Portsea Town

[c2c]

Been cleaning point blades ,unsticking sticky point blades checking electrics (again) and feeing frustrated .......... but I keep telling myself this is vital work for the long term viability of the layout. So ballasting and progress delayed and need to find my modelling mojo

 

I know how you feel m8 I have just finished building two, 2 metre modular sections only to realise their bases are 30mm too narrow to incorperate into a main layout I building!

 

Aw well I have a saying that there is always something positive that comes out of a disaster! But on a more positive note I suppose I can always use them for a test track or even turn them into a diorama, or maybe use them for an elevated section in my layout but no way am I scrapping them as they look too good!

 

I find my best problem solving time is just after I wake up in the morning, laying in bed thinking about things you like is very therapeutic and produces answers!

 

DaveH

[lash]

Dave thanks for the encouragement , Things looking up with a call from Kernow Models my green 2h unit with  V marking on the guards end has arrived after a very long wait and was dispatched last Friday. Very exciting as its the perfect unit for Portsea Town  ( well a 3h would be better but that's quibbling) so I can't wait. Hopefully my 2 Bil will arrive any time as well if Hornby manage to supply my local model shop.

 

Pics of the 2h will follow as soon as I get my hands on it

[ian b]

Been cleaning point blades ,unsticking sticky point blades checking electrics (again) and feeing frustrated .......... but I keep telling myself this is vital work for the long term viability of the layout. So ballasting and progress delayed and need to find my modelling mojo

 

I'm there at the moment too! Half the layout is ballasted and glued and everything that ran beautifully now struggles thanks to glued points and short circuits! The other half now has loose ballast applied but cannot bring myself to secure it and knacker the rest of the railway...

 

I'm sure we'll get there in the end

 

 

[c2c]

Hey Guys have you tried Tidy Track Pens these they are just brill for weathering your track, see the video, excuse the pun but its a bit like watching paint dry!

 

 

 

Ian for ballasting I use Docrafts Stick it! pen, just great for getting in between the sleepers and awkward places!

 

http://www.docrafts.com/product/Clip-Strip--Sticky-Glue-Pen-12pcs-18ml/p83740

Edited February 25, 2013 by c2c

[lash]

Ian be brave and stick with it ,but not to point blades, tie bars etc.Do you have a blog or topic ??

 

My mojo has returned with  the prospect of the arrival of the 2h and so about 2 feet of ballasting done this evening and some patching of what I have done before .  Very slow but moving again and here is a pic to celebrate the happy event

 

 

Dave the pen looks a good product but the video.................maybe not up for the Oscars and a visual equvalent to Vogon poetry, my will to live was departing well before the end of the 4 minutes and 15 seconds .However I am grateful to any modeller sharing good ideas so thanks to you and the american gentleman who made it

 

 

[c2c]

Hi Lash, yes these pens are great especially when the nib goes 'fluffy' it weathered my rails in no time at all. Handy when working on the points too!

[lash]

My 2H has arrived and just collected it from the post office , felt very much like 5 year old at Christmas .Wrapping of at home and first impressions are very good, all done to same standard as the 2epb so not much wrong with that.

 

Had a quick test run and snapped a few pics on the Blackberry, most rubbish but have a look at this . I’m off to play trains now ……………

 

 

 

[lash]

The beneficial effect of the arrival of the 2h is showing and I completed ballasting of all turnouts this evening . This was done by hand and desert spoon rather than the clever patent push along ballasting device thing and compared with the plain track I think it was quicker and neater because I could control the amount of ballast going down more easily and tamp it with various paint brushes. So mixed feelings about the device thing and remaining ballasting may all be done by the hand and spoon method  .

 I also adjusted my water pva mix to add a bit more water and a decent  splosh of washing up liquid , this achieved a much better flow through the ballast . Am now waiting with mixed anticipation and foreboding to see if I have stuck the point blades in place , I do so hope not but s@ds law says yes (again )

[lash]

More ballasting and patching previously ballasted areas which are a bit bald.However a big event occured this evening .

 

 

I decided that I would stop ballasting and start the basic construction of the platforms before dealing with the tracks in the station itself and so Portsea Town has its first bit of strcuture above ground level

 

 

Platforms are being constructed from foamboard strips (18mm wide) and will be faced with Slaters english bond plasticard. I'm not certain about the tops yet but maybe plasticard or balsa ?

 

 

The idea will be to produce a platform rather like this at Arlesford,simple and also quite similar to Fratton

 

[lash]

Been building platforms and as mentioned before using foam board and balsa. 5 mm foam board cut in 18mm strips and cut for edging , reinforcing cross pieces and ramps then topped with balsa sheet ,all glued and temporarily pinned . Very pleased with progress.

