southern42

After breakfast, everything was going smoothly. My plan to make a couple of strips of coping stones for my cakebox walls began well. I determined I only needed one thickness of thick card and proceeded to cut the first strip when the knife slipped, my thumb got in the way, and I had to delve into the First Aid Box. Fortunately, there were a couple of cottonwool pads in there, one of which was pressed hard into position and bound tight with some micropore tape. Then I got (must admit, rather hesitantly!) straight back in there and cut the other strip before any anti-scalpel phobias arose! Somehow, with 'big thumb' always seeming to be 'in the way'. I managed to glue and wrap some dry stone walling paper around the card strips - pattern vertical rather than horizontal, maintaining a dry stone appearance for the top of the dry stone walls. Hopefully, the thumb will be OK and I will not have to report further on it. Fitt and Elfie doing their best! Take care all and play safe. _________ Best wishes Polly

Thanks BoD from me too. Wishing Gordon a good recovery; thinking of you and your family. Keep chuffing. Polly

Yesterday All greenery and tools cleared away except scalpel, ruler and cutting board for there is still a to do list of things to be done which I knew I would not have time to do for the deadline. And you thought I had finished. Yes, for this Challenge, I have, but there are still details that should be done before I venture on, so: Job #1 Add coping stones to the road walls and put hazard markings on the road. Job #2 Replace a few of the stones that do not look right or fit well; lighten the colour of the stones; and naturalise with some grass and weed. Job #3 Continue painting the figures, some are still in primer. The figures I used on the waggons had a basic coat of colour plus a little highlight. There are some new tricks I want to try and achieve in this scale but I need time! I also want to get some larger figures to put in the 1:64 scale bus, if I can get into it - and that means taking it apart...Aagh! The bus figures will be dressed and painted in gear for 'The Prisoner' outing - No. 6 jacket, cape, striped shirts, boaters, and various types of ladies hats. Job #4 I have some more kit building to do - at least another Dundas waggon and the locomotive 'Prince'. So that little lot should keep me busy for a while if I can keep up the momentum. Today - two for the price of one! So, today, I did, indeed, start on the coping stones. Had I not had my 2nd jab on Friday, they would have been done then. However, all did not go to plan... On cutting out the first piece of thick card, the knife slipped and moments later I was delving into the First Aid Box! Thumb all bound up and I was ready to continue, so long as I keep my thumb off everything! The road markings will have to wait. I think I shall have to stick with little painting jobs on the figures for now. I was watching a YouTube video on painting faces earlier this morning and was soon envisaging how I could use some of the techniques on my little people. It may keep me out of mischief, for a while! Polly

‘ morning all from red dragon land. Thoughts and best wishes to Dave’s dad and Gordon S. Not been on here much overthe last few days so hope everyone is doing ok. I have spent the week trying to keep calm while getting my cakebox challenge entry ready by Friday. As it turned out, I needed yesterday (submission deadline!) to complete. Photographing it was not as easy as it looked. After two days of taking around a 100 photos I ended up with the three required. There are a few entries on the the cakebox challenge thread and they are quite amazing. So I am looking forward to seeing all the entries which are getting their own web pages soon. Time for breakfast. Back later. Polly

Entry submitted! Thanks to Phil for organising it all. And Good Luck to everyone who has entered. I love all I have seen on this Cakebox Challenge. So much talent, creativity and imagination out there! Well done all! Polly

Yesterday was another mix of elation and frustration. Cakebox ready for photo shoot. All I needed to complete was a horn - still lost! - and a token for single line working. I made a token using another couple of cleaned up lace pins. First time, I cut to size then tried to paint it! Then I got real and held one end of the pin and painted the other. That’s better! Then I lost it when I cut the end off! Would you believe it? But I did find the horn while looking for it! Some hours later after several attempts, I found the token. At last, I could set up my third photo for taking this morning. Last night’s test shot, below. A rather battered up old horn he’s got there! I modelled the token based on this one: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-the-engine-driver-of-2ft-narrow-gauge-steam-locomotive-double-fairlie-39956730.html Now to complete the photo shoot and send off my entry. Thanks for following and for your comments and ratings. Much appreciated and certainly helped to keep me going.

Some of today’s efforts. Our two passengers sitting comfortably on their blutack cushions. Looks like someone has brought his pad and pastels. The flag pole to mark the rear of the gravity slate train is made from the leftover wire from the signal platform. The red flag is real cloth from one of my old shirts. Don’t look too closely - you can see the frayed edges and the weave! Excuse for the frayed edges is the strong winds we get! And how did ewe get up here...? She fills a big empty space...

