Ashwood Dale - Lockdown and an itch that needs to be scratched

[eldavo]

The jury have duly pondered the problem of the platform facings and a solution may be to hand.  I don't think I can come up with a painting scheme to make the laser etched card solution work so it has to be some form of printed solution. 

 

I didn't like the stone texture I tried initially as the blocks seemed too large and it couldn't be seamlessly tiled into large sheets.  I searched around on cgtextures.com and found something more suitable.  There are a selection of "seamless" textures that can be tiled to make any size of brick/stone paper. Luckily I have an A3 printed so can print stuff at a useful size for O gauge.

 

Being slightly worried that the lack of physical texture might be obvious in this scale I've utilised a trick I picked up from an experienced card modeller Chubber of this parish.  The idea is to scribe in some, but not all, the texture of the mortar lines. I used a coffee stirrer for this job and the idea is that the eye catches sight of some texture and for the observer into believing everything has texture. We shall see.

 

 

In addition I have added a top surface to the platform.  I'm trying to give the impression of stone edge slabs with a rolled aggregate infill.  The infill is represented by sandpaper bought as a roll rather than in sheets. Unfortunately I seem to have bought 400 grade rather than the 180 or 250 I had intended. Being impatient I've cracked on rather than wait for the right stuff!

 

The edges are individual card pieces 14x21mm representing 2ft by 3ft slabs.  They look about right for the width of platforms I have.  Given the layout is supposed to be somewhere in the peak district I am assuming the slabs and infill would be limestone.  I have work to do on the painting.

 

 

Onwards...

 

[eldavo]

Obviously having got the platforms half built it's time to get distracted and do something else.  This time it's the engine shed.  Originally I had hoped to fit in a 4 engine shed somewhere but I decided that it would be too overpowering in the space available and scaled back my ambitions.  The plan now is to build a 2 road 2 engine shed based on Wirksworth that is used to service smaller tank engines based at Covidale. The assumption is that larger engines would have coal and water replenished but would be based and serviced elsewhere.

 

I'm designing the building in Designspark Mechanical, my favourite 3D CAD program.  The main structure is formed from 2 laminations of 2mm greyboard/cardboard.

 

 

The design isn't complete so I may be pushing my luck by starting to cut out the the various bits for the walls.  Nevertheless my cheapo CNC machine with laser has been busy burning bits of cardboard.  The shapes are not complex so I could simply have drawn out the parts and cut everything by hand but if you have a laser cutter why not use it.  It's not  a quick process but the accuracy is the key, far superior to my dodgy knife work.

 

The only drawback is that my machine only has a cutting area of 180x300mm.  Not very big especially if you are working in O gauge.  Consequently the building has to be made from a kit of parts.  I have a lot of bits of cardboard!

 

 

In the pic some of the pieces are a darker shade of grey.  The darker shade is where I have given the card a coat of knotting solution, basically shellac in white spirit.  The knotting solution hardens the card and allows me to sand and file any rough edges.  It also seals the card so should(!) prevent any damage from damp and other nasties.

 

It's still going to be a substantial building but I think it will look OK.  Eventually it will be set into the baseboard by 10mm to help avoid any nasty shadow lines along the base of the building.

 

 

Onward..

 

Cheers

Dave

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by eldavo

[eldavo]

Lifting Covid restrictions is all very well but I'm getting less time in the workshop!  Between playing golf 2 or 3 times a week and bowls 3 times a week I get the odd bit of time but progress has slowed a bit.

 

The engine shed building is taking shape with the major walls now covered in brick/stone paper and assembled. There are a lot of mortar courses to scribe as I've taken the same approach as I've used on the platforms to add a bit of relief to the printed finish. Today I gouged out trenches in the baseboards so that the building can be planted.  It has to be removable.

 

 

This is pretty much old school cardboard modelling even if the parts were cut with a laser.  From above it can be seen the building is not that big and a class 4 engine like the compound is a very tight fit.

