The ?100 Project ? A complete layout build described in 9 days

[bcnPete]

Looking great Dave...and lovin' this thread.

 

Thanks for adding the half time 'scores on the doors'...

[Brian D]

Great idea, Dave. Super modelling, given the constraints, and really well presented (editorially speaking). A "must visit" post on RMWeb!

Regards,

Brian.

[Tony Davis]

This post has become to me like one of those books that I can't stop reading, and can't wait to see how it will turn out, but I don't know what I will do when I get to the end!

[dave_long]

Another thing that might be a good idea for road and platform surfaces is fine wet and dry paper something like 1600 grit. A pack of 5 roughly a4 sheets from halfords is only in the £2-3 range and would go a long way and it's generally the right colour and textured, only a little stippling with other colours would be needed.

 

Dave

[Physicsman]

A brilliant thread, Dave. I agree with a previous post that someone ought to offer you the chance to serialise this in a magazine! You've also changed the way I look at things - when I went into my layout room today I realised what an abundance of riches I have at my disposal. Some of the stuff I chuck out can easily be saved and used elsewhere.

 

I bet the whole thing looks fantastic at the end and it's now a daily ritual seeing what you've come up with.

 

Maybe someone could sponsor you to do another project - say at a slightly higher limit. Then you can compare and extend some of the compromises you've made here.

 

Great thread.

 

Jeff

[colin penfold]

this seems to me like a possible future RM web challenge, it would be really interesting to see how other people approach the compromises of the limited budget. Andy Y would have a nightmare trying to ensure people didn't cheat on the budgets, but he likes a challenge

Edited August 29, 2012 by colin penfold

[Paul26e]

Hi Dave - well done on this threat, very inspiring.

 

Couple of questions. Please could you give more detail on how you painted the ballast. I have a largish layout that needs ballasting and cost is one of the things that is putting me off. yours looks very good. Also you mention sand came from the pet shop, does it have any special name?

 

Also how old do you think your class 25 is? I have one which I suspect is late '70's vintage and despite tinkering with and spair parts is a very poor runner. Did they improve over the years. I would not recommend mine for a beginners layout, I think the poor running would spoil the layout for a beginner!

 

Carn't wait to see finished layout.

 

Many Thanks

 

Paul

[mjcampbell]

I'm loving this thread, it's like a soap opera! You've set yourself a tough challenge including stock and all tools and "consumables" in the budget. Even though I rarely use ready-to-run items, it is amazing to think how the price of a layout mounts up! I'd love to see what you do with £200 ...

 

I got sand for free, an advantage of living by the sea side! It also makes good gravel or tarmac areas when sieved (using a tea-strainer, free if you don't get caught!) over a coat of PVA. I painted mine using artist's acrylics, the sort you get from places like "The Works" for a few pounds.

[Mike W2]

Paul - I agree about the Hornby 25, which is why I suggested anyone that is inspired to do something similar get a 2nd hand Bachmann 25, with it's much better mechanism, that is if they wanted to spend a bit extra. I can see why Dave has gone for the Hornby one though.

 

Having been inspired by this myself, I've had a quick peek in the loft to look at suitable building materials and luckily I've found an unused sheet of 4ft by 2ft 3mm thick Harboard. In addition, I've found a fair size chunk of foamboard type stuff (the shop sign type stuff someone else mentioned), some more normal type foam board (ideal for making buildings) and a few off cuts of 2 by 1 timber. That coupled with the insulation board in our garage means I'll just need 4 4ft bits of 2 by 1 to make 2 4ft by 1ft baseboards for a small layout, plus enough material to build a backscene,

 

thanks

Mike

[nigelb]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm like others i am so tempted by this idea

perhaps as a RM project for the future

i suspect the ground rules will need to be laid down and agreed

1 items that we all have at home are free such as tools printers domestic materials

2 free items such as stuff fromn skips is also free

3. things like free printed items are "free£

 

 

as well as consumption of beer during modeling is compulsary but not counted

Edited August 29, 2012 by nigelb

[dave_long]

I seem to remember that the fine P4 Mostyn layout ran a number of Hornby rats with just a wheel change. Some were double motored I think to improve pulling power. They are still the best representation of that class and only the sole bar shows it up! Although Bachmann also decided to add a solebar to their rats even though they never had them.

[Dave777]

Couple of questions. Please could you give more detail on how you painted the ballast. I have a largish layout that needs ballasting and cost is one of the things that is putting me off. yours looks very good. Also you mention sand came from the pet shop, does it have any special name?

