Will J

Hi all, a quick update to say that my Victoria Bridge diorama (with its round the back fiddle yard that elevates it to the status of 'train set' ) will be on show alongside a flotilla of micro layouts from the Wyre Forest MRC in the upstairs room of the museum at the Severn Valley Railway's Kidderminster Station. This mini-exhibition is part of the railway's behind the scenes weekend. A five pound wristband gains entry to all manner of usually off-limits areas along the line, the event supports the restoration of Prarie Tank 4150. In other news... Progress on the latest evolution of the Class 139 model, which I hope to print in both N and OO varieties. If nothing else it is an excuse to prove that although dear old Sketchup does not really 'do' curves, that should be no impediment to creating complex curved surfaces, you just need to draw several thousand little straight lines.... More to come on this soon!

The Peckett looks superb, nice work on the collar at the base of the chimney, that is a tricky bit to get right 'virtually' in my experience.

Yep, still in the works, the old bridge is being subtly detailled for the July date, with the improved bridge to follow.

Shock, and horror, what has been a fairly miserable June has just, a few moments ago, bloomed into some actual proper sunshine. A perfect chance to get a snap of Victoria Bridge, with some enhanced bushyness in the foliage department, basking in the seasonal weather... at last. I'll let you into the recent useful, technical developments, but first a scene from a gala day on this miniature present day SVR, with the little '813' saddle tank (see my previous blog entry) with an Arley-Bewdley local, with carriages concocted from Dapol Collets, with sides adapted from some Etched Pixels/Ultima overlays, with an improved garnish of printed toplights and brass doorknobs from the same source. (813 is not quite set for close up photos yet, she needs a front buffer beam and sundry other details...) "the sounds of the riverbank, a dog splashing through the shallows and a grumpy RMWebber cursing a broken mountain bike are interrupted by a whistle" - - - - But enough of dreamy summer days, what of the windy, damp evenings that have kept modelling activities firmly indoors, well they have been productive: A neat, basic but effective fold away fiddle yard has taken shape: Which will allow the layout to fufill its dual role, as a simple scenic shelf to display stock on the wall, and as an occasional exhibitable 'layout', more of that later: There will be some form of 'armco' around the bends at either end just in case a derailment happens! - - - - With a 'circuit' in place, it was time for an innaugrial service. The honour of this first exploratory crossing fell to my most humble machine, an ancient Minitrix 2-6-0 updated with Dapol bits to better resemble the real thing, with a little extra internal weight to aid traction, it now struggles with six carriages, an improvement over struggling with two! Before too long, little 46443 will probably be replaced with a new Farish version, but for now it only seemed right that this charity shop bargain, which inspired me to start the project, should have a moment of glory: "our day at the gala continues with a little mixed traffic loco bursting from the forest with a modest rake of mark ones" The rusty colours in the background of the scene suggest the beginnings of Autumn, which I suppose fits in with the September gala scenario. - - - - Some more scenes from the garden photo-shoot: Some of the lighter areas of scenery are tell tale signs that the glue hasn't quite dried... - - - - With all of this activity, with trains actually moving, I am hoping to exhibit the layout locally soon. Watch this space, I will post more when I am sure of the details (Kidderminster in July). Looking forward to the upcoming Member's Day. I'm 90% sure I can make it. I'd love to bring Victoria Bridge to the event one day, maybe if there was a (very!) small space in a corner next year, as the layout is so simple it is more about showing off a variety of stock, it would be a great excuse to get all of those projects finished! "as the train trundles towards Arley, thoughts turn towards going home for a Barbeque..."

Brilliant, as an N gauger the world of finescale can seem a bit daunting, but seeing clever things happen using technologies I have a bit of an understanding of is encouraging. Thanks for showing the process step by step!

