A diorama or two by Sandhills

[Sandhills]

Well, here goes !

After a long absence from any kind of blog or thread following my adventures within the hobby ive decided to start again with this offering.

I’ll try and start at the beginning and document a few of the weathering projects and dioramas that have passed over the last 18 months, then I plan to update regularly with ‘how to’ posts and photos of my lastest board, which for arguments sake we’ll call a layout and not an overgrown photography platform !

First up though is a taster of things to come. Ive just returned from a fruitful visit to my local model shop and after waving goodbye to several wagons, coaches and the familiar Large Logo 47 / Distribution 37, I have a box full of goodies that I hope you will follow as I attempt to transform them into something so many of you seem to say “Blimey, I had to look twice at that†!!

The Hornby 60 which ive done several times before but not quite with the level of detail and weathering this one is going to command. The Beastie stickers from Fox are already ordered ! –

A standard Bachmann 66 (sound fitted for my little video clips) in GBRf, fitiing in with the Peterborough theme of the new board –

The big challenge ! Do I stand a hope in hell of making the Hornby 92 in EWS look anything like realistic !! Etched portals and a pantograph kit on the way for this one –

….and lastly, the first twin pack of Bachmann flats complete with 2 of my sons favourite containers. I think it’s the Crocodile that he likes !! –

I know the forum has seen a rise in membership since I last documented anything so to give those who missed some of my offerings first time round heres a brief description and pic from each of the boards ive done before –

Single Line Working started it all off-

Brooke Wharf was 3ftx1ft, not the greatest of track plans but for photo angles it worked. Youll find a lot of what I do doesn’t make a lot of sense from a layout building point of view but when their purpose is to generate realistic and well proportioned pictures, through the lens they start to make sense. Everything was scratch built and although the stock was all RTR in original liveries I did detail & weather each piece exploring all the different applications of the dark art !!

Brooke Farm crossing was a 5ft monster that I regularly lugged about the countryside and plonked infront of cement works and tree lined hillsides. A test of scenics rather than structures and a chance to photograph more realistic train lengths –

Brooke Stone Quarry was intended to be my 2010 challenge entry but a house move & messy divorce put a stop to that and it was passed on unfinished to another member on the forum –

After a break I returned with ‘The Coffin’ !! A 6ftx2ft brick outhouse of a board that ended up Scottish one week and Western the next ! Still residing under my bed it may see the light of day again in the future. –

Then came my take on Eastfield TMD ! After impulse buying several Scottish locos I decided a suitable backdrop was required and after some very rough scratch building this 3ft by 2ft board ended up yielding some of the best stuff I think I have done so far –

A little dabble with N happens every now and again aswell !! –

…….so, where does that leave us ? Im fortunate enough to live in a beautiful Leicestershire village on the outskirts of Rutland, however, the shoebox cottage I reside in will never be big enough for that ‘dream’ roundy roundy layout so photo boards and stock detailing projects will have to be the way I go for sometime. Don’t get me wrong though, I really enjoy what I do within the hobby and im glad I can sometimes be a source of inspiration to those lucky enough to have more room for that ‘dream’ !

The latest board then is 4ft by 18in, incorporates two running lines with OHLE, an overbridge and the single road shed from Bachmann. Lots more on the progress of this over the coming weeks but after 2 weeks of stealing the odd hour here and there its already beginning to offer up some fairly realistic images.

Now then, which do I crack on with first, the 66, 60 or 92……………………………..?!

[beast66606]

Glad you're back, VERY nice stuff.

 

60 for me

[Loxborough]

Glad you're back, VERY nice stuff.

 

 

 

Seconded. I look forward to more absurdly realistic photos.

 

Don't suppose you'd consider doing a kettle? Just for a change, like...

 

Ok, I'm getting my coat.

 

George

[Crisis Rail]

Well and truly bonkers....

 

Possible the best images on here hands down - lighting and modelling spot on with excellent observation.

 

How much photoshop do you use?

[Stubby47]

Good to see you back !!

 

There's no reason why you can't make a selection of short modules, which when the weather is nice you could put together outside to make one useable layout .

 

But looking forwards to the 'how to' posts from you !

 

Stu

[60006]

I've been looking forward to more Sandhills work for so long now. I think t was your work that first really inspired me of how realistic models can become. Can't wait to see what you produce in this thread. From the pictures so far I can see your standards are still incredibly high.

 

Tom N.

 

P.S. Do the 60 first! =D

[Raffles]

My favourite containers have crocodiles on too. He's great.

[Sandhills]

Thanks Chaps

 

Beast66606 - cl60 it is then !

