aardvark Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 3 hours ago, gordon s said: Sorry about the confusion ... Hope that all makes sense.... Many thanks - all clear now! (Don't worry about the confusion - it's my normal state.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PhilH Posted February 14, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 14, 2019 3 hours ago, gordon s said: Hi Phil, glad to hear you're OK. I did wonder if you had moved abroad as I'm sure you mentioned that years ago. More than happy to do Wetherspoons, but unless there's some smoky things about, I'll stay with the beer option...... Give me a little time and we could have a running session here. Never thought I'd be able to say that..... I'll even get my good lady to rustle up a curry.... Cheers Gordon, be good to catch up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted February 17, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) Afternoon one and all.... If anyone mentions ballasting, you have my permission to shoot them. Jeez, for those of you building a layout a little larger than a small country terminus, better switch over to doolally mode. Ballasting takes forever and I've had a week of it with an hour or two each day. I now know every hit record played on Heart radio word for word. It's OK for background music with such a mind numbing task, but I now realise they only have around 30 records and the same tunes come round time and time again.... ...and there's still more to do on these two boards. In between ballasting and singing along to the top 40, I've managed to build the first platform and thanks to ideas from other posters on RMweb, it's come out OK. I still have the brick card to paint and then I'll set about trying to replicate the colours of both well worn tarmac and those areas that have been repaired. The last thing I want is an aircraft carrier flight deck with a station building plonked on, so I be very happy for some guidance on how to replicate tarmac without it looking like a large slab of grey or at the other extreme, a patchwork quilt of different colours. Here's some pics from this afternoon. The station approach which is nearly finished. Most of the track has been ballasted, but I need to tidy up some of the turnouts and in particular, the tie rod area. All the gaps between the tracks will need to be painted and then planted with various stray grasses and the odd weed. Ballasting in the main station area is taking an age. Around 54' of track and when I'm in form, I can do around 3' an hour, so that's 18 hours or so from scratch. The main platform is nearly finished and so far, so good. Nothing clouts the edges, although I did notice one of the Mk1 footboards did cross over the platform edge, but as it was higher than the platform surface, it wasn't a problem. However, it may be a problem with the cylinder blocks of a steam loco, so some more tests will need to be done. If it's an issue, it will possibly mean cutting a section out and rebuilding it. The easy way would be to just sand down the edge to give a little more clearance, but that may look strange with the edging stones. More tests to be done... One of those new fangled diesels thingies is sitting in the bay platform, waiting for passengers. He'll have a long wait... Meanwhile a well worn N2 is waiting with a three coach local. Fond memories of my time as a young boy at Alexandra Palace, Wood Green and Palace Gates. Short trousers, a duffle bag with obligatory Jubbly and my notebook... Well, there is some progress and I went to the tip this morning without any railway stuff, so that's a first. More than happy to take a break tomorrow and get out on the golf course.... Edited February 18, 2019 by gordon s 35 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted February 17, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 17, 2019 Some lovely ballasting there, Gordon. I know this way is hard work and it's far too late to tell you I use the Coachmann glue - lay track - ballast all in one go method, but yours is far better than the "wet" method. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gismorail Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Looking very neat and tidy ' the ballasting that is ' could I suggest a change of radio station for this particular work ....maybe ' Planet Rock ' I find it makes the job whizzzzzz by at great speed So glad you are pushing ahead with this excellent layout all your hard work is really coming together now 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted February 17, 2019 Author Share Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) I do use Coachman’s method on point work as I was totally fed up gumming up the works with all other methods I had tried. Visually there is a difference, with the CK method looking as though the track is buried in the ballast whereas the Coachman method works really well, but gives an impression the turnout is floating on top of the ballast. If you look at the station approach pic, you can see the difference in colour between the two methods. I deal with this by second stage working of painting PVA and adding more ballast down the outside edges, leaving the inner workings untouched. Of course I also add the power feeds which means repainting parts of the sleepers/rails where power feeds have been attached to the turnouts. Truth is there’s no shortcut to ballasting. Switch on the radio and sing along. You can’t listen for more than an hour, so it’s a good time to stop and do something else. Edited February 17, 2019 by gordon s 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold john dew Posted February 17, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) Hi Gordon I have been lurking off and on your thread for years but never felt competent to comment when you were building all that lovely track and taking it apart again! The ballast looks great as one would expect. You ask about