 

 

Next up I'd better sort out how to fit a roof.  I've also been fiddling with some details.

 

 

I figured that I would have to have some representation of point rodding.  When you start planning out rod runs and cranks it's scary how much stuff you need.  I've got some MSE etches of cranks and pulleys but I decided to create my own rodding stools. Another little job for the 3D printer.  This point also has an economical facing point lock so I've created a 3D printed representation.

 

It's all pretty small detail in the bigger picture but it adds something (or will do).

 

 

All good fun.

 

Cheers

Dave

 

[lezz01]

The point rodding looks great Dave.

Regards Lez.

[eldavo]

Work has been progressing on the engine shed.  According to the drawings I have of Wirksworth shed the windows appear to have a multitude of small panes.  None of the photos I have of the shed show the windows in enough detail to see exactly how they were built so on my model this is an interpretation!  You need a steady hand with a craft knife...

 

 

...or a laser cutter.  I had to have a number of attempts with different settings and materials but got there in the end.  The glazing bars were drawn at 1/2 millimeter wide but with the kerf of the laser they came out a bit thinner.  Quite impressed with what can be done. The material is heavyweight brown paper that was used as packaging in my delivery of 2mm cardboard.

 

The glazing bars were then given a rough coat of raw umber acrylic and glued to thin clear material with Rocket card glue.

 

 

Finally they were glued behind the window openings of the shed building.  Some cleaning up is still required.

 

 

The floor of the shed has been covered with dark brown brick paper and things have been generally painted up.  A steel beam has been added across the main entrance and a 3D printed slatted ventilator added behind the circular opening.  I still need a central pillar and doors.

 

I need to add some brick/stone paper to the inside of the walls but I don't think I will bother with much detail inside the shed as when the roof has been fitted it will be difficult to see much at all.  I may change my mind of course.

 

 

The ballast is a mixture of chinchilla bathing sand and woodland scenics fine cinders and has had an initial wash of acrylics.  Probably still rather a pale colour for engine shed environs.

 

Lots to do.

 

Cheers

Dave

 

[eldavo]

The loco shed has progressed and now has a basic roof with a clerestory ventilator.  The louvres for the ventilator are yet another 3D printed component.  Whatever did I do before 3D printing?

 

 

I've started to tile the roof but it's a tedious job that will take ages so obviously I've switched to do something else.  Much more fun to faff around with a paintbrush and weather some of the ballasting.  It's dirtier and darker around the ash pit but probably generally too clean.

 

 

Strangely I rather like the slow job of painting all the rail sides and ballasting.  There is quite a lot of it to do.  Unfortunately before I can ballast more track I need to sort out some point rodding, another job I've been avoiding!

 

 

All good fun.

 

Cheers

Dave

 

 

[eldavo]

I've been having a few sessions working on items I've been putting off.  One of these is adding more point rodding.  Of course I've switched from working where I started to the opposite end of the layout!  The rods for the crossover and the entry to the loop/engine shed area are largely completed.  These are mostly fairly long runs of single rodding so not too difficult but they also allow me to move on with ballasting.

 

 

This will all need to be weathered to tone down some of the colours if nothing else.  In fact I've had the dirty brush out and started work on the approach to the engine shed.  You can see some of the colour difference in the shot below.

 

 

I'm very glad I chose to use plywood sleepers as they seem to have taken my acrylic paint stain mix nicely and still have a pleasing timber grain effect.

 

 

More to do.  I have another 1000 chairs coming from C&L so it will soon be time to turn the layout the right way round and build some more track and possibly a baseboard or two.

 

Cheers

Dave

 

[ianmianmianm]

Your layout is lovely and I wish you every success with it.....

 

 

.....but as someone who has lost two dear friends to Covid, I need to ask you to consider the name. I know there are lots of Lockdown Road type names, but the name is no better taste than having a Layout called Cancer Central or AIDS Lane.

