Midnight-Freight Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 I have to say, I love the look of this layout so far! I will certainly be using your technique to ballast. Did you use any special equipment to ballast or just position it hen watered down PVA glue? Look forward to seeing your progress! Hi, No I just used the common method. Sprinkled the ballast over the tracks then used a soft paint brush to even it out between the tracks. I then used a very small brush to remove ballast from the sleeper tops and neaten up the edges. Sprayed it all over with water and a drop of washing up liquid then soaked it in a watered down pva mix. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 Looking forward to more pictures!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWhippyO Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Hi, No I just used the common method. Sprinkled the ballast over the tracks then used a soft paint brush to even it out between the tracks. I then used a very small brush to remove ballast from the sleeper tops and neaten up the edges. Sprayed it all over with water and a drop of washing up liquid then soaked it in a watered down pva mix. Thanks for that advice! When you say you sprayed then soaked in PVA, does that affect the rails at all? What is the purpose of spraying it all then soaking with the PVA mix? Cheers, James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted December 30, 2015 Author Share Posted December 30, 2015 Thanks for that advice! When you say you sprayed then soaked in PVA, does that affect the rails at all? What is the purpose of spraying it all then soaking with the PVA mix? Cheers, James If you put the pva mix onto dry ballast it won't soak in so well and the ballast will clump together and you'll end up with a bit of a mess so the idea is to spray it with a fine mist of water/washing up liquid to dampen it without dislodging the ballast. I used an eye dropper to spread the pva mix over the ballast. Although the rail tops get wet you shouldn't end up with any glue on them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 (edited) So over the festive period I managed to get a bit of scenic work done. Still more to be added but it's getting there... I'm kinda making it up as I go along although I have an idea in my head of what I want it to look like and it's heading in the right direction. I definitely need to start looking into static grass to add an extra dimension. Just the two pics which show the end board with what is some kind of ballast loading area with a rather crude road crossing. Secondly a view of the whole board with some greenery and a meandering path. Edited January 4, 2016 by Midnight-Freight 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCML100 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 looking really good - wish i could make progress this fast... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 Not much been happening recently what with going back to work after the Xmas break and decorating. One thing I have done (and some viewers may want to avert their eyes) is replace the horrendous glazing on the pair of Hornby class 37's I bought a while back. Although they're no Bachmann I like them, especially as they are the weathered EWS liveried version. To say it was a fiddly job would be an understatement but worth the effort I think. I didn't do the cab side windows as this required cutting out the side pillar which I didn't fancy. I'm not sure how those buffers found their way onto the model though as i'm sure the class 37 only ever had oval buffers? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Nope a lot had round as well, even till later in life. Google " 37116 " Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 Nope a lot had round as well, even till later in life. Google " 37116 " So they did. In that case I can probably get away with leaving as is. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Nice scenery above!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 Well it's been 2 months and things have ground to a halt. Decorating the house has been dominating my time and after deciding that the layout would need a more permanent home I was going to board the loft out and keep it up there. With my house being a relative new build I'm not convinced I won't run into issues with the ceiling sagging (or worse) if I board out some of the loft. I'd be interested to hear what others have done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 (edited) Well it's been 2 months and things have ground to a halt. Decorating the house has been dominating my time and after deciding that the layout would need a more permanent home I was going to board the loft out and keep it up there. With my house being a relative new build I'm not convinced I won't run into issues with the ceiling sagging (or worse) if I board out some of the loft. I'd be interested to hear what others have done. My other half has recently bought a new build house and has encoutered similar problems, though with the walls. Everything is damn plasterboard so can't take weight etc. The loft area will no doubt be similar with a very thin ceiling material, but likely lots of insulation material. You can probably cross brace the ceiling to strengthen it before boarding it, might be worth googling for advice or asking in diy shops perhaps? Forgot to add, nice progress so far. The track and ballast works well. The 58 and 37s look the part to me. Older and simpler models are great for starting with and it is a similar path I'm taking with some old Mainline/early Hornby 56s and a 92 on my desk waiting repairs/rewiring and then detailing. A Lima 50 a pair of old Mainline 42s also await me doing something with them (both the 42s being D827 Kelly naturally). I'll probably add a couple of lima 73s and a 59 or 60 to the roster as time goes on, but most of my stock will be kit-built/kit-based EMUs. Edited March 18, 2016 by Kelly Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted March 19, 2016 Author Share Posted March 19, 2016 My other half has recently bought a