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Ydna

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  1. Ydna
    Hi folks. I thought I might share with you my latest weathering project, the BR 20 Ton Brake Van by Hornby.
     
    I purchased this model a month or two back and from the start I got it for a reason... Primarily to pull behind my Break-Down Crane. Yesterday I got round to the 'griming it up'
     
    I began by giving giving the model a quick rinse with tap water to aid adhesion of the paint. After it was fully dry, I moved on to what I normally do to brake van / van roofs. I have a very good method which I use, as follows:

    I start by mottling a very weak (thinned) shade of blacky-grey, grimy paint on with a medium-sized brush. I use Acrylics (primarily because they don't stink the room out like enamels [and other oil-based paints], they dry quicker and the appropriate thinner is water rather than white spirit or suchlike. Water costs nothing and I don't use paint for weathering unless it's thinned).
    After that has settled on the roof for between 20 seconds and a minute (depending on how much I've thinned it down) I dab what I can off with kitchen-roll. The rule is; the longer you leave the paint on, the more weathered and aged your model roof will look - its as simple as that.
    Next, I highlight potential rust-prone areas with a bone-dry brush. In the previous entry to this blog I used this technique a huge amount to model scratches in the paintwork of the Rudd ZBV wagon. The way I do it is by mixing some rust-shade paint with another brush, and then I partly ruin the brush I've chosen by spreading out the bristles slightly (it's probably wise to use one of your more aged brushes for this job!). So, once the bristles are bent outwards just dip the ruined brsh in the paint and dab it onto the prone-to-rust areas of the roof. That's it!

    I also work on the chassis of course... a chassis never stays black for long, as it is on the model! For the chassis I use rust coloured powders (I produce my powers by crushing orange pastels - a quick way to dispose of old pastels!).
     
    For the body work of the model (which in this brake van's case is steel, I use more powders, but this time a black, grimy mix of pigments.
     
     
    That's pretty much it for a 20 Tonne brake van of that era.
     
    Below I've attached some pics...
     
    The model before weathering:

     
    The model after weathering:

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    Please give me your thoughts and opinions on this project. If there's any more you think I can add then please suggest it, although I'm not going down the Graffiti route yet!
     
    Thanks for viewing... more grime comin' soon.
  2. Ydna

    AWS Ramps

    By Ydna,

    I recently bought a pack of four AWS ramps by Peco after inspiration from the article about painting / weathering them, featured in the Railway Modeller March Issue. I decided that as I couldn't use them on Almere Road (because they're not any use on TMDs as there aren't any signals), I could make some use of them on my home layout.
     
    Here is a picture of the product (SL-45)
     

     

     
    The unpainted plastic models on the sprue.

     
    I find that it's easier to paint them on the sprue. The finished ramps...

     
    I used yellow and silver Acrylic paint to pick out the appropriate areas.

     
    To weather I began by giving the models a complete coat of a very thin black, grimy wash - about 1 part paint, to 5 parts water. That's about it.

     
    To fix to the track I will be using poly cement of some sort. Poly cement contains petroleum which (I think) melts the plastic and bonds your two components together in one.

     

     

     

     
    Thanks for viewing. Comments and opinions are welcome...
  3. Ydna
    Hi folks,
     
    Thought I might update you as I've not posted on this blog for ages. There's not been a lot of progress on Almere because I've been concentrating my modelling time on Bexford TMD, my test-piece. I'm really glad I chose to do a test-board for two reasons; one of which is that I've learnt a few lessons in ballasting and warehouse-building, etc. The other is that I have got a small amount of satisfaction out of getting a piece of chip-board looking slightly more like a bit of railway than just a plain board. You see, the last time I did some scenics was 3 or 4 years ago on my old, now dismantled layout.
     
    Anyway, as Bexford is coming to an end rapidly I'm going to be returning to the Almere workbench soon hopefully. The first job will be to lay track.
     
     
    That's all for now. To see the latest modelling progress (Bexford TMD) visit my thread on it.
     
     
    Thanks,
     
    Andy.
  4. Ydna

    Intro:

    By Ydna,

    Over the past few months, I've been constructing the baseboards for my new exhibition layout called Almere Road TMD. The project began when, a few months ago, I felt like putting a small, compact, cheap and hopefully simple exhibition layout together. I've always been interested in the 80s/90s era of diesel traction and so I instantly chose to model small, fictional Traction Maintenance Depot. The name is made-up but I imagine the scene to be set somewhere in the South of England. As I've said already, I've always been interested in the 80s/90s era of diesel traction and the majority of my stock is in the Railfreight Distribution Livery. So in conclusion, the layout is a compact model of a late-80s - mid-90s era Railfreight Distribution Traction Maintenance Depot. As I've always used DC (and quite honestly haven't got the finance to enter the DCC world), DC is for definate, despite the fact that it's very outdated and not quite as ideal for exhibition exhibiting as DCC is.
     
    The plan (attatched below) comprises of an Engine / Maintenance Shed, a refuelling facility, a wash-plant and possibly a wheel-lathe shed. There is also a small storage siding.
     
    For a lot more info on the general information on the layout please take a moment to visit the larger website dedicated to the layout... I'm primarily using RMweb as a blog
     
    Updates and progress pictures to follow.
     
     
    Ta for now
     

     
    The most likely, final trackplan... NOT TO SCALE:

  5. Ydna

    Update - 19/02/2012

    By Ydna,

    In the previous entry, I wrote a breif discription of the story behind the layout and I also attatched a basic track-plan just to give you a rough idea of what it'll look like.
     
    So, down to the nitty-gritty...
     
