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A 2mm loco service point


StuartM

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The track and base board have now been painted

And while I had the airbrush out, I took the opportunity to weather some recently purchased fuel tankers and a class 50

Next, the ballasting

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Back under artificial lighting,

Having checked the points to make sure the paint hadn't affected them in any way and after some additional tidying up the depot floor has been laid and the oil tankers have had some extra weathering added in the form of oil spill........ Now for the ballasting.

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Looking good. The floor inside the shed looks real tidy, what have you used.

 

You know the A4 pads of paper you get from any stationer, the back of the pad has an A4 sheet of cardboard, that's what I used.

They are easy to cut, file, glue and paint, and they also look like concrete when photographed.

I always save these sheets of card as they come in handy for modelling in so many different ways.

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Guest oldlugger

You've got a winner here Stuart! The track work looks great and the track plan makes nice use of the small space. Good luck with the rest of the project.

 

All the best

Simon

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You've got a winner here Stuart! The track work looks great and the track plan makes nice use of the small space. Good luck with the rest of the project.

 

All the best

Simon

 

Thanks Simon,

Your encouragement is appreciated.

I don't know about winning, it's more the taking part really,

Also the closing date forces me to pull my finger out, other wise the track would still be sitting in the bits box.

Rgds,

Stuart

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Hi Stuart

 

Looking really good!

 

What's your plan for ballasting? On the rare occasions I have been able to visit loco depots (and not recently, as it's so much harder than it used to be to organise) I have been struck with how the ballast/ground covering in depots is noticeably different in appearance to "standard" ballast, being much finer.

 

These photos show what I mean:

 

37 408  Crewe Diesel Depot  24-02-96

 

25212 & 08470 Crewe Diesel 14.7.85

 

Of course, this may be something that is era-specific, but I guessed from the stock you have shown that you are looking at BR Blue era?

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

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Hi Stuart

 

Looking really good!

 

What's your plan for ballasting? On the rare occasions I have been able to visit loco depots (and not recently, as it's so much harder than it used to be to organise) I have been struck with how the ballast/ground covering in depots is noticeably different in appearance to "standard" ballast, being much finer.

 

These photos show what I mean:

 

http://www.flickr.co...ays/3305042754/

 

http://www.flickr.co...006/5461339977/

 

Of course, this may be something that is era-specific, but I guessed from the stock you have shown that you are looking at BR Blue era?

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

 

Thanks for the photos Ben,

I was thinking along "similar-ish" lines to the photos in the links you supplied, but not quite.

I have an idea in my head which is very minimal ballast confined just to the track alone which is also the reason I haven't placed the track on a raised bed of cork or similar.

I might do a view trial runs on some scrap track first in order to get the look I'm hoping to achieve. And of course once the ballast has been laid it will need painting, weathering and oiling which will all add to the dirty inner city diesel depot look.

And yes and your right corporate blue is the era that this is based on, and if I keep the diorama fairy generic, then just about anything could be placed on it blue or green from between those magical years of 1969-79.

Rgds,

Stuart

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I hate ballasting!

It's the point of no return and will either enhance your model or ruin it, so I've been practising before I ballast the diorama for real,

Here's a photo of the latest practice run.

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Hi Stuart

 

This is looking absolutely superb. Love the track work and the shed - did you scratch build the shed? I hadn't realized just how detailed 2mm scale could be until starting to take notice during the competition - fantastic stuff. I think what makes this really original is the computerized electrics combined with the exacting detail. You're not far off the finish line now so keep up the great work.

 

Regards Mike

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Hi Stuart

 

This is looking absolutely superb. Love the track work and the shed - did you scratch build the shed? I hadn't realized just how detailed 2mm scale could be until starting to take notice during the competition - fantastic stuff. I think what makes this really original is the computerized electrics combined with the exacting detail. You're not far off the finish line now so keep up the great work.

 

Regards Mike

 

Thanks Mike,

Your comments are very much appreciated.

I'm just a beginner in 2mm but there are some people in the association that are "really" good.

I'm not a rivet counter by any stretch of the imagination, I just visualise what I want, and then try and create it, some times it comes easy and other times the bin under the work bench is littered with failed attempts. To my mind, as long as it looks the part, that's good enough for me.

In answer to your question, yes the shed is scratch built, see previous posts on page one or two, however because you've asked, I've attached a couple of photos which I took during the building process. If I was building to scale the railings would be way out of scale and the plastic ladder is me just being lazy and wanting to get the thing finished, but add some paint and after a week or so the mind blanks out these discrepancy's anyway,

Although I've still got the dreaded ballasting to do, I'm now looking forward to making the retaining walls.

Rgds, Stuart

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Anything rather than do the ballasting!

Tonight a mock up of the retaining walls to get an idea of what will work and what won't.

I like the bridge but not sure about the tunnel, I wish the makers of brick sheet would make one with a tunnel pattern already embossed on it as it would look so much better.

The track in the foreground is some scrap n gauge

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The ballasting is done!

Not as well as I'd have liked to be honest.

By the time I finally worked out the best way of achieving the effect I was after it was to late, still now I've learnt the technique next time will be better

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Ballasting doesn't look bad to my eyes. Only comment I would make is that possible a little more was needed to hide the ends of the sleepers more.