 

Hi Paul, no special name on the sand I'm afraid, it came from a local pet shop (not one of the larger chain ones like Pets At Home) and I suspect they just buy a sack of it and then dispense it into smaller bags. I've used sand on a couple of layouts now for ballasting - it's 'silver sand' or I think it's also called 'play pit sand'. The pet shop stuff seemed pretty similar, perhaps a little more chunky.

 

As for painting, the emulsion is watered down a bit (maybe 30% water) and then just paint it on. It runs down into the sand and colours it. I started cleaning it off the sleepers at first but decided to just leave it on after a while. You can apply further washes with emulsions and watercolours.

 

The only comment I'd make is that it's fairly light, so it does tend to move around a bit during application of the glue/water. But equally there's ample 'adjustment time' - measured in hours - to even things out before the glue dries.

 

 

Also how old do you think your class 25 is? I have one which I suspect is late '70's vintage and despite tinkering with and spair parts is a very poor runner. Did they improve over the years. I would not recommend mine for a beginners layout, I think the poor running would spoil the layout for a beginner!

 

I had assumed it was a 70s model, but when it arrived I noticed that the '054' on the '25 054' running number was a little out of line, which suggested a re-numbering at some point. And the performance seemed just a little too good. I did some research and it appears it's this model here:

 

http://www.hornbygui....asp?itemid=665

 

In the 'model information' paragraph it mentions that it was supplied with a sheet of alternative numbers, and '25 054' is listed. So I think it's a late-80s model.

 

I have been surprised by the performance, and understand why people are cautious - despite the 'good runner' eBay listing, I confess I was expecting a bit of a clunker that needed a bit of work, but it really does run beautifully. I've no great advice to pass on really - it was the third one I bid on, having been outbid on the previous two, and I may well have simply got lucky in finding a good one.

 

I have a future OO parcels layout planned and had already purchased a couple of locos and told myself that the planned layout really didn't need any more motive power, but I've been so impressed with the way this one runs that I'm going to do a detailing job on it at some point so it can make an appearance.

Edited August 30, 2012 by Dave777

[carlw]

Hi Dave,

 

This is looking excellent.

Could you explain how you did your paint on the buildings please

 

Thanks

 

Carl

[Mike W2]

In the 80's Hornby did do a few diesels where you got a selection of running numbers so you could pick the one you wanted. That would explain why the numbers might be a bit wonky.

 

thanks

Mike

[ian b]

I've had a couple of 25s from the early 80s and they were actually quite sweet runners, despite being chucked in a cardboard box when not in use when I was a kid!!! My Dad has a bluey (25, that is!) from the 70s and it still runs well now- quiet and smooth and its kept in an uninsulated loft and run about once every 2 years! Reckon that a few bum ones must've given them a bad press!!!

[Dave777]

Could you explain how you did your paint on the buildings please

 

On the little hut, Carl? It's just enamels. The rest use brickpaper from the Scalescenes website.

[Dave777]

6 - Rolling stock

 

Understandably given the price constraints we’re working under here the rolling stock was never going to be top notch. We’re not going to be able to afford the latest Bachmann Blue Riband wagons or top-spec Hornby coaches, so the rolling stock was inevitably going to be a mix of 1970s and 80s vintage when RTR standards were a bit lower compared with today. Of all the things connected with this project, rolling stock was the aspect that challenged me the most.

 

For the passenger traffic I purchased this Airfix MK IId brake for £6 including postage.

 

 

I’ll leave others to comment on the accuracy of the model itself, but the quality of the moulding is decent and perhaps only the livery indicates the 1970s parentage with some noticeable fuzziness around the ends of the white window band.

 

 

Freight stock requires a bit more imagination. These two Lima box vans came in at £3 each, with the garish private owner liveries soon lost under a primer coating followed by enamels. Say what you like about the quality of Lima drive mechanisms, but few modellers would argue with the crisp quality of their mouldings, and the the planking and door detail on these two is perfectly acceptable by modern standards. The vents at either end are a little lightweight, and the underframe is a trifle chunky, but what the heck.

 

 

 

 

 

Ah yes... the numbering. Well a posting in the ‘Weathering & Painting’ forum for some suitable transfers came up trumps, but I then mucked the kind gentlemen around a bit by changing my mind. The reason? I’d need to also purchase some matt varnish to seal the transfers - precious funds. So in the end I took the slightly bonkers step of renumbering these by typing out the number in Word on a PC, printing it out, and then gluing the number to the side. Okay, not as neat as a proper transfer, and a bit of a bodge if we’re being honest, but just about acceptable at ‘normal viewing distance’.

 

 

The same techniques were applied on these Hornby 20t mineral wagons.