Yesterday, Rod Mullet, still smiling, on his way back from his catchless fishing trip in Borth-y-Gest, and trees were glued in position along the waters edge. Two brakemen were allotted to their kit built waggons. Today, passengers (invited guests) will be helped into their newly acquired Bachman waggons of the sort I rode in. The rest of yesterday’s time was spent creating a setting for the diorama with hints of a cakebox environment - more card used from a well known yellow cereal box (covered in white). It will soon be photo shoot time. Photos courtesy of Ivor Drone.

I am pleased to report the signal was finished on Monday with the rebuilt disc, platform brackets and handrails, and second solar panel (the first got lost when I dropped it when placing it in position). Rod Mullet, and gravity train brakesmen and passengers received a coat of paint. Tuesday went like magic. Rod Mullet was kitted out with fishing rod (yet another lace pin sanded to shape, painted and deployed) and bag (cut from a scrap of foam track underlay) with shoulder strap (scrap of plasticard). Trees were checked, tweaked into shape, foliage added where needed, and given a dose of fixative. The waters edge was tweaked and glued in position and shoreline blended in. Lastly, roadside edging (polystyrene channel) was painted and glued in position. Wednesday is set up day for the big shoot.

And some more challenges certainly followed, Marly51. Yesterday, I cleaned the roughness up the brackets (not perfectly, but OK at normal vision), gave them a touch of weathering, and fitted them to the underside of the platform. Today, I replaced the signal disc. The cereal box card was a bit thick so I have replaced it with some thinner black card. Mounted on the sanded down and repainted signal post, it looks a lot better. Then I got round to the platform. I discovered that we had some finer wire than the lace pins, so the handrails have been replaced. That was another few hours tuning, pruning and bending into shape and size, and another hour or two fitting them to the platform - more fine tuning for best fit. They still look on the chunky side but the wire allowed me to give them some extra curves like the real thing. I will paint the handrails tomorrow, once all the tension has gone out of my body. I am feeling a lot happier now that job is basically finished and looking heaps better. There is a matter of adding a solar panel for the electric lamp and mounting the platform onto the signal post, but relatively easier jobs - fingers crossed! As you say, Marly51, these finishing touches certainly reap their rewards! Time for a cuppa, now (and a bit of Easter egg!) - the best reward after a long slog.

As of 5 o'clock, today, I had all the components ready to build my (second attempt) platform for the signal. I thought I would try my luck with the grubby lace pins for the platform handrails. What a lovely surprise! Once sanded clean, they bent really well using some pliers and so I was able to make two presentable handrails. On the Cob platform, the front ends of the handrails are secured through the platform with bolts - that makes them easy to do, here - a small hole in the platform and a bit of superglue. The ends at the rear are actually secured on a joint on the signal post, not on the platform. Scale it down and it could probably be done but I am just glueing them on the platform. Securing the platform to the signal post is going to be challenge enough without bits of brass to fiddle with at the same time. The handrails look a lot sturdier than the real ones but, hopefully, a dab of black paint might make them look less chunky. I can always redo it again, some time down the line, if I have a mind to do so!

It is several days since my last post, so what have I been doing all this time? Apart from tweaking two of the trees, I have been sorting out a platform for the signal. Attempt 1. Plasticard platform with plasticard brackets and reshaped staples for the handrails. Attempt 2. I was not completely happy with how it turned out (handrails too far in and not high enough, and solid brackets) but seeing how easy it is to manipulate the staples, I decided to have a go at using them to make a pair of brackets as well. That is what has taken the time. A very simple idea but, in such a small scale, not so easy to get the centre piece inside the larger one and stay there while being glued in - I spent more time looking for it after dropping it or it flying off, regardless of which handling tools I used, including more time trying to get both arms of the small part to the right size in the first place - at least three rejects! - and getting it to sit in the right position. I will cut off the excess length after they have been painted. Thinking they still look rather plain, I then had another idea! Out came my bag of The Little Leaf Company's Ivy. I sorted out two leaves about the right size and superglued them onto the brackets; then, gave them a coat of PVA glue as they are quite brittle; and roughly painted the brackets white hoping they would look like cast metal. They need a bit of cleaning up, and a wash of light brown to give them a more weathered appearance. The new platform to take them is in progress. Another day's work, beckons...

