O Gauge Photo Plank

[Fastdax]

I've got too much rolling stock!

 

Well, too much to fit on Offerston Quay at once. It only needs the 5-3-3 Inglenook set of 8 wagons, plus one or two short passenger trains for the high level. (I'm sure there must be tall passengers somewhere ...)

 

So while Jim was staying, we started a simple photo plank to hold and display the unused items of stock.

 

It will be based on a yard of Peco code-124 bullhead track, with a small grassy bank behind. The idea is for it to sit on a bookshelf in front of the books.

 

We started with some 6mm ply for the base and back:

 

 

 

Onto this we added another strip of ply as a track bed. This was glued and stapled on, being careful that the staples didn't interfere with the sleepers:

 

   

 

The ply got a coat of varnish, hopefully to stop it warping when the top surface gets damp from ballast glue:

 

 

 

And, finally, the track was glued on and aligned with a metre-rule:

 

 

It was a banging hot day, so some liquid reward was in order:

 

[pwr]

Its not possible to have too much rolling stock!

 

Paul R

[Fastdax]

A bit of scenic work for the grassy bank behind the track.

 

Roughly-broken cork track underlay represents rock strata. Carefully placed not-level:

 

 

The rest of the bank is kitchen roll soaked in dilute PVA glue:

 

    

 

The track was sprayed matt black:

 

 

 

Filler made the surface of the bank more solid and blended the bank into the rock and the base. the tracks also got a coat of pale emulsion in step 2 of the sleeper weathering::

 

  

 

Cess/ash mix going down onto PVA glue, followed by step 3 of the sleeper weathering: black weathering powder brushed liberally on. Don't use your best brushes!

 

 

Finally, the rails and chairs got an airbrushing with rust-coloured acrylic:

 

 

 

More soon.

 

 

[Fastdax]

Time for some ballasting.

 

  

 

The filler has also been painted a basic brown colour, thanks to a Wickes tester pot.

 

 

[Fastdax]

I started experimenting with static grass. I've never really used this before but it's the way to go if you want realistic fescue, IMHO.

 

I set a few pre-made tufts of dead grass into the shoulders of the ballast before gluing the ballast down:

 

 

A layer of 2mm green went down on the bank first:

 

 

I started a bit of dry-brushing of rock colours on the exposed cork edges:

 

 

The plan is to have a fence along the top edge of the grassy back, so I measured out 6 foot intervals and drilled 3mm holes into the bank, using the ply backscene to keep the drill vertical. here, the grassy bank has also had some mixed 4mm and 6mm Autumn/Winter grass filbers layered on top of the 2mm base layer:

 

 

After, that, I cut the excess ply off, using a cordless jigsaw to follow the contours of the bank. I bit more brown paint tidied up the top edge of the wood:

 

 

The posts I'll be using are these:

 

 

(No connection, just a happy customer).

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Fastdax
Reinstating photos.

[Fastdax]

The fence posts are laser-cut ply, so I opted to stain them with my black isopropyl alcohol/ink mix:

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, more short and long static grass was added to the embankment:

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Fastdax
Reinstating photos.

[georgeT]

Coming together nicely Duncan, something different, l will be watching to see what develops ...

[Fastdax]

6 hours ago, georgeT said:

Coming together nicely Duncan, something different, l will be watching to see what develops ...

 

Thanks George.

[Fastdax]

Fencing

 

Fence wires are rust-coloured EZ-Line fine to represent rusty galvanised wire. It also stretches when caught with a solid object. How do I know ... ?

 

 

 

I may need to add a fourth wire where the ground dips. The fence posts do come with four holes already installed.

 

 

I made some additional shrubs from rubberised horse hair for brambles and crumbled foliage for bushy bits.

 

Dead stalks are natural sisal fibres glued into a small hole.

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Fastdax
Reinstating photos.

[Sweet pea]

Hi Duncan I do like you’re 7mm photo plank, the modelling and weathering is spot on. I was thinking about making something like your photo plank but instead have a loco running back and forth.

[Barnaby]

A good spread of modelling techniques and application abilities on show there Duncan, well done.

 

Best

[Fastdax]

All pictures now reinstated.

[Mol_PMB]

1 hour ago, Fastdax said:

All pictures now reinstated.

And very beautiful it is too!

[Sweet pea]

Duncan I really like your 7mm photo plank. This is something I want to build in 7mm.😊

[Fastdax]

9 hours ago, Kevin Johnson said:

Duncan I really like your 7mm photo plank. This is something I want to build in 7mm.😊

 

Thanks Kevin.