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Will J

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  1. Will J
    Well, it has been a long while since I last posted anything. Progress on my various projects has been slow of late for no real reason..so the usual vague apologies for my sporadic posts!
     
    Over Christmas and New Year, I am going to open some advent calendar style doors on some of the smaller amusements that make up my scattergun modelling activities, starting with something really christmas cracker proportioned:
     
    Return To The Tiny Tractor: see http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/38664-t-gauge-class-37-on-short-19m-chassis/page__gopid__437716#entry437716
     
    Up until recently, TGauge.com and other suppliers have supplied powered chassis in '19m' and '21m' lengths. This has all changed with the introduction of an undecorated '16m' chassis, the same one that was developed for the smart little InterCity 125 power cars:
     
    http://www.tgauge.co...torised-chassis
     
    Here is the chassis in question, alongside my 3D printed Victoria Bridge:

     
    My previous attempt at a vaguely Class 37 shaped print was based on the 19m chassis. This resulted in a rather long looking model, more of a Class 40, as the motor superstructure had to be fitted in between the cabs rather than the 'bonnets'.
     
    With the shorter chassis, and a bit of hacksaw work with one of my test prints, we have something more properly proportioned:

     
    With my usual scientific accuracy, the proportions of the 'cut and shut' were based on observation of a) the little chassis and B) an old Farish N gauge 37 from my box of bits... which appears, if nothing else, to remind the viewer new to 'T' how unfeasibly small the mini version is:

     
    The next step is to re-design the CAD design based on this experiment, this time with separate bogie mouldings around the existing 'Bo-Bo' units, buffers that don't fall off in the printing process* and improved bonnet shape:

     

     
    More small stuff coming soon... Little is the next 'big' thing; those Hornby Sentinel industrial short wheelbase diesels are making me think of 4mm shunting planks!
  2. Will J
    You may recall in a previous episode I was pondering the best scale combination to use T gauge mechanisms and track to represent narrow gauge, balancing a 1:148 scale carriage on 3mm track.
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/351/entry-15589-n-gauge-narrow-gauge-0165-009-this-must-be-n3/
     
    It turned out a 1:148 model of a 2' gauge carriage was a bit large on what scales as 15-18" track. So a plan B has emerged, using Shapeways' 'Raw Brass' printing service, I have created a 1:220 scale quarry Hunslet, or at least the modern incarnation with cab as seen on many preserved lines. Stuck to the back (about to be Dremmeled off...) is a vaguely Corris-esque carriage with bench seats inside (honest).
     
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/351/entry-15589-n-gauge-narrow-gauge-0165-009-this-must-be-n3/
     

     

     
    The process (which took about 2 weeks) starts off with a 3D print in modern casting wax, then takes a pleasingly old school diversion through traditional lost wax casting to produce the finished product.
     
    At the same time, I also got a nice, heavy version of my N Gauge Class 139 body printed/cast in brass as well. The extra weight should aid pickup as well as provide a better final paint finish, hopefully...
     

     

     

  3. Will J
    Hi All,
    it has been too long since I posted on the blog.
    Victoria Bridge has a couple of looming appearances,
    http://www.cradleyheathmrc.co.uk/exhibition.html on Saturday 22nd October followed by the BMRC Show, Arden Hall - Water Orton Road - B36 9PB on Saturday 29th.
     
    I have been extending my rake of N gauge teak carriages to catch up with the real Severn Valley Railway's nine car set that was running, and looking rather impressive, behind various large locomotives last week during 'Pacific Power.
     
    Being too cheap to buy A1s or A3s for the layout, the teaks will have to carry on looking fabulous behind various panniers and prairies!
     
    Here is the latest progress. I can heartily recommend Ultima's various Gresley etches, they are great fun to paint and weather with my best attempts at a 'kind of woody' effect, here is the latest:
     

     
    See here for the full range, which fit onto either old Minitrix carriages or in my case, newer Dapol models with the sides shorn off.
     
    My next challenge is to work up a representation of the SVR's converted pigeon van, now with passenger accommodation at one end. I might try a 'cut and shut' with the pre-printed plastic sides from http://www.ultima-models.co.uk/catalogue/lner-gresley.html as a variation on the theme?
     
    More to come soon, including 009 progress...
  4. Will J
    Hi all,
     
    Having 'more or less sort of finished' Victoria Bridge, I have been seeking a new modelling challenge. Here it is, or more precisely, here are its beginnings....
     
    The project had a few elements 'set in stone':
     
    -A 'one piece' design with a continuous run, able to run on the kitchen table, and be capable of transit on the back set of the car.
    -9mm track, to allow for use as a test track for both N gauge and 009/09 projects I have in the works.
    -Like Victoria Bridge, based on a preserved location, modelled in a modern image fashion.
     
    I settled on a little 'roundy roundy' based extremely loosely on Porthmadog and Boston Lodge. The scene is, of course, compressed to an extreme degree. The curvature in the 'Harbour Station' bit is on the tight side, it will allow for bogie carriages, but will look more plausible with little four wheeler 'bug boxes' and the like.
     
    And the name, Ysbeidiau Heulog sounds, to my untutored English ears, a bit like a place name and translates as 'Sunny Intervals'
     
    I have an idea up my sleeve to model one half of the scene as a sunny day, the other half drenched in summery rain as if caught in a shower.
     
