Fairport Mk2

[cklammer]

I think it needs a noun modifier, perhaps "settlement pond" or "evaporation basin". A term which does not necessarily give any great meaning, but immediately says "industry" not "village duck pond".

 

I need to paint this before fixing it to the layout. I've tried Precision Paints "concrete" with a dusting of fine sand, but it will end up looking like I've clad the model in sandpaper. I suspect the inside walls could be an oily, almost black finish. I will keep experimenting.

 

- Richard.

 

drainage (collection) basin?

[47137]

It would be a sensible place to keep the uncoupling pole for shunting, so perhaps "release pond" :-)

 

- Richard.

[47137]

I have taken a saw, a knife and some solvent to the tram platform so it now sits flat on the layout.

 

I have become increasingly unhappy with the location of the cottage and I couldn't make a sloping rear garden work from any prototype or aesthetic point of view. So I've raised the cottage with a new base, and turned the building clockwise so its front wall is now in line with the road instead of the front of the baseboard. This is a big improvement. Ideally I would move the building another 10 mm or so to the right, but the terminal block and wiring inside it stops me doing this.

 

Staying with visual balance, the tree behind the bus stop holds the layout together as a complete picture - the whole setting seems rather stark without it. However fixing a tree to a Lack shelf requires some effort because the top of the shelf is only 2 mm thick. This took me back to Gordon Gravett, who recommends a proper foundation for this sort of thing, and I've glued a length of tubing into the shelf to hold the tree. The tree is a light sliding fit, so I should never need to fix it down and I can lift it out for access to clean the track or do other maintenance on the layout. The tube is beside the pencil point:

 

The thin surface of the shelf really means every telegraph pole and lamp post and so on needs the same sort of treatment, and this alone might put some people off using a Lack as a baseboard. It is also quite a pain having electrical wiring on the top of the baseboard, though I have managed to keep most of this to the back of the model, and kept photos to show me where it is.

 

My main book for this layout is "Modelling Grassland and Landscape Detailing" by Gordon Gravett, published by Wild Swan in 2013. It is a beautiful book, yet my copy is already getting dog-eared ... and I'm still at the landscape sub-base stage.

 

- Richard.

Edited January 10, 2018 by 47137

[47137]

As I finish off the basic shape of the landscape, it seems sensible to make list of the main elements of the project. Really, I'm using the RMWeb as a sort of public notebook, but there is a degree of discipline in choosing what to include. Mentally I can cope with lists up to about eight items long without them seeming onerous, so I've divided the project into four levels (stages), with 4 x 8 = 32 items in all, items in black are done:

 

Level 1 – Basic Railway

Baseboard

Backscene

Track bed

Wiring – first fix

 

Track

Points control

Wiring – second fix

Lighting rig

 

Level 2 – Physical Decisions and Landscape

General arrangement and edge profiles

Roads and kerbs

Locating areas for major models

Surface infill and shaping

 

Primers and initial colouring

Ballasting

Surface finishes - roads and paved areas

Surface finishes - grassed and natural areas

 

Level 3 – Major Models

Cottage and two mature trees

Overhead line equipment

Tram platform

Works platform

 

Gatehouse and barrier

Powerhouse and chimney (the powerhouse building became the pump house, below)

Processing plant and pump house

Release pond

Bridge crane (girder crane)

 

Level 4 – Detailing

Ground frame, foot crossing, relay boxes

Fences, gates and Armco

Notices, road signs and markings

Road vehicles

 

Figures

Small trees, shrubs, other plants

Debris, clutter, refuse bins

Layout name on fascia

 

This could easily keep me going until the Spring. If I don't add much to the list, I ought to be able to finish the project in a tidy sort of way without getting distracted by too many other things and then giving up. Much of the list ought to work for other small layouts.

 

Everything in section 3 and many things in section 4 can be done on the bench, so I can think about putting the layout back into position and running trains while the build continues.

 

- Richard.

 

(Edits to add the crane, overhead line equipment for the tram, the ground frame, relay boxes, notices, and to remove the chimney)

Edited June 29, 2018 by 47137

[Allegheny1600]

Hi Richard,

That is a very good system indeed, I like it a lot!

Mind if I borrow it, please?

Cheers,

John.

[47137]

Hi Richard,

That is a very good system indeed, I like it a lot!

Mind if I borrow it, please?

Cheers,

John.

Of course - borrow / take / adjust as need be.

 

It's probably the nearest thing to 'project management' I'll ever post :-)

 

- Richard.

