JaymzHatstand Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 I've finally got all of the paper mache for the ground done, it took a while duie to the contours and having to wait until the retaining wall and tunnel mouth were painted/fitted, but it's now ready for painting (first a few coats of brown to add a bit more solidity and a decent earth colour). Onmce it's painted, I'll make a start with the detailing; grasses, fences, trees and other bits and bobs. At least with an earth colour layed down it'll give it a bit more of a reasonable appearance. Less than two weeks to go before the show now, so hopefully it'll look pretty reasonable! A few shots showing the retaining wall and tunnel mouth after painting and fitting. The eagle eyed of you may nitice some scatter has been applied between the ballast and the wall, this will eventually be weathered and have a few 'weeds' added. The next job will be to fit the backscene, which is the Gaugemaster 'Open Field' three part set, I know it's generic but I don't really have time to create my own and it'll be mostly just the sky that is visible, especially on the valley section. I'll post some more photos once the ground is less newspapery! Cheers J 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 This morning I've had a play with the backscene for the station board, cutting out the hole for the control panel (inside the green barn) and drilling the hole to correspond with the bolt for the legs. After a sucessful test fitting I thought 'I wonder what it'll look like when it's done?' so out can the roll of Gaugemaster Backscene and a couple of small bits of Blu-Tack and hey presto (other supermarkets are available! ) the resulting photos are a rough approxiomation of the finished product. There will be some foliage along the join between the flat and the vertical, hopefully some sea-moss trees or lichen, which will hopefully improve the appearance somewhat, but overall, I'm fairly pleased with it so far. Lastly a shot of my Mercian FR van posing outside the goods shed, which I think shows a lot of potential. Can anyone suggest any way that I can fasten the backscene onto the board itself, I don't think PVA will be suitable, so am I looking at wallpaper paste or something similar? Cheers J 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
49395 Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Its coming on well James, looking forward to seeing it up close in a week or so (no pressure...) How about something like spraymount? Its not cheap though. I think they make some more permanent versions than the usual stuff too. Wallpaper paste could be worth a try though. Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted July 16, 2012 Author Share Posted July 16, 2012 Yesterday (Sunday) I took the layout downstairs and set it up in the lounge so I could spend the afternoon testing various combinations of rolling stock and try to highlight as many potential problems as I could as I dont want to discover that nothing works next weekend! There are a few minor bugs to work around, but on the whole I had trains which were fine and could have stock swapped around so it doesn't get too repetitive! The curtain to hide the legs has also been made, and the eyes for the press studs sewn on (thanks to the sewing machine, fingers and sewing skills of my wife!) Today I have been concentrating on the scenics, mainly adding the wire to the Ratio fencing (which is quite a task, but looks good and so worth it!). Som scatter and hedges have been added, along with a few clumpos of hedgerow and the first couple of trees (all from the Woodland Scenics range) and the followinf photos show that particular progress. The unfinished fence wires are visible in a couple of the photos, but these won't be left dangling will-nilly! I have also pasted the first of the backscenes to it's board, and it seems to be drying quite well. There were a few bubbles earlier, but these seem to be slowly going as the wallpare paste dries. I'd best crack on, I've only got a couple of days until the exhibition now, and Friday will be taken up with loading the car and transporting it to Goathland for setting up, so time is of the essence! Cheers J 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 The exhibition over the weekend went pretty well, a few cases of dirty wheels and stroppy stock, but these were easy to solve as I went along (stock that didn't want to play didn't and wqent back in the box!) As the weekend progressed I found myself slipping into an operating sequence, which had just enough movbement to keep it interesting for me, and nothing to stressful that I could be wholly distracted if anyone wanted to chat (I hope!) I think I could do with at least one more loco, as the five I had were pretty much coinfined to their duties, and the ability to swap them and have on in the shed area would add to bot the viewing and operating interest. This will hopefully be solved one day as I've got a Backwoods Double Fairlie on my workbench as well as the start of a railcar which will also increase my operating capacity, and over-fill my fiddle yard! I also found that despite my efforts, not all of my couplings are at the same height, and so not all shunting moves worked, so this is something else to address. Scenically I recieved a fair few favourable comments (mostly about the backscene, which even led to Puffers of Pickering selling one of them, no commission for me