    Here are some pictures of progress over the weekend:
     

    The beginnings of the project, some preserved Ffestiniog stock, with modern passengers. (Mostly converted Airfix pilots)
     

    The rear of 'Bostin' Lodge' works, the bricked up stationary boiler owes much to the Rev. Awdry's 'Duke the Lost Engine'....
     
    The general overall plan. (120cm by 60cm)

     
    The planned backscene, depicting, vaguely, the sea.... (the blue area will be a tramway section)

     
    It is not a deeply serious model of a prototype, more a toy train set which will have some of the ambience of the real thing gently modelled into it... I am going more for colours, textures of the real thing rather than a precise model. It will be fun!
  5. Will J
    Remember I had promised to crank up the lighting on Victoria Bridge to 11.... well with the help of some LED tape I have the scene looking much more summer-y rather than a still from Disney's Frozen. Unfortunately, the amount of light emitted seems to have done troubling things to my phone camera so for now, we'll have to make do with these fairly hopeless pictures:
     

     

     
    I'll be at the SVR's Open House weekend this Saturday and Sunday, ably assisted by TomE, do come and say hello if you are in the vicinity of the Engine House. I'll try to post some better pictures over the next day or two.
     
    http://www.svr.co.uk/SEItem.aspx?a=67
  6. Will J
    Hi All,
     
    another quiet spell on my blog, I guess mainly because the Victoria Bridge project has more or less come to a point of 'more or less done-ness' although there are a few enhancements to come. Primarily, I want to improve the lighting within the diorama box from the cheap and nasty LEDs sourced from a caravan that are, one by one, giving up the ghost... (and are a horrible blue colour)
     
    Over recent months I have been learning more and more about colour temperatures and associated things as I have been working in lighting design professionally, watch this space!
     
     
    I have spent the last couple of evenings decorating the roof of my Arley Station building. What you see at the moment is mostly marker pen and fineliner, which looks a bit 'in yer face' but will be toned down with washes, tiles picked out in lighter paint, and finally dry brushed and matt varnished to bring it all together.

     
    But to the main topic for the post..... another new idea for a micro layout. I have really enjoyed the 'preserved bridge in a box' concept with Victoria Bridge, and had been pondering a similar model I could build to share the same '9mm gauge' plug in fiddle yard around the back, and sit in a similarly sized box as, in itself, another plug in module.
     
    I had been pondering a bit of a shift in scale using the same fiddle yard around a 009 diorama. I have been quietly collecting Ffestiniog Railway carriages in the scale for a while and the project might spur me on to completing the kits which currently sit unpainted but more or less glued together.
     
    The tricky thing was locating the scene. I had a fairly strong memory of an ornate bridge over a road from my early childhood, but in recent years I have only seen the middle of the line from the train itself so pinpointing the bridge was not immediately easy... however, a bit of research soon found the location I was after:
     
    https://www.festipedia.org.uk/wiki/Tan_y_Bwlch_Bridge
     
    Which has been modeled before, but I think in an earlier era rather than preservation. I'm minded to go for a modern view, maybe with autumnal surroundings in a similar vein to Victoria Bridge, a simple run though diorama that would not quite reach the station itself. The road narrows under the bridge which would allow for a realistic traffic jam (of two or three modern cars) which, along with the urgent looking 'ARAF' markings on the tarmac would set the scene nicely in time and space!
     
    I think I have got the right bridge, are there any other (nicely 3D printable) ornate bridges on the Ffestiniog line?
     
    I have also just ordered one of the nice 'Snapper Bar' Peco L&B carriages from the Peco section of http://www.festshop.co.uk/ which may have something to do with my latest layout idea! What I am lacking is a Ffestiniog engine, but I have some chassis in mind, to sit a home designed 3D print on.
     
    One thing I would like to attempt would be a really good model of a (present day) 'England' 0-4-0 tender engine. I have happy memories of riding in the tender of 'Prince' not, oddly, on the Ffestiniog but alongside the river on a temporary track at the 2013 Shrewsbury Flower Show. I'd end up self-indulgently modelling myself in the tender of the model version, which will be interesting as I was carrying a 6' tall carved wooden giraffe at the time....
  7. Will J
    Big event today, and in its own small way, well worth the wait!
     
    First, a reminder of what I am trying to recreate, on a shelf, in N gauge:
     
    Victoria Bridge, just south of Arley on the Severn Valley Railway, half an hour by bike from my front door...

     
    The Corel Draw file has now succesfully found its way into a laser cutter, and produced two main components, the structure from thin ply, and the detail layer from thin card.

     
    The detail layer was then, carefully, stuck on using thinned PVA... Which seemed immediately to capture some of the character of the structure

     
    The final model will comprise of four of these main structural members, the connecting bits in between will be the next challenge
     
    And finally, bridging the yawning chasm of the kitchen sink, in the absence of a minature River Severn, some playing with the components.... that and some trains...
     
    First passenger train..

     
    Viewed from the path from Trimpley Reservoir..

     
    Freight viewed from the other side of the valley, with some impromptu foliage....

     
    Right, time to pack away, and finish the washing up!!

