Snipe Fen Farm, a 7/8ths Scale "Micro"!

[Steph' H]

I have lurked on here for a long time so I finally thought I’d better write up some of the projects I do.... Now this layout has been built a little while, as will be seen, so this is a look back on the process to start with.

 

First up the term Micro and 7/8ths scale don't mix! For those unaware of this scale it is used to represent 2foot narrow gauge lines on 45mm gauge or 15inch on 32mm gauge track. It equates to 22.5mm to the foot, so the models tend to be on the large size. My "proper" layout is in the garden so this is very much a side project.

 

Now I was given a challenge to create a small scenic layout for the Telford narrow gauge exhibition in 2011, this coincided with the creation of "Simplicity Sidings" in Gn15 by Steve Bennett http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=4419 and with me chatting to Steve Warrington the exhibition organiser and Steve Bennett so that all influenced the idea!

Most people are used to the rather plastic models or bare test tracks in the large “garden” scales at exhibitions so it was to be nice to prove you can produce scenic “garden scale“ layouts. This had to be a sort of micro style model, although micro and 7/8ths don’t really mix! It resulted in a 7x2foot layout with a 5 foot scenic section and a 2 foot sector plate.  Snipe Fen Farm is inspired by the many small 2 foot gauge railways that served farms in the fens of the east of England. As I said this is a retrospective look at the construction and will move on to hopefully the future developments…..

 

In building this little layout I broke a couple of my own rules involving composition. Whilst the track plan is very simple, it actually goes against my principles of no straight or parallel lines etc but as this was a time pressed project I kept it simple…. (I reckon it will change soon!). Given more time now, I would use curved track to counteract the straight baseboard edges.

 

 

Boards etc are pretty much standard construction of 6mm MDF tops on 2x1 framing. The layout is 2 years old now and still flat and straight.

 

First up came the track construction, it is built of Peco NS code 250 track spiked down using scale track spikes (from Back2Bay6 one inch wonders) onto separately weathered wood sleepers. Grain and wear etc was added as each sleeper was cut and stained using various techniques of scribing and cutting. The track had previously been darkened with metal blackener and then painted as conductivity does not matter as my loco's are all battery or live steam and driven by manual control systems. This latter fact means there is no backscene as access is required for driving and couplers.

 

 

Now came the bit I like best, the landscaping. Now as you go larger in scale the harder I find it to get methods of realistic vegetation and ground works.

 

The basic landscape formers were card and paper which I then covered with a layer of car body filler. Now this is evil smelling stuff and it doesn't help if your other half really, really hates the smell! I worked outside on a sunny day, happily the stuff sets fast! I wanted a very strong  base that was water resistant as I thought I might end up running live steam on it at some point, plus it also remains fairly light... till I started the earth and ballast!

 

Once this was done I could start to look at the ground cover. I decided to start from the ground up, literally! I covered the landscape with a mixture of fine soil, ballast of various scales and other odds and ends to create as much texture as possible. The track was to be very weathered and buried in the ground so the ballast was made up of a mixture of 2mm, 4mm and 7mm scale ballasts along with sand, soil and larger grit.

Here we see the basic ground cover in place along with the first drafts of the buildings

 

 

 

 

I now needed to bed everything together and add weeds etc to the ballast, I tried this out first off on a small display base....

 

 

 

Right that's the first bit..... Next up when I get time its time to do the vegetation and buildings.....

Steph'

Edited March 7, 2013 by Steph' H

[Guest oldlugger]

Edit

Edited March 8, 2013 by oldlugger

[Steph' H]

Now time to add the first layer of grass and plants....

 

The basic ground work was the tried and tested method of Gardman hanging basket liner stuck down with PVA and then pulled off, leaving grassy strands which I then spent a long time with brushing and trimming until I got the look I was trying for. I reckon in the large scale this looks fairly good if done carefully. Individual grass clumps were made of sisal string and planted in holes carefully drilled in the ground surface.... I find the traditional flock type scenic materials just would not work in this scale. But I have used lichen and sponge fragments to represent small weeds and moss in amongst the grass and Ballast.

 

 

The base board join is horrible above.....

This ground cover is an on going project, all sorts of odds and ends are used including fragments of plants and seed heads from the garden The layout is set in the early spring so the leaves on the trees have not yet broken and there are daffodils in flower. The trees are the standard Seafoam sprayed up with various colours of brown and grey.

