Chuffnell Regis

[Graham T]

You know how it is...  Nobody else might notice it, but if you know you've done something wrong, and not fixed it, then it becomes an irritant!  And I've got enough of those in my life without adding ones of my own making.

[MrWolf]

58 minutes ago, Graham T said:

You know how it is...  Nobody else might notice it, but if you know you've done something wrong, and not fixed it, then it becomes an irritant!  And I've got enough of those in my life without adding ones of my own making.

 

Amen to that.

[Graham T]

After a productive morning, with quite a lot of hackery butchery surgery involved, the second bridge is now at the correct size.  It's another Scalescenes product.  Their method of folding printed sheets doesn't really work for me, as the guidelines for the fold are of course on the printed side of the paper - and you really need to fold from the other side.  So what I've been doing is to make a pencil mark on the reverse (non-printed) side of the page, where the ends of the guidelines are - you can see them through the paper.  I then draw a faint pencil line on the blank side of the page and use that as the guide for gluing on the card layer.  That makes for far more accurate folds, I find.

 

Now I can get on with the relatively simple (famous last words!) steps of finishing off this bridge.  Once it's installed in place I can mark out exactly where the river banks will go.  As it's clearly a meandering river, the banks at the outside of meanders will be steep and undercut, and those on the inside will have a shallow shelf to them, as materials have been deposited by the flow.  I know what I mean anyway!

 

[Graham T]

The state of progress this morning.  Early sunlight shows up the colours beautifully; unfortunately it also highlights all the errors in my build...

 

Building the wing walls is next.

 

[Gedward]

Coming along nicely.

[Graham T]

Thanks George.  Getting through knife blades like nobody's business!

[Gedward]

27 minutes ago, Graham T said:

Thanks George.  Getting through knife blades like nobody's business!

 

You and me both. I use S-M surgical blades No 11.

[Graham T]

I do like those myself.  But for these bridges I've been using cheap disposable craft knives, the sort with the snap-off blades.  They work just fine for cutting 2mm card.

[Graham T]

I got the second bridge lashed together yesterday.  Here's a worm's eye view of it in place, followed by a bird's eye view of the whole stretch of river.  Now I will start looking at where the lines of the banks will run, and start to build up some of the groundwork.  Looking forward to that - but had better do some real-world work first I suppose!

 

 

[Graham T]

I don't know who came up with the idea for the hot glue gun, but I'd like to buy them a beer.  What a great tool for modelling!  This is the result of about an hour's work.  I'll also add card formers running at right angles to the ones already in place, although it's pretty solid already to be fair.  Then strips of card in a lattice over the top of the formers, before coating it all in paper towel soaked in dilute PVA.

 

[Ben Alder]

Just been going through the thread quickly, and am enjoying its progress, thanks. Have you settled on  track and points yet? With regard to Peco Code 75 points, here is one of mine with added cosmetic chairs, which improves the appearance markedly, I think.

There is also the soon to come range of point kits that is causing a fluttering of chests among modellers, as discussed here...

 

 

[Graham T]

Thanks Ben.  That trackwork of yours looks good.  I've decided to go with Code 75 bullhead flexitrack and Code 75 points.  I appreciate that the points are flat bottom rail, and that the sleeper spacing and length is slightly different, but I think I'll be able to live with that.  I wanted to go with Peco bullhead points as well, but the limited range, and non-availability, pushed me to the current option.

 

I did see the other thread you mentioned, and was sorely tempted.  But impatience got the better of me in the end!

 

Where did you get the cosmetic chairs from, and were they a pain to fit?  Also, which point rodding did you use?  I want to add that before I do any ballasting.  Of course I need to lay some track first as well!

 

 

[Graham T]

Here's where I got to last night.  Pleased with the results so far.  Unfortunately I won't be able to work on the other side of the river yet, as I still haven't figured out where I will need to add wiring, and that will need to be done before I do the scenic work.

 

[Graham T]

And now with the card strip lattice added. I read that this is quick - hmmm.  It took me ages!  Very solid now though, and still easy to trim with a craft knife if required.

 

[MrWolf]

I like the way that gives lots of subtle lumps and hollows. I've never had that much success with a glue gun.

[Stubby47]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

And now with the card strip lattice added. I read that this is quick - hmmm.  It took me ages!  Very solid now though, and still easy to trim with a craft knife if required.

 

 

Before you go any further, you might want to consider where you might want fence posts or trees planting, as they will need more support.

 

Stu

[Ben Alder]

15 hours ago, Graham T said:

Where did you get the cosmetic chairs from, and were they a pain to fit?  Also, which point rodding did you use?  I want to add that before I do any ballasting.  Of course I need to lay some track first as well!

 

 

Blog entry on the work involved with links here, and the rodding is Wills. A bit overscale apparently but I'm happy enough with it.

 

[Graham T]

9 hours ago, MrWolf said:

I like the way that gives lots of subtle lumps and hollows. I've never had that much success with a glue gun.

 

I'd never used one before, but have found it works well (so far).  The only issue is you tend to get very thin strands of glue between where you've applied it and where you stand the gun between applications; but those are easy enough to clear up when you're finished.

[Graham T]

9 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

 

Before you go any further, you might want to consider where you might want fence posts or trees planting, as they will need more support.

 

Stu

 

Thanks for the tip Stu.  Unfortunately I didn't see your post until I'd already done this...

 

The covering hasn't dried out fully yet.  When it does it will get a coat of brown acrylic.  I'm not very happy with the wrinkles but am struggling to get rid of them (theres a quotable comment if ever I saw one!)

 

[Gedward]

I hate to say it but I agree with Stu. I used a very similar method to build terrain on Kanator. Found out later it was very tricky to keep trees, fence posts, telegraph poles etc. upright. We're using blue foam this time round to avoid all that.

[Graham T]

Hmm.  Thanks George.  Time to put on the thinking cap.  Don't really want to tear everything up and start again...

 

[Stubby47]

Actually, now you have a better view of how the land lies, you're probably better able to position fences, trees etc.

 

So just cut the top surface along the fence line and insert polystyrene blocks between your card uprights, then re-add the papier mache over the top.

[Graham T]

Sounds like a good idea Stu, thanks.  I thought the tissue layer would dry stiffer than it has to be honest; maybe I diluted the PVA too much?

[Stubby47]

I've previously used a couple of layers of kitchen roll and just used tester paint pots as both glue and paint.

 

It dries reasonably stiff, but I still ended up with the lattice of card showing through.  However,  this was later hidden by the static grass.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Stubby47

[Graham T]

I am planning to use static grass later, so that might help with my wrinkles