Guest Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Very neat and tidy. But you definitely need some of these for the embankment. Ah... urban junk. A fortune could be spent littering embankments with stuff from Ten Commandments etc etc. I haven't even got as far as thinking about that yet! With ballasting complete, I've just done a little "touch-up" work where the PVA had shrunk back as it cured, filling in the odd gap here or there. I'll make a start weathering the track tomorrow when everything's bone-dry and might even crack open the Carr's Metal Black and do some 3rd rail. I've had the Roman Way bridge supports loosely in place to see what they look like. It's a wide road and will cover a fair bit of the trackwork. I don't actually have a problem with that, as I much prefer to go easy on the visible trackwork and have trains appearing out from under bridges and disappearing through cuttings. The "now you see it, now you don't" effect. One thing I'm not sure about is graffiti... I don't like looking at it, so I don't particularly want to model it, no matter how appropriate it is to the area being modelled. Maybe a few freshly painted-out patches on the bridge supports will go some way towards satisfying reality? That said, some of the graffiti transfers you can get now are quite realistic. Edited to add: The individual bricks arrived. 2000 bricks in a little zip-seal bag the size of a credit card. I can barely even see them, never mind handle them... Deep joy. I'll keep those for a moment when (temporary) insanity looks appealing... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium NGT6 1315 Posted May 30, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 30, 2015 Hi Pete, Needed to speed-browse through several pages of updates, so to summarise what I've seen, I'll just write, great job! Looks like a fun project, even while I can tell that properly modelling an urban environment poses its own sort of challenge! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted May 30, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 30, 2015 graffiti... I don't like looking at it, so I don't particularly want to model it, no matter how appropriate it is to the area being modelled. Maybe a few freshly painted-out patches on the bridge supports will go some way towards satisfying reality? Totally understand the dilemma Pete and there have been plenty of heated discussions on the reality vs glorifying a criminal act argument that hopefully we won't reignite here Definitely go for the painted out look mate - assume the boys from the Graffiti Removal team had been there the day before! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d winpenny Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Just realised I haven't commented on this this thread great work David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Definitely go for the painted out look mate - assume the boys from the Graffiti Removal team had been there the day before! spy_Graffiti-Removal_1_1000.jpg Nice shot Colin. Now THAT is a look I could live with! Excellent... problem solved. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Hi Pete, That ballast looks fantastic, as does the walkway, your idea of using sand coloured paint to represent faded yellow is one I would of never thought of and I'm afraid I'm going to have to steal it! I love the look of the cabling, very few layouts do this well (my included!), but it looks like you're off to a good start! Of course, you'll need some wires going to those impedance bonds that are now available As ever, I look forward to more progress! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 More "urban grot" for your embankment and other fly-tipping opportunities ... http://www.shapeways.com/product/UFAS64A5A/three-piece-suite-oo-scale?li=search-results-5&optionId=17555414 http://www.shapeways.com/product/Q3D7BQK25/oo-scale-cookers?li=search-results-5&optionId=578413 http://www.shapeways.com/product/L7YHKKTQ9/oo-washing-machines?li=search-results-5&optionId=578471 (I believe you can add these to your order of St Simon's stuff above ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempfix Rich Papper Posted May 30, 2015 Tempfix Share Posted May 30, 2015 Very neat and tidy. But you definitely need some of these for the embankment. Preiser do shopping trolleys. I have some at the bottom of an embankment! http://www.osbornsmodels.com/preiser-17224-shopping-trolleys-10-6078-p.asp Rich Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Nice ballast work.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Indeed... impedance bonds duly added to the mental "must-have" list. I need to amass a few items and take advantage of the one-off Shapeways postage. With regard to the lineside cables, knowing me, none of them will actually go anywhere sensible... I just hope they add to the overall effect.Rich - I like the look of the Preiser trolleys, mainly because I have this mortal fear of bending and soldering/gluing fine metal etches, knowing full well that the air will be blue when it doesn't quite go to plan... Well, the weekend came and went and as promised, I managed to make a start weathering the track on the left-hand board. No 3rd rail yet... the weekend wasn't long enough! The three Roman Way bridge supports have been arranged for effect and when complete, it looks like being a monster structure. I took Colin's advice and opted for the freshly painted out look for the bridge supports. The "graffiti gang" have recently been busy in Croydon. Shouldn't that be "anti graffiti gang"...? As colourful as some of the graffiti transfers are, I just don't want the layout looking totally trashed. One or two tags may appear, I'm not sure yet. 3rd rail is next, and then a few more weeds and a little more lineside clutter. More soon. Edited to add... the little section of Peco flexitrack in the foreground is just there to mark the route of Tramlink. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southwich Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Wow Pete that track looks superb! Well done on the bridge too, the paint over the graffiti looks great! Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobster Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 First class work there Pete - Looking great. Cheers, Bob. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftwinguk Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Looking really smart Pete. The ballasting is time consuming but worth the labour of love with the appearance. Look forward to more updates. All the best.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Thanks guys. It's slowly starting to lose the "bare boards" look. I have a couple of streetlights to wire up on the bridge supports at the back of the layout so best get those done before anything becomes inaccessible. The Roman Way flyover itself has a central reservation with twin-head streetlamps so I also need to give some thought about the wiring run for those. The ballasting is time consuming but worth the labour of love with the appearance. Just reminded me that I have to start ballasting the other board... the one with all the pointwork... Little and often, I think, it really did takes ages and was incredibly tedious! Not my idea of fun, sadly... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 looking great Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Managed to get the fibre-optic walkway lights in place. One or two fibre-optics need a tiny height adjustment in the tube as from this angle, it's apparent that a couple are slightly dimmer than the rest. 99% of the time the lights will be off but for just a little extra effort, I thought it was worth seeing if it could be done. I have no idea of the real-life spacing of the individual light poles, but in a 4 foot (4 coach) length, I've used 24 which works out at a spacing of about 12 feet. There probably should be more, but I think it looks ok. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Hi Pete, The lighting on the walkway looks fantastic! One of those details that makes the layout really stand out! The whole thing is coming along beautifully. Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdw7300 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 That walkway looks cracking! Very impressive! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack374 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Always look forward to reading your thread Pete, superb work, especially that walkway! I also commend your approach that everything must be right, it definitely will pay dividends later! Keep up the fab work, Jack. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southwich Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 All I can say is wow! Those fibre optics are superb! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d winpenny Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Brilliant work David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
emt_911 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Those walkway lights are the mutts nuts. I'm now going to have to do an evening recce for photos to compare. Keep up the excellent work Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopardml2341 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Those walkway lights are the mutts nuts. I'm now going to have to do an evening recce for photos to compare. Keep up the excellent work Can you get a similar pov shot? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
emt_911 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Can you get a similar pov shot? I'm not sure but will have a look tomorrow Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Thanks guys. The only image I've seen that comes close is below (and I'm sure I used it earlier in the thread). The viewpoint was from the railings overlooking the railway line at the top of Tamworth Rd/Ruskin Rd just off North End. In reality, the Overground siding doesn't begin under the Roman Way flyover, it actually ends there. That's the unfortunate reality of trying to squeeze everything into 11 feet! As eye candy, the lighting looks ok, but I am very conscious that the lights shine straight up. I'm a bit concerned that trains passing the siding on the UP line are going to look like they're caught in searchlights and once the Roman Way flyover is actually in place, the underside of that will be lit up like a Christmas Tree... I have a cunning plan to re-do the lighting so that it lights only the walkway. I feel a Plan B coming on. Maybe I'm just looking for excuses to put off ballasting the pointwork! As mentioned earlier, 6 fibre-optic strands are gathered together and sheathed to a single warm white LED and then wrapped to prevent light bleed. All four LEDs under the baseboard are then powered by a simple Bachman train set controller which allows the intensity of the light to be varied. If I can somehow make the light poles illuminate just the walkway, I should be able to turn the brightness down a touch. It occurs to me that I do seem to be giving this layout a lot more thought. North Street was quite a quick build but West Croydon is going to take a bit lot longer! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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