RMweb Premium Kylestrome Posted February 16, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 16, 2020 16 hours ago, CF MRC said: Our signal box gnome has the bits for Goods & Mineral Junction down in Cornwall. Brilliant work from Mathew as usual! That signal box is a work of art, as is the signal gantry. David 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium CF MRC Posted February 17, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 17, 2020 The box in context Tim 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
east barnet andy Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Tim , we had a brief chat at Ally Pally recently; you told me CF would be up and running at Keen House for the photo session , but was it this thurs 20th or next 27th ? ( typically I can't remember which . . . ) regards Andy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium CF MRC Posted February 17, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 17, 2020 This Thursday, Andy. Tim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
east barnet andy Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Thanks Tim , even though it wasn't the answer I was hoping for . . . ! maybe CF will be at Ally pally in march . . . ? in the meantime , keep posting the CF and your workbench news ; fascinating stuff ! regs Andy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium CF MRC Posted February 17, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) A bit of low resolution modelling today. The NLR trains have to leave the layout somewhere at the back and so they scurry under an implausible footbridge at Maiden Lane station, right on the back scene. This is a good 6’ from the viewing public. A placeholder structure was made to represent the bridge and the outline of the station. I felt this needed a bit more substance and so a bit of light relief adding some strip styrene, paper windows and daubs of paint. It isn’t very accurate, but it captures some of the solidity of a NLR station building. it sits on quite a tall plinth, so it will be interesting to see how it looks when it goes on the layout this Thursday. The theory is that the relatively interesting building will draw the eye from the understated footbridge... I think that buildings this far back on the layout do not want to be perfectly painted, there needs to be a bit of Impressionism in style - a bit woolly. Tim Edited February 17, 2020 by CF MRC 11 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium CF MRC Posted February 18, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 18, 2020 Goodbye old friend. When we started surveying Belle Isle to make CF in 1983, the Ebonite Tower still existed: it was demolished soon after. Ebonite was a hard vulcanised rubber material (like vulcanite: Jim will know of this). The tower was a feature in the background of many of the classic railway photos of the 1950s & 60s. However, not long ago, we discovered that up until 1955 (a very good year) it had been the works of Tylors, who made hydraulic and sanitary ware products. The tower acted as a chimney and also supported a water tank for pressure testing their products. The company moved away from KX to south of the river. Interestingly, we have ‘Tyler’s Sanitary Ware’ products advertised on some of the lower buildings (clearly mis-spelt Tyler- soon to be corrected). Some artwork was made up using PowerPoint, saved as a photo, re-imported to PowerPoint and stretched vertically to make the font fit the required dimensions. The colour is conjecture, but blue seemed appropriate for hydraulic equipment. The tower itself was mocked up many years ago by Mike Randall from a lump of mahogany. He has subsequently made some laser-cut & etched sides for it which were fitted a couple of years ago. Loosing the Ebonite Tower is the end of an era - wonder how long it will take for the new name to catch on. Tim 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium CF MRC Posted February 19, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 19, 2020 First ever photo view of the front of the Cemetery Building at Belle Isle in this film clip. We have only been looking for this for 37 years - however it doesn’t show any detail... Tim 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian Morgan Posted February 19, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 19, 2020 In that B&W photo of your layout, it looks like you have not painted the rails rusty, and as for thickness of the sides of that Peco mineral wagon ... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bécasse Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 14 hours ago, CF MRC said: However, not long ago, we discovered that up until 1955 (a very good year) it had been the works of Tylors, who made hydraulic and sanitary ware products. The tower acted as a chimney and also supported a water tank for pressure testing their products. The colour is conjecture, but blue seemed appropriate for hydraulic equipment. Tylor's catalogues were bound in a rather deeper blue colour board and I suspect that that was the colour on the tower too, it certainly looks dark in the aerial photograph. I certainly don't expect you to redo it - but sooner or later someone will come along and say "My grand-dad worked for Tylor's and.................." 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium CF MRC Posted February 19, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 19, 2020 Richard Wilson also found that book this morning, David. Bearing in mind that blue is notorious for fading I think the colour was a good guess on my part! Tim 3 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimbus Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 5 hours ago, CF MRC said: Tim This, if IMDB is to be believed, is the same Colin Petersen who played drums in the Bee Gees in the early years of their UK chart career. The Nim. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
