RMweb Premium 03060 Posted May 3, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 3, 2020 5 hours ago, Ted-ish said: That's a good comparison shot. 4% is quite the gradient isn't it. 2% looks like child's play in comparison! I originally bought the 4% incline set in complete ignorance of how steep it actually was, recently I conducted a few trials with locos and stock, all be it in a straight line, most of the Farish diesel stuff could handle 6 coaches with relative ease, 2 out 3 of my Dapol 26/27s struggled (I realised that they were only driving on one bogie each ?) Of my steam locos Black 5s and B1s seemed Ok as did J39 whereas strangely my 4F struggled with just 2 coaches ! As the 4% incline wasn't visually what I was looking for anyway and being wary of the strain on the loco mechanisms I've finally managed to get hold of some 2% starter inclines which I am definately more pleased with (the 4% ones will now be used for roads only.) I was very interested in your findings regarding the random uncouplings on your test curves, this has given me further food for thought as I fiddle about with the design of my new WHL layout, as a result I will now use the largest radius' possible as most of my incline / decline sections feature curves. Enjoying the thread, which I found via the excellent Shirebrook thread, hope that you don't mind my brief intrusion but thought that it might be of interest to others also planning to use inclines. Regards, Ian 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 Today I scratch built a cable rack... (not sure that's the technical name). It's slightly over-scale simply because when I tried it smaller, you couldn't even see it. Weathered as per the prototype images I have. Ready to plonk on the layout and bury in shrubbery. I'm pretty happy with the result. I've left two cables running out of the rear, those will connect to the relay boxes that were located next to this signal box. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 54 minutes ago, 03060 said: I originally bought the 4% incline set in complete ignorance of how steep it actually was, recently I conducted a few trials with locos and stock, all be it in a straight line, most of the Farish diesel stuff could handle 6 coaches with relative ease, 2 out 3 of my Dapol 26/27s struggled (I realised that they were only driving on one bogie each ?) Of my steam locos Black 5s and B1s seemed Ok as did J39 whereas strangely my 4F struggled with just 2 coaches ! As the 4% incline wasn't visually what I was looking for anyway and being wary of the strain on the loco mechanisms I've finally managed to get hold of some 2% starter inclines which I am definately more pleased with (the 4% ones will now be used for roads only.) I was very interested in your findings regarding the random uncouplings on your test curves, this has given me further food for thought as I fiddle about with the design of my new WHL layout, as a result I will now use the largest radius' possible as most of my incline / decline sections feature curves. Enjoying the thread, which I found via the excellent Shirebrook thread, hope that you don't mind my brief intrusion but thought that it might be of interest to others also planning to use inclines. Regards, Ian Thanks Ian, you make a good point and one I failed to mention. With 15+ wagons on the 3% incline, I could hear the motor/gear whine. It wasn't pronounced, but it was certainly more noticeable than usual. It was clearly under more strain. A 2% didn't exhibit the same strain, so I'm far more comfortable at that gradient. For anyone else reading this: if you were doing a short run at 3% I'd be less concerned. But an entire helix? Not a good idea! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkie Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Wow another superb N gauge layout in the making. Brilliant era to model and excellent choice of freight workings. Looking forward to seeing your next instalment. Keep up the good work Phil 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 Thank you Phil, appreciate the words of encouragement. For anyone reading - I've been testing weathering a roof of a Peco shed. It's not going on my layout, I use it to test. The left side looks far more realistic (right side if pre-varnish step), to get the effect: Flat grey acrylic, nice and simple Very mild/light streaks with acrylic thinned, dry brushing at times Brushed on matt cote varnish with 1 part white enamel - just slap it on! Hairdryer blast for 15 seconds, then give it a few minutes and it's ready for the impatient modeller to continue MIG dark weathering was then applied around the edges and dragged down with thinner Finally a grey and brown mix was sprayed over edges and lightly across areas of the roof, this blends the manual brush work In the daylight at viewing distance, it looks very convincing. I'll certainly be using this method in the future. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 Today, woodwork in the sun. I'm an amateur so this is definitely woodwork and not carpentry! 9mm hardwood ply from timber merchants, not the god awful B&Q rubbish (all their wood is warped). Tomorrow, start cutting out the track runs and then hopefully, jigsaw the risers down to size/contour of the landscape. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan. Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 Hi Ed, Nice, but some of those cross members look very close to where you will need to mount point motors. Cheers Duncan 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 3 hours ago, Duncan. said: Hi Ed, Nice, but some of those cross members look very close to where you will need to mount point motors. Cheers Duncan Thanks Duncan, I wanted a uniform structure for strength. I thought I would just cut notches for any point motors (I use servos). Should be okay! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted May 23, 2020 Author Share Posted May 23, 2020 Some progress today, just making sure the track and wiring actually works. Best way to do that is to thrash the 37. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted May 28, 2020 Author Share Posted May 28, 2020 More work to do this weekend! Thanks to @WIMorrison for his advice, and James at @DCCTrainAuto too. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted May 30, 2020 Author Share Posted May 30, 2020 I am working on the layout, honest... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted May 31, 2020 Author Share Posted May 31, 2020 Steady, but solid progress. What's slowing me down a touch is that every piece of track and point is a block. Including additional 'toe' blocks in sidings, so iTrain can register each loco and stack them in any siding. I've also create a very small drop at the rear for the two rails as per the real thing. It's only a few feet in real life, so quite subtle but I'm pleased with the effect. 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 03060 Posted May 31, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 31, 2020 The layout looks to be coming on nicely Ted (Ed ?). Can I drag you away briefly, please and just ask if you can remember the source of the background photo on your computer in the post of your excellently weathered class 25 that you posted on Duncan's Shirebrook thread ? (p.29 or 30 I think.) It looks like 25 008 with a class 27 behind and a Gunpowder van in the background which I commented on at the time. I now have a kit for the GP van and fancy having a go at replicating the well weathered state as seen but can't get a decent clear picture of it by enlarging on my screen and a search this morning hasn't come up with the original as of yet. I was very impressed with 25 which you state is hand weathered instead of airbrushed, whilst I have an airbrush available I'd be happy if I could achieve a similar finish by hand if you could offer any details as to how you arrived at this, please. Sorry for the distraction. Regards, Ian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share Posted June 1, 2020 (edited) 17 hours ago, 03060 said: The layout looks to be coming on nicely Ted (Ed ?). Can I drag you away briefly, please and just ask if you can remember the source of the background photo on your computer in the post of your excellently weathered class 25 that you posted on Duncan's Shirebrook thread ? (p.29 or 30 I think.) It looks like 25 008 with a class 27 behind and a Gunpowder van in the background which I commented on at the time. I now have a kit for the GP van and fancy having a go at replicating the well weathered state as seen but can't get a decent clear picture of it by enlarging on my screen and a search this morning hasn't come up with the original as of yet. I was very impressed with 25 which you state is hand weathered instead of airbrushed, whilst I have an airbrush available I'd be happy if I could achieve a similar finish by hand if you could offer any details as to how you arrived at this, please. Sorry for the distraction. Regards, Ian. Ed, Edward or Ted, either works for me! Here's the image, unfortunately it's not the best quality - looks to be a scan of an old photo. Hopefully you can work with it. Happy to discuss weathering, a good distraction and I'll certainly be talking about it here in the future! My technique was relatively straight forwards: 1) Mask windows 2) Apply a thin layer of Humbrol satin coat - allow a few hours to dry 3) Apply a slightly thinned MIG dark (pin) wash around shut lines and details 4) Mix a light yellow, pick out the top edges on the nose on edges the sun would hit (less is more) 5) Leave to dry for 24hours 6) Now I use oil paints to filter the sides and roof. My choice is "Wilder weathering oils" - they dry well and are less greasy than most. I pick 3 colours to suit the direction I want the colour to go. For example, for the BR blue I wanted a sun faded appearance. That means I used a white, light blue and blue grey/steel. I would then put