aberdare

Hi Jaz As Shaun says another strip will hide the gap, this is something I did on my engine shed windows last year. I won't mention all the other bodges I do to cover my mistakes. To avoid it happening try cutting the windows a touch smaller and filing out to the correct size, those Wills sheets can take a good bit of filing. All looking good though.

Nice work there Al, I like the silhouette shot as the trees always look good against the sky and give a sense as to how accurate you have got them. The little group of saplings look good as well. Looking forward to the foliage being added.

Hi Nick Yes I quite like the view down the hill from either end of the station as I find the flow of the line is better, even though it then shows the back of the buildings it opens up other views. I have a bit more work to do yet but I will post something up about this in a few weeks time prior to fixing Hemyock in its final position.

Tea leaves are great. It pays to run them through a sieve as it gets the woody bits out which are not leaf like, if you need to colour them I have found powder paints work the best, for me anyway. I've currently got some red/orange ones drying.

Simple, I'm colour blind. I've had to label all my Humbrol paint tins as I have loads of problems, I once picked up what I thought was the perfect brown for a job only to discover later it was Forest Green Though I wanted to study electronics when I was young I was persuaded to go down the mechanical route after wiring in the wrong resistors and burning out equipment, so I always use the Primary colours plus black and white.

Thanks Mike. Spring I can handle you should try gluing leaves on in Autumn when all they want to do is keep falling off I felt I had to concentrate on the trees as there will be more of them than buildings on this part of the layout so they need to have something appealing about them, modelling Autumn helps to keep that bit of bareness to the frame as you will need to look through them from some angles. Had I used summer foliage they would have been more of a view blocker. I hope to progress quite quickly after this month.

Yes Al, that's much better than the last one and it seems as though you have reached this stage more quickly too. The idea of leaving the other wires on the long side is also good as you never know where you are going to bend them, I usually do something similar and solder the odd bits back on later. That feature tree above Bakewell will be a doddle for you soon, you can't beat looking at the real thing for ideas. Keep up the good work.

Hi Mike I've just noticed that even though I have read and followed this thread from the start I have never posted on it, really poor of me that so I'll have to make up for that from now on. I think I need to run back through and add a few likes too. With regard to the wiring I don't use green for the frog, it's too much like red under the board so I use blue.

I like your tree pictures Al, there are one or two on there I wouldn't mind having a go at. I have taken a few near here but as we are just below the hill tops most of the trees are a bit small which is partly due to the lack of top soil on the chalk. I may have to take a walk down the valley to the next village with my camera, a lot more clay over that way.

Hi Nick I like the idea you have there and it looks an interesting looking project. It's good to see you involved in something else now that MM is complete. I look forward to watching the progress of this.

The beauty of Seamoss is that you can also grow it yourself, this was something I considered before going for a more bare tree look. Lots of options for you now Al.

Jeff, When I say 'lost' I actually mean destroyed, there are just some things in life you are so embarrassed about they just have to be erased from history, the worst thing is I thought it was brilliant and ground breaking, Thank God there was no internet then, just doesn't bear thinking about.

Hi Al I mean the outer sheath of the 8 core cable as this is the one with the most stiffness, the smaller ones will remain fairly flexible but to be honest I prefer to remove the lot so everything stays exactly where I want it. It usually means that more wire is required then to get the thickness but I like that as it means more branches but of course the thickness can be made up with your chosen filler if you prefer, Though I went for lots of wires to get a feature tree I would be just as happy producing a wood on expanding foam such as John de Frayssinets 'Cliffhangar', which I think is brilliant.

Hi Al With regard to the method you are familiar with mine and what works for me. I find that leaving the sleeving on prevents the trunk or thicker branches from being bent especially if more than one is involved, if this is removed I think it is easier to shape and also prevents that step from sleeved to bare wire being so obvious, if wanting a bare tree I feel it is necessary to avoid that sort thing showing. By all means use Das or some other flexible filler and I think it will improve the appearance no end. The smaller branches look absolutely fine for a bare tree though as does the general shape. I look forward to your MkII version. Best of luck

I lost all my early photographs of the layout from the late 70s and early 80s and I think it's for the best as it was very compressed, Hemyock which is now 10.5ft was on a 6ft board and nowhere near as prototypical, think bog brush fir trees from string and twisted wire made in a drill. Nothing like that was ever there and I did like lots of track as well, twice round the garage and 4 stations, I must have been mad. Boy, am I ever glad I lost those pics.