though!) People didn't believe that it was pure chance that the scatter I had used matched up well with the colours on the backscene, but I had done most of it before fitting the back boards so it was nothing but luck (I'm rather grateful for it too!) I took a few photos of the layout in action at various stages of the operating sequence so you can get an idea of how it ran. One of my FR brake vans even found its way onto the Whitby MRCs layout 'Streonshalh' on Sunday afternoon and was seen at various parts of the layout on a Lowmac, and on the back of a lorry! I'd like to thank Paul (Wordsell Forever) and the W&D MRC for inviting me to the show, it was great fun as always! Hopefully I'll get to take it out and about again as it is rather enjoyable to operate, and it'll encourage me to keep working on it too! Cheers J 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 Wow! It's been over two years since I posted on here, so I guess it's time for an update! With an exhibition in September, I decided a month or so ago to put the layout together and see how the scenics had held up to a house move and a long time stored in my secret room! The grassed areas had begun to look a little worn out and the hedges have always been a bone of contention for me. I have begin the process of tidying and tweaking various scenic aspects thus far; the grassed areas have had a second coat of scatter and now look a lot more healthy, the station has a new fence along the back, a couple of trees have been started (I'm just waitng for the foliage to arrive before they get a bit of green life on them) I have also begun filling out the hedge along the back which I think is a vast improvement on the flexible foam one currently in place! Below are some photos of the various changes, taken using the same angles and stock in the previous post for comparison. And finally a few photos of the various plantlife appearing around the layout! Still a fair way to go, and Ive got a few stock projects on the go as well, but just under two months to go, everything should be fine! As long as I don't keep getting distracted be 'testing'! All comments and questions/suggestions are welcome! Cheers J 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
L&Y Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 Looks interesting. Is that the cornard point control system? Is that still available? I used to use gem point levers with that. Worked very well for pennies. Seem to remember I got it from Holt model railways but they don't have it listed on there website any more. It was a lot cheaper than brass. Good work! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 Thanks, it's a mixture of GEM and Peco. The less used points being GEM, as I found that the bread levers were quite painful to operate for long periods of time, which during my first exhibition outing resulted in a push-pull train operating for long periods! The points fitted with solenoid motors also have polarity switches starched, which is useful for smooth(er) running! Cheers J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 I've finally got the new layer of scatter down over the whole scenic are, there was a bit of a delay as my supplies were running low and I had to find a matching colour and as I long ago got rid of the original packet, that wasn't as easy as it could (should) have been! Never the less, it now looks a lot tidier, and should be added to a little more with a few clumps of static grass and small clumps of wild flowers here and there. The trees to the back of the hill have been dressed with scatter, fixed with hairspray and one has been airbrushed to become a copper beech, although In photographs it looks a solid purple, in reality it is a dark purply-reddy-greeny colour which is as close as I could mix to the real thing. The other two 'main' trees have had their trunks painted so the white blobs of dried superglue are now hidden, so they are ready for their foliage now too. Here are a couple of photos to illustrate the new expanded wood area and foreground tree sitting in place. Still just over a month to go until the exhibition (Sept 20th & 21st - New Earswick, York - www.railscenetoday.com) so I've still got plenty of time for tweaks and enhancements, no need to panic, yet! Cheers J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted August 19, 2014 Author Share Posted August 19, 2014 Today I dug out the fidle yard to make an adjustment I'd meant to make before it's last outing, but not had the time to do. I also found that a couple of the bits of brass pipe used for the locking/current transfer had come unsoldered so that was an extra little job to sort out, but better now than the day before the show! Here is the transition between the fiddle yard entrance and the sector plate as I found it And the necessary bits, which fortunately hadn't gone missing And after a few minutes poking about with my soldering iron and some fresh flux/solder Now, on to the orginal task I had set myself. The non-layout end of the sector plate was open, which as you can visualise was just asking for trouble! The previous show I exhibited at (Goathland, courtesy Whitby MRC) I only had one cascading disaster, but a few near misses. My intention was to fit a small barrier to prevent any runaway stock leaving the relative safety of the layout and being rapidly introduced to the floor! Before, it does look like there is a barrier, but that is the framework for the