Port Chambre

[47137]

The bund wall steps idea was following the example in this image : http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/image/12921-falmouth-docks/

 

but I accept there would not be a need in all cases

Plastruct do 1:100 scale open-tread stairs and two short lengths of this would make a set of steps.

 

I do like the photograph - buildings from every period and details like the U-shaped arrangement of shipping containers with a roof over the gap too.

 

- Richard.

[CourthsVeil]

Aaahh, so small steps there (http://www.rmweb.co....falmouth-docks/) …

And not even a safety hand rail!     

 

Naaah, my bund wall is rather low, so the staff must live with the fact

that they have to straddle^*) over it – will do at least for the time being.  8)  8)  8) 

 

  Armin

 

^*) or climb or crawl (depending on BMI) …     

[CourthsVeil]

Yesterday Mrs. CV informed me that my last layout, the ultra compact time saver Enigma Sidings, had gathered a lot dust and cobwebs. Not so good when the grandsons are on the way to their weekly visit here and expect (!) a working layout!

 

So I dusted and hoovered it and did some minor repairs: glued a torn fence, rectified a coupling, etc. Also forgot not to clean the rails (IPA) and the wheels (brass brush – video clip).

 

Then before lunch we had half an hour of serious shunting work. At least for the boys it was serious – for me it was more a loco race… But much fun we had!

 

More to come – watch this space!

 

   Armin

[CourthsVeil]

This and That

 

Having got over one of my "Let me think about things" moments (?  four weeks of “moments”…     ), also I know of a lack of motivation. Called Procrastination too?

So I strolled around and did this and that…

 

For instance I had made the armature of a deciduous tree; again with the sisal fibres, which I prefer over filter floss. When it came to apply that leafy stuff, I became uncertain. What I had at hand didn’t please me really: Foam – grasslike fibres – foliage – etc.

I deci­ded to sacrifice it and use it for experiments with various matters, amongst them my home­made fall leaves.

The individual branches are well separated (and can be easily bent) so I could apply diffe­rent stuff to different bran­ches:

 

 

 

Now I know what to choose (and what to avoid    ).

 

My camera has kind of a problem with the colours: whereas the background and the brown and the dark green leaves are represented here rather truely, the two “yellow” branches (img 1+2) in fact are a light (pale) green:

 

 

 

Apart from this I observe that the hairspray I use (instead of a fixative) does affect the colours of the foliage – depending on the dye the manufacturer uses?

And, as you can see, the uppermost branches still provide enough room for further experiments…      
–  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –

 

 

Another distraction from what I should be doing these days:

 

There was an Ore Car with a really ugly plastic load, it was badly defined and shiny …

 

 

 

Also – I didn’t like the heap in the middle; in a prototype wagon this would be flat­tened rather quickly.

So I got some scrap foam core and made a new insert, well chamfered:

 

 

 

This was covered with chinchilla dust:

 

 

 

Looks much better, I’m sure.

 –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –

 

 

Quite often our kitchen sees some herbs: dill, oregano, mince, thyme etc.

Yeah, thyme…   Makes fine trees…

There was a thyme twig, drying since ages on my shelf. So I grabbed the power drill. Result:

 

 

 

It fits, windswept, bowed by the gusts…
 

Next instalment here will show some real progress, promised!      

 

  Armin

[CourthsVeil]

Fencing:

 

Usually a customs office has a border separating the traffic: here goods already treated by the officials, there goods coming from abroad and awaiting declaration etc.

In the German Stummiforum I found the description how to use tulle (gift wrap) to make a nice wire fence. Which I followed loosely. Some pins serve as fence posts, tulle strips were cut (2x10 cm) and sprayed olive green:

 

 

 

With the small hand drill I made fine holes into the soil I had glued with PVA (set hard like concrete!). Then the play requiring much patience began: attach invisible (!) drops of CA glue to the first pin and place the tulle quite cautiously – whilst keeping an eye to its height.

Wait.

Repeat with next pin/tulle strip.

Etc.

Here we are:

 

 

 

 

Partly complemented with some hedge and shrubbery:

 

 

 

 

More to come – watch this space!

 

Now I would like to wish you all
a very Merry Chistmas
and all the Best for the New Year

 

Armin

[Removed a/c]

Merry Christmas & Happy New year to you and your family Armin. The grandchildren are surely going to enjoy that !! 

[CourthsVeil]

Now, that’s the beauty of those small layouts:
Not only that you can put the actual one quickly out of the way  (i.e. which you are working at today);
No, you are also able to switch from one to another within a minute…

 

For example, if your grandsons are visiting you, you can put Port Chambre aside and re­place it by Hendel Lane. Which they have never seen (and operated) before, because it is the first micro I ever made. Was stored out of the way in the basement…

 

And then you can change over to – say – Enigma Sidings and enjoy some “time saving” with the boys. Giving kids’ eyes that certain radiance.

