Farleigh

[col.stephens 959]

Peco's water tank appeared to be just what was required to fit between the platform end and the starter signal.  I found it to be a nice model and simple to put together. Unfortunately, the external fittings such as the ladder are made from a soft springy polythene type of plastic.  I found it very difficult to cut flash away from the ladder rungs, it being almost impossible to get a sharp edge to the plastic. I suspect that the fittings are made from this springy plastic to prevent them from being damaged by rough handling.  Nevertheless, the kit made up into a fine model.  I gave the model a spray of Halford's grey primer, followed by a wash of runny brown acrylic paint.  This was followed by a light dusting of 'rust' weathering powder on the main tank.  The top of the tank is modelled to represent a planked cover.  I painted this with white acrylic with a hint of brown, followed by three washes of very watery brown to represent old wood. Here is the model ready to be fixed in situ...

 

I fitted the water tank in place by inserting small bolts through the holes in the corners of the base and fixed with small nuts.  The bolts were trimmed and a lick of paint finished the job.  The drain was fabricated from  Sankey Scenics' items.

 

Terry

Edited April 6 by col.stephens

[col.stephens 959]

Scalescenes' Small Station Building is ideal for this project.  I enhanced the model with plastic downpipes, cast metal chimney, Peco track pin door knobs, and a card valance.  It was also necessary to change the colour of the clapperboard as printed in the kit, from cream to light stone.  As previously stated, I always give the buildings a coat of matt varnish so it was a straightforward job to give a thin wash of acrylic paint over the areas representing wood.

[col.stephens 959]

Next up : platform fencing.  I recently discovered this excellent laser-cut product from Model Railway Scenery. Although made from card it is quite robust when assembled.  It certainly looks the part when fixed to the rear of the platform.

Terry

[col.stephens 959]

I thought that I might as well continue with the area around the station before moving onto the other end of the layout.  The running-in board is a Dart castings product.   The layout required a name so having consulted my road atlas, I decided on a name fairly local to my area... Farleigh.  The name was printed off courtesy of Scalescenes' station signs.  The ratio SR concrete platform lamps were then put together.  A fiddly job this but well worth the effort.  A couple were enhanced with the addition of bullseye signs, again from Scalescenes.

[col.stephens 959]

So, this is how the layout looked last week...

The large grey area at the front of the layout was now causing me some concern.  I couldn't think what I was going to do with this area until the obvious answer came to me.  Extend the grass up to the trackbed.  Here's the result to compare with the previous photo.

 

 

[col.stephens 959]

Overall view.  The grass on the approach road was vacuumed off after the photo was taken.

 

[david51 91]

Hi Terry

looking good.

the Bishops Waltham book is a great source of information and some excellent photographs. 
Incidentally I used to live in Pratt’s Bottom before migrating to the wilds of east Kent. If I can I will try to come to the exhibition there(assuming the lockdown is over by then!)

stay safe

[col.stephens 959]

Model Railway Scenery (no connection other than a very satisfied customer) also produce laser-cut post and wire lineside fencing.  I thought this would be ideal on the station approach road.  The posts need to be placed a scale six feet (24mm) apart.  To speed up the process of planting the posts, I made this little jig...

Place the arrow against the last post fitted, or over the last hole drilled, hold firmly in place with one hand and, using an electric drill, place the 2mm drill bit through each hole in turn.  I drilled all of the holes required in a couple of minutes, all perfectly spaced.

Terry

 

 

Edited April 7 by col.stephens

[col.stephens 959]

Thanks David.  Hopefully the current crisis will be over and done with by then.  Make sure that you introduce yourself if you do manage to attend.

 

Best wishes,

 

Terry

[col.stephens 959]

This photo was taken two days ago.  Yesterday, I threaded the four wires through the nearer posts.  The wire requires painting on the viewing side to eliminate the clean, silver look.  Today, I inserted the small stretches of fencing between the road bridge and the front facia.

So, now the story is up to date and from here on we are modelling in real time.  Here's a flavour of things to come.  The Hornby Terrier resting in front of the station building.

More soon.

