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TomE

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Blog Entries posted by TomE

  1. TomE
    Shedding some light on things.


     
    Hi All.
     
    For a little while now I've been thinking about whether I should go to the trouble of adding working lighting to the layout. Whilst there isn't that much around the yard, it would add another level of realism, and potentially allow some atmospheric N Gauge photos! Just take a look at Missy's blog post here to see what kind of effects can be achieved.
     
    So, this afternoon I plugged in the soldering iron, dug out some 0.8mm diameter brass and located my supply of minature LEDs. Photos to hand show that the lights in the yard are more of a white light, so white LEDs were used. If nessecary these can be toned down a little with some clear yellow paint. A very thin piece of brass, an off cut from an etch of something else, was used to create a J shape to represent the light fixing before being soldered to the LED then the post cross brace. In reality this should be more of a U shape, but as I'm using this to conduct power, the other side will be added from a thin piece of plastic once the light hood is made. Some very fine wire was soldered to the other side of the LED and then fed down the post. As you'll see from the photo below this handily replicates the power cables of the real thing. The 0.8mm tube was then soldered to som 1mm tube to represent the wider base.
     




    One of the prototype lights in the yard






    And the much smaller version.


     
    Amazingly the whole thing works and now just needs the light hoods making from thin plastic and then paint it before being installed. That isn't going to happen until more of the scenery towards the rear of the layout is complete, otherwise it's liable to get damaged.
     
    Now the first one is proven to work, the remaing four should be a fairly easy task, and I think the finished effect will be worth the effort!
     
     

    UPDATE


     
    Rather than add a new entry, heres a quick update showing the whole thing pretty much finished bar some thin clear plastic over the fronts of the light units, which I need to source from somewhere. Quite pleased with how this has turned out given my usual aversion to anything electonic!



     
    Cheers,
     
    Tom.
  2. TomE
    Hi all.
     
    Following on from the last entry detailing the GFB Designs IMP Servo Driver, Ropley now has it's first working Signal!
     
    This ended up being more in-depth than I original anticipated, but only due to me deciding I wasn't very happy with the first version of the Up Starter built a while back. Specifically, the signal simply had a length of wire running through the base plate which was not particularly robust, and had no means of preventing over movement. This was rectified by using various diameters of brass tube to create a very simple mechanism which restricts movement of the arm to the desired range. It's altogether a much better attempt and should stand up to exhibition usage well, hopefully!
     
    Installing the Servo itself was straight forward, with a simply L shaped frame being produced from MDF (the most suitable material I had to hand!) and a servo screwed into a cutout of the correct size. The photo below illustrates the installation:
     



     
    The Orange and Yellow wires run from the LED installed for the Signal lamp, another area where this signal was improved from version 1.
     
    Hopefully the videos show how the signal works, and whilst the movement might not be completely accurate it's close enough for me, and most importantly it means I can control all aspects of the layout from the Powercab handset.
     




     
    Cheers,
     
    Tom.
  3. TomE

    Ropley - Still here!

    By TomE,

    Hi All.
     
    Blimey, was it really September the last time I updated the blog!
     
    To be honest, Ropley has had something of an early winter hibernation, but the last week has seen some progress made with the embankment and groundwork on top of it. Those who know the real Ropley will have seen the recent landscaping which has taken place here, with the removal of the miniature railway and the regrading and resurfacing of the upper car park. As this work happened just before the scenic 'cut off' date I have now imposed, it required that the top of the embankment was remodelled also.
     
    This was done by cutting the basic shape of the carpark from card, and gluing it on top of the existing terrain. The surrounding landscape was then built up using polyfiller, before being sanded to shape once dry. The Real carpark is edged with old sleepers, and so a thin strip of plastic was fixed around the edge and sprayed brown. The carpark surface was then created using the trusty old Normady Earth Powder fixed in place with Kleer.
     



     



     
    As a little experiment, I sieved some Treemendus Forest Floor scatter and brushed it to the edges to try and represent dead leaves. You can just make out the effect in the photos, and once the treeline to the rear of the carpark is installed I think it should look quite convincing.
     
    The steps down from the carpark to the footpath and bridge were made up from plastic and again sprayed brown before being fixed in place. The actual footpath surface is yet more Normandy Earth powder, only this time it has a dusting of black weathering powder applied whilst still damp.
     
    The photo of the real location shows how it should look, and hopefully the model is somewhere close!
     



     
    Also recently installed is the relay box just opposite the water tower. This required a small amount of embankment to be dug out being being fixed on a small platform to bring it up to the required height. The box itself is a stock Ratio one, sprayed with Halfords grey primer and then just given a dusting with the weathering powders. The limited clearance sign was made by very carefully painting two red squares on a piece of paper then cutting it to the required size. A thin piece of wire was then glued to the back and painted grey. It makes an interesting comparison with those on the rear of the fuel pump shelter, which were printed and look a little faded!
     



     
    So, not a great deal of progress, but a few small steps in the right direction. I would like to have a concerted push over the next couple of weeks to get some of the outstanding jobs done, including finishing up the dimensions of the bridge so I can get this off to PHD for etching. I've also done some groundwork on the shed and wheeldrop building and hope to make a start on these quite soon.
     
    Cheers,
     
    Tom.
  4. TomE

    Ropley - Weather me clean.

    By TomE,

    Hi again all.
     
    In the previous blog entry WillJ commented on the weathering carried out to a couple of the engines used on Ropley during RMweb Live.
     
    Weathering is a subject I have been pondering for sometime, since it is a totally different proposition when modelling a preserved railway to any other era. As can be seen from the top image, steam locos on heritage railways tend to be kept in top link condition, with polished boiler cladding & shiny brasswork. This goes almost totally against every known modelling convention where the subject of weathering is concerned, and if not approached carefully could totally ruin the overall look and feel of the layout.
     
