Physicsman

Completely correct, Jonathan. To be honest, it looked a real mess - and a number of older, re-vamped boxes on the line put it to shame!

Final batch for the moment - signal box and goods shed. If anyone has a specific image they'd like to see - if you can remember - let me know and I'll see if I can dig it out. RMweb is a fantastic resource for ideas, prototype photos and general interaction. The idiot behaviour of an incompetent server company should NOT be allowed to devalue this site. Jeff

Originally on page 70 of this thread - missing pics now re-added.... Jeff's method of static grass/vegetation work: This is how I’ve been doing things for a number of years. All the techniques are well established and there’s nothing here that’s original to me! The key thing is NOT to regard this as difficult. Treat it as FUN!! If it goes wrong, try again! The underlying structure of the hills and embankments on Gill Head is, as was also used on Kirkby Luneside, insulation board – stacked and cut to the approximate shape of the required feature. When KL was ripped apart in June 2018, all the landscaping work was lost as the nearly all the insulation board was stuck to the baseboards. On Gill Head I’ve built the cuttings and embankments in sections – roughly 60cm long – onto 6mm ply board. The ply board is screwed onto the main baseboard from below (a couple of screws suffice) and, if it’s ever needed, the landscape can be chopped apart and each section saved. Insulation board is covered in mod-roc and a top plaster “skim” (I use ordinary household filler – I tried Plaster of Paris on KL and it set rock hard in less than 5 minutes and was almost impossible to work with). Applied. The skim thickness varies, but is typically 1-2cm. To date I’ve used around 100kg dry mass (so around 200kg when wet). When the plaster is set the surface is painted using bog-standard brown emulsion paint. This isn’t strictly necessary, but provides another colour layer if the plaster gets chipped. In the pre-static grass days the next step would have been the top surface: flock. Now, most of the flock covering is virtually invisible under grass, shrubs etc. The flock base is a matter of personal taste. I use a mix of Woodland Scenics “Earth Blend” and “Green Blend”, mixed in a (very) rough proportion of around 4:1. The brown paint surface is covered in undiluted PVA and the flock mix is sprinkled-on using a tea strainer. Most of the flock passes through the strainer. The larger pieces are saved for later (about 5-10%), as they provide a good representation of flowers when sprinkled onto the grassed surface (see later). Pics 1 and 2 show examples of the flock mix in situ, on top of the PVA. Areas that aren’t covered don’t matter and provide a bit of surface variation – where visible! In the summer months, the PVA has set within 2-3 hours. There’s a lot of surplus flock at this point and it saves a lot of money – given the area that’s being covered – if some can be reclaimed. I estimate that I can reclaim about half of what was sprinkled onto the PVA. When dry a small brush is used to go over the flock surface, freeing any loose stuff and this can be hoovered up for re-use. With the flock-base dry and ready it’s time to start the grassing process. I’m not going to get involved in a discussion of which static-grass applicator to use – that’s your choice. I’ve used Noch applicators and grass fibres since I first started using this technique around 6 years ago, find they give excellent results and I’m not going to change. Pic 3 shows part of an embankment from KL2, prepared for the next stage. I apply neat PVA onto the flock surface (simply brushed on). In places, all the flock is covered – on steeper hillsides I tend to leave some areas flock untouched. The gaps of flock contrast nicely with the grasses! Just try things – if it looks crap it can be scraped off and re-done! The shortest grass fibres are then applied onto the PVA. I use a mixture of Noch 2.5mm meadow, 1.5mm (both greenish) and 2.5mm brown. 2.5mm yellow is also a good additive. The 2.5mm green makes up about 70% of my mix – I can’t say exactly as I empty fibres from the bags, in an approximate way, into a plastic tub, shake to mix it all up and then put the mix into the applicator to be fired onto the PVA. No fixed rules, just play! Pic 4 shows part of an embankment with short fibres applied. Summer months: the surface is ready for the next step after a day. At the moment, I leave it for 2 days. If you choose to use HAIRSPRAY you can speed up the layering process…. The next application of grass depends on the area being covered: Embankments often have a lot of longer grass, so in this case I then apply 12mm fibres (see below). Plateau areas or areas with a significant herbivore population will tend to have shorter grasses. In those areas it may be that you choose to stick with 2-3mm fibres, or add in 4mm/6mm ones (see below). For my embankments I covered the areas I wanted to add further grass to with a diluted PVA (about 3 PVA: 1 water) and painted the glue onto the base 2.5mm grass. You don’t have to dilute the PVA but I find it helps the glue to flow onto the base surface. A covering of 12mm fibres is then applied (I use a mix of 12mm field grass (green) and 12mm field grass (beige). Hoover up the excess for re-use, then immediately add a mix of 4-6mm fibres (green/beige/brown). Hoover up the excess and immediately add a layer of 2.5mm fibres – these fill in the gaps between the longer fibres and give the grass a real feeling of depth. Hoover off surplus. Allow the PVA to thoroughly set. Sheep-areas etc – diluted PVA/4-6mm fibre coat/2.5mm fibre coat. Allow to dry. Pic 5 shows part of an embankment with longer grass dominating, pic 6 shows multiple stages: paint coat nearest, through 2.5mm coat to longer grass at the far end. Pics 7-9 show different areas after additional “vegetation” has been applied to the base grass coating. Pic 7 shows 2.5/4/6mm fibres to either side of a dirt path (Woodland Scenics Earth Fine Turf used for the path). Pic 8 shows a variety of materials added to the embankment to simulate bramble, blackberry, invasive weed etc. For these, I used WS Coarse Turf: Burnt Grass and Light Green, WS Olive Green Underbrush and sprinklings of the flock I’d saved earlier. WF Fine Leaf foliage was used to make small shrubby creations and the growth along the walls. The materials are sprinked on top of the grass and a finger/pencil/pointy object used to work them in between the fibres. When the surface is ready, extra strong hold hairspray is applied and the turfs are pretty well held in position. Pic 9 shows the same technique applied to an area dominated by shorter grass. The proportion of grass: vegetation depends on location – use your judgement. One final comment I’d make is that real-world vegetation is generally full of SUBTLE variations. That’s why I tend to use paler coloured materials – I suppose it depends on the season. However, garish mega-contrasts look (to my eyes) disgusting and not natural at all. Pic 10 shows a late-spring embankment at Kirkby Stephen: pale colours dominate. Jeff