  8. Will J
    Evening everyone,
     
    as advertised here: http://www.svr.co.uk/SEItem.aspx?a=68
     
    I will be at Arley Station on Saturday and Sunday for the Autumn Steam Gala with my Victoria Bridge layout on show, back either by popular demand or because I pestered the station staff to let me get involved again.
     
    I will have an assistant this year from among the RMWeb ranks who might make the operations on the layout look more competent, though he may be shocked when presented with a H&M Clipper control box....!
     
    Do drop by and say hello to Tom or myself.
     
    Also on show will be the latest progress on my model of Arley station, still largely a bag of bits but the bits are looking more like the real thing. Now that I have a Hawksworth from Farish running on the 'Bridge' my old scratchbuilt one can be converted to a 12 wheel sleeper for Arley's siding. It is probably a bit short but the scene will be foreshortened a touch anyway! I also now have a 3D printed weighbridge so the station will be supplied with 1:148 scale cake.
     

     
    In other news (on show this weekend)
     

     
    My continued adventures in Z3 (1:220 scale on 3mm T gauge track)
  9. Will J
    An excellent time was had at Wyre Forest MRC's 40th Anniversary show back in April. Victoria Bridge even had a brief DMU-interlude to suit my diesel-obsessed son...
     

     
    In his defence, he does love all things coal-fired as well, but enjoys shouting 'diesel' at the top of his voice as a prelude to investigating dad's old Lima locomotives! Remarkable what they learn by 18 months, he already seems quite happy to accept that 'duck' can be a feathered fowl, a fictional tank engine or an essential ingredient in a spring roll... I'm sure I never cottoned on to things that quickly...
     
    Work on my various projects has trundled on gently; a few projects are getting on nicely working towards the next 'module' along, Arley Station.
     
    The 3D printed station has had a lick of paint. You'll recall it came from Shapeways in plain white (see exhibition picture at the top of the post), I gave it a wash of Revell Matt 17 (a sort of sandy colour) followed by brick detail with a stuttering old black biro. This was followed by a thin wash of the same paint to smudge the brick detail and dull it a little, with some more weathering in various grey artist's markers. I am now happy with the idea of keeping the roof and walls flat without raised detail, as it has made a nice blank canvas to scribble the blocks and bricks on... well, it kept me amused for an hour or two.
     

     
    Next step is to build the road bridge as a scenic break, and of course the weighbridge/cake shop!
     

     
    One thing that I intend to do is make the whole scene as 'alive' as possible with a crowd, like a gala or awaiting a busy train. I got myself a box of Preiser N gauge figures, figuring painting them would be fun and would save a few quid on their ready painted equivalents. I have got as far as painting them all over matt black with enamel, dry brushing in light grey followed by a few dashes of Revell 'flesh'. Next step will be to add in washes of assorted colours on the clothes in watered down acrylic.. or watercolour. Any ides from folks who have done this before...?
     

     
    It seems I have a lot of the 'flesh' paint left... but I guess Arley's clientele includes fewer naturists or bikini-clad passengers than some model railways I have encountered....!
     
     
    -----------------------
     
    Upcoming appearances by Victoria Bridge: 2015
     
    June 27th and 28th: Flower Festival with Arts, Crafts and Hobbies; St Peter's Church, Upper Arley. (keeping it local)
    Provisional booking: September 19th and 20th; Arley Station, Severn Valley Railway Autumn Gala http://www.svr.co.uk/SEItem.aspx?a=68
     
    Plus one more RMWeb related event later in the year a bit further afield.... not sure if the list of layouts for that one has been announced yet?
     
     
     
     
    ------------------------
     
    Image relating to the discussion below....
     

  10. Will J
    Hi everyone,
     
    in yesterday's blog, TomE asked 'Is there any sign of the original 3D printed mould on the final brass models? Tom.'
     
    See: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/351/entry-16019-3d-printed-brass-objects-n-gauge-class-139-and-z3-gauge-hunslet/
     
    To answer your question Tom, there is no sign of the original wax that the 'master' was printed in, it seems that the brass artifact is very thoroughly cleaned before it leaves Shapeways. Looking very closely, you can discern the 'stepping' on curved surfaces that you get in any printed material, to different extents. For the following photos, the usual disclaimers apply...
     
    ..in that it looks much nicer to the naked eye! In the moments since the bare brass body has been cleaned some more, and given a tentative dusting of grey etch primer, which adds to the realism while sadly eliminating the brief jewel-like 'bling' effect..... I'm thinking that with some gentle sanding and a few coats of paint, the stepped effect can be almost eliminated but rest assured, from any normal viewing distance it is not that apparent anyway.
     
    The next step is the livery. I'm tempted, having already got a decent looking prototypical London Midland version, to do a version more suited to a Cornish branch line. With Kinlet Wharf appearing at Taunton later this year,
     
    http://somersetrmc.org.uk/Rail-EX/layouts.html
     
    it would be nice to have a 'Great Western' version, perhaps in FGW deep blue, or perhaps an interpretation of the forthcoming DfT specifified GWR livery. Does anybody know if this is still going ahead, and what colour would be used for branch line services?
     
    Anyhow, here are the cruel close ups...
     

