RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted December 2, 2013 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 2, 2013 I thought at this point I would share my scenic task with you in the form of a couple of aerial shots of the prototype. The first is an overall view of the station area with the white rectangle being the part that I am modelling; the second is the rectangle itself which represents my layout. Obviously the pictures were taken in the last 10 years or so as only the two main lines remain, but the bay platform is still evident and platform 4 is buried under the trees to the north! As you can see there is a huge amount of ground cover and vegetation on both sides of the tracks; so much so in fact that at the front of the layout you would be peering at the trains in between trees, bushes and hedges! It's also fairly clear that the surrounding area beyond this is very flat and undeveloped. This means I have to be a bit inventive in order to keep things simple and interesting at the same time; reduce the greenery at the front of the layout, and create some undulations at the back - someone suggested I model the old station and goods shed (to the right of the rectangle) but this part is curved on my layout so I'm not sure that would work...the hotel is in view next to the footbridge and the space adjacent to it is the turnaround and carpark which I have included. Anyway, here's the pics: Any thoughts or suggestions always welcome! David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted December 3, 2013 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 3, 2013 Tonight I carried on with the ground preparation by filling in the gaps and smoothing off the joins around the slopes and ballast edges. I used a mixture of ultra-light filler (the sort you fill cracks in ceilings with) about a third of a 1L tub full; along with a splash of water, a good squeeze of black, yellow and blue acrylic paints and a couple of spoonfuls of regular Polyfilla powder. This gives a malleable, sticky compound which is easily pushed into gaps and smoothed over undulations but which when dries can be sanded, chiselled etc to suit. Bear in mind most of it will be covered in thick greenery so the odd lump or crack won't be noticed...!! So almost at the greenery stage, but I need to touch in a few places where the goo has run and finalise the 'scenic' areas by the footbridge and behind the signal box. Here's the pics: More soon! David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted December 7, 2013 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 7, 2013 Firstly can I apologise for the number of pictures in this post; I've been planting trees and I need some input so I know if they're in the right place or not! This is in advance of proper ground cover so I know where to put everything afterwards. I've been going for a 'natural' feel rather than 'human-planted' and I've only put a representative selection at the front for now, but I have a few questions... For instance; would they allow such a huge specimen to stay standing just behind the signal box, and does the one by the far roadbridge look too tall, and are the 2 little ones in the way at the front at the left hand end...? And so on; you get the idea! Here's the pics: All comments gratefully received! Thanks David PS. I've got some more pics with trains in to give it context so I'll post them next time... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted December 7, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 7, 2013 I am no expert - but to me the trees look about right in terms of height and placing. Regarding the signal box and the trees as they are not blocking the view of the railway I would guess there would be no problem. As I say I am no expert! Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southernboy Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 Firstly just to say your layout is coming on leaps-and-bounds and I really enjoy your updates. You've managed to cram a lot of visual interest into a (relatively) small space yet kept it looking relaxed and uncrowded - which is quite an achievement in my books. As to trees: I looked at those around where I live a couple of years ago and noticed that mature trees are at least as high as a three or four storey building. So I would take that as a maximum and scale down from there if more recently planted. I think the height of trees is one of those things modelers often under-estimate, although it could equally be argued that height should be governed by the scale compromises that apply to the rest of many layouts. As to positioning: I think it's a matter of placing your trees in different positions and getting down on your hands and knees and seeing how they look from the line-side, then standing up and seeing how they look from the overview. Sometimes I take photos just to get a more objective perspective. When I place any large objects on my layout I always ask myself two questions: 1) Does it get in the way of what I want people to look at (such as a focal point like a tunnel mouth or bridge) ? 2) Does it help distract from something I don't want people to look at (like a baseboard join or unnaturally sharp curve to the track) ? Sorry to ramble - but hope that is of help. Keep the updates coming! Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted December 8, 2013 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 8, 2013 Firstly just to say your layout is coming on leaps-and-bounds and I really enjoy your updates. You've managed to cram a lot of visual interest into a (relatively) small space yet kept it looking relaxed and uncrowded - which is quite an achievement in my books. When I place any large objects on my layout I always ask myself two questions: 1) Does it get in the way of what I want people to look at (such as a focal point like a tunnel mouth or bridge) ? 