 

Loxborough - I may consider a Black 5 one day, would need a new backdrop building though !!

 

Crisis Rail - Don't own Adobe Photoshop, just use Irfanview to clarfy, sharpen and enhance colours & contrast.......a little too much sometimes if im honest !

 

Stubby47 - Will do my best, 'How To' only works when you remember to have the camera handy during the process ! I often work at a million miles an hour and its gone from out the box to finished in a morning ! Will slow down on the next one, promise !

 

60006 - Thanks, very kind.

 

Raffles - Must admit, that Croc is Hellfire !!

[birdseyecircus]

Welcome back you have made some great layouts over the last few years including Brooke stone. Looking forward to the how to's etc

 

Paul

[mason]

About time ....Good to see you fully back mate, your stuff has always inspired me as you know since the pilot road and brooke wharf days, i think for me its gotta be the 92 for that little something different.

love the new board, just like standing off the bridge at peterborough.

 

look forward to the upcoming stuff

 

Neil

[RWJP]

Nice to see you back, always appreciated the sheer realism of these pictures.

 

I don't suppose there's any chance of getting some photos of them in a normal setting, just to get an overall idea of the boards rather than the full on realistic photo-style thing!

 

Ross

[Guest Dave.C]

Very impressive,

 

I certainly look forward to the next instalment.

[Ramblin Rich]

Err - brilliant stuff as said above, but am I really the only one to have pushed the +1 button? Come on folks this needs promoting - give the the guy a star!

[mezzoman253]

Err - brilliant stuff as said above, but am I really the only one to have pushed the +1 button? Come on folks this needs promoting - give the the guy a star!

 

No, I've just pushed it too I had to double take the first pic of the CL60. Excellent work.

 

Rob

[Grimleygrid]

I agree with Beast we would like to see 078 all nice and dirty please!!

 

Good to see you back on RMWeb, can we have more photos of Eastfield too please!!

 

I look forward to seeing your future projects!

[d winpenny]

very impressive i look forward to looking any future updates

 

david

[1722]

Stunning work Jon, so glad you've got a new topic. I've loved the odd glimpse you've given us via the photo gallery.

 

Can't wait to see more.

[artizen]

I remember most of these. Contrary to my avatar specs I have actually been a member here for a lot longer!

 

Each one tiny, each one a gem. Keep going... please. I need the inspiration!

[7APT7]

Hi Mate

 

One Word....

 

STUNNING....

 

Love all your photos Time and time over... Keep them coming.

 

Refards

Jamie

[Sandhills]

Once again chaps, thank you for all the kind comments and the warm reception back to the forum.

 

A bit more on Eastfield then..............................

To be honest this board was a little crude, the main interest at the time was to add a handful of Scottish based locos to my fleet and with Heljan 26's available for under £45 I couldnt resist. Having detailed and weathered several class 26 & a large logo 37 I originally pictured them on one of the exsisting boards but they didnt quite come across the way I had hoped.

After a frustrating day outside photographing and then unsucessfully editing on the laptop until the early hours it was clear that a new backdrop was required and it would have to be a cheap affair as the model budget was looking a little sorry for itself after the purchase of 4 new locos !

A rumage in the shed turned up enough wood, screws and plasticard for me to attempt a slice of the iconic depot rather than a full scale reproduction !

As a kid I remembered well the atmosphere of the place, oh, and the grubiness !! I decided the grubby little corner with the door you would emerge from after seeing the depot foreman was the place to model and I worked out if I tweaked the design slightly and extended the DMU shed next door I could cover up the fact I was only working with a 2ft wide sheet of ply !

Measurement wise I studied many prototype pics found on the web however the final cuts to the balsa frame were all done using a loco as a measuring tool to judge the height and width of each shutter door opening and then the subsequent proportions of the skylight roof and back wall. It wasnt perfect but once clad with 4mm brick and corrugated sheet it started to work.

Track work was code 75 and the ballast a mix of both 4 & 2mm. Layers of Railmatch weathered black and sleeper grime were added and the slimey pools of oil & muck produced using Lilliput pushed into the ballast and sleepers then painted with a glossy black enamel.

The shutter doors were made from 4mm corrugated plastic and I cut a chevron stencil out of thick cardboard to apply the black stripes onto the already painted yellow doors.

The small concrete apron was laid using some leftover Polycel smooth finish filler. Prototype pictures did provide evidence that despite the baron landscape and polluted trackbed the odd weed and vegetation did grow so tiny patches of coarse turf were added.

The fuel shed building that was later added as something to break up the foreground but wasnt based on anything you would have found at the real place. More an experiment in weathering structures, I used it in several photos and it ended up featuring in what I considered the best photo the project yielded !

