Physicsman

Rob, Simon - I love it! I've got the microscope out of storage and have spent the last 3 hours performing microsurgery on the wires and walls. Woollen tufts and lichen with a diameter of 0.5mm aren't easy to model precisely. I wonder if I've done it right? If not I'll have to rip it up and do it again....then again....then again.... I sound like a Tellytubby! And I wonder if the detail is line dependent? Should I model it SDJR, MR, NSE .....and does being in proximity to third rail affect the density of wool/size of barbed wire or lichen? Apologies, just having a larf and taking the pi55. I can be a sad ba5tard at times, BUT.... ....and you know what? I looked at the length of walling adjacent to the lay-by (so pretty much in the forefront when viewing the layout). All the other wall is almost "background". But that 2 metre length (4-5000 stones in the new system) is going to HAVE to be replaced with the revised walling, or it's going to drive me nuts. As if I wasn't already. Anyway, back to the bunker and the diorama. My brother has suggested BUILDING a MODEL Robin (bird, not car) and sitting it in a tree to see if anyone will notice it..... Oh, yes.....Now where did I put the microscope? Cheers lads, great humour - especially as there's an element of truth in it!! Jeff

Thanks for the compliment, Steve. J.

Cheers Steve. I agree with your comment. Unfortunately, the new stuff makes me VERY dissatisfied with the walling on GH. No way can I replace that, though the idea will never go away! And the new walling takes me twice as long as the old stuff. Umm.

It may seem an odd thing to post on here, but a couple of close-ups of a section of some ongoing stone-walling... Jeff.

A couple of cropped pics from today which, by chance, show the "new variety" of walling better than those I've posted before.

Here's a couple of pics showing the approximate positioning of trees on the diorama. 2 or 3 smaller, "shrubby" constructions will be added. There are also 3 telegraph poles to go onto the right-hand embankment.

James, fully agree about the spigot/pin thing. I'll be storing the dioramas in the area under the viaduct and, although there's plenty of clearance for the basic boards, the trees will have to be removed before stashing them there. Although I intend to make quite a number of trees, the ones from the diorama can be plonked elsewhere when the diorama isn't in use. As for the foliage issue. These are the first wire-wound trees I've made and I'm experimenting to develop a technique I'm happy with. I'm going to try both sea foam and WS foliage (not on the same tree!!) to see which, if any, I prefer as the base for the top coarse flock/leaf coverage. The trials will be reported on here. Jonathan, here's the Amazon link to the latex I used. It's from a company called Trustleaf: Trustleaf 1 litre Liquid Latex Dipping Rubber for Mould Making/Casting/SFX : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen Jeff Edit: For some reason the hyperlink didn't copy across - but the details above will guide you to the product.

James, Jonathan - I did reply but my comments were lost by the system after submission. Off to get my tea, will reply again when I get back!!

Here's the 12cm "specimen" that will sit at the left rear side of the wall. It's been covered in latex and surface-roughened, but those stages aren't shown here.

Update: Vegetation is 99% complete, I'm just waiting for delivery of some "flower petals" to create a bit of colour, as mentioned above. Track has been reasonably weathered - there's a brownish tint that doesn't show in the photos. Walling is now finished - until it starts again for HGS in 3-4 months time. So attention has turned to a project that will be ongoing for quite some time - tree making. The diorama will need 2 or 3 trees behind the wall area, and these will be around 8-12cm high on the left side (2 trees) and another, maybe 8cm high in the middle-right (trees will be built to an approximate size and fitted using the "plonk and judge it" principle!) I'll build a couple of smaller specimens - maybe 3-6cm - which will serve as tree/bushes on the front embankment. 2 of these have already been built and are at the wire-wound/latex-rubber-coated stage. I'll move on to priming, attaching foliage and flock in the next few days. In the meantime, here's some pics. This is a 16cm (scale 40 feet) tree - too large for the diorama, but built for the station area...... 1) and 2) Tree in wire wound state: I used 28AWG wire for this and it took about 3 hours to get to this state. 3) Tree after 5 coatings of latex rubber. The pic shows the tree sat on top of the oil heater I use in the bunker - this shortens the curing time of the latex to around 20-30 minutes. 4) After 5 straight latex coatings the tree was ok for paint priming. But the latex surface is a bit smooth for tree bark. So a bit of sandpaper was used to produce a quantity of fine bark dust, which was mixed into some latex and painted onto the trunk and thicker branches. 5) This is what it looks like when the wet latex/cork mix has set. The cork is evident. It's the texture that matters here, when primed with spray paint the colour will be a uniform grey - ready for top acrylic coats... Hope that isn't telling everyone how to suck eggs! Jeff

