Pixie's Workbench - 2mm/ft Diesels and a 305mm/ft Cavalier

[Killybegs]

You could always try producing your own photographic backscene

[D869]

I like a nice backscene but have seen a certain photographic one a few times too many (don't think yours is the same one though).

 

Doing your own may be an option if you can find a spot where it's possible to get a panoramic view... which may be tricky in a forest.

 

Regards, Andy

[The Fatadder]

For Forrest of Dean hills perhaps photos from the other side of the Severn (suitably cropped to remove traces of the river) might do the job? Will try and remember to have a look while I'm walking the dog this evening.

 

I will be at the dean Forrest railway early next month, so can keep my eyes open for any suitable locations to work from while I'm there

[Chris Higgs]

Hello all,

 

Last weekend saw Parkend escape from the workshop and appear at a friend's annual trains/cricket/barbecue/ale-athon.

 

IMG_7915.JPG

 

Whilst it's primarily a social, it was a good excuse to test out packing and transporting the layout before having to do it 'for real' at an exhibition. It also provided the impetus to finish the dull tasks of finishing the packing crates, tool box, layout curtain and, most importantly, beverage holders that I've been putting off for so long.

 

IMG_7650.JPG

 

I'm pleased to say it went well and the resulting snagging list isn't huge - it's mostly refinement, rather than major reworks. One area that was highlighted as a bit weak was the backscene, for the last few years it's been little more than a coat of light blue and some greeny/brown card representing hills or trees. I've always a been of the logic that less is more with backscenes; the mind filling in any blanks however I was encouraged to take a look at photo backscenes.

 

IMG_7921.JPG

 

Trying out a roll of photo backscene I had to hand, I'm amazed at how it lifts and transforms the layout. It makes the old attempt look clinical and almost 2D; the depth it adds is brilliant. The below isn't the final version; it's a little too like the Yorkshire Dales and not enough of the Forest of Dean, however I have a few more variations on order that should combine to make something 'foresty'. I'm blown away by the difference it makes!

 

image.jpg

 

In other news, I'm also the proud owner of a Silhouette cutter and a big pile of plasticard. It seems I've finally run out of excuses not to building Parkend's buildings... 

 

Cheers,

Pix

 

I love the backscene. But it does look like you should have 8Fs toiling up the S&C in the foreground.

 

Chris

[Kylestrome]

Doing your own may be an option if you can find a spot where it's possible to get a panoramic view... which may be tricky in a forest.

 

It is not absolutely necessary to have a panorama photo in order to make your own backscene. If you can a manage few relatively basic manipulations in Photoshop or Affinity Photo (or similar) then you can make do with just one or two good, high resolution photos.

 

The backscene below, which is 3.5 metres long for a 4mm layout, was produced using just two photographic elements (outlined) plus a replacement sky.

 

 

Various bits were copied with soft-edged selections and modified in shape and/or mirrored to form a completely new scene. Mountains are probably a bit easier to mess around with, but I'm sure something similar could be achieved with other types of landscape.

 

David

[PMP]

This might give you some thoughts on the approach to a digital image backscene

https://albionyard.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/warley-the-digital-backscene/

 

I've used the same image (different size) on Shelfie too

 

The key to getting the 'join' right is the colour balance between backscene and the modelling, and ensuring the image is Matt finish. If you get that balance wrong the backscene overpowers the foreground and throws the lighting balance out too.

Brgds

[Pixie]

Thanks all for the comments and feedback. I certainly concur that getting the transition from model to backscene is difficult, particularly trying to match the colours and tones of the 3D modelling with a 2D photograph. I think one the biggest problems, and something particularly valid in 2mm, is what perspective the back scene should be taken from - looking at photographs taken at Parkend from street level, there's not much beyond a few trees on show in the background. If you look at those taken from Parkend station's footbridge, you start to notice a few tree lined hills in the background. When viewing the model, even though the track is around 54'' from the floor, my eye is still a further 16'' above that and if standing 2' back (which is about right for an exhibition) it scales out to being on a 200' tall cherry picker on the Oakwood Brook. Whilst it would be possible to hire a cherry picker and take a panoramic photo, would the results look right when applied to the model as the eye is used to seeing photographs from street level? It's an interesting debate.

