DanielB Posted February 1, 2016 Author Share Posted February 1, 2016 Update time! West Allen Street is scheduled to appear at the Mansfield Model Railway Exhibition on the 5th and 6th March, so I've been working on getting the layout looking presentable. Unfortunately, I wasn't happy with the ground cover, so I've ripped up a good chunk of it, and attached it with DAS. So now it looks like this: Sorry about the dark photos, I'm out of the house at work during daylight hours so I had to rely on my camera flash. The DAS is still drying in the photos - it will get attacked with paint and then greenery and trash added afterwards. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Looks good mate. Can't wait to see it in the flesh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikjd Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Looks just like snow Mick. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 Progress! With Mansfield coming up this weekend, I've been spending time away from my N scale to get the layout up to a standard that Ian's show deserves. Hopefully I'm managing it. I've gone over the clay with a varying mix of black and red/brown paint, varying the shades across the board. I'm happy with the base colour, so I've also hit it with the airbrush to give it a more varied tone using Vallejo US Desert Sand and Light Grey airbrush paints mixed in various ratios - again to vary the shades. The rails have since been cleaned off and the layout re-tested and everything works fine. I've also modified the legs from my FREEMO module to support the layout and give me space to add a shelf for stock and cups of coffee at the back of the layout. Now comes the scatter, flock, static grass and the like to give it that overgrown and ill maintained look, then it'll be on to adding trash and detritus before the final details go back on. Lastly I've got a couple of locos to weather, and if I have time another one to paint up, decal and weather ready for the show. Plenty of time to go! Now, the photos: The legs: Base coated but before the airbrushing: Post airbrushing: 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 The ground cover looks like ageing concrete or asphalt. Is that the look you're aiming for? If it is, it's very good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 On the grade crossing, yes, aged asphalt is the plan. Along the rest I'm going to be adding further colours to make it look like packed earth, mud, gravel, etc. Tonight I've replaced the brickpaper concrete hard standing with styrene and card and have airbrushed a base layer of light grey. Tomorrow will see a lot more airbrushing on the ground cover to get everything looking right. For now, photos: 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadoak Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Looks good to me Daniel. Regards Peter M Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeHohn Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 (edited) Daniel, Your reworking of this area is coming along well; the early stages with all that white goop everywhere looked daunting but it's getting better at each step. I need to do a similarly urban area for our club layout so I am taking notes. Mike Edited March 4, 2016 by MikeHohn Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 Thanks chaps, sorry I've not replied sooner but I've been working on the layout. Well, that's it, it's done and ready for the exhibition. I've hopefully got an American flag waiting at my parents house to go on the front of the layout to hide the legs, but I guess we'll have to see! Photos of the finished article, plus a Broadway Limited SW9 I bought undecorrated at the NMRA BR exhibition last year and have just gotten around to painting. Let me know what you think. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 Two last photos of the track bumpers. They are soldered to the rails for stability. The surrounding greenery hides the cut in the rail to break the resulting short circuit. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted March 4, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 4, 2016 Looking forward to seeing this on Sunday at Mansfield show. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 Please introduce yourself as I'm terrible with names and faces! I'll be the one in glasses, as there are two of us on the operating crew. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Well, the 2016 Mansfield Exhibition is over for another year, and a great time was had by all. It was nice to see RBE, Andy P, Ian and all the regulars once again. Plenty of trains were run, and plenty of bargains made. I'll add photographs of my new freight cars and the like once I've had time to recover from the show. Here are a few photographs from the weekend, there are a many more taken by my fellow operator, Ford. I'll ensure they are added here once he's had time to process them. Now the show is over, I've got work to do on improving the layout some more. The building served by the kickback spur is starting to show it's age, and as a crude card structure it needs to be replaced. A suitable plastic kit will be sourced from somewhere, and shall be given a fully detailed interior. I have also purchased a 3 way switch which will be situated behind the aforementioned building to replace the sector plate, and a 3' extension added to the right hand end of the layout to allow for easier loading of stock onto the fiddle track, as trying to get stock on the sector plate in such narrow quarters caused more pain than I was happy with over the weekend. The general idea is to use the sector plate as the fiddle track and put another kickback spur along the front of the board, serving an industry that takes loads in gondolas, as I now have 7 in total due to the purchases from the show. I'm thinking perhaps a stone cutting company, as it'll be interesting and different to model the blocks of quarried stone arriving in the gondolas. I'm not sure if such an industry would exist in such an urban area, but I might just take advantage of modelers licence and go ahead with it anyway. Finally, I'm adding a gantry crane to the front of the metals factory for loading of heavy items, so I might add some larger doors onto the loading dock as well to justify it. Oh, and I did receive an invitation for the layout to the 2017 Nottingham Model Railway Exhibition, which was a very pleasant surprise! 