[47137]

The tram platform looks a whole lot better with the ground built up around it. Almost all the ground surface on the layout is 1.5 mm mounting board, I get this for free by taking my completed models to a local picture framers, talking about the models, and scrounging the offcuts from the centres of mounts:

 

The roadway in the foreground is the same card, with a crown 0.5 mm high running parallel to the kerb and about 30 mm away. The crown brings the peculiar shape to the front edge of the layout. Putting a camber seemed over the top to me (my first attempt) but it really does make a difference to the appearance, and a road vehicle looks much more natural when put in place. From one of the early pages of Gordon Gravett's book.

 

- - 

 

I've resorted to aluminium mesh for the narrow strip of land at the back. I am posting this photo because it shows a bead of acrylic glazier's putty, this stuff is quite a discovery for me because it works as a glue for all kinds of dissimilar materials and it fills gaps too:

 

The strips of card in the foreground are for a foot crossing.

 

- Richard.

[47137]

And so ... I've covered the mesh in strips of newspaper soaked in dilute PVA, hidden the overlaps between the bits of mounting card with a plaster-based filler, and taped everything up for a session with a rattle can:

 

The newspaper technique is new to me - in the past I used Modroc and, on Shelf Island, paper mache. Modroc is really good but messy and heavy, and the paper mache seems to stick to itself but not the mesh. So hopefully, the soggy newspaper will have moulded itself to fit its former, and closely enough to stay put. The result seems like a DIY sort of moulded cardboard.

 

The plaster filler is probably unnecessary in many places because the scenic dressings will hide many 'steps' in the ground surface, but is does leave my options open. I used ready-mixed Polyfilla from a tube, this probably sounds extravagant but it was left over from a DIY job, and I was able to smooth it down well enough to not need any sanding. So no powdery mess.

 

- Richard.

[47137]

Today has been a good day. I sprayed a few coats of grey primer onto the tracks and the roadways, and brushed some brown emulsion onto all the other areas of the ground. Set the layout onto its wall bracket, and put the buildings into their places:

 

I propped the layout on top of the bath to do the primer. The back scene constrains most of the overspray, and any paint which escaped my numerous sheets of newspaper will wash off the wall tiles. I had to do the spraying in several sessions so the fumes were bearable, and I put a tower fan in the room to circulate the air. In the summer time I would do this in the garden but it is a bit cold for paint in January. This is Halfords grey primer, and I use surgical spirit to wipe paint from the tops of the rails. The brown is an emulsion called 'Clay' from B&Q's own brand range, bought in a match pot.

 

The brown and grey scheme is  pretty basic but the landscape shows off its shape now. All of the buildings have bases at different levels and the track is on two levels with a gradient between, and so the layout should make a reasonably interesting picture.

 

I've connected the track to the rest of the layout, and done a few test runs so I am happy the track and above all the points still work.

 

Two more photos from today:

 

This is six weeks after starting, with time spent on the layout almost every evening.

 

- Richard.

Edited January 14, 2018 by 47137

[marc smith]

Looking good. It's got a nice balance to it, and a sense of open space.....

[47137]

Thanks Marc.

 

Yes ... I've already had to lose the second mature tree, though there is room for a fruit tree in the garden to the right of the cottage.

 

The electricity substation and the Hornby Dublo PW hut have had to go too.

 

The challenge to me is to make the layout look spacious and uncluttered, and yet industrious and adequately detailed. I studied Gordon Gravett's 'Arun Quay' at the Stevenage show last weekend, and saw open spaces with the odd plank or bicycle apparently discarded but still useful ... a perfect and spacious representation of rural Sussex. I want to end up with something a bit busier, but not greatly so.

 

I'm glad I'm doing this project for 1:87 scale. Arguably everything is identical to an 00 layout bar the lowered buffer stop, but I would want a bigger shelf to tackle this in the larger scale.

 

- Richard.

[cklammer]

Wow, what a difference with some basic, preparatory paintwork!

 

Very nice.

 

Maybe you can keep the second tree by "hiding" the cottage with both trees; that will also give the opportunity to weather the cottage strongly as trees close to a cottage result in quickly aging and dirtying the paintwork.

 

Best Regards,

Christian

[1722]

Excellent.

 

The tree that has gone isn't the one in the middle by the bus is it? I like how you might be able to use that in photos to frame pics, shooting around them to create two almost separate settings (if that makes sense).

[47137]

Exactly. I want a scene in two parts, and divided by a tree, the one behind the bus in the photos. The whole layout looks quite odd without it. I want a rural scene near the cottage, and an industrial setting at the other end, and link them together with the simple seascape behind them.

 

The second tree was supposed to be going to the right of the cottage, to close off the end of the layout with something I could see around or through during operation. It is a lovely mature oak by Jacqui of 'Ceynix', but it is 50+ mm too tall for the location - it reaches up above the back scene. So I'm now thinking of something smaller, like a fruit tree in blossom, to hold attention at the end of the layout.

