Les1952

Productive Thursday Despite an hour off in the middle of the day to earn some money on eBay I got a lot done again- just as well because in a week's time I have three weeks of intensive paid work... Music today by Mika, then Status Quo when he failed to repel interruptions. The department store is now finished except for the balcony handrails. I've made two more trees and stuck all those already made into position- the trunk bases still need weathering in. I've put the flower beds in front of the brewery with low railings in front More of the edges of grass have been sorted out I've had a first go at some ground cover between the railway and the town wall- if it doesn't work I can always put a better layer over the top. The area in front of the brewery- the flower beds behind the railings work- made with spare flowery flock sprinkled onto very wet "graveyard earth" paint. The railings have advanced by another three panels. House in the background still needs bedding in, and some improving as it is the grottiest of the ready-made buildings from eBay. View through the arch showing the walling behind ready for the installation of a footbridge. I've boxed myself into this corner (literally) and will need to make a stone stairway from the footbridge and department store level down to the town below- it will need to be complete as different bits of it can be seen from different angles. I still have a view straight through the railway arch from a little straighter on that I can't do much about- the back of the control panel can be clearly seen. I'll cover it in stone paper to disguise it. Unfortunately it is at wheelchair user and child eye level, like the inside of the shed....

Very many thanks for the compliments- the grass is actually scenic matting of uncertain origin that I found lurking in the loft. It must be at least 20 years since I bought it. Cut to shape, tried, cut again, thrown away and replaced etc then fastened down with copious quantities of PVA. At the edges I've used Woodland Scenics, Jarvis and some German (Faller?) scatter of different colours held in with PVA or applied on to wet Citadel "Graveyard Earth" paint. It was vacuumed before letting any of the trams anywhere near it, then a large amount of time spent getting stray glue off the railhead. Fencing just takes time to do, after painting about a doxen posts and/or panels you lose the will to live.....

Wednesday- railings and embedding After yesterday, where I wondered what I'd done in the 4 hours work I spent about the same amount of time working today and have the following to show for it.. 1. Both of the remaining brewery buildings stuck down and embedded into the surroundings. 2. 6 more panels of railing stuck around the brewery. 3. Progress on the bridge (now to be two bridges) over the railway at the town end 4. two more floors of the department store built. 5. Several more railings panels painted on at least one side. 6. The platform of the loading dock cut back where it didn't quite clear the wagon I tested it with..... 7. Posted details and forms for two exhibitions, details if and when confirmed. Not a bad four hours work. here's pics. Brewery top yard with loading dock bedded in- there is still a weighbridge deck to go in here, then a pair of fancy wrought iron gates to find, but they may wait until after Cotgrave show. The effect of six more panels of railings put in, but also showing where they need touching up. This is also the most cruel angle for showing where they aren't quite straight, but they'll do. Grass tramway reservation shows up well.

Afternoon all. No pics today- they didn't come out. Kaufhaus building arrived today- a Vollmer kit. I don't know which manufacturer has more minimal instructions, Vollmer or Kibri. Made a start on it and on getting the Town extension sub-board made to go underneath it. Also arrived this morning, more barrels. Eight stacks of ten. Some of these are now in the loading dock- mainly inside so they can be seen through the doores, though I've put two stacks into tthe brewery middle yard. More tomorrow- I hope it will be a longer day.....

Tramway reservation. Prototype pic showing the effect I'm trying to achieve with the grassed reservation. Freiburg tramways.

Monday 9th Frustrating day today- got the incline grassed, though some edge filling behind the loading dock still needed, and the first of the white lining in front of the brewerry, but testing has revealed a problem with the tram points- or at least the one leading into the shed, which has fallen apart. One order for three new points on its way to Japan and three pointwork switches (Modellbahn Union didn't have them in stock) so probably a heavy Customs bill in a few weeks time. I'll work on the areas away from the tram points first and if they don't come by the end of Feb I'll finish and rebuild after Cotgrave show- the second invite is for September so there'll be time. The only bit that trams can't use is the shed siding Tram driver's view looking down the hill for a change. Yellow tram ascending the hill, seen fron the roadway at the top of the bank The usual view of the hill, with the pink tram descending. This one isn't running as well as the yellow one so it will spend its life as spare.

The front of the brewery taking shape. The parking area has cobbled paving for pedestrians, with a continuation to the brewery entrance nearer the back of the layout. Grassed areas will have low fencing (made from the Chinese stuff as I have bought about twice as much as I need) to seperate them from the path. strategic tree at the back to hide the join in the backscene. The flats will need some paccking to get rid of a gap below them at the road corner just off the pic to the right. Parking spaces need marling out in white- now where's the masking tape?