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I think the ballasting is about as good as it gets for now and as Ben says perhaps with some additional oil spill etc it will become passable. Still as I've said before in previous posts this diorama is a learning exercise for me and I did finally work out a technique that gives the results I like, which I can now use next time.

Now onto the retaining walls, but in the meantime a couple more photos showing the effects that tight cropping can achieve.

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Those low light shots really give the model atmosphere!

 

As Ben suggested, I would definitely weather the ballast, by working with photos of the real thing - and maybe give the area away from the sleepers a slightly more neglected feel - even a few bits of junk and litter to add to the atmosphere. Assuming your shed was built in the early to mid 1960s., it would have had 15-20 years of weathering and use by the time of your model, so it would be unlikely to be pristine.

 

Oh for the time my diorama gets to this stage! Liverpool Lime Street has a very long way to go yet!

 

Keep up the good work!

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Thanks for all the comments, but with regard to weathering the ballast......... I already have!,

 

It seems to me that ballasting is a bit of a subjective subject and is very much down to personal taste.

 

Admittedly I might add some more "detail" as previously mentioned, but I think I'm going to wait until the walls are up and the buildings are built, that way I can add detail relative to the whole.

 

Rgds,

StuartM

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Thanks for all the comments, but with regard to weathering the ballast......... I already have!,

 

It seems to me that ballasting is a bit of a subjective subject and is very much down to personal taste.

StuartM

 

Can't agree more - though please feel free to give your opinions on my diorama!

 

Weathering is a very subtle thing - see

http://www.rmweb.co....post__p__433538

for example.

 

There are some nice details there that might inspire you, though making models based on models is not supposed to be a good idea :rolleyes:.

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Can't agree more - though please feel free to give your opinions on my diorama!

 

Weathering is a very subtle thing - see

http://www.rmweb.co....post__p__433538

for example.

 

There are some nice details there that might inspire you, though making models based on models is not supposed to be a good idea :rolleyes:.

 

Thanks for the link, although there seems to be several different layouts going on so I can't work out which scale I'm looking at,

although there are some photos of what I think is 4mm hand-built track, the track in the photo that the link takes you directly to appears to me to be RTR Peco 00 points and while I agree that the ballasting, detailing and weathering is very good, I've always thought how much easier it must be to do all these details in a larger scale (from the ngauge/2mm perspective). so I gave 00 a try some time ago the results of which can be viewed here... http://www.stuartmoo....co.uk/Misc.htm and http://www.stuartmoo...ill%20depot.htm

Perhaps not as much detail but so much easier to do.

Thanks for the advice

Rgds,

StuartM

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Your OO stuff looks very nice.

 

A problem with 2mm scale these days is that people see photos of it and think it should have the same level and quality of detail as any other scale. it is only when they see the layout for real that they realise just how small it really is. Magazine editors are notorious for wanting close-ups of any layout - and digital cameras make it so easy!

 

For the 2011 challenge, people are only viewing photos of our work, not the real thing. So, you and I will be compared directly with all the larger scale dioramas, with little or no account taken of the very small scale we are working in.

 

That is just my theory though - and you have every right to finish off your excellent diorama to whatever level of detail you wish!

It reminds me of the sketch in Father Ted where Ted is trying to explain to Dougal that some cows looks small because they are models held in his hand and the real ones outside the caravan look small because they are far away :laugh:

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Your OO stuff looks very nice.

 

A problem with 2mm scale these days is that people see photos of it and think it should have the same level and quality of detail as any other scale. it is only when they see the layout for real that they realise just how small it really is. Magazine editors are notorious for wanting close-ups of any layout - and digital cameras make it so easy!

 

For the 2011 challenge, people are only viewing photos of our work, not the real thing. So, you and I will be compared directly with all the larger scale dioramas, with little or no account taken of the very small scale we are working in.

 

That is just my theory though - and you have every right to finish off your excellent diorama to whatever level of detail you wish!

It reminds me of the sketch in Father Ted where Ted is trying to explain to Dougal that some cows looks small because they are models held in his hand and the real ones outside the caravan look small because they are far away :laugh:

 

I'm liking your reply and I can picture Ted trying to explain perspective to Dougal. :wacko:

Your right about the size thing, especially when it comes to things like Ballast, in 00 you have big deep spaces inbetween the sleepers for the ballast to settle into, in N gauge you might have tighter spacing but you still have deep sleepers, in 2mm you have tight spacing and around 1mm of depth which means that your ballast will only be 1mm thick at best which makes it very difficult to actually get the ballast to stick not only to it's self but also to the baseboard and surrounding sleepers.

 

I also agree with the comment about the digital camera's, my 10megapixil dslr will pick out any minor flaw, but I use this to my advantage by taking photos as I go along and then rectifying any mistakes that the camera highlights, that way the model usually looks pretty good to the naked eye. Sometimes it's good to remember that it's just a hobby and we should enjoy the process of making something and not worry to much about minuscule details that won't mean a thing in a years time. I prefer to think of myself as an impressionist like Monet rather than a realist like constable, as long as the over all impression is achieved I'm happy.

 

Thinking about the size thing a bit more, it a bit of a trade off really, what the 00's gain in detail they tend to lose in realism e.g. trains with only 4 carriages and really tight bends, whereas what we lose in detail we gain in realistic length trains and more sweeping curves which is why I started modelling in ngauge.

 

Onwards and upwards,Like you weekday more wall building tonight

Rgds,

Stuart

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