tarmac...I use multiple washes of various shades of grey acrylic and brush over weathering powder to provide texture and wear.....oil and tyre marks etc. I paste on strips of similarly treated paper to replicate repairs......you rarely see tarmac uninterrupted as originally laid......strips also hide joins I have used Scalescene papers....they are quite effective but they are also very useful as a shade guide Kind regards John ps Thanks again for the turntable advice last year. It is brilliant. Edited February 17, 2019 by john dew 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted February 17, 2019 Author Share Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) Glad to hear your Fleishmann turntable mods worked out OK, John. They are pretty bulletproof and work really well. On an earlier version of ET, I did use Scalescenes paper, so thanks for reminding me as I’d forgotten. It looked fine, but wasn’t hard wearing as printed. No doubt spraying it with varnish would have helped, but I never got round to it. Certainly as a colour guide it would be helpful, so maybe I’ll print out some more and use it for paint shading. The issue with Tarmac is that repairs tend to be uniform blocks and more often than not are black when new. It’s one of those things that looks normal in real life, but strange on a model. Just found this from Kathy Millatt.....Although for a road, the principles are very similar...... Edited February 17, 2019 by gordon s 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullie Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Heart claim they play 'more music variety.' Different shows play basically the same tracks just in a different order. Like Sir Humphrey they get rid of the difficult bit in the title, Almost anything else is better. Martyn 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted February 18, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 18, 2019 For “Inkerman Street”, they used a blue-grey paint and sprinkled it with talcum powder, patting it down with fingers, to create tarmac. The patting down varies the texture and colour density. If nothing else, it would make the station area smell nice for a while. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted February 22, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 22, 2019 Gordon..classical music or Argo steam locomotive sounds are required for blasting. It is very therapeutic! Big problem with gluing track and ballast down together is no time to test everything is properly aligned (been there have the wound stripe.) Ballasting on Grantham uses diluted pva/washing up liquid placed between the sleepers with a paint brush then add ballast carefully, removing any excess. Graham used peco foam for the mainline es on Grantham and Shap so ballasting is only required on goods lines etc (there is still a lot of it!). 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted February 22, 2019 Author Share Posted February 22, 2019 (edited) Thanks Barry. I use the same method as Grantham, with pva painted on with a tiny paintbrush. Just on the finishing straight with probably an hour to go to finish off the ballasting on these two boards and then I can look at walls and bridges once the platforms are done. Took a break from ballasting today and am currently building the bay platform. With something like 40 pieces of platform edging to modify by removing all the backing projections, it may take a while... Everything takes so bloomin' long... Whilst waiting for the glue to dry, I thought I'd pop in and then got distracted again and bought a Hornby J36. RMweb has a lot to answer for... Where's will power when you need it.. Edited February 22, 2019 by gordon s 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian Smeeton Posted February 22, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 22, 2019 Will Power, you seem to have aplenty. Won't Power, on the other hand....... Good to see you making progress. Regards Ian 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted February 24, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) Another week gone. Where on earth does the time go? Got off to a bad start losing at West Berks on Monday. It all went down to the last putt on the last hole, but it wasn't to be. Tomorrow sees us away to Calcot Park, another must win game, so hoping for better things. At least it will be sunny.... When I wasn't golfing, all the odd hours were spent ballasting and trying to build some platforms. The last few inches of ballasting was completed this morning, so I'm really glad that's over. The main platform is finished other than painting and the centre platform has the slab strip added all round and now awaits the Peco edging. Another mindless task, cutting and sanding away all the projections on the back, but managed 14 strips last night in an hour. It takes 14 strips each side and then another 10 for each bay platform. Ideally I'd like to mitre the edging strip within the bay and will experiment with various types of saw to see if that can be achieved. I suspect my power saws will be too powerful and the blade may just shatter the moulding. If that doesn't happen then the heat may just melt the plastic, so it will probably have to be hand sawn. In any case, I still have a full set of fingers and losing one or two would be more than a little inconvenient.... Here's the progress so far. Amazing just how large an 8' platform looks.... The jury is still out on platform ramps or whether to build a bridge either end of the station. I quite like looking away from the station and seeing a train cross the stairwell. It's one of those scenes that brings back many memories and a bridge would break up that view. The key is what to do behind the outer goods loop. Early versions of ET all had a fair bit of stone/brick retaining walls and I'm quite keen to include some here. Buildings wise, they appear to fit, although I did have one heart stopping