Cwm Hir - converting a mini layout to 009 (was 'Bryn-y-ffa')

[Dragonfly]

Quite amazed, this evening, to see how the test stretch looks now it's dry.

 

 

Javis mid-green fine turf, then the same in coarse, followed by Woodland Scenics dark green foliage clumps glued on top. Surprisingly effective. A few spots of heather will be dropped here and there (or"heather and theather") for a bit of colour, but so far so good. So on to the next section.

 

 

I've also painted the surface of the other lane, which will be more of a path than anything else, ready for similar treatment.

 

 

Overall I'm impressed with how it's looking. Not being a particularly adept modeller I didn't have very high expectations, but...

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Is that a tumble dryer underneath?  Just wondered what the vibrations are like (you wouldn’t want to put a layout on top of our washer-dryer when it’s running at full speed!).  Thanks for posting the progress photos - good to see it coming along, Keith.

[Dragonfly]

2 hours ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Is that a tumble dryer underneath?  Just wondered what the vibrations are like (you wouldn’t want to put a layout on top of our washer-dryer when it’s running at full speed!).  Thanks for posting the progress photos - good to see it coming along, Keith.

 

It is a tumble dryer, but the layout isn't on it. The dryer is on the floor underneath the worktop, with a couple of inches gap. Still noisy, but no vibration issues. Keeps the place nice and warm too!

[Jeremy Cumberland]

That cottage fits in well, doesn't it? I hadn't noticed that rise at the back (or do I mean on the left?) - or perhaps there isn't one and it's just the verge and the hedge - but it works really well to make the cottage blend in. The roof lines are interesting too.

 

It's a good job it's not my layout. I'd have just left the old one.

[Dragonfly]

A productive couple of hours after work this evening.

 

First up, the last verges next to the lane, all grassed and a bit of foliage.

 

 

As well as this, I've had to remove the telegraph poles temporarily, but they will be back.

 

I've also taken the front panel off, as it was obscuring the view a little bit.

 

 

This was then cut to the same profile as the layout, painted black, and reattached.

 

 

There is a little bit of remedial work to reattach the scenery to the inside of the panel, but this should be relatively easy to touch up. Also highlighted a similar issue on the right hand side...

 

 

Once I get the end backscene (endscene?) secured better this will improve, along with a bit of painting and obscuring with plantlife.

 

I also figured that, while the glue is still wet, may as well add a hint of colour to the verges. So a tiny amount of purple and yellow added.

 

 

And all the same process has been done on the pathway above the tunnel mouth.

 

 

I can afford to be a bit messier with this, as it's just a footpath. Quite happy with the results so far.

 

We'll see how it looks when dried and tidied up...

[Dragonfly]

A little bit more done this week.

 

The lane first. The central grassy bit has been done, the earth surfaces have been tidied up and then muddied up a bit. Then the cardboard wall on the right hand side has been replaced with a Javis dry stone wall.

Also, I've painted the ground around the house to earth undercoat, covering up the tarmac colour it was before.

 

 

 

And also, the perspex front shield has been put in place, tentatively a few times first, but today I've finally plucked up the courage to take the protective sheets off and see how clear it really is.

 

 

I wasn't sure about it's height, but it seems ok for now.

 

Two weeks left before it's first outing, so now just a few smaller jobs, reintroducing the sheep, people, telegraph poles, cleaning up the track and testing some train running on it!

 

Plenty of jobs on the list for stage two, which will include weathering the house, redoing it's garden, replacing the garden hedges and walls, and adding a small halt platform across the road...

[Dragonfly]

Not much so far this week. A few sheep obtained...

 

 

Not sure which one will be riding the bicycle yet.

 

A few have been placed on the layout, but not glued in place yet. Also a few figures added, along with the horse and cart from the old layout returning.

 

 

And two figures repainted as Lady Dragonfly and the dog, off for a walk.

 

 

So it's pretty much ready for the open day now. All stock has been tested and put in a travel box...