‘ afternoon all from red dragon land. Pine cone predictors seem to have got it wrong. Wet n windy today, they said. Not going to be good for click n collect groceries this afternoon. Turns out it is dry with a bit of blue sky. Bit of a breeze. No need to worry about the groceries getting wet - seems the pine cones have changed, too. Dull and overcast yesterday, though. With modelling mojo taking a dip with it, I did at least manage to start a platform for the signal on my cakebox thingy. It is only made of plasticard but for a while I was wondering what I could use for the hand rails. Ah! Staples! A new box was conveniently waiting to be opened. They easily bent into the shape I wanted but were right fiddly to put into the holes I made on the platform. I eventually got one handrail stuck on, but decided to leave the other one til today - I got fed up looking for it every time I dropped it on the floor! Why do I persist in such microventures? This morning, I fixed the other handrail. Now, halfway through making the platform brackets with more staples, but if successful, I will redo the platform as it is not quite right. Dropping is not a problem - I am working down on the floor! Giving the fingers n thumbs a rest - til after lunch, anyway. Fitt and Elfie getting to grips with the weather. Take care all and play safe. Best wishes ————- Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Woke up and it was still dark and darker still at 8 o'clock...snowing! No wonder! Melting and snowing...rain later... The Cakebox Challenge is taking up an awful lot of my time and I am enjoying every minute of it! Except when things do not turn out quite right and frustration and/or panic sets in...you know the story... Thankfully these problems soon got sorted and I am more than pleased with how it is going. Off to the sitting room, now - Ray has a virtual committee meeting, soon, in the dining room - r**lw*y related, naturally! Fitt and Elfie muddling on... Take care all and play safe. _________ Best wishes Polly

Today, sees the season change to early autumn on the road side of the railway. But can I deceive you into believing you see the waters edge of the River Glaslyn? A quick mock-up with soft pastels on a 1cm wide piece of card (one side of the enclosing cakebox, naturally! :-) blutacked to the side edges (so a vertical piece of kit!) of the diorama base and the baseboard it sits on. You can see the two foam layers in the top photo. So, technically, no extension to the actual diorama but it does needs blending into the bank, if I keep it. I feel I am pushing boundaries on all fronts... And another day, tomorrow.

Now, for some trees. I prefer to make my own trees using seafoam but i have none left so, how to spend a happy Easter Day? Well, take a couple of oversize trees left over from a previous layout, cut off the tops, snip and tuck to reshape, add some scatter and stick them in their hole. Then cut and snip one of the lower halves of the original trees and use the pieces to make a couple of smaller specimens. The original sized tree on the left. The two for the cakebox on the right. The trees at each end are probably a bit taller than they should be (their size part of my disguise and deception idea) but, in a few years time, the real ones might just catch them up! More autumn scatter is to be added to the trees and long yellow grass along the front edge. Also to appear is Rod Mullett who will be off to Black Rock Sands to do some fishing - if I can find something to use as a fishing rod, that is. A lace pin is about the right length but seems a bit thick. If I paint it a lightish colour, maybe, it will not look too bad. Polly

The signal. I was tempted to buy the ARB Model Craft kit (I still am!) but that would defeat the object of the game for this Challenge - recycling rubbish, and the challenge of DIY, of course. So, one recipe for the the Cob Signal, coming up. White Post: 1 x used grubby pot plant support stick, cut and sanded to size and shape, then painted white. Concrete base: 1 x scrap of gradient foam used under the track. Metal base of post: gradient foam as above. Black post to carry ‘W’ sign and lamp: 1x lace pin cut to length and painted black. ’W’ sign: 1x (online) image stuck on piece of cereal packet - the back painted black. Lamp: 1x Modelu 4mm GWR/BR(W) loco headlamp (handle removed) painted black. 1x small rectangle from offcut of mounting board - with pin hole - added to the base to take the lace pin and to lengthen the lamp in keeping with the Ffestiniog lamp. Yellow lens: 1x painted Modelu clear lens. All stuck in place with superglue. Platform: Designed but I need to rummage up some materials to make it - plasticard and some electronics wiring should do it. As you can see, I went for Scalecenes dry stone walling paper, one of two items specifically bought for the build, itself, the other was some 009 narrow gauge track. Other bought items were for railway operation: slate wagons - a mixture of kits (in the photo above) and RTR, and some seated people for the wagons. The rest is what was readily available at home: new, used, leftovers, or scrap. New tools (Wishlist presents) were successfully tried and tested. No modeller was injured in the process! Polly

Cakebox at the end of Thursday. Greenery since added to footpaths and road, and lamp added to the top of the signal. So, nearly there. Polly

Many thanks, ManofKent, kind of you to say so. Since we have been confined to a 5-mile travel limit, it was impossible to get to Porthmadog, so I had to rely on photos and descriptions found online. Then it was how best to do it with what I had available. I am really glad that you mentioned the 'brilliant orange'...the little I have added stands out quite dramatically and brightens up what could be an otherwise lacklustre scene and makes using a yellow '60s bus more compelling - it was a spur of the moment buy at the Conwy Valley Railway Museum when I first thought I would like to do the Cob. Late in posting; yesterday, was spent doing the signal and the area at the front.