fiddleyard. After, the new barrier has been fitted and can be seen with some of my VoR stock acting as a test train. Hopefully this will prevent any further accidents or near misses! Cheers J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted August 19, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 19, 2014 Some really nice progress there J, and good to see the layout again. I thought you had gone a bit quiet. Cheers, Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted August 19, 2014 Author Share Posted August 19, 2014 Thanks Dave, it's amazing how many new little jobs rear their heads when you start doing other ones! The list just grows and grows! Cheers J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 (edited) This time in a month, the Scrayingham will have (hopefully) completed a day's exhibition running and will be not far away from the second day commencing! One little niggle that has been at the back of my mind is a slight variance in the track height between the two main baseboards. It isn't enough to affect running badly, but the smaller wheelbased locos do tend to judder a bit at times, especially as the day wears on and the track gets dirty. I have made a short video to show the issue and it is to be found below... The difference in height is only on the rail nearest to the camera, and despit the appearance in the video, the boards are closely joined (the bare wood is from a small gap in the scenics which will soon be rectified!) My initial idea is to separate the boards and add a small shim of plasicard below the trackbed on the affected side to raise it in line with the other as I don't really fancy lifting the whole section this close to a show and having to re-ballast etc! Has anyone else had similar problems and found solutions to them? I may opt for a brass shim as that would probably be sturdier and less prone to compression than plasticard. Any help/advice greatly recieved Cheers J Edited August 21, 2014 by JaymzHatstand Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted August 26, 2014 Author Share Posted August 26, 2014 (edited) Thanks to Mozzer over on NGRM, for pointing out the obvious about heating the solder on the copperclad sleepers and lifting the rail slightly, I gave it a go and it seems to have worked pretty well. It may still have a little jolt, but I think the majority of that is just the track joint now. Again, I have made a short video to highlight the work done and the results https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix9bDvT2K6A Next on the agenda is to experiment with static grass, the applicator is ready to go and I've got some short grass to test it with. I'll need to get hold of some longer stuff for the area around the barn at the back, and some items to clutter it with possibly a rusty skip and some bits of waste farm equipment, a tree trunk or other such detrius. Time to see what I can find in my 'never throw anything away box(es)'! Cheers J Edited August 26, 2014 by JaymzHatstand Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted September 2, 2014 Author Share Posted September 2, 2014 I have begun the process of 'planting' static grass, beginning at the station end of the layout. I have to say the visual improvement is very noticable and indeed pleasing, as it does give a great deal of extra body to the area so treated. I will mix in a darker colour as I progress further back or the whole thing might start to look a bit toy like. After the initaial application to the area near the water tower, I found the bigger clump of undergrowth looked a little like a bad toupee so using a bit of brushwood I have created a tree stump in the middle, which seems to give the area a much better appearance. I have begun to make the station signs, one for behind the fence, the other for the small grassed area in the middel of the run round loop. In the photo the signs with test print signs in place. The actual ones to be used are on the sheet below, waiting to be printed out and stuck on, but that will have to wait until a second coat of 'NER Red/Brown' has been apllied. The Red/Brown has also bee painted onto the relevant areas of the station building, just the cream for the window frames remains to be done now. The rear hedge is now up to half the length that it needs to be, so should be completed fairly soon and the back area's appearance should improve greatly. The production of the bushes became much quicker when I realised that I'd been trying to use varnish as a fixative as opposed to spray mount! Less than a month to go until the signal drops on the exhibition, so I'd best keep going! Cheers J 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 (edited) The show went very well indeed, I enjoyed chatting to a number of visitors about both the layout and the real world of narrow gauge railways. The layout itself performed pretty well, only my Vale of Rheidol tank proved really troublesome and was confined to the sheds! I didn't get chance to use all of my available rolling stock as there wasn't really time to swap the stock around while still keeping things moving at the front, with five roads in the fiddle yard and a few spare wagons in the goods shed though, there was enough variety to keep things interesting to operate, and hopefully watch! Enough writing, here are a selection of photos from the weekend, which also show the scenic improvements and tweaks to full effect. I'd just like to thank Tony for not