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Eastwood Town - A tribute to Gordon's modelling.


gordon s
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Take it down the tip?.....As if? Me?....icon_e_wink.gif

 

You know me too well methinks, Geoff....icon_lol.gif

 

No, this one is here to stay. The difference this time, is that everything has been drawn out to the nth degree and I'm 90% sure all will go together. Having the whole layout planned completely in Templot has made a huge difference and really I've returned to my roots. After leaving school I started work in Engineering as a draughtsman, so God knows why I've never done a full drawing before. Templot has really allowed me to prove the whole thing and allowed me to work to an Engineering drawing, every step of the way.

 

Boards are being built one at a time and wired and ballasted as I go along. The basic scenic stuff like walls and tunnels etc are being put in place as I go and the big plus of working on modules is that it's mostly being done in comfort, sitting at the kitchen table. No more lying under boards with molten solder falling on my arms. No more stretching and bending across boards to try and ballast.

 

I've never enjoyed modelling so much.icon_thumbsup2.gif

 

I guess retirement helps a bit as well....

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I'll never qualify for the speed modelling Olympics, as this one little board has taken just over two weeks to build....but it's been a very enjoyable journey.small.gif

 

This board will sit on the end of the first one I have built and will take the main running tracks down to the lower level and around the folded eight. From the front, reading from left to right, the pairs of tracks are as follows. The raised pair on the left are the main running lines up to Eastwood Town terminus, which will sit over the top of the these tunnels. The two lower tunnels are on the left, the lines down around the spiral to the low level traverser and on the lower right, one part of the folded eight. The final pair of tracks on the upper right are the second half of the folded eight.

 

Construction has followed my usual methods with 12mm ply forming the main structure and track bed. The rest is mainly 2mm mdf sheet either covered in embossed Plasticard stone sheet or painted matt black to form the tunnel walls. I have yet to build the tunnel roofs, so have just laid some black Plasticard over the top to give the effect. Ultimately, I want the tunnels to be black and dark inside, so I will probably spray the ballast in the tunnel with a dirty black finish.

 

I hope these pics will you give you a bit more of a feel for what I'm hoping the finished layout will look like. Still a lot of weathering and water staining to do on the walls, but progress is being made.

 

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Finished off the tunnel board last night by making the top cover which will eventually become the car park for Eastwood Terminus. Shutting all the light out of the tunnels has really made a difference, although I have made this cover removeable to simplify track cleaning or deal with the dreaded derailment. There shouldn't be any on plain track, but sod's law says if it happens, it's always in the most inaccessible place....

 

Next stage will be to design a removable section to connnect the spiral to the scenic boards. We have a hatchway about a foot from floor level which gives access to the first flooor loft space. When the plumbing was done access was not an issue, but now clambering under the spiral boards to access the central heating pump, has shown it is likely a plumber will not want to negotiate the boards or more likely will and break something in the process. Better to bite the bullet now whilst construction is easy than wait for that dreaded day and discover we have a real problem. So back to the drawing board....

 

Why is it photos show all those gaps that you didn't notice during construction?....smile.gif

 

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just started to read this thread and im overwhelmed by the amazing woodwork and retaining walls, and untill now, i have always liked the thought of building my own track, but was very worried about the time, money and experiance i have to build it. But after reading the great tutorial on how you built yours im dying to order some and have a a go at it.

 

And i think this is some of the best woodwork iv ever seen, makes me want to rip mine to pieces and start again?  :D :D

 

some truly inspiring work and i am looking forward to reading more as you progress

 

regards

 

neil

 

 

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Thanks for those comments Neil..smile.gif

 

I'm pleased to hear my pics have given you some encouragement to try and build your own. If you are going down the PCB route, then buying a simple turnout kit from SMP is a good starting point. They are only a few pounds and give you a template drawing, some rail and pcb strip. A decent soldering iron, solder and flux, plus some simple handtools and a few gauges and you'll be up and running. I was amazed to find it was much easier than I thought and wish I'd started years ago, rather than just two.

 

Take it slowly and check as you go along. I use a 50w temperature controlled soldering iron, but most irons with a small to medium tip should do the job. If you haven't soldered before, the two golden rules are to make sure the work piece is clean and that you have sufficient heat to let the solder flow easily.