Now I intend to try some of the longer static grass products soon too...

 

 

[PaulRhB]

Hi Steph nice to see you on here, you can upload pictures direct to the forum using the paperclip rather than having to host them elsewhere.

My own 7/8ths bits and bobs are slowly progressing and inspired by Snipe Fen.

[Steph' H]

Hi Steph nice to see you on here, you can upload pictures direct to the forum using the paperclip rather than having to host them elsewhere.

My own 7/8ths bits and bobs are slowly progressing and inspired by Snipe Fen.

Cheers I hadn't cottoned on to the paperclip! But there is method in my madness in hosting elsewhere... the photos are already there rather than re doing them again I'll use the on site hosting later though now I know about it...

 

Glad to hear your stuff is progressing... looking forward to seeing it!

 

Just to dishearten me though I spotted this work earlier by Chuck Doan http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=1893.135 check out the window... I reckon I might just give up now! He just gets better and better!

Edited March 7, 2013 by Steph' H

[PaulRhB]

Ah but that's how some of view yours never give up and after 4 or add some 00's versions we get there ourselves

I tell myself I might get lucky, (monkeys writing Shakespeare style), and if I have enough goes and more time achieve it. It would help if I could choose just one project at a time too.

[Steph' H]

Bit more time so on to the buildings.... the wooden barn is just that, built of strip wood framing with dolls house wood cladding. The inside has the correct frames and trusses. Unfortunately its still needing the interior detailing up!

 

Now brickwork was a different thing, I spent hours trailing round a Dolls house exhibition at the NEC looking at the various ways they represent bricks. This ranged from building the whole thing from tiny real bricks to brick slips to a paste. Due to the time my ideal method the individual bricks was out of the question so I plumped for the paste and stencil method.

 

To achieve this you paint your walls with the colour of the mortar you want then mix up the compound to a thick paste.

 

 

 

You lay the stencil onto the work, and spread the paste evenly over it. Carefully lifting the stencil away reveals some nice bricks.... hopefully.

 

 

 

Now to me this looked far to clean and neat so after it had dried I used acrylic paints to tone everything down!

 

 

The door and frame etc are all built from wood like the real thing! The whole thing was weathered to give it a run down look. Then dolls house guttering etc was added to the barn and the brick building.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2013 by Steph' H

[Pugsley]

That brick stencil is a great idea! The layout looks great as well, with some nice scenic touches.

[Steph' H]

The thing with working in such a large scale is it has its advantages in that you can add all sorts of detail but also you cannot get away with much as and skimping on detail or bad painting etc can stand out like a sore thumb!

 

One of the main features of the layout scenic wise was to be a semi derelict boat... now this started out life as a rather naff 1/12th scale dolls house boat...

 

 

However this had promise and was painted up and weathered down to look abandoned. The main issue for me was just how to produce a suitable canvas or tarpaulin cover. I eventually hit upon a finely textured model aircraft covering solartex. This is placed over the model and folded how you want it, then a hot iron is run just above the surface and this stretches the fabric tight and sticks it in place. I then painted the tarp up using techniques culled from military modelling, this produced a very nice effect.

 

 

 

The cat has proved a fun item at exhibitions.... I must add a tiny mouse to get the kids to see!

 

Steph'

 

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2013 by Steph' H

[PaulRhB]

Steph, with the brick stencil how easy is it to butt one set up against another? Do you have to wait until the first dries so you don't squash the existing bricks? I assume it applies to the stencils for lintels etc too, bookmarked their site as that looks vey useful for 1:24 as well as 7/8ths

Edited March 9, 2013 by PaulRhB

[Steph' H]

This bottom right corner is still not finished off properly, it looked far to bare to start off...

 

 

A new fence was constructed of brass, but still the area is not fully finished.

 

 

I'm toying with adding the edge of a road and a nice red post box that would "pop" out visually against the green, it would add a splash of colour.

 

 

[Steph' H]

By the way if any one is doubting the size of these models here are some shots to give examples.

 

A 009 skip wagon on a 7/8ths scale 24inch wheel...

 

 

A Eggerbahn HOe loco on the running plate of a small 7/8ths scale steam loco.

 

 

Plus the small 7/8ths scale loco up against a W&L 1.20.3 scale brake van...

