stivesnick Posted March 28, 2021 Author Share Posted March 28, 2021 Some basic scenery work has started on the town section of the layout. My end of the high street comprises 4 buildings which serve to hide the track going off towards to the docks. I have used 1mm card to build up the ground level and form a base to bed the buildings in. The high street iteslf is fine wet and dry paper spayed with a bit of grey to tone down the colour. Pavements from Scale Model Scenery have been added. Many people on this Forum have described ow they have created cobble stones and the time it has staken, I have simply used some Chooch Industries stone setts sheet. 30 seconds, job done!. Out of the town centre, the pavements become tarmac and formed of 1mm card. I have gone for 5 foot wide pavements in town, then down to 4 foot approaching the station and then 3 foot out of town. The pub now have some stone paving around it (Redutex) and beyond the pub I have been playing with the area where the war memorial is going. The memorial itself is from Scale Model Scenery. Not sure I have this right yet, so the area is subject to change. On the station itself, some Ration fenceing has appeared and a station sign, again from Scale Model Scenery. Some Peedie Models dummy lights, which are excelllent 3D printed items Progress photos below: Regards Nick 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 Easter Bank Holiday, so whilst there are a few snowflakes falling outside, some time to stay in the warm and build a footbridge that will help disguise the exit track from the layout. The bridge is made from scribed 1mm plastic sheet with assorted bits of plastic section to create the beams and concrete base used to support the bridge. Handrails are from Plastruct. Whilst the paint was drying, I carved out the area on the layout where the concrete foundations would go. The bridge was stuck into position and the ground made up to the bridge deck using some Poundland ready mixed filler. One the the filler had dryed, the ground was painted green and scatter materials added to create the path and surrounding greenery. Obviously the completed bridge is too small to have a bus on it, but a schoolboy with a toy bus perhaps? A final question, would the cliff edge have had fencing in those days? In today's H&S world, there would be a fence to stop people not paying attention whilst looking at their phones from falling over the edge. But in the 1950's were people more sensible? Construction sequence photos enclosed. Nick 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted April 25, 2021 Author Share Posted April 25, 2021 A trip to a real model shop yesterday - such excitement! A Ratio water tank was among the purchases. This is joined by a coaling stage, made from some elements of a KS Laser loading platform provides the locomotive facilities at Porthallow. They will be located alongside the run-round loop. I have also built some sheds for the back gardens of the workers cottages. Progress photos enclsoed. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 One of those new fangalled Class 22 diesels has arrived at Porthallow on a freight working. Hoping it will operate a bit smoother than the Dapol 45XX locos. Got lots of work to sort out the Dapol couplers on the wagons, not very reliable to date when compared with operating modern stock on previous layouts. The signals don't appear to be working very well either. Photos enclosed. Nick 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted May 11, 2021 Author Share Posted May 11, 2021 The last major structure on the layout is the second hotel. This is based around a Tomytec clip together school kit. The issue was how to disguise it's Japanese style. In the end, I did a simple roof overlay using some Noch embossed card. On the reverse side, the card has a 1mm grid making it easy to mark out and keep square. I have also added some new ridges formed of half-round sections and new rainwater pipes. The kit also comes with various porch elements that have been deployed around the building. Work in progress and finished building photos enclosed below 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted June 24, 2021 Author Share Posted June 24, 2021 Having finished the hotel roof, I did a mock up of the hotel on the layout with some temporary trees to judge the effect. To line up the entrance with the stairs up from the road, I had to move the external canopy to the other end of the building, but otherwise it looked OK. The thing that bothered me was the small houses beyond the hotel. They did not look right. Luckily, I saw an article in Model Rail for some new 3D printed buildings from Village Scenecraft and a new cottage was ordered. It has just arrived. Photo showing the two buildings enclosed to show the difference. Oddly the building does not have a backdoor, but this will not matter as it will be located towards the back of the layout, so difficult to see behind it. Hope to paint over the weekend. Nick 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted June 26, 2021 Author Share Posted June 26, 2021 Have been painting the new cottage today. After cleaning and a coat of car primer, I started with a base coat of Green Scene textured paint. The top finish was a cream acrylic. The kit comes with separate 3D printed windows, although other kits may have finer window frames, they are a very good fit and stay in place without being glued. The kit does not include any gutters and down pipes, but will add these tomorrow from plastic section. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted August 7, 2021 Author Share Posted August 7, 2021 (edited) Some new toys arrived this week from Revolution Trains - a pair of 56XX locos. Another one on its way from Rails of Sheffield. Good running straight out of the box and hopefully once fully run in will be even better. Given the smooth operation, we might expect to see many such locos running on GW layouts slightly outside their normal operation area. Will this subtle attempt to re-write railway history work or will the GW Police clamp down hard on such activities! Watch this space. Had to replace one of the points that was playing up. Two minutes to swap the point out, much longer to refit the drive pin from the point motor! Photo of new locos enclosed. The factory weathering on the right hand loco is very well done. Might be a bit of a challenge to weather the others in a similar way. Edited August 15, 2021 by stivesnick spelling mistake spotted 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted August 8, 2021 Author Share Posted August 8, 2021 Had a bit of an operating session today. Three trains available; a passenger train, general goods and the minerals train. The new Sonic locos performed really well. The main issue is with the uncouplers - got to add more weight to the wagons and adjust the uncoupler pin height. Photos enclosed. Nick 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted August 15, 2021 Author Share Posted August 15, 2021 (edited) And then there were 3..... The final 56XX arrived this week from Rails of Sheffield. They had originally sent the wrong loco, but were very helpful in sorting out the matter. Having also been added weights to the wagons to help solve the un-intended uncoupling of the fixed magnets. This has made a big difference and the problems have been reduced and it does stop the wagons from tipping over when over the magnets. Will need to think of a better way to add weights to the open wagons. One option is to assume there is a factory in town that repairs large nuts and wingnuts! New 6602 was doing some shunting this afternoon as the following sequence shows. Once I get around to putting a gate up to protect the road crossing, shunting may get more complex, only just room to fit 5 wagons on the run-round loop head shunt. Not sure road users would have been happy with a road closure during shunting operations. The Dapol signals decided to work today as well - so a good afternoon's work. Today's question: I am assuming that my line to the docks, being a tramway, would not require a full level crossing for the road. However there would still have been a gate to prevent access by people and vehicles to the operational railway yard. Is that correct? Nick Edited August 30, 2021 by stivesnick spelling mistake spotted 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 New wagons spotted in the fiddle yard; some Dapol dogfish and a EFE Shark. It can only mean one thing- track ballasting is about to start! Nick 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted August 29, 2021 Author Share Posted August 29, 2021 (edited) The track has been ballasted today. Legacy Ballast light grey on the main tracks and Carr's ash ballast in the goods yard. The Carr's ballast has turned much darker when wet and soaked in PVA glue. Photos show the ballast whilst still drying. Hopefully will dry overnight and we will see tomorrow what the effect is and how much as actually stuck down. Wetting the ballast with a hand spray hasn't done the card based shed in the goods yard much good, further inspection tomorrow to see how it turns out. May have to replace or touch up with some paint. Regards Nick Edited August 29, 2021 by stivesnick spelling mistake spotted 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted August 30, 2021 Author Share Posted August 30, 2021 The track inspection team were out early this morning. Points checked and working and bits of stray ballast removed from the inside of the tracks with a pointy stick. One thing I noticed is that the ballast is the same colour as the track has been sprayed, so the sleepers not always obvious I will touch up the sleepers to make them slightly darker. Anyway - track cleared and OK to allow the bank holiday excursion to arrive. 4 Collett corridor coaches hauled by a 56XX. With no space at the station, the loco once serviced took the coaches back to the junction station to stable during the day. Regards Nick 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted September 19, 2021 Author Share Posted September 19, 2021 Some Tree planting this morning. My previous layout had around 100 trees so I have spent some time sorting these out. Around 20 have been selected to place around the vicarage and the church. I need to sort out the grounds of the big house and perhaps a few more trees will be added either side of house just in front of the backscene to break up the interface between backscene and the ground. The trees are not stuck down yet, so may move a bit. Will also a bit more ground cover. Work in progress photos enclosed. Contrast with photos in recent posts. Regards Nick 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share Posted October 2, 2021 Some more work on the scenery today. The church yard now has some gravestones. I had a few packs of gravestones from Peedie Models, but there were not enough. I decided to make some of my own. Some bits of microstrip stuck to some 1 x 1mm section to provide a base and help with the painting. The church is a Petite Properties card kit which does make up into a really nice building. The only addition was some microstrip to create the roof seams. The gardeners have also been busy at the big house next door. The building was scratchbuilt from plastic sheet. The windows came from an American supplier. The next task is to add some flowers around the front of the building. I will need to sort out some gates for both buildings. Nick 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted December 25, 2021 Author Share Posted December 25, 2021 It's been a few months since the last update, not a lot has happened but I have been able to do a few tasks. The first is to create a patio drinking area outside the Swan Hotel. The gazebo is from Tomytec with added red stripes from some strips of self adhesive tape. Under the canopy, the bar is formed from some Peedie Models furniture with added bits of plastic section to represent bottles and a tea urn. The seats and tables are from Faller. Need to add some figures I guess this is the advantage of N Gauge, you don't need to model or see all the details, but just be aware that there is something and use your imagination to fill in the gaps. I was thinking of adding some drinks to the tables, but a pint beer glass is less than 0.5mm diameter and 1mm high in N. Do you bother? The second task was the area at the road junction. I had intended to make the space entirely of paving, but this did not look right, so ended up with a largely grass area with a small section of paving for the town cross. The cross is from Scale Model Scenery and looking at the photos is appears bent. I have found their card products not to be very robust and better quality card would help a lot. My think about a replacement