I feel a sense of euphoria and out-of-worldliness....a touch of late 1960s Pink Floyd and the contents of that packet you sent me.... .....works wonders for the modelling. Now where did I put my DVD of "girl on a Motorcycle"??!!

Yes, Peter - that is exactly a part of the plan. It will fit on either side and allow pics to be taken both ways. Just a very basic ground and sky/cloud job.

Update.... Well, I wasn't going to put anything else on here until tomorrow, but what the hell. The first pic shows the kind of vegetation found on some cuttings on the S&C - very dense and colourful. My "colour guru", Mr Steve Gibbons aka Ramrig is about to post me a supply of weed-making stuff. No, not THAT kind of weed....some colours to create infestations of eg. buddleia. There'll be smoke rising from the Bunker and it won't be for a new Pope! Don't tell the police and, btw, I don't smoke... Pics 2 and 3 - how it looks today. Bit more walling tomorrow on the left corner, then it's TREE making - my first attempts with wire. Should be fun!

The ballast is still wet from the fourth or fifth wash, so it's emphasised on the pics. I've done 4 base washes of a grey mix, now starting to add-in some raw and burnt umber for a rusty emphasis. I could mix stronger acrylic washes but I'd rather be careful.

Steve, I know that you REALLY don't like receiving "Likes" - hahahahahaha - so I gave you one anyway.

I thought I might get some loco pics done today. No chance. There's a lot more to do than I'd thought through and, because things have to be done in a certain order, it's taking "ages" (almost 2 weeks.....haha). A couple of pics from today. The fence behind the wall is complete, more track weathering (barely noticeable) and I've started "vegetating" the opposite embankment.

Here you are, Tony - the slightly "lean-to" posts up against the wall. I thought one piece of wire was sufficient to give the idea!

Things are progressing (relatively) slowly - approaching 12 days on the project! Here's a "teaser" of the left-hand diorama board - it's just had a track wash and vegetation, wall fence-posts have appeared.

Update: Vegetation is currently being added to the embankment. The track is ballasted and I've started weathering it. I should be able to post a picture update on Tuesday, and the HGS thread may - subject to time constraints - have a few more loco pics, taken on here. Fingers crossed.

Cheers Jonathan. Always nice to see some acknowledgement that others "rate" what you've been doing. I've been sent a PDF of the relevant page, but might get a copy of the mag.

Well, you always claimed to be a "miracle worker"!! I seem to recall a post on KL2 where you threatened to convert one of my Black 5s while I went out for a p00. Or a pEM, as you joked.

Bl**dy hell, you don't change, do you? GOOD. Just what we need. Not that I think that was a serious question, but the simple answer is - I'm running out of workspace at the moment so the area adjacent to the station is being kept blank. As for more serious suggestions, yes, I'll take some stock off your hands as a loan - maybe wait until a bit later this year? And - shock, horror, I'd even let you do the "Doctor Jason" surgery treatment on a Black 5, if you ever had ten minutes to convert one to EM. Keep posting - I'm going out to the Bunker to do some griming and walling.

I had an ULTERIOR MOTIVE when I posted those pics. The hoppers were the only readily available EM wagons in the Bunker (the rest are still in the loft), BUT I wondered if putting them on here might pull you out of hibernation! Good. Great to see you are still surviving the rigours of parenthood. How about a PM to let me know what you've been doing?

Thanks David. Here's a couple more pics - taken 30 minutes ago - showing where I'm currently at.

Thanks to Jonathan and Ian for your comments. I'll take more care over my picture composition when I use the diorama - in its current state - to pose a few steamers for Hell Ghyll Sidings over the weekend. There's a lot more detailing going into the diorama: ballasting, cess, vegetation, telegraph poles, fence posts, trees, more walling etc - all of which should appear in the next week or two. J.