     

     

     

    Stay tuned for more on the little Hunslet.
  11. Will J
    A little while ago I mentioned I was drawing up a 3D model of Arley station (as preserved on the Severn Valley Railway) and the results have arrived from Shapeways, rendered in the relatively coarse 'White Strong and Flexible' material which was the same thing I used for the stone abutments on N Gauge Victoria Bridge...
     

     
    All scaled from the very useful drawings in Barrie Geens' very useful book 'The Severn Valley Railway at Arley'. Nice to see the drawing apparently rising up from the surface of the page!
     

     

     
    In the 3D model I left the door to the gents' loos slightly open.... for no other reason than 'because you can'.... other details like the post box on the other end came out crisply, able to accept little 2mm/ft letters....
     

     
    Next step... make a start on painting it, and create a station around the building. Some interesting challenges lie in store like the smart Hawksworth 12 wheeled sleeping car which provides volunteer accommodation in the yard.
     
    Back to mini Victoria Bridge, a wonderful weekend was spent (with the station building 'fresh' from the printers on show) in Arley waiting room itself in March for the unusually spring-like Spring Gala. I really enjoyed being a small part of an excellent event and it was great to meet such an appreciative crowd at Arley.
     

     
     
     
    I will have Victoria Bridge, and the beginnings of mini-Arley, on show at Wyre Forest MRC's 40th anniversary event in Stourport on Severn (a short hop from Kidderminster and Bewdley) on the 25th April. See: http://www.wyreforestmrc.com/exhibition.html
     
    Please come along and support the show if you are in the area. It is a small local event bringing layouts for all tastes, N gauge, OO modern image depot, 009 micro, big 009 layout, scenic 0-16.5, even bigger Canadian HO scale, drawn from our club members collections.
     
    We will have layouts on shelves and ironing boards, up to something more ambitious in scale: http://cprailmmsub.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/great-canadian-model-railroad-in-england.html
  12. Will J
    I am planning a small 'tour' of local venues with mini-Victoria Bridge. More to come, but in the meantime....
     

     
    March 21st and 22nd
     
    Firstly, the SVR Spring Gala.... I will have the layout on show inside Arley station on the Saturday and Sunday of the event, if you are travelling on the train on the day, do arrange a stop at Arley and come and say hello!
    http://www.svr.co.uk/SEItem.aspx?a=65
     
    April 25th
     
    Then, on the 25th April, an anniversary show is planned by Wyre Forest MRC in a community centre in Stourport. It is a small local event but you will all be made very welcome, Victoria Bridge will be among the layouts, more news to come.
    http://www.wyreforestmrc.com/exhibition.html
  13. Will J
    Hello everyone,
     
    right, determined to get back blogging and true to the title, another truly random tangent of N-gaugery, this time going narrow gauge. A while back as a sheer impulse buy I picked up a 2mm/ft static model kit of a GWR era Vale of Rheidol railway carriage from NBrass. I have to confess this has sat for a year or two on a shelf but inspired by some 009 carriage-bodging I had been working on (more of this soon) I wondered if it could be made into something vaguely 'operational'.
     
    As I have mentioned in the past, I have a bundle of T-gauge equipment but have yet to work out a plan for what to do with it. There have been a number of interesting layouts and models built representing various narrow gauges alongside N, usually employing the fairly wide 6.5mm gauge track adapted from Z gauge.
     
    I did a bit of maths and figured that 3mm gauge (as denoted by the T in Tgauge) in scales around the 1:150 region works out at near enough 18" gauge, so in theory good for representing railways at the larger end of 'miniature' but a bit short of a proper 'narrow' representation. In fact to represent 2' gauge in theory you are better off modelling at 1:220 scale where you can at least borrow scenic bits and bobs from established Z gauge suppliers.
     
    However I reckon it is not quite that simple, and that this T-gauge stuff can be used to represent 2' gauge in N. Remember that the T gauge flexi track (as illustrated below) has quite 'chunky' section rail so the overall impression is of a track wider than the nominal gauge suggests, add to that the height (..code) of the rail and it does look more substantial in a 1:150 gauge context than a lightly laid 18" line.
     
    Are you keeping up with all this waffle, well done if you are!
     
    So, to cut a long story short, I stuck together said carriage kit and mounted it on a plain T gauge 'adjustable' truck chassis. Happily, it was about the right length without needing adjusting so saved me the bother of hacking it about. The couplers are no longer of any use but they are not too clever in the way they couple anyway, so I will have to rethink joining vehicles together.
     

     
    And you know what it kind of works. I think i'd rather the narrow gauge track beneath it was too narrow than too wide (as in the case of N6.5...) and sat on some track, it is not as unstable and wobbly as I'd imagined.
     

     
    I will continue the research!
  14. Will J
    Hi All,
     
    A quick post from me, you may remember from last year http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/351/entry-13002-merry-christmas-a-tank-engine-and-a-brief-ramble/my Christmas present preparation for the younger members of our family involves producing paintings.
     
    After Thomas last year, I have just been putting the finishing touches to Oliver and Toad.....
     

     
    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all on RMWeb. Thank you for all of your kind comments over the year, especially after my appearance at RMWeb live, the encouraging words really mean a lot. Hopefully more progress on mini-Victoria Bridge and maybe mini-Arley in the not too distant future!
  15. Will J

    More Arley musings..

