Upbech St Mary, Upbech Drove and Pott Row a journey through 00 and then into EM and 009.

[robert17649]

cool thanks Ill get one and give it a go

[hayfield]

1 hour ago, mullie said:

I use a Poppy's Wood tech jig that I have found to be excellent for rigid chassis, next thing will be to try it for a sprung/compensated chassis.

 

I have built compensated chassis before and they work well, I have bought a couple of sprung chassis which also work well, I am struggling with a sprung chassis with Alan Gibson hornblocks, It has been mentioned both London Road models and High Level hornblocks may be easier to fit and use.

[mullie]

I was in two minds as to whether to make the layout based in the Fens this time but a quick search on the colours of fen land soil ( not Googled - I no longer use it at home) led me to this site

 

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/417518

 

Turns out this site photo is just south of Wissington, too big a temptation so a start was made on modelling Fen land soil.

 

The various discussions on here about Fen land soil sent me to look through what I have in stock. Anyone who has followed this thread for a while will know I don't tend to take the most straightforward route. All four of us in our house are arts career based so inevitably materials are at hand. To make a basic soil mix I have used artists charcoal sticks, chalks, all ground up with a Dremel, and talcum powder applied using diluted PVA with a dash of washing up liquid.  A sample can be seen towards the top of the picture, the rest has been done this morning, it felt quite odd applying such dark soil.

 

 

Next task is to build the inspection pit and begin ballasting before 'greening' up the layout.

[mullie]

Glue has now dried on possibly the messiest job ever! These shots taken in garage lighting with my phone show the effect although on close up you can see the painted surface showing through in places giving the variation in colour I prefer.

 

Overall view, mpd bottom left still to be given basic ground cover

 

 

Closer view of one section.

 

 

Gates in close up.

 

Quite a lot has been done over the last week or so, quite surprising given how busy we have been and there has been Christmas.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2019 by mullie

[mullie]

A few things have been worked on over Christmas. Most recently I have begun an inspection pit knocked up out of card and Scalescenes engineering blue brick paper. This is it before any weathering has taken place. Next stage is to begin adding ground cover and reinstalling the water tower and water cranes.

 

 

The J39 has taken its first steps on the layout, some final detailing work still needed such as balance weights, cab doors and closing up the distance between the loco and tender.

 

 

Happy new year everyone.

[mullie]

Basic ground cover now completed across the layout, the soil areas are now quite fen like in appearance. Latest area to be completed is the mpd area using the usual mix of Woodland Scenics ballast, Das clay and washes of acrylics, ink and talc.

 

 

Closer shot of the mpd area with the water tower and water crane loosely in place. The hut is Wills.

 

 

Track seems to be running ok, once I'm completely happy I will ballast then finally start on some scenics.

Edited January 5, 2020 by mullie

[mullie]

I have spent tonight checking the track prior to ballasting. The kit built locos are far less tolerant of any unevenness so a few pieces of 10 or 20 thou packing were put in a few key places to eliminate any problems. This short video, though not the most riveting shows the J72 successfully negotiating a  run along the layout. The J39 also managed the same run.

 

 

A shame my phone mutes Spotify when videoing, the gentle sound of Anoushkar Shankar would have made an interesting if breach of copyright soundtrack!

Edited January 10, 2020 by mullie

[mullie]

Big news is that Upbech is to appear at the Swag event in Taunton on 26th April. Better get on and finish it then!

 

Never exhibited a layout before so this will be an experience to remember. Looking forward to it.

[wiggoforgold]

See you there Martyn. Looking forward to it.

Alex

[Alister_G]

Likewise, Martyn, I'll see you there.

 

Al.

[NHY 581]

Indeed. Look forward to seeing you, Martyn. 

 

 

Rob. 

[mullie]

As I now have a deadline to meet work is progressing. This week the ballasting has been completed. This is my usual mix of n gauge Woodland Scenics ballast coloured with artists charcoal. The technique is to pour some clean ballast into a small tub, grind up some charcoal and mix the two until the desired colour is achieved. This is then laid dry and glued in the traditional way with diluted PVA mixed with fairy liquid.

 

 

The mpd had some old brown 4mm ballast laid and then DAS smeared over the top . The omega loop was going to be used to repair a point linkage but I didn't use it in the end.