I've had stuff delivered from them over the last three days - not Hattons though - and all items have been delivered the next day so no problems here. maybe it's a regional thing.

Thank you Scott and Chris, . Work will appear to stall for a while now as I'm taking the opportunity of the good weather to dye more leaves in a variety of Autumn shades and get them dried for storage, it's also too good a chance to miss and make a few changes to the river bank and grassed area at what is currently the front of the layout. I seem to have got pretty quick at tree making now and while things are drying I keep the momentum going, however I do need to look at other things too which I shall address later in the month.

Nice to see you joining in the tree making Al, I did mine on the cheap too as all the items used were lying about in my shed. I do find it easier to twist wires without the outer sheath though, it will be interesting to see how it all turns out. Hope it all comes together.

Great work with the lights Al, it shows up your interior detailing really well which could be unseen otherwise, not sure whether to do mine or not but seeing this makes it tempting. But then again doing all that detail like you have .... Hmmm ???

Hi Shaun I was going to ask how you did those and made such a good job of them, but I think I can guess Great work so far.

Many thanks for all the replies to the build they are much appreciated and definitely an encouragement to keep things moving. Just a few comments to try and answer any points made. Thanks. That’s a tune I have often sung to myself, a bit of a favourite track and album and very apt for the layout. Now that’s a great scale to add even more detail, make that start and enjoy the build and please post up the results. Thanks Gary, I did think about using something similar but as it is going to be permanent anyway I preferred to blow the plaster on to coat each individual branch and get the final texture for the bark, my thoughts were that for this tree the branches – being thin – were too dense and difficult to coat and this method would avoid blobs as well as being very quick though extremely messy. Strangely enough the mix with acrylic colour added seem to have some flexibility as I was able to bend them again later for better positioning without cracking. Certainly if I didn’t have such thin bare branches I would have used the same method as you. The second tree is now underway as I intend to build 3 or 4 each year, well, I do need a lot of trees of different species and even a dead one (or two). Once again thanks for all the likes and comments from everyone else.

OMG!!!! Noooooo. Oh hang on a minute........ Phew, I've just checked and as it is autumn I have modelled it on the line , great believer in authenticity me

Chris – I think you are right as the idea is to have a history of it all being built including the stock which I hope to start on later in the year. Armin – I did leave it alone, well sort of, I just tweaked a bit here and a bit there when completing the foliage. Well. I think it is finally finished or do I just need to....... No, it’s fine so enough waffling from me and I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves and leave you to enjoy – I hope – the following photographs. As is normal with my pictures if you click on them you should get a bigger view. Hopefully I should get another computer tomorrow, no more dongle issues. A short break now as the polytunnel and DIY jobs are calling.

My interest was also inherited from my father but strangely enough was not followed by my brother who has all his N gauge stuff, I think sister-in -law stops him from taking it up though. My dads interest and mine were always poles apart though in period and detail, whereas he was happy to plonk a few plastic houses and trees around his chosen plan and shunt stuff, I was not. I always thought that he had secretly always wanted to be an express train driver on the GWR.

Gosh!! I'm amazed by the reaction so far I feel a bit embarrassed by it all Chris - Glad you feel it's real as I sit here looking at it and picking holes in it thinking about what I could have done better, maybe I'd better just be content. Mikkel - I usually think that about your work so to hear that from your good self is an honour indeed, thank you, oh and for the status update which directed members here. Robin - thanks, though I have not commented on your thread so far it has always been one that I follow as it is very good. Work on the tree has come to a bit of a stop currently as my caring role is in great demand for a few days, so there will be a delay before the finished article is revealed. As I have a number of different trees to make including a lovely old dead one that I photographed last year I may start a separate thread for them. Thanks for looking in and for all the positive comments & likes etc. Jim