 

I might repaint the cottage. When I made it (age 16) I was only aware of white and grey finishes for render. Nearly forty years on, it could be pink or cream or blue or whatever. I want my weathering on this layout to be as gentle as I can make it, and not a substitute for poor finishes. I am happy with a bit of dirt on underframes and wheels, but I want to end up with something looking upbeat and cared for. The Builder Plus brick paper on the cottage has faded, and it would be good to end up with a similarly faded finish on the walls.

 

- Richard.

[47137]

Excellent.

 

The tree that has gone isn't the one in the middle by the bus is it? I like how you might be able to use that in photos to frame pics, shooting around them to create two almost separate settings (if that makes sense).

I've had a go with my mobile phone camera and there are certainly possibilities - the tree is just the right size:

 

This is a good reason to keep buildings in the foreground detachable, to get the camera in.

 

For shots in the other direction, it might be worth me making a detachable backscene for the right-hand end of the layout, if only for photography. Thanks for the idea.

 

- Richard.

[47137]

Going back to visual balance, I've added a bridge crane (sometimes called a girder crane) in front of the pond. The crane is much the same size as the cottage (at the  other end of the layout) but you can see through it as well as around it so it doesn't dominate the scene:

 

The crane is a Knightwing kit, it must be the most awkward plastic kit I've tried because there is next to nothing to locate the parts in the right places. However it adds some depth to the processing plant, and I think it makes the scene more interesting.

 

I shortened the main girders to fit the space available, and the model looks quite a substantial structure in a 1:87 setting. Also the model greatly increases the possibilities for different kinds of traffic I can run into the siding.

 

Edit: The yellow map pin marks the beginning of the gradient (c. 1:50) back up towards the "main line".

 

- Richard.

Edited June 30, 2018 by 47137

[marc smith]

Looks good Richard. I just re-read an earlier post, and wanted to say "thanks" for pointing out that a picture framers might be a good place to scrounge some mounting board off-cuts - nice idea
Also, the knightwing crane gantry is indeed a nice little kit. It's easily adapted or re-sized, to suit a number of different situations. Looks good in its' location there too - as you say, it also adds some different traffic possibilities

[47137]

There will always be a trade-off between kits and making my own models, and while the Merit coal office could make a passable gatehouse it will always look like a Merit coal office. Likewise the Wills platform halt - which incidentally seems to scale better for H0 than 00 - will always look like the Wills kit.

If I stay with the Wills kit I need to rebuild my model with another kit to make it twice as long, and I think add some more uprights underneath it - it looks unstable to me in its present form.

 

I've ordered up two more of the Wills kits to build the main line platform.

 

The 'main line platform' here is the works halt:

 

Having bought the kits I picked up a book "Great Western Railway Halts" volume 1 by Kevin Robertson (Irwell) and I remain unconvinced about the authenticity of the Wills model. Most timber-built platforms have the platform timbers going along the platform, and the cross-bracing in both directions but especially front to back. The platform gets a modest amount of longitudinal bracing from the two ramps.

 

So I have made my own bracing from strip styrene. The shelter is a Skaledale bus stop with shortened walls and a new roof, and the fencing is Ratio posts and strip styrene:

 

The fence battens are pretty much scale size and I have reinforced the backs with 1 mm square rod to try to hold them flat:

 

The reinforcement won't show on the layout but hopefully the 'scale thickness' will.

 

The valance on the roof is from Poppy's Woodtech.

 

The platform is long enough to reach any two of the doors on a main line coach.

 

- - 

 

I have now made my first pass through all of the buildings and similar structures on the layout, and I'm happy with the overall effect. I can go back to each model in turn and add detailing and filler and in some cases glue them together. In the meantime, this project can stay installed on its wall bracket, and work as a part of the rest of my layout.

 

( I know I've hardly mentioned the trains in this topic ... to avoid duplication or cross-posting, the essence of the workings I expect is in this blog post )

 

- Richard.

Edited January 19, 2018 by 47137

[47137]

Looking at the whole layout (photo at post #60) it seems to me, it is all fairly "free from period", for example the cottage and the 1950s bus could be present in many scenes for the last 60 years. The only thing which jars is the Merit/Peco coal office. Also I am hoping to paint the processing plant in 'modern' colours, to go with my 1990s+ trains.

 

The Merit building is a strange thing - an open fire in a building barely 2 metres wide seems a bit odd - but it has a charm. Probably designed to look good on many layouts of its time. I have rebuilt it with three new walls and a new roof:

 

So the room represented is now most of 3 x 2.5 metres, a reasonable space for two people to work, perhaps the gate keeper and a driver filling in forms, plus space for cupboards and a sink.