I had a long bash on the backdrop this morning until lunch which is running a bit late! Not ideal doing it in one go - waiting for the glue to dry after applying each type of foliage would have been to my advantage - but walls, road and lower footpath need to be built. Bird's eye view. The sunset appearance is the reflection of the back of the (yellow) cereal box card encasing the Sculptamold. One interesting thing, because the backdrop and stone embankment form a deep valley, the whole thing darkens towards the bottom. I was intending to lighten the backdrop but, Interestingly, the gradual shadow seems to heighten the sense of perspective, so I will leave it alone. It was a dark day when I rode the Gravity Slate Train, anyway. A more normal view. It is September and you can see a bit of orange growth, already. Biologically, the flocking* is the wrong shape, but as I have said, it is all about disguise and deception! It comes as a mixture of yellows and oranges. * Woodland Scenics Foliage - Early Fall. The Yellow Signal with 'W' - still on the to do list - is near the change over of marsh to dune. So, I thought I would try and incorporate the two. The track, at this point, is also adjacent to a very narrow strip of land on the other side of the Cob with a fence and more greenery, which is all I had room for at the front of the cakebox, and hence my intended inclusion of the signal. Time to get lunch!

The backdrop received some minor adjustments with the sanding bar. A set of these was on my Wishlist and arrived in my Christmas stocking, and this one has proved excellent for this particular job. I then hoovered excess dust off the backdrop and gave the whole thing a coat of acrylic paint which I applied with a narrow piece of card from a cereal packet to fill any oversize indentations and smooth out the sandy bits where needed. Disguise and deception. I could not disguise the fact that the backdrop was too long so, before proceeding further, I cut a few millimetres off the end! Harder than I thought, hence the Stanley knife rather than the scalpel. Various colour undercoats added to highlight the different areas for the scenic materials. The backdrop may seem somewhat short, but when the whole 3-cakebox diorama is finished, it will have hills and dunes coming in from either side to complete the panorama...but that is some time off...I am just concerned at the moment with the 8"x8" however odd perspective makes it look! A cropped one. Now, that's better! I think I need to have a tidy-up, now, before I do anything else!

‘ morning all from red dragon land. Yesterday, wind and rain all day and all of the night - the constant rumble sang me to sleep! Still wet n windy though visibility improved - a little, anyway. I went off pizzas years ago but when we had our yacht with a stove, we used to make what we called “boaty pizzas” - home bake baguettes cut in half length ways, baked in the oven then laden with cheese and halved cherry tomatoes and popped back in the oven for a few minutes. When we gave up sailing, we did them at home, though not in the last 12 months. Must try and get some baguettes on our click n collect order. The ‘M’ word marching on. Carving out a low relief backdrop proving to be most satisfying, at least, at the moment. Fitt and Elfie keeping up. Take care all and play safe. ————- Best wishes Polly

Yes! Solved the problem of ‘joining’ the seaward embankment to the estuary backdrop...I think! I was originally going to have the channel of water, which runs alongside the wall of stones at the base of the stones, in the obvious place - on the baseboard. Looking at the two together, this morning, I saw a better alternative: fill in the gap with pebbles & seaweed to blend in with the sand on the backdrop and put the channel of water on the backdrop instead. That should serve two purposes. One which should give a more realistic look to the bottom of the wall of stones, and the other which should give a better sense of distance between stones and channel of water. All an illusion, really. The one thing I liked about some of the biblical stories I was taught at school was the art of disguise and deception. No wonder I like modelling! it is a great indulgence in that very same art of disguise and deception. So, first, I painted the stones and gave them a low water tide mark. Next job is to turn the Sculptamold backdrop into the estuary. I may be some time...

I wanted to try out my new box of Winsor and Newton acrylics so I had a go on the front of an envelope. I might as well kill two birds with one stone, I thought - don’t worry, no birds were injured in the making of this picture. So, here it is! Just a rough copy, mind, and about half the size of the Sculptamold backdrop. The two stripes above were just practice runs but I like the effect it would give to some sky. Something else to think about.

Nicely done.