moment. The far platform building appeared too wide for the platform and I suddenly had visions of having to rip up the far two tracks to allow more space. Thankfully I realised there was no platform edging on the basic platform so that adds another 5mm each side. Allan's buildings are starting to show some signs of wear and tear as they have either been in storage or taken up and downstairs numerous times as the various versions of ET took shape. There is some warping of the canopy roof lines and ideally I would like to move the support pillars inboard a few mm to create more space between them and the platform edge. They appear to be mounted on an H shaped girder and I'm not sure if they are part of the casting/moulding. They are firmly glued in position and will break if I try to move them. Does any one recognise them? Eventually I ran out of 1.5mm Plasticard, so have had to order some more to finish off the last platform, Hopefully that will arrive sometime this week. Straightening the track through the station has certainly improved things, but I still have the footbridge to deal with which is going to need another 30mm section inserted to bring in central to the platform. I suspect the change in the weather, will bring along that familiar question....Can we do some gardening this week? Deep joy...... Edited February 24, 2019 by gordon s 34 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gismorail Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Gordon you should be very proud of your platforms they are spot on to the highest standard Sir !!!! It's not the most stimulating job during a layout build but like ballasting if it is not done to a high standard all the hard work that you have put into the track building is spoilt ...... Whilst you are working on the platform edges I would suggest some background music .......'Close to the Edge' by YES would help the through the task 2 2 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted February 24, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 24, 2019 Excellent work and now showing a lot of promise. Looking forward to seeing some trains running through the station. 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted February 25, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 25, 2019 That really is looking top notch work there Gordon. Very crisp looking. Seeing that, I must start doing some work on our platforms! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 Thanks guys. You must have been up early John, or couldn't you sleep?..... I had to be up to get across Reading for 08.15 and the usual traffic can be a pain. Quite a frost last night, but hoping for a sunny day. Asked about the pillars on a general post and BernardTPM picked them up immediately as part of the Hornby R514 platform canopy. Dropped a mail to them last night to see if I can buy some. A guy on eBay has one for sale at £4..... If all else fails, I may have to cut the roof off to retrieve the pillars and then build a new one. That sounds like modelling to me.....Oh well, into the unknown... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted February 25, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 25, 2019 Take the pillars off, they aren't allowed nearer than 6ft from the platform edge. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted February 25, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 25, 2019 It was the latter Gordon! I've torn a ligament in my shoulder. It's a right pain (literally!). 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted February 25, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 25, 2019 45 minutes ago, Re6/6 said: It was the latter Gordon! I've torn a ligament in my shoulder. It's a right pain (literally!). Hope it's not your drinking arm John. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted February 25, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 25, 2019 1 hour ago, St Enodoc said: Hope it's not your drinking arm John. Nope, that one is in fine working order. It'll be tested out tonight before our D.R.A.G. meeting! 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 Sorry to hear that, John. It must be really painful and difficult to sleep at night.... Thanks Michael. I agree with you and realise I need to move the pillars inboard, but fear trying to remove them will see them damaged, so that means replacements or having to carefully cut the roof into parts to try and salvage the existing ones. I am hoping Hornby may come up with some spares, so await their answer. Buying new canopies just for the pillars is an expensive solution..... ....and we lost at golf again. We shot 2 under gross for a half, but one of their guys playing off 25 was one under gross for nine holes.... Where do they get them from.... Good to see others building to 00-SF, particularly Stoke Courtney....Beautiful. ....and I've noticed comments from Portchullin and Worseter on the this thread. Gents, if I get anyway near the quality of your layouts, I'll be one very happy man.... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 6 minutes ago, gordon s said: ....and we lost at golf again. We shot 2 under gross for a half, but one of their guys playing off 25 was one under gross for nine holes.... Where do they get them from.... The same place your club got you, being someone who started off with a highest handicap it was quite easy to shoot several shots under your handicap, as you get better and more consistent your handicap reduces and its much harder to have those rounds well below your handicap. That chap will likely loose half a dozen balls the next time he goes out 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted February 25, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 25, 2019 Is golf the only part of life where being under par is a good thing? 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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