Physicsman

Agree entirely, Rob. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies in the quest to "get it right". There are at least 5 stones in those images that I'll be replacing tomorrow, to hopefully improve things further. May as well do it now, before final mortaring, rubbing down and painting. Nothing worse than looking at something you know could have been better. This is NOT obsessional, as we know there's a limit to what can be done. But if it CAN be improved, WITHIN YOUR SKILL LEVEL, why not do it? Question 1 again.....

Evening Chip. As my "walling correspondent-in- chief" I appreciate your comments. I gave you a "funny" rather than a "thank you" as I realise you're pulling my leg about the showing off. Always good to push yourself and not settle for mediocrity. Those arch ring voussoirs were driving me bloody mad this afternoon and more than a few ended up tossed into the bin - which stands 18" to the side of where I work. Yesterday, Brian said I had the patience of a saint. Not sure if saints know some of the profanities I've been uttering over the last couple of days! Simon and Garfunkel must have got their lyric "I hear words I never read in the Bible" (Got to keep the customer satisfied, Bridge over Troubled Water album) from walking past my Bunker! And btw, I hope you approve of the new-style ( "improved") walling?

The front arch ring and surrounding area has been fitted today. This took me over 2 hours as I endeavoured to build the voussoirs (ring stones) to interlock with the surrounding stones, as on the prototype. EDIT: The whole area will need rubbing down and mortaring - so slight differences in stone thickness and gaps will generally fill in. Pleased to also get the voussoirs to align with the stonework in the under-arch-liner.

A couple of pics from today. The internal faces of the parapet have been clad in stone and copings sat on top. Doesn't look much, but it comes to nearly 300 stones. When all is set it'll be ready for a mortar coating - as will the whole thing. Yesterday's quick bit of mortar "goo" (PVA/DAS mix) worked well, so it'll be repeated in a few days time.

You've hit the nail right on the head(s) there, Brian..... Both things you mention - patience and realism - feed off each other, reinforcing themselves and urging me on. If I knew the end result was likely to be poor, my patience would probably be non-existent. Seeing the whole thing come together encourages a "go on, another 200 stones today" attitude! Doesn't always work out, though. The first hour of stone cladding on the front face of the bridge ended up in the bin. Hard to explain why, but it just didn't look "right". So 100 stones into the bin and start again...

Thanks for the pic - nice location! There's always something growing anywhere there is water. Hard to find (I have a few) pics of the Gill near the viaduct, so your image will come in handy. Having decided the Gill was "wet" enough, it's now had 2 small top-ups in the last couple of days. Still mostly rocks - will do another mm or so of gel tomorrow and show some pics. When the whole lot has properly hardened (not long at current temperatures) I'll start putting a bit of vegetation in - including some of the grass clumps you have in your pic.

Steve, you're correct.....it's 23.20 and I've just had to go and roll another 14 DAS strips to keep the building going tomorrow. The underbridge is using stones at a prodigious rate!

A couple of pics showing the state of play after today's efforts. The railway road-deck and arch liner have now been glued in place. Aside from the arch ring and immediately surrounding area, all the required stones have been fitted to the front and back faces of the bridge and received a mortar gunge. I'll fit stones to the inside of the parapets tomorrow and fit some copings. Then I'll get the arch rings sorted.

Greetings Peter. Glad to see your humour hasn't changed, despite the lull in posting. I know exactly what you mean about the honesty issue. Some of us try to make a stand, but you sometimes wonder why you bother. Anyway, off my soap box and off to dad's to watch a 1963 episode of The Outer Limits.

Cheers Al. The wash is a mix - in roughly (emphasis on rough!!) equal proportions of Woodland Scenics Stone Grey, Burnt Umber and Raw Umber, diluted about 10-15 to 1. Bit of "bucket chemistry" really - chuck it in and see what colour comes out!

Continuing work on the underbridge. I decided to remove the section of track I was fitting the bridge around. Then I could just build the bridge in the conventional way and slot it into place. The pics are self-explanatory. The arch liner is currently sat, not glued, in place. The screws on the rear side are to pull the rear face onto the glue that joins the main body to the rear face.

Yes, John - always good to try to learn new things. Doesn't always lead to improvements, but it certainly makes things a lot more interesting. Once a great technique is established, fine, but if I was doing things the way I was, say 15 years ago, I wouldn't have posted post any pics on here. A great hobby when one is always TRYING to advance! A case in point is with my main hobby, astronomy, and my obsession for the last 6 years - high resolution photography, especially the moon, though Jupiter will get more of a look-in from the end of this year as it heads to higher declinations/altitudes. I've refined a technique for the last few years and results have improved. However, having watched a number of recent videos - by true luminaries in the field - and having spent a few weeks pondering, I came to the conclusion that I was missing a couple of "tricks" in technique that I should have been aware of many moons ago (sorry about the pun!) Whether as a result, or coincidentally, my images from early April - in not ideal conditions - were about the best I've achieved. Very inspirational, spurring me to aim even higher. As with all great "pastimes", the desire to always keep TRYING to improve (doesn't always work) is what keeps the interest and enjoyment levels high. And - in relation to question 2 - receiving honest, no-nonsense feedback and constructive advice is essential. I've got no time for sycophancy in any walk of life. Now, returning to the underbridge, I've got work to do on the back face and then it'll be the arch rings.....

The colour wash on the stones is currently for effect - to check the shade out before I properly apply it. So all the stones will receive a very dilute PVA-DAS "wash" to serve as mortar, then be rubbed down and paint washes chucked on. It'll also need some weathering grot in places - hope to be ready for that by the end of this week!