    So, where to start! Something I noticed fairly early on when visiting the MHR was the matt appearance of the smokebox in relation to the highly polished boiler cladding. To replicate this I masked off most of the loco, using Humbrol Maskol for difficult areas, and sprayed the smokebox with Tamyia Matt varnish. The same was done for the underframe on the tender. Once dry, the boiler cladding and tender body were given a coat of Kleer to up the gloss levels. A few select items of pipework were also picked out in brass, although I have a few more to do on the Black 5 seen below.
     



     
    The difference from the all-over satin finish of the standard Farish paintwork really makes a difference I feel, and a dusting of black weathering powder along the top of the boiler & running boards to represent ash/dust deposits helps further. The drivers and motion need attention also, and I'm leaning towards matting down the wheels, and painting the motion in a more accurate steel colour, if one can be found.
     



     



     
    The Black 5 proved a useful test subject, as I need to find the different style of body to better represent 45379. Hopefully the photos show the effect off sufficiently, although I should really have taken a photo before the changes were made. The model could have probably used a second coat of Kleer, particularly the tender, and I may try gloss varnish as a comparison on a different engine.
     
    Cheers all,
     
    Tom.
    Ropley is a N Gauge Model using 2mm Finescale Easitrac modelled after the real location on the Mid Hants Railway Watercress Line.
  5. TomE

    Ropley - Getting to the point

    By TomE,

    Hi All.
     
    As a break from mass tree production for the embankment, the last couple of days have seen attention turn to point rodding.
     
    The original intention was to use the 2mm Scale Association etch for the rodding, however having received a fret a while ago I felt it was a little too thin when compared with the appearance of the real thing. After seeing Julia's rodding for Highclere, I purchased some of the same .4mm square section from MSE and although intended for 4mm scale, I don't think it looks that far out for 2mm.
     



     
    The rodding was made by laying the 3 sections onto some double sided sticky tape fixed to a length of MDF. Small lengths of 0.2mm wire were then soldered at regular intervals. This was helped by using a card board jig Julia had made up and very kindly let me have to get the correct spacing (thanks Julia!) A few short lengths of wire were soldered at 90 degrees to make locating pins which fit into holes drilled into the baseboard for a secure fit.
     
    After priming with Halfords grey primer (what would we do without this!), the rodding was painted with a rust mix made up using various shades of Humbrol enamel. Black weathering powder was then applied to the areas where the rollers would be to represent grease. I may yet add some representation of the rollers, if I can find a suitable method of doing so. Ballasting along this section up to the cable runs can now be completed.
     



     
    So, distraction over, back to trees!
     
    Cheers all,
     
    Tom.
    Ropley is a N Gauge Model using 2mm Finescale Easitrac modelled after the real location on the Mid Hants Railway Watercress Line.
  6. TomE

    Ropley - Treemendus

    By TomE,

    Hi all.
     
    After a few months of working on the fiddle yards, track laying and getting Ropley to the stage where it could be operational in time for RMweb Live, it's time to turn back to the scenics side of the layout.
     
    A few entries ago I was experimenting with producing trees using the methods described here. Since then I have also found this gentleman's work, which is simply amazing. They appear to broadly follow the same method, and I have tried to use a similar one for the trees on Ropley.
     
    The trees start with a wire frame produced using florists wire, which is twisted into branches and then trimmed to the desired lengths. Superglue is then applied to the frame, and whilst this is still wet, bicarbonate of soda is sprinkled onto it. This has two purposes, the first being to set the superglue rock solid, and the second to give some texture to the trunk and branches. Fibrous teddybear stuffing is then glued to the branches, and teased out to give more bulk to the tree. The basic method is covered in this blog entry.
     
    The last couple of evenings have been spent making the trees that will line the top of the embankment at the far Eastern end of the layout. Originally this tree line was much longer, stretching down to just past the water tower, but since the installation of the footbridge it has been cut right back to start just past the carriage and boiler shop building. The only difference between previous experiments and these trees is that in place of the random bag of scatter used for foliage, I used some fine scatter from Treemendus.
     
    I don't think my efforts are anywhere near as convincing as those in the two links above, but I'm pleased with them. It's amazing the difference just this handful of trees makes to the look and feel of the layout!
     



     



     
    A more simple method of representing the tree line which runs along the entire length of the rear of the yard may need to be found, as twisting the wire for these three trees has taken its toll on the fingers! That said these need only be 'low relief', so it may be manageable if they are made up over a period of time.
     
    Cheers all,
     
    Tom.
     
    Ropley is a N Gauge Model using 2mm Finescale Easitrac modelled after the real location on the Mid Hants Railway Watercress Line.
  7. TomE
    All set up and ready for the show!


     
    Hi all.
     
    Well, its over! Ropley's public debut has been and gone and currently the layout is sat in the van whilst I summon the enthusiasm to lug it up 4 flights of stairs.
     
    Ok thats not quite true, there is a lift in my block, but it will still need several trips too and from the van and after the weekend the beer siting on the desk next to me is a far more attractive proposition right now!
     
    I'd like to begin this entry by thanking all those who stopped by the layout for a chat, and for the positive comments made about it. It does make all of the time and work worth the effort when you get positive feedback.
     
    I'd also like to thank Carl Wood of Vale of Oxbury fame for the loan of a bar stool. It was a life (or more accurately, leg) saver, so thanks Carl, much appreciated! Thanks must also go to Will J of this parish for keeping me supplied with tea on a regular basis through both days. Finally thanks must go to Andy, and all of the Warners team for putting on the event, and making all of the exhibitors feel so welcome. Anyone who didn't attend missed a unique event in terms of presentation and content, and although visitor numbers were not high, I think this format has great potential for the future. I certainly enjoyed the show more than some other recent ones I have attended, and many people commented that having been to the N Gauge show to day before, or in the morning, RMweb live was an altogether friendlier event!
     
