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

[NHY 581]

On 25/01/2021 at 19:56, mullie said:

 even though I will never get close to their standards.

 

Well, you say that...........

 

[mullie]

Pub is now finished apart from Signage that will be added later as it will be easily damaged. Big thank you to NHY 581 for sending me the relevant  Scalelink fret and if you don't know about his Sheep Chronicles where have you been, terrific modelling?

 

This is it loosely placed on the relevant board, all track will eventually be inset. The board is going to be widened by about 2 metric inches to give the scene a bit more space to breathe.

 

 

 

Now experimenting with building placement, the cottage is next in line for improvement when it is re thatched with plumbers hemp. Nothing is finalised, this is at least the third version, not sure I like this one.

 

[joppyuk1]

Probably a silly question, but what's 'a metric inch' ?

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, joppyuk1 said:

Probably a silly question, but what's 'a metric inch' ?

 

Exactly 25.4mm I believe.

[mullie]

3 hours ago, joppyuk1 said:

Probably a silly question, but what's 'a metric inch' ?

Apologies for my somewhat strange sense of humour, I've mixed with people like SWMBO who happily mix metric and imperial measurements in the same task. How wide is that room? Oh, its 2 metres 6 inches!

 

It is bizarre, we still talk about pints, miles, furlongs and happily mix with metric over 50 years on from the introduction of decimal coinage for instance. I can't really remember 'old' money and I will be 57 later this year.

[NHY 581]

5 minutes ago, mullie said:

Apologies for my somewhat strange sense of humour, I've mixed with people like SWMBO who happily mix metric and imperial measurements in the same task. How wide is that room? Oh, its 2 metres 6 inches!

 

It is bizarre, we still talk about pints, miles, furlongs and happily mix with metric over 50 years on from the introduction of decimal coinage for instance. I can't really remember 'old' money and I will be 57 later this year.

 

 

Similar situation at Chateau Sheep, Martyn. Memsahib is totally metric having been brought up on nothing else. I on the other hand default to feet, inches, pints etc. Can be tricky sometimes. 

 

Rob. 

[MrWolf]

And here. I don't remember pre decimal currency, but bought petrol in gallons. I was brought up metric but taught about fractions. I still use imperial measurements for a lot of things because of their age, all the bolts on our bikes are fractional sizes for instance. SWMBO has never known anything but metric in education or work, but even so, reminds me to get a pint of milk on my way home.

 

 

Edited February 18, 2021 by MrWolf
Stupid 4g / 5g conspiracy!

[mullie]

Having spent time putting in check rails in  the lead up to Christmas I was never really happy with it. The close to zero temperatures in the garage meant work on it has been minimal since but yesterday I decided they had to come out, it just looked to over engineered for the kind of scene I was trying to create.

 

Then I remembered that Alistair_G on his Cawdor Quarry layout had experimented with cork sheet so I have been exploring possibilities today and they seem promising. Some samples have been blu tacked between the rails and some trains run. Eventually some card will be used as infill between sleepers and the track given a base coat of paint before cork infill is applied. I envisage the cork needing a skim of polyfilla or similar that can then be coloured.

 

 

I also worked on the wagon turntable to make it run smoother today as it had a tendency to ride up at times.

 

The thatched cottage looks a bit bald as it is waiting for the thatchers to arrive, used to be a family trade but not for around a hundred years

[coline33]

Osborn Models did do a flexible inset strip in grey with a cobbled effect for 16.5mm gauge.   My initial trials found it easily manageable and the width could be reduced by cutting to allow for the deeper flange on some of my locos to maintain electrical contact.

[mullie]

The majority of the thatch is now completed on the cottage, most difficult bit to come when I tackle the ridge. YouTube has been great, watching thatchers at work has been amazing. All done with plumbers hemp, has been time consuming for such a small building.

 

 

It is based on a prototype in Thorney in Cambridgeshire, it was built at least twelve years ago from a single photograph in a book showing only the front so the rest was conjecture. I've since learnt the building is actually painted brick but never mind, only the front and one end will be seen on the layout.

[mullie]

Thatching the ridge.

