Andy R Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 David- I think you are referring to Les rather than Andy R? This is his topic. I agree with you that his little layout is looking very nice. Les lives in the Waikato and I'm in the Bay of Plenty- we both have GWR /western interest. (see my Hawkinsfield Junction topic). One day we might even meet each other at the local Hamilton exhibition.! Andy R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mikkel Posted January 22, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) Hi Les, just found this and had a pleasant read. Very nice modelling I think, there's something about the design and spaciousness that makes the locos and stock actually look in place and part of the scene, which is one of the challenges on smaller layouts I find. I really like the goods shed, some subtle changes which has changed it from a standard kit to something all of its own. I like your words for "the lump of wood by the door", that sounds a lot like the way I think about bits and pieces on my models Edited January 22, 2015 by Mikkel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbr1295 Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 Hi David and Mikkel, Thank you both for your generous comments. Yes, as Andy says I am Les, and David as you can see there is at least 2 of us GW modellers out here! Andy's Hawkinsfield Junction topic is certainly worth a look. I think the trick with making small layouts look more spacious is avoiding trying to fit too much in. One of the reasons why I found my NZR layout grinding to a halt was I was trying to include a bit of everything in. Basically keep it simple, and for me who is more into building the models rather than operation you can get away with it. Though saying that American modeller Lance Mindheim has some excellent ideas around simple layouts with lots of operating potential, and his website is worth looking at. Also another trick is to keep the buildings smallish. I find that gives an impression of more space. Cheers, Les 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbr1295 Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 As the evening sun sets, 5796 meanders its way down the branch with the last train of the day. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 nice scene. I am still loving the trees Les. Hedges also look great. Have they used green dish pads with foliage over them? Small detail but one I am still trying to perfect. Andy R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
artizen Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Andy - for very evenly structured (clipped) hedges, Model Tree Shop have a range. For a more rampant country look, try rubberised horse hair. Another idea which would need some work to make totally convincing is the floor scrubber pads from Bunnings available in two tones of green, one brown and one black (the open weave stuff about 300x150x20mm) hacked about and covered in flocks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbr1295 Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) Andy, I used 2 methods for the hedges. The ones against the back scene are simple strips cut from a Mininatur grass mat I acquired off that chap who usually attends the Hamilton exhibitions, he sells a lot of European scenery items. I roughed them up around the edges and glued them to the back scene. The other, 3 dimensional hedges were more of a head ache. I tried the dish pad type method but I couldn't get them to look right. As I live rurally I spend a lot of time observing the countryside driving home at night. Hedges are just individual big shrubs planted close to each other in a line, most methods of making hedges make them look like one long shrub, not individuals. The method I came up with is a little time consuming, especially if you have a lot to do. I ended up making about 40 at a time. What I did was get an old jug cord, stripped approx. 25 -30mm of insulation off 1 phase and twisted it together 5mm long at the insulation end. Cut it off and solder the twisted bit (the trunk). I then bent each individual strand out into the shape of a shrub and glued on cut string as pet the trees. Spray paint matt black. Then spray with glue and sprinkle on Woodland Scenics coarse turf. Once dry, gently squeeze to a hedge sort of shape, spray with matt varnish, sprinkle on a small amount of Woodland Scenics blended turf green mix. This has some small amount of yellow in it and gives the impression of the flowers often seen on hedges at this time of year. Seal with more varnish. Once you have enough for a hedge line you just need to make holes in your scenery and plant at the appropriate distance apart. Hope this is some help. Cheers, Les Edited January 23, 2015 by Dbr1295 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted January 26, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26, 2015 Super layout, thanks for posting and please let's have some more photos as and when you can! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Les- many thanks for your comprehensive commentary on your hedges. They are certainly time well spent and they look great. Les, do you know where we might get rubberised horsehair in NZ? I have asked several upholsterers to no avail, and the local model shops don't have any of course. Any idea? Also, have you managed to find source of multi -strand wire offcuts for the tree making? regards, Andy R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_tyne Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 (edited) David- I think you are referring to Les rather than Andy R? This is his topic. I agree with you that his little layout is looking very nice. Les lives in the Waikato and I'm in the Bay of Plenty- we both have GWR /western interest. (see my Hawkinsfield Junction topic). One day we might even meet each other at the local Hamilton exhibition.! Andy R Doh... apologies for my silly mistake! Yes I should have addressed that message to 'Les' rather than 'Andy' ... I could try and blame something else but it was just my own stupidity! David Edited January 27, 2015 by south_tyne Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_tyne Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Hi David and Mikkel, Thank you both for your generous comments. Yes, as Andy says I am Les, and David as you can see there is at least 2 of us GW modellers out here! Andy's Hawkinsfield Junction topic is certainly worth a look. I think the trick with making small layouts look more spacious is avoiding trying to fit too much in. One of the reasons why I found my NZR layout grinding to a halt was I was trying to include a bit of everything in. Basically keep it simple, and for