    So, what lessons learnt.
    Ropley can be operated by one person, but that doesn't necessarily mean it should be operated by one person! Next time I will be on the hunt for willing (or otherwise) volunteers to lend a hand. If nothing else, just so simple things such as "facility" brakes, and lunch acquisition actually become possible, rather than a distant dream!
    I overpacked, but this I don't really mind as I'm sure if I hadn't I would have needed something which had been left on the desk at home.
    Using the alignment pins as a means of conducting power to the traverser on the East fiddle yard is not reliable enough for show conditions, and direct power is needed as per the West fiddle yard. In fact it turns out I probably didn't need the alignment pins at all, the drawer sliders used having enough resistance to hold position, but they are probably a useful back up!

    Overall I was extremely pleased with how the layout performed. One or two minor track work issues have been highlighted, but nothing that cannot be fixed to eliminate them.
     
    Perhaps the biggest benefit of taking Ropley to the show is that the fiddle yards & facia are no longer tasks looming on the horizon, and I can now focus on working on the scenic section in the knowledge the layout is fully functional, if not anywhere near finished. I'm hopeful that over the next few months there will be some big advances with the scenery, so the blog should be a little more active than it was at the start of the year.
     




    Now people know what it is!


     
    So, show 1 down, and I survived! Hopefully there will be many more to come.
     
    Cheers all.
     
    Tom.
  8. TomE

    Ropley - The Road to Ricoh 6

    By TomE,

    Hi all.
     
    Another quick update on the way to getting Ropley ready for its public debut!
     
    Whilst steady progress is being made on track laying in the fiddle yards, I have been giving some thought to lighting the layout. Having had the opportunity to operate Jerry Clifford's excellent Highbury Colliery, and his latest exhibition layout Tucking Mill, I was always impressed by how the lighting of these layouts really shows them off at their best. The setup on these layouts is simply under cabinet kitchen lighting, and so after a brief search on the net, a trip to Screwfix produced a T4 strip light for installation on the rear of the layout facia.
     
    The light was temporarily lashed to the facia board in the photo above, and I'm quite pleased with the result, although the supplied tube may be just a tad on the blue side. The photo below is straight from the iPhone, under the new lighting:
     



     
    It's amazing what a difference the lighting makes, even in daylight, and it really is stating to look and feel like an exhibition layout. Having the deadline of RMweb live has really pushed along some of the more mundane tasks that needed completing and what would most likely have taken me a year to do has been accomplished in the last few weeks.
     
    So, the van is hired, the curtain is made, and with any luck by next weekend the layout will be fully operational, if not quite fully finished!
     
    Cheers all,
     
    Tom.
  9. TomE
    Hi all.
     
    Just a quick entry this evening to show a little more progress.
     
    Work the last few days has focused on finishing the backscene whilst I wait for a fresh delivery of track components and the locking, folding brackets for the fiddle yard legs.
     
    I always intended the backscene to be a fairly simple affair, essentially representing a lovely sunny Hampshire day (he types, as it's grey & wet outside!) To get the effect I was looking for, the whole backscene was first sprayed with Halfords white primer, and then a light blue colour was added with lighter coverage towards the bottom, leaving the fade from white to blue you get on a clear day. I think this gives quite a nice, simple effect as shown in the photo above. I may be tempted to add clouds at a later date, but I'm undecided at the moment as a badly done backscene can spoil the effect and detract from the rest of the layout.
     
    Cheers,
     
    Tom.
    Ropley is a N Gauge Model using 2mm Finescale Easitrac modelled after the real location on the Mid Hants Railway Watercress Line.



  10. TomE
    Hi all.
     
    Another day of good progress getting Ropley ready for its debut at RMweb Live!
     
    The second fiddle yard attachments have been made and fixed in place on the main board allowing the current full length of the layout to be assembled. I say current full length as the intention is to eventually include the full station area as well as the yard. Seeing the whole thing together like this makes all the effort seem worth it!
     
    I have hit a small snag in that I have run out of rail, so an order to 2mm Scale Association Shop 1 will be sent off first thing tomorrow for more supplies. Also pending delivery are locking folding brackets for the legs at each end of the 2 fiddle yard boards. these will fold up neatly underneath each board giving a simple and compact unit that does't require assembly each time.
     
    On Fiddle yard 1, the alignment method is being installed and this is nothing more complex than brass tube soldered to the rail end PCB sleepers with a length of brass wire used as a locating pin. I wasn't sure if this would be sufficient for electrical contact, but so far it seems to do the trick nicely which minimises the wiring required between boards. This is a bit messy at the moment, but once all lines are in place everything will get one final coat of matt black sprayed.
     



     
    Also required is the end section to the backscene. This will be temporary with a view to the station board being made, and why the backscene on this board is only curved at one end. This also still needs a final coat of white paint and then some representation of sky adding.
     
    So decent progress over the past couple of weeks and all being well the layout should be fully operational in time for the show.
     



     
    Cheers all,
     
    Tom.
    Ropley is a N Gauge Model using 2mm Finescale Easitrac modelled after the real location on the Mid Hants Railway Watercress Line.
  11. TomE
    Hi All.
     
    Something of a milestone today. The first fiddle yard has been joined to the main scenic board for the first time, and it fits!! In fact, the fit is just a fraction too tight as the fiddle yard left some black paint on the end of the other board, but i'm not complaining about that!
     
    In the run up to RMweb live, work on the layout will focus on getting the thing operational, and presentable, in that order. The second fiddle yard is now largely complete so I hope to have this connected up during next week. Track laying and electrical connections to the fiddle yard will then be completed, along with the laying of track on the traverser. I'm also hoping to have the facia for the scenic section started and painted to finish things off nicely along with a curtain to hide the mess underneath! No doubt the show will expose any issues at the most inconvenient moment!
     
