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A diorama or two by Sandhills


Sandhills

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Stuck indoors due to the wintry weather :-(

 

Had a play on the laptop and came up with this. Probably a little too arty farty for most but a good advert for Absolute Aspects anyway..........!

 

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A bit off topic but I wanted to record the activity on my workbench this weekend here on the thread as it might be of interest to some. A friend in the village who was unaware of my connection to model railways until the other day approached me on Friday and asked if I would take a look at some old model trains he had played with as a child and that had been passed down to him from his father.

 

They had been away in the attic for a number of years and he wanted to see them cleaned, serviced and back to their former condition.

 

I'm no restoration expert but I agreed and said i'd do the best I could. After a weekend of dusting with brushes, cleaning, polishing & lubricating I think they've come up ok and with all the original boxes still intact i'm sure my friend will be chuffed. I've managed to get the Hymek, steam engine and the 37 all running with a small industrial shunter the only one that refused to take power.

 

I dont know an awful lot about whether any of these are rare or how long ago they were produced but I thought i'd share a few photos before they go back to their owner tomorrow.

 

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A bit like Tonka !!

 

Even with detailing and a good weather you would struggle to make these look realistic but I did enjoy cleaning them up and dare I say it, photgraphing the steam loco was a pleasure, I might even browse Hattons website later and see if I can pick myself up a 4MT or Black 5 bargain ! Need to do some serious RMweb based research on weathering steamies before I tackle any new purchase though !

 

*Dont worry modern image fans, i'll sleep on it, come to my senses.....and then end up buying a class 60 in the morning !!

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Slept on it.......and didnt come to my senses !

 

Dare I say it, spent an enjoyable day detailing & weathering this.......

 

Bachmann's Standard 4MT 2-6-0 (apparently) !

 

More tomorrow........

 

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... looks very nice Jon. Oddly enough there's only one kettle in my fleet too - and it was the freebie offer from BRM subs late last year - Bach 4MT 2-6-0 76114. So, not far removed from your one. It's only been test run, but does look very sweet... and a prime candidate for some end-of-steam weathering at some point too. Good choice!

Jon

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Hi,

 

I have been following your thread for a long while and really admire your modern image photography; I quite often have to double check that your photos really are of models. But the second photo of the 4MT is simply stunning. Can't wait for some more of the same!

 

Best wishes,

 

Ben

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I needed a break from the same old same old so yesterday I took a trip to the model shop and cast my eye over the used steam loco cabinet, new territory for me !

 

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A few on here and other friends on Facebook have often asked whether I would consider doing what I do with diesels, but with steam, so I decided to have a crack. I knew weathering steam would be a completely different ball game to that of making modern image look work worn so after a late night the other night looking at a few steam based threads & topics on here I clued myself up and made my first purchase.

 

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A Bachmann Standard 4MT was the engine of choice, I was hoping for the slightly more imposing 4-6-0 but with a limited choice and budget I ended up with a 2-6-0 example.

 

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Some research followed and I was pleased to find of the 115 built, 2 examples had been allocated to Leicester in their day.

 

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Despite being the second owner of this loco the detailing pack was un-opened and the full set, including couplings, pipes and brake rigging were added and I made the decision to swop the plastic coal for ballast that would be set using PVA then painted black with the addition of black weathering powder.

 

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Not really knowing where on earth to start ive ended up following the general rules that I picked up on here reading through the pages and pages of excellent steam weathering that are on offer.

 

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The boiler end was blackened using powder, rusty shades added to the ends of the cylinders, white chalky marks half way down the sides of the boiler from the various valves on top and black and rust washes below the solebar.

 

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I hope ive done it justice and i'm keen to learn more, possibly add to the loco count and maybe even build a small diorama that suits the period a little better than the boards ive used for these pics.

 

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The last few days have certainly been enjoyable and interesting, the steam engine period certainly lending itself more to my atmospheric style of photography.....so who knows, although ive got, and always will have diesel running through my veins you may be seeing a little more of this in the future. Maybe a mixture of shiny green diesels & dirty worn out steam engines pictured around the 60's is the way forward !?

 

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although ive got, and always will have diesel running through my veins

Me too - but I think your latest batch of pics are absolutely stunning (as usual!), and although I never thought I'd say this, I think I actually prefer them to your wonderful diesel ones...!! If the close up of the cab side wasn't in a model thread I'd bet the mortgage it was real...!!

 

keith

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  • RMweb Gold

. Maybe a mixture of shiny green diesels & dirty worn out steam engines pictured around the 60's is the way forward !?

 

The 60's would be ideal, as even the (relatively new) diesels were affected by the general malaise at BR, and were rarely cleaned, so mucky green diesels and really mucky black steam would give you scope for your full range of skills.

 

I absolutely love your pics, and am in awe of your eye for detail, long may it continue!

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Fantastic. I was hoping you would turn to steam one day. Agree that late 60s would suit your style. For prototype weathering inspiration, have you seen this photostream:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/barkingbill/2127586154/in/set-72157603696486994

As someone who never saw steam at work this photostream is excellent. It's hard to believe what a dirty place a steam shed was, perhaps as modellers we are a little too subtle at times?

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  • RMweb Gold

Yes the colour is what makes those pics special, I think.  But many are from the last months of steam, so I assume this was when they were at their worst. An interesting weathering job though, and lots of decay for Jon to capture.

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Thanks for all the comments guys.

Mikkel, what a super link, thanks, I shall retire to bed with the iPad right now and have a look through all of them. On the first few I've flicked through I have to say I'm very drawn to the interior roundhouse shots, all that grime & atmosphere.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 1 month later...

25th of March, whoops, has it really been that long ?!

 

Reason - I got myself a job playing with the real thing and 12 hour days and 6 day weeks don't leave a lot of time for anything really, let alone modelling.

 

Hope everyone's keeping well and good to see the standard just keeps getting higher.

 

Can't offer any new material but what I can offer is that if anyone wants pictures and/or studies of anything on the prototype rail network chances are I'll be able to oblige. Just drop us a line and I'll see if I can help.

 

Bye for now.......and happy modelling guys !

 

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