new build house and has encoutered similar problems, though with the walls. Everything is damn plasterboard so can't take weight etc. The loft area will no doubt be similar with a very thin ceiling material, but likely lots of insulation material. You can probably cross brace the ceiling to strengthen it before boarding it, might be worth googling for advice or asking in diy shops perhaps? Forgot to add, nice progress so far. The track and ballast works well. The 58 and 37s look the part to me. Older and simpler models are great for starting with and it is a similar path I'm taking with some old Mainline/early Hornby 56s and a 92 on my desk waiting repairs/rewiring and then detailing. A Lima 50 a pair of old Mainline 42s also await me doing something with them (both the 42s being D827 Kelly naturally). I'll probably add a couple of lima 73s and a 59 or 60 to the roster as time goes on, but most of my stock will be kit-built/kit-based EMUs. Yes ceiling joists don't look that substantial and no sign of any load bearing internal walls, plus lots of insulation. Was thinking to cross-brace to spread the load and raise the floor height so as not to disturb the insulation too much. will have to keep researching. Thanks, I do like some of the older models but would like to add some Bachmann 37's, 66 etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Yes ceiling joists don't look that substantial and no sign of any load bearing internal walls, plus lots of insulation. Was thinking to cross-brace to spread the load and raise the floor height so as not to disturb the insulation too much. will have to keep researching. Thanks, I do like some of the older models but would like to add some Bachmann 37's, 66 etc. You can get special bolts/screw things for partition walls that can then allow heavier items to be attached. I wonder if using the joists/side/end walls might be good to help add support? though again my other half's internal walls, even seemingly between the houses are weak. Eventually the plan will be to replace gradually with newer models in my case but to get started, older models are easier to fund etc and I feel less trepidation about taking a saw to an old lima/Hornby/mainline model than I would a newer model that cost £100-200+ potentially. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Any more updates my mate?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 Any more updates my mate?? Unfortunately not. The layout has been stuck under my bed for the last month or so gathering dust while I decorate the house. I've kinda reached a point where I'm not sure what to do. It had always been my intention to have it as a portable layout but the reality of setting it all up and unpackaging all the stock makes that prohibitive. I don't have anywhere to set it up permanently so had thought to board part of the loft out and keep it there but this isn't something I'm overly happy about doing, as mentioned in my posts above. Not sure which direction to go at the moment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted April 10, 2016 Author Share Posted April 10, 2016 Well after a bit of shifting about the layout should hopefully have a semi-permanent new home in the next couple of weeks so I can get on with things again. In the meantime I popped along to the Nene Valley Railway Spring diesel gala today. Here's a few piccies: 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovetrains6 Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Nice pictures there!! Looks like it was a good day. Johan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 nice set of pictures!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 And I'm back!! After selling most of my bedroom furniture and replacing with two rather large chest of drawers that stretch the length of the far wall I now have a convenient place to keep the layout semi-permanently. I gave it a good vacuum and cleaned the track and all was working fairly well. Hopefully now I can get on with things, probably starting with the TMD area which needs concreting and then it's a case of deciding whether to scratch build the depot building or use one of the off the shelf options. A few pics, starting with the layouts new home: Slightly under scale 360o excavator at rest with various mineral wagons in the background: My current collection of mostly Bachmann mea wagons along with a few Hornby coalfish and one solitary Hornby seacow sitting in the sidings with a pair of EWS 37's in the foreground: I clearly also need to sort out some lighting to enable me to take some half decent pics. More to follow soon I hope. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitbull1845 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 Layout looks good, nice selection of wagons too. I wish my layout was in the comfort of my bedroom, I don't think the wife would share my views... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted April 19, 2016 Author Share Posted April 19, 2016 Layout looks good, nice selection of wagons too. I wish my layout was in the comfort of my bedroom, I don't think the wife would share my views.. Thanks. Haha fortunately (or unfortunately?) that's not a concern of mine at the moment. Might be a bit of a passion killer when the situation does arise though... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Looking forward to another update now.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-Freight Posted October 5, 2016 Author Share Posted October 5, 2016 Oh dear, I'd almost forgotten about my thread! The layout has been gathering dust (again) since the spring and other things have taken over so nothing has changed. Once the dark evenings are here I may be more inclined to kick things off again. I am selling off a bit of my unweathered stock though so if anyone wants some Bachmann mfa wagons in EWS and Loadhaul black livery I have a few for sale. PM me if interested. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 Any new updates my mate.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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