    The layout is resting on two Draper trestles, whilst the fiddle yards will probably use home made versions. It seems to be a pretty sturdy affair, even without being clamped to the trestles.
     
    Height wise, the rail height from floor is 123.5cm, which feels about right when viewing from the front.
     
    The only problem I have now, is where to keep all the various parts of the layout when not in use!
     
    Tom.
     
    Ropley is a N Gauge Model using 2mm Finescale Easitrac modelled after the real location on the Mid Hants Railway Watercress Line.
  12. TomE
    Ropley now has a place to fiddle.

    Hi All.
     
    What is that saying about best laid plans.......!
     
    In the run up to RMweb Live! and Ropley's first public appearance, I had hoped to increase the frequency of these blog entries to show some of the work being done to get the layout ready. It was always going to be exhibited as a work in progress, but events have somewhat overtaken the layout of late.
     
    Sadly, last weekend we lost Dad after a 3 1/2 year battle with Myelofibrosis and latterly Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Obviously this hasn't left an awful amount of time for modelling in the past few weeks, but since then it has been a handy distraction and some progress has been made in one area I have being saying I will start for over a year now!
     
    So, behold, the first fiddle yard board for Ropley!
     
     
     



     


    Operating in line with the keep it simple approach to things, it is a fairly simple arrangement, with a traverser running on some drawer runners sourced from the web. I had the ply cut to the required dimensions by the local timber yard, which saved no end of time and trouble! A couple of coats of matt black paint later and we have something that Lockheed would be proud of!
     
     
     


    All that remains now is to lay the 5 roads of easitrac and make up the alignment system, which will be nothing more elaborate than some brass section and tube. Operation of the traverser will be manual, as I don't believe it to be large enough to warrant some fancy all signing all dancing electrical operating method.
     
    So, one down, one to go, and a whole 5 weeks in which to do it.......easy..................!
     
    Tom.
  13. TomE
    A slightly cruel comparison between real and model. I couldn't quite get the camera into the right position on the model!



    Looks like I need a 2mm scale pigeon...


     
    Hi all.
     
    Some more small steps on Ropley. The water tower is heading toward completion and now has steps and a few other little details added. Still some more to go but they are quite delicate so will probably be left off until the tower is ready to be installed permanently. The interior tank details were added with the help of some photos from the very useful and informative Mid Hants Railway blog. This is well worth a read to see the work the Railway are doing, and also to show how fast things change around the real yard! The ladder is from the Ratio etch, but needed two joined together to make the length required. Hopefully the join will be strong enough to cope with the inevitable occasional knock something stick up in the middle of the layout is bound to receive over time. Since i'm modelling the tower pre-repaint, the ladder needs to be weathered down a little yet.
     
    The one remaining issue I need to consider is water. I have already put a few layers of Kleer into the tank and was reasonably happy with the result, but there is a noticeable concave effect where the Kleer has settled in the middle lower than the edges, so if anyone has any suggestions for a product or method which doesn't do this then I'd love to hear them!
     
    Although I think my version of the tower is a little too tall, considering it was all done by guess work and estimation it's not turned out too bad I think.
     
    Cheers all,
     
    Tom.
     



     




    More cruel close ups!


  14. TomE

    Ropley - Let it flow

    By TomE,

    Watering at Ropley just got easier!


     
    Hi All.
     
    A very brief entry today to show a little bit of progress in finishing some loose ends. The watertower has long needed it's downpipe making, and so armed with some brass tube and a hammer I set to work. The whole pipe is one section of tube bent to shape, and one end flattend out to represent the rubber shroud. I had pondered how to approach this aspect for a little while, not really liking the use of elastic fabric as supplied in the Ratio kit because it just doesn't look either in scale or hang right. The final answer was brutishly simple, just flatten the end of the tube out with a hammer! The joins in the pipe were made by drilling a hole in a thin piece of plastic card and then sanding it round. Painting was deliberately patchy to represent the real thing, before it was freshly painted!
     




    A slightly cruel close up!


     
    Next is to fit the internal gubbins into the top of the tank and the ladder, however for the latter it's proving difficult to find N gauge etched later of the required length, both MSE and Ratio etches being too short. There is also some finer details to be added around the base, along with some more pipework, but this will wait until the tower no longer needs to be handled on a regular basis.
     
    Cheers all,
     
    Tom.
  15. TomE
    Somewhere to store N gauge things.


     
    Hi all.
     
    Well, as usual things down at 2mm scale Ropley have been moving at a glacial pace! Quite the opposite from the real world location it seems.
     
    As many of you will now know, Ropley will be making its first ever public appearance at RMweb live in September.
     
     
    Gulp.
     
     
    This will very much be as a work in progress, however I have drawn up a (short!) list of things I would like to have done by the time the show comes around. This is mostly finishing off elements which have been started but not finished, such as the carriage and bolier shop building, water tower and general ground work around the yard. Recent work has focused on repainting four Graham Farish containers to represent those next to the coal staithes. This was done using Humbrol enamels mixed to give roughly the correct colours, before being weathered. The two green containers have a multitude of different shades of green, and I have replicated this as best as possible.
     




    The first container, before another was added on top for additional storage.


     



     




    The model version.


     
    There is a whole multitude of 'stuff' to be modelled between the containers and the C&B building, and the plan for this is to build it as a separate unit which will then be dropped into the layout once complete. Doing it this way will allow me better access to the scene to add some of the smaller details found in the area and without having to drag the whole layout out each time to work on it.
     
    I am very much looking forward to bringing the layout to Coventry, in whatever state it happens to be in at the time! It may not visually change a great deal between now and then, but hopefully the fiddle yards will be complete and the layout will be able to operate as intended. It will also be interesting to see if the layout is up to exhibition levels of use!!
     
    Cheers,
     
    Tom.
  16. TomE

    Ropley - Mock Me!