    I breifly mentioned that I had been working on the base-boards recently. Attatched below is a diagram in plan-view of the board dimensions:
     

     
    But, anyway the base-boards - and the 'Sky Blue' painted back-boards are actually now complete, as of a fortnight ago. I'm currently getting on with the painful task of constructing the retaining wall structure out of ply. Once that job is done, I'll bring the layout inside, from the garage into the front-room where I can get on with sorting the track out. The current trackplan, attatched in the last entry, isn't for definite but it'll be something along the lines of that.
     
    Jobs to do:
    Complete retaining wall
    Cover retaining wall is brick-effect paper (CGTextures)
    Build low-relief warehouse back-scene, sitting on retaining wall
    Lay track
    Test
    Ballast Track
    Test
    Build fiddle yard
    Test
    Build lighting unit (for exhibition use). This will probably be a seperate, bolt-on wooden structure. It will also carry the layout name-plaque, etc.
    Scratch build the buildings
    Do all the scenics (scatter / static grass, trees, etc.)
    Some other finishing touches, etc.

    More updates to come. Progress pictures also coming soon.
     
    Ta for now.
  6. Ydna
    Hi folks, thought I might update you on the layout.
     
    Over the previous week, since the last update, I've got on with completing the retaining wall structure at the back. It's now completely finished, and after purchasing a tub of wood-filler on Wednesday I've been smearing a 2mm thick layer of the stuff over the bare ply-wood with a pallet-knife to give a smoother finish. Next weekend I'll be able to start sanding it down and I'll possibly even get round to painting it a tar-mac colour with a mix of Acrylics. Some progress pictures are below - excuse the general mess...
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

     

     

     

     

     

     
     
    Ta for now guys!
  7. Ydna
    Thought i might take the chance to introduce you to some of my stock that isn't in the 'Locomotive' category. Obviously the layout is a TMD, and very small one at that, meaning that there isn't a lot of space for wagons to sit a round. However, I have been working on weather one or two of my wagons to show off on the layout from time to time. It gives the 08 Shunter something to 'shunt' I suppose and is a change from just a crowd of Locos refueling. So, below I've attached a few pictures of my latest wagon - a Hornby Rudd ZBV Ballast/Sleeper Wagon. I decided to have a go at 'bringing it to life' after reading a very informative 'Easy Weathering' article in the Railway Modeller February Issue...
     
     
    The model to begin with (before treatment):

     
    Tools I used for the job:
    A mix of brushes
    A watercolour set (to create pigments of different colours by crushing them)
    A rust coloured pastel (to crush to make more pigments)
    Some cotton bud stocks to rub pigments / powders into model
    A few appropriate acrylic modelling paints


     

     
    I used a craft knife to simulate a dent (as they do in the RM Article):

     
    The model on the cutting mat ready to be weathered:

     
    I began crushed parts of my rusty orange shade pastel to create some powder. I then mixed that with some crushed yellow watercolour pigments (remember, the watercolours have to be bone dry to crush) to make more of a rusty orange rather than just the red orange of the pastel alone. Using one of my old fine brushes an my fingers I rubbed it into the insides of the wagon:

     
    The model after weathering:

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
     
    Thanks for viewing.
     
    A lot of work on Almere Road TMD planned for tomorrow and Sunday
  8. Ydna
    Another progress report on the weekend's work on the layout....
     
    Well, I've fully sanded down all the filler and repainted the non-scenic parts of the layout structure / board black. I've also completed the warehouse MDF cutouts, as seen in the pictures below...
     

     

     
    Here are the scraps of MDF left over from the cutouts...

     
    I use the scraps to make the two half-warehouses to go on the right end. It needed another little bit on scrap added on to make it the correct length (which is what the clamps are holding on)...

     
    I spent about an hour shredding up pices of thin card to stick on to make the ridges of the walls...

     
    Eventually the warehouses will be varnished and painted (the varnish will [hopefully] stop the card from expanding when the Acrylic paint is applied). The end result should be acceptable enough to stand on top of the retaining walls
     
    The project for this week is some AWS ramps which I purchased at the model shop today for £1.85. The pack contains four which is pretty good value. Obviously they won't be appearing on Almere Road because they're only used on mainlines (and usually positioned 300yrds before the signal). I'll probably be using them on my modern image home layout (which is a project ground to a halt currently!). I'll be painting them and weathering them. The project will be fully written up in a blog entry in a few days time
     

     

     
    That's all for now folks.
     
    Comments and ideas for the layout always welcome.
  9. Ydna
    Hi,
     
    Not much to update you on the subject of Almere Road TMD unfortunately. Work has been slow lately because I've been spending ages waiting for the varnish or paint to dry on my warehouse units. I've been quite busy as well so I haven't been able to do anything in between waiting for them to dry. However, during last week I decided that it would be a good idea to start a test-area project. I suppose I could also use it as a photography plaque as well, but basically it's currently a piece of chip-board with a cardboard backscene. The idea is, before launching into the scenics of Almere, I can use this test-board to test out my skills of weathering the track, applying static grass and other techniques / jobs. I'm not going to let this mini project slow down the progress of Almere though - its just a little extra.
     
    The test-board will consist of a low-relief warehouse backscene (just like what will be on Almere), and a low-relief shed. I've fictionally named this 'test-board' Bexford. You can see my new Layout Topics thread by clicking here. For now, here are some progress pics of the Almere warehouse units as well as the test-project...
     
    The warehouses (which need a few more coats of acrylic paint [probably a lighter shade of grey] and a coat of matt varnish). Of course - one of them still needs a first coat of paint still!:

     
    Bexlford TMD so far (its taken me 3 days just to make the Jewson warehouse units:

     

     

     

     

     
    Thanks for viewing. Any advice / comments very welcome.
     
    More to come this weekend hopefully.
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