 

 

 

[lash]

Had a couple of sessions working on platforms and Portsea Town is starting to look like it just might one day resemble a small railway terminus

 

I built the substructure of the island platform from 5mm foam board and have now cut and glued the balsa surface and ramp for the main platform ,stuck on embossed English bond plasticard for the platform side, filled gaps etc. with fine domestic filler ,rubbed the surface down and sealed it with a couple of generous coats of dilute pva, could say lashings of pva but that sounds a bit off beam ......

 

I have also been working on a simple jig for installing third rail insulators and giving some thought to the canopy.

 

My computer is threatening to shut down so will post this now and may be back later

[lash]

Computer has recovered from fit of vapours/updating etc. so here area couple of pics of the platforms as work in progress

 

 

 

And no that isn't an advanced weathering technique on he English bond, just some filler residue , makes you think though

 

 

[Andrew P]

My 2H has arrived and just collected it from the post office , felt very much like 5 year old at Christmas .Wrapping of at home and first impressions are very good, all done to same standard as the 2epb so not much wrong with that.

 

Had a quick test run and snapped a few pics on the Blackberry, most rubbish but have a look at this . I’m off to play trains now ……………

 

IMG-20130304-00161.jpg

Having lived just outside Portsmouth at Waterlooville, I keep looking at these Southern units and I must admit I am getting tempted, I can see a couple of those in Blue / Grey and a Blue 33 with a 4TC in toe, wonderful.

 

Great pic BTW.

 

Andy

[lash]

On the subject of canopies . The idea is to have a short section of overall roof at the terminus end of the platform to provide a sense of a significant if small city station and a visual break at the end of the baseboard to give the illusion of something rather bigger than it is . I will not model the terminus building or buffer stops etc. and the whole thing could be extended into a non-scenic extension  for longer trains ( my 4 CEP on a Victoria service for example )

 

The roof will be adapted from three Airfix/Dapol canopies ( I need to buy the third kit ,I have two ancient unmade Airfix kits I must have bought 30 years ago and the mouldings are stamped Airfix 1959) side by side with a substructure of Knightwing lattice girders held up by ordinary Knightwing girders. The idea is to produce something somewhat reminiscent of the roof of the old Southampton Terminus, now a car park, which I visited a couple of months ago . There will also be canopies on each platform using  Wills kits. The originals on the platforms at Southampton are long gone along with the platforms themselves but there are plenty of pictures on the web if you want to check out the idea.

[lash]

Andy, thanks for the comment . I am a big admirer of your work.

 

Spare a thought for the 2Hap too for which I have a strange affection, but I  hated 4 Veps . I was at university in London in the 70s and my heart would sink if I had to do the Sunday night trip back from a weekend at home in Pompey   in one of these draughty rattle traps  rather than a cosy 4Cig with the genuine possibility of nabbing the second class compartment

 

Steve at Hobbygoblin in Burslem, my local shop , has told me my 2 Bil may arrive this week so I am a quiver with anticipation . I wonder if the third rail might have got to the Highlands ............

[lash]

Collected my 2 Bil from Hobbygoblin and gave it a good run on the track there , much admiration from other customers with no direct southern interest. It's a lovely model, neat and crisply moulded and at an affordable price. A few years ago who would have thought we could buy this quality at this price and of a 1930s suburban emu . Wonderful so bring on the 4Cor Hornby," England expects " etc. ( 4 Cors known as Nelsons if you didn't get the reference )

 

What I really do want in the short term is another 2 Bil to form a 4 car train with distinctive curved roofs of the driving ends between units and the straight inner ends of the carriages in the same unit alternating . I think that may be my reward when Portsea Town reaches a decent level of completion, so quite a while to save up I expect  

 

I have been working on the overall roof and continuing trial painting brickwork ,pics to come soon

 

In the meantime here is a rubbish pic of the 2 Bil

 

[c2c]

Hi Lash looks a great looking model and an excellent addition for Portsea town, to be honest I couldn't imagine any southern layout without a 2 BIL!

 

One thing I remember that stays in my mind about all the southern stations, everything was painted green & cream and funny enough quite a few of the neighbouring houses too! Perhaps the odd house owner used to buy the odd pot of paint on the cheap when the stations were being painted.

[lash]

Dave

 

In Pompey, given the local sport of nicking from naval stores, I'm amazed most of the city wasn't painted battleship grey ,green and cream  would undoubtedly be a nice change

[c2c]

Dave

 

In Pompey, given the local sport of nicking from naval stores, I'm amazed most of the city wasn't painted battleship grey ,green and cream  would undoubtedly be a nice change

 

LOL....I had family that were in the RN, we lived in Gosport at the time. My father painted our scoffits the same colour blue as thier Bedford lorries!