 

I spent a lot of time trying to find information on how to model thatch. Most people seemed to create little bunches of thatch either through tying or using PVA. That is ok, but having watched a thatcher on YouTube, once they begin the laying process the ties are cut and the thatch is laid lose so I didn't create bunches for the main roof, just worked with small bunches .

 

What surprised me when I watched a thatcher lay a ridge is that they use straw on the ridge because it is more flexible, though this could be a regional peculiarity? Again I decided to try and replicate the way real thatch is laid. 

 

Last night I laid the front ridge and it looked like this one dry.

 

 

Today I began laying the back ridge after first trimming the front ridge. What you can see is as follows:

 

Upper right: a bunch of hemp cut to approximately 2cm in length.

 

Bottom right: a small bunch that has been cut to ensure a clean edge ready for laying.

 

 

The cottage can be seen with some of the ridge pieces laid. The small piece of plasticard is used to try and keep the ridge straight. The prototype , which was built as a farm workers cottage, is generally well kept but had no mains electricity and the thatch is a bit scruffy which is good as I doubt a cottage in my proposed situation would have been chocolate box. I can do scruffy.

 

Having grown up in a farmworkers cottage they were not well kept, ours had ice on the inside of the windows in the winter, a flush toilet was only added when I was born, my brothers and sister didn't have one to start with and the bath room always had a window in it liberated from the cow shed. The only reason we got a flush toilet and an extension to the kitchen when I was born was because the farm owners daughter was moving in next door and so it made sense to do both houses up, everything done very much on the cheap. However, it was a great family home and we all loved living there.

[Mikkel]

Very nice work. Youtube does have its uses. You could do a model of the farmworkers cottage where you grew up, as a bit of nostalgia - although probably easier said than done.

[mullie]

It is still there though extended, I bet it doesn't leak now.

 

The farm buildings all have great potential,  one day perhaps. 

 

Thanks for your interest 

 

[mullie]

The thatchers have been again to do the ridge, just final detailing left. Again small bunches of hemp 2cm long glued across the ridge with PVA. These had to be thinner than on the main roof so they would bend easily and not make the ridge too thick.

 

I need to think about colouring of well worn thatch, probably some washes of either water colour or acrylic.

 

 

 

Here is where I worked out the method and yes I did put the longitudinal strands along the ridge but forgot to photograph it. 

 

 

 

I have given quite a blow by blow account partly because I found it really hard to find information on modelling thatch and a lot of the suggested books are out of print or I simply didn't fancy spending quite a lot of money on a book I may not use much. In the end I watched thatchers at work and tried to break it down into ways the real method can be followed. Hopefully it can be of use to others.

 

I think this is a substantial improvement on the old wool and flock method which I was quite proud of at the time. There are photos of it in an old RM of around 2011 when the original box file version of Upbech was in the magazine. Steve Flint took some very flattering photos.

[Donington Road]

On 26/02/2021 at 17:08, mullie said:

The majority of the thatch is now completed on the cottage, most difficult bit to come when I tackle the ridge. YouTube has been great, watching thatchers at work has been amazing. All done with plumbers hemp, has been time consuming for such a small building.

 

 

It is based on a prototype in Thorney in Cambridgeshire, it was built at least twelve years ago from a single photograph in a book showing only the front so the rest was conjecture. I've since learnt the building is actually painted brick but never mind, only the front and one end will be seen on the layout.

 

Canary Cottage, Thorney.  Just search that in Google.

There are some links below that might help.

 

https://leicesterchronicle.co.uk/canary-cottage

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-49344562

 

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2018-05-24/uncertain-future-for-roadside-landmark/

[mullie]

3 hours ago, Donington Road said:

 

Canary Cottage, Thorney.  Just search that in Google.

There are some links below that might help.

 

https://leicesterchronicle.co.uk/canary-cottage

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-49344562

 

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2018-05-24/uncertain-future-for-roadside-landmark/

That wasn't available when I built the model around 15 years ago, I just had one photo in a book of East Anglian photos and guessed the rest.  I have been looking at it recently and have accepted the errors, mainly a window in the end that the prototype doesn't have. 

