Ben B Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 (edited) I thought I'd post this- my entry I'd made for the Micro Model Railway Cartel FB group/Micro Model Railway Despatch 2023 competition. The brief was to build a pizza layout, and after coming up with some ideas, decided it would be an opportunity to make something for my little collection of tinplate clockwork O trains. I wanted to do something a bit retro, but not just to the level of 'circle of track on a green board' level. In the end I probably went a bit too bonkers with it, but it's all reasonably old fashioned (scatter not static grass, moss and lichen, bog-brush trees). Amy (my wife) used it as an excuse to have a practise with the band-saw at work, cutting me some MDF circles from scrap. Its sandwiching some thick ply strips to allow me to have a bit of dropped scenery and a water feature. As to fit in with the competition rules, it's a "24 diameter circle. It was the tightest circle of track I could find online (Chad Valley I think), it was going to be mainly for my pair of Bing 0-4-0 tank locomotives, but I set some clearances with a shorty bogie coach, so that I could accommodate some slightly larger locomotives. Having planned to use a commercial tinplate bridge, and finding I couldn't make it fit without major surgery, I drew up my own kit of parts... ...dolls house card inside, and the bridge itself was painted then dusted with sand to provide texture. Scenery was carved foam packaging, with papier mache. More embossed dolls house brickwork for the abutments for the footbridge... Edited December 27, 2023 by Ben B Added info on layout size 4 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben B Posted December 27, 2023 Author Share Posted December 27, 2023 Initial scenery, and a lot of fillering of the screw-holes and gaps in the bendy MDF used to face it. Sans trees and most of the greenery, but with drybrushed rocks. I decided I wanted to use proper tinplate buildings where possible, and cut-up a damaged footbridge (where I'd originally planned a tunnel, to hide the train a bit). Hornby level crossing, blue hut for the crossing keeper, and some platform accessories. Also, I re-used the S&D figures from the Steampunk Cakebox project, as I'd blown my budget too much for Dinky figures by this point! Lacking a small station building, I had the choice of a Hornby permanent way hut (one in mint condition), but then this one turned up a second-hand box at Frizinghall models. I cut the front open, and with a mix of plasticard and wooden stirrers, created a somewhat coarse little station hut. Side by side with a proper Hornby example. The layout, just about finished at this point. 11 2 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben B Posted December 27, 2023 Author Share Posted December 27, 2023 A few shots of the finished layout :) A bit of unintended adverse-camber on the curves, a result of the track sinking a bit into the cork (placemats) used as ballast. Station, figures, and some of the really nice vintage accessories I treated myself to. The biggest loco in my collection that will successfully traverse the layout- I love this Hornby machine, it's clearly been very well cared-for by previous owners, but I got it cheap as there didn't seem to be much of a market for this generation of Hornby loco when I bought it. The layout is just a little too small for my absolute favourite clockwork loco... I'm going to be building something a little bigger for this beastie :) 9 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 Great stuff!! So what size is the board, & what radius curves? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Alex TM Posted December 27, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 27, 2023 This is briliant, utterly brilliant!! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben B Posted December 27, 2023 Author Share Posted December 27, 2023 9 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said: Great stuff!! So what size is the board, & what radius curves? Forgot to put it in the text, I'll nip back and put it in; "24 diameter board :) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irish Padre Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 That’s just wonderful. I really really like this. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 I saw it in the “magazine” and thought you’d hit the perfect spot. 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 3 hours ago, Nearholmer said: I saw it in the “magazine” and thought you’d hit the perfect spot. Dash it, missed that - I hadn't read that far down yet!! 🤦♂️ Must be the biggest issue of The Dispatch yet!! 🥳👍 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Holmes Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 Ben: I hope you're sending an article about this layout into The Dispatch... Ian 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Holmes Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 15 hours ago, F-UnitMad said: Dash it, missed that - I hadn't read that far down yet!! 🤦♂️ Must be the biggest issue of The Dispatch yet!! 🥳👍 Second biggest? :D Ian 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Little Jeeem Posted December 28, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 28, 2023 Quite simply: Superb! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben B Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 On 27/12/2023 at 19:16, Nearholmer said: I saw it in the “magazine” and thought you’d hit the perfect spot. That's a compliment coming from you :) Thanks for your input during the scenery stages too, it turned out a fun little project. BTW is that a shot of your layout with the Class 101 DMU in the back of the latest TCS mag? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben B Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 On 28/12/2023 at 13:32, Ian Holmes said: Ben: I hope you're sending an article about this layout into The Dispatch... Ian More than happy to, I'll PM you a couple of questions before I knock some text up, if that's ok? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted December 31, 2023 Share Posted December 31, 2023 38 minutes ago, Ben B said: BTW is that a shot of your layout with the Class 101 DMU in the back of the latest TCS mag? No, but there is a connection. The guy who built it was working a Gauge 2 layout next to me when I exhibited mine; he spent a good long while perusing mine and asked if it was OK to effectively copy it. Actually, he’s “taken it to the next level” and produced a better layout - I’m especially impressed by his track-work, which I think is based around Tenmille SM32 parts, with own-built conductor rail, and the facility to switch between two-rail and three-rail operation. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben B Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 3 hours ago, Nearholmer said: No, but there is a connection. The guy who built it was working a Gauge 2 layout next to me when I exhibited mine; he spent a good long while perusing mine and asked if it was OK to effectively copy it. Actually, he’s “taken it to the next level” and produced a better layout - I’m especially impressed by his track-work, which I think is based around Tenmille SM32 parts, with own-built conductor rail, and the facility to switch between two-rail and three-rail operation. It is a nice trackplan you'd come up with, and equally from what you'd shown on your thread it looked to be an effective compact layout for showing off the trains. As regards the chap in the TCS, I wish there'd been a bigger pic of his set-up too, that Class 101 looked really nice. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 Congratulations Ben on the 'full fat' article about this layout in the very latest Dispatch (issue 12, Spring 2024) 👍👍👍👍 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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