 

 

The underframe on these is nothing like the prototype, but for £2.20 each (including postage) perhaps this is to be expected. Frankly, this is where having a little bit more money would have come in handy as some proper 21 tonners or 16 ton minerals would have been a better option. Try as I might however I just could not secure any for a decent price, despite looking at Triang, Hornby, Bachmann, Mainline and Airfix kits (made and unmade). It seems the humble mineral wagon is much in demand.

 

After a brief time examining the chassis to see if it could be made more prototypical – a job that would require cutting off all the underframe detail, sawing a portion out of the chassis, gluing it back together again and then reassembling the underframe detail into something more prototypical – I decided to just leave the thing alone. Given that I was trying to get the whole project finished within a reasonable timeframe and I had no guarantee that I actually could manage to modify the wagon to look better, this seemed the best option.

 

Instead I’ve tried to at least make them look a bit more realistic via some weathering. Again a primer undercoat was applied to remove the PO livery, except in this case that also formed the body colour. Weathering was applied using enamels and watercolour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best thing about watercolours is that if you get it wrong, simply wet the whole thing and wipe it all off to start again. The photo below shows the colour I tend to favour, burnt umber.

 

 

This isn’t actually the correct size of tube for the price I’ve totalled up – you’ll only get a 14ml tube for that price. However, you only need a tiny bit to do a lot of weathering so 14mls will be easily enough. I’m just using the tube I already had. As I mentioned, burnt umber is a general, all-round colour to use, but burnt siena will also do the trick.

 

 

The final freight wagon was a ladderless Hornby TTA wagon.

 

 

On a rounded, smooth-sided wagon like this my paper numbering was going to be a challenge, and so it proved.

 

 

This is probably the least successful of the wagons as not only do I personally find tankers a tricky thing to weather anyway, but the paper ‘decals’ are fairly noticeable. I was also lacking a suitable black colour for fuel spillage down the sides. Perhaps some grey might have suffice, now I think about it (or perhaps I should have just left the original livery where it was and just applied the 'decals'). One thing I did manage was to secure a free ladder from fellow RMwebber Mallard60022 who was upgrading his Bachmann models with a detailing kit.

So not the best, but it provides further shunting/traffic options if nothing else.

 

 

On the end of any freight movement we’ll have this, a £2.99 Hornby brake van.

 

 

Some metal staples from my workplace provided the handrails (and nope, I’m not costing up 4 staples!), and new paper numbers were again applied. What started as some weathering eventually morphed into a full repaint really.

 

 

 

And that’s the rolling stock. For £21.59 we've managed to get 7 items of rolling stock which are at least nearer to being prototypical than if we'd just put some private owner coal wagons down. One other disappointing aspect is that they are all running on plastic wheels, a sure fire way to attract (and keep) dirt on the rails. However, given the overall size of the layout it’s not going to be a chore to keep it all clean, so we can easily live with that.

 

Spends:

Lima box van – £3

Lima box van – £3

Hornby 21 ton mineral – £2.20

Hornby 21 ton mineral – £2.20

Hornby TTA tanker - £2.20

Hornby brake van – £2.99

Airfix Mk II coach - £6

Primer – £3

Watercolour - £1.70

 

 

It’s back to the layout tomorrow when we complete the scenery.

[ian b]

What an amazing and inspirational job you did on those wagons! Fantastic stuff!

[will5210]

What a brilliant job on those open wagons!

 

I'm really enjoying the daily updates on this great thread

[Rammy]

What a great thread. Can't wait to see the final results.

[37114]

Great thread, especially like the work you have done on the old wagons, ideal project also for younger modellers who are tight on cash and want to upgrade from toy train wagons to something more realistic.

[bcnPete]

Blimey...I thought that waiting for the next episode of 24 was stressful...but this beats that.

 

Bring it on Dave...

[Tim Hale]

Dave,

 

You can make the water-colour permenant by adding a drop or two of PVA glue.

 

Tim

[37255]

Some good stuff in here, not just "good for that price" but genuinely good modelling. Highlights for me so far being the lima vans (what a transformation!) and the bridge girders (are they REALLY just offcuts of card?!).

[Guest jonte]

Prototypical or not, Dave, your expert weathering distracts from any apparent flaws with the model. I'd be proud to own them. Fabulous!!

 

Just goes to show, that good modelling has very little to do with cost and more to do with the skill and ingenuity of the modeller. Thanks for sharing.

 

Jonte.

 

P.S. when this is over and you've eventually got your breath back, would you mind showing me how you weathered your rolling stock ? Would love to have a bash.