Hemyock - Down on the farm...

[gazmanjack]

Hello Jim,

 

It has been a while since I looked in last and I can tell you that this has come a long way. Fantastic work with the weeds and the thatched roof. Your eye for detail is exceptional. I must keep coming back for a look more often.

 

Cheers, Gary.

[aberdare]

Thanks Gary,

 

I'll try and keep you updated too.

 

 

Updates have been a bit thin on the ground lately due to my caring role, however the modelling did not cease entirely and looking back I seemed to have achieved more than I first thought, so here is some of what's been happening.

 

The cottages are approaching completion and are starting to have all the surrounding groundwork completed ready for bedding in, so I'll have to take you back a bit to where I left off.

As I keep changing from one thing to another as the mood takes me - or failures in some cases - it has been difficult to arrange the pictures into groups of the same topic, so it's possible you will see something not talked about with the part I am on about, if you see what I mean.

 

 

The slate roofed cottage was first to have its top completed and for those that do this you know how long it takes, but here it is.

 

 

I then got around to adding gutters, chimney stacks and of course painting the slates and this is how it stands at the current time, still a liitle to do here and there when I feel in the mood for fiddly things.

 

 

 

 

 

The thatched roof has also been progressing with stacks added and now the ridge under construction, I'm looking forward to seeing this complete and matching what is in my mind, how I'm going to get there is something else

 

 

 

While all this was going on the groundwork was underway so I could finalise the positions with everything else and I must admit I did get a bit carried away with this and ignored the cottages for a while, after giving myself a severe talking to I got back on track - for a little while.

(I think the next picture shows how I drifted away to scenics from building, no gutter or chimneys and only a half thatched cottage)

 

First the roads and some grass went down to set the boundaries.....

 

 

...and now some walls are going in, more on this later.

 

 

 

 

Still a lot more to sort through and I'll try and get these up toward the end of next week when I will have a little more time. I hope you have enjoyed your brief but long overdue update.

 

 

See you soon

 

Jim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ChrisN]

Jim,

It is looking good Jim.  The slates on the roof are superb.  Brilliant.  It does not really matter what order you do it in as long as you enjoy yourself.

 

You were looking for tools and equipment a while back.  I am not sure what we said then but Langley have recently re-released theirs.  They are towards the bottom of the page.

[Anotheran]

Jim,

 

Those slates look fantastic. And as someone who hasn't tried it and doesn't know how long it takes I can only imagine. I'm not sure I'd ever finish a single cottage if I tried that, but the end effect is superb. Having found this thread for the second time around I've made sure it's well and truly followed as I'm very keen to see it all coming together.

[Mikkel]

Hi Jim, great to see progress on Hemyock again. Things are really coming to life now with the landscaping details going in. I like the look of the grass in the foreground of the photos.  And as others have said above, those slates really are the crown on a superb building!

[aberdare]

Jim,

It is looking good Jim.  The slates on the roof are superb.  Brilliant.  It does not really matter what order you do it in as long as you enjoy yourself.

 

You were looking for tools and equipment a while back.  I am not sure what we said then but Langley have recently re-released theirs.  They are towards the bottom of the page.

 

Chris - My first thought was 'Was I', but then I remembered it was for the Engine and Carriage sheds, I should really have picked some up when I was at York earlier in the year but I'm easily distracted as you know. I have also turned the layout around so I now look down the hill into the station as this makes it easier for me to operate as I will be closer to the track with less things to reach over, so the change has now made me focus on the cottage/factory end as that will be against the far wall so needs finishing first so I can finally fix it in place. I'm glad you like the slates as I tried hard to get them right, it's the first thing everyone sees isn't it - the roof.

 

 

Jim,

 

Those slates look fantastic. And as someone who hasn't tried it and doesn't know how long it takes I can only imagine. I'm not sure I'd ever finish a single cottage if I tried that, but the end effect is superb. Having found this thread for the second time around I've made sure it's well and truly followed as I'm very keen to see it all coming together.

 

Thanks Neil - and of course for the mass of likes that appeared. As for the slates they do take a bit of work and I know Jason (Bacup) used to get a few aches and pains from cutting them as well, I spread mine out a bit to make it easier. It took a few coats of paint though to get the finish I wanted and I think I will need an odd stain or two from the stacks now they are fitted with the flashing.