 

I enjoy taking photos and posting them up. It is difficult to show a visual balance with the camera, but everything has gone together pretty well so far. Please do post up suggestions or questions because it is always nice to hear ideas ... though there are rather a lot of layout topics on the forums. I have now sprayed all the buildings in primer, this has gone well too but the next stage - painting - is where I tend to struggle. Photos will, of course, be a critical judge when the time comes.

 

I am enjoying seeing my trains in bearable surroundings. It sounds incredible, but with the core baseboard of Shelf Island still with hardly any scenery (it's waiting for me to finalise the traffic), this is my first 16.5 mm gauge layout with scenery since the early 1980s. Goodness.

 

- Richard.

Edited January 22, 2018 by 47137

[47137]

The entire ‘Shelf Island’ project is going to have to relocate from the Irish Sea to the South Coast because so much of my stock is Southern. The layout will have a Southern feel if I can manage this without having to put a train on it.

No. I've had a bit of inspiration about the island's railway preservation activities, and Shelf Island can stay exactly where it has always been. This is good, because I cannot cope with renaming all of the places. I have reinstated the 'Introduction to Shelf' on my blog.

 

... I now have ten or so structure models half-painted, and none of them finished ...

 

- Richard.

Edited January 26, 2018 by 47137

[47137]

I have finished the gatehouse (ex-Merit coal office), I glued on the a/c pipework and the rainwater goods this morning:

 

The hand rail is from a plastic-coated paper clip.

 

The wall finishes and the concrete base are using techniques described for ground works in Gordon Gravett's book. I had to have a few goes at the front edge of the roof (too thin to work easily) but I'm pleased with the overall effect.

 

I will never see this view during normal operation, but it should be useful during photography:

 

The base goes into a sloping site on the layout, hence the lack of finish on the two edges at the back. There is no white paint here, the "white" on the barrier is Humbrol 28 camouflage grey.

 

... I hope this meets with approval but posting it up I do wonder if I've set myself too high a bar for the rest of the layout ...

 

- Richard.

Edited January 28, 2018 by 47137

[Allegheny1600]

Hi Richard,

That is exquisite!

I really like the effect of the render on the walls, that's just the sort of stuff that is most uncomfortable to lean on. Perhaps, that's why they make it that way!?!

Really well done.

John.

[47137]

John - thank you for your kind comments. The gatehouse is going to end up as a focal point near the middle of the layout, so it is good it is such a nice model ... it has turned out rather better than I ever expected. The walls really do look like render, and not something from the pet shop. I suppose this is what "realism" is. The key to success was probably the yellow paint on the door ... I worked through every possible colour in my mind, and with the whole industrial area going to be fairly stark and infertile, the yellow door lifts everything a bit.

 

I recall a lengthy discussion about kit bashing vs scratchbuilding with a good friend some years ago, and the essence was, while (say) the Airfix/Dapol engine shed is a good kit, the result will always look like an Airfix/Dapol engine shed, and if you are going to make the effort to alter the kit you would be best to start from scratch. But conversely, I have to look quite hard to see the Merit coal office in my gatehouse.

 

- Richard.

[47137]

Over the weekend I painted the track (rails and sleepers), mainly because I couldn't put this off any longer if I want to start adding models to the layout. The rails are Humbrol 26 matt khaki and the sleeper tops are a Woodland Scenics marker pen called 'Weathered Tie'. I also painted the roadways and the pavement.

 

After this, the base for the gatehouse was the first model to go onto the layout. I have fixed the base with a woodscrew, this seems more sensible than glue just in case it ever has to come out. I shall curse that down pipe for weeks to come:

 

The gatehouse itself is a snug fit over the block of ply painted grey, it holds itself in place.

 

With the base grouted in, I went over most of the bare ground with a basic scenic treatment. I had some trouble taking this photo - I want the setting to look bleak (and the seascape background helps here) but at the moment I think I've got the ground cover a bit too muted.

 

- Richard.

[47137]

Looking good. It's got a nice balance to it, and a sense of open space.....

I have just "deleted" the tapered brick chimney. The model looks just as good without it, and the end-to-end balance is probably better. When the modern chimney was bare wood, the brick chimney looked good. Now the modern chimney is silver, it seems to come forward into the picture and feels too close to the brick one.

 

The downside of this move is the use of bricks. I went for brick (paper) instead of stone finishes to let me build the chimney. Without the chimney, the powerhouse could be of local stone instead of brick, suggesting an older part of the works. For the time being, I think it is best to stay with the brick to avoid back-tracking. The building can stay detachable in case of a future refinishing.

 

- Richard.