The Furness Valley Railroad

[Fettster42]

And despite soon to be hidden under more stuff the neatness and quality of the workmanship is amazing. Really enjoying watching the progress on this,

 

Leigh

[chaz]

Next step was to put some profile sections (again using very thick, double layer corrugated card - the packaging from my Hi-Fi) in behind the road bed.

 

 

That's not super-elevation on that curve - it's the angle I held the camera at.

 

I added more woven strips - I couldn't stick to a strict over-under-over-under weave as the shape is a bit tricky. Providing there are enough crossovers to lock the weave together it doesn't seem to matter.

 

 

Last job today was to go over the section of weave in front of the track with kitchen roll. This is a bit of an experiment.

 

 

I coated pieces of the kitchen roll with a cheap PVA and placed it over the weave, overlapping each piece. I brushed it down with more PVA. Of course this is far too thin to hide the weave but it will I hope form the continuous base on which the plaster shell can be added, with no holes.

 

Chaz

Edited May 1, 2014 by chaz

[chaz]

I found myself cutting the kitchen roll pieces into squares - "Hang on, what does that remind me of?" So I swapped the kitchen roll (purloined from the kitchen) for a narrower roll (purloined from the loo) which saves me the trouble of cutting squares. Not sure what this material says about the standard of my modelling....

[chaz]

I ended up tearing kitchen roll into 2" wide strips when I was working on my scenery; hence avoiding any lavatorial connotations....   

 

I don't care, it's all tissue paper after all.   The toilet paper I am using does seem a little less tough than the kitchen roll but once it is locked in place with PVA it don't think it will make much difference.

[chaz]

Applying DAS to the RH bridge abutment. First I pinned some strips of balsa wood to help get a fairly even thickness.

 

 

I coated the foam board shell with PVA to help the DAS to bond and then thumbed small bits of DAS into place, "smearing" it on and using the balsa strips to get a reasonably level surface. I coated both sides of the foam board with PVA - I hope that this will help to stop the board warping - if the paper face on just one side shrinks the board may well curve.

 

 

After moving one of the balsa strips I could add another band of the DAS.

 

 

I have found that getting a "new" blob of DAS to merge with an "old" blob can be tricky - a line on the join can be stubborn and won't always smooth out. As the DAS dries it will often crack along these joins. The solution is to use a modelling tool to "scribe" lines across the join. This draws the fibres that are in the clay across the join and lock the two sides together.

 

This is the abutment with the whole front surface covered.

 

 

The surface is not totally flat - it doesn't need to be - but IMHO it's good enough. I will wait until the DAS has dried out a bit before trying to trim the edges. I found that if I tried to do this while the clay is very soft it just tears away from the edge giving me a repair job to do.

 

Tomorrow I will have a go at carving the stonework.

 

Chaz

Edited May 2, 2014 by chaz

[chaz]

Weather over the weekend just too nice to stay inside.... and anyway the clay was still a bit too soft......(excuses, excuses)... so no carving.

I did add some pencil lines to the DAS to guide the stonework. It does provide a way of checking for any bumps or hollows that need correcting before the stonework is done. The DAS is not totally flat but looks good enough to me.

 

 

Chaz

[chaz]

Scribed up the flat face of the RH abutment today....

 

 

...takes a while but results are satisfying. When I did the setts for the yard on Dock Green I experimented with various tools for cutting details into DAS. I found one of the most effective to be the end of that type of needle-file that has a curved face on both sides.

 

Chaz

[chaz]

Looking very affective Chaz. I shall be watching with interest to see how you colour the stone work.

 

When I did the setts on Dock Green I used washes of artist's acrylics and I'm intending to do the same with these walls (but not until both have been carved). As they support a bridge over a river there will be the chance for some interesting colour work at the base of the walls.

 

WTS

 

Chaz

[chaz]

Carving the stonework on the two abutments nearly finished (just a few dodgy bits to make good)....

 

 

...I am left wondering whether to leave the stone blocks with a smooth front face, or to carve them to a rough "chiselled" look. That would require quite a bit more work - I think a small test piece is in order to see how tricky this would be.

 

Test fitting of the two abutments....

 

 

I am looking forward to seeing a train come round that curve and roll through the girders, should look good - the bridge certainly looks the part. Some way off though - I won't be spiking any rail down on this section until the bridge is fixed in place and before that I need to do the river and finish the abutments.

 

 

Next I need to try some colour (another use for that test piece).

 

Chaz

Edited May 11, 2014 by chaz

[chaz]

Homemade stone work, well executed like yours Chaz, always looks far superior to the ready made stuff. Well worth the effort.

 

Thanks Paul. Maybe that's because there are no joins and the stonework can be convincingly carried around corners. Also I like this sort of work, it's satisfying and not always quite as tedious as it looks - there's a sense of achievement which keeps you going.

 

Chaz

[chaz]

Here's the sample wall I have made up to do some experiments on (rather than risk wrecking the abutments)...

 

 

....and here's what I did to the face of the stones - using a variety of burrs in a Dremel. The needle file is to further cut the joints between the stones if these are lost when cutting the surfaces and the paint brush is for clearing away the dust (plenty of that produced) so that I can see the results.