 

Or maybe get Violet Valley… ?    ?   ?    ?

 

You only need several empty tables    

 

Until next time…

 

  Armin

 

 

PS – Hendel Lane:

 

 

[CourthsVeil]

Port Authority

 

The festive days are over and I have time (and the mood) to come back to my current micro layout.

Me thinks there should be a view blocker near the lower right corner to hide the entrance from the fiddle stick:

 

 

 

Progress can be seen in my Pappendeckel thread (still in  the mock up phase… ).

 

Regards

   Armin

[CourthsVeil]

Obstacles

 

Nothing done at the object of this thread. Nearly nothing…

Something went in between…

 

First was when the Memsahib got the idea to 'deconstruct' our Christmas tree alone. That resulted in flooding a corner in the living room. Where the Fritz Box (router and access point) was has been.

After that she returned from Memsahib mode back to the usual Good Lady mode…
Nice (expletives omitted)!

Three days without access to the WWW.

Instead of modelling I had to try a half dried device (no avail), then search for a replacement and thereafter install it…

 

Second obstacle was when I searched the net for points and stumbled over an offer I had trouble to resist     

Now, I’ve learned to deal with troubles…   
So, next day, I sent out the order.      

 

It is a Beginner’s Bundle consisting of a nice diesel shunter (Lenz, DCC), three goods vans plus some three yards Tillig Elite track and a really nice point. No controller included.
And the price? Sshhhhh – just a bargain!

 

Two days later a big packet arrived; naturally I had to try it and I must say: the loco could not perform better! I run it in DC mode only with one of my trusted back-EMF throttles. Silk-smooth starts      

 

Regarding the look of the loco (German BR V 36.4 – see here) the opinions are quite mixed: many call it the ugliest loco in the world, others say it has “a personality”. It is simply a matter of taste.

I had been searching for quite a while for this shortliner/shunter (there is a Roco model of “lesser fame” (polite words) and a Trix one made of un­obtainium).

Now I have this.

Well, I am really chuffed      

 

Here it is combined with a Donnerbüchse and a van:

 

 

 

Of course all the vehicles in said Start Set were neat and shiny and needed some rust and dirt. Not too much! 

So out with Revell no. 36184 and then some powders (left: still untreated):

 

 

 

Unfortunately, I’m not yet convinced of my work. So I will stash them away and have another look at them after a few weeks. May well be that then they will be to my taste…
 

Now back to the current project, the topic of this topic.

Watch this.

Regards

  Armin

 

 

 

Link to offer – sold out!

Unfortunately there's no English Wikipedia entry; German here.

[CourthsVeil]

Port Authority, cont'd.

 

Sorry for the delay in writing this up. Well, it’s flu time… Felt quite knackered.

Now at last a small bit of progress:

 

The Port Authority Building I had started a few weeks ago did not live up to my expectati­ons. Colour of the bricks much too flamboyant…

 

Began anew with other outline and more subdued brick colour. Much better now. See my Card-Buildings-Thread.
 

Foamcore and card make a fitting base for the structure (left: top down, right: in situ):

 

 

Then a hatch to access the roof and a rain pipe added plus a bit weathering and finally put down the new building:

 

 

The port loco (ex Porto di Savona [Fleischmann]) slowly creeping in from the fiddle stick.

 

I like it, just to my taste!

 

Next – and last – task will be the water with small barge.

 

As usual your comments and suggestions are welcome.

  Armin

[47137]

Looking good.

 

My suggestion - how about some railings or portable barriers to stop vehicles being driven into spaces where they should not go, like between the Port Authority building and the track? I'm thinking, along the line of the weeds in the photo above.

 

- Richard.

[CourthsVeil]

Water !

 

This is a Port and as such needs some water, doesn’t it? To make “water” I don’t use PVA or the like but Perspex (brand name here: Plexiglas) with a wavy surface. A detailed description is given (with due credit) in my Three Tiers thread there.

 

From the very beginning of this little project I had provided for this:

 

 

 

I now cut two lengths of L-channel (alu 10x10mm) and attached them with screws to the board edges:

 

 

 

Next thing was to grab a piece of perspex with a wavelike relief, sew it to fit the above rebate (correct word?), and colour its flat back: light green (very little), olive (much) plus a brown rim. Quick and easy.