 

 

7/8ths produces models of much bigger size and heft than 16mm scale. The attraction for me was I could now have models of all those small 2foot gauge loco's I loved like Simplex/Listers and they would run really well!

 

 

Steph'
 

Edited March 9, 2013 by Steph' H

[Steph' H]

On going work is now mostly detailing and vegetation... being spring I have hundreds of Daffodils to plant, these are a combination of ancient "Brittons" plastic ones (Ok but a bit too plasticky) and beautiful laser cut paper kit ones (really fiddly to do!).

 

The layout has proved popular at the exhibitions we have attended so far, being unique in the scale and the fact as a very large scale layout it is scenic. It also elitists much comment for the control methods in that the locos are really driven from controls in the cabs! The hand intrusions don't seem to both people as you already use the "Hand of God" to uncouple. I must admit it would be interesting to visit more "mainstream" exhibitons rather than the mostly narrow gauge orientated ones we have done so far. The honor of being at EXPONG at Swanley was best last year we think!

 

Here are a couple of shots of the layout at the G gauge Society exhibiton early last year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I reckon though next up must be lighting for the layout, so far we have managed without but I fear we will not do so forever.

 

BUT I am seriously thinking of making up a new end board to replace the wooden barn etc with a new area... maybe a loco shed, or a new siding arrangement or even a through line. However a new project may also loom on the horizon in that we are toying with a 1st World War supply railway tribute model for 2014. Now that would mean new stock as well.... busy year ahead?

 

Steph'

 

[PaulRhB]

 However a new project may also loom on the horizon in that we are toying with a 1st World War supply railway tribute model for 2014. Now that would mean new stock as well.... busy year ahead?

 

Steph'

Now that would be nice to see, (did you see my post about the bricks it got lodged between your updates?)

[Steph' H]

Steph, with the brick stencil how easy is it to butt one set up against another? Do you have to wait until the first dries so you don't squash the existing bricks? I assume it applies to the stencils for lintels etc too, bookmarked their site as that looks vey useful for 1:24 as well as 7/8ths

Hiya! Yes, wait for the stuff to dry before applying the next layer as you would squash the soft paste if not. But it really does not take too long to do. For the lintel I made a small template up out of plasticard but it did not work as well as the real one.... I would not do this for a larger one. It might take a couple of goes as practice but once you get the hang of it it works well. Once its all set I followed the manufacturers instructions and applied a couple of coats of matt spray varnish (Windsor and Newton I think!) this makes things firmer, but you do need to avoid heavy knocks as it might "shale" off, still it was easy to fix LOL!

 

The 1/24th on the stall at the NEC looked great too.

 

I did think out quite carefully on how the bricks would be laid out before I even started the building so the doors and windows would work correctly with the bricks. It was not to hard if you just use the stencil to work out spacing. Having an architect other half helped with this too!

 

Steph'

 

Now that would be nice to see, (did you see my post about the bricks it got lodged between your updates?)

Haha see above....

 

Steph'

[Steph' H]

Now that would be nice to see, (did you see my post about the bricks it got lodged between your updates?)

 

At least with the 1WW one it would be a team project with 3 other mates as it has the potential to be rather large! 

 

Steph'

[PaulRhB]

Even more promising Thanks Steph I'll get some stencils in so I can have a go when I've finished the two current projects and all their varied diversions. I did get very tempted with a modern industrial idea using a 1:14 forklift and modern MOD locos but that would need a other layout and as you say in 7/8ths even a small yard takes up a fair space.

[Steph' H]

Humm, well so far the WW1 layout hasn't gone anywhere, other stuff is getting in the way. So I thought I'd amuse myself by adding to Snipe Fen Farm. The layout has a new home so I can leave it up and work on it without mucking up the rest of the house too much. At the moment I cannot run on it as the fiddle yard isn't attached but hopefully I'll be able to move it to another side of the room to allow the extra 2-3 foot required LOL.

So far two new boards have been built and attached and I have hand laid the track, along with cheating by adding a Peco G45 left hand point. I will be burying the sleepers well on the latter! I could have built the point but I took the easy way out!

 

 

The track is a new try being code 250 aluminum....

 

 

I'm not sure I'll be sticking with this as I have yet to find a metal black that works on ali, and I like the look of the original peco 250 NS when it was blackened and painted. Still we will see. The sleepers are still at the very rough stage and need more work.