 

 

The layout is a bit '50 shades of grey' at the moment so is crying out for some colour. Once the track has been cleaned, tested and any patch painting completed some greenery will be added. I hope to be adding the backscene in a few weeks time all being well.

 

 

[mullie]

Some static grass has been applied over the weekend using an applicator I bought for about £20 off Ebay. It looks a bit like a battery powered tea strainer! I've used War World scenics products, what you see has used their autumn colours mainly the autumn leaf mix that seems to give a good representation of autumn foliage. In places it is mixed with an autumn grass mix. They have some good tutorial videos on their site as well.

 

first shot shows the main siding on the layout.

 

 

The end of the siding, point rodding can just be made out.

Ground detail in cruel close up.

 

2mm grass was applied first over a base of PVA, then layered up, working quickly and fixed with cheap hair spray. My wife always seem to have some laying around. I've only used a puffer bottle up to now so this made quite a change.

[NHY 581]

Looking good, Martyn. 

 

I have a lot of time for WWS products. I have been using one of their applicators for the last five years and no complaints thus far.

I cannot foresee a time when I would come away from static grass. It is easy to apply and work with.  The effects that are possible seem endless and it's just a matter of finding the right colouring to suit your needs.

 

All very good.

 

Rob

[mullie]

It's too cold in the garage for extended sessions at night so some indoor projects on the dining room table are needed. The LMS 20 ton brake van is in shops for detailing including a new chassis so may not be ready for SWAG. Courtesy of NXEA I purchased this off Ebay recently having looked at them many times. The deciding factor was seeing a photo of one in the Great Eastern Journal  in Brentwood goods yard in Essex during the 50s. OK so that one was in BR livery with duckets and is at least 100 miles south of Upbech but I grew up in Brentwood and this seemed like a good enough excuse to me.

 

 

This was an easy conversion, the couplings were swapped from the 20 ton van, a new wheelset from Wizard models and ready to go in about ten minutes. Next thing a visit to the weathering shop.

[mullie]

Also available in black and white.

 

 

 

[mullie]

Work started on developing the mpd area of the layout, still loads to do and some can't be finalised until the back scene is in place. I usually add it much earlier but as I knew I would be using more static grass this time I didn't want to affect access or end up with any grass on the back scene.

 

Yes the water tower is slightly wonky but I quite like it that way! There is a ladder to be added and the pathway dug out.

 

 

[hayfield]

Mullie

 

Starting to look very good !!

[mullie]

Up to now I've painted or sprayed my own back scenes, having seen the work of Alex (Wiggo) and  Rob (Sheep bloke) I will try using mounting board this time and conducted some experiments yesterday.

 

 

 

 

The wagons are currently passing through the weathering shop so it was out with the Martyn Welsh book, always my reference point.

 

Results are promising and not unlike the final Pott Row back scene, the grass work definitely needs some height added to it. The idea is to create the feel of a slightly gloomy autumn day.

[NHY 581]

Plain is the new black, Martyn. 

 

Looking top drawer. 

 

Rob 

[mullie]

The most recent shots also seem to work in black and white. Here is a photo of nothing much:

 

 

The wagons again, the one on the right will be lettered tonight. I have also applied hairspray to this wagon so it will be interesting to see if I can make it work. The wagon has had a rust coating for years. The brake van weathering is proceeding and I am developing it using artists chalks our eldest daughter no longer needed. Biggest issue is getting matt varnish in an aerosol to seal it with as it now cost so much to have it delivered. Will have to find some at the weekend whilst we are on our travels.

 

[mullie]

Not a great deal has happened this week due to one thing and another. This is the state of play at the moment. Surprised to find that the back siding can hold six wagons, don't know why I didn't know that already?

 

[wiggoforgold]

I find that shunting with a J70 rather than a J15 is helpful in this area.

Alex

[mullie]

23 hours ago, wiggoforgold said:

I find that shunting with a J70 rather than a J15 is helpful in this area.

Alex

Because of the fiddle yard design shunting with a J15 or a J39  is quite feasible, just not too many wagons at a time.

 

Martyn

[mullie]

Another recent view. The scenery has since been further detailed.

 

 

There has been quite a lot of activity and the back scene should be completed soon, photos to follow.

Edited February 8, 2020 by mullie