me who is more into building the models rather than operation you can get away with it. Though saying that American modeller Lance Mindheim has some excellent ideas around simple layouts with lots of operating potential, and his website is worth looking at. Also another trick is to keep the buildings smallish. I find that gives an impression of more space. Cheers, Les Hi Les, Very sorry for calling you by the wrong name... I do apologise. Thanks for you reply. Yes I expect there are challenges in modelling a prototype from thousands of miles away but you have certainly tackled it extremely well! Interesting thoughts about Lance Mindheim, I have read only a little about his work but I understand the less is more concept is his forte. I will explore further. anyway it certainly works here and it is a very useful tip about the size of the buildings, it is not something I have ever considered before. I am currently grappling with planning a small shunting layout and want to get that sense of openess and space, giving the scene a chance to breath, just as you have achieved here. It might be a difficult ask on a narrow shelf layout of 6' but I will keep trying. I will keep following with interest and once again apologies for the mix up of names!! David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 David- absolutely no problem about the names. We can all sit back and enjoy Les's excellent modelling and learn from his good layout design tips. regards, Andy R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbr1295 Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 Hi Andy, no idea about the rubberised horsehair in NZ, upholsterers would be where I would have tried as well. Must be an English thing? Re the wire, I just collect the stuff from were ever. I've got old appliance leads, off cuts from house wiring, stuff from work, any bit of useful looking wire I grab it. In the case of the hedges I used a lead from an old broken jug. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbr1295 Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 Hi David, no worries about the name mix up. Good luck with your project. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbr1295 Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 One of the types of traffic I envisioned for this layout is a daily train to a quarry. The quarry branch is accessed from the terminus end of the line. The train for the quarry runs in empty, the loco runs around, then it departs back up the line to the quarry branch. When loaded the train comes back in, the loco runs around and the full train departs back up the branch to the ultimate destination. Here are some pictures of the empty train departing for the quarry branch. 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbr1295 Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 Progress has arrived with one of these new fangled diesels on the midday passenger train. This is an extra special one that doesn't need a driver... The Hymek is a Heljan model acquired from Trade Me (NZ version of ebay) a year or so ago. I have always had a soft spot for Hymeks, having 2 of the Triang Hornby models as a kid, so when this came up I couldn't resist. Compared to the Triang Hornby ones this one has the performance of a Ferrari. Eventually I will fit the buffer beam details and weather it (and add a driver). Not a lot of work has been done of the layout recently as with it being summer we've been away and spending more time outside. 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn1 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 One of the types of traffic I envisioned for this layout is a daily train to a quarry. The quarry branch is accessed from the terminus end of the line. The train for the quarry runs in empty, the loco runs around, then it departs back up the line to the quarry branch. When loaded the train comes back in, the loco runs around and the full train departs back up the branch to the ultimate destination. Here are some pictures of the empty train departing for the quarry branch. Some more great pictures Les. The quarry idea is a good one - I adopted it for Bishopscombe and it allows me to run extra trains with different locos. Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbr1295 Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 Here's a close up of the hedging made as described a few post ago. Static grass is Noch applied with a modified fly "swat". Most of the grass I've applied just using the Noch puffer bottle though, as this seems to work fine for the small areas I'm doing. Dirt is sifted dirt from the garden. I brought a set of 3 small sifts from the $2 shop, for, you guessed it, $2. One ended up on the static grass applicator, the others are useful for sifting dirt, sand etc. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
artizen Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 The $2 shops are great but if you have Daiso over there, they are worth a look for sieves and all sorts of useful stuff. Everything is $2.80. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Les- enjoying the hedge photo thanks. It tells me that I need to invest more time with my puffer bottle along the bottom of the hedge with more grass and more general scatter to 'rough' my hedge rows up a little more. Thanks for sharing this detail with us Andy R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Hi I've just caught up with this one, really really superb. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbr1295 Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 Thank you for your very kind comment Andy, much appreciated coming from a master like yourself. Cheers, Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbr1295 Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 The interior of the engine shed. Methinks it is a bit too tidy. Picture past the shed towards the fiddle yard. 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbr1295 Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 (edited) I thought I would show you the layout in its entirety, warts and all. I personally like this type of picture of other layouts as it give one a sense of perspective and understanding of how the whole goes together. So, I had better include some of my layout. A couple of pictures have been edited to remove all the distractions from the mess in the train room, and one pic shows how the layout is set up in the room. Edited February 15, 2015 by Dbr1295 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Hi What's the Road bridge made please, (or have I missed it on the read through)? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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