luke the train spotter Posted January 13 Author Share Posted January 13 Good progress has been made on Dalmunach's platform. After looking at some more pictures of Speyside platforms it appears that most of them are much lower than the height I've built mine too, not wanting to start again I managed to use a kitchen mandoline (aka finger killers) to slide about 3 to 4mm off the total platform height. I think with the extra surfacing on top this actually looks much closer. To get the large stoney blocks I've used a sheet of 7mm slaters plasticard. The coping stones on the edge of the platform are pieces of 1mm plasticard. Letting all the glues set off for a couple of days before I come in with a sandy plastery mix to do thr platform surface. I'm also beginning to have second thoughts on the signal box. Whilst I initially liked how it looked and it's bold colour scheme it definitely doesn't fit in with the Speyside theme. I'll have a think about it and see if it could be bashed about. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Blenk Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 On 13/01/2024 at 16:59, luke the train spotter said: Good progress has been made on Dalmunach's platform. After looking at some more pictures of Speyside platforms it appears that most of them are much lower than the height I've built mine too, not wanting to start again I managed to use a kitchen mandoline (aka finger killers) to slide about 3 to 4mm off the total platform height. I think with the extra surfacing on top this actually looks much closer. To get the large stoney blocks I've used a sheet of 7mm slaters plasticard. The coping stones on the edge of the platform are pieces of 1mm plasticard. Letting all the glues set off for a couple of days before I come in with a sandy plastery mix to do thr platform surface. I'm also beginning to have second thoughts on the signal box. Whilst I initially liked how it looked and it's bold colour scheme it definitely doesn't fit in with the Speyside theme. I'll have a think about it and see if it could be bashed about. How a bout a lever frame box like the one at Towiemoor? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Blenk Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke the train spotter Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 On 15/01/2024 at 19:35, Ian Blenk said: How a bout a lever frame box like the one at Towiemoor? Definitely something to consider. I'm torn between something like Towiemoor or a small platform mounted box. Since I'm struggling to find time to work on the layout I suppose I've got lots of thinking time. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke the train spotter Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 There has been some limited progress though. I managed to get the track all weathered up, just using an old brown rattle (Humbrol) can then wiping the rails clean. I'll come in and weather the track properly with washes and powders once the ballast is down. The other jump in progress is I've started to paint the backscene. This is the same method as all my other layouts and starts with a white household emulsion that has been ever so slightly tinted with a blue acrylic to give a light blue hue. These pictures show it whilst the paint is still wet so it'll loose its glossy look once its dried. Another unexciting and rather dull job not worth its own photo was filling in all the counter sunk screws so I can paint the outside fascia. Once the fascia is painted I can get the name board attached and hopefully make a good start on the actual scenic elements of the layout. So far the job list stands at: 1. Platform needs finishing 2. Need to work out what to do with the signal box 3. Cosmetic point rodding 4. Bridge structure 5. Goods shed 6. Ballasting and track weathering 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevo Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 brilliant work luke really like how its progress ing . i do like the signal box but if you think it needs replaceing needs must. some times its not untill things start take ing shape you can see the need to replace bits . 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheatley Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Found the ARC kit of the 12" Barclay, here's the comparison with the Hattons 16" version: Rather than replace the signalbox why not repaint as per your photo of Carron further up ? Brown up to waist level and cream above, including the corner posts and other blue bits. 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke the train spotter Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 On 25/01/2024 at 21:21, Wheatley said: Found the ARC kit of the 12" Barclay, here's the comparison with the Hattons 16" version: Rather than replace the signalbox why not repaint as per your photo of Carron further up ? Brown up to waist level and cream above, including the corner posts and other blue bits. I didn't realise that the boiler and tanks were so much smaller on the 12" barclay! Makes a lot of sense really but I had assumed that they had much more similar proportions. You must have read my mind as the signal box is currently being repainted. I'll post a proper progress report tomorrow when I've got some pictures of it all. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke the train spotter Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 As mentioned above the signal box has been through a bit of a repaint. I started by sanding all the blue paint down and touching it up with the same white paint used on the rest of the building. I found that Vallejo flat earth was a good match for the GNSR brown so after some careful masking was used. I tried to mimick the painting on the box at Carron and I think it's definitely on the way. The paintwork needs a bit more touching up, a chimney adding, basic interior and a slate rough but I think I've overcome the mental block. Another job done is painting the fascia. This was just a light grey furniture paint but it gives a much tidier finish. 