Nearholmer Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 Before you seal it, can I suggest that you think about staining it? When I was into replicating rotting timber, I used acrylic drawing inks let down to ‘very watery’ with alcohol. The alcohol (Tamiya thinners if you can’t get anything else) carries the stain into the grain without causing swelling or fuzziness of the wood. Are barnacles able to survive in the grubby waters of the Medway? If so, thick porridge made from PVA, curry powder and paint, stipples on with a blunt ended cocktail stick works quite well. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locksley Posted June 14, 2021 Author Share Posted June 14, 2021 1 hour ago, Nearholmer said: Before you seal it, can I suggest that you think about staining it? When I was into replicating rotting timber, I used acrylic drawing inks let down to ‘very watery’ with alcohol. The alcohol (Tamiya thinners if you can’t get anything else) carries the stain into the grain without causing swelling or fuzziness of the wood. Are barnacles able to survive in the grubby waters of the Medway? If so, thick porridge made from PVA, curry powder and paint, stipples on with a blunt ended cocktail stick works quite well. Good suggestion on the barnacles, will give that a try! My plan is to undercoat and actually paint the wood with the rest of the layout so I'm not too bothered about staining it first. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 (edited) Just for inspiration, here's part of Hoo Ness in June 2020, taken from Hoo Marina on the N side of the estuary, looking across to the island at nearly high tide. The island is the low bank of green in front of the distant buildings in Gillingham/Chatham (St Mary's Island). The channel between the photographer and the island is mostly mud at low tide and isn't navigable to much more than a rowing boat even at high tide - any shipping goes between the island and the Gillingham/Chatham side. Also map screenshotted from Bing maps, showing with a red arrow the approx view in the photo. Edited June 14, 2021 by eastwestdivide 5 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locksley Posted June 15, 2021 Author Share Posted June 15, 2021 (edited) Thank you! That pic will be very useful when I come to paint the shoreline! The jetty is now fully planked, sealed, sanded, and primed. Next job will be to quickly prime the rest of the layout, then get some grass down, plus a few pipes and general clutter. The 12v battery I was using to test the layout finally ran out, and I don't have a suitable charger so I've got a 12v plug coming from Amazon to replace it which I'll get wired in once it arrives. Edited June 15, 2021 by Locksley 10 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locksley Posted June 15, 2021 Author Share Posted June 15, 2021 It's supposed to be cooler/raining towards the end of the week here in Sheffield so I wanted to make the most of the hotter weather, get outside with a black rattle can and give the layout a good base coat. Naturally it was completely dry in minutes so I was able to get the track cleaned off and the new power supply wired in for a good run. The 11-104 performs admirably despite the seriously tight curves which are just on the edge of being a bit too much for its relatively large wheelbase. Over the weekend I ordered a Tsugawa Yokou TU-7T chassis which has a teeny 9mm wheelbase so I'm hoping that'll cope with no problems. 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 I’m watching this with great interest, because you’ve clearly got a scheme of how you intend to tackle the ground colouration, and it’s nothing like I’m used to ....... keep the ‘blow by blow’ account going! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 7 hours ago, Locksley said: 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locksley Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 Starting to get some grass on. The main fluorescent green is a mixture of 2 cheapo packs of static grass I bought from HobbyKing yonks ago, I think maybe 3mm & 5mm or something like that. It's actually really good stuff and I find goes on much better than WWS static grasses which I find just seem to clump together to the point they're almost unusable. Despite this, I have also started to go around with some 10mm WWS Meadow grass to add a few unkempt areas here and there as it's the longest I have. It sort of works if you spend a bit of time teasing the clumps apart first. The pipes scattered about are 3D prints inspired by the photos in post #2, and the white ones are just lengths of styrene tube. Although it looks quite patchy now, hopefully this is where the magic of painting the grass will help and add some nice depth and shadow to what's there. The next job will be to airbrush a layer of Mahogany Mr Surfacer over the lot, followed by various greens. While stocking up on a few bits and bobs from Model Display Products (no affiliation, just a very happy repeat customer) I came across these delightful pre-coloured photo etch weeds that I just had to try. Judging by the style of the fret they're almost certainly produced for Model Scene by Eduard, who make some rather excellent aftermarket stuff for the plastic kit world so I have high hopes that they'll look rather good! 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locksley Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 All the grass is now down and has had a good coat of Mr Surfacer. I also added a few sprigs of seafoam as little shrubs. Pleased with the effect so far, hopefully you can see how much more depth the grass has now. Next job will be be airbrushing it with different greens, then painting the track/groundwork etc. I'm still not sure if I should maybe paint the jetty first or not. Need to give it some more thought. 13 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thirty2a Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 simply brilliant, as a long term lurker in regard to the delights of little narrow gauge layouts yours is really showing what can be achieved in a small space, I love it, very inspirational. Tony 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 The half-buried barge that's become part of the shoreline is well observed, typical of the area. Have you given any thought to some birdlife? Lots of waterfowl and similar around there: brent geese, shelduck, redshank, although the white egrets that you see a fair bit nowadays are a fairly recent arrival to the UK. Maybe one solitary heron about to pounce? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locksley Posted June 17, 2021 Author Share Posted June 17, 2021 Thanks guys! 1 hour ago, eastwestdivide said: The half-buried barge that's become part of the shoreline is well observed, typical of the area. Have you given any thought to some birdlife? Lots of waterfowl and similar around there: brent geese, shelduck, redshank, although the white egrets that you see a fair bit nowadays are a fairly recent arrival to the UK. Maybe one solitary heron about to pounce? Birdlife hadn't even crossed my mind, but I absolutely adore the idea! I've found some lowpoly birds on Sketchfab which I'm going to try printing in resin, I think at 1/76 scale they should be good enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 1 hour ago, Locksley said: lowpoly birds Height-challenged parrots? 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Locksley said: lowpoly birds on Sketchfab ? https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/lowpoly-birds-42866166bff446fb9e089137cc340355 Like the look of the penguin at the back - it can get bitterly cold on the estuary in February. Edit: There's a reasonably-recognisable cormorant/s.h.a.g, which might be more likely. Edit 2: Nice heron at : https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/heron-8342a85a2ce5402591fe111310875313 Edited June 17, 2021 by eastwestdivide cormorant and it won't let me say the name of the similar four-letter bird that's spelled S H A G 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locksley Posted June 17, 2021 Author Share Posted June 17, 2021 1 minute ago, eastwestdivide said: ? https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/lowpoly-birds-42866166bff446fb9e089137cc340355 Like the look of the penguin at the back - it can get bitterly cold on the estuary in February. That's the one I've split out a few suitable models - Heron, Ducks, a Gull, and a couple of others. No idea how they'll print, I suspect the legs will be too small so it'll probably be a case of using some thin wire as legs instead. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 Dart castings make gulls and a cormorant, but worth comparing them with The Observer's book of Seabirds (or whatever), because the gulls are pretty beefy; the cormorant is fine. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locksley Posted June 17, 2021 Author Share Posted June 17, 2021 (edited) Massive progress this evening, I've managed to spend a good few hours at the bench. The grass has been airbrushed with various greens, starting with a browny, washed out 'hay' colour, progressing through to quite deep greens, and finally a very yellow green as a highlight. The track and ground was airbrushed with a medium brown, and then drybrushed with Vallejo Old Wood, along with the jetty and foreshore. Next, I picked out individual rocks using loads of different Vallejo colours, mainly greys, browns and creams (this was absolutely as fun as it sounds). Finally, a highly diluted wash of AK Interactive Summer Kursk Earth was liberally applied to everything that wasn't grass. I'm happy with the effect I've got with that but feel it needs something a bit more, though I don't know what. I may go back over with some oil washes. Edited June 17, 2021 by Locksley 10 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 That looks flippin' good! I'm beginning to "get" the approach you use - is it derived from military modelling diorama work? Having only had a distant view of this island, across the windswept waters, my impression is that the vegetation is taller, something other than grass, maybe more like reed beds, so I wonder if the missing thing might be height. Goodness knows how to achieve the look though. Strips of stiffish, but still flexible plastic, or stiffish paper, cut into long sword-blade shapes? Be very tedious though. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locksley Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 (edited) 11 hours ago, Nearholmer said: That looks flippin' good! I'm beginning to "get" the approach you use - is it derived from military modelling diorama work? Having only had a distant view of this island, across the windswept waters, my impression is that the vegetation is taller, something other than grass, maybe more like reed beds, so I wonder if the missing thing might be height. Goodness knows how to achieve the look though. Strips of stiffish, but still flexible plastic, or stiffish paper, cut into long sword-blade shapes? Be very tedious though. It is indeed, mostly shamelessly copied inspired by Night Shift Modelling on YouTube. He makes it look so damn easy. https://youtu.be/WsfKGzTQMEs I would have liked slightly higher vegetation, however looking at period pics from when the railway was in use, the areas around the jetty at least don't look particularly overgrown. In fact there's very little vegetation. Edited June 18, 2021 by Locksley 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locksley Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 It's TINY! 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 You clearly need to organise a field-trip for us all, because it is such an obscurely fascinating place, and there must be plenty of remnants left to look at, as well as vegetation. How about chartering a rubber dinghy? 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 Have you found these visits? https://naturegirlblogdotcom.wordpress.com/tag/hoo-ness-island/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUntik8Mis0 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManofKent Posted June 18, 2021 Share Posted June 18, 2021 There's a tiny section on the line in Robin Waywell's IRS book on industrial railways and locomotives in Kent. Not a lot of detail on the line other than it was largely used for dumping mud from Chatham Docks. List the known locos though if you're interested? You've definitely captured the grottyness! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locksley Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 1 hour ago, ManofKent said: There's a tiny section on the line in Robin Waywell's IRS book on industrial railways and locomotives in Kent. Not a lot of detail on the line other than it was largely used for dumping mud from Chatham Docks. List the known locos though if you're interested? You've definitely captured the grottyness! Thanks, definitely interested! I'm always looking for more excuses to 3d print loco bodies Bit more progress tonight, not a huge change but I've added a bit of a yellow highlight to the grass which I think looks much better, and I've been round the track with some white spirit to blend in the earth wash a tad more. 6 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Locksley Posted June 18, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 18, 2021 (edited) birbs. Edited June 18, 2021 by Locksley 16 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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