    By Will J,

    Not much has developed on the 3D printed Arley front over the last couple of weeks, but with a few nights away from home looming, CAD design does make for a tidy way to create modelling output in a hotel, so watch this space!
     
    I have had chance to have a good look around the real thing however. On Sunday Arley was basking in spots of sunshine and a slice of lovely branchline-ish ness...
     

     
    Modelling challenges include the picnic area, which I know very well.. the site is busy and requires a number of less glamourous additions like big bins etc.. which are well hidden, and will want to be equally well hidden on the model:
     

     
    Cake! (& excellent sandwiches) Whenever I see this building I feel hungry...
     

     
    I also took a couple of pictures of the rarely photographed 'river' side of the station building, though from a respectful distance as this is the more private side of the residential part of the station building. I wonder if there is an etiquette to modelling 'from life' when dealing with a private house? I'd been wondering about this when pondering a model of nearby Northwood Halt, another scene dominated by a substantial private dwelling.
     
    With that in mind, I'll not reproduce the pictures here, but use them to get the one side of the building near enough right.
     
    The station is of course host to a procession of exotic machinery and long trains. That said, it looks very 'proper' with a 14xx (Sunday just gone) or a railcar (Railbus gala a few years ago). This might point to a way of creating a small diorama based on the station building without the need (yet) for a large layout around it... but ready for extension...
     

     

  16. Will J
    Hi All,
     
    yet again, I find myself a bit square eyed after a CAD session figuring out the intricacies of my N Gauge Arley. Here are a couple of screenshots of progress so far:
     

     

     
    Project Arley will need a fair bit of traditional scenic modelling too, especially around the beautifully tended gardens:
     
    http://www.arleystation.org.uk/asgardens.html
     
    http://www.arleystation.org.uk/gagardens.html
     
    Which always remain friendly, colourful but in keeping with the surroundings.
     
    PS. On the subject of Arley and Victoria Bridge, yet another 'prototype for everything....'!
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/30895774@N02/15184037648/in/photostream/
  17. Will J
    Just a short entry today, have spent rather too long staring at a screen, here are the results:
     

     
    A number of people at RMweb live asked if, having 'printed' Victoria Bridge, I could print an Arley station to go with it. One way to find out....!
     
    The drawings in the Wild Swan 'Severn Valley Railway at Arley' have proved invaluable.
     
    It may yet form the basis of an extension to the Victoria Bridge diorama, as country stations go, it gets quite busy, see:
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/31339850@N06/15310859962/in/photolist-eaLmcr-6kZfbj-p3uUte-pjYafb-meXfGS-o6uM1h-pkJTdz-aDVdja-eQYSWK-dLVENo-m5puX2-akCPhJ-ddMhVR-ddMjWu-fYZQDz-aubfEL-9AE8Br-aubc5d-9wSYMm
  18. Will J
    Hot on the heels of my people mover scooting around Kinlet Wharf, I have been working on some vehicles for the roads beneath the bridges.
     
    Naturally, I have to remind you that I am not responsible for the excellent scenics that these cars sit in, but I am enjoying adding some little, subtle, embellishments to it.
     

     
    The question of modern N gauge cars, in a 'local' 1:148 scale sense, is a tricky one. Until recently, I would have followed the usual habit of importing a pocket full of German made 1:160 scale Golfs, Beetles, Porsches and the ever present Capri...

     
    ...but under the microscope, the old faithful German Golf does look a bit undersized sat in our 1:148 cul de sac! This is an old one from the bits box, it might still be useful, but there are better alternatives.
     
    Over the last couple of years, imported Tomytec cars built to Japanese N (1:150) have appeared and saved the day for modern British scenes. They are superb models out of the box, the only criticism is that they are a little sparkly and tend to stick out like a metallic, mirror finish sore thumb in a layout setting.
     
    I have been experimenting with a light (and not so light, ooops) dusting of matt varnish to make them blend in a little. The odd thing is that you end up with something duller in finish than the real thing ought to be, but overall, to my eye, they sit more convincingly in the scene after this treatment.
     
    The pub car park also features a Taxi from OXFORD and a little red Fiat from an unknown manufacturer!
     

    (the regulars oddly oblivious to the excitement of the steam special speeding overhead!!)
     

     

     

     
    A heavy spray also has the unintentional (though now I intend to use it!) effect of frost on the body and windows of the car. I got a little carried away and masked off the path of the windscreen wipers... (I can only suggest that there was nothing good on the telly!)
     
    So, any layout I make with any number of cars in it will now be set in the winter's morning, an idea which appeals to me anyway.
     
    A few more motoring additions:
     
    The lock keeper's well used people carrier.

     
    Remarkable printing survived the matt spray.

     
    Heated rear screen? Not on this Moggie!

     
    Kinlet Canal Workshop recently found this on EBay... (Citroen DS model of unknown origin, harshly weathered by me)

  19. Will J
    Hi All,
     
    With RMWeb Live on the horizon I have, after the dust settled from moving house, got Victoria Bridge back home for some pre show improvements and adjustment. Big thanks to Wyre Forest MRC for keeping the 'shelf' and associated bits out of harms way over the last few weeks!
     