Excellent stuff, commuting between your two layouts must be a big part of the fun! I'm going to have to go and inspect the state of the art 'Lack' wise as I need to get a new book shelf.. ..that and some meatballs! An Ikea shelf would be the perfect home for that Looe-ish T gauge layout I keep pondering about...

Am I the only one secretly wishing that some 1:1 scale person visits the real thing tomorrow and repaints it a nice even tone.... just to see the look on Tom's face.... Here's to the next 500!

How about this one http://www.flickr.com/photos/killie65/6540568969/in/photostream/ the modified Austerity (I thought I'd seen that buffer beam somewhere else!). Unlike the Thomases and Jameses on the MHR, this one blends in reasonably well running without a face, as a sort of 'generic 0-6-0' that could be from pretty much any part of the UK, or Commonwealth. I hadnt encountered it before now?

Nice, and I can't help but admire your ability to concentrate on the mundane, but equally fascinating, 'stuff' around the scene before getting into the locos and stock in a big way. Just a thought for the future, I was pondering which Mid Hants loco (of the recent ish past?) might need a fair amount of scratchbuilding (based on an American chassis...), has a memorable paint scheme and a tender covered in rivets that could be fashioned from those transfers: How about http://www.flickr.com/photos/12078476@N07/5235100182/in/photostream an S160?

The assymetric nature of some prints is frustrating... maybe I'm too patient in thinking that we are lucky to have these technologies changing the face of modelling. Any model I make tends to have a 'better side' anyway due to human errors in the finishing process!! Thanks for the close up pics, I must get some wagons going...

I'd be tempted to try dry brushing the furry areas with a hint of green, maybe to suggest a degree of mossy-ness. Try to make something out of a tricky situation... ...or at least that is my cunning plan for the night. The stock looks incredibly at home amongst the scene.. Nice!

Very nice, makes me want to make some grand plans in the garden too! The little tree is very effective in the second to last picture.

Excellent stuff Pete, always nice to see an update. The colours look convincing even at this early stage... ...plenty of useful pictures here: http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/cornwall-railway-gallery-branches-north-and-east.html

97 rivets... be careful being so sure, Tom will have almost certainly riveted the inside of the tank too... (which was supposed to be a joke, until I re-checked the top picture and realised that he had......) Why-I-addddaaa Nice work Mr E.

I love the X3900, the printing, and the shade of green, bring out the front 'face' with the grilles beautifully.

He, he, I hadnt thought of that! The looe valley project is one to go for still, my first scenic attempt in T will be the 'bonsai' Victoria Bridge though....http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/53539-wills-bonsai-railway/

That is well worth a try (and I have a wagon project on the cards where I can give it a go!).. I have found that, as a rule, relief details come out sharper if they stick out, rather than when they are recessed in, but all well worth experimenting to get the most realistic finish.

Evening all, The latest version of 813 has a good many more little details, including the mysterious 'T18' disc mentioned in Dukedog's recent SVR blog post (appearing on the present day SVR on a Prairie), handrails, some nifty handle things on top of the tank and, remarkably sharp awaiting a lick of paint, slightly raised numbers on the buffer beam and cab sides. The plan with these, in the case of the buffer beams, is to paint a dash of yellow in the appropriate area, wash over it with red and then scrape away the number with a blade to let the yellow show through... ...it might work, I'll keep you all posted... PS.. I have swapped the usual random coin as a measure of tiny-ness with an OXO Cube, which adds a deliciously savoury twist to proceedings... And yes, the handrails could have been a little thinner, but they ought to be a little less obvious in green, and should survive reasonably well. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - And speaking of tiny stuff, my mini (1/450 scale, T gauge) Victoria Bridge has also arrived. More on this soon in my 'innovation challenge 2012' thread.

Excellent news, another of those brown vans should appear tomorrow (or Thursday?) with the improved, superdetailed 'actually fits the chassis' GWR saddle tank, and my T gauge Victoria Bridge for the innovation challenge.

I'd paint it brown, but it would look dangerously like a Toblerone!!