2) Does it help distract from something I don't want people to look at (like a baseboard join or unnaturally sharp curve to the track) ? Thank you for the compliment Mark; very much appreciated from someone of your abilities in this scale! There's some good advice there too; I've been looking at them again following your points and have decided that the one in front of the white footbridge needs to be moved behind as the footbridge is a focal point at that end; the tall tree behind it needs to be shortened; and the 2 trees at the front which I had thought obscured the bend, actually only serve to draw attention to it so will be moved to behind the main line. Also, I've decided to lop a centimetre off the one behind the signal box as it draws attention to itself too much, and the tall one by the roadbridge will receive a haircut too so it's less prominent. I really just want the scenery to provide the backdrop to the trains, which is the main reason for doing all this, so if it's coming across as relaxed and uncrowded then it's definitely achieving the right result! Some pictures after the lumberjack work to come, but here's a few pre-adjustment, this time with trains in the mix: In this one you can see what I mean about the tall tree and the 2 in front: Here's 37429 with that Regional train again: And a modern scene with a visiting 'Special' - couldn't resist... The Duchess in full flight...one of my Dad's favourite's: More soon David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornish trains jez Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 Hi David, Your layout is coming on leaps and bounds! Unfortunately I can't help with the tree positioning but they do look great! I do like the roof weathering on the Peak too! Keep up the good work! Best regards, Jeremy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted December 20, 2013 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 20, 2013 Hi All, Nothing further to report at the moment other than I've moved the trees around to create more of a 'frame' for the railway and make it easier to get better pictures, and I'm now looking to stock up on ground cover ready for an onslaught in the New Year! I'm going up to Prestatyn during the holidays so I'll be taking some pics for inspiration purposes; I'll post these if they come out ok... In the meantime, may I wish you a Happy Christmas and a peace-filled 2014, courtesy of a painting done by my Father of Thorpe St Andrews crossing in the snow (this has already been used in another thread but I thought it was worth repeating!!) See you soon David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&WR Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Is that Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich? My railway-obsessed cousins were from there & my Aunt still lives in the same house! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted December 20, 2013 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 20, 2013 Is that Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich? My railway-obsessed cousins were from there & my Aunt still lives in the same house! Yes! My parents were on holiday in the area and as always Dad took his sketchbook and easel; he painted one originally in Summer but did another one in the snow for this picture... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isambard Kingdom Brunel Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 Hi if you are interested in Welsh Railways please express an interest at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/80056-special-interest-group-railways-in-wales/&do=findComment&comment=1272387 Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted January 1, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 1, 2014 Happy New Year! I ran a few trains over the holidays so I thought I would share them today: Firstly D351 on an empty freight train trundling through the station; a typical working in the early 70's as the wagons were eventually gathered up and held over at Prestatyn awaiting delivery to Crumps for cutting up... Then we have 40150 on a local stopper to Llandudno: And while that's simmering away, 47534 roars in with a rake of mk2's (with obligatory mk1 buffet!): Eventually there's a full house at Prestatyn; not unusual on holiday Saturdays: That's it for now; I bought some more trees and three lorries which will go into the yard area eventually; but next the ground cover beckons - I've acquired a load of static grass and an FMR applicator so let the experiments begin!! David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornish trains jez Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Lovely set of photos David! Thank you for posting! Happy new year! Best regards, Jeremy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted January 1, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 1, 2014 Some great photos of the trains. Looking forward to seeing further progress this year. Happy New Year Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&WR Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Yes! My parents were on holiday in the area and as always Dad took his sketchbook and easel; he painted one originally in Summer but did another one in the snow for this picture... Sorry, never managed to get round to replying. A lovely painting which I may point towards my family. Loving the photos of your layout too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted January 5, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 5, 2014 I had a bit of a break from Prestatyn this afternoon when I laid the track on a friend's Noch Sonnenalpe layout - in Z gauge!! The Peco flexi track itself is really easy to manipulate as it's the Z version of code 80, ie the rails slide through the sleeper chairs easily and joiners are easy to put on. However, the fun starts when you try and connect two pieces on a corner; the chairs are so tiny the rails pull out of them and I had to put pins in all over the place to stop the sideways movement! Anyway, the hard part's done; all I have to do now is slip the foam ballast underlay in and wire it up; I'm using one Gaugemaster handheld unit for both tracks as there'll always be two trains going at once... Here it is so far; I won't be doing any updates on it or anything, just thought you might be interested!! Back to the 'big stuff' next time! David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted January 5, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 5, 2014 Way too small for me. I find my eyes struggle with OO gauge at times, anything smaller and I would need a magnifying glass! Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian b Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I've got a couple of z gauge layouts and find there's not a lot of difference with n-gauge, except the points aren't too pretty thanks to the built-in motor, although they do work fantastically well! Your n-gauge layout is looking really good now and it's been fascinating seeing it build up. Keep up the good work!