    I like the arrangment in the Ricoh floorplan, with Victoria Bridge in between the likes of Cliffhanger and Kinlet Wharf in the Scenery Zone. Presumably sanwiched between these rather more epic layout presentations I will be there to show what can be done with similar ambitions but rather less space!
     
    Victoria Bridge has seen some photographers gather in advance of September at the Ricoh... probably fair to say that the variety of trains count as a gala...
     

     
    these are not a great feat of modelmaking, rather a box of Noch figures picked up on holiday the other week at Pecorama. Luckily the newest member of our family has indulged his parents by pointing, grinning and genuinely appreciating the things he was introduced to (whether trains, aeroplanes, art galleries...)
     

     
    Good lad!
     
     
    Back the the micro-layout; you'll recall the 'box' is illuminated with blueish LEDs along the 'roof' sourced from a caravan supplier. These bathe the sky at the back with a blueish, bright light, but it can look a bit cold in isolation..
     

     
    The plan, according to this evening's experiments, is to add a directional more yellow source of 'sunlight' to warm up the scene, and pick up the details of the bridge.
     

     

     
    Other recent developments have included modified additions to the teak set, with open thirds appearing, plugging a gap in the Dapol range with some Ultima etches. Tomorrow I hope to add some 'traffic' in the sky too.....
     

     
    Looking forward to meeting as many RMWebbers as possible at the Ricoh, do come and say hello, don't worry, so long as all the electricity ends up in the right place the layout doesn't need much operating... it is more of a talking point!
  20. Will J
    Evening All,
     
    No report on Victoria Bridge this evening, but some further new layout pondering while stuck, Alan Partridge-like in a Travelodge.
     
    In my last post I reported that a house move had, happily, left me with an office room with a long thin wall, or at least reasonably long in N gauge terms.
     
    My current project is finishing and occasionally exhibiting my N Gauge Victoria Bridge, I'm also planning an exhibitable 2mm finescale (or with finescale elements) 'Wyre Forest' in the 1960s among other plans. For now, I'm keen to create something simple to run at home. For a while, I have been inspired by:
     
    http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/hayle-wharf-branches.html The Hayle Wharf branch, which existed until recently as mysterious, crop circle like scars in the tarmac and abandoned rails glinting in the summer evening sun. Sadly, this was recently torn up, such it progress. Search RMWeb and you will find further fascinating threads on the surviving 'archaeology' and technical details of wagons, operations and other bit of inspiration.
     
    My plan goes a little like this, I was playing with some spare bits of track over the weekend and realised I had space for a layout inspired by the scene, though shortened and squashed a fair bit.
     

     
    (This clears up the mystery of why my 'Preserved' Warship on Victoria Bridge retains its full yellow ends, see the Cornwall Railway Society pictures)
     
    I'm not going to be too specific with timeframe here. There might be elements of scenery that can lift out and change so the scene can skip from the fifties to the present day. As it is not a precise copy of the location, I'm thinking about extending the line a little further than what would have been the power station, incorporating a seaside terminus for passenger trains. This way the scene might be a fairly close recreation of the seventies shunting operations shown in the link above, or a more modern scene with my collection of Class 153s and the like shuttling back and forth.
     
    This is where it gets a bit off at a tangent, I have been inspired by American outline layouts where you see trains winding through on street scenes. I'd been looking for an equivalent in the UK and this idea seemed to fit the bill.
     
    Much of the track will be embedded in the wharf, which is also part of the picture in that I have a bundle of unused, coarse, but useful Peco N gauge track which I wouldn't use for exhibition purposes. At home, and buried in a road surface, it will look OK. The other arm of the 'L' shape will be a sort of scenic fiddle yard, but I may dress it up as a station scene. With a bit of an imaginative leap (not a long distance one) I might have a go at a model of St Erth bay platforms. As you can tell, the scene will have a tangible 'sense of place' but enough differences to need a new name.

     
    EDIT: Also, if you look at the extreme left hand side you will see a mysterious shed at the end of the line, this will be a bit of a geographical leap, replicating the current depot at the end of Stourbridge Junction's bay platform, for no other reason than the usual 'my train set' excuse!
  21. Will J
    Hi all,
     
    just a quick, mainly pictorial, post this time with the latest bodyshell (Mark 12??) for the N Gauge Class 139. I'm moderately happy with the finish this time, it will be improved immeasurably with the flush side glazing to be installed between now and the weekend when the mini-people mover will be operating on Kinlet Wharf's branch line at the Stafford Show.
     
    Do come and say hello, I'll be there pretending to know what I'm doing (randomly jabbing at buttons)
     
    Chassis: Kato Tram Body: Google Sketchup / Shapeways Frosted Ultra Detail 3D Print Paint: In a hurry......

     
     
    Seen here on Wyre Forest MRC's Kinlet Town *bits of which look oddly like the real Parry HQ....
     

     

     

     

     
    The close ups are typically cruel... though I'm pleased with the little 'n' in the blue roundel! (Fineline pen).
     

     

     
    Looking forward to the weekend... some hotel room modelling between now and then should see this little railcar finished (ish). See you all in Stafford.
  22. Will J
    Sorry... I accidentally turned this entry ( a couple of months old ) into a draft, and by un 'drafting' it, it appears today as if it is new. Sorry, didnt mean to clog up the list of today's new blogs!!
     