east barnet andy Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Tim , if you get a spare few minutes in the next day or so , those of us who can't make it to KH this eve ( that's me , particularly ! ) would love to see some snaps of CF as they ( it ? ) are ( is? ) currently . . . . 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium CF MRC Posted February 20, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 20, 2020 All set up ready for Barry Norman to photograph the layout. The whole Belle Isle area is now a great deal more ‘busy’ and I think railway-like. The south end has filled in a bit but there is still a long way to go. Maiden Lane station works better, but it now highlights the need for a little more detail in the neighbouring buildings, but not too much The newly-labelled TYLOR tower has become quite a centrepiece, as it is a little more colourful than hitherto. The layout will crate up on Sunday and then to Ally Pally 21st-22nd March. Tim 19 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 G'day Folks How do you reach the 'back' of the layout ? can you take down the backscene, like to change the footbridge on the NLL. manna Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium CF MRC Posted February 20, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 20, 2020 (edited) The back scene consists of three very large sheets of 4mm plywood which slot into the back of the layout. I can just reach to the back of the layout for the NLR bridge if I stand on a small box, but I am quite tall and have long arms. The back scene and reduced scale / perspective modelling is probably what makes the layout unique. Tim Edited February 20, 2020 by CF MRC 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manna Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 G'Day Folks Thanks for that, I really did wonder, as it looks very wide, I know how big it is in real life. manna Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 (edited) Tim may be too modest to highlight this, but in the BRMA "Copenhagen Fields" won the Gold award for best layout, and this little blog the bronze in best RMweb modeller category - both in really strong categories. Congratulations to Tim, Mike and the whole team (too many to list - but they know who they are) from everyone at The MRC Edited February 22, 2020 by tc 13 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post 2mmMark Posted February 22, 2020 RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted February 22, 2020 (edited) Tim & I were able to borrow a dirigible yesterday afternoon and get some aerial photos. They've not come out too bad but the headwinds were shocking. They appear to have blown us backwards about 85 years. Edited February 22, 2020 by 2mmMark 29 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium CF MRC Posted February 22, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 22, 2020 Mark has produced some clutter for the yard in KX GY. The layout just keeps on absorbing all this detail... Tim 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-A-T Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 I was going to compare CF to a fine wine, which it is, ie it matures with age. But I think it’s best quality is it’s selective restraint. Adding enough detail to be realistic but not so much as to be cluttered or unrealistic. A rare skill which combined with superlative model making makes CF a beacon layout. And in 2mm! 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 2mmMark Posted February 22, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 22, 2020 (edited) Interesting footnote to Tim's post. The sleepers I used for the detail are those designed and made in the 1960s by Denys Brownlee. Produced in his home-made injection moulding machine. Perfect for this kind of thing. Solid plastic all the way through so they can be distressed quite well. I didn't bother too much with these as they are a long way from the viewer. Easitrack sleepers have a different design of mould. While they make really good track, they're not quite so good for representing discarded sleepers as there's a small hole underneath the chair. As for the level of detail, the "aerial" photos expose the way the buildings at the back of the layout are very much simplified and reduced in places to simple plywood profiles. One of the lessons we learned quite quickly after starting the layout was the need for recession of detail, colour and scale towards the rear of the layout. You might not think it but it saved us a lot of construction time! Mark Edited February 22, 2020 by 2mmMark 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 2mmMark Posted February 22, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 22, 2020 Fortunately a proper photographer also turned up yesterday. The results should appear in MRJ in the fullness of time. 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted February 22, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 22, 2020 Magazines often do not want pictures that show simplified models such as those at the rear of CF or holes in the sky at exit points but for us modellers it is instructive to see the difference between normal viewing when the subtefuges go unoticed and these close ups. The artist taking over from the engineer. A wonderful layout. Don 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AY Mod Posted February 22, 2020 Moderators Share Posted February 22, 2020 23 minutes ago, Donw said: Magazines often do not want pictures that show simplified models A bit of a generalisation; when I'm photographing a layout I also like to record how an effect is achieved, not just the outcome of the effect. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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