tiny dots of these three paints all over the sides, like a polka dot! Then, using a small amount of thinner of a clean brush, I would drag these colours from top to bottom. The idea here is to create a very subtle 'filter' over the base paint, you shouldn't see each colour, just a changing tone. Very subtle, to the point you don't realise it's there. As these are oils, I'd give it at least a day to allow them to dry before doing any additional layers of filters. Even after a day, they're very easy to remove. Less is more! 7) The roof is pretty easy. Dark oils, lightly brushed side-to-side. Thinned with a clean brush where you want less grime. The opposite of course for lighter areas. You can treat good quality oil paints with a dry brush, moving them around softly. Doing this with a sweeping brush motion creates a very, very smooth finish with absolutely no brush marks. You can work with the oils for hours before they start to dry. If I were airbrushing, I'd just use Acrylics! Which brings me to step 8) airbrush grime and mud lightly over the sides (not see in my photo as that was pre-airbrush). 9) Add grease and oil marks where appropriate on bogies and tanks. Oh and another tip I stumbled across was to first airbrush a light mud colour on the sides. This is 'dried' mud. Then airbrush a much darker shade sparingly lower down. It looks super realistic, I'll get a photo of my 25 at the weekend to show you the end result. Obviously this tip isn't much use for people modelling the summer, but great for winter and autumn. 10) Apply a final layer of varnish if you wish - however, being oils it's not needed as they dry hard and durable. Depends on how clumsy you are when handling your models! Edited June 1, 2020 by Ted-ish 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share Posted June 1, 2020 I should note, satin vs gloss is a personal preference. I wouldn't use matt personally, but I prefer satin (light sheen) to full on gloss. That said, gloss makes working with oils and weathering fluids a touch easier. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 03060 Posted June 1, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 1, 2020 (edited) Many thanks Ed for a very comprehensive weathering description and the photo in question, I did try looking again and pleasently viewed hundreds of photos on Flickr but still couldn't find it. I'll try and give the oil paint techniques a go on a suitable subject as you've definately achieved a 'look' that I recognise from the era. Regards, Ian. Edited June 1, 2020 by 03060 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted June 2, 2020 Author Share Posted June 2, 2020 As promised Ian @03060 , here's my finished Class 25 in 'winter' clothing. 8 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan. Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 Nice job Ed. Cheers Duncan 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted June 2, 2020 Author Share Posted June 2, 2020 2 minutes ago, Duncan. said: Nice job Ed. Cheers Duncan Cheers Duncan, it took long enough! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 03060 Posted June 2, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 2, 2020 Simply....Superb Ed, thanks for posting. Regards, Ian. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted June 2, 2020 Author Share Posted June 2, 2020 21 minutes ago, 03060 said: Simply....Superb Ed, thanks for posting. Regards, Ian. Thanks Ian, aside from the 37 I really do like these little 'rats'. I also did a sound install on this one... pretty much a running theme for me now, must have sound! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted June 6, 2020 Author Share Posted June 6, 2020 Finally I have finished the laying of this 5ft stretch - the 'Shirebrook approach'. It's take me ages because a) I'm slow b) I start over if it's not perfect and c) there are 22 blocks on this part of the layout alone! Completely OTT perhaps, but I want detailed reporting of where locos are and also the ability to shunt and stack with great accuracy. Next, wiring... And then filling all those gaps with sleepers! 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted-ish Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 Wiring is slowly taking shape today - thanks to guidance and advice from @WIMorrison! All Cobalt iP's have been installed, tested and aligned. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 On 02/06/2020 at 19:56, Ted-ish said: As promised Ian @03060 , here's my finished Class 25 in 'winter' clothing. N gauge ? No way ! That’s O or a real one ! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Model Railway Noob Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Very impressive and a great area to model. I admire people who work in N gauge. I am working with a mixture of 009 and 00 and the 009 is so tiny. It's made me want to do 0 gauge next time 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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