 

 

[eldavo]

19 hours ago, ianmianmianm said:

....but as someone who has lost two dear friends to Covid, I need to ask you to consider the name. I know there are lots of Lockdown Road type names, but the name is no better taste than having a Layout called Cancer Central or AIDS Lane.

 

 

Sorry to hear of your losses Ian.  I take your point and to be honest I've not been happy about the name for a while.  I'll come up with something better.

 

Cheers

Dave

 

[eldavo]

On the basis that the track plan is not quite Buxton and if you don't quite get to Buxton on the Midland line you would be in Ashwood Dale, that's the current name for the layout (until I change my mind!).

 

Still working on fiddly bits...

 

 

 

I've run out of compensators on the MSE etches I have so I'll just have to 3D print some so I can finish this bloomin rodding.

 

Cheers

Dave

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by eldavo

[lezz01]

Ashwood Dale is a much better name Dave. Whilst the original name didn't actually offend me as we haven't had any personal loses, although there were a couple of very close shaves with lengthy hospitalisations, I did think it was perhaps not in the best of taste.  

Regards Lez.

[eldavo]

More messing about with point rodding has been occurring.  I'm largely done apart from a few bits that will need to be accessed from the other side of the baseboards on bits of track I haven't yet built.  This is an MSE etch compensator, one of two you get on each sheet.

 

 

 

Here is one of my 3D printed examples in the raw. As the resin is nearly transparent you can't see any detail!  You can see my rodding installation is pretty crude.

 

 

 

It took about an hour with my favourite CAD package to knock something up and 10 minutes to print a whole bunch of them.  They are pretty fragile, I broke one getting it off the build plate, but from 3ft they do the job.

 

 

 

Back to ballasting I fear.

 

Cheers

Dave

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by eldavo

[eldavo]

Still fiddling with track painting and ballasting.  Almost all the track so far built is done, just one length of platform to do.  A delivery of 1000 C&L chairs has arrived so I'm set to build some more track.

 

Having installed a bunch of point rodding my thoughts have turned to the signalbox.  Some while ago I bought an LCUT Creative kit advertised as an MR box.  I built it and it went together ok but...

 

 

 

 

 

...it's pretty crude and the more I look at it the less it looks like a Midland box. It ain't like any Midland box I can find pictures of!  It's just not right at all so it won't do.

 

I've started to map out a design in my 3D CAD program.  So far I've sorted out the lower part of the front and back walls along with the tapered corner posts. I didn't fancy cutting out (even on the laser cutter) all the horizontal planking and fitting it overlapping so these have been 3D printed.  To beef them up I'm mounting them on 2mm card.  This could take some time.

 

 

 

Cheers

Dave

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by eldavo

[eldavo]

It's just over a year since I properly got started on this project.  I was slightly hampered in the first lockdown as I couldn't get hold of the materials for the baseboards but by this time last year I had some of the boards put together...

 

 

 

For the last few months I've been working on the public viewing side of the layout and it has effectively been assembled back to front in my workshop.  For most of this time it has also been buried under materials and tools so it was time for a clear up.

 

 

 

Then it was time to turn the layout round so that I can get at it from the operator side.  Primarily this is because the layout is due for it's first outing on the 1st of August to the Winchester area O gauge group open day. The layout will be displayed as a "work in progress" and viewed from the operators side.

 

 

Viewing from this side it is very obvious that the carriage siding and goods yard areas are still a blank canvas.  My next challenge though is to create some sort of fiddleyard and links to it.  I've still got over a month, just!  

 

Cheers

Dave

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by eldavo

[eldavo]

With an eye to the layout's first outing in 2 weeks time I've been going round the bend. That's building a fiddleyard not losing it!

 

First up was to build the 7th scenic board which continues the main lines and completes the 90 degree turn.  I didn't have anymore of the insulating foam I've used for the first 6 boards and didn't fancy paying the postage charge to get 2 more sheets.  I could have just built a simple plywood affair but decided to use a couple of sheets of Kingspan.  It's not as dense as the other stuff but it'll do for this board which doesn't have much track.