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) Dan - how about a monumental masons - gravestones etc - there is (or was - not sure if it is still there) a small one in Dingwall - Not rail-served but I can probably get photos. I know it had a stiff-leg derrick crane outside Edited March 7, 2016 by shortliner 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted March 7, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 7, 2016 Or a building restoration company making replacement coping stones window lintels etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Thanks for the suggestions gents. Those photos would be greatly appreciated Jack if you can find them. This morning my wife had a lie in after her 12 hour shift so I had some time to fit a decoder in a Stewart/Kato U25b I picked up at Mansfield. Took me about 30 minutes once I'd read up on the installation on the TCS website. It had been in storage for a while so was a bit stiff to begin with but now it purrs like a kitten. I have also been stripping an old partially built micro layout so it can donate it's board to the extension to West Allen Street, which will be renamed West Allen and Thorne once the layout extension is finished. Updates to come as they happen. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Dan - can't promise when, it really needs to be a nice sunny day - like today was! But hopefully next visit there will be fine and I can get them for you Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) Had a thought to save you waiting Go to google maps street view and put in Lidl, Tulloch street, Dingwall. It is on the other side of the road from the entrance to their car-park - It looks as though the derrick has gone it used to be on the LHS of the yard as you face it. Lidl car park entrance is behind you. Hope it helps - a click will enlarge it slightly Edited March 7, 2016 by shortliner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Oh, I thought you meant a US prototype. Don't worry about making a special trip just for me! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 As promised, here are photographs of my new additions sourced at the Mansfield show. All were bargains at the prices I paid. Stewart Hobbies (Kato mechanism) U25B. This will be getting a Midland Belt patch job. Four gondolas I purchased to use on the planned extension. The three Santa Fe ones all have the same running numbers, but will be getting MBRR patches so it shouldn't matter. The two which are weathered were done by RBE whilst he had his airbrush out working on Burton on Trent. I'll convert him to the Dark Side yet.... Next a couple of gas tankers - I needed something more modern than the dome car I've already got to use at the show, and these were the only suitable cars for sale on the day. A little basic but they are Athearn blue box, so I'm not expecting Exactrail quality! A pair of Lifelike Thrall-Door box cars, which might look crude with their paint schemes, especially the underframe and trucks on the IT one, but they were £2.50 each, so I just couldn't pass them up! Next, the only Exactrail car for sale at the entire show, so I snapped it up at £18. Another Athearn box car - this time Burlington Northern to add some much needed colour to my collection of red and brown cars. Finally, some road vehicles suitable for the period: 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Hi Daniel, Good to see you at the weekend, the Layouts looking really good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Thanks Andy. I know US modelling isn't your cup of tea (coffee ) but praise from an excellent layout builder such as yourself is nice indeed! I have to say, your sound fitted Gronk has got me thinking.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 A little progress to report for today. The ITC thrall door car has had the red trucks and underframe painted black. I've also primed a gantry crane I'm kitbashing for the Handy Co spur. Finally I've laid track on the board to show what the extension will look like. Only placed there for now but you should get the gist of it. The left hand track will be the behind the back scene fiddle track, the middle track is the stone cutters, and the right track is an abandoned spur used to store locomotives between jobs. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robatron86 Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Nice haul matey! Extension looks interesting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted March 12, 2016 Author Share Posted March 12, 2016 Tonight's progress: The first full mock up of Thorne, the extension to West Allen Street. The huge stone cutters factory dominates the back scene, made from several Rix Smalltown USA kits. The spur at the front is the abandoned industrial spur which now serves as locomotive stabling for the Midland Belt Railroad. Finally, on the left is a large brick office building, this will have no front and a fully detailed interior. Beside it will be a small junk yard. The next stage is tracklaying. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now