only organising such a good show, but also for inviting me to be a prt of it! Hopefully there will be further shows in the future, I did hand my details out to a couple of groups so fingers crossed! My next tasks are to keep working on the rolling stock and to add some more people and some animals around the layout. The area around the barn also needs some work to make it look a little more cluttered and like a farmers scrap pile! All comments and suggestions welcomed as ever! Cheers J Edited September 24, 2014 by JaymzHatstand 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted September 24, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 24, 2014 A very nice and complete looking display J, hope you get some more invites. One suggestion if you are going to do more shows, is to rig some form of overhead lighting. It looks like you were in a bright well lit area this time but that won't always be the case. Exhibition halls can be quite dark at times, and a brightly lit layout really stands out. Theres been lots of discussion about lighting on the forum, and it need not be be a complicated construction. All the best, Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 Thanks very much, a lighting rig I'd certainly something I've considered, but as yet not planned. They certainly do add to the presentation of a layout I think, and like you say, when the hall lighting is poor they make a world of difference! It's also much easier to control shadows and such which can help blend the backscene in a lot better! Cheers J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 First things first, apologies for not updating this thread (again), but I've not really done anything on the layout itself for a while. I've mainly been doing stock related tasks, and some of those have been in my workbench thread. The main layout news is that it is booked to appear at the Hartlepool show this coming weekend, (24th & 25th) so hopefully some of you will be able to drop by and make yourselves known! With the show in mind, I got the layout out a month ago to check it all over and iron out any wrinkles that had occurred in storage. It was here that a large problem became apparent! The large tree next to the tunnel entrance had been crushed when tidying up after the last session, it was my fault entirely, and I know exactly when and how it happened. I was left with some decisions; rebuild the tree, build a new tree, or rate some sort of tree felling cameo in the area. I opted for the first. Slowly but surely, I've been repairing the tree until it now stands proudly again, possibly not the same shape as it was, but never the less, it's there! As can be seen in one of the photos I made use of all sorts of support mechanisms while reconstructing, as the branches are delicate I couldn't clap them in place. So Peco stock boxes, tweezers, empty glue tubes and anything else that could be piled up as a support! Fingers crossed for a terrible free trip to Hartlepool, and hopefully I'll see some of you there! Cheers J 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted October 24, 2015 Author Share Posted October 24, 2015 One thing that's always niggled me is the open nature of the fiddle yard. As an 'L' shaped layout it's out of the way, but I always felt it needed some sort of enclosure. With the curtain that goes around the bottom to hide the legs, I couldn't just have something that would bolt on to the side so I decided on a hinged affair which will also double up as a cover for the track when transporting/storing the fiddle yard. It's quite a crude and rushed affair, as I conned it together from some spare bits of wood and cheap little brass hinges from my local DIY shop. It's all set up now and ready for the show this weekend, so that will mean extra effort for those who want to peer behind the scenes (which , let's face it, most of us do!) Cheers J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 The Hartlepool show was a resounding success, many favourable comments were received, including several regarding it being a layout where 'something was actually moving!'. I was also able to offer advice to several people who were liking at starting out in 009, and they were all pointed in the direction of the 009 Society, NGRM and RMWeb, and Parkside/the 009 sales which are the best places to get things to get started from (in my opinion anyway). I gratefully received an invitation to the Thirsk show in 2016 (Sunday, July 31st) and a possible trip to Alnwick, depending on accommodation availability. That gives me plenty of time to potter on with other bits and bobs while still looking forward to getting out on the road again! Most things ran pretty smoothly and there were no major failures, I even braved shunting with slate waggons, which all stayed on track despite their loose chain couplings! My next mission is to create some more layout specific stock, as at the moment there is a distinctly Welsh feel to it. Not a bad thing, but for a layout set in Yorkshire, it may be a bit OTT! One visiting loco and stock will suffice! Ideally I'd like a genuine SHLR Hunslet, but as they were 18" gauge, I feel the in the conversion to 2' gauge, they would have been sold on anyway! Cheers J 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 Yesterday's show at Thirsk was a successful one, with new rolling stock performing well and several favourable comments. The upstairs room where the layout was positioned was