Little Muddle

[The Johnster]

I doubt if there were many cases in which a crew would be rostered with a spare man on the footplate of the loco while it was propelling, but there are several legitimate situations in which it might occur (incidentally, good idea and I might do it on my auto). A locoman travelling to or from duty, or a junior fireman learning the job are the two obvious ones that occur off the top of my head and no doubt it is possible to come up with others.  

 

As he would be on his own aboard the loco for at least half of the time it was running, an experienced and ideally passed and route signed fireman was preferred for auto work, but a new boy might well be being shown the ropes if he had just been promoted into the 'auto link' or was expected to cover for the more experienced man over leave at a small branch shed where manning was problematic.  Auto work is associated with bucolic amblings along rural branches, but quite a lot of it was main line stopping or busy and intense suburban stuff; imagine firing and managing the loco on your own on a 4575 with 4 trailers and no driver all day on a Cardiff (Bute Road)-Coryton shuttle with a 1 in 80 bank to deal with as well as the loco; thrown in at the deep end if you didn't know the ropes and guess who got the blame if you ran out of steam, or water!  Don't forget it was still the fireman's duty to observe signals and 'keep a good look out', and carry out Rule 55 when required.  Or he could be a road learner, or pilot to a fireman qualified but new to the area who had not yet signed the road.

 

Overalls were blue in various shades of dirty according to how long the man had been on duty; loco work was never clean and the firemen got the messy end of it, but he usually turned up for work in a clean set of overalls, though they could be quite faded after a few washes!  The main difference between GW and BR locomen's uniforms seems to have been the badges, and many men retained their GW badges into the 70s as a matter of pride; officialdom seemed tolerant of this.  A matt light blue is probably the way to go.  Jackets were darker colour.

 

The Modelu figures are in very natural poses, and IMHO the best avaialble.

Edited August 7, 2017 by The Johnster

[81C]

Humbrol Matt 87 has that washed out look. 

 

 

 

 

P Picaso

[Castle]

Hi Kevin,

 

From a purely practical point of view, you can't see both sides of the loco at the same time. What I did when crewing my 14XX was to put the crew members in the cab in such a position so that they block the view through the cab. This way you can't tell that there are three crew members. Remember, the fireman in an auto working situation uses both his AND the drivers controls, such as the reverser and vacuum ejector and so on. He would therefore at times legitimately be on the driver's side of the cab. So, if you see a figure in the driver's side of the cab it could be the fireman...

 

I hope this helps!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

[The Johnster]

Humbrol Matt 87 has that washed out look. 

 

 

 

 

P Picaso

 

Discovered this in your blue period, did you, Pablo...

[KNP]

In earlier post I waffled on about guttering and downpipes being a must on my models then whilst looking at one of Andy Y photo's of Encombe Station noticed I hadn't added the downpipes to the canopy.

 

I suppose in fairness only I would have noticed the omission so over the last couple of days, using a selection of pictures I took of the underside of the one on Dartmouth platform, I added 3 on my own. 

 

 

 

Wills hopper heads, micro strip for pipework with print paper brackets were used.

 

Now it looks finished.....

 

Next the Modelu loco crew to paint.

 

For reference here's a couple of pictures I took in case any of you are interested!

 

 

 

 

 

You do get some funny looks at time, place full of tourists taking pictures of the lovely scenery, buildings and family then there's some strange chap with a flower pot hat taking pictures of rainwater hoppers, rusty old piles of junk, a dilapidated wagon, point rodding etc.........etc.........etc..........

Edited March 9 by KNP

[Andrew P]

In earlier post I waffled on about guttering and downpipes being a must on my models then whilst looking at one of Andy Y photo's of Encombe Station noticed I hadn't added the downpipes to the canopy.

 

I suppose in fairness only I would have noticed the omission so over the last couple of days, using a selection of pictures I took of the underside of the one on Dartmouth platform, I added 3 on my own. 

 

955.jpg

 

Wills hopper heads, micro strip for pipework with print paper brackets were used.

 

Now it looks finished.....

 

Next the Modelu loco crew to paint.

 

For reference here's a couple of pictures I took in case any of you are interested!

 

IMG_3026.JPG

 

IMG_3021.JPG

 

You do get some funny looks at time, place full of tourists taking pictures of the lovely scenery, buildings and family then there's some strange chap with a flower pot hat taking pictures of rainwater hoppers, rusty old piles of junk, a dilapidated wagon, point rodding etc.........etc.........etc..........

WOW Such attention to detail Kevin, wonderful.

[Mrkirtley800]

Loved the piccie of the platform and canopies. Beautifully modelled.

Derek

[Limpley Stoker]

You have certainly delivered the rainwater goods! You will have to clear all the leaves out of the guttering in the Autumn

I'm curious to know how you managed to make the crate on the platform so realistically wooden.

Edited August 9, 2017 by Limpley Stoker

[Bogie]

Which one is the model?

[KNP]

You have certainly delivered the rainwater goods! You will have to clear all the leaves out of the guttering in the Autumn

I'm curious to know how you managed to make the crate on the platform so realistically wooden.

 

Thanks.

 

To clear the leaves I have made a small brush and working vacuum cleaner.......!!!!!

 

I use this

 

 

I have no idea how many layers I apply of each shade just keep on going until I get the result I want.

[KNP]

Which one is the model?

 

Thanks

[KNP]

WOW Such attention to detail Kevin, wonderful.

 

Thank you, to me this is the part of the hobby I enjoy the most.

Still not run any trains though I might today as my grandchildren are visiting and they normal 'twist' my arm to get something running????

[vulcanbomber]

I'm just working through photos taken at Kevin's and this one small shot I have just 'processed' and which probably isn't even 0.01% of the layout area sums up to me why it's so good.