    By TomE,

    Two blog entries in two days! This must be some sort of record!
     
    Regular readers of my ramblings will know that when this project first started, all those many eons ago, the only footbridge at Ropley was at the far Western end of the station. In the last 3 years however, significant changes have taken place in and around the yard, the most visual of which is the installation of the footbridge formally located at Kings Cross Station.
     
    Acquired in order to improve accessibility to the boiler and carriage shop by means of the mezzanine floor installed within, the footbridge has changed the look of the whole yard and left me debating whether to draw a line in the time period in which the layout is set. However not being one to shy away from a challenge, I decided that the footbridge will be reproduced in small scale.
     
    I have to admit, having seen the completed installation it is a somewhat more complex affair than I ever imagined, and I still need to get a set of decent measurements which will be no small task in itself, but today I made a simple paper mockup using a photo cropped and resized to approximately the correct dimensions in order to establish whether there would be any issues fitting the bridge into a layout which was not built with it in mind. Happily it seems it does fit, although it appears I may have made the C&B building a fraction too narrow. I have been considering re-making this anyway to address a couple of other areas I wasn't happy with.
     
    It's interesting how even this paper mockup puts a whole new perspective on the layout, and I'm now looking forward to getting the final version measured out and etched up. I think it's going to be something of a scene stealer!
     



     
    Cheers,
     
    Tom.
  17. TomE
    A visiting 3F pauses to take on water as another service enters the station.


     
    Hello all.
     
    A short entry today, but I wanted to show some of the new fence that has been specially made for Ropley. Those familiar with the site will know it is festooned with this green, loop top fencing which is made on site by the railway. After measuring up a section a while ago, all of the information was sent to Pete Harvey at PHD designs who then worked his magic and produced the fencing you can see in the photos above and below. I really can't thank Pete enough, he's done a fantastic job and it really looks the part. The two sections above are two modified, movable sections of fence used to block access to the main running lines when the yard is open to the public.
     
    Also added is the small sign telling people not to pass this point. This was printed from a photo of the real sign and is just readable in the right light and with a magnifying glass!
     
    Little features like the fence and sign really add some life to the layout I feel, and there is a lot more of this 'clutter' yet to add!
     




    Just what the layout needed, more green….!


     
    Cheers all.
     
     
    Tom.
  18. TomE
    A rare view of Ropley, not4 one which will be easily seen once the layout is complete.


     
    Hello all.
     
    Embarrassingly little progress to show on Ropley, however there has been some. Mostly this has consisted of a few scenic touches in areas where all major landscaping or other works are complete or will not interfere!
     
    The observant amongst you may have noticed a brown fence appeared between the yard and the wheel drop line in photos on the last blog entry. In reality this is a somewhat Heath Robinson affair constructed from what looks like scaffolding poles to separate the public in the yard from the main running lines. I wasn't really very happy with this first attempt, the brass used being too large and the colour being all wrong, looking nothing like bare metal poles, so version two has now been constructed and installed. .31mm nickel silver wire was used this time, and in addition the bottom row of the fence was also included, something I forgot the first time around. The required lengths were cut and then held in place with the highly technical method known as blu tack before everything was soldered together, using the bare minimum solder to try and keep the joints neat. Once done, instead of painting, it was sprayed with Matt Varnish to dull it down, and then given a very light dusting of black weathering powder. The result can be seen below and I think this is a million times better than the first attempt!
     




    Ropley is now semi health and safety compliant thanks to the new fence!


     
    Also visible in the photo above is one of the water points which are dotted around the yard. This was a simple enough thing to make, using some plastic strip and brass tube of various sizes for the 3 taps found on it. A section of hose was made up from thin brass wire, and then painted red. Whilst the paint still had some tack to it, this was also dusted with black weathering powder (I use ALOT of this!!) and then fixed in place. Some Kleer floor polish was added at the end of the pipe to give the impression someone has left the tap on! I do need to find a suitable section plastic to represent the larger diameter hosepipes where were laying round the yard when I last visited. These lay flat on the ground in a slightly squashed diamond shape, so if there is nothing commercially available then some good old stretched sprue may need to be used. There is a whole host of other yard detritus to be added yet also, so plenty more work to be done!
     




    No hose pipe ban here!


     
    To represent the grass growing along the base of the fence, some very small clumps of the teddy fabric being used to create the grass embankment were glued in place. This may need a trim to lower the height slightly, but otherwise I think it worked out ok. and gives a denser cover than static grass would be able to achieve at this scale.
     
    Other progress has seen some more cable trunking added to the embankment side of the line, and some work to tidy up a few loose ends (literally) underneath the board has also been completed. Next on the 'to do' list is the ash pit and remaining area of yard to be DAS'd before the embankment grass is fixed in place. I also need to re-model the the top of the embankment slightly to accommodate the new car park.
     




    Still a large hole to fill where the ash pit is located!


     
    Finally, I'll leave you with a study of the latest model from Graham Farish. The Fairburn tank was something of a surprise when it was announced, and it doesn't really fit in with my purchase policy of 'only types which have run on the line', however in terms of moulding it is absolutely superb, and reflective of the huge improvement we have seen in N Gauge in the past few years. Sadly it seems Quality Control is yet to catch on, and there have been numerous reports of wobbly runners both here on RMweb and elsewhere. Luckily my example is 98% wobble free, especially at the low speeds it will do on Ropley, but it seems that N Gauge still has a little way to go yet before it truly comes of age. Oh, and the justification for having one was that this engine is one of two preserved, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that it will visit the line one day in the future. That and I'm a sucker for big tank engines!!
     




    Must be a Gala weekend!


     
    Cheers all,
     
    Tom.
  19. TomE
    A green and pleasant land.


     
    Greetings all, Happy new year!
     
    Well progress on Ropley rumbles on at glacial speed, but there has been some in recent weeks.
     