 

The cottage must be preserved, it would be a crime to allow it be demolished or become derelict.

 

I've driven past a few thatched cottages on my drive home too.

Edited March 4, 2021 by mullie

[mullie]

This is the main link I've been using.

 

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4653299

 

[Donington Road]

41 minutes ago, mullie said:

This is the main link I've been using.

 

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4653299

 

 

You certainly did a good rendition of it all those years ago.

[mullie]

I haven't posted for nearly a month, the longest period since I have been on RM Web. I have still been modelling but a lot of projects have been stalled by the persistently cold weather. I completed the thatch on the cottage and converted three more wagons to EM and fitted them with tarpaulins. However they all need sealing with matt varnish so I can finish the weathering and then add couplings.

 

So today, with time to tackle something more substantial,  I turned my attention to the track as the weather was better and the garage at last tolerable to work in. First the track was sprayed with Halfords rattle can grey primer. This included the fiddle yard.

 

 

 

 

The front of the layout was also sprayed grey as is the Upbech board. Makes a change from Pott Row' theatrical black. 

 

The next stage will be in a separate post due to file size limits.

Edited March 28, 2021 by mullie

[mullie]

Track spraying part 2.

 

Once the grey had dried the sleepers were masked so the sides could be sprayed in my preferred colour, Tamiya red brown.

 

This shows the masking being added, the tape was only loosely fixed and was cut in half before laying in between the rails.

 

 

This is the result after the rail sides had been sprayed.

 

 

During the week the sleepers will be painted. The track was built as all PCB because it was all I had during the first lockdown and Marcways were closed. I don't think it will scrub up too bad.

 

Next job is the platform. For those who have followed my inane ramblings for a while, I haven't forgotten about Pott Row, it is likely to resurface as an M&GN station. I am wondering if the Peco turntable can be converted to EM and improved (who knows) and I have a Wills engine shed that looks a bit like the one at Bourne.

[mullie]

Bit more progress to report though not higher temperatures in the garage sadly. It remains around 5 degrees here with a biting wind though I did manage a walk along the cliffs today when it went up to a balmy 7 degrees.

 

The staton board needs a platform and as the track is laid on a gentle curve there was no option but to scratch build. I considered using the Scalescenes kit and even downloaded the latest version but in the end reverted to plasticard. 

 

Having used potentially the widest carriage to work out the width a start was made in piecing together a frame and bracing with bits from the scrap box.

 

 

Next, I used the frame to trace a paper template for the top which was then glued to card. This has been used to create a top that can then be detailed further.

 

 

The paper template was then glued to card that has since been cut out and used as a template to cut a plasticard top. 

 

 

The plan is to add the plasticard top to the frame later then begin detailing the front using Slaters plasticard to match my model of Cressing station building and detail the top.

 

More to follow.

[mullie]

Temperature was high enough to run some trains and listen to some music.  Only small changes made to the track but visually it makes quite a difference.

 

 

 

 

Platform will be worked on further tonight having been tried in its place. A Stour Valley style brick wall will run along the back semi hiding the wagons and the low relief factory along the backscene. Trains will escape to the the fiddle yard using view blockers rather than a bridge. Once the platforms are finished the back scene will be added I think.

[hayfield]

Looking very interesting, keep up the good work

[MrWolf]

That is looking good and I like the way that you have squeezed the point rodding between the platform and track. That's something that I am expecting to have to do.

I'm also using view blockers as a means of getting trains off stage and I can recommend it as a good alternative to bridges. 

 

 

Trains enter the layout from behind the crossing keepers house on the right at the rear of the layout, via the usual "hole in the sky". 

[mullie]

Having made some progress with platforms decided to have a go at how the station might look. All structures are scratch built and the factory will be longer once I have joined the two parts together. The back scene is mounting card.

 

 

 

For a mock up it doesn't look too bad, still loads to do.

 

Anyone know where I can get some high quality non working gas lights ( I don't mean real gas, I am thinking of the Mikes models style lamps)?  I can only find LED ones and I don't want really want to fit working lighting though it looks like I might have to.