 7 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallaig1983 Posted March 7, 2021 Author Share Posted March 7, 2021 These are the carving tools used. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallaig1983 Posted March 7, 2021 Author Share Posted March 7, 2021 Obviously different tools have different effects but the two above were the most used. The one on the right particularly useful to shape larger blobs of plaster. It easily carves a straight edge. The carving plaster was used to make some rock forms and not just to fill the gaps. I hope someone finds this explanation useful. Andy 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallaig1983 Posted March 7, 2021 Author Share Posted March 7, 2021 After all that modelling I thought I’d have an little operating session. Just to make sure running trains didn’t cause vibrations that might crack the rocks of cause :-) Fort William obviously has a shortage of class 37s today as the local area trip loco has been pressed into action on the FW to Mallaig teatime service. 20 148 departs Mallaig with 2B18 the 18:55 to Fort William. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold young37215 Posted March 8, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8, 2021 19 hours ago, mallaig1983 said: Yesterday I painted the rocks. This little project was quite daunting when I started out but has actually been a very pleasant experience. During the week I’d been spending some time in the mornings before work carving the plaster between the rock moulds. I have a nice set of wax carving tools that I had bought for this purpose. For a tenner on a well know internet seller they have proved to be an absolute bargain and something I would definitely recommend. I just had a couple of tweaks here and there to make yesterday morning and once hoovered and the pigments made up as per the woodland scenics YouTube tutorial I was ready to go. The pigments I used were Stone Grey, Burnt Umber and black with also the black used as the wash. I applied these with a one inch decorators paint brush. Once the whole area had been ‘leopard spotted’ it was left to dry. I was happy with the result and left it at just the one coat. I sprayed it al with scenic cement and once that was dry I applied the black wash later followed by another coating of the scenic cement. I’m really pleased with the result. I've run through how I did it as there has been a bit of interest from others on here. First class job Andy, well done. You should be pleased with the outcome 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallaig1983 Posted March 8, 2021 Author Share Posted March 8, 2021 Thanks Rob. Yes I’m really pleased with how the rocks have turned out. As discussed before there is a fair bit of grass and weed growth to be added which should really enhance the look further. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
6990WitherslackHall Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 Progress is looking great so far. Can't wait to see when it's done 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted March 8, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8, 2021 Those rocks look superb 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallaig1983 Posted March 9, 2021 Author Share Posted March 9, 2021 Another day, another loco shortage. I hope the local bashers are making the most of it. Pleased with the progress of this area I have just placed a couple of the mock up buildings to see if I’m getting the right feel. The boat yard sits very slightly at the wrong angle in order to replicate the slipway. I’m not sure if this is the foundation of the slipway as it obviously requires a lot more time or whether it’s just being used as a gauge at the moment. It’s just something I knocked up fairly quickly yesterday morning to get the look. 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcanman Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 Great work with the rocks. You're really getting the delapidated look around Mallaig that I saw on my visit in 1984. 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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