    For a while now I've been looking at methods for recreating the overgrown grass on the embankment along the rear of the main running line and station. This varies from quite dense overgrowth to very thin cover where the platform extension was built several years ago. My original plan was to use static grass, but having produced a few test pieces, which have been seen in many of the photos here, I found myself thinking it didn't really capture the uneven nature of the real thing, and was a perhaps too uniform in appearance. So, after looking around the internet for ideas, I found myself back at Treemendus, the same suppliers who produced the earth powders used for the ballast. Now I should say there is absolutely no connection here, other than being a satisfied customer, but I decided to order a piece of their raw grass to see if it was possible to get the kind of look I wanted this way rather than using static grass.
     
    Raw Grass, it turns out, is a posh name for teddy bear fabric. It arrives as an A4 size sheet looking like this:
     



     
    A strip slightly larger than required was cut of the main piece and the fur brushed so it was at its full height. At this point it is far to tall for 2mm/N gauge so required trimming down quite a bit to better suit my needs. This was done initially with electric trimmers, then again roughly with scissors to give an uneven look.
     




    Before.


     




    After.


     
    The next stage was to add some colour to the fur. Treemendus recommend applying acrylic green paint to the top of the fur, rubbing it in as you go to add the colour. I felt this was the wrong way to do this though, since new growth appears from the ground so the colour should start from the backing fabric. To try and give this impression I watered down some Sap Green acrylic paint on a flat-ish plate:
     




    Pea soup, anyone?


     
    The strip of trimmed fur was then placed into the paint and left for a few seconds to soak up the paint through the backing fabric. It's important to let enough paint to absorb to hide the white backing fur, but not to leave it in the paint so long it dyes the piece entirely green:
     




    Waiter, there's a hair in my soup.


     




    The section of fur after removal from the paint.


     
    Once enough paint has been soaked up, the piece of fur is left to dry out overnight. Initially the green seemed quite bright, but once it has dried out it darkens down to a much better colour. I also gave it a very quick blast over with some green spray paint to help blend it all in. It will also need a spray with some matt varnish to take off any residual shine from the teddy fur:
     
     



     
    This will need some further foliage adding to represent brambles and other growth but overall I'm quite pleased with the result of this trial. Here are the test pieces produced to date rested in place on the layout to get an idea of how they would look:
     



     



     
    Cheers all!
     
    Tom.
  20. TomE
    Waiting for the trains at Ropley


    Hi all.
     
    Firstly I must apologise for the recent quietness on the blog front, I know I say that every entry but a house move and a busy period at work have left very little time for any modelling to take place recently. However hopefully now the move is complete and everything is more or less settled I can get back to progressing the layout along. A small amount of work has been done in the last week, namely a start on the low sleeper wall separating the wheel drop line & main yard. Small strips of plastic were cut to sleeper sizes and fixed to a long strip of plastic which was then fixed in place after being sprayed brown. Areas which have rotted and collapsed have been replicated as best as possible.
     




    Grunge, oil & decay


    The grungy ballast in this area was created by using Treemendus Earth Powder rather than the Normandy Earth Powder used for the 'main line'. This is somewhat finer but is still applied in the usual way with Kleer being used to fix it in place. Whilst the Kleer is still damp, a mix of black and grey weathering powders was dusted on top with gives the compacted ballast look. I also mixed some black powder with a spot of Kleer to apply in areas where oil builds up and attracts dust and other grime. I'm quite pleased with how this has blended into the yard area which was produced using DAS and will probably use this method in the yard area in conjunction with DAS when the time comes to finish that area.
     
    Some thought needs to be given to how best produced the weeds growing in this area, as I've found that static grass in small areas, especially in this scale, doesn't always give dense enough coverage.
     
    As mentioned, hopefully progress will be a little quicker now we are heading towards modelling season, so the intervals between this and the next entry should be a lot less than 7 months!!
     



     
    Cheers all,
     
    Tom.
  21. TomE

    Graham Farish Black 5

    By TomE,

    Hi all!
     
    Until I visit the parents again in 3 weeks time, there won't be much progress on the boards. So in the meantime, here's a look at the Graham Farish Black 5 released last year.
     
    The Mid Hants Railway have recently finished the restoration of Black 5 45379 to running condition (http://www.watercressline.co.uk/The-Works/Locos/14) so at the Doncaster show I managed to pick up a Farish example for a reasonable price. Eventually it will be renumbered to match the full size version.
     
    As far as the model is concerned, it is another lovely product from Farish. Whilst it maybe doesn't have the wow factor of the 4MT or 3MT, it does have a high level of detail as you can see from the photos. Running was a little jerky to begin with but improved after I swapped one of the two sets of tender wheels fitted with traction tyres for the spare set without and will hopefully improve further once it's been run for a while. Some people have reported problems with pick ups on the engine not touching the wheels but on my example they are all fine out of the box. I did have to rearrange the wires in the tender as they were forcing the metal coal load up but long term I plan to replace this with 'real' coal once I find a way of adding additional weight inside the tender body.
     
    One thing I did do right away was replace the couplings with short shank versions. It will still go around my unitrack loop with a rake of Mk.1s without buffer lock thanks to the close coupling mechanism on the coaches and it does bring the gap down to a more acceptable distance on straights.
     
    I did also try fitting the replacement bogie with the scale wheels, however the metal link fitted was too short. I swapped this for the link fitted to the original bogie but the rear set of wheels would not turn as they were catching on the chassis. I can only assume Farish have included the wrong link on the replacement bogie? I’ll have to look into this as Ropley will allow for the scale wheel set to be used.
     
    Anyway, enough rambling, to the photos:
     

     

     

     

     
    Cheers all!
     
    Tom.
  22. TomE

    Ropley - 50 Shades of Brown

    By TomE,

    Landscaping for the rear embankment is now complete.


     
    Hi All.
     