 

 

The idea is I will be adding a sand loading building to the rear siding giving a new use for the extended line to contrast with the smaller farm line layout. I see V skips in my future. I also want to try scenics with water elements too in 7/8ths so we will be experimenting over the winter I think.

 

I expect progress to be slow, its taken 3 months to get from the bare boards to this far!

 

Steph'

Edited November 11, 2013 by Steph' H

[PaulRhB]

Great to see the extension. The WW1 layout would be great for next year but I think the tribute would be just as valid any year of the next 4 years.

[Steph' H]

I agree about the WW1 layout, I perhaps actually think that we should be commemorating the armistice rather than the start of that conflict.

 

Now as regards the extension to the farm I now need to find the 4foot x 2 foot board of mdf for the scenic contour boards.... just how do you loose something like that? Must be in my shed somewhere surely!

[steve1]

This is excellent stuff! I'm surprised you haven't had Exhibition Managers breaking down your door.

 

steve

[artizen]

Great to see you continuing with this excellent layout! 

[Steph' H]

Well, the farm just got set up to prepare it for its first outing to an exhibition in 2014, we will be at Bognor Regis at SWING2014 on Saturday 17th May.

 

When it got set up I found that all my long grass was flat, amazing what a wash and blow dry will achieve! Now I don't think I've ever given a layout a hair do before! I also remembered the hens and chicks I had in a drawer and got round to putting them in place, its amazing how useful some of those childhood toys from Brittens have become!

Also today I had to whip up a driver for the Ruston, sadly he will have to make do with a temporary paint job as I don't have time to do a good one.... Now to find the stock boxes!

All this has stopped work on the longer version which as at least now got ballast and the start of landscaping... its supposed to appear at Telford in July....... I suspect I have my work cut out!

 

If anyone is at the Exhibition on Saturday please say Hi!

 

ATB

Steph'

Edited May 14, 2014 by Steph' H

[scouser]

Just found this thread, what wonderfull modelling. This is the kind of work that is worth travelling to see. Superb!

[Steph' H]

Well we had a successful trip to SWING2014... till I collapsed on the way home and ended up in Chichester A&E   Must be all that excitement Model Railway exhibitions cause Happily we were to continue home after about 5 hours! But I've been somewhat under the weather since.....

 

So all that caused a short break in the layout building, but as the Telford NG exhibition draws ever closer I have to get the thing into some sort of order....

So the landscaping on the extension has commenced. I built up the land profile using traditional polystyrene and card formers (to keep the weight down) and then covered the whole landscape with a layer of newspaper, the reason for this last step was I have learned to my cost if I tried to cover the polystyrene with my hard landscaping made up of car body filler the polystyrene melts! The news paper layer seems to stop this. So it was out with the evil smelling filler and open with all the shed doors and windows! One thing with this way of forming the landscape is if you mix it right it only takes a short time to set and it results in a fairly light very solid landscape. Plus it can be worked with files and saws etc later on.

 

 

Next up was ground works. I find in my large scale that real soil makes for great, well, soil! I try to get some detail in to the base ground cover before adding the vegetation.

 

 

So onto my grass and plants, so far (as we are up against time now) I have kept it simple using hanging basket liner glued down and then ripped off (making sure the backing material side of the liner is uppermost so the fibers rip away). Stupidly I tied to cut a corner on the liner, before I have used the gardman range which looked nice as slightly worn late winter long grass but I just picked up some cheap liners this time and once they were down they were too "blue" in tone and too fluffy... so it was back out to the garden centre and I got the ones I should have got in the first place.....

 

 

 

Anyway, we now have basic grass (still needs a hair do, and pruning though) and I have begun the long process of making up and planting longer grass and weeds, its never ending! I also need to add more weeds to the ballast. This will start to get the layout sections to match, but I fear we may have to be a bit of a "work in progress" in July at Telford.

 

All this is actually me just putting off committing to the buildings... I had originally intended to model a sand pit hopper and fill skips, but time now makes me think for now I'll have a change of plan and make up a couple of brick yard buildings or loco servicing on the left hand board. But as I pretty much wing it as I build, anything could happen yet. Plus I suspect I'll end up still building the sand hopper for the final thing eventually!

 

ATB

Steph'

Edited June 10, 2014 by Steph' H