Invermire (was More first ventures in O Gauge)

[mike knowles]

Further to the last post on the construction of the station, the roof area was initially covered in plain 40 thou plasticard and on top of this strips of Slater’s slate tiling were laid. This proved to be quite a long and tedious job, not helped by variances of slate size from one sheet to another which meant keeping everything aligned quite awkward. How some folks have the time and patience to cut and lay individual slates is beyond me!

The roof lights were covered in 20 thou clear plastiglaze finished with 40 thou by 40 thou glazing bars.

Finally the smoke vent was added to the ridge and the slates painted with Games Workshop Cobus Grey acrylic paint.

That brings it up to its current state, final finishing requires a bit of weathering on the roof and addition of signs and other furniture.

Hope you like it!

 

 

 

 

 

[The Penguin 0f Doom]

Looking forward to hearing that 37 growling away beneath the roof Mike.

 

Cheers.

 

Sean.

[Lord Flashheart]

Second VDA van added to the freight stock, just needs weathering.

A big thank you to Steve at Railtec Transfers for coming good on my request for doing transfers for these in 7mm, they are excellent.

 

Rob

[P.C.M]

Second VDA van added to the freight stock, just needs weathering.

A big thank you to Steve at Railtec Transfers for coming good on my request for doing transfers for these in 7mm, they are excellent.

 

Rob

First of all what a great layout.

 

Can I ask what kit is the VDA? I have an Model Express resin one with no instruction. so any info on your build could be of use.

 

Cheers Peter.

[Tove]

That`s a cracking VDA build,i`m looking at a couple of those for myself a little ways down the line.

It`s also made even better knowing that i can get the right transfers as well...

 

Nice job Rob.

 

First of all what a great layout.

 

Can I ask what kit is the VDA? I have an Model Express resin one with no instruction. so any info on your build could be of use.

 

Cheers Peter.

Not wanting to second guess Rob,but i believe it`s a PRMRP kit.

 

Brian.

Edited December 13, 2016 by Tove

[Lord Flashheart]

Hi Peter and Brian

Thanks for your comments and looking in at the layout, VDA is the PRMRP kit and very nice they are to build as well. The first one( a few pages back) was the first brass kit I'd built and I thoroughly enjoyed it, excellent quality etchings, castings and instructions, I'll be doing another sometime but will be in the Railfreight red and grey livery.

 

Rob

[P.C.M]

Hi Peter and Brian

Thanks for your comments and looking in at the layout, VDA is the PRMRP kit and very nice they are to build as well. The first one( a few pages back) was the first brass kit I'd built and I thoroughly enjoyed it, excellent quality etchings, castings and instructions, I'll be doing another sometime but will be in the Railfreight red and grey livery.

 

Rob

Thanks for your reply Rob,

The brass kit does look better than my resin one but I will build it eventually as I think it will look ok when done. It's good to know I can get transfers for it.

 

Cheers Peter.

[mike knowles]

Thanks to everyone for their likes etc.

 

A few other scenic items have also been made/acquired.

 

 

Firstly a Bachmann provender store. Prototypes of these existed (not sure if they are still there) at both Wick & Thurso. Initial thoughts were to build one from scratch but seeing Tower Models selling them at half price at the Kettering O Gauge Show prompted a purchase. To suit the layout the doors at the end of the building will probably need moving to the opposite end, so a bit of RTR bashing but still a big time saving over scratchbuilding.

                            

 

Also at the Kettering Show and for a bit of light relief the GJH Plant Company kit for a burger van was purchased from Invertrain! Basically plastic mouldings with some whitemetal details it went together quite easily and has been named after one of our former club members.

 

 

 

 

 

The Car shown in one of the photos above is the Arena Models kit of Tony Pond’s 1981 Scottish Rally winning Vauxhall Chevette HSR which my son Robert, (Lord Flasheart on here), kindly bought me last Christmas. As this falls right in with our modelling period the intention is to have it on display in the station car park (too good to be a tow car for the burger van!). The main body and chassis parts are resin castings with whitemetal and etched nickel silver detail parts, not to mention an abundance of transfers! Superb kit, though I’m still plucking up the courage to tackle the extremely small etched detail parts!

 

Finally a start has been made on the harbour wall. The intention was to model it as stone block walling with areas repaired in concrete. In excess of 16 feet of this walling will be required so it was decided the best approach would be to produce small panels away from the layout which could be attached later and the joints hidden by vertical timber posts. Initial trials were carried out casting polyfilla in moulds to produce panels approximately 140mm long by the required 90mm high by about 8mm thick. However this proved less than successful as the panels proved to be quite fragile. Having initially dismissed the use of DAS modelling clay as being too expensive due the to the large length of wall involved we were lucky to meet up with David Wright at the recent Midland Railex Exhibition who kindly gave us a very useful demonstration of using this material which in particular showed how thinly (and hence economically!) it could be laid.

So as a test piece a rectangle of 5mm foamboard was cut to the dimensions as before and covered on one side with the modelling clay, a bit of practice soon got things moving. After being left to dry it was found that shrinkage of the clay had caused some curling of the panel, however by scoring a grid of lines through the outer layer of the back of the foamboard we found we could then bend it back so it was flat without cracking the clay on the front. Scribing of the joint lines in the blockwork was then done using a dental pick and painting/weathering carried out using artists acrylic paints though we would agree with David that enamels may be better as they do not soak into the clay and dry so quickly. Finally some scatter material was added along the bottom (below tide level) to represent the weed/algae found there. The photos below show the completed test panel, not bad but the painting/weathering probably needs some further work. Whilst at the show we purchased a copy of David’s book Modelling Ports & Inland Waterways: A Guide for Railway Modellers which contains loads of information and is well worth a look.