    Things are moving slowing down at small scale Ropley at the moment, significantly slower than at the real location it seems! You may remember a while back that I was considering whether to keep up with the changing scene at Ropley and model the ex Kings Cross footbridge which is now in the final stages of being installed across the yard. It now seems that some significant tree clearance is taking place along the top of the embankment. How far this is going i'm not sure yet, but I suspect the number of tress I need to make is going to drop by quite a few!
     
    This all became evident whilst looking through the images posted to Steam Tube by Tony Wood, a very useful resource for me thanks to the many photos taken from in and around the yard. This particular image shows the extent of the tree clearance along the top of the embankment:
     



     
    I'd always intended that the model would be somewhat flexible on timescale, the recent addition of the bridge requiring the reality distortion field to be dialed up a notch further when running stock which predates it's installation such as 60019 in green, and Std 5 73096, a stalwart of the line for many years up until 2011, but the removal of the trees may provide a final cut off point as for me this area loses some of its appeal without that line of green atop the embankment. The Spring steam gala at the start of March will provide the opportunity to try and work out what is happening in this area, and if it's something that I will want to replicate in miniature.
     
    Anyway, back to the model, and the basic ground works for the embankment are now complete. This is a significant step forwards, as it means scenic work can now start in ernest (at least where things are not changing!) The method was the same as previously described, with a foam board top fixed to formers being used to help keep weight down. The path and track have had a thin skim of filler which was sanded smooth once dry before the whole lot was sprayed with sleeper grime.




    The embankment complete. The roof on the Carriage and Boiler shop has warped beyond use and will be replaced.


     
    The vertically challenged Down Inner Home signal is also now nearly complete bar a few minor details and some final tidying up. The cut out in the embankment where this is sited has been reproduced by applying a thin layer of filler to the sides, then having a small ball of tim foil pressed into it to try and replicate the stone seen in the real thing. Hopefully once painted this will look reasonably like the prototype! You can see the various staged of the construction of this signal in the 2mm workbench thread here. Well worth a look for the other superb work on show there!




    The Down Inner Home in its embankment cut out.






    The view from the head shunt line.


     
    The completion of the embankment has really spurred me on now to try any complete some of the scenic area towards the rear of the layout so that things can progress at the front without the risk of damage by leaning over. I also need to crack on and finish the Carriage and Boiler shed so that work can start on the main shed and wheel drop as well as finishing the ash pit, so, lots to do!
     
    Cheers all,
     
    Tom.
  23. TomE

    Ropley - On the edge

    By TomE,

    Ropley overview. Visible progress is being made with the embankment to the left now in place.


     
    Happy New Year all!
     
    Well, the first blog post of 2013 and I finally have some visible progress with the layout to show! Over the New Year period, a few days off work have seen several major steps forward made which have totally transformed the look of the model. Firstly though we'll briefly go back to signals.
     
    The last blog entry showed the first stages of the Up Starter signal, and this is now largely complete. You can see a few updates on its construction in the 2mm Scale section here. Also now started is the Down Inner Home signal recently installed as the final stage of the prototype's resignalling. This will eventually allow bi-direction running through the station giving the line much greater flexibility. Due to the road bridge further up the line, this is quite a squat affair for sighting reasons, and has been installed in to a cut out in the embankment. This area was modelled before the signal was installed at the real location, so it was necessary to do some small scale excavation to make room for the model.

    The Down Inner Home signal being placed.


     
    The photo below shows the Up Starter temporarily placed to make sure it is in the correct location. The finial is only held in place with blu-tack at the moment so if it is accidentally caught, it won't snap off!

    The Up Starter in position.


     
    The biggest progress has been with the embankment which is now in place for the entire length of the layout. This has also required the section of platform which extends on to the area being modelled to be made. Starting with the embankment, foamboard was used to create the basic shape of the ground from the backscene to the edge of the slope. This was laid onto spacers cut to shape, which allowed the slight curve of the ground toward the rear to be replicated. It may be difficult to see from the photos, but a thin strip of land at the top of the slope is flat where the footpath runs, and then the grassed area slopes up towards the rear.
     
    At the start of the treeline there is a raised area to allow vehicle access from the top car park, along with a small raised viewing area
     
    I chose to use foamboard in an attempt to keep weight down, and hopefully it will prove strong enough to cope with the occasional exhibition. The actual embankment is formed using polyfiller mixed with PVA for added strength. It needs a sanding in a few places, and I'll certainly never make it as a plasterer, but it does the job!
     

    The newly installed embankment.


     
    A basic platform structure was created from plasticard and fixed into position. On top of this, a 1mm thick layer was added which featured the cut outs for the platform seating and the water crane. The seating areas are made up from old sleepers, and these will be added later into the cut outs. This layer provided the edge for the embankment along the platform as you can see below.
     

    The basic platform structure in place, showing the cut outs for various platform furniture.


     
    The actual platform surface will be a second layer of 1mm thick plastic cut to the correct shape and fitted into these cut outs. Also visible in the photo is the platform edging. This is a separate layer made up using my own brick paper produced using photos of the actual platform at Ropley. This area differs from the more common flat fronted platforms found in the area, and indeed slightly further along this platform, as it was an extension built only a few years ago. The brick paper was fixed in place by soaking it in Mek, and the stepping made up in layers before being cut to shape. I'm quite pleased with how this has turned out as I wasn't entirely convinced paper was the right material for the job, but it would be much more difficult to reproduce the brick colour of the real thing by using embossed plastic and paint.
     
    In the photos, this is only temporarily held in place and still required the two cut outs for point & signal rodding/wires adding. The platform surface presents a further challenge as it is made up of patterned edging stones so some more thought is required on how to replicate these in such a small size.

    The photo from which the platform edging was produced.

    Hi-Viz man takes a break to admire the newly formed topography!