 

Good luck and don't worry if the first one isn't perfect. The next one will be better and the third better still. Enjoy it!

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thank you gordon for the great advice, its really eased my nerves about taking something like taht up and im going to do as you suggest and get the kit, it will work well for a small shunting idea i have, start small?  :D, what track would i use to go with the kit???

 

i just have a basic soldering iron, but my good old dad has a temprature controlled one so i think it might find its way onto my workbench.

 

thank you again gordon, im sure ill have many more questions in the future, and im looking forward to seeing more of your work

 

regards

 

neil

 

 

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hi gordon, i told you i would be back with questions :D :D

 

earlier in the thread you discussed your stone walling and i noticed that you used 7mm embossed plastic sheets, is there a reason for using 7mm???

 

The reason i ask is that im in the process of building a road bridge for my deeping clay layout and really like the way your stone work looks.

 

regards

 

neil

 

 

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Neil, although I'm over 60, I'm really a beginner at modelling. I've followed railways and model railways since the 60's and attended various shows over numerous years. One of the layouts I have always been interested in was Tetleys Mills, so I contacted Dave Shakespeare to ask how he produced his stone walling and hopefully, to get some tips. Dave was very helpful and I was as surprised as you were that Dave used 7mm stone sheet on Tetleys, so I ordered some to see how it looked.

 

Initially I shared your concern, but I have to admit for large stone walling the 7mm sheets are fine. Stone blocks came in a variety of sizes and if the wall was significant, then clearly large stones would have been used to ensure the wall was strong enough to withold and support the pressures of a high wall. I still have some concerns, but then my layout is very bare and I'm sure once scenic details are added, the size of the walls will reduce considerably.

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Hi Gordon

 

Like many others I think your efforts here are superb! biggrin.gif

 

I am still in the early stages of building my first proper layout

and like you mention finding time is the big issue.

 

Anyway I just wanted to say well done and thank you for sharing the layout with us.

 

Regards Andrew

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Gordon

I've just added your layout to my watch list. It's truly inspirational!

Thanks for the "step-by-step" guide to you way of ballasting. I may well give that a go when I'm ready.

Dave

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  • RMweb Gold
I know there have been many articles on ballasting via the diluted PVA method, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get acceptable results. Thankfully Capt Kernow came to the rescue and I'm now a happy fella with no fear of ballasting, in fact I enjoy it.

 

The Capt's method is totally different to the norm and really suits my way of construction

Well, Gordon, I've just found this thread for the first time, and I am blown away by your stonework and associated structures, tunnels etc. Fantastic, just fantastic!

 

As for following my methods of ballasting, I can only describe you as a Model Student! It all looks wonderful!

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One other thing strikes me, Gordon, and that is your extensive use of emulsion paints on surfaces that I would have thought only enamels or acrylics would go (eg. Slaters plasticard and the track work). I thought that emulsion paints were 'too water-based' to work like that (although you have clearly shown that they can!).

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One other thing strikes me, Gordon, and that is your extensive use of emulsion paints on surfaces that I would have thought only enamels or acrylics would go (eg. Slaters plasticard and the track work). I thought that emulsion paints were 'too water-based' to work like that (although you have clearly shown that they can!).

 

 

Hi Cap'n. Thanks for your comments...smile.gif

 

Track wise, I do use a red oxide primer before painting with emulsion. So far so good and no sign of it coming off. On Slaters Plasticard, I just paint it straight on. Light grey first all over then a dry brush of the dark grey to give me something to work with. As work progresses I'll attack the walls with various types of weathering and water staining, but my capabilities aren't up to it as yet, so I'll certainly need further training....icon_wink.gif

 

Thinking back it was Chris Nevard that put me onto emulsion and if it's good enough for the master, then it'll certainly do for me..

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Going back to Post #1 (3rd picture) you showed a partial underboard view of your support legs which do not appear to be linked to each other nor cross-braced. How did you avoid wobble or swaying of these legs on an open frame board construction?.

 

An impressive layout in the making! :icon_clap:

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