14 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke the train spotter Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 A couple more hours of work and ta da a slight GNSR-ified highland signal box. The name boards are from a fantastic pack from ScaleScenes and really lift it. A slate roof and chimney has been added. I used this angle of the box at Ballindalloch as reference for the height and style. All in all a very enjoyable little project. 17 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2996 Victor Posted January 31 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 31 Excellent project with lots of potential! I'm looking forward to watching this develop. Cheers, Mark 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Little Jeeem Posted February 2 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 2 On 28/12/2023 at 15:22, luke the train spotter said: I would say that this 3D mock up stage is probably one of the most important stages of construction, to see if the scenic side of things will work. Speaking as someone who just plunges in with only a vague mental picture of what might go where, and who then often discovers that most of it won't, I should paint those very wise words in 12inch letters on my railway room wall. Am very much liking how this is coming along 👍 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke the train spotter Posted February 4 Author Share Posted February 4 With a productive modelling Saturday afternoon the platform has taken shape quite quickly. The whole structure was painted in a light brown halfords spray paint before being heavily covered in different washes and dry brushing to bring out subtle toned. This was left to dry overnight before a white line was painted on. I'm really pleased with how the sandpaper surface has turned out with a little bit of drybrushing, much easier and quicker than having to glue down a load of fine sand/gravel! Comparing my efforts to the platforms at Craigellachie below, I think it looks the part and colours are fairly close to the area. Once I was happy with the colours and textures a class 26 and suburban brake ran a gauging train to check clearances before I could stick the platform down. Currently it's being weighed down to prevent any warping (other tinned goods are available). 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke the train spotter Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 I thought that I'd share the long term vision for Dalmunach now that progress has started to pick up. Currently space, time and modelling budget are all a bit tight but in the future I plan to rebuild the current fiddle yard into an additional scenic board which forms Phase 2 of the project. Phase 1 is how Dalmunach is currently being built, with the distillery a part of my imagination when operating the layout. This is a pretty long term goal and would sit Dalmunach on the edge of the micro layout category but no need to worry about that now. Whilst the Distillery complex is very small and would never need its own shunter I plan on running the ruston which would be cleared to shunt the goods sidings within the station limits. Hopefully this is useful when placing the snapshot of the layout in its wider planned construction. 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Blenk Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 $64,000 question, do you have a time frame for completion of phase 1? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke the train spotter Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 17 hours ago, Ian Blenk said: $64,000 question, do you have a time frame for completion of phase 1? I'm hoping to have most of the base scenery down and structures finished by summer. I've been starting to add some trackside details of shunt signals (inspired by @TechnicArrow 's use of ratio kits except mine are static) and Wills point rodding kit. Very fiddly jobs but will be worth it in the end. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Sweet pea Posted February 8 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 8 Luke nice work on the stonework at the platform front. The shunt signals and rodding is a nice touch. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnicArrow Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 Nice work! Your signals may be static but your eye for colour is far better than mine! Your trackwork is looking excellent with that point rodding, it really adds a lot to the a layout and reminds me I need to buy some for Watchford. You're also making me think I should take up the ballast I've laid so far, and try repainting the trackwork before it gets too far... Similarly, I agree with @Kevin Johnson about the platform stonework. What have you used for it? I really need to sort mine out, but the stonework I've got at the moment is a bit too overscale. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke the train spotter Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 2 hours ago, TechnicArrow said: Nice work! Your signals may be static but your eye for colour is far better than mine! Your trackwork is looking excellent with that point rodding, it really adds a lot to the a layout and reminds me I need to buy some for Watchford. You're also making me think I should take up the ballast I've laid so far, and try repainting the trackwork before it gets too far... Similarly, I agree with @Kevin Johnson about the platform stonework. What have you used for it? I really need to sort mine out, but the stonework I've got at the moment is a bit too overscale. Thank you! Tonight I've added the rest of the rodding which completes that point as its now connected to the base plate of the signal box. Not quite sure if I should add the deflection ramp which comes in the Wills kit, not many examples of it being used in the Speyside stations but I'm not sure why that might be. I found finding the right stonework pretty challenging, but I ended up using Slaters 0420 7mm Stone Courses. I think this does a fairly good job at representing the large squared off stone blocks. Pretty widely available, I bought mine on ebay (link below). Hope that's useful! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404081988166 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke the train spotter Posted February 9 Author Share Posted February 9 The joys of cosmetic point rodding has continued tonight, seeing the other point connected up to the signal box base and 2 additional rods being run off towards the fiddle yard to control the unbuilt point and locking mechanism of the phase 2 plan. In my mind the distillery siding is a separate locked ground frame so isn't connected to the main signal box as it wouldn't be normally used and would be treated as a private siding. Looking down the layout the point rodding definitely adds a different dimension to the scene, as D5301 waits for the ground signal to clear its next shunting duty. Another bit of progress is a quick foamboard mock up of the bridge which acts as a scenic break. The foamboard cut out is a but rough in areas and needs a bit of fine tuning. The plan is to clad it in plasticard like the platform construction. I'm roughly basing the bridge off the one at Cromdale station, which still stands today thankfully, so there's plenty of good quality coloured photos to work from. As always, plenty to be getting on with, hopefully I'll be able to find a couple hours over the weekend to work on a few more bits. 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium JimRead Posted February 10 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 10 (edited) Hello Luke, Great stuff I like the trackplan it'll make for some very interesting shunting moves. Point polarity is something I've tried in various ways, what I use now is a loop of copper wire under the board and pushed up so that the blades are in contact with it one at a time and a length of wire soldered to the vee when it fails the copper wire can be bent a bit without having to get under the board. I'd put it on the top in the pic to illustrate it easier. Cheers - Jim Edited February 10 by JimRead 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke the train spotter Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 On 10/02/2024 at 09:59, JimRead said: Hello Luke, Great stuff I like the trackplan it'll make for some very interesting shunting moves. Point polarity is something I've tried in various ways, what I use now is a loop of copper wire under the board and pushed up so that the blades are in contact with it one at a time and a length of wire soldered to the vee when it fails the copper wire can be bent a bit without having to get under the board. I'd put it on the top in the pic to illustrate it easier. Cheers - Jim That looks like a good option, I might have to give that a go on the next phase. The peco polarity switches are a bit pricey for what they are but hopefully are robust enough. Whilst I have some thinking time on how best to build the bridge and get the curves sort of right, I've made a start on the GNSR style goods shed. Scale drawings of Blacksboat were obtained through the GNSRA (well worth a join for any Scottish modellers) and scaled up then compressed a little to fit the space available. This is what I've got so far, plasticard shell clad with Wills 4mm clapboarding and a card roof. And Blacksboat goods shed (still standing as a listed building) for reference. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Sweet pea Posted February 11 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 11 Luke the Blacksboat goods shed is coming together nicely.👍 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke the train spotter Posted February 17 Author Share Posted February 17 Work continues on Dalmunach today with a few more jobs ticked off. Firstly I did some thinking about the overbridge at the fiddle yard entrance and decided that the stonework/brickwork scratch build didn't fully appeal to me so opted for a simpler plasticard construction, loosely based off the road bridge at Blacksboat. I need to add some fences either side of the girder on and get it painted. I think in situ it has the right proportions even though they were mostly guess-timated. The coach acting as a gauging train to check the clearances. You might just be able to see the Cheerios packet as the only free space to ever really set Dalmunach up is the kitchen! As all the bridge glues were setting off I began some basic ground work. For this I've mixed a couple Vallejo earth texture paints before applying to the baseboard. I know you could probably make your own out of PVA, paint and sand but these tubs last a long time so they're not too bad. This sets me up to do some ballasting in the next couple of days and start some proper scenery. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Sweet pea Posted February 17 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 17 Luke the overbridge is taking shape nicely. It's the first time I have come across earth textured paints. It's a good idea already mixed.👍 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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