Chuffnell Regis

[Graham T]

Looking a bit anaemic with its first coat of deck tan.  That will form the basis for the mortar courses, and also acts as a primer for everything else.  The MDF drinks it up like a sailor on shore leave!

 

I think I need to scribe the end of the brick courses on the corner nearest to the camera before I do anything else...

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Graham T

[Neal Ball]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

Looking a bit anaemic with its first coat of deck tan.  That will form the basis for the mortar courses, and also acts as a primer for everything else.  The MDF drinks it up like a sailor on shore leave!

 

I think I need to scribe the end of the brick courses on the corner nearest to the camera before I do anything else...

 

 

Thats already looking very good Graham

[MrWolf]

Definitely coming to life. 

[Graham T]

12 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Definitely coming to life. 

 

It will be Frankenstein's weighbridge office <cackles>

[Graham T]

I suppose I'm about a month late for that really aren't I?

[Graham T]

Here are the fruits of considerable tearing of hair and gnashing of teeth.  For a number of reasons, mostly related to rampant bodgery, getting the horizontal and vertical alignment correct was a bit of a challenge.  But we got there in the end and stock now runs smoothly onto and off both tracks.

 

It seemed like a lot of effort to get just two tracks, so I'm going to add a small radius LH point to the closer track, which will give me one more siding about three feet long.  I couldn't have a third track joining directly to the main layout and still use the alignment dowels.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Graham T

[Graham T]

And so away from the scary world of wood butchery, and back to the comfort zone - splashing paint about.  The first coat of rust red onto the weighbridge office.  Looks better already (although I've managed to get some on the window frame as well...)

 

 

 

I've also made a start on painting the coal (insert your choice of word here) thingys.  Flat black and a couple of shades of dry-brushed grey so far.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Graham T

[Thorness]

Looks good.

I wouldn't worry about the bit of red on the window frame, it looks like some of the red lead primer showing through.

 

Cheers

Don

[Graham T]

Thanks Don.  I might well leave it as it is, since the window frames look a bit worse for wear anyway.

[Graham T]

Here's the state of play with "Frankenhut".  I've been messing about with washes, picking out bricks in different shades, and so on, but seem to be a bit stuck.  Grateful for any suggestions.  I might just call it good enough for "normal viewing distance" and plant it on the layout, but I think the mortar courses still need to stand out more to be honest.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Graham T

[Neal Ball]

That looks great Graham.

 

I wouldn’t worry too much about mortar lines. Take a photo of a house and reduce it down and you won’t see many mortar lines, if at all.

[Graham T]

Thanks Neal.  I did add a little more deck tan to it after that photo, but am going to stop tinkering now and call it finished (I think!)

[Graham T]

I've also been putting together the tunnel mouth for the scenic break to the fiddle yard (I know it's not exactly an original idea!)  This is from another Scalescenes kit.  I should probably build some landscape for it to sit on as well...

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Graham T

[Graham T]

This evening saw the tunnel mouth completed, and so it was time for some bodgery with the hot glue gun and an old cardboard box, so that it wouldn't need to levitate  

 

In this view the tunnel mouth is about 6" from the joint to the fiddle yard.  I'm not sure yet whether to leave it there, or move it a bit closer to the joint.  It's a trade-off between having space to model the scenery on top of the tunnel, and maximising the length of track from the river bridge to the tunnel entrance.  My gut feeling right now is to move the tunnel entrance a bit closer to the joint, but as ever I'd welcome other opinions - thanks.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Graham T

[Neal Ball]

Morning Graham, I might move it back a few inches or so, mainly so the transition in levels after that under bridge isn’t too sharp.

 

Good luck

[Graham T]

And so, here is the start of work on the basic landforms for what will be the biggest scenic area on the layout.  The two cardboard formers at the front aren't fixed yet, as I still need to work on the shapes of them a bit.  I may cut all the shapes up to the river bridge and just place them in position before gluing them down, so that I can better visualise if the landscape actually looks (a bit) like the vision I have in my mind...

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Graham T

[Graham T]

For the area around the tunnel mouth I'm hoping to replicate something a bit like this...

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Graham T

[Graham T]

I spent another hour chopping up cardboard when I finally finished work this evening.  It's starting to look a bit more like a landscape now, I think.  I might reduce the height a little of the formers near to the river bridge.  And a bonus view of how it will look with a train running through it

 

 

 

 

For the slope that will be nearest the front of the layout, I'm considering having an exposed rock face, as it's a very typical view on the Wye Valley (as per the photo below).  Obviously it will have to be on a slightly reduced scale!  Anyone have thoughts on that?  Yes, no, maybe?

 

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2021 by Graham T

[Graham T]

A touch more landscapery / landscape-age was achieved this afternoon.  I also re-routed the river (!) so that it appears to lead into some trees on the backscene.  The mock-up is of a pair of semi-detached cottages that I'm planning, to be based on my grandmother's house.  There will be a cart track leading past it, and then curving off towards the backscene, and a meadow on this side of the track falling down to the river bank.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Graham T

[MrWolf]

Re your previous post, it would make it easier for you to properly visualise the effect of the contours of the landforms if you pin some thin cloth or paper towels over the formers before finalising the shapes.

[Graham T]

Good suggestion Mr W, I'll give it a try.

[Neal Ball]

Also I wonder if the formers this side of the railway are a bit steep…. They might block the view into that section of railway 

[Graham T]

The landscape this side does block the view of the cutting, I agree, but that's actually intentional (although I'm ready to be dissuaded!)  I want to put the rock face on the nearest side to the front of the layout, as (a) it's a very typical view for that part of the Wye Valley, and (b) that shape of terrain gives more reason for the cutting and the tunnel to be there.  And you can still get a nice view down into the cutting if you stand on the hillside at the top of the tunnel mouth

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I think that's enough cardboard-bashing for one day.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Graham T

[MrWolf]

That does make sense given the topography of the area. The Wye valley railway ran along a sort of shelf between the river and the rocks, but turning away would certainly have involved a tunnel

[Graham T]

Looking at that view, I wonder if the left hand side of the cutting is too steep?  Although I suppose it could be rock...