 

Anyway, various experiments have taken place with a couple of off-the-shelf back scenes. One thing that has become apparent is the power the back scene has to move the whole location of the model from one part of the country to another. The second attempt instantly moved the layout from the Yorkshire Dales to East Anglia.

 

 

 

However it was rapidly binned for being the wrong colour and setting. 

 

A bit miffed with the lack of colour match, I then tried trimming down the original back scene to make something less mountainous. It's certainly better, but the context just doesn't sit right when comparing it to photos. (I think there's a life lesson here - model somewhere imaginary, at least you can go with what looks goods rather than trying to find something that looks good and accurate!)

 

 

After various other attempts, including a few that aren't even worthy of a photograph, I think the best answer is something like Paul's superb example (I d'off my cap Paul to your work there - it flows beautifully with the fore-scene). A relatively muted background to give a tree-line impression gives just the right balance of 'long-distance' view when standing a couple of feet back and looks about right with the eye at rail level. To be honest, it's probably not an accurate representation of either, but is subtle enough to force the eye to look a the layout rather than the backscene. The colour tone and hue isn't right, but I like the effect is has in the below photos. It's the first one that's look Forest of Dean-y. A custom print of something along these lines is probably where I'll end up. 

 

 

 

 

PS - My apologies for the delay in coming back. Some friends and I spent a week blasting around Britain by HST.

 

 

Perhaps I should model the Highland mainline next, there's certainly no doubting the back scene there!

 

 

Cheers,

Steve

Edited August 5, 2017 by Pixie

[jonhall]

Drone?

 

Jon

[The Fatadder]

Just spent the morning at Parkend, how does the layout fit in with what is there now?

[Pixie]

Just spent the morning at Parkend, how does the layout fit in with what is there now?

 

Excuse my shabby doodling, but the area in red is more-or-less the area covered by my model. The DFR station is on the far right, the spur off to the Marsh Sidings started just before the station throat/footbridge, curved over the road and then passed in front of the Fountain Inn. Sadly, I couldn't quite get the pub on my layout!  

 

 

Comparing the below to the above, you can see there's a little compression between the buildings but not by much. 

 

 

In non-2mm news, I recently received the below in the post from British Heritage Models - to say I'm impressed would be the understatement of the decade, it's beautiful! The finish, particularly considering it's hand built, has a real depth to it. What I'd give to have a range of mundane 2mm scale cars to a similar standard!

 

 

 

My only gripe is it's not orange... yet.

 

Cheers,

Steve

Edited August 9, 2017 by Pixie

[The Fatadder]

Answered two questions in one...

 

Every time I'm there I wonder where the siding crossing the road went...

[chrisveitch]

That dawning disappointment when you realise that someone else has done your idea better than you could! Seriously though, Steve, it's a great layout and I'm following with interest. I guess there's enough Dean Forest to go around...

[Chris Higgs]

That dawning disappointment when you realise that someone else has done your idea better than you could! Seriously though, Steve, it's a great layout and I'm following with interest. I guess there's enough Dean Forest to go around...

 

There's plenty of forest, railways locations not so much.

 

Chris

[Pixie]

That dawning disappointment when you realise that someone else has done your idea better than you could! Seriously though, Steve, it's a great layout and I'm following with interest. I guess there's enough Dean Forest to go around...

