Saddletank Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Hi everyone, Coming back to this forum after a couple of months away for work, when I originally came on here I had big grandiose unworkable schemes which were quietly dropped for various reasons of complexity, and back to the drawing board I went. Picked up some bits since then, although the majority is modern image for something a little larger and still in planning. That said, I've got a 03 green shunter and 3 brown presflos sticking out like a sore thumb amongst my meagre stock collection, and from this I thought I might have a crack at a simple working boxfile diorama to get some practice in. There's not much point in even drawing it out nor providing a trackplan. It'll be an interpretation of a disused branchline passing through a cutting, with the visible area between a tunnel mouth and a small overbridge, and with more than a passing similarity to the Netherhope diorama featured in this months BRM mag. It'll be late 60s/early 70s, as I presume these shunters might have still been trundling about in green livery in that timeframe? I'm thinking about providing a small former goods siding off that branch, on the other side of the line to an overgrown halt platform, which will be just long enough to berth 3 presflos. The shunter will pull in the 3 wagons through the tunnel, to the other end of the track and then reverse into the siding. Mega-simple, so more about scenery and somewhere to run the stock. It'll have a back story concocted to the effect of a large construction project nearby, and the small rail connection has been used while the disused track remains in place. The cement is unloaded by a portable air compressor to a waiting lorry in the new hardstanding, which would be accessed from over the bridge. Initially it'll have just a small cassette to hold the shunter+3 in the 'tunnel', but if I get the chance I might want to model a SMALL cement loading facility in another boxfile to be attachable to the first one. I'd have to figure out how to fold the loading tower within the boxfile, but that's for another day. I should get the chance to start work this weekend hopefully, after 6 months of dithering it'd be nice to just crack on with something! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanbuttler Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Hey saddletank, this sounds interesting - and could almost be the terminus of the line/diorama I'm working on. (I say 'working' in the loosest sense of the word however...!) I'm modelling something similar based on mid-late 60's cement traffic on a disused Mid Wales branch for a dam construction project - with an Ivatt 2MT and 2 tone green Sulzer type 2, and you guessed it.. 3 presflo's Good luck with it and I'll look forward to seeing your progress, and if you have any tips for weathering the presflo's I'm all ears, cheers Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 15, 2013 Author Share Posted April 15, 2013 Haha, snap! I've not a clue about weathering but think that's covered in either this month or last months BRM. I really am a full newcomer so weathering might take a while yet. Forgot to mention, I'm doing this in N. makes the boxfile dimensions seem quite generous compared to OO! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 23, 2013 Author Share Posted April 23, 2013 Evening all, finally made something of a start to the boxfile thingy. £5 board of insulating foam (the pink stuff, not polystyrene) was cut to fit into the box, and the track work roughly laid on to check clearances etc. I'll only be able to fit 2 presflos comfortably into the siding, so that's handy to know early on. For basic orientation, the presflos are in the siding, the shunter is on the branchline, with tunnel fiddle yard exit behind it. The bottom photo show the view from the road bridge, to the right of the track will sit an overgrown wooden halt platform. Next job is to start hacking a cutting into the foam, and shape it to the final design. I'd prefer not to have to cover it with plaster bandage etc if I can get away with sticking scenic cover materials directly to the foam. Could take some working to get it right! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 24, 2013 Author Share Posted April 24, 2013 Started hacking into the cutting, hope the sides won't be quite as steep by the time I'm done! One quick question, have I designed the road bridge too high? It was going to sit atop the foam at full height, but that seems very out of proportion with the engine sat alongside for comparison. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Job's Modelling Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 In such cases I always try to find some reference pictures of drawings. On the other hand, if it looks good after cutting and putting a bridge on it, it is good. Regards, Job Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted April 24, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 24, 2013 You could always cut the road in the the foam / hillside as well, so it's a better height over the line and curves up and around the rear of the layout. Stu Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanbuttler Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 A good example of a road bridge in a steep sided cutting is at Talerdigg, where a lane from the A470 to Bont Dolgadfan crosses the mainline: http://goo.gl/maps/EiEAv If you want to keep that steep sided hillside with a bridge, you could model it like this one, a bit further down the line from the location above - 'Bell's Bridge' on the A470, though this is the other way round - rail over top and road underneath http://goo.gl/maps/KyIID Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanbuttler Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 Some other possibly useful stuff - the old line from Llynclys Jct. to Blodwell Quarry and Nantmawr is undergoing restoration and there are some good reference images of overgrown, run down lines here, including a road bridge. http://www.osrail.co.uk/llyncjnc-blod-new.html A google image search of Blodwell Quarry also brings up some good images, hope its of use! Cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 24, 2013 Author Share Posted April 24, 2013 You could always cut the road in the the foam / hillside as well, so it's a better height over the line and curves up and around the rear of the layout.Stu Yeah, think that's what it's heading for. I thought I wouldn't have enough height to make it look natural but now it looks like the full depth of the foam is far too high. I'd like to keep some contour variation on the areas above the cutting, maybe just bring the area above the tunnel to the lip of the box. I thought about having that end made up as a rock face, almost like the branch met a seam of rock at this point so a tunnel became easier to construct than a cutting. A good example of a road bridge in a steep sided cutting is at Talerdigg, where a lane from the A470 to Bont Dolgadfan crosses the mainline: http://goo.gl/maps/EiEAv If you want to keep that steep sided hillside with a bridge, you could model it like this one, a bit further down the line from the location above - 'Bell's Bridge' on the A470, though this is the other way round - rail over top and road underneath http://goo.gl/maps/KyIID I like that second view more for some reason, though not sure if ill have the... errm... sides of the bridge(?) in stone or built up earthworks. Is there a second arch within that bridge? It looks like a brick arch halfway up over the lower arch. A bit different. Thanks for the advice guys! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 24, 2013 Author Share Posted April 24, 2013 Progress Needs some tidying up with a file, and the road levelling off, but that's pretty much it for contouring this half. Of course, the other side is the difficult bit! Of course, small variations in the contours shouldn't matter too much, as the whole thing is intended to be covered thickly in plant growth as befits a not long abandoned line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 24, 2013 Author Share Posted April 24, 2013 Other side proving a pig to carve. The cutting is much shallower on this side though so the old halt will probably be the same side as the siding now. The road surfaces and yard obviously will need some work to smooth out and will probably end up covered with filler or plaster bandage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 24, 2013 Author Share Posted April 24, 2013 More progress. Used some household paint testers going spare, and given the road areas a rough skim of plaster filler. Painted the trackbed a dirty brown/black and the bridge / tunnel areas with black poster paint. By some miracle I didn't get paint everywhere, and in other news the dining table is getting used for the first time in months. Oh, also punched through the hole for the fiddle yard. Say what you like about the joins between the boxfile parts, but the hardboard material is hard as nails for what it has to do - I had to drill through it and saw out the rest, hence the less than aesthetically pleasing shape of the hole? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 25, 2013 Author Share Posted April 25, 2013 Made an attempt at weathering the track today, using Railmatch water based paints. Not that easy to do accurately, and I'm not especially impressed with the colours - I expected a darker brown shade than the pinkish 'dark rust' paint currently applied to the rails. Tried painting the sleepers in 'sleeper grime' but the effect is barely discernible from the plastic finish of the sleepers anyway. Also rigged up a very basic wire in tube point rod for remote operation, using a strand from a piece of spare curtain wire and a pen tube, and a horrendously oversimplified power feed, as borrowed from the £100 layout thread. No soldering iron to hand, had to improvise! To get it to a barely recognisable state, I've still got to smooth over and paint the road area, and do some ballasting - something else I've never done before so could be a bit of a mare... P.S. the photos are pretty poor, I know. I'm doing this via the iPad for simplicity of uploading as I go along. Nicer pictures will occur when there's something worth photographing! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 I llike the way the railway appears "lost" in the landscape. Very effective. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 25, 2013 Author Share Posted April 25, 2013 Cheers, I'm hoping it'll look a lot more lost once the embankments are covered in foliage. I'm at the juncture now of not knowing whether to glue down the foam inserts for all eternity so I can crack on with ballasting, or to scenically detail them out of the box for better access. Got to sort out the track first though, ran the wee shunter over the point earlier and it wouldn't pick up anything past the point blades, so I've got some paint to remove somewhere. Just noticed, I've also got to paint the sides of the box sky colours before I get too carried away with sticking down the foam parts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 27, 2013 Author Share Posted April 27, 2013 I wasn't entirely happy with the appearance of the track after its first weather, so rather than try to correct it once fixed in place I had another go. With only 2 colours available it was a bit of a fudge, but it looks alright, and is certainly an improvement over fresh track work from the box! The only thing that would help it along a bit more now would be some kind of conductive colouring for the rail tops, allowing that rusty appearance to be retained. Whoever makes that will please a lot of people! More yet to do today... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 27, 2013 Author Share Posted April 27, 2013 Another paint of the foam parts, one last check the stock runs clear of scenery, and its been stuck down with copydex. Note the simple point control sticking out from under the scenery. The aim is to get ballast down today, then the foam sides can be lifted back out for scenic treatment at a convenient pace. I've yet to do any work to the rock face at the fiddle yard end of the box, though I've got a couple of offcuts that fit. They'll prob be glued in place then filler shaped on top to suit, but that can't be done until the sides are ready to be glued in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 27, 2013 Author Share Posted April 27, 2013 Wow, this is fiddly! My eyes hurt, and I've only done a small bit, I feel sorry for those who have to ballast big layouts! I see what everyone says about the N gauge ballast being overscale, quite glad of it though as I'd be driven crazy doing finer materials! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 A little more progress this evening, started cleaning up the track now the ballast is all set. Got grumpy last night and rushed the last of it, which is why it's quite messy and all over the place. Not sure whether I want to leave some of the excess bits as they are, on top of sleepers etc, as its meant to be an unkempt and soon to be ripped up line so poor ballast would probably be the norm (I think). Can anyone advise otherwise? Also sanded down the road surfaces, which should just about be visible in the photo. I've got some textured paint which will be coloured down for the roads, especially to differentiate the siding access lane and hard standing from the main roadway. I should really start greening up the brown bits next, though ill need a helluva lot more scenic material than I've currently got! Luckily the foam sides were removable after the ballast had set, and appear quite bedded into the ballast when in place. It will allow for scenery work to be completed more easily. Just noticed as well that I need to install some kind of hard edging to the hard standing, next to the siding. Don't think it would have just finished roughly like it is right now, that'll need to be done before the roads can be painted then. *BTW, Alan Buttler, in belated response to your question on how to weather presflos, I don't know how to do it properly, but having sanded back that polyfilla I have a fair idea of what you could use to depict the cement dust! I'll certainly be making extensive use of it around the offloading area and probably on the wagons too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Job's Modelling Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 Looks great already. For the hard edging maybe you can use a thin strip of wood and give it a concrete appearance. For weathering I would advice pigments or good quality chalks. In the Netherlands my art supplier has many colors. Some different shades of grey could do the job. Use to bring up the pigment the dry brush method.. Regards, Job Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 29, 2013 Author Share Posted April 29, 2013 Cheers, great advice. I'll have a look for some while in town today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hartleymartin Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 I've heard that people often use sand for ballast in N scale and use washes of black and brown to get the colour. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddletank Posted April 29, 2013 Author Share Posted April 29, 2013 Alright, no need to keep on about it! Yeah, I've seen that too, wanted to stick with the shop bought stuff for simplicity's sake. Cheers for the heads up though, I'll prob try that next time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hartleymartin Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 Alright, no need to keep on about it! Yeah, I've seen that too, wanted to stick with the shop bought stuff for simplicity's sake. Cheers for the heads up though, I'll prob try that next time. Sorry, posting from mobile phone and I think I must have pushed the "post" button a few times! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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