cross. Behind that area I have added some railings on to of the stone wall. Again a card Scale Model Scenery product I intended to use has been replaced by a plastic Faller product. To help with the installation of the railings and to avoid having to drill lots of holes to fix the railings, I glued the sections of railing to a C section plastic strip. The C section helps keep the fence straight and vertical and made the whole process much easier. Pictures enclosed. Looking at the final photo I see the roof ridge of the cottage has been damaged - something else to fix over the coming week. Happy Christmas to you all and thanks for the feedback and comments and other inspiring layouts featured on RMweb over the year. Nick 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted December 25, 2021 Share Posted December 25, 2021 Happy Christmas to you too, Nick. Your layout is coming along nicely - keep up the good work in 2022! Andy 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted December 26, 2021 Author Share Posted December 26, 2021 20 hours ago, AndyB said: Happy Christmas to you too, Nick. Your layout is coming along nicely - keep up the good work in 2022! Andy Thanks Andy Here are some more photos from yesterday. Some Model Tree Shop palm trees added in the front of the Riviera Hotel and some Metcalfe benches added to the Railway Inn. I will do some overall photos in the next day or so, but hoping that there will be some exhibitions for the layout to attend towards the end of 2022. Although I suspect that many exhibition managers will have the layouts they intended to have in 2020 and 2021 lined up for their shows. Regards Nick 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 Happy new year to you all. A coal yard area as added to the sidings yesterday. Thanks to Andy B for the photos of his coal yard to get me started. The hut is from Kestrel whilst the coal bins and yard lamp are home made. The coal bins from various bits of plastic section to represent both wooden and corrugated sheet walls. Having built the bins, they did not look big enough so I have a loose pile of coal next to them. The yard lamp bracket was made from a spare window frame with the central window bars removed, whilst the lamp itself is a section of clear plastic sprue from a building kit, a plastic rod and length of brass ladder complete the fitting. I have also started on the road crossing. Lengths of 2 x 0.75mm plastic strip to represent sleepers stuck together. Will paint later today once the glue has dried. Looking at the photos, I have noticed that the stone wall in front of the Riviera Hotel has curved inwards at the top. Rather than try to cure that problem, I will build a wooden frame from some spare girder parts I have to act as a wall brace. Progress photos enclosed. Nick 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Happy New Year, Nick. I like the use you've made of rusting corrugated iron sheets to make your coal staithes. Can I ask how you made those sheets? I've been thinking of putting a fence round the Nantford coalyard and was thinking of something similar. On my boatyard roof I used kitchen foil, scored that and then painted on the rust. But would love to hear how you did yours? Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 1 hour ago, AndyB said: Happy New Year, Nick. I like the use you've made of rusting corrugated iron sheets to make your coal staithes. Can I ask how you made those sheets? I've been thinking of putting a fence round the Nantford coalyard and was thinking of something similar. On my boatyard roof I used kitchen foil, scored that and then painted on the rust. But would love to hear how you did yours? Andy Hi Andy I used Slaters 1mm planking (ref 0432 ) - cut into the equivalent of 8 x 4 foot sheets. They were painted with metalic silver paint, then red paint was dabbed on using a sponge to create the rust. The Slaters sheets are quite thin when compared with say the Ration sheets, so can be overlapped. The same sheet painted brown becomes a wooden fence. This is OK for N gauge, especially for small areas, but in larger scales the difference is more obvious. Regards Nick 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 1 hour ago, stivesnick said: Hi Andy I used Slaters 1mm planking (ref 0432 ) - cut into the equivalent of 8 x 4 foot sheets. They were painted with metalic silver paint, then red paint was dabbed on using a sponge to create the rust. The Slaters sheets are quite thin when compared with say the Ration sheets, so can be overlapped. The same sheet painted brown becomes a wooden fence. This is OK for N gauge, especially for small areas, but in larger scales the difference is more obvious. Regards Nick Thanks Nick. I think one sheet of that would go a long way and I could use it for some of the wooden fishermen's huts too. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted January 3, 2022 Author Share Posted January 3, 2022 Some general update photos including an overall view to show progress over the last year. Updates over the last few days, I have added the front gardens to the homes on the high level road, put in some fences behind the two shops on the high street and generally added a few signs and street lights. Regards Nick 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted January 16, 2022 Author Share Posted January 16, 2022 Some more goodies arrived this week; a few vehicles and some general scenery supplies. The farm supply sop now has some new tractors to sell, protected by some bollards and a chain barrier. Residents can now feast on hot dogs and the guests at the Riviera Hotel have some lights to guide them the steps. Gardeners have been busy at the cottage next door. Progress photos enclosed. Part of me says it all looks a bit nice, so what late 1950s things could be added to bring things down to earth a bit? Nick 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stivesnick Posted April 17, 2022 Author Share Posted April 17, 2022 It has been a few months since I posted anything. A few extra details have been added, I will try to take some general photos later. I have been trying to weather the rolling stock, some attempts better than others - may need to weather the weathering to tone it down a bit. Photos of stock enclosed. Nick 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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