Bakewell - Peak District Line BR - Layout Views

[cbeagleowner]

FYI :-)

http://www.billhudsontransportbooks.co.uk/selected-product.php?prod=over+the+peak+&pid=6578

[Alister_G]

FYI :-)

http://www.billhudsontransportbooks.co.uk/selected-product.php?prod=over+the+peak+&pid=6578

 

That's great, thanks Rich. Definitely one to add to the wish list.

[Andrew P]

Hi Alister, Great to meet you today, I hope you enjoyed the Show and I will see you again soon.

 

Andy

[Alister_G]

Hi Andy, had a great time at the show, nice to meet you in person.

 

There were some great layouts on show, not least your Glen Roy, and i came away with fresh supplies of MekPak (personally recommended by George Slater himself ) and various Slater's sheets for more buildings. My daughter commented how, although small, Glen Roy was one of the most interesting layouts to look at, and she went back for a second look when I was busy spending money... (She'll expect the usual cheque in the post )

[Alister_G]

Layout update:

 

Having returned from holiday (and despite now having a broken gearbox on the Land Rover )  I've made some progress on the layout.

 

Firstly, I've glued down the cork underlay, and painted the goods yard area ready for ballast and scenics to be applied.

 

 

Next, I've spent some time scratch building the road bridge which will act as the scenic break at the station end.

 

I started with a plywood template, and then added Slater's 7mm dressed stone and created the stretchers and other details using 40thou plasticard, building up separate layers where necessary.

 

 

When complete it was painted and weathered using Humbrol acrylics, and here it is in place on the layout:

 

 

I need to add the parapet stones, and under-arch detail, but can't do that until the roadway detailing is finished.

 

When the paint was dry, I relaid the goods yard track. Here is a shot looking past the signal box towards the station:

 

 

I'm now making a start on modelling the goods shed.

 

More soon, thanks for looking.

[Alister_G]

Goods Shed:

 

I thought I'd post some photos of my building of the Goods Shed.

 

The basic structure is built from 40thou plasticard (I happened to have some in black, rather than white) laminated in places for strength.

 

Here's the two gable ends:

 

 

There is some detailing to be added to the ends which will come later.

 

The completed shell is shown here. Despite appearances,  It is all square and level, my cutting mat is resting on something:

 

 

I placed the completed shell on the layout to check track clearances, as the goods loop passes very close to the wall of the shed. As a bare shell, it appears as though it is too tall, but there is a lot of detail to be added and it should look OK when done:

 

 

Once satisfied it all fitted, I started to clad the shell in Slater's 4mm dressed stone. The sheet will fold round the door apertures to give thickness to the walls:

 

 

So far so good, plenty to keep me busy.

 

More soon, thanks for looking.

[Andrew P]

Hi Alister, Great pics mate, thanks for popping by and saying hello at the Bakewell show at the weekend, it is always good to put a face to a name.

 

All the best Andy

[Alister_G]

Goods Shed update:

 

Having completed the basic shell, I continued to add the architectural detailing, with the fake-grandiose coping on the ends of the building, and the keystones round the arches.

 

 

 

I then gave it a base coat of stone colour - it looks a lot redder in photo than it actually it is:

 

 

I then got stuck in with the weathering. I was fairly happy with it at first, but leaving it and coming back to it after a day, I decided it looked more like a burnt out derelict rather than a smoke blackened working building:

 

 

So, I set to and removed some of the weathering, to leave it looking like this:

 

 

It still needs some fettling, but I'm happier now.

 

to give an idea, here is a pic of the prototype:

 

 

I'll do the roof next, more soon.

[Andrew P]

Hi Alister, More really good pics, Thanks mate, Love the real shed pic too.

 

Andy

[Alister_G]

Hi Alister, More really good pics, Thanks mate, Love the real shed pic too.

 

Andy

 

Hi Andy, thanks very much. Coming from someone as good as you that means a lot.

 

You really ought to have a go at this building lark, you know - if I can do it I'm darn sure you can.