Sunday 8th I was expecting Mr Simon to want the workshop today to get on with Gresby (but he's making tunnel mouths on the dining room table instead...) With that in mind I went off to Lincoln Toyfair to try to get some more crates and hopefully some Langley traffic lights. No traffic lights (though I did get some bikes and a weigh platform for the brewery yard). However some chance finds... The coach is a modern German tourist job and was bundled with a Japanese one which has gone to Mr Simon for Gresby as it looks like Armchair Travel. The bins are by Hornby of all people- the blue one is just right for the big public bins in at least one picture I've seen of Freiburg recently. Nasty join in the tram shed floor needs fixing in the background....... The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van was bundled with a mini and two other cars. Useful selection, Must get on......

Progress on the Rathaus Roof and upper deck done, just the chimneys, drainpipes and decorations to do now. Hint to anyone else making one of these- ignore the instructions and put the shutters on before adding anything else- they are very difficult to reach if done when suggested in the instructions. Looking at the side of the brown building I think it might need a coat of something darker.

I've been thinking... It had to happen sometime, I suppose. The brown building is the Kaufhof, which will be a department store- very open at the front, so is going to need a lot of stuff making for inside it. I think I can save myself a nervous breakdown by making the top floor offices. Perhaps one of them should contain a slighly rude scene...... Or maybe not..... I've swapped the brown building with the blue one next to it. Being newer the brown one is more likely to have been built a little too close to the Rathaus, building land getting expensive in Germany just the same as everywhere else. That roof is going to have to be painted and weathered.

Second exhibition confirmed Furtwangen Ost will now be appearing at- Cotgrave Miners' Welfare NG12 3LA (Bingham MRC) on April 21st-22nd St Peter's Braunstone, Leicester LE3 1RH on November 3rd. and another invite yet to be confirmed..... Exciting times, lots to do. The area of gloss grey in the last post dried matt but needed a second coat this morning.

Twelve week progress pic I hope the gloss grey on the top right is just because it isn't dry. Rathaus is the grey building with no roof- the roof has been repainted red but assemby hasn't yet started. Another strategic tree between the brewery and the houses will need to be turned round to hide the backscene join from all angles. Next step is getting the brewery finished and the area with the new grey tarmac. I'm also looking for traffic signals - the tramway will need eight visible ones, and I think I'll need a traffic signal rather than a stop line by the arch on the right- the one on the left is tramway only.

Friday detailing Mainly concerned with re-doing the roadway at the top and thinking about whether it would have a traffic light where the tramway passes out of the arch. I'm more inclined to have a stop line for traffic. Music today by the Shadows. I did have a bright idea about one of the backscene lines while painting the chimney and boiler house- one strategically placed tree. Must paint the boilerhouse roof and the ladder before fixing down the Kibri building on the right. Three months into the project, next week will be halfway from starting to its first exhibition outing..... help!

Buildings in town.. A quick trial with the part-completed Rathaus in position, to see how many more buildings I'll need to source for the town. The space next to the two low-relief buildings already has two more low-relief buildings to fill it, just got to get them built. the Kaufhaus building when it comes will be assembled/modified to go behind the blue bank. That just leaves the cream building to replace as it is too Japanese, and the small house next to the shed is borrowed from the brewery level. So, one large or two small (as in narrow), and no massive hurry to acquire them.

A frustrating day..... Hello again. I tackled the roadway part of the area in front of the brewery (last pic) but have had to rip it all up again. I laid the surface with fine wet and dry paper- the same as the platforms. No problem here- yet.. Then I trialled every grey paint I had in stock to see which was the best road colour- no problems here- Humbrol 64 seems to be the best one for the job. Then painting it- paint went on well- EXCEPT- the surface is so coarse it drags the bristles off the brush, then is so fine they won't pick up with tweezers. So- relay tomorrow or over the weekend with card.............. I did get the railings done along the side of the brewery at the third attempt- should have been the second but dispraxic idiot that I am I knocked a section off with my elbow while fettling a job elsewhere. I've also got enough barrels and crates painted to put some in the yards. I promise this is the last view of the brewery back yard- for now....... Still some clutter to add but it is now getting there. The inner yard of the brewery, with the Kibri building out of the way so I can get the camera in. The backscene still isn't nice here but I'll have to live with it. Rather cruelly shows the need for paint around the boiler house as the glue marks are quite prominent. The bits I cropped off this picture are worse- another job to be done before I can stick the Kibri building down. Strange how the back wall looks 3-D but is actually flat, and the cobbles look flat but are actually 3-D. Meanwhile the Rathaus is making progress, and putting it in place shows I need fewer additional buildings than I thought- one biggish or two narrower ones will finish the job. Progress, but still a lot to do.

Thursday morning Postman has just brought two packages- I thought they were the Kaufhaus building and the Rathaus, both kits. The Rathaus kit has arrived but the other was Mr Simon's Dapol Class 86 back from the makers- replaced- many thanks to Dapol Dave! One of today's jobs is to start to do something useful with this space- the front of the brewery. Needs grass, paving and car park, with enough space to turn round lorries to and from the brewery. Road access is over the tunnel mouth to save me having to bodge a continuation onto the backscene. Can't do anything with the vertical line through the houses on the backscene, it is where two Faller sheets joined. Workshop should have warmed up now- time to go and do some modelling........