 

 

 

Here mocked up: 

 

 

 

 

More to follow soon – must be stabilized and get a "wet" surface…

 

  Armin

[CourthsVeil]

Just a short progress info:

First I covered the rim of the basin with black corrugated boad to represent a sheet pile wall:

 

 

 

Brushed then clear gloss varnish (first grade for boats) on and got a nice shiny, really wet looking surface:

 

 

 

Rust and algae to follow…

[CourthsVeil]

After drying the gloss varnish lets me see nice reflections of the sheet pile wall:

 

 

 

Two hues of green chalk dusted on the pile sheet wall make algae and other green filth:

 

 

 

Then some dark brown chalk applied let the sheets “rust”:

 

 

 

Now some plates to cover the sheets…

 

Thanks for the Likes etc. – Armin

[CourthsVeil]

The longer edge of the basin has no hardstanding. It now sports a cover of large concrete (asbestos?) tiles:

 

 

 

 

Posh, isn’t it?

 

In the pipeline now is a small car float or barge; must have a think how to make this…

[47137]

Suggestion - a floating landing stage might be easier to make than a barge - they often look like a wooden or metal framework "floating" on the water, with buoyant tanks underneath. There could be a connecting ramp up to the quayside, or a vertical ladder against the piling.

 

I do like the corrugated paper as sheet piling.

 

- Richard.

[CourthsVeil]

I'm afraid, too late, Richard. Wooden corpus already sawed, painted etc.  ...

More to follow soon.

  Armin

[CourthsVeil]

Car Float

 

Against the wall in our basement there is leaning a lot of ply and other sheets – stock for the always searching modeller. Amongst those I found a suitable slab of 18mm (¾”) ply. A 8x18cm piece of this will make a nice small lighter to be located in the basin I described in my last posts.  

It turned out that it was some 5mm low, so I packed a 8x18cm piece of 4mm foamcore at its underside. To chamfer this was much easier than to do the same with the wooden body:

 

 

 

Since I don’t know what my rattle can paint will do to the foam I covered the package with simple paper (yes, I know, could have simply “primed” it with PVA) and only then sprayed all dark brown:

 

 

 

Now it was just 1mm lower than the desired level (track already laid out) – deliberately! Because I can work better with a 1mm card than with the full wooden body. This shows how the rails on board fit to the rail joiners I had provided months ago:

 

 

 

Here I have to admit that I (then) had made a mistake: when laying out the concrete I completely forgot to provide for a retractable connection between Land and Barge (also called a linkspan). Instead I buried the sleepers fully in the plaster – doooh!
When I discovered this it was too late. So I simp­ly attached the rail joi­ners and hope to make my fault invisible (at least to polite compa­ny…).
Which means: no link span/gantry that I had fancied.

 

 

The card will serve as deck plate and support for the rails, duly dirtied and somewhat rusty.

 

Hope you like it...

 

   Armin

[Northroader]

Couldn't it be just a little bit nearer a shape suggesting something made to move through the water, rather than a plain rectangular block? Slightly incurved ends, rounded corners, or sloping ramps underneath at the ends, a bit like a lighter?

[CourthsVeil]

Thanks, Northroader and Mullie, good point.

 

The first pic in my last post shows some chamfering I did.

This is the underwater part of the barge, "sloping ramps underneath…"

In the other two images this feature is (unfortunately) lost in the shadow.

 

And, yes, the deck will have rounded corners – all still in the making.

 

Regards

  Armin

[Fat Controller]

There used to be a chain-hauled 'carfloat' that carried wagons of salt from Salins du Midi to Fos sur Mer. My recollection is that it was pretty spartan.

[CourthsVeil]

Thank you, Brian.

 

As my layout depicts a forlorn and rather unkempt haven,

the barge servicing it probably will be rather simple too.

Not much money to invest by the entrepreneurs there…        

 

Regards

  Armin

[rue_d_etropal]

Brian, I have seen that photo  as well. It basically took over when the CF de Camargue metre gauge line closed down, or was as much a reason for it closing, as the railway bridge at Arles had been destroyed by Allied bombing, so it was easier to take salt wagons across the river by this ferry.

found this

http://railmc04.chez.com/images/y7200%20barcarin2.jpg

[47137]

Rewinding all the back to Armin's post number 14 (which I have stored in long-term memory) I have started painting my track using Tamiya XF-68 "Nato Brown" and this is coming out really nicely, it has a bit more life to it than the Railmatch "frame dirt" but it is not overpowering.

 

I am brushing it on from the jar and it seems to flow nicely too. Two coats.

 

Thanks.

 

- Richard.

[CourthsVeil]

Thanks, Richard, good to know my hint works for you.

The jar I use now is rather old and it seems (?) that the paint has darkened a bit.

Therefore I now add a little bit of Sienna to it.

But I still prefer this colour because it is not as reddish as most "rust" paints.

 

 

 

Now back to what I did this week: 

 

The deck with its well worn surface (looks bent but it is not):

 

 

 

Should not be forgotten: a magnet buried under deck to facilitate uncoupling:

 

 

 

The rails are cut to length and this will help to maintain the 16.5mm gauge – a flex track clamp:

 

 

Still a lot to do here…

 

  Armin