 

 

Hi Jim, great to see progress on Hemyock again. Things are really coming to life now with the landscaping details going in. I like the look of the grass in the foreground of the photos.  And as others have said above, those slates really are the crown on a superb building!

 

Mikkel - thanks for your kind words once again on the building, believe it or not there are a few bits I'm not happy with but I'll keep them to myself. As for grass I've lost count of the number of times that has gone down but I think I now know what I want to use after accumulating a huge amount of different materials.

 

 

My thanks to everyone else for dropping in and leaving feedback.

 

Jim

[Jaz]

I'm sorry that 'thatch' makes me laugh......you really need to tame it......perhaps some wet water and a comb....

[ChrisN]

Jim,

Do not be too hard on yourself.  I think the workshop stuff was only re-released in September or maybe August.  I want some but I have no use for it at all.  It just looks good I think.

[Andrew P]

Hi Jim, great to see you back modelling again and also doing such fine work, the thatch will look good once trimmed and I thing the slates look fantastic.

 

I hope everything else at home comes together for you, and you can continue to inspire us.

[aberdare]

Jaz - That made me smile as when my hair gets to a certain length, ready for cutting I see it sticking up like that most mornings.   Funnily enough I was out in the shed earlier this afternoon, combed out the loose stuff, wetted it and and done a combover to cover the ridge and left to dry, with a bit of luck it should be flat tomorrow for a dab of glue.

 

Chris - don't worry I never tear myself up about anything but if I believe I can do better I have no problem in trying again, I just like it to look like the vision I had but at the end of the day 'it's only a model'

 

Andy - Thanks very much and it's good to share things once again with you all. As for the home front a minor setback means I won't be able to post for a few days but hopefully no longer.

 

 

 

But another brief post coming up just to show a little more that was done, but it is only a little.

 

 

Back in a few minutes.

[aberdare]

Those who follow this thread regularly will remember the big trees (pages 10 & 11) and that they weren't quite finished, I had more leaves to add and I was thinking of some Ivy.  Well they went into a box while I was moving things around - including the layout -  to avoid damage until I was ready for them, that time came not long ago and they are now a permanent fixture on the hillside.

 

So enough from me and what about the pictures. (click for large picture)

 

Three differing views showing new foliage on the left hand tree, Ivy on both and a few dropped leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of close up shots of the Ivy

 

 

 

 

 

There that's it, told you it was only a little post.

 

Jim

 

 

[ChrisN]

Looking good, all the best Jim.

[nickwood]

Hi Jim

 

The trees look great, so unusual to see them modelled in late autumn, you've caught the look really well. The weathered finish on the walls of the slate roofed cottage are superb too.

 

Great stuff!

[Jock67B]

Morning Jim,

I absolutely love the trees and when I finally get round to my proposed engine shed model, I'm going to have a massive roof to slate. I have been cribbing from Jason's 'Bacup' thread where there are some excellent tips!

I am guessing that the 'minor setback' you mentioned relates to your health, or that of your good lady. If so, I'd like to wish whichever one of you a speedy recovery! Hope you get back to posting soon as you were much missed earlier in the year. We will be thinking of you,

Kind regards,

Jock.

[Anotheran]

The trees are fantastic. The way you've managed to capture the fallen leaves around the base with the ivy and the partly denuded branches is brilliant. The feeling of autumn is spot on.

 

Kind regards, Neil

[aberdare]

Thank you for the positive comments and all the likes too, I'm very pleased that the trees look as good as I intended them to be - they took long enough - but I have enjoyed making them and I'm looking forward to some other challenges I've set myself with trees, not just yet though.

 

While I was away with the wife to aid her recovery I see I have raced past 20K views so thanks to you all for helping to reach that figure.

 

 

Just before I move onto other things apart from trees just a couple of pictures of what I call my gap fillers, trees made in other ways that is,

 

 

I just wanted something quite simple that I could knock up in a few hours but look similar to those I had done but with a little less detail.

 

So I looked around the shed.....thinking.....thinking some more and dismissing a few things until.....

 

 

Looking at my ball of garden string and my superglue I had that 'I wonder if' moment again, as it was only a bit of string and some glue what did I have to lose?

 

So here is a couple of shots to show the result.

 

 

 

All in all for something that is going to sit at the back of the layout or behind larger 'Proper' trees it will serve its purpose.

