mullie

I'm very much a lurker on here slowly plugging away with my small EM layout . I'm currently building a pair of Eveleigh Creation Great Eastern six wheel brake thirds. The bodies are pretty much complete and I am moving on to the chassis, an enjoyable build. Here is progress so far. Hope no one minds me posting as I wonder if anyone can help, I've managed to get most parts I need but have drawn a blank at Great Eastern Carriage buffers, does anyone make them in oo gauge? I think I've tried all the regular sources I can think of and so far drawn a blank. Any help gratefully received. Martyn

Preparations for the Poole show are underway. Stock is having the couplings checked, the gauge is checking height on both locos and stock. The wagon is acting as a master, all wagons have to couple and uncouple easily. Back to backs have been checked where necessary. The layout is currently being set up in the garage so everything can be checked. Being Portland this isn't straightforward as the garage has a slope from front to back and side to side so levelling has taken some time.

I really enjoy looking at the photos and reading the comments, I'm not expert enough to contribute. Martyn

About a week ago I showed how two trains could be on the layout at the same time during the 1960s period. Here is the steam age equivalent. A J15 is worrying beet wagons at Upbech St Mary. Meanwhile the Claud is shunting a passenger train. As designed by Hornby the front pony truck can move from side to side as well as rotate. Because I have generous radii I don't need this feature so glued some tiny plasticard fillets across the mounting so the bogie can only rotate. The loco now goes through the paintwork in a much more realistic fashion and when running on the daily goods shouldn't buffer lock when shunting as it has occasionally been inclined to do.

The tide is out again at Upbech Town Quay.

And then there were two. About 6 - 8 weeks work, some people build layouts quicker. One chassis is about 60% built. Work will now pause to prepare Drove for the Poole show, its first outing apart from SWAG. A silly shot. The wheels are from the withdrawn clerestories.

Glad the hammer wasn't called for, good to see progress.

It is possible to have two trains on the layout. This is the St Mary end with shunting of beet wagons in full flow. At the Drove end the DMU is in the station.

Other landie owners would stop waving if you did that! I ran my 76 station wagon on Range Rover size tyres. Did often wonder what the heater was for? Martyn

This look like a really promising range of products, thanks for sharing and thanks to Martin for developing them. I understand your loss of mojo, I get relatively few hours each week modelling time and like you spend time doing other things, even then enthusiasm occasionally deserts me, usually in the new year when the garage is too cold to work in and the evenings are dark. Personally I think it is good to have a range of interests. This thread is always an interesting read. Martyn

I do remember some harsh winters growing up outside Brentwood. On a school morning my Dad would wake me earlier and tell me I needed to walk to school instead of cycle, just under three miles! Schools seemed to stay open more in severe weather in those days, perhaps because staff lived locally. Last job I had near Shenfield the staff couldn't afford to live locally and that included me. Great photos as always, thanks for posting. Martyn

Incredible news, so pleased for you and your team. Martyn

Another shot of the workbench in the white heat of soldered kit construction to show what basic methods I use. Odd scraps of card and blu tac mainly to hold things in place and rest things on. The dense foam is useful on which to place the sides already fitted with hinges, window frames and ventilators. These days I have to wear a mask for soldering. Here is the second coach body soldered up and in need of a good clean having just finished soldering the sides and ends together. It is standing on a piece of glass rescued from a piece of garden furniture that had rotted away in the salty elements, the body is square. Next job is to solder bracing pieces round the bottom, detail the ends, fold over the top flaps and solder the roof. The kit is well designed and goes together relatively easily. I amaze myself every time I complete something like this. During the week I work on projects for around three hours in one hour sessions often starting around 9pm after I've finished what ever else I need/want to do. My phone and bluetooth speaker are a vital part of any modelling session. I no longer need to work in the evenings (after a full on days work) which still feels strange having done so for over thirty years. I no longer teach music though early evening is often spent on music related projects. I do more practical music now I no longer teach it during the day, a sad indictment of modern teaching demands.

The harbour is getting a bit overgrown, this is a work in progress inspired by Wisbech in the late 1940s. I was looking for a small vehicle for the Quay and found an Austin 7, @NHY 581 has one I think, mine needs a trip to the weathering shop.