Rob, Mark, Jonathan and David - thanks for your comments. I'll add a few more themed batches of pics on here, starting with a repeat of the post on static grassing from a couple of months ago. Fortunately, I saved the text as a Word document, along with the relevant photos, so it should only take a few minutes to post that up. If I can work out which photos went where, I'll also go back and edit the first posts of this thread and the forthcoming (in build) Hell Ghyll Sidings threads - adding in relevant pics. DONE. The Forum has certainly suffered from the loss of all the data, but we just have to get on and see what we can do to improve things! Jeff.

Looking excellent, Mark. You've put a lot of effort into this layout over the years! New avatar, eh? No more pulling levers in the box? Hope partner and kiddie are doing well. Jeff.

Landscapes 5: Mar 11 22 Mar 19 22 Mar 31 22

Landscapes 4: Mar 14 22 Mar 27 22 Mar 31 22

Landscapes 3: Mar 11 22 Mar 14 22 Mar 14 22 Mar 14 22

Landscapes 2: Jan 02 22 Jan 04 22 Jan 04 22 Jan 04 22

Landscapes..... I've got far too many images on file, so I can't remember which ones I posted as my favourites etc. So I present a "random" collection over a number of posts. I've also found my complete (so pretentious!!) "Jeff's method of vegetation....", so I'll stick that on here, with the original text. Can I point out that all pics pre Feb 22 will have the "old" walling, and even recent ones are still undergoing a conversion. I've added the date of the photos so you may be able to cross-reference them to the original posts, if you are so-inclined!! Landscapes 1: Nov 28 21 Dec 12 21 Jan 02 22

Overbridge/Occupation bridge.....

Viaduct construction 4......

Rich, editing the first post is a very good idea. I'll do that later when I put more pics up. Trying to avoid touching anything at the mo as my hands are covered in a substance I've just discovered - DAS...... Hahaha.

It'll take a bit of time, but putting together themed blocks of images is quite enjoyable. There are thousands of pics available, but a short summary is probably more than adequate, especially with the relatively small numbers looking on here. More viaduct, goods shed, overbridge etc later!

It would make things a lot easier - from an overall thread reading point of view - if he could recover some of the missing data. As you know from your own threads, it can be nice to occasionally scan through what you did in the past, sometimes as a means of "stirring" the mojo!!

Viaduct construction 3....... Quite a few pics on the viaduct as it did take me around 5 months and 19,000 stones to construct. The last angle is a(n) homage to the image of Arten Gill that inspired me in the first place: That's all for tonight - at least I've made a start. If I look tomorrow and all the old stuff has reappeared, well, so what!!? Jeff

Good luck with recovering any of your pics. Fortunately I've got everything multiply-backed-up. I like your comment about the woodwork. "Substantial" sums it up. I like a sense of "permanence" in the things I build. OTT is another way of looking at it!

Viaduct construction 2......

Viaduct construction 1...... Details on the relevant thread pages.....

Underlying structure.... "Tables" built using L-girders, over-engineered for the task, as you'd expect from me! 12mm birch ply tops. Details on the relevant pages of this thread.

Hi Rob. Good to be in touch with fellow enthusiasts after the enforced break. I've been in touch with Andy York this evening and he is not at all confident that any images posted in the last year or so will be recoverable. I've looked back to some of my earlier threads and all pics as far back as 2015 are missing. On the assumption that nothing is going to appear, I'll re-post batches of stuff. Anything that does appear will then be a bonus!!

Layout planning..... A study of the prototype - terrain and structures (from photos and OS maps) - here are a few diagrams used as things developed. The original contour map was just a guide - practicalities got in the way, but I stayed as close to the 2019 plan as I could!

I'll start by posting some pics of some of the key structures that will feature on the layout. There's a lot of stuff to replace and I can only do a superficial job. So here's the prototype viaduct (Arten Gill), overbridge (at Kirkby Stephen) and underbridge (at Armathwaite). Different structures will have construction posts as we go on. This may take a couple of weeks! I don't see the point of having layout, or practical threads, on here that don't have a lot of the original pics, diagrams etc available to the interested viewer. So please bear with me and I'll see what I can come up with! Jeff

So it appears that images on most threads have disappeared due to the incompetence of the old server company. I've checked my threads back to 2015 and all pics are gone. I will sort out a LOT of images relevant to this project and start to upload them in a series of posts over the next few weeks. I have copies of everything posted, but I'll be very selective. I hope this will go some way to being useful to those who've followed this thread. All the best to Andy York and the team for restoring what they could. Jeff.

Jay, Rich, thanks for the positivity. Rich, I understand your situation and if you are able to pop in once in a blue moon, that's great. It's more than I do around the Forum. Sometimes these days it can be difficult to motivate myself to post on here. Especially with the speed of the site, page formatting and invasive garbage making tablet use very difficult. Best wishes to all lurkers!