 

 

Also as I started to vegetate the river area I kept some Thyme prunings from my gardening days and used them for bare or nearly bare trees.

 

 

 

So that's it for trees for a while until I complete a section somewhere that is worth posting.

 

 

 

Right the walls.

 

Now that the cottages were progressing I had to think of building up the ground area around them, so after forming the landscape with card and covering it, it was time to form some walls around the garden edges. The first was for the brick cottage and is the front wall that ran from the factory entrance to a side lane, my thoughts were that as this was the front wall on the main road it would be of better quality than any others. It was formed from card with Slaters stone card glued to both sides and after a dab of paint or two, glueing in place and a few weeds it looked something like this.

 

 

 

I then set about making the walls that line the lane alongside and continue in front of the thatched cottages, this time I wanted some older random stone walls that were in a poor state with weeds/Ivy growing from or over them. to do this I again cut some old cardboard box up, coated it liberally with PVA and tipped a load of large ballast over it, rolled it around a bit and left it to dry.

 

 

 

Once fitted in place the foliage was added to cover most of the wall so it just becomes a background item, not the best of pictures but I can't find another yet.

 

 

 

 

 

That almost brings the wall story up to date so I'll leave it there until complete.

 

The hedges.

 

I started off with the old scouring pad method as it is a tried and tested method so not much to say here apart from showing a picture.

 

 

 

I was quite happy with this as it looked just like my hedge out the front, nicely trimmed by the ....hedge trimmer....ahhh!!

 

Doubts started to creep in.

 

Old pictures were consulted and I was convinced they were just wrong, they did not look anything like what my vision for this area was like, some old cottages with hand trimmed hedges that were a bit sparse in places and with one cottage having a very overgrown hedge, how would I do that with scouring pads?

 

They were scrapped.

 

 

Back later with part 2.

 

 

Jim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[emt_911]

Jim

 

Great idea for the tree. It now gives me some other thoughts for creating trees. Thanks

 

Duncan

[Andrew P]

Hi Jim, I liked the hedge and the walling is brilliant, good to have you back doing some real modelling mate.

[Worsdell forever]

Yep, the string tree looks as good as I expected it to.

 

Nice to see Mrs Aberdare looking so well the other day.

[aberdare]

Thanks Duncan, Andy and Paul.

 

Oh, and you have reminded me to say thanks to the lads at TMC too for their comments on the trees, the requested order for 50 is underway

 

 

Now that hedge that I didn't like. It just looked wrong to me so I set about making something different to try and produce the more open texture I wanted with a few straggly bits.

 

So I cut a few bits of wire between 20 - 25mm and superglued them into a cardboard strip, a little sprinkle of mud was added to help them stick and create some groundwork, then I flattened them and scrunched them up, anyone would think I'd gone barmy at this stage. They were then straightened a bit but still left tangled and some shredded string was added into the mix to create the framework, as seen in this photo.

 

 

 

A quick spray then to disguise the colour of the brass wire.

 

 

 

A sprinkle of my dyed tea leaves and assess the result.

 

 

 

 

The two together.

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, that was more what I had in mind and I thought it will be easy for me to change the height and create an out of control large hedge.

 

So it grew a little bit more.....

 

 

 

...and a little more...

 

 

 

....until it got quite big.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went to bed a happy modeller that night.

 

 

Jim

 

 

 

 

 

[knobhead]

Very nice, Jim!

 

The colours and texture of the vegetation is spot on.

 

Regards,

 

Stefan

[emt_911]

Jim

 

Thanks for showing your process

 

The colour and texture of the hedges are spot on. Possibly an idea that I'm going to use.

 

Duncan

[Mikkel]

Fascinating to watch that vegetation grow Jim! And I could hardly bear the suspense - I think your first post yesterday must be the first cliff-hanger in world history to end with these words: "how would I do that with scouring pads?".   

 

The difference between the two hedges really illustrates the benefits of putting extra time and thought into modelling. The original hedge was good enough, but the airy and unkempt look of the end result adds so much more to the feeling of time and place. It looks fantastic!

[Andrew P]

Great reincarnation there Jim, had me frightened there for a few moments, hahhaha.

 

Well done mate.

[The Great Bear]

 

I went to bed a happy modeller that night.

 

 

And rightly so, a well deserved rest - fabulous modelling, Jim