Only about another 50 panels to go!

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2016 by mike knowles

[bcnPete]

Lookin' good

 

Love the Chevette! My first car was a silver Chevette and I remember adding extra lights and trying to imagine it was a chevette HSR...even though it lacked the power

Edited December 17, 2016 by bcnPete

[mike knowles]

Lookin' good

 

Love the Chevette! My first car was a silver Chevette and I remember adding extra lights and trying to imagine it was a chevette HSR...even though it lacked the power

Cheers Pete

 

I used to own a 2.3 litre HC Viva. At the time I thought it was really quick, but the Octavia diesel I now drive would probably blow it into the weeds!

[The Penguin 0f Doom]

Must get my Mk1 Escort sorted......

[Lord Flashheart]

A little more done on rolling stock,got the VDA van weathered and have made a start on a Post War Prototype, now PRMRP,OBA open.

 

Rob

[Tove]

Nice work on both wagons Rob,and the subtle weathing on the VDA set`s it off nicely.

 

One thing i`ve noticed though is you`ve stuck with the solid white metal buffers rather than use sprung one`s.

Is this just your personal choice?.

 

Brian.

[Lord Flashheart]

Thank you Brian,the weathering is mostly Humbrol and MIG Powders with a little dry brushing here and there,the buffers are a bit of both,the first wagons I built in O gauge were 3 Park side Grampus opens like the ones your doing but we found when shunting with them they had a tendency to bounce off each other so I've stuck with the solid ones on these. We only have gentle curves on the layout so buffer lock isn't an issue for us.

Thanks for your comments and looking in on our project and I'll continue to enjoy seeing progress on Gosty Hill.

 

Rob

[Tove]

 we found when shunting with them they had a tendency to bounce off each other so I've stuck with the solid ones on these. We only have gentle curves on the layout so buffer lock isn't an issue for us.

 

 

Rob

 That had`nt occured to me as i`ve not really 'played' with thing`s yet,thanks.

 

Likewise, i was enjoy reading back through the post`s here,and i`m really impressed with the loco build`s too.

 

Happy new year,and ooking forward to more in 2017,

 

Cheer`s,

 

Brian.

[Lord Flashheart]

Another update on the wagon fleet, pretty much finished the OBA open we just need to decide what it's going to carry which is why I've left the bolsters out for now.

One small addition to made to it was to make some plank detail for the inside from 15thou plasticard as they are only etched on one side (the outside) other than that its built as supplied. Also making good progress is a JLTRT TTA tanker,built as a TTG the data panels are custom made ones from Precision Labels and very nice they are too,will be picking up another at Kettering.

 

Rob

[Tove]

Nice idea to detail the inside of the OBA,as i`m sure quite a few people would have left it as is!.

 

Brian.

[Lord Flashheart]

Thanks Brian,it just looked a bit plain to me,also with just the thickness of the brass too thin as well.

 

Rob

[Jintyman]

The van and the OBA are looking really well, lovely job on the weathering on both of them.

I have the PRMRP OTA to build, it looks good in the instruction pictures, but we'll see..

 

Fine looking layout with a very nice Station Building and overall roof, excellently executed.

 

Jinty

[mike knowles]

 

 

Fine looking layout with a very nice Station Building and overall roof, excellently executed.

 

Jinty

 

Glad you like the station building (and Rob's rolling stock).

 

I'm currently working on a model of 37039. A JLTRT body on a Heljan chassis detailed with parts from JLTRT, see in progress photos below. Hopefully delivering it to Roger Manton at Kettering this weekend to get it weathered.

 

 

 

 

[The Penguin 0f Doom]

Lovely paint job on that 37.....!

 

Edited March 1, 2017 by The Penguin 0f Doom

[mike knowles]

Lovely paint job on that 37.....!

 

 

Ha yes, you did a super job on that for me! Many thanks again.

[mike knowles]

Further to the in progress photos of 37039 posted above I've received some photos from Roger now that he has weathered it. See below;

 

 

 

 

 

For good measure he has also done my friend Sean's Class 25, a Heljan loco with JLTRT cab doors and cab fronts (to correct the Heljan errors). See below;

 

 

 

 

 

I think they look superb!

[mike knowles]

Currently recovering from some treatment on my knee which has put me on crutches for a few weeks.

So I've temporarily moved the workbench into the dining room (can't manage the stairs up tp the railway room) and made a start on the signals.

First one is the platform starter, a semi scratchbuild using various brass sections from Metalsmiths with etched and cast items from Scale Signal Supply and based on an amalgamation of prototype photos from the area pulled off t'internet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mike knowles]

Slight progress on the signal, addition of the linkages from the arms to the balance weights. Made fro 0.3mm wire but instead of just bending the ends through the holes in the arms I picked up on an idea in Peter Squib's book (thanks Peter!) of making yokes from 4mm scale etched signal ladder stiles. In this case from Bill Bedford Models as I had it in stock though other sources are available. Simply cut off a length with three holes in it. The linkage rod is fitted to the central hole and then the strip bent into a U shape and clipped over a piece of 0.3mm wire soldered into the hole in the signal arm/balance weight lever.