Mr Simon has suggested parking a tramway maintenance van in the nearside of the shed to obscure the view to the back. Now, a nice white Mercedes Sprinter might do the job. Also on trams, I'll need some signals for them, but these need not be working ones- the real thing is a row of white LEDs in a circle the size of a traffic light lens, usually mounted in pairs or threes one above the other. One on the approach to each point, and a starter from each platform, six in total, though some of these can be on traction standards.

Wheelie bins The answer to my question is that there are blue, green and orange ones for different types of waste, plus big recycling skips here and there. I think the eight wheelie bins I got on New Year's Day aren't going to be nearly enough.

Actually, I'm into the smoke and mirrors game in many respects- if the eye can't see it I can get away with it, but inside the shed is mostly visible, particularly to wheelchair users, if there isn't a tram inside- so the grotty bits I can't cure will need to be hidden. Actually more of a problem are going to be tall people standing close to the layout as they can see over the top of some of the subterfuges to hide holes in the backscene or unfortunate joins in backscenes or ground cover. Now if everyone were about 5' tall and would just stand about 4' back............

Inside the shed at last.. 5 days of trying to get this photo and it has finally worked- another cruel enlargement! Shows the moved bit of walling doesn't quite go far enough up, and has a couple of air bubbles to flatten. I might not bother extending the wall upwards- the camera lens was percehd on a wall that has a railing to add. The railing will obstruct the view in from this angle. Area on the left will be the workshop. Tools, benches and such will help hide the glazing and the rear door, though it is difficult to get an angle to look into the left. There is also a hole in the floor on the right to fix. .

Aready Wednesday Schools are (mostly) back so nice and quiet. Music today Gryphon, which failed to repel a visitor! Something louder tomorrow..... Almost a repeat of yesterday's photo except the DPM building on the brewery is now fixed in place and has been bedded in to some extent- a little more grot to add here and there. Foliage now added to the wall base, but I'm still painting railing panels.... That upright looks bad in cruel enlargement but from a distance isn't too noticeable. I'll try to straighten it tomorrow..... Now a quiz question. What type of bins do they use in the Black Forest? In Windenreute the recycling is by blue wheelie bin, or at least it was about 20 years ago.

Another prototype pic I was getting a little worried about the size of the arch the tram had to squeeze through- but here is the Freiburg tramways Route 1 squeezing through an even smaller one. Big multi-section articulated tram. Nice pale shade of grey for the roadway and patched cobbles, too.

Tuesday- not a Bank Holiday? Hello again. Seems odd to have a day that is apparently normal- monsoon season this morning so closeted in workshop undisturbed for 4 hours. Music by Sweet- they may have looked like builders in drag but the music was good, and repels visitors quite nicely when played loudly. I've decided to paint the railings- gunmetal around the brewery and municipal blue (the same as the tram shelters) at the bottom. Top ones first as I've run out of blue paint. The white bits are where I need to plastic weld pieces together and will be touched up later. Also painted today about 30 barrels, but no more boxes yet- I need to get very light brown paint for these as well as the municipal blue. I've repainted the ones at the back of the brewery yard, and moved the short section from the second to the third position so it is out of sight except at very extreme angles. The roof on the left has had a coat of weathering. More tomorrow probably. More work on the tunnel mouth- the uprights given some texture and stonework going inside far enough to be seen by most punters- though I've made a little nasty spot for track cleaning here, to go with the ones on the tramway. Plenty still to keep me occupied.....

Still a nasty in view Nasty join in the backscene is still shown up by the camera- plenty of gubbins in the yard and maybe smoke from the brewery chimney - iof you can't hide a nasty get people to look somewhere else......

Monday- Bank Holiday Staying out of the rush to mindless shopping, music by the Proclaimers (another good one for keeping interruptions at bay!) Most of today has been spent painting barrels and gas cylinders, putting down the yard surface of the brewery (buildings not bedded in yet, frencing and yard details go in first- working from the back), doing a trial section of railings along the back of the brewery to see if I can get away withouit painting them, and putting the first detail around the tunnel mouth. Looking along the brewery back yard above the engine shed. Railings installed along here. Keep white or repaint, I wonder? An idea of how the brewery side yard might look when finished - the railings need to come along in front of these. Kegs and gas cylinders await loading while the works bus stands ready- another model to finish... Looking through the inner yard. Building on left is by DPM (built from sides and ends for "bespoke" buildings) with Faller boiler house. Enlargement shows the ladder on the chimney needs painting- as well as the boiler house roof. Kibri building in foreground needs cleaning and then weathering.