Note the RFC graffiti rubbed in the muck on the back wall !

The board still survives and I guess if the Scottish juices start flowing again in the future out it will come to provided a useful, if inaccurate backdrop to a few more images !

Heavily altered and tweaked using an app on iphone this grainy thumbnail ended up my favourite image from 'Project Scotland' just because I can remember standing in exactly the same spot, mouth wide open in amazement some 25 years ago when the 47/7 ruled the day !!

'Waiting for fitters attention'

[knobhead]

Lovely work and photography!

 

Regards,

 

Stefan

[mason]

Superb mate, i really like the railfreifght 26, what was your weathereing process for that??

The eastfield board looks bigger than it is, and the buildings and ground work blend in lovely, great job mate and a great description to go along with it.

 

Neil

[AJ427]

I'm not particularly into disiesels but this is incredible. Your photography/detailing is ultra-realistic. I especially like the Eastfield stuff - brings back memories of a visit we made from the northeast when I was a kid in the early 80s.

[Sandhills]

Loco Project #1 - Hornby 60078

 

'Two sides to every.......loco'

 

For those who contacted me this weekend asking if I would weather their locos for them please please dont think Im being a grump by politely saying no ! I am far from clever and if anything, brave is the only attribute that could be attached to my weathering techniques & skills ! There is nothing here that even the most novice of modeller cant at least attempt, practice makes perfect and I like to think of my offerings as a form of inspriration for you to have a go yourself. To those who look and say 'I wish my stuff looked like that', I say, have a go, no airbrush required, no specialised skills, maybe the odd disaster along the way, but who cares, share your attempts and more qualified members will always be forthcoming with answers and ideas, if I can do it, so can you. The only tip you need is the one I was given from several members on here, use pictures of the real thing to guide you as you weather.

 

Right then, this wont be to everyones taste but its how I remember the last few months of 078 whilst in and out of service with EWS & DBS. There is a little twist though, I decided yesterday 2 for the price of 1 seemed like a good idea seeing as you can only picture one side at a time so 078 is Mainline one side, EWS Beastie sticker the other ! I was lucky enough to catch 078 at Peak Forest not so long ago so even though some may feel the finish a little tatty & too mucky I feel the level of grim is justified in comparison to pictures viewed on the web.

 

The wear & tear on the Beastie sticker is amplified in comparison to the real locos sticker simply because I made a right pigs ear of applying it and had to rough up the edges to hide the mistake !!

 

This was Friday fresh out the box -

 

This was this afternoon -

 

Heres what I did -

Snowploughs swapped for the full (non coupling) version

White metal air pipes from Shawplan, painted with railmatch weathered black, yellow & red. Attached using Rocket (red) Glue

Screw link couplings added

Minor repair to loose air horn

Removal of white stripe to prototype standard using knife to scratch and thinner to dissolve

Removal of Mainline branding on one side

Addition of Fox Transfers EWS Beastie sticker and subsequent peeling effect applied by scratching with sharp knife

Gloss black roof covered with overall spray of Railmatch weathered black with main body masked off using paper and masking tape

Bogies, compressor and fuel tank lightly sparayed whilst body detached and inner workings covered with masking tape. Frame dirt concentrated on bogies with weather black aimed towards fuel tank. Used bounce technique off piece of wood positioned infront of model

Window masks from PH Designs used to create windscreen wiper swipe on front glass. Side windows masked off with masking tape throughout weathering process.

Front window frames touched with very thin brush and silver enamel paint as per prototype pictures

Body side sprayed with Frame Dirt and then removed using sponge dipped in thinner to required level of muck. The white haze from the thinner when it dries can be removed with a damp, clean cloth afterwards.

Oil/dirt streaks added on side from gaps between roof panels

Silver paint added to steps to recreate tread wear

Buffers painted silver, blob of black paint in middle then wole buffer blotted with thumb

Exhaust box painted silver and whilst tacky dusted with black weathering powder

Whole model dusted using make up brush with jet black powder

Light spray of matt varnish to finish remembering to leave window masks on until complete !!

Wheels cleaned using Q Tip dipped in thinner

 

The tatty sticker close up-

The Mainline side-

The Sticker side-

Cab close up-

Working a train-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mason]

Very nice jon, and a great process write up, simple and clear, ver very good mate and it also shows that the slight mistake with the beastie sticker on application turned out well in the end

great job, and i can honestly say from knowing you through brief meetings and chats we have had in the past that your stuff is inspirational to me and as you say the bast way to learn is have a go yourself.

 

Neil