     
    This little spurt of activity has really made a significant change to the look of the layout and means I can start to progress scenery away from the water tower area. It does however raise a few challenges, amongst which is replicating the fencing which runs along the top of the embankment, something which is not available commercially. The grass here is also very short, so replicating this with static grass may be difficult with the shortest available still being slightly too long!
     
    Cheers all,
     
    Tom.
  24. TomE

    Ropley - On Off

    By TomE,

    Many a singed finger later.............


     
    In the last entry you caught a glimpse of a lattice signal post, the first of two required for the layout. Since that entry I have been working on a second signal with the intention of make it work. Whilst that might not seem such a challenge on the face of it, remember that I much prefer working with plastic than brass, and the soldering iron is something that lurks at the back of the modelling cupboard out of sight and out of mind! Unfortunately in this case, plastic isn't anywhere near up to the job, so it was time to suck it up and attempt to mend my broken relationship with the Antex!??
     
    The etches for the lattice posts come from MSE, and are really the only option for modelling this type of signal in 2mm/N gauge at the moment. They are really quite fine, whilst retaining the strength required in this size. The etch contains 2 posts, which are broken down into 2 halves. Each half is folded up and jigs provided on the etch are used to hold the two halves together whilst they are soldered.




    The post held together in the supplied jigs prior to soldering. It's just 5.5cm long!


     
    This was the first point at which it had the potential to go south, but by using a tiny amount of solder and flux, I managed to fix the two halves together without flooding the lattice frame with solder! Spurred on by this success, I decided to go for it and add a working lamp by using a miniature LED with one end soldered to a bracket fashioned from a scrap piece of etch. A piece of enameled wire was fixed to the opposite end, and this was then glued into the gap left by the folding of the etch on the side least seen from the front of the layout.
     
    ?The Arm and balance arm are also from MSE (Etch SN12/2) and to allow the arm to raise and lower some thin wire and brass tube were used. This stage required some very careful work with the soldering iron, but amazingly I managed not to solder the whole thing solid when fixing the blinder in place. Unfortunately that’s where things stopped going so well!
     
    The signals at Ropley have the balance levers mounted just below the arm and offset to one side. I decided I could probably replicate this using the components provided on the MSE etch, but with a little modification. The bracket jaws were reshaped slightly to match the closer resemble the real thing, and the balance weights removed leaving just the leaver. A thin piece of wire was soldered through the hole in the back plate and then the leaver threaded on before the jaws were added and soldered in position. This part was fairly easy, but at the first three attempts to fix the bracket to the support arms, the solder holding the leaver wire in place would melt and flood the whole mechanism, even with something acting as a heat sink as close as possible. The result of this was the whole thing became locked solid and I had a 'Malcolm Tucker moment'! Luckily, by the fourth attempt, it all went together without this happening again and the first working signal for Ropley was, well, working!
     
    One compromise with a signal in this scale is that the operating wire is a little more visible than I would have liked. I did consider threading down through the post, but felt this would spoil the lattice effect, so I'll just have to live with that, but overall I'm really quite chuffed to have managed to have made the thing work as intended! It now just needs a platform and guardrail fabricating then the ladder adding before painting and lenses adding. I also need to make up a finial somehow as the one provided on the etch doesn't really match the prototype.




    The Up Starter at Ropley






    And here again is the model.


     
    Control of the signal will be by servo I think, although more research needs to be done on this area as I'd like something I can use with the NCE Power Cab which controls the layout. This would allow 1 person operation if necessary as everything can be controlled via the handset.
     
    I must also add my thanks to Missy, Jon Fitness and SteveAtBax who have all posted some extreamly useful content on RMweb about building signals in various scales, but the information techniques shown have helped me a great deal!
     
    Finally, this will most likely be the last entry on the blog before Christmas, so I'd like to wish everyone reading a safe and enjoyable Christmas, and by way of thanks for all the comments and feedback here is a previously unseen photo and angle of the Std 5 arriving at Ropley with the engineers train.



    Merry Christmas!??
     
    Tom.
  25. TomE
    A busy moment at Ropley.


     

    Hi all.


     

    I really hate making posts like this, but there hasn't been an awful lot of progress on the layout of late and so there isn't much to show in the way of changes. Its quite frustrating really, as there are a lot of jobs I want to get stuck into, but once started they need a few days to see through to completion. Hopefully over the festive season I should be able to make a significant move in the right direction though thanks to a week off work.


     

    One new addition to the rolling stock fleet is the new N Gauge Society LMS Inspection Saloon. The Mid Hants is home to 45045 which is in regular use on the line so this is an essential model for the layout. I have to say that the N Gauge soceity and Farish have done a fantastic job with this model. The detail is excellent and the fully detailed interior a nice touch.


     




    The new Farish Inspection Saloon.


     

    There are a few changes I need to make to the model, including the removal of the folding side steps and handrail, 'de-frosting' of the two compartment windows and of course re-numbering and the addition of the LMS lettering found on the real thing. These are a curious addition to the real coach as the coach is painted in BR marroon with BR lining, so I'm not sure why they found their way onto each side!


     
    Another minor development is work on the first of the signals. Ropley is home to several lattice post examples and so the very fine MSE post etch has been used as the basis for these.
     




    The first of three signals required for Ropley.


     

    Soldering this together was quite nerve racking, as me and the soldering Iron have a hate-hate relationship, but I think I just about got away with it although I have noticed from the photo it seems I managed to fill once of the lattice gaps with solder. The intention is the signals will operate and be illuminated, but how exactly this will be accomplished is still being doodled on the back of an envelope!


     

    So, apologies for the lack of significant update this time around. I hope to have more to show over Christmas/New Year. I do need to make a big push towards having the layout in some sort of operable state for 2013 as a deadline is hovering on the distant horizon.....


     




    A Black 5 stands at the entrance to the yard after a footplate experience turn.


     

    Cheers all!


     

    Tom.


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