    Hi all,
     
    Since exhibiting Victoria Bridge in a moderately complete state for the first time, my mind has been pondering a sequel.
    I really enjoyed sharing the diorama with the crowds at Frank's excellent Cradley Heath show:
     
    For evidence, see among the pictures in: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/66554-cradley-heath-mrc-ist-model-railway-exhibition/page-2
     
    A real selling point to visitors was the local nature of the scene. Pretty much everybody I spoke to had either trundled over or walked under the full size bridge in recent memory. So, for my next layout, I'm keeping it local, despite the ever present yearning to 'go Cornish' but lets face it, the ratio of Cornish branch lines on RMWeb compared to bits of miniature Worcestershire is a bit embarrasing and I need to fly the flag for my neck of the woods.*
     
    *That said, I still want to create a home for my Dapol 153's of various Cornish flavours....
     
    I want to do something consciously different, but sort of the same. The answer, these pictures paint the scene nicely:
    http://www.archive-images.co.uk/index.gallery.php?gid=35&img=18
    http://www.archive-images.co.uk/index.gallery.php?gid=35&img=17
     
    Which show Wyre Forest station in the early sixties. A quintisential branch line backwater with all the ingredients for a nice achievable model for someone without the spare time or space for something more expansive. I am still working out the exact plan of attack, but I am hoping to go for something 'a little more fine' than my current Code 80 track over Victoria Bridge, which could yet be anything up to and including 2mm FS.
     
    The general arrangment would be something along the lines of:

     
    Though I'm not sure which way around it would be presented and the exact arrangement of backscenes and the like. I am toying with the idea of a free standing diorama which could be viewed from either side. Victoria Bridge is dominated by the backscene and despite my fears, it works pretty well. I'm keen to shake this up a bit and do something different. An 'either side' viewable scene would save worrying about which side to favour as both appeal to me equally.
     
    As with the 'bridge' the real place is close to home and within cycling or walking distance. The railway itself is closed but as a consolation it has left a handy tarmaced track off the main roads along the trackbed which means you can get there in the same peace and relative isolation as my Gran would have enjoyed on board her railcar!
     
    For those vaguely familiar with the area from trips on the SVR, Wyre Forest station is the next stop on the Tenbury and Bewdley line not far after the long lost route leaves the SVR and crosses the Severn just North of Bewdley, which was once a junction with lines going off in four directions.
     
    I will keep Victoria Bridge as a perfect 'run what ya brung' layout which can suit just about anything that comes out of a Farish or Dapol box with minimal modellers licence. Wyre Forest will feature a more specialist, more minimal set of bespoke stock (especially if done in a finescale fashion) with the grubby patina of the era, and clever couplings of some sort for light shunting. I want to capture a historical moment in time as I have been inspired by the work of other folks here who despite often being too young to remember the era, have gone to extraordinary lengths to recreate it.
     
    So Wyre Forest will be the typical GWR Branch Line layout, the curving road snaking around the scene is straight from the big book of modelling cliches and it is all the better for it! Rather than a roundy-roundy with screeching hairpin bends at each ends, I reckon an end to end arrangement with short trains and cassettes will be more appropriate. I am going to deliberately ignore all I have read about ten-carriage excursions passing though on the way to Barry Island ( as a resort, rather than a scrapheap!) and limit myself to short branch line trains.
     
    I have picked up the excellent Wild Swan publications 'THE TENBURY AND BEWDLEY RAILWAY' which has a wealth of info, especially on trains which for the late 50s or early 60s might include:
     
    Lots of GWR Railcars, of the usual 'straight out of the box Farish variety' (often alternating between green and crimson and cream examples) and an occasional appearance by earlier streamlined types.
     
    An assortment of Panniers on freight, and occasional passenger trains. Tank engines working beyond to Ditton Priors would also have had distinctive spark arrestors.. a 3D printing opportunity?
     
    One example of a small BR Standard 2-6-2 tank with an Autocoach deputising for a failed railcar.
     
    Praries of varying types.
     
    Right at the end of the life of the line, some parts were used to store condemned wagons (in their thousands!).. which if nothing else allows for some heavy weathering!
     
    And also, in the later stages, occasional forays by brand new DMUs on test.
     
    And much more. There are suggestions of larger locos appearing in the 60s on ballast trains and picking up redundant wagons, such as 8Fs and Manors.
     
     
    All in all, lots of opportunity for interesting, short trains without getting too long, drawn out and expensive!
     
     
    As with the previous project, watch this space!
  23. Will J
    A brief update, which I will add to in the week when I get chance, Victoria Bridge is coming on in leaps and bounds ready for the Cradley Heath show on the 19th October.. a quick peek through the dark door of my shed reveals a little slice of summer, neatly picture framed!
     

     

     

     
    Next week, some technical trouble shooting and track cleaning, removing scenic bits from where they hadnt ought to be!
  24. Will J
    Sometimes you benefit from reflecting on where a project started. OK, I'll come clean, I was mildly pleased with the reflections I was getting from the shiny surface of my miniature River Severn, and decided to shoe horn 'reflectiveness' into the post, so lets stick with it...
     