 

 

 

Rather than buying an 8x4 of good quality birch ply from a proper timber merchant I bought stuff I could get hold of immediately from Wickes.  Umm, not a good idea.  Some of this stuff is complete rubbish!  Even after sorting through the stack of sheets to find decent ones when you start cutting you find just how bad this stuff is.  I think the strongest part of it is the glue holding the label on!  Cutting it with a jigsaw invariably causes the outer laminations to fray and shatter.  I should know better.

 

I bodged something up and it'll do.

 

 

 

The radius of the curves is tighter than the recommended minimum 6ft but I think I can convince my stock to go round.  The curve leads to 2 boards that will be used as a cassette fiddleyard.  This will be too short and narrow for exhibition use but allow me to run trains at home.

 

 

 

I have some basic cassettes to build but it's all wired up and I've run a loco across it all which is quite encouraging.

 

 

 

Lots more to do.

 

Cheers

Dave

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by eldavo

[eldavo]

I was fortunate enough to be invited to take the embryonic Ashwood Dale to the Winchester Gauge O Guild open day on the 1st of August, a week ago.  If was duly bundled up and packed into a transit van for the short trip to Otterbourne village hall.  This was a great test of the packaging and transport arrangements.  Apart from a few track niggles that need to be ironed out of all seemed to work well.  Certainly moving the boards around in their carrying frames is really easy.

 

 

 

I now have a list of tweaks to make to the trackwork and a couple of wiring connections that need looking at.  I also need to relay the curve into the fiddleyard to increase the radius a smidge as at least one of my locos struggles.

 

Of course that's all boring stuff so I haven't done any of it!  I decided to break out the laser cutter and knock out a few bits for the scenic side.  I've fitted card side walls to the turntable pit which I hadn't got round to.  I need to add cap stones around the outside so I drew up some curved sections and cut them from 1.5mm card.  Haven't fitted then yet.

 

 

 

I started adding slates to the engine shed roof using a printed texture some while back but I wasn't happy with the effect so off it has come.  Again the laser cutter has made the job easier by cutting out strips of slates from copier/printer paper.  The slates are supposed to be 20" by 10", Countess, size.  You need a lot!

 

 

 

Fitting them is a somewhat tedious job but I've covered half of the main roof.  This could take a while!

 

 

 

All good fun.

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by eldavo

[eldavo]

Bit more work done on the engine shed.  The main roof now has slates and the clerestory ventilator has been glued in place.  I've also added the roof sections to the workshop and office at the rear and added slates.  Looking at photos of Wirksworth shed that I've based this on it looks to have either lead rolls or hip and ridge tiles but the photos aren't really good enough to see which.  I've opted to use lead work and also added flashing in various places though it's not very obvious when everything is white paper!  Cap stones have been added to the tops of the main end walls as well.  It's now down to details such as rain water pipework and painting oh, and some doors!

 

 

 

Onward!

 

Dave

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by eldavo

[eldavo]

More work has been done on the engine shed with various colours of acrylic paint being thrown at the roof.  Not entirely happy with the colours but it's getting there.

 

 

 

Still haven't sorted the gutters and downspouts as it looks difficult so of course I've got distracted and done some more work on the signalbox.

 

The basic structure is made up of 3D printed panels backed by card.

 

 

 

The structure has had basic colours added and has been glazed.  A roof has been built from card and has been tiled in the same way as the engine shed.  I need a pair of finials for the roof so a look through my books and sure enough there are the basic dimensions and a diagram in Midland Style.  A few minutes in my favourite CAD program and my printer produced these:

 

 

 

Mounted on the signalbox they look about right.

 

 

 

A lick of paint on the roof and it looks like I'm getting somewhere.  Still need to sort out handrails and some interior bits.

 

 

 

Lots to do.

