RMweb Gold PjKing1 Posted June 10, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 10, 2015 Hi Stu just came across this thread, great layout. I'm diving into the world of EM myself and can't wait to get started, just waiting on an order from C&L which will hopefully be here this week or next, scary stuff though Looking forward to more updates. Cheers, Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapford34102 Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 Hi, Thanks to all who've commented on or "clicked" my efforts, appreciated. Bill, regards the groundwork there's not much skill or artifice in what I've done. The embankment is Woodland scenic's foliage http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/category/GCFoliage It's basically their ground scatter on a fine mesh. The structure of the embankment is traditional card formers with paper pva'd over it. When dry it was painted a suitable colour, in my case a grey/brown sludge mixed from matchpots. When that's dry the foliage net is glued on using pva. I tear it into random shapes and simply stick down. I usually overlap a couple of layers to give a bit of depth. The "bushes" are http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/category/TRFine-LeafFoliage Good but a tad expensive but beats covering yourself in cheap hairspray I've also used static grass along the base of the bank and in random bits, applied with my puffer bottle which works to a certain extent or applied by hand into pva puddles I've mixed feelings about static grass mainly because a lot of the easily available ones look to garish to me. The one I've used looks quite orange in certain light. If I find something more to my liking I might well re-cover. Hope this helps but please say if this doesn't make sense. Paul, handbuilt track ain't rocket science but it can be challenging. There's plenty of people on here well qualified to give you advice so if you haven't got anyone handy use them. My first 2 or 3 "V"s were deemed *&%%$£# and got scrapped so I needed to stick with it, glad I did. Cheers Stu 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Worsdell forever Posted June 11, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 11, 2015 I've also used static grass along the base of the bank and in random bits, applied with my puffer bottle which works to a certain extent or applied by hand into pva puddles I've mixed feelings about static grass mainly because a lot of the easily available ones look to garish to me. The one I've used looks quite orange in certain light. If I find something more to my liking I might well re-cover. The European brands seem to me as you say garish and Woodlands Scenics a bit dull, the best colour range I've found is from Greenscene. Layout looks good, small layouts can look cramped and cluttered but you've managed to get it just right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunmar Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Thanks for the detailed info on your scenics Stu - you use pretty much the same as I do and although the Woodland Scenics can sometimes be expensive they can be quite versatile depending on your requirements. Will continue to watch your progress. Bill. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapford34102 Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 (edited) Thanks for the info Paul and I agree that given a small space there's always the temptation to use every square inch. I've decided I'm not that happy with the centre foreground and been having a think so I may decide to change what I was going to do. Bill, we have a local Hobbycraft who keep a reasonable if pricey range of Woodland so it's an easy choice for me. I was going to write a tad more earlier but domestic duties called...... Sheepcroft or to be more accurate Sheepcroft Sidings is an actual location. They were freight sidings at the end of the Easton branch. Sadly apart from the name and the freight only bit there the similarity ends so if anyone asks I'll have to say (very) loosely based on. Largest loco's to get there were Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2's so maybe that's thought for the future. Cheers Stu Edited February 3, 2023 by lapford34102 Restoring photos 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
artizen Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Static grass is simply nylon fibre chopped into lengths suitable for our purposes. The best colours and most realistic I found were from Polak. http://www.polakmodel.com/cs/vyrobky/main/0/Flockdekor-dlouhy---delka-4-5mm.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post lapford34102 Posted July 31, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 31, 2015 (edited) Hi, Well Sheepcroft had something of a first public outing recently when it was "exhibited" to a group of friends (!) Probably a good thing as it threw a point blade early on though with all the experience around it was a bit like having toothache at a dentists convention. Thanks to Dave T and George for quickly getting it sorted. Probably due to my inexperience with them had some niggly problems with the 3 links but that's hopefully now sorted. Overall though things went tolerably well. A few pics courtesy of Paul Wade. Cheers Stu Edited February 3, 2023 by lapford34102 Restoring photos 21 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mudmagnet Posted August 1, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 1, 2015 Looking very good Stu ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Looks very smart... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWales Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Indeed! Nice work! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Excellent work, a nice quiet backwater and really believable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davefrk Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Indeed! Nice work! I agree completely with my Welsh colleague, in fact I would say that that is some of the best track/ballast/weeds I've seen in a long time. Keep up the good work. EM, 'achievable excellence' indeed. Dave Franks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapford34102 Posted August 2, 2015 Author Share Posted August 2, 2015 (edited) Thanks to all who have commented or tagged, it's appreciated :-) Quote in fact I would say that that is some of the best track/ballast/weeds I've seen in a long time. Not sure it's that good but thanks all the same for the comment. Someone looking at the layout described me as an artist. I thought that out of politeness he was leaving out the usual epithet that precedes artist. It did make me pause to think though, 20 years too late being the main one........... :-( I mentioned that I was thinking of making some scenic additions and got an emphatic no, it's fine as it is, any changes might be a backward step. I'll accept that (easy way out) but I do need to get a few more bits of dedicated stock and retire the retreads. A couple more pics - my own this time......... Stu Edited February 3, 2023 by lapford34102 Restoring photos twice 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapford34102 Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 Just in case anyone is near Whitstable on Saturday and the weathers not beach friendly there's a show here https://www.facebook.com/pages/East-Kent-Model-Railway-Society-Whitstable/189851787724319 Sheepcroft will be there at it's first fully public outing which could be very interesting...... Cheers Stu Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted August 19, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 19, 2015 Just in case anyone is near Whitstable on Saturday and the weathers not beach friendly there's a show here https://www.facebook.com/pages/East-Kent-Model-Railway-Society-Whitstable/189851787724319 Sheepcroft will be there at it's first fully public outing which could be very interesting...... Cheers Stu It will be fine Stu, at least myself or DOMH won´t be there to trade insults! Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapford34102 Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 Mike, not sure DOMH still has a valid visa for the Dartford Crossing :-) Will report back in due course. Stu Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapford34102 Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 (edited) In stark contrast to today's weather it was 30 C in the shade on Saturday and the show was surprisingly busy. Things went pretty well but there were a couple of glitches. Had some buffer locking with the Hymek which meant some shunting had to be done at dead slow. Having a think about things wondered about the buffers as I remembered that on EM Gauge 70's http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/one Hymek owner had clearly shortened or replaced the buffers. Will look into this. The sound Crompton started behaving bizarrely by stalling and then emitting strange squeaks from the speaker when nudged. No idea why though a pickup wire had become detached somewhere along the line though I can't really fsthom any possible connection. We were inclined to blame the heat. All in all though a fun day and got some good comments though was rather baffled by the actions of a couple of people. One stood about 4' from the layout, never said a word to us but was scribbling on a notepad... The other was a gent clad in a seriously heavyweight sweater (!) who suddenly appeared, enquired "where are the sheep ?" and disappeared off. Cheers Stu Edited August 26, 2015 by lapford34102 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapford34102 Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 (edited) A few additional toys for Sheepcroft prior to it's Derby appearance which is where a conversation (of sorts...) over my other layout started the whole thing off. A few new bits of stock including a couple of 16 ton minerals primarily because Mr Tailby rarely fails to comment on their absence. To overcome the old chestnut of loaded/empty coal wagons going in and they're not exactly empty A couple of extra locos to go with the existing Hymek and Brush Type 2. Having a baby Warship and Derby Type 2 will give the layout (hopefully) a definite WR early 70's feel. Both were picked up "cheap". The unboxed Sulzer ridiculously so at Donny and has had the chassis modded along with new exhaust and repaint. The Baby Warship, renumbered, is yet another example of Dapols strange interpretation of Rail Blue and will probably go in the paint stripper in the not to distant future. It's one model that needs a decent EM conversion kit as pulling the half axles out doesn't fill me with confidence. Both have had their headcodes replaced and reglazed. Stu Edited February 3, 2023 by lapford34102 Restoring photos 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Hello Stu, I'm planning on going to the Derby show so will look forward to seeing you there! The layout is looking good. Cheers, John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted April 12, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 12, 2016 The pulling out of the NBL's wheels isn't to onerous Stu, the problem is the amount of inner edge of the sideframe that has to be removed, a fair chunk if the wheels are used as is. My second one had the wheels turned down to 2.5 mm thickness to preserve the spoke detail, but even that when pulled out needed a lesser amount removing. I'm wondering if the Dapol frames are made too narrow to avoid them catching platform edges etc on train set curves? Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PjKing1 Posted April 12, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 12, 2016 I've found I've had to file the insides of coach bogies quite a bit when fitting EM gauge wheel sets, some nice locos there to Stu Cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DavidLong Posted April 12, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 12, 2016 Hi Stu, An excellent trio of layouts on the theme. The EM track is certainly an upgrade on the Streamline! Look forward to seeing you at Derby. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Yes, really looking forward to seeing this in action at Derby, very nice indeed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne 37901 Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Hi Stu, looks a nice little project I followed it over on DEMU As someone who recently joined the EMGS and is slowly making the transition I have to say the track especially is a big improvement and that was one my main reasosns for making the switch. Cheers, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37114 Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Lovely little layout you have built Stu, you have a good eye for colours as the scenery is very nicely done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now