Yep, the area beneath the windows is a flat panel, easily decorated with a printed transfer. I forgot to mention that the pictures above a very much fresh out of the box, the print still carries a bit of waxy 'support material' hence the slightly rough, fluffy edges. In terms of lowering the roofline, from the side view it is clear that by modifying the internal supports, the lower 'skirt' can come nearer to the track by about 1mm, combined with a subtle 'squash' to the overall shape, will get the overall height spot on. As it stands, the roof sits level with 'normal' stock whereas it ought to be a little lower.

One of these days I ought to scratchbuild a little N gauge UPS van... they have become inextricably linked with the ups and downs and twists and turns of figuring out this 3D printing business, heralding as they do, a delivery from Shapeways: http://www.shapeways.com/ Here is the contents of today's package... A great leap forward in my ongoing mission to dress up a Kato N gauge tram chassis as a Class 139, as seen on the Stourbridge Town branch line. For more info, see: http://www.parrypeoplemovers.com/ http://en.wikipedia...._Rail_Class_139 While previous versions had been solid blocks of plastic, this one has window frames which, with some clever clips designed into the 'print', can be easily glazed with some transparent plastic sheet. The model has been printed in 'Frosted Ultra Detail', the finest of the materials available from Shapeways, and was based on a design developed in Google Sketchup. The tiny 'pillars', about 1mm in width, are remarkably strong and show little tendency to bend, the structure as a whole will be greatly strengthened when the flush windows are bonded into place. The model is a snug fit onto a lightly modified standard Kato chassis. As can be see here, the plastic sides of the chassis have been sanded away until the central metal weight between the wheels shows up. This is as narrow as the chassis can be modified to, any more and the cups for the pinpoints of the wheels would be destoyed. This is where the compromises start though. I was keen to keep the proportions of the frontal 'face' of the railcar correct, and the slight increase in width to fit around the chassis has been matched with an increase in height. (remarkably easily adjusted in Sketchup by 'stretching' the model in which ever direction you need). I was keen to see this version 'in the flesh' as it is so tricky to judge marginal 'out of scale-ness' on a computer screen, out of the context of other models. When I come to set up the next (definitive? who knows!) version of the model, I will take a little off the height leaving the width the same. This will make the front aspect look a little 'wide' but all in all, will give the model better proportions in a layout context. As the moment, it looks the right shape, just a little enlarged compared to the modest proportions of the real thing. For the time being, this one will do, as it will be running in isolation along a branch line at the back of a layout... (Kinlet Wharf, at the upcoming DEMU Showcase in Burton if you would like a closer look, do come and say hello ) ...rather than coupled alongside anything else, so hopefully the slight overscaleness will not stick out too much. Wow, I have rambled on a bit here. It is interesting how subtle stretches and tweaks in different directions are needed to fit a 'cheap and cheerful' RTR chassis, I'm learning all the time. If nothing else, this model shows the potential of the process! Next episode, decoration, and test running on 'The Wharf'. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gosh blimey.... ...If you raise the bar any higher it'll want an anti-collision beacon on top... The fence in the foreground of the first prototype picture is going to be tricky to replicate?

These look fantastic Ian, the springs look like they might be a bit marginal thickness wise, but there is no harm in pushing the boundaries, especially when they will only comprise a few pence worth of the overall order.... I am going to have a go at some wagon body designs myself! (scurries away to find something unusual that does not appear 'off the shelf'... )

Right, got it! Draw a circle, which comes out as a jagged-edged 'reasonably circular' thing with 24 sides. Then, when drawn, right click on the edge of the circle and a menu appears. In the menu, click 'divide'... ...then something odd but rather useful happens. The circle will become surrounded with little red dots, or nodes, or whatever they are called. With the red dots showing, slide the mouse from side to side and the complexity of the circle increases, or decreases, all very clever. I think this could revolutioise tiny boiler-making!