Thanks Jay. I'm very much enjoying this - it took me a long time to discover that I really love scratchbuilding structures and scenery. Work will continue on the back face tomorrow, then there's the tricky job of building the arch rings to line up with the arch liner stonework..... Another challenge to have a go at. Can't imagine plodding on doing the same thing year after year after year - can you?

4 days in and the underbridge is taking shape. Prototype pic for comparison....

Colin, I've seen what you can produce, and I can tell you that it is MORE than worthy of being on here. So no worries there! Agree with your comments. Maybe my perception of the Forum is that IF people post on here, especially those who've been on the Forum for a fair while, they EXPECT a response. Oh well, I've raised the issue. There are no hard and fast answers, are there? Time to go and DO something. J.

Yep, I've opened the can of worms. But opening the can raises yet another issue.... Ten years ago the Forum was buzzing with posts and a thread could - if we chose to - be an almost full-time job in responding to it. Lots and lots of input, often filled with humour, reminisces etc - all really useful to the naive modeller that was me. Now, the Forum is much quieter. A lot less response, even when someone openly asks for advice. Yes, times change - and maybe the clientele and characters on the Forum do, too. A shame, really. I actually don't spend much time on here these days compared to a decade ago. Too busy building walls, eh? Off to build the bridge arch.....

Excellent batch of comments, lads. I agree with everything that has been said, with no exceptions. Can I re-iterate that I'm not on my "hobby horse" or trying to lead some kind of crusade against "sub standard" modelling. We all do what we can, and one person's efforts (eg. mine) might be cr@p in comparison to someone elses. The comments put onto a thread must certainly depend on a knowledge of the modeller involved as there are some who could easily take offence. I'm guided by the character of their threads, past and present, as to whether they want a response in the first place and whether I should simply say "keep up your efforts", or offer advice - for what it's worth. But If it's clear that said modeller DOES want people to respond AND the modeller has a track record then I'm always going to be honest with what I say. The particular example I'm referring to was simply a catalyst to provoking the questions I raised. I, for one, would always want non-trivial things to be pointed out. I've learned an enormous amount in the years I've been on here and I'm very grateful for all the input I've received. Maybe others would prefer just to post with no consequences? In no way am I trying to be judgemental or controversial. The answer to my first question - as you've all pointed out - is modeller dependent (age, state of mind, experience etc) and the second depends on what input we feel we should feed-back. Thanks for the comments. More welcome if anyone is interested. Jeff

Hi Ade. Thanks for your comments which are always very much appreciated. Can I make it clear that I'm in no way trying to pass judgement on anyone's modelling. I can have an opinion, but it's only as valid as the next persons. And the builder can tell me to "go jump" if they wish! However, what I've seen (the thread and builder don't really matter, it's the general principle I'm interested in) is just SO bad that I immediately wondered how the person had the nerve to post it on here. Made worse by a collection of "that's good" type comments when even a 5 year old would say it was bl**dy awful. Jeff

I'd like to ask a couple of questions and would welcome your comments on these. My reason for doing this is very simple. I've just looked at easily the worst bit of "modelling" I've seen in 11 years as a member of RMweb. I don't think the contributors to that thread are being honest with the "builder", so.... 1) Do you think it's important for the builder of a layout, building, loco etc to always give their best, whatever their level of expertise? I KNOW it's an individual's own thread and, within reason, they can please themselves what they churn out. But my angle is more along the lines of whether said individual, if they are serious about what they are doing, should always TRY to submit a decent effort on this public forum? 2) Do you think it's important for readers/followers/contributors to a thread to be honest in their opinions? Even if it means - politely - informing the individual (constructively) that what they've done could be improved by x,y or z? Is it of any help to an individual if all they ever hear are positives when it's patently obvious there are faults they could be encouraged to improve upon? Comments welcome.

Stonework has started on the underbridge and I'll post some pics of what's been done tomorrow. In the meantime, a picture of a couple of trees behind a wall. The recently-completed wall received a couple of additional paint washes today, which enhance the stonework. Sorry I can't provide you with cereal box buildings or out-of-the box loco pics. Those will have to wait for my advanced modelling course, due in 2065......

Here's a closer view of the area you've highlighted. I have about 25mm to work with, so don't expect minute detail on the model!!

A picture report a bit sooner than planned as I got a fair bit done today. 2 pictures, one of the prototype (underbridge number 324, adjacent to Armathwaite station on the S&C) and one of the state of the model after 2 days. Things are complicated slightly by the fact that the track is already fixed in place, so the bridge has to be built to fit around the location. The front face and underlying supports have been put together as one "unit" and the rear face will be fitted on at a later stage. There's a little bit of "buttressing" involved in the structure - hence the wet DAS, which provides an angled "ramp" for the stonework. When the DAS is set it will be rubbed down and stone blocks fitted on top. The block size on the bridge is typically between 3' x 1' and 2' x 1' (12 x 4mm and 8 x 4mm) with variations. The blocks will (mostly) be made from 1mm thick DAS strip, cut to the above dimensions, and stuck on to the structure as a "cladding". I hope to start the procedure tomorrow. To either side of the bridge is a sloping embankment and - guess what - some walling. Yippee!

Update: I've given the trees and walling a break for now and started work on the underbridge that's adjacent to the station. I'll put some prototype photos and a sequence of build pics at the weekend, when I've had chance to make some progress. But there's no escape from DAS. The bridge is a stone construction and the easiest way - for me, anyway - is to build a ply shell and clad it with DAS "stone blocks". Details will be forthcoming!.....

I know it cost you an arm and a leg, but it was worth it. A very effective backscene. Jeff