     
    The two canoeists mark a significant point in the diorama build... the river has been built up over many months, years even, but with the two intrepid navigators firmly stuck in place, I can't pour any more layers of paint, varnish, resin, 'realistic water' or 'unspecific goo'... or they will be submerged! They also do a good job of suggesting the scale of the whole scene.
     
    Did I mention months building into years.. looking back at the genesis of the project, it turns out the beginings were almost four years ago:
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/351/entry-1306-bridge-over-the-river-severn/
     
    Which talks about the plan for the model, something achieveable that while modest in size, scored points in terms of likeliness of success. I'm happy that I have concentrated the intervening time on a small project, rather than spreading my occasional bursts of modelling activity on something more complex.
     
    Serious construction work was another year or more down the line:
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/351/entry-5503-the-trees-in-the-model-are-small-the-real-ones-are-far-away/
     
    So what you see today is the result of a three year burst of practical model making.
     

    Arley bound.
     

    The pictures don't quite do the river justice as the Woodland Scenics realistic water is still a little cloudy. There must be 20 or more layers of assorted stuff building up the depth, and I'm sure the lower half of which are well obscured.
     
    I enjoy modelling over a small area, but evolving the scene with seemingly endless layers of material. I suppose this mirrors nature, which you can't easily represent with a layer or two of carefully selected products and a light drizzle of PVA...
     
    ...well you can, I have seen it done on RMWeb! Some clever folks round here.....
     

    These two are now permanently posed wondering if the train rumbling over their heads is something interesting. I guess it pretty much always is, poor guys, terrible timing... I plan to populate the banks of the river with a few more people, suggesting a sunny autumn day, maybe a gala weekend.
     
    I think I have found a way to represent the aeroplane that started the whole idea off, the graceful de Havilland Dragon Rapide, from which I got the inspiration for the scene (see that first post linked above)..
     

     
    A little Dragon Rapide tie pin. The trick will be to attach it to the sky in the background without casting bizarre shadows across the wide blue yonder!
     
    ---------
    I have had news from my friends at Classic Air Force, Newquay (I volunteer there occasionally when I can make it down the M5!) that the Dragon Rapide is back at Halfpenny Green Airport (Wolverhampton) this Sunday afternoon. Understandably the practicalities of the flight and weather conditions can have a bearing on where the aircraft goes (so it is impossible to promise a route), but the pilots know the route of the Severn Valley Railway and the location of Victoria Bridge, so could I'm sure be encouraged to go and see / chase the trains. The event was postponed from a week or two ago, and now co-incides with the SVR gala, which increases the frequency of the trains to gently pursue....
     

     
    I might be there myself, but unfortunately it will only be a brief flying visit in the afternoon.
  25. Will J
    The new printed sides for Victoria Bridge are now in place, painted, glued and merged around the edges with the existing wooden structure. I have painted the whole thing a creamy colour which is right for the thin uprights either side of the bridge, I just need to add a teracotta-ish shade for the main arch and structure beneath the deck. It is starting to look the part:
     

     
    OK, I'll come clean and admit some of this sky was photoshopped in, but it is mostly genuine!
     

     
    Most of my stock (apart from a few wagons) are temporarily boxed up while some house rearrangements are ongoing... a fellow RMWebber kindly loaned a Pannier tank to complete the 1950s scene:
     

     
    Thanks Alistair!
     
    The detail on the bridge front is nicely picked out by the paintwork. I'm also quite pleased with some weathering experiments on some old Peco wagons. They look a bit overdone, and almost cartoonish close up, but seem to tell the right story from normal viewing distance, as part of the 'picture' in the frame.
     

     
    The secret to enhancing the detail on the wagons, I discovered, is to paint the whole wagon with matt black enamel paint, then immediately wash it away with hot water from a tap. The hot water of course fails to wash away much of the dark shade, particularly the paint in-grained in the detail and among impressed gaps, leaving the effect you see above. I'll continue the experiments!
     
    ----------
     
    Playing with some photographic angles at the Wyre Forest MRC club night, we couldnt resist trying some modern stock, albeit rather mis-matched. It struck me that for the odd half hour at shows, the model of 'Victoria' bridge could double as an 'Edward Albert' (the bridge of the same design a short distance upstream, which for now still carries coal to Ironbridge Power Station). If the Class 70 shown here had some matching coal hoppers, it would be a good approximation...
     
    http://www.ironbridgeguide.info/ironbridge_tour/tour_03.shtml (scroll down)
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/93173492@N00/4034964717/
     

     
    Maybe I could have a stick-on cooling tower to announce a 'modern image freight' interlude!
     
    The real Edward Albert bridge differs from Victoria Bridge in having double track. Victoria Bridge was built with the same wider deck, but only ever had single track, the top deck being narrowed somewhere along the line. (The wide abutments bear witness to this.. replicated in my model).
     
    I quite like the look of the mixed load of china clay slurry and steel diverting its way though the Severn Valley. As long as it was explained well enough, it might be fun for odd moments with the micro-layout out on the road!
     
    Stock again courtesy of alibuchan of RMWeb fame!
     

     

     
    More coming soon.. including project 'shed' (I have been busy preparing a large rectangular bit of garden...)
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