 

 

And lastly a merciless closeup of part of the wall. I think the joints may need sharpening up a bit.

 

 

Next step will be add some colour. Washes should allow the joints to collect colour, so they might not need further cutting. WTS.

 

Chaz

[N15class]

Some of those stones are a good impression of stones layed off bed. The flaking looks very good.

[ThePurplePrimer]

I agree that the flaking looks very effective - would be interested to know exactly how you did that if you have time too explain

[chaz]

I agree that the flaking looks very effective - would be interested to know exactly how you did that if you have time too explain

 

Thanks Rob. The "flaking"? Something of a happy accident. I put a flat ended burr in my Dremel with the intention of detailing the stones but not knowing quite how it would turn out and the result was as you can see. The layered effect is the result of several passes with the burr. A very light touch is needed as the DAS disappears at an alarming speed under the cutting action of a spinning burr.

 

Chaz

[81A Oldoak]

Here's the sample wall I have made up to do some experiments on (rather than risk wrecking the abutments)...

 

 

....and here's what I did to the face of the stones - using a variety of burrs in a Dremel. The needle file is to further cut the joints between the stones if these are lost when cutting the surfaces and the paint brush is for clearing away the dust (plenty of that produced) so that I can see the results.

 

 

And lastly a merciless closeup of part of the wall. I think the joints may need sharpening up a bit.

 

 

Next step will be add some colour. Washes should allow the joints to collect colour, so they might not need further cutting. WTS.

 

Chaz

Chaz,

How long did it take you to treat this sample?

 

Chris

[chaz]

Chaz,

How long did it take you to treat this sample?

 

Chris

 

About a couple of hours, Chris. Worth it I think as the bridge over the river will be the centre-piece of this section of the layout.

 

My next dilemma is what colour to go for for the stonework, greys or buff/browns?

 

Chaz

Edited May 18, 2014 by chaz

[chaz]

 

Trickiest part of the job is keeping the Dremel steady - should it waver the burr might well wreak havoc across the surface. Oh, and don't press too hard - you don't want to drill a hole.

 

Snap below is a close-up of the flat ended burr that I have done most of the stonework detailing with.

 

 

The burr is 1.4mm in diameter. I think I scrounged it from a dentist (I have had it while so I can't be sure - always worth asking if your fang-farrier has any blunt ones - they will be quite sharp enough for most modelling tasks).

 

Chaz

[Barnaby]

Chaz that stonework sample is fantastic, as they say no pain no gain. 

 

That will definitely get away from the repeatability [boring] look you get with using plastic sheet.  Similarly I notice some weathering is made along a panel with a dirty mix which is dab dab dab approach witch again gives the object that boring look because the stains get put at the same height and position along the object run. 

For me I intend to have three similar shades but noticeably different which I will dab on to the wall run and then give it an all over light dirt mist to combine everything.  Well that's the plan when I get around to it..

 

Looking very good.

 

Regards

[81A Oldoak]

About a couple of hours, Chris. Worth it I think as the bridge over the river will be the centre-piece of this section of the layout.

 

My next dilemma is what colour to go for for the stonework, greys or buff/browns?

 

Chaz

 

10 feet of retaining wall needed for Cwm Bach. Hmmmm.

[chaz]

Chaz that stonework sample is fantastic, as they say no pain no gain. 

 

That will definitely get away from the repeatability [boring] look you get with using plastic sheet.  Similarly I notice some weathering is made along a panel with a dirty mix which is dab dab dab approach witch again gives the object that boring look because the stains get put at the same height and position along the object run. 

For me I intend to have three similar shades but noticeably different which I will dab on to the wall run and then give it an all over light dirt mist to combine everything.  Well that's the plan when I get around to it..

 

Looking very good.

 

Regards

 

Thanks for the comment. Appreciated.

 

I will probably start adding colour by applying washes. When I did the setts on Dock Green I found this a very effective way of getting the joints done as the washes will collect in them.

[chaz]

10 feet of retaining wall needed for Cwm Bach. Hmmmm.

 

How would you eat an elephant?

[81A Oldoak]

How would you eat an elephant?

I've never really liked elephant; it's bit tough. However, I'll settle for a decent cow cut into into nice steaks. Meanwhile, I'll hold off until I see what your carved walling looks like after painting. 

 

Chris

[keefr2]

How would you eat an elephant?

Two in the front, two in the back....sorry, wrong elephant joke!

 

The texturing you've put on that stonework looks incredibly realistic Chaz, really very nice indeed!

 

As to the colour wouldn't it depend on the geology in your bit of Pennsylvania?

 

Keith

[chaz]

 

The texturing you've put on that stonework looks incredibly realistic Chaz, really very nice indeed!

 

As to the colour wouldn't it depend on the geology in your bit of Pennsylvania?

 

Keith

 

Thanks, Keith, but I think Chris might be right to wait until he sees the colour applied before he gets too excited. Maybe later this coming week....

 

Pennsylvania geology? Well, yes, I suppose so. But then "my bit" of Pennsylvania, the Furness Valley, is entirely mythical. Doesn't that let me off the hook?

 

Chaz

[chaz]

I've never really liked elephant; it's bit tough.

 

Elephant stew, but it needs rather a lot of onions and a huge pot (Don't forget to take the tusks off).