 

 

And the layout just ready for putting in the car.

 

 

Then phase two can begin.

Edited April 8, 2023 by Dragonfly

[Dragonfly]

Ended up doing a bit more this weekend after all.

 

So I was a little bit unsatisfied with how the sides don't line up with the front, now I've added the perspex.

 

 

So the sides were carefully removed, brought forward by about an inch, and reattached. Lines up quite well now. Could do with some form of clips to hold the two together, but that's not urgent.

 

 

It does render the curved corners at the top of the perspex a bit pointless (no pun intended), but doesn't look too bad.

 

And then, well, may as well paint the outer surfaces of the sides too.

 

[Dragonfly]

One last little addition before tomorrow's little trip down the road.

 

[Dragonfly]

Well, the journey across town for a day out went well, layout ran surprisingly nicely (after a track clean, of course).

 

 

 

(photos taken during a lull, there was a decent footfall overall)

 

Only a little and quiet show, a local club's open day in fact, but very enjoyable and a few people in, giving very nice feedback.

 

A few things I noticed, such as the track leaning slightly outward on the curves at one end. So a little bit of remedial track work to do. May well invest in a curtain too...

 

Very much a fan of a one-board layout though. One trip to the car with the table and bags, and another with the layout, I could have been gone in five minutes if I wasn't sticking around to help tidy!

 

Right, on to phase two...

Edited April 17, 2023 by Dragonfly

[Dragonfly]

After a short break, and a long list of distracting events (ranging from a chest infection to a car crash), I've finally got enough space cleared in the garage to get to the layout, and work on phase two has begun.

 

The focus of this bit is the house and garden. The garden itself is being enlarged a tad, so the original walls have been removed and the bottom of the hillside dug away. New walls have been put in place, and more milliput put down to form the ground level.

 

 

 

The walls have been extended along the sides of the track too, most of the way to the tunnel.

 

 

 

I'm hoping to disguise the "stepped" curve on the inside with greenery. Failing that, I'm thinking a hedge will replace it entirely...

[Dragonfly]

...and then a few months passed, with no further progress...

 

Life decided that the chest infection and car crash wasn't enough, so added in a breakup and a house move to the mix, among other things, which put everything on hold for a few months. I've begun my other layout during this time, but this one wemt to the storage lockup. But with a couple more appearances booked for the layout in the near future, it's about time I got on with some gardening...

 

It's also now named "Cwm Hir" as a reference to the street name of it's builder's home in South Wales.

 

Firstly some stones put down to form the "yard" and paths, around the house and across the garden.

 

 

Bedded in with some Milliput, with the house in place.

 

 

Then the garden areas painted with their respective undercoats of brown or green.

 

 

Before scatters applied to both areas. It won't appear quite so vivid once the glue dries, and a bit more weathering down, but it's starting to take shape.

 

 

 

[Dragonfly]

A little bit more progress.

 

The lawns have had some flowering bushes added, the shed and outhouse have had initial painting done (but more to be done), the garden has sprouted some veggies, and the house has been painted into a more slate colour. It's possibly a tad too dark now, so further tweaking may be beeded.

 

 

[Dragonfly]

This week's work so far:

 

One thing has been painting the trackside walls from their default Cotswold stone colour to a darker slate colour, using the same Woodlands Scenics Slate Grey I've used on the house and garden paths. In addition, I've started planting some growth along the tracksides, to blend between trackbed and walls.

 

 

In the other direction, another stone wall has been built, replacing the three-bar fence, and similar overgrowth added to the left-hand side of the trackbed.

 

 

The right-hand side will wait for now, as the plan is to add a small halt here.

 

Finally, a birds-eye view of the layout overall, at it currently stands.

 

 

The road looks a little shiny and reflective from this angle, so may have to matt down that a little...

 

But overall progress is slowly being made. The area in the red boxes is what I've done so far, so still plenty more to work on.