 

I know Jeff on Loony Kerbside has been having a go at you about it as well, maybe we should gang up on you! :)

 

(Oh, and I promise I'll have grass on my Derbyshire hills before he does on his Fells)

 

Cheers, Al

[Andrew P]

Hi Andy, thanks very much. Coming from someone as good as you that means a lot.

 

You really ought to have a go at this building lark, you know - if I can do it I'm darn sure you can.

 

I know Jeff on Loony Kerbside has been having a go at you about it as well, maybe we should gang up on you! :)

 

(Oh, and I promise I'll have grass on my Derbyshire hills before he does on his Fells)

 

Cheers, Al

Al, have a look in the Lunester Lounge and see the Viaduct I have just acquired

 

Bodgit

[Alister_G]

Goods Shed, nearly done!

 

I fiddled about with the weathering, and finally settled on something I was happy with, which you'll see in a moment.

 

I then made the roof, painted and weathered that, so the basic build is done.

 

Here's the final weathering:

 

 

and here's the roof:

 

 

The local contractors have dug out the foundations for the goods shed on the layout - and a pretty mess they made, too! I won't be using them again.

 

 

It's amazing how quickly the local builders can throw up a stone built building though, I only turned my back for a minute or two...

 

 

Here's a shot of it in situ:

 

 

As said above, the building is complete, but needs some final details added - the guttering and downpipes, the side doors, fire buckets, and not forgetting the corrugated office tacked on the end. I'll get those done this week, if my supplies of evergreen strip and Slater's card arrive. I also need to recreate the interior, but that may take a while.

 

In the meantime, I've tried to recreate one of E R Morten's wonderful photos, as seen here on the Disused Stations website:

 

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/b/bakewell/index77.shtml

 

If Andy and the Mods don't mind I've blown the image up and reproduced it here to compare with my attempt, feel free to remove it:

 

Copyright E R Morten 1958

 

And here's my attempt:

 

 

A 4F and a Crab running light-engine on the down line.

 

E R Morten didn't have to worry about a bloody great sewage pipe in the sky, but there you go.

 

One day I'll learn how to stitch a sky into photos like Gilbert manages on Peterborough North...

 

Here's another one that could do with the background removing, a view from the down platform of the station:

 

 

That's all for now, the camera battery is now dead...

 

 

Edited June 15, 2013 by acg_mr

[Andrew P]

Hi Al, great set of pics again, I had to go back to look for the pipe as I was so busy looking at the locos I did not see it.

Really nice low angle shots mate, please keep em coming.

 

Bodgit

[cbeagleowner]

HI al - the bridge and the goods shed look really impressive - Inspired me to have a go at scratchbuilding a bridge myself I think! did you just use Bill's book for the drawings and dimensions?

 

I think the painting and weathering is particularly good! What humbrol colours did you use? I take it that you painted with  brush, not an airbrush? 

 

I do like the way the 7mm stone has come across. I wasn't sure the stones would be too big when I saw one in the flesh but it really looks the part! I think the 3D aspect outweighs it being too big!

[Alister_G]

Hi Rich, thank you very much, I look forward to seeing your bridge.

 

I must confess, neither the bridge nor the goods shed were built from scale plans, I worked from photos, both those I've taken myself and those found online.

 

The bridge, in particular, I marked out on a bit of ply to fit the space on the layout, rather than try and fit the layout to the bridge, and then having got the width and height of the arch right, I just tried to make it look as near to the original as possible.

 

 

With the goods shed, I started from the dimensions of a standard box van, and made the rail door apertures to suit, and then drew the rest of the building round it until it looked right.

 

As to colours, I started both the bridge and the shed with an all-over coat of Humbrol acrylic No.63 Matt Sand, which comes closest to the colour of the natural stone the structures are built from at Bakewell.

 

 

 

I then used a very dilute wash (10-1 water and paint) of the following colours, one after the other:

 

Humbrol acrylic No.30 Matt Dark Green

Humbrol acrylic No.32 Matt Dark Grey

Humbrol acrylic No.62 Matt Leather

Humbrol acrylic No.66 Matt Olive Drab

Humbrol acrylic No.86 Matt Light Olive

 

After applying each wash, I removed it again immediately by dabbing with kitchen roll, so that only the merest trace stayed. After repeated applications, the stone gains that curious mixture of greens and browns which is how the stone weathers, until the desired effect is reached.