There is a real sense of space in such a tiny area, great stuff. Martyn

I too have been looking at the CDC resin body locos and options for chassis. There was an article about fitting the SE finecast J69 chassis to one of the bodies in the GE Society News I think by Paul Goldsmith. I am reviewing options as I can see a point where I retire the J70s and replace with J67s and 69s in the style of the Kelvedon and Tollesbury line if I can get some W&U Eveleigh kits later this year. I would really like some of the four wheeled stock rather than bogie coaches, I know they were withdrawn by my period but the six wheel versions are not available.

I don't get exited by new releases from the major manufacturers and to be honest most pass me buy. Even those of a Great Eastern ilk seem to present problems in converting to EM. I don't fancy spending a considerable sum on a new loco only to chuck the chassis, the Rapido trams being a case in point, all looked too busy underneath to convert easily so at the moment my ancient resin kits will continue to do the job while I ponder an upgrade. The layout doesn't change in a massive way any more, everything is small tweaks. However, I really want to have proper Great Eastern carriage stock on the layout so a start has now been made on the Eveleigh kits. The photos represent about 3-4 weeks work though I expect the second one to go together quicker as I am now familiar with the build sequence, the second one has now been started. Hope to get the chassis built for each carriage before the garage gets too cold then need to source axle boxes etc. They may not be a suitable diagram for my period but look good enough to me, they are very close to those on the mid Suffolk in the early 50s and I have based the handrails on photos of the middy stock. I don't have any advanced tools, this the roof being rolled using an old towel and a curtain rod!

Point of lay, does that make them finescale chickens? Hat, coat........gone!

What a tragedy a J70 couldn't have been preserved along with the tramway carriage that was meant to be safe.

I'm pretty sure I've got this saved in my YouTube account, always a good watch and I've watched it recently. If only someone had filmed the line earlier. It is amazing how busy the line could be at peak times. Thanks for posting

We haven't seen any locos for a while and we are coming to the end of the latest 60s era photos. Then all is quiet

The main thing to get used to is the quicker drying time, which if combined with talc is almost instant, matt model paints depending on make can be very matt and brush marks can be harder to hide due to consistency unless watered down. If I think of any more I will add to the post, I'm sure others will have advice. Acrylics can usually be removed with water if not applied to a porous surface such as card. Often removal produces a more interesting effect if not all is removed. Experiment on an old wagon, next doors cat or similar, something not important. I wouldn't go back to oil based paints even if I could. I had to use some oil based exterior paint on our windows yesterday, not pleasant stuff but necessary in our salty climate.

The barges are fantastic boats and great to see close up and in action. I've seen the Maldon ones many times Apparently ancestors of mine worked on them though I've never had the chance to research it.

Your layout shows you clearly have a method that works so why change? I don't use a lot of model acrylics so am not best placed to comment as I use artist and craft paints mainly on scenic items. Martyn Welsh produced the stunning results in his book with a limited range of colours, I started by following his methods in enamels but then the change to acrylics was forced onto me for the reasons above. I simply found the acrylic equivalents of the enamels I had been using. Unlike Martyn I don't own an airbrush hence my use of rattle cans for rolling stock. The move to using art materials was later after a lot of practice. Weathering powders are great and people achieve stunning results however the costs seem pretty high. When tackling anything I find a suitable photo for inspiration, everything in nature blends and is quite subdued with a limited palette. Even a new loco won't stand out as it is likely to have at least some staining. Here are some sacks being worked on. Here is a Portland Stone company lorry weathered to reflect the uniquely dusty environment we live in. This is a cruel close up as it is straight out of the box, not modified in any way. My style is not to everyones taste, it is a personal thing. Nothing goes on my layout unless it has been weathered, that includes figures and things as small as packing boxes such as seen on the quay. Nothing is painted in block colours, always a combination of two to three colours. This photo taken at SWAG this year shows my basic materials. The narrow gauge wagons are in a post above having now been finished. I think I've gone on for long enough, time for a lie down in a darkened room!

The J70s double headed trains at busy times and there could be long lines of vans in sidings. Upwell Station had quite a few sidings. Petrol rationing would have helped traffic levels after the war. Martyn