First Steps

[BroadLeaves]

This is going to be my first foray into modelling for a number of years, so I'm starting small and by small I mean a 24" x 18" baseboard! I've already named the "layout" Camau Cyntaf.

 

The idea is that it will provide a very short test track, comprising two R600 straights and one R606 curve, together with a rolling road, and will ultimately become a servicing and DCC programming tool.

 

The baseboard will be covered in 3mm cork with a second 3mm cork layer used for track underlay, to give a ballast shoulder. The thinking here is that what I can then do is, where necessary, cut out the 3mm cork and remove it, getting down to baseboard level. I can then "plant" buildings, trees etc and then build back up to the level of the cork. That will be much easier that trying to chip away one or more layers of ply and won't weaken the baseboard either. 

 

The image is a mock-up of the overall arrangement. The top-left cardboard is where the rolling road will go, the odd-shaped bit with the track over it is a goods yard, the small bit of card in the middle at an angle is some sort of house and the card at the bottom is the control panel.

 

I'm hoping that this will do three things:

• Let me see if I enjoy getting back into modelling, without spending a fortune.
• Give me something that I can use to try to resurrect some very old (40 year+) locomotives.
• Provide an opportunity to create something that isn't just "some track and some wires", which is really all a servicing and programming track needs to be.

 

In terms of power, it will be totally standalone. The baseboard will be mounted on a 100mm tall frame, so there's room underneath for a transformer, PWM controller and so on. The whole think will have mains input using an IEC C8 socket, a DCC input (from a layout that currently only exists in my head) and two outputs, one uncontrolled 12V DC from the transformer and one 12V controlled from the PWM controller. Switches on the control panel will allow either the DCC or the PWM-controlled 12V DC to be switched to either or both of the rolling road and the fixed track. The control panel will house the two track switches, the speed control knob, DC direction switch and a switch for the lighting and will be mounted horizontally on the baseboard itself, not vertically on the frame. A layout of this size is going to end up sitting on a table, which would make accessing the controls a bit unwieldy if they are on the frame.

 

The intention is to "fully scenic" the whole thing, with static grass where applicable, the buildings having lighting, the goods shed having a road going to it, the house having a path to the front door, front and back gardens and so on. For the control panel, the look I'm going for is that the scenery was all built first, and then a control panel sized section was cut out and the panel inserted. In reality, of course, the panel will be mounted first and the scenery built around it.

 

Any hints and tips? Things I'm not doing that I should? Things I'm doing that I shouldn't?

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by BroadLeaves
Image replacement

[Graham T]

It's an interesting idea.  As you're going to the trouble of making it scenic, why not get rid of the right had buffer and continue the track to the edge of the board, as if it runs on to somewhere else?  It would look more believable then, I think.

[BroadLeaves]

Now that's something that I hadn't actually considered and is certainly something to think about, so thank you for the suggestion. I do agree it would look better. Although I'm calling it a "layout", it is a sort of "powered diorama" and having a short track with buffer stops at both ends will, in that context, look a bit daft.

However, I can see me forgetting to kill the power, or a really old locomotive is a bit "jerky" and suddenly leaps into life at 50% power and then, if the track just ends at the edge of the board, it'll do a completely non-prototypical dive off the edge!
 

[Graham T]

Just put a raised panel around all the edges.

 

[BroadLeaves]

Just need a layout to put it on now...

[BroadLeaves]

I have a bit of a penchant for the older Hornby locomotives - the sort of thing that has a three digit 'R' number, or if it is four digit one, the first digit is "1". Picked a couple up on eBay recently, and was pleasantly surprised to see they came with crew. Granted, they are unpainted, injection moulded crew, but gift horses, mouths etc...

It's fair to say that Modelu will not be quaking in their corporate boots, given their quality, but for their age, they aren't too bad. The driver appears to have a massive mitten on his right hand, and the fireman seems to have a very severely ironed left sleeve.

I had a bash at painting one set, enjoyed doing it, and I think the phrase "Not as bad as I expected, but not as good as I'd like" applies.

Still, I have a second pair, so now I've got my eye in, perhaps the next set will be an improvement.
 

And the obligatory cruel close ups. Not sure about the piping on the driver's jacket. It was a bit fatter, but I had to trim it down as when it met the top brass button, it looked like he was wearing a medal.



The flash across the shoulders and down the arm of the figure is rather obvious here. Much more obvious now than when they came out of the packet, although I suspect removing it would be beyond my skills anyway.

Edited May 14, 2023 by BroadLeaves

[Graham T]

Good work on those I'd say.  They will look fine once they're on the footplate!

 

[BroadLeaves]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

They will look fine once they're on the footplate!

Yes, it had occurred to me that I'm probably obsessing over details that no-one will ever see once they're in situ, but that's not really the point, is it?