 

Thanks Chris! For the decade or so that I was talking about building Parkend I wondered if one day I'd open up a magazine and the model I'd hoped to build looking back at me. Indeed, even Neil Parkhouse remarks upon his surprise that nobody has built a model of the Marsh Sidings in his book on the Forest's railways. As it happens, ParkeNd has also built  an excellent model of Parkend (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/95699-parkend-in-forest-of-dean-n-gauge/page-1 - Sadly, the Photobucket issue has lost all the photographs) so my model is certainly not unique!

 

A little rolling stock modelling has taken place this week - primarily on mundane fleet stock for the layout, rather than a weird and wonderful offshoot. Firstly a few more Harris' 16T minerals have been painted and weathered - a lot of those that have previously been heavily weathered so I'm trying to do a few more that are less scabby. 

 

 

A couple of oddities - one of the heavy duty buffer and clasp brakes unfitted examples. 

 

 

A trio of rivetted 16Ts from Ian Morgan (Wageni on Shapeways) - they're 3D printed bodies on Harris chassis'. I'm quite pleased with these, I'm impressed that the rivets have printed so well.

 

 

 

And last, but certainly not least, I've finally put the lettering and weathering on the rake of Herrings. These really are the signature wagon for the Forest of Dean in the era modelled and I'm indebted to Bryn for designing the etch they're built from. They were born out of an ale-fueled 'If you design me a Herring, I'll build Parkend in 2mm' conversation almost a decade ago. The rest, as they say, is history. 

 

 

On the subject on of history, I realised today that it's now been 15 years since the publication of the Model Rail issue (July 2002) that contained the handful of Bill Potter photographs which triggered the interest in Parkend. I'm not sure what's more worrying; the fact I've spent over half my life on a 8' train set or that, even after a decade-and-a-half, I'm still putting off building the buildings!

 

Cheers,

Pix

Edited August 13, 2017 by Pixie

[Captain Kernow]

Hi Steve, I've only just found this thread. I never realised you had done the Marsh branch. It's just utterly fantastic, my friend, really, really good.

 

It was an act of almost criminal proportions when the 'powers that be' demolished the old loading docks and 'landscaped' them in the interests of 'Health & Safety'.

 

And to think that in the early days, the DFR actually parked stock down there. What an interesting bit of railway that used to be.

 

There's a nice photo in one of John Stretton's books on the DFR, showing a preserved 14XX posing on the short remaining stub of the Marsh branch for a photo event.

[Pixie]

Thanks Tim - it's appreciated! I'm starting to realise that the layout may be a little hidden away in this corner of RMweb, I shall start a dedicated thread somewhere to deal with the story so far. The early DFR days are planned to be part of the operating sequence once I've built up the stock, the deliveries of 4150 and 5541 by rail will be something slightly different to the norm. Interestingly, some photos and cinefilm of a Hymek at Parkend came to light last year, drafted in to shuffle some DFR stock around before an open day. It's the only hard proof I've got of a Hymek to the line.

 

As an aside, greetings from the Highlands.

 

 

Pix

Edited August 21, 2017 by Pixie

[Portchullin Tatty]

As an aside, greetings from the Highlands.

 

image.jpeg

 

 

 

Be careful you may get Sulzer-itus if you linger up there too long!!!

 

PS:  Enjoy the midges!!

[Caley Jim]

PS:  Enjoy the midges!!

Indeed!  It's high season for them and ideal weather conditions!

 

Just remember though, in the words of the song :-

 

'Whenever you kill yin

Another 6 million

Are bound to turn up for the wake!'

 

Jim

[Chris Higgs]

Thanks Tim - it's appreciated! I'm starting to realise that the layout may be a little hidden away in this corner of RMweb, I shall start a dedicated thread somewhere to deal with the story so far. The early DFR days are planned to be part of the operating sequence once I've built up the stock, the deliveries of 4150 and 5541 by rail will be something slightly different to the norm. Interestingly, some photos and cinefilm of a Hymek at Parkend came to light last year, drafted in to shuffle some DFR stock around before an open day. It's the only hard proof I've got of a Hymek to the line.

 

As an aside, greetings from the Highlands.

