Will J

Some progress on the silhouettes for lasercutting.. these are rough drafts as .bmp files, which I am going to need to trace (either manually or using Corel Trace, depending on what works best!) to make a vector Corel Draw image, to feed the laser cutting device.. There will be a main element made from slightly thicker plastic, and then a finer layer of approximated 'detail', all of which is still a work in progress! In the meantime, some images which have inspired the project, taken recently: Autumnal Hues: Early morning goods: The finer details

Beginning at the beginning, or at least sort of. The old RM Web contained a few of my hestitant steps to actually build anything. Layout wise, the usual trials and tribulations of moving house had reigned in my ambitions for the last year or so. In this blog, I will revisit some of the half started projects and hopefully see them through to fruition. (anybody remember 'Superpannier'.. watch this space!) But first, a layout, or rather, a diorama... Inspration: Taken last summer from the useful vantage point of a Dragon Rapide biplane, Victoria Bridge on the SVR. My good friend and long suffering ex colleague, TomE, on his blog, is attempting some sort of complex swing bridge contraption, as a small scenic layout aimed at the simple amusement of watching trains go by. This is going to be a project on a similar scale, with a scenic section the width of a chimney breast, on the wall of my office. Victoria Bridge in N gauge, works out at around 40cm long, in case you were wondering. Wary of taking on a bigger project that might never get finished, the plan is for the finished article to look something like: So, the next steps, laser cutting, carpentry, figuring out how to make trees, might be interesting!! Stay tuned (but bear with me if it takes ages!)

Im looking at making a very similar 'bridge diorama' setup. My cunning plan, is to have the 'bridge board' bit as a lift out module, which can be hung on my wall in a semi permanent kind of way, with a fiddle yard at each end (which as with you, will only let me have shorter trains), but to make a 'travelling' oval loop setup if the layout is ever exhibited.

Aha.. well on those measurements the length is spot on for the Dapol body. Can you supply them, or do they now come via the Ultima site?

I wonder if the etched Ultima/Minitrix ones could be coaxed onto the side of a Dapol model, to make something that looks more uniform with the modern stuff.. (I picked up a cheap, slightly battered second hand buffet car, which could supply the basic bits) ..were the old Minitrix ones made to scale, I have never seen one in the flesh?

Looking good, both the old one and the new one! Did Cavndish ever do a run of the mill Gresley open third...? Need to try and make a few of those from some components or other, though they would have to look good to sit in between my Dapol ones...

Ah, got it. A signal for the water borne traffic. Plenty of weathering to do!

Excellent... looking closely at the bridge, there seems to be a collection of red objects on poles. Do these indicate the position of the bridge, could make an interesting feature?

Carrying on with the Coventry theme, you could have a narrow pedestrian bridge over the railway, and car park, to the back of the shops... ...you could even see if you could get sponsorship from Hobbycraft (the shop at the station end of 'Central Six'...

Well, it is a year since I picked up a rather unloved 'Grafar' Pannier, and set about chopping up a Dapol Ivatt chassis to convert it into the charming, if rather brutal looking, 1500 class pannier. Alongside the facelifted Minitrix Ivatt 2-6-0 (which uses buffer beams and smokebox from the donor Dapol tank engine) I seem to be running 'rehab' for old N gauge models that have been overshadowed by the recent rapid improvement in the scale! The thread began, back in the day, with http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=43683&p=793044&hilit=superpannier#p793044 And with input from the 'Dremel Doctor' (AKA, my dad ) over the Chiristmas holidays to get the internal bits to fit together, and a rather fine chimney and brass safety valve cover from N Brass, the little beastie is beggining to take shape: Now for some cosmetic work to tidy up the superstructure!