cornamuse

Yup, something fluffy and daft. Kind of suits the loco really

You remember the geometry lesson you thought you would never need? Yeah, well.. google is a wonderful resource! It is starting to look like a Pechot Bourdon at last. For all its diminutive size ( 2/3 of the size of a Ffestiniog Fairlie) it will be my largest, most powerful loco.

First try at the horrific but iconic funnel. Need two matching ones and this is less than perfect, but a good starting point. The loco is going to be finished in “trench” condition- I.e. knackered, so it might actually do.

I wasn’t happy with the power bogies, so I have tried added some odds and sods. They don’t move, but maybe improve it. A bit of silver paint and black ink; hopefully it won’t be particularly noticeable once it is trundling round.

Starting work on the top of the tanks. I know it isn’t quite right, but I’m going for neat and tidy. I can hide a lot of sins with the wooden briquettes that they ran on.

Further progress… The power bogies, steadily acquiring odd bits to try Work on the cab too. Hard to get good pictures of the real cab interior, so I’m bodging it and hoping Pierre and Jean-Claude hide the worst of it! The dome looks better after painting, though.

So, progress on the locomotive… Taken the advice and working on outside cylinders, at a very basic level.

barely worthy of the name snow, tbh. It is, however, cold enough to freeze the brass monkeys. I’m glad I’m locked away for a 5 hour zoom interview this evening, and it’s not often anyone is glad to be on zoom 🫣

Glad you haven’t got the big coat out yet then!

So, guys… with tramway skirts to hide the lack of motion, or just assume inside motion and enjoy the connecting rods? I’m hoping that the overall look takes the eyes away from the lack of metalwork… option 3 is to try and bodge some out of old Hornby stuff?

much appreciated; the reality is that I am ham-fisted with any tool more complex than a scalpel or a pillar drill, so household junk is always being eyed up… plus tears of being a primary school teacher who delighted in junk modelling!

Next project: possibly the world’s ugliest locomotive, the French answer to the Fairlies on the Ffestiniog. The Pechot-Bourdon locomotive used in the trenches during WW1. I love it, it’s so quirky, and it’s shorter than the Ffestiniog versions, which is lucky given that I have very sharp rad1 curves. Combination of 3mm mdf, which is cuttable with a Stanley knife, and card cut on my silhouette card cutter. Much easier to get it to do the complex shapes, then glue 4 layers together with superglue. Ends up as strong as the mdf almost.

Sing it with me…

Progress on vegetation… same as for smaller scale layouts- scatter materials and glue, but with large amounts of recycled camomile tea to eke out the expensive stuff. Smells nice, too when you put it on. I use this layer as the final contour of the ground, too. Eventually I will get round to individual plants, as they are very identifiable in this scale- but then I’d have to decide what time of the year it is! also, chalk pens have arrived, so the graffiti progresses. I can’t afford Banksy, so our dog Bailey has stepped up…

Bridge finished, apart from decking and graffiti. Going to look for some graffiti inspiration, I rather like that sort of public art!

Work progressing on the girder bridge to make it look less like a lump of wood. The railcar trying the bridge out… View of Molehaven harbour and the fort Looking down the shed, getting a nice feeling of distance. The layout is being restyled as a preserved railway, so all the shunting action is now centred on the main station, with just a halt at the town.

A garage door, I’m afraid, but I’ve brackets in the wall behind the sky, so that is very feasible - actually preferable, it will allow better access to the O scale layout below. I can hide any edges with a green curtain to imply a bit of a slope. The mysterious curtain is waiting for me to find some blue curtains to go in front.

certainly worth a try, the village is just resting on another layout at the moment, so could easily be raised 6”. I’ll need to work out how to blend the ground levels properly as the 4mm stuff is not actually joined, and will be remaining a separate module.

Some advice please… I’m playing with forced perspective. 16mm scale in the front, the dark grey Saxon church is 10mm ish and then the lighter church and white pub are 4mm. There will be trees in between, to blur the joins. It’s pretty brutal, but do we think it works? the Saxon church is of very flexible scale and is included for emotional reasons; built it with my son for a Y3 school project… the white pub is the Tower Bank Arms in the Lake District, from his old model railway.

You know how you start the New Year with the intention of finishing jobs… well, here is one I have been avoiding for months. The little petrol railcar, from a bashed about IP Engineering kit. Agnes, the driver, must have seen something in the line… loco was made around the time of the coronation, hence the cypher.

it’s pigeons with our dog. Al Capigeon and his mates keep taunting him from the structure at the bottom of the garden. However he is only any good at catching dead stuff…

It is indeed. We have Rattersby, Molehaven, Fort Campagnol and Volehenge. Partly in reference to the size of the dwellings, but mostly because of an ongoing bit of family silliness regarding our dog’s imaginary best mate, Dead Vole… bet you are glad you asked 🤪

Other than flags, Fort Campagnol is about done, replete with a very diverse selection of troops. WW1 troops, guards in bearskins, napoleonic troops in shakoes, 1700s tricornes. To be honest, a Roman galleon wouldn’t be much more surprising. Funnily enough… The oriel window is lit from within, but needs a much brighter lamp to be any good. I’m wondering if a cheap set of battery fairy lights can be repurposed to provide lighting, including some spotlights on the front of the fort. I have decided to do without pointy roofs, they looked too Disney, even for me! Two do need floors dropping in for sentries, though. The left hand tower is due to get a ton of ivy, a couple of flags, then maybe the quayside or, if I’m feeling brave the hillside at the other end of the layout. Or worse, the 4ft girder bridge. I’ve a Staithes style village to work on, too, but that is likely to be fun, so I’m leaving it until I’ve completed at least one job I know I've been putting off!

Slow progress, and the troops on parade while I work out some lighting. I’d like C20 style floodlighting for nighttime just the left wing to dry brush, then ivy and other details. Fancy a few gargoyles and a statue or two like on York city gates.

I’m getting a bit bored of castle walls, so I thought I would do a little tentative planning for the village of Molehaven. Any suggestions? There will be steps and levels built in as I go, to make it feel more like Staithes, but cliffs behind it looked just awful. The exit to the mission hall, which will of course be a glorious tin tabernacle, will be moved to the end to save the padre from falling down the cliff…