 

image.jpeg

 

Pix

 

Yes! Finally you found the perfect backscene

 

Chris

[Pixie]

There's the ominous lack of any buildings still. This year will be there I get around to them.

 

Well, I've started... ish. 

 

Inspired by the John Birkett-Smith's excellent article in MRJ 256 and Grahame Hedge's equally excellent buildings thread on here, I've made a tentative start towards replacing the cardboard building mock-ups on Parkend. At the moment, it's mostly been working out how the Silhouette cutter works by trial and error. I feel like I've got enough 2mm Ivy Cottage fronts to clad the real thing.

 

I've been using 20thou clear styrene to engrave the window details into. It's a little less ductile than white/black styrene so I'm finding it's needing a little extra cutting to get a clean cut on the edges. I do need to work on adding a slightly thicker for the bottom of the lower sash. 

 

 

A little white paint is added and then wiped off, as per John's article, and the back of the clear plasticard sprayed black. The outer walls are white 20thou styrene, cut on the Silhouette cutter again. 

 

 

 

And then dropped into place. The etched version of the house was a failed experiment and will be consigned to the 'Ah well, worth a go' pile in due course. 

 

 

See you at Aldershot.

 

Cheers,

Steve

[Pixie]

Evening all, 

 

As another month slips by, another update is due. Having enjoyed the AGM and the Aldershot show; I arrived home with several things. A pile of components from the Central Stores, a refreshed mojo from seeing some friends old and new, some inspiration from seeing the models on display. However, most pressingly, I returned with a reminder the clock is very much ticking.

 

 

11 months; it sounds like a while but I know it's going to fly past. Besides, this isn't even Parkend's first outing. That honour falls to Global Rail (Didcot) in April, a mere 5 months away. With this in mind, I've made a mental note to really blitz the jobs I've been putting off for too long. Notably the buildings and backscene.

 

That said, a weekend was spared for a jaunt to the Czech Republic. The planned itinerary was to fly into Prague, pick up a 'Grumpy' hauled railtour at Praha Holesovice and head to Bohemia via various freight routes and breweries. Day one went well; everything ran to schedule and we even managed a run down a branch line that last saw a passenger train in 1899, followed by bedding down in Liberec for a hearty Czech meal and a few 'pivos'.

 

 

Whilst we went accepting that it was October and the weather might not be at it's best, we hadn't prepared for was the overnight 180km/h storms that would bring large parts of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic to a stand still. The next morning, we tentatively made our way to Liberec station to pick up the railtour, narrowly avoiding a few sheets of roofing material that the wind ripped off the buildings we walked alongside. The plan was to continue north to Frydlant, grab a couple of pints in a local brewery, before doubling back on itself to Liberec and ultimately Prague by tea time. Amazingly, despite the chaos around us, we left more-or-less on time. It was going great until we started to encounter a few branches on the lines. The Czech train crew didn't seem that phased, they'd just stop the train and hoik the offending item out of the four-foot. The concept of 'leaves on the line' being a reason for disruption hasn't travelled across Europe it seems. 

 

 

"Would all passengers who are able to disembark the train please do so. We need some assistance in clearing the line". 

 

Ah...

 

I can't imagine South West Trains making a similar announcement somehow. The tree proved too much to shift and, after a little deliberation, we ended up reversing back from where we had come with the guard sat in the open corridor of the rear coach to communicate with the driver. We wound our way back to an unpronounceable Czech town and awaited the road back to Liberec. We waited... and waited... and waited.... Around 2 hours into our wait, news broke that all railway lines and roads out of Liberec and Prague were closed without any expected reopening schedule. Further trees had fallen on the line which we'd travelled up on and we were now trapped on the line. We were pragmatic about the situation; the train was warm and stocked with 500 litres of beer to serve the 50-or-so cranks on board. Besides; it was around noon on Sunday at this point, the next commitment I had was being back in my office chair by 08:00 on Tuesday. We'd find a way.