 

With the Bridge, I used more of the greens, as the stone of the bridge is quite water and lichen stained, like this:

 

 

 

whereas the Goods Shed had more of the darker colours, but left more bits in the Matt Sand colour, and also some of the reddish brown tint of the leather.

 

 

For final smoke blackening I used Humbrol RC401 Matt Dirty Black - VERY sparingly. The first attempt at the Goods Shed made it look like it had burned to the ground, so I washed it off using cold water and a kitchen scourer and started again..

 

The Slater's 7mm Dressed Stone works perfectly for the bridge as the masonry is much larger than that used on the Station buildings and Goods shed, and the extra relief is much more reminiscent of the prototype.

 

Oh, and yes, I just use a cheapish artists paint brush with an 8mm width head for all the building weathering and painting. I have some much finer and more expensive brushes for intricate detail such as the signal box and loco weathering.

 

Cheers, Al.

 

(P.S. Sorry for the repeated edits, I kept finding photos to illustrate better how I did things.)

Edited June 17, 2013 by acg_mr

[Alister_G]

Quick Update:

 

Having got the front of the bridge built, and finalised where the road would run, I have now finished off the basic structure of the scenery behind the station area.

 

 

 

Here's a gratuitous (and rather too revealing) shot of the bridge:

 

 

As you can see, I still have to detail the underside of the bridge, and add the parapet stones on top.

 

Incidentally, the platforms are roughly cut out of 19mm Ply, but will eventually be surfaced in plasticard and have a retaining wall of Slater's sheets, probably on a hardboard backing, to get as close to the curve of the track as possible.

 

As far as I can make out from photos, the platform surface was tarmac, rather than being flags or York stone or any such surface (apart from the edging stones of course) so I need to think how I'm going to portray that.

 

One suggestion I've heard of is to use sheets of very fine wet-and-dry paper, which is normally a very dark grey colour, and approximates the sort of surface texture I want. However, It's quite expensive just to use as scenery.

 

...

 

It was only having thought about the previous post answering cbeagleowner's questions that made me remember that the first thing I did to practice scratch building a structure, was a small lineside hut, meant to be stone or possibly concrete, built using Wills sheets.

 

It's a very simple rectangle with a door at one end and a pitched roof, just to practice cutting and shaping plasticard, really.

 

I don't even know if it will end up on the layout, as it isn't based on any particular prototype, but it let me practice sticking bits of plastic together, and then painting it.

 

So, for what it's worth, here it is plonked on the layout:

 

 

 

More soon, thanks for looking.

 

[Alister_G]

I've had another go at the shot of the 4F and Crab (see post #89 above)

 

I've tried (very badly), to add a sky, but it appears more as though the picture was taken under a blanket...

 

Oh well, see what you think...

 

 

At least it's a clearer picture of the engines...

Edited June 17, 2013 by acg_mr

[Andrew P]

I like it Al,

 

Andy

[Alister_G]

Cheers mate, it's beginning to grow on me.

 

Should have some GRASS to show you by next weekend

[LNER4479]

Hi Alastair,

 

Nice work with the goods shed (and other structures); the weathering finish looks fine to me (my stuff is all too 'clean' at the moment!).

 

Like the model vs real thing comparison as well - that must be quite satisfying for you, especially as it can only get better as you add the detail. One suggestion, if I may - one of the big differences between yours and Mr Morton's photograph is lighting! In classic style, he has the sun over his shoulder (looks to be late afternoon) and the boiler and smokebox of the 4F are beautifully lit. No amount of photo-shopping is going to alter that aspect of your picture. Appreciate that lighting will always be a challenge in a basement(!) but do you have a strong spotlight or equivalent handy? Doesn't have to be fancy, just be able to give strong illumination. Trying setting that up so it's shining on the subject. Try it with flash and without flash (if you can turn it off) and see the difference. If you are able to alter the exposure (shutter speed) on your camera even better as this will improve the depth of field (you'll need to hold it steady or somehow prop it up though).