 

Cheers

Dave

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by eldavo

[eldavo]

Finally got my caboose in gear and sorted out the handrails for the signal box.  Fiddley bit of soldering of wire for the hand/guard rails around the windows.  For the handrails on the stairs I didn't really have the right size of strip metal so I used a bit of rail (code 75 bullhead I think) with the web filled in with solder.  Looks ok I think.

 

I had more of a problem figuring out how to do the gutters but then realized I could create sections using the 3D printer. Doh!  The half round section is extended into a flat strip that glues under the roof.  Here's a pic with a section alongside a 3D printed representation of a stove for the interior.

 

 

 

Mounted on the building it looks like this...

 

 

 

So this is how the box looks now with paint on the new bits.  There is a rainwater down pipe but it's on the far rear corner so you can't see it.  There are a couple of braces for the landing to be added plus a nameboard but the exterior is pretty much done.  Interior to sort out next.

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Dave

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by eldavo

[eldavo]

An hour or so tinkering in a CAD program and 2+ hours running the 3D printer and I seem to have created something that looks a bit like the distinctive Midland railway lever frame...

 

 

 

Shame that the resulting print is 30% too big!  Resize of the STL file and a reprint and this may be a bit more like it.  We shall see tomorrow when I can be bothered to go down to the shed and do a trial fit.

 

 

 

Still staggered at what can be achieved with this printer.

 

Cheers

Dave

 

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by eldavo

[5BarVT]

That’s remarkably lifelike.

Paul.

[eldavo]

The leverframe seems to fit the box so it has had a coat of paint.  The levers are in the Midlands slightly quirky colours...

 

 

 

The layout of the levers is only an approximation of what the track layout requires but as you can hardly see it when it's in the box I'm not overly worried.  I've also knocked up some bits of furniture to fill up some space.  Again these are 3D printed. 

 

Not sure whether I will bother with the shelf for the block instruments as I'm not sure you'll be able to see it when the roof is on.  There may be enough stuff now.

 

 

 

I need a signalman figure now.

 

Cheers

Dave

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by eldavo

[eldavo]

Surprise, surprise I ended up building a crude representation of the instrument shelf and instruments!  Although it's not really visible in any detail looking at the front of the box something was definitely missing.

 

 

 

It's very crude but fills in the obvious gap when looking straight on...

 

 

 

You can almost see it through the side windows!

 

 

 

I think I'm about done with this building now and have started to bed it into the layout.  The crude coal bunker is designed to help disguise the gap where the building plugs into the baseboard.  More work to do on it but it's getting there.

 

 

 

TIme to go back and finish off some more trackwork I think.

 

Cheers

Dave

Edited April 1, 2022 by eldavo

[eldavo]

Quite a lot more 30ft track panels have be been built allowing me to lay the carriage siding and the goods yard headshunt.  Conveniently I had a lefthand B8 point already built which is the route to some of the goods sidings.

 

 

 

I've also started laying the longest of the goods yard sidings which runs parallel to the down line.

 

 

 

One of the issues that arose in the first outing was that the down line from the fiddleyard is too tight a radius for one or two of my locos. There's nothing for it but to rip it up and relay it.  I built it in a hurry and used 30ft panels which added to the problem by creating a lot of rail joints that made the curve a bit stepped.  Most of this track won't be easily seen by Joe public so, having some lengths of Peco track in hand I figured I use that.

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason I thought the tracks had to be centralised on the fiddleyard board which meant the radius had to be tight.  By moving things over a bit I can ease the radius and it looks as though my longest wheelbase loco will just about manage it.

 

 

 

Now I need to wire it up and see if it really does work.

 

Of course you can't waste track that is already built so the curved bits have been reused to form the curved end of the long good siding.

 

 

 

Lots to do.

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by eldavo

[SouthernMafia]

Great progress Dave, but I'm surprised a man of your calibre hasn't got that lever frame moving with servos!!