 

A further hour passed, when a headlight appeared in the still-torrential rain. A small railbus made it's way into the station; our signal rapidly turned green and our train resumed its journey, around four hours behind schedule but at least we were moving. We made good progress until the next station stop, in an equally unpronounceable Czech village, where we were ominously looped into a little used road. It was hoped we were just being moved aside to let a few service trains pass (themselves running around 5 hours late), however it soon became apparent that our tour wasn't a priority to the Czech signallers and the few available paths were being given to regular service trains. We bedded down for a wait. At times the train heating would cut out and you could see your own breath; there were certain parallels to scene in Apollo 13 where they begin to wonder if they'll ever make it home.

 

After a further four hours and a rather robust exchange of Czech words between the driver and signal man, it was agreed that our train would run in the path of a service train to at least get us underway, on the condition we'd pick up any passengers who were spotted on route. Running over eight hours late, the driver was evidently fed up and just wanted to get back to Prague, we flew through the night back to civilisation at warp speed. We managed to make up around 3 hours (!) by the time we finally rolled into Prague.

 

On paper, this trip was a disaster. In reality, it was utterly brilliant. A true boys-own adventure. 

 

Anyway; back to the little trains. Work on the two central Parkend cottages has progressed well with them both starting to get a base coat of colour. It's been a little bit of a challenge to represent run down render, but a mixture of enamels, MIG weathering powders and a few highlights with Games Workshop 'Dry' colours seems to have worked well. Next biggest challenge if working out how to model the roof tiles - I've picked up some laser cut ones from York Model Making, but I think the horizontal gaps between them may be a little over stated. Some experimentation is required... 

 

 

 

I'd like to take the opportunity to offer a round of applause for Oxford Diecast; who have finally produce a ready-to-plonk mundane 1970's car in 2mm with their Mk.3 Cortina. If I'm being really picky, I'd of preferred a poverty-spec base model, as opposed to the GXL they've modelled, but I'll take it. The below example has had the wheels replaced and a coat of Dullcote, just to town it down a little. I hope this is the first of some more 'porridge' vehicle.

 

 

 

I've also been putting together the allotments for the read of the layout. They'll be right at the back of the layout so I've not gone too overboard on detail, I'm not sure how much people will be able to see once they're planted on the layout. They're all a bit neat at the moment - I need to add some more clutter!

 

 

See some of you at Warley.

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

 

[Pixie]

 

Evening all,

 

As seems to be standard for my updates on this thread, I must start this update with an apology for 18 months of radio silence. It wasn’t intention, I promise, and I have good reasoning. I (finally!) bought a house after talking about it and saving for a very, very long time. It’s been very good to finally have a front door to call my own although, coupled with a chaotic period at work, did mean that I had to drop out of the Aldershot exhibition mentioned in the previous update.

 

A lot of free time has been spent trying to bring the new house into the 21st century – the previous owner’s hobbies seemed to include questionable DIY bodges, horrific pink carpets, Anaglypta wallpaper and cigarettes. Many, many cigarettes. It’s been quite a battle but I’m now on top of the nicotine-stench and the house is a sea of neutral colours and wood floorings.

 

As a 30th birthday present to myself, I pushed on and completed my office--workbench ready for the Winter Modelling season. I’d vastly outgrown the small space at my parents so it’s nice to a home for everything at last; it’s odd to have some spare bookshelf space too. Whilst the office is intended for little modelling jobs, there’s a rough plan to build a ‘proper’ workshop at the bottom of the garden later in the summer that will be kitted out for messy jobs - a lathe and spray-booth would be good for 2mm stuff; welding equipment and a grit blaster for Cavalier tinkering.

 

 

The eagle eyed may spot a new layout on the wall – this is my DJLC entry that’s based around an IKEA Lack. The prototype is the Gakunan Railway in Japan; a 1067mm gauge industrial line that threads its way through various industries near the city of Fuji.