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted January 26, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 26, 2014 Ok, so here we are again! It's been a while since I last posted as I've been somewhat busy with other things, including visiting prospective universities with my eldest daughter! But this weekend I got all the stuff out I acquired over the holidays and got to it; I used 3 bags of static grass mixed up; some ground cover/bush material and some old lichen I found in a box in the cupboard! Oh, and about a pint of PVA mixed 1:2 with water. I have to say, the FMR static grass applicator really does the job and is very easy to use; the problem being the grass is so tiny you need a magnifying glass to see if it's standing up ok! I used it for bush cover as well as on the ground as I wanted a messy but uniform colouring. The look I was going for was lots of natural scrub and brush in late Summer in high sunshine which is when the backscene was photographed. A lot of the grass just then was dried out and gone to straw, whereas the man-made banks on the bridges were bright green and cleanly clipped; this is something I have tried to replicate, although I'm not sure about some of the scrub it looks a bit bright to me. As I go along I'll add some darker hues and additional trees as well as taller grasses in the rough bits, but this will form the basis for now; all I wanted to do was provide a backdrop for the trains to be shown off to maximum advantage so replicating every bush and twig was never on my agenda - impressionistic scenery has always been my forte!! Anyway, here's some random pics; please let me know what you think...oh, and no I haven't forgotten the boundary fencing - that's the next item on my list! Back soon David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloucester Road Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Oh my! That looks brilliant. Picture #6 strikes me particularly well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted January 26, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26, 2014 Every time I see this layout, I feel homesick ! That backdrop is superb, but the whole atmosphere from the platforms and overbridge is just brilliant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornish trains jez Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Lovely stuff David. Always a pleasure to see photos of your superb layout. Best regards, Jeremy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted February 15, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 15, 2014 I've been really busy on the layout the last week or so, and here's the results: I assembled the fences and put them up having painted them; hard to see but I actually used 3 kinds of brown and 2 green but they all seem to be of the same hue! Anyway, the Peco ones at the front look a bit 'chunky' to me so I think I'm going to take off the interim posts which stand behind the main fence and leave larger gaps; this should slim them down a bit I think... I also laid the concrete apron at the front of the station and put in the barrow crossing (as already mentioned it's actually wide enough for a car on the original!) I used painted card and have put in the planking but you can't see it in the pics! Then I attached some platform edging; for this I used the Scalescenes edges but inverted them ie the darker shades are on top rather than the lighter rather insipid-looking pavings which are now underneath. This helped to blend them into the current platform surfaces. Then today's fun and games was spent erecting a Dapol signal for the siding! In drilling the hole for the shaft, the drill slipped down too quickly and caught the wiring underneath, resulting in a huge twisted mess of shredded wiring which effectively cut off the fiddle yard points and sections - not good... So I spent a couple of hours rewiring the mess, and eventually got around to wiring in the signal! It looks pretty good I think, or at least it will do once I get around to landscaping that huge black base it stands on! Dapol have informed me that their two-home bracket signal will be ready later this year so I'll replace the others with those as and when they arrive. So here are some general pictures of the layout; I think it's important to see a layout without trains once in awhile (disregarding the wagons left in the siding!) to get a feel for how the scenery and buildings etc blend in with the backscene - think of it as a lazy Sunday afternoon in August; oh, and please excuse the brown Kestrel building behind the footbridge - this will eventually be the hotel which is roughly the same footprint...!! That's it for now! All comments are very welcome as always... David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloucester Road Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 That really does look good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Grafarman Posted March 1, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 1, 2014 I've been doing some more to the scenery on Prestatyn; as I mentioned last time, I've taken out the middle posts on the trackside fencing to slim them down a bit, and have installed the long stretch behind the siding/signal box. I also landscaped the Dapol signal at the end of the siding... I've also put up the station fencing; now, the original never had fencing you could see due to the overhanging trees, and the bits remaining were of the post and wire type which is impossible to get right in this scale, so I opted for metal paling-type fencing - this actually did exist at the east end of the platform for a time so it was seen in the location (at least that's my excuse...! ) I've used Ratio trackside fencing and painted it washed-out grey to give a well-worn metal fence look; judge for yourselves how successful you think it is! I've enclosed the barrow crossing and the walkway to the footbridge as per the original, but had to use the same fencing as I couldn't source an exact replica of the planking fencing used. I've also sorted out the approach to the station by putting in the slope down to the carpark and hotel area; this is all to be finished off and blended in at some point, but does bring some cohesion to the scene... And finally, you may notice that Prestatyn now has a population! I've used a mixture of Modelscene, Bachmann, Merit, Preiser and others for the people and the benches; the station lamps are being 3D printed by Tricky-CRS of this parish and I'm really looking forward to putting them on as the final touch. I glued the people in small groups or singly on clear plasticard painted to match the platform surface; this way I can move them about to suit trains arriving/departing etc. Anyway; here's the pics; I have a set with the trains in too so I'll post those next... Back soon David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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