 

Terry

[david51 91]

Morning Terry

i looked at the Bishops Waltham book and I was reminded that the siding to the goods shed came straight off of the platform track .

it just proves there is a prototype for everything 

David

[col.stephens 959]

That's true David. 

This morning I gave the fence wire a lick of brown paint and added a dab of brown/grey paint to the posts to lighten them slightly.  I'm quite taken with this product from Model Railway Scenery and will definitely use it in future.

 

Terry

[col.stephens 959]

Today's post brought the SR platform seats from Shire Scenes as sold by Dart Castings.  They are on an etched brass fret(three seats) together with four handcarts and barrows.  As you would expect the seats are quite fiddly but with patience and a blob of superglue applied with a cocktail stick, they make up into fine models.  I thought that a little styrene jig might help the proceedings along a bit.

More soon.

 

Terry

[Joseph_Pestell 12,373]

5 minutes ago, col.stephens said:

Today's post brought the SR platform seats from Shire Scenes as sold by Dart Castings.  They are on an etched brass fret(three seats) together with four handcarts and barrows.  As you would expect the seats are quite fiddly but with patience and a blob of superglue applied with a cocktail stick, they make up into fine models.  I thought that a little styrene jig might help the proceedings along a bit.

More soon.

 

Terry

 

The barrows are a bit fiddly too!

[col.stephens 959]

True, but I am leaving those for another day.

[SteveyDee68 962]

I like your idea of making little jigs to assist with fiddly bits. Noted for future use!

 

Your whole layout is looking really nicely done.

 

Steve S

[col.stephens 959]

Thank you Steve, very kind of you. I'm off to the shed to paint the seats shortly.

 

Regards,

 

Terry

[Kevin Johnson 1,329]

Terry you have produced a lovely little layout, the scenic sections on the layout look great.

I do like the benches you have made along with the little jigs.

[col.stephens 959]

Thanks for the very kind words Kevin.

 

Here are the platform seats in situ...

Terry

[col.stephens 959]

Just a word about power.  This layout will operate on DC by way of a Gaugemaster 100M.  Here's a shot of my very basic set-up.  The switches operate the points and the push button works the signal.  All very simple.  The shelf has since been painted to match the facia.

[Kevin Johnson 1,329]

Terry the platform seats look great, nice work. I still use DC myself.

[col.stephens 959]

Thanks Kevin.

 

To misquote Karl Marx, "DC users of the world unite.  You have nothing to lose but your trains!"

 

Regards,

 

Terry

[MAP66 1,717]

1 hour ago, col.stephens said:

Thanks for the very kind words Kevin.

 

Here are the platform seats in situ...

Terry

The bench looks fantastic, are you planning to place a passenger or two in situ?

[col.stephens 959]

Thank you MAP66.  Yes, eventually there will be a few passengers on the platform, including someone seated.

Presently I am painting some Peco buffer stops retrieved from a failed project. After that I really have to turn my attention to scratchbuilding the goods shed.  I can't put it off any longer!

 

Terry

[col.stephens 959]

Don't you just love the Southern Railway?  Most other companies were quite content to paint their buffer stops red.  But with no thought for the poor 4mm scale modellers who would follow, the Southern decided to paint their buffer stops white with a red stripe along the centre.  Thanks for that!  No matter how steady your hand with a paint brush, the red stripe is never going to look right, is it?  Right, no point in prevaricating.  I painted the faces of the Peco buffer stops with white acrylic paint purloined from the wife's crafting shed, whilst she was busy social distancing in the long queue for Waitrose.  While I was there, I pinched her red paint too!  It's seven paces from the back door to the wife's shed, so that's my daily exercise completed too!  I had a rummage around near our computer and found a pack of self-adhesive address labels intended to go into the printer.  Here's the plan:  paint one of the labels red, slice off a thin strip with the scalpel, and stick to the centre of the  white buffer face.  Well, it was three separate strips actually, plus touching up the corners and ends with red  paint.

 

And in cruel close-up...

 Ready for weathering and planting in place on the layout.

 

Terry

Edited April 9 by col.stephens
Correction to text.