 

Whilst the layout is to 1/150th scale, the track is to 7.12mm gauge – I’m unaware of the correct name for this combination but I’ve start to refer to it as JFS150. Being lathe-less at present, I’m very grateful to Alan Smith who turned up the roller gauges for the layout whilst the crossing nose gauges came from the unlikely source of 9/32” diameter throttle cable nipples intended for Triumph motorcycles.

 

 

The layout is probably best described as ‘getting-there’; I really need to spend some time on the scenic details, however it will be appearing as a work-in-progress at GlobalRail in Didcot on Saturday 15th June (https://grs-uk.org/shows/2018/09/08/globalrail-2019-announced.html).

 

 

Parkend hasn’t quite made it to the new place yet, but after much arm twisting from Bryn and Pete Matcham I’m very pleased to say that it’ll be at the 2mm Association Meeting in Tutbury on Saturday 8th June (Two exhibitions on two consecutive weekends – this is new ground for me!). The layout did make it’s exhibition debut at GlobalRail 2018 where it operated well and proved relatively easy to move but ever since has sat at my parent’s place gathering dusts. A lot of dust at that too; I was amazed at just how much it had acquired in a relatively short period of time. I spent several hours this weekend very carefully brushing and hoovering it off, before slowly coaxing everything back to life. Please go easily on me at Tutbury – I’m not quite prepared as I would like to be.

 

 

The Cavalier has progressed a little too; the new place included a powered and lit garage which means I can finally get to work on it (Well, once the house is finished at least). Previously it has been stored in a relatively remote place without running water, electricity or any place to work on it so everything had been carried out in the street – not ideal, but at least the car itself was under cover.

 

 

She will turn 40 next year which means MOT and tax exemption; the intention is to keep it running for a couple more years before taking it off the road to give it a full mid-life overhaul. Mechanically and structural it’s now very good, it just needs a few flaky bits of tin work dealing with, starting with the passenger wing. The intention isn’t really for it to be concourse as I want it to be a working car, but I’d like it to make approaching that level.

 

 

Preparations for these works have meant traipsing around the country when another appears. An eBay listing lead me to an example in a scrap yard in Evesham that was so corroded  we had to cut through the door skins to get to the glass, cut the boot off to get to the fuel tank and cutting the roof to salvage what was left of the interior. Being February it hammered it down with rain all day too – good times! I’m indebted to my two ever present friends for helping out with these recovery missions.

 

 

Another road-trip to the East Midlands ended up requiring a van to cart home a huge amount of parts from two people’s collections. I certainly found out my other half is an open minded soul when I dumped most of the salvaged parts in our back garden for a week or so. I’ll give it a couple more weeks before leaving bits to soak in the bath, mind you.

 

 

Not everything has ended up in the parts store; some life expired items have been turn into furniture for the house – I was quite pleased with my speedo clock and steering column reading lamp.

 

 

 

So, that’s the last 18 month in a couple of photos. I’m hoping to resume some 2mm modelling properly this year now that things are calming down again at home – watch this space.

 

See you at Tutbury and Didcot.

 

Cheers,

Pix

 

Edited May 27, 2019 by Pixie

[Lacathedrale]

I'm loving the DJLC entry - what wonderful trackwork. Do you have any more details on it that you'd be willing to share?

[queensquare]

Great to have you back Steve - just turned thirty - cripes!!

 

Parkend for MRJ please

 

Jerry

[chrisveitch]

Thanks for the update @Pixie - you're certainly displaying a wide range of talents there, especially the very neat Japanese NG. And I'm another one who'd be interested to see a bit more of Parkend. 

 

We were staying with a friend this weekend who has a couple of classic VWs and who frequently tries to persuade me to dip my toe into modern classic car ownership. I have been trying to persuade him that I already have a hobby and don't have room for another, but your post hasn't done my case any favours...