 

• Excellent details with meticulous painting and weathering.
• Beautiful tones of vegetation.
• Really well-positioned backscene that extends the eye from a 3" deep scene to miles in the distance.
• Trains are not as important as the environment.

Detail_16.jpg

 

This is one of my favourite shots of the layout and brings me on to my question.

I'm modifying part of Barkham Green and this will involve putting in more wire fencing, unfortunately its a while since I last fitted some, would be interested to know what method you used

[gismorail]

This is one of my favourite shots of the layout and brings me on to my question.

I'm modifying part of Barkham Green and this will involve putting in more wire fencing, unfortunately its a while since I last fitted some, would be interested to know what method you used

That is one hell of a photograph is it really of a model .......it's better than the real thing .....unbelievable modelling 

[KNP]

I have to agree with Gwrrob and Westerner that a small prairie can't offend so when I heard that one was sitting in the bay platform of Encombe Town Station I decided to go and take a picture.

 

Cutting across the fields I ended up in the potato field next to the station, so mindful of the crop I walked around the edge and set the camera up.

 

Sitting there, quietly steaming, waiting for her next job was 4550, I couldn't see the crew so perhaps they were off being painted...!!!!! (still.....?)

 

 

Edited March 9 by KNP

[gwrrob]

At least fitting the crew in a Bachmann 45xx is easier than their 64xx. It needs some etched plates Kev.  

[Module00]

 

I think this is one of the most beautiful layouts I know ...

[Limpley Stoker]

That's astonishingly lifelike! I hope you get as much enjoyment in photographing with your focus widget as we do seeing the results. Lovely weathering on the non- offensive prairie.

[KNP]

At least fitting the crew in a Bachmann 45xx is easier than their 64xx. It needs some etched plates Kev.

 

To be honest I haven't thought about that bit........yet of how I'm actually going to get the crew into the cab!

Modelu crew being painted but I'm not happy with the colour I done them so sent off for a range of Vallejo blues so I can play with shades. Didn't realise it but when I started I had run out of my blue paint range with only a pot of Oxford Blue left, that'll teach me to put empty ones back in the storage box!!!!!

 

After your comment, I relooked at the picture and then the model itself.....yes you're right the plates look flat so I will obtain some nice etched brass ones, plus I ought to get around to fitting all the extra bits included in the box - never seem to get around to doing that.........

Edited August 13, 2017 by KNP

[KNP]

 

 

I think this is one of the most beautiful layouts I know ...

 

 

Many thanks for that kind comment, scenery has always been my forte and might explain why I have loco's trundling around with no crews, missing fittings and now flat numbers!!!!!!!!

However if I have missing downpipes (see earlier post 805) well that looks so obviously wrong to me it gets sorted as soon as spotted.

Edited August 13, 2017 by KNP

[KNP]

That's astonishingly lifelike! I hope you get as much enjoyment in photographing with your focus widget as we do seeing the results. Lovely weathering on the non- offensive prairie.

 

Thanks.

I have always had a keen interest in photography so combining the two was obvious, yes I used my focus widget plus my diffusing lighting rig to get the shades better as the Panasonic Post Focus tends to under expose the pictures meaning I have to increase it whilst editing which can, and does in most instances, spoil the final quality of the completed picture.

 

I don't have an airbrush so all paint affects are done with a brush whether that be dry or wash effects, pre-shadows or even powders.

[peterstgermain]

I have to agree with Gwrrob and Westerner that a small prairie can't offend so when I heard that one was sitting in the bay platform of Encombe Town Station I decided to go and take a picture.

 

Cutting across the fields I ended up in the potato field next to the station, so mindful of the crop I walked around the edge and set the camera up.

 

Sitting there, quietly steaming, waiting for her next job was 4550, I couldn't see the crew so perhaps they were off being painted...!!!!! (still.....?)

 

961 - smoke.jpg

Mr.Churchward's originals are so much better looking but shame about the top feed, all said a cracking shot.... Peter

[Brian Hawkins]

I have to agree with Gwrrob and Westerner that a small prairie can't offend so when I heard that one was sitting in the bay platform of Encombe Town Station I decided to go and take a picture.

 

Cutting across the fields I ended up in the potato field next to the station, so mindful of the crop I walked around the edge and set the camera up.

 

Sitting there, quietly steaming, waiting for her next job was 4550, I couldn't see the crew so perhaps they were off being painted...!!!!! (still.....?)

 

961 - smoke.jpg

 

Simply superb

[KNP]

Normally when I take some pictures I will  take a group of them and select my favorites but when doing the same for the 4550 station shot I ended up with most of them coming out OK.

 

So rather than leave them stored on the computer here they are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next one shows why I such a great fan of sagebrush armatures, I know they are expensive to obtain but if you look at the detail on the trunk, this is 'straight out the box' with no work needed apart from trimming the branches to a suitable shape.

(Click on the picture to enlarge and you'll see the detail better)

 

 

 

This last picture also shows the beauty of using a focus stacking program.

As I have said before the program on my camera is called Post Focus and takes a very short MP4 video sequence focusing from macro to infinity.

I now run it through a program called MPC-HC x64 which allows you to play the sequence on the computer (instead of on the camera which I find awkward to use because of my big fingers and small buttons) and save in individual steps through the focusing range.

These are then run through the focus merge program of Serif Affinity to give a focused picture from front to back, time consuming - yes as for example the last picture was made up of 74 individual focused steps and took about 15-20 minutes from start to finish plus I then save the picture twice, first in the Affinity program and then export to JPEG so it can be seen on this website.  

 

Must get the crew added and now some etched numbers fitted as well, plus get around to fitting the accessories that are still in the box!!!!!! 

Edited March 9 by KNP

[Andrew P]

Simply stunning pics Kevin, your stacking system works so well to get such superb images and depth of field.