 

Keep posting; looking forward to seeing things develop further.

[Andrew P]

Hi Al, as above, on some of mine if they are not meant as quickies as I did with the Viaduct and FY yesterday I have the camera on the tripod, set the F to 13.5, the max on my Fuji camera, set the Macro and the timer on 10 secs, that gives the camera time to settle after you have pressed the shutter. I then have a small desk lamp, I wave it across the subject when setting up and look through the viewer to ensure it is not to bright, (you may need to experiment with this), and then press the shutter, I then either pass the lamp across in front of the subject or hold in one place to put light into the smoke box and valve gear for a nice shot, I did this with the last two shots I took on FY yesterday of the Std 4 and Ivatt 2MT over the water outlet.

Good luck and have a play, after all its just another part of this wonderful hobby.

 

Bodgit

Edited June 18, 2013 by Andrew P

[DanielB]

That goods shed is superb! Lovely model and the layout is coming on nicely. Loads of potential.

[Alister_G]

LNER4479, AndyP, thanks very much for your continued encouragement and suggestions.

 

You're both right of course, if I want to do things properly then I need to sort out the lighting and invest in a tripod.

 

I'm afraid I very much just point and click at the moment, but my camera is more than capable (it's a Fuji F70EXR), I just need to find out how to use it!  

 

I like your idea, Andy, of moving a light across the subject whilst the picture is taken, and looking at your results it obviously works well.

 

The 4F images both have the problem that I'm effectively pointing into the sun, as there is a 100W bulb just out of frame above the layout, (you can see that it causes artifacts in the pictures), and the camera therefore closes the aperture and so the image is too dark.

 

When I'm a bit further along with the scenery I will try and reposition the lighting to get better pictures, although, as LNER4479 says, I'm a little limited by the confines of the cellar!

 

Thanks again

 

Al.

[Alister_G]

That goods shed is superb! Lovely model and the layout is coming on nicely. Loads of potential.

 

Cheers Dan, that's very kind of you. I'm waiting to see how yours develops as well, I like what you've been doing with your rolling stock.

[Alister_G]

More Progress:

 

I'm now sitting waiting for various items to dry - either glue or paint - so I thought I'd update you with what I've done so far tonight.

 

I've had a lot of deliveries today, so I can now get on with various tasks that were waiting for materials.

 

...

 

Although you've seen various photos of the front face of the bridge, so far you haven't seen the rest of it.

 

Probably with good reason, as my carpentry skills are minimal, and when I look at what some of you manage to do, I'm a little embarrassed to show you this.

 

However, it's solidly glued together, and it's never going to bear the weight of anything more than a bus and you won't see it anyway, so here goes:

 

 

As you can see, the "bore" of the bridge is not perpendicular to the line of the roadway. This is as per the prototype, although the angle on the model is probably more accentuated as the station is on a sharper curve to squeeze everything onto the layout. You can see I have added the internal "walls" and a brace for the middle of the arch.

 

Looking from underneath, you can see I have added the walling and the stretcher stones:

 

 

...and in this shot you can see I have added the inside of the arch keystones:

 

 

although they need some trimming and tidying up.

 

Here's the first of my deliveries, a sheet of Slater's 4mm Brick. Don't ask me what bond it is, I haven't a clue, and it's probably totally wrong for the bridge, but it looks OK to me.

 

Having cut the sheet roughly to size I have pre-curved this by the simple expedient of putting it inside a mug of boiling water for 10 minutes, and then dowsing it in cold water:

 

 

I deliberately made it slightly too large for the archway, so I could gradually trim it until it fits and matches the curve, resting on the stretchers on each side, and tight against the brace at the top of the arch, and then used MekPak to glue it in position:

 

 

Here's a shot from underneath, showing that the courses of bricks go diagonally, to increase their load-bearing strength, just as the prototype, seen below:

 

 

 

That's as far as I've got with the bridge, as I now need to wait for the PVA which is holding the stone and stretchers on to the plywood to dry completely before I can sand and fill it and then paint it.

 

 

More in a minute...