 

All jokes aside though Pompey harbour station was a green and cream paradise for me, what with the three wheeled Lister platform luggage trucks running around, the sound of the air tanks being pumped on emu's, the mixed smell of trains and sea air along with the noise and smell of of the IOW ferry is a great memory that will always stay with me.

 

I would simply love to go back and experience that once more.

 

DaveH

[lash]

Dave, sadly nostalgia isn't what it used to be but I understand and as you will see from this thread it those memories of the early 60s that inspire my efforts .

 

I love the navy blue paint anecdote and remember those Bedford trucks very well.

 

I've been working on the overall roof putting together my two old Airfix kits and one new one from Dapol. The glazing bars are as fiddly as I remember when my dad built one for my layout 50 years ago, but liquid cement and a brush is much easier than a tube of Airfix glue and a matchstick. The new Dapol kit is made from a softer plastic and the detail is not quite so sharp as the older kits ,but still more than acceptable for my level of modelling .

 

The brickwork painting trials have gone well using acrylic washes for cement courses and dry brushing for brick work . I have produced a perfectly ok weathered red brick and an engineers style  blue brick with red undertones. What has not worked well is a soot black weathering spray can  ,it is too concentrated even when sprayed at a distance of a couple of feet and wiping off/smudging does not work well, creating a mess of the underlying paint and removing some of it along with the weathering dye. Lesson learnt and will use brush application if necessary in future .

 

No pics but will post some soon

[ian b]

Hi Lash, unit looks good! My occasionally updated layout is Jedburgh- probably around page 5 or 6 ish at a guess!

[c2c]

Dave, sadly nostalgia isn't what it used to be but I understand and as you will see from this thread it those memories of the early 60s that inspire my efforts .

 

At present Lash along with my many projects I have put together some Metcalf kits, which amazingly resemble some of the buildings I can remember in Pompey harbour and Southsea around the early sixties, some of which still stand today. I've put together these buidings to help me with my perseption to help plan a layout I want to biuld,based on southern region mid sixties,

 

A bit like Fratton it will be a low level station, there will be a road bridge and a road junction. it will have the adition of a street with shops, pub etc running parallel to the line on top of an embankment with support walls.

 

As for a name something sounding southern, Like you Lash I too have fond memories of those times and places.

[lash]

Ian I had a quick  look at Jedbrugh ,very nice and I will do it justice soon with a longer study

 

Dave ,have you posted any of your efforts, I can't find them .

 

There are some kits that are actually based on Portsmouth buildings , North End in particular including the old Mcilroys ( I think )department store. I can't remember what they are called but I have some stashed somewhere and have seen them for sale at shows.

 

I do think the multi-track line  from the Fratton station footbridge to the Fratton Road bridge would make a great small model of busy main line operation. As you say it is in a cutting ( well drained canal actually) with interesting buildings behind , the footbridge when it had its roof was very attractive and would be a great a scenic break allowing a bitsa model of the end of Fratton station with its distinctive signal box and tall lattice signal. I think the whole stretch is no more than a couple of hundred yards.

 

As to progress on Portsea Town I have had daughters visiting so my attention has been elsewhere but I have made some progress on my Airfix and Dapol roof kits ,can you see what it is yet? Please excuse blatant Rolf Harris reference

 

 

 

 

 

[lash]

Portsea Town is a layout I see as a part of my learning experience as a railway modeller. Today I have learnt to use a lot of very bad language and not to be hasty. The language bit is reprehensible. The hasty bit is somewhat ironic given the decidedly sedate pace of progress of the layout which is now more than a year from its conception and my first post ( I was going to type entry but that's old fashioned and in danger of being inappropriate)  on RMweb.

 

I have been working on the overall roof /canopy and completed the roof sections and decided to paint the tops of them . I checked out Southern Region on the excellent web site www.stationcolours.info and worked out Railmatch roof dirt would be ideal and I had a pot to hand . It needed a bit of diluting so I added a drop or two of water , the paint went on ok but there seemed to be a problem with coverage and my brush was going a tadge claggy. After putting a coat on all three roof sections it occurred t me something was wrong . A quick check of the pot label revealed it to be enamel not acrylic as I had assumed , not good and by now the roofs were looking  pretty horrid lumpy and streaky .

 

Salutary lesson on how to mess up hours of careful work .

 

So I have been on line today and ordered a pot of Modelstrip ( now there's an interesting product to  Google ) along with a selection of acrylic paints. Interesting day so I've bought a lovely Hornby ex LMS parcels van in BR maroon to cheer myself up, isn't there a brilliant section of parcels stock around and this one will make a nice change from southern green

 

 

 

[c2c]

A good choice of retail therapy Lash, not forgetting also that maroon livery was used in southern network, I can remember catching a train from the harbour to Southampton for a visit to the swimming baths around 64, they were probably Maroon mk1's.

 

Anyway a little bit more colour will give more contrast!