rather warm and as such it took a while for everything to get used to the temperature. Once settled however, things were fine, although it did make operating quite uncomfortable at times! Stock wise, this was the first outing for my new loco 'Gamecock' built from the excellent Small Run Batch kit. There are still a few details left to complete, but it was certainly presentable and capable of doing anything asked of it during the day. Most of the time it was seen on the Sand Hutton set. As the show progressed and it got more running, it became smoother and quieter. The articulated pair I've be been building were also in use, though not yet glazed. They were paired with the observation carriage in the same Coronation livery and a teak brake third. The gap between the pair is very satisfying, and hopefully I'll add some more to this rake now that l know the concept works! My assistant operator also provided a guest loco for the show. An A1 models Kerr Stuart, mounted on a very responsive Bachmann Plymouth chassis. He built and painted the loco in a week leading up to the show, as his first effort in 009. It looked spot on and performed very well. Of course being non-vac fitted, it couldn't go near passenger workings! And now follows a few photos from the show Photo : G Watson Extra visitor in the form of A Cracknell's Meriddian Kerr Stuart for comparison. Photo : G Watson There aren't any more exhibitions in the pipeline for Scrayingham at present, but if anyone is interested, please do get in touch! Cheers J 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted March 7, 2017 Author Share Posted March 7, 2017 This is just a quick note to let everyone know that Scrayingham will be at Narrow Gauge North this coming Saturday (11th March) at Pudsey Civic Hall, Dawsons Corner, Pudsey, W. Yorks, LS28 5TA For more details, see here https://www.narrowgaugenorth.org.uk/ Hopefully some of you will pop by and say hello! As ever, if anyone takes any photos, please post them on here! Cheers J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted March 13, 2017 Author Share Posted March 13, 2017 Narrow Gauge North went very well on Saturday, it was a busy show so I barely got chance for photos myself, but saw plenty of people with cameras! Flying solo made it quite difficult to get out for a look around, but in my brief sojourn it looked like a very good show (thanks to Adam from Byr-a-Cyrliog for taking over so I could have a comfort break!) It was nice to chat to some of you and there were some very favourable comments for which I am very grateful! I did overhear mumblings about smooth running, which was most flattering as it was one of my kitbuilt locos (Brian Madge Velinheli) that was being referred to! I did manage a couple of photos, and there was a mini gathering when Adam's Dolgoch was brought over for a photo shoot Mine is the lighter, almost luminous in comparison green! Overall a most enjoyable show, if a little tiring, and hopefully it won't be too long until I'm back out again! I'm still aiming to have a few more items of bespoke stock available so that it looks more like an ex-LNER line and a bit less North-Wales (not that that's a bad thing!) More updates as and when, and of course, your questions and comments are always welcome! Cheers J 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted October 19, 2019 Author Share Posted October 19, 2019 Fear not! Scrayingham is still alive and well! Last year the layout was exhibited at Redcar show, and during that one of the points developed a problem with its polarity switch. I tried several bodges to fix it, but just ended up removing it for the second day of the show. It was only the lead point of the passing loop, so nothing important! I have since replaced the whole motor/switch with a SEEP motor with built in switch, which will hopefully be more reliable. My assistant, Graeme also took some photos on the second morning if the show, and these are in the Flickr album here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/graemewatson/albums/72157671984073168. Some of these cracking photos have since appeared in an article in the 009 news, and on the cover of said publication. The Redcar show also saw the debut of the lighting rig which I have made from a couple of IKEA cabinet strip LEDs mounted on frames and they don't have make the layout look different, irradicating a lot of shadows, which I feel helps overall appearance and makes it moluch more visible if I'm ever stuck in a dark(ish) room! And now, onto the present! A few weeks ago I was contacted by the organiser of Hartlepool show, saying the 009 layout they had booked had pulled out and would I be available? A quick alterations of shifts at work, and I was good to go! This weekend then, Scrayingham will be at the Hartlepool show! There have been a few scenic tweaks and additions and some new items of stock have been built. Loco crews have (finally) started to appear in cabs including a ModelU scan of both myself and Graeme and I've also started to long process of painting and adding passengers to coaches! So, if you're at the show, please do stop for a chat! Fingers crossed, I'll also update on here to report how things have gone! Oh, one other thing, the layout is also 10 years old now! I hadn't realised that until I saw the build date on some of my wagons! Cheers J 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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