David41283

Love small layouts! In the hour since "Coalition" finished on C4 (was it meant to be as funny as it was? V.Good!) I have completed the first pass of static grass using my homemade "fly-swat" applicator. A lot of the greenery in the pics will undoubtedly be removed by the hoover in the morning, but a couple more applications with varying shades and lengths should get the grass ready for my Cornish sheep! What a difference this makes! Cheers David

Good evening, I have decided that the cottages (as happy with them as I was) just wouldn't fit into the layout. The space is so small the composition of the layout just didn't really permit their location. It looked as though I was trying to fit in a row of slightly incongruous cottages, rather than they actually fitted the space. Luckily since I had hacked out the cork base to create a recess for the cottages, I had a slightly lower area to work with. I have decided to turn this into a small pond. Therefore this evening I have added a load more plaster bandages to create the recess for the pond. The strange effect of unpainted white plaster bandage doesn't show it particularly well, but the surface of the pond is quite a bit lower than the track level, which sits on 5mm cork above the baseboard surface. The bridges (Scalescenes again) which provide the scenic break are in situ, and I have started to bed them in, but I am not yet happy with the finish or the colours (a bit unnatural) of the scatter materials in some cases. A bit of subtle spraying with the airbrush should tone it all down and blend it together. I am very conscious that the brown landscape looks like plaster bandage painted brown rather than the rolling Cornish countryside at this point, I am hopeful that once lots of static grass, bushes, fence posts and a few sheep are in place it will look a lot better. The framework for the platform (Scalescenes), and the higher platform of land behind it for the approach have been installed. I need to fit the top of the platform next. It all looks a bit of a mess at the moment, with lots of flat brown paint, rough contours, splashes of plaster etc but I think it is coming together! It is odd having no backscene to speak of - I am trying to crop the photos where possible to avoid showing too much of our kitchen, washing, furniture etc... Cheers David

Testing, testing 1.2.3.......

Evening Everyone, I am still making progress with Poldeen.... This week some contours have been created. First of all the basic shapes were built up using 5mm foam board. It is nice and light, cuts easily and mainly I have access to loads of off-cuts from various "mood boards" and presentations I have put together in the last couple of years at work. Using the foamboard allowed me to leave a tunnel for the wire-in-tube point control to flex under the terrain, without being clamped in place by the scenery. Once this had dried overnight, plaster bandage was built up over the top.. Over the next couple of weeks I will paint, then add scatter and flock to start to make this look like Cornish village countryside. (hopefully!) Cheers David

Hi everyone, I thought I'd posted this update on Sunday night, but looking back clearly I didn't actually post it after checking the preview. Ballasting is now complete, and everything is running smoothly. Having tried three methods for ballasting in the last couple of years, I went back to the classic PVA/Water/drop of Fairy this time around as it has proved the most satisfactory method for me. I added a good slug of Railmatch Acrylic Sleeper Grime to the mix too. Fine grey granite chippings were applied dry and pushed into place with a soft brush as per usual, the whole lot was then soaked with water from a Domestic Surface Cleaner bottle salvaged from the recycling, before the PVA/water/Paint/Fairy mix was applied through a cheap pipette. Once dry it was all hoovered and then any gaps filled using the same method. After thoroughly testing with an 08 (with a v.short wheelbase it won't mask any problems like a larger loco), I sprayed the whole lot with a 4:2:1 mix of Railmatch Enamel Sleeper Grime, Flint Grey, and White, to tone everything down and blend it all together. On interesting note was that I discovered that the point blades of the Peco SL-E399 3-way point are not linked to the frogs electrically. I had wired up the points to electrically switch the polarity of the frogs, but unlike the "normal" 2-way points the point blades rely on a physical connection with the rails for their power. This took a little time with a fibre-glass pen and knife blade to restore smooth running through the 3-way point. I have started work on the scenic break, with this slightly kit-bashed Scalescenes over bridge. It requires a little bit of weathering with the airbrush to tone it down and mask a couple of dodgy edges, but it has come out OK. Cheers David

I'm going to have to try some of this DAS clay! People seem to be able to work wonders with it, first inset track in cobblestones, now convincing sea. I would have guessed it was a much "wetter" medium such as Artex or the like. I think you've done really well to get the impression of so much movement into a material I would have thought would have been a lot more static. David

This looks great, I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd be interested in an explanation of how you did that brilliant water.

Evening all, Just when I was starting to think that Dapol only made the replacement/spare springs as an instrument of torture, I think I may have come up with a method for installing springs back into the couplers, just in time to save my sanity. 1. Separating the spare springs. I made the mistake of thinking they were intertwined and ruined several by trying to pull them apart. However most of mine have simply been pulled together by a low-level magnetism. Carefully sliding the back of a knife blade between them proved a good way of getting them apart, with the added bonus that they then remained on the knife blade and didn't spring off into the carpet! 2. Get a single spring on the end of a cocktail stick (very slightly moistening the tip of the cocktail stick helps a bit here). Actually get the point of the cocktail stick down through the middle of the spring. 3. Very carefully dip the very end of the spring in a tiny drop of PVA glue. You only want an absolutely tiny bit on the very end of the spring. Too much of a "dip" in the glue will result in the spring coming off the cocktail stick and staying in the glue! 4. Line up the spring with the pip on the back of the coupler head, and slide the spring off the cocktail stick onto the pip. Hopefully the tiny bit of PVA will provide enough adhesion around the locating pip that you can withdraw the cocktail stick leaving the spring fixed at one end on the back of the coupler head. 5. After a few seconds of drying time, roughly locate the free end of the spring into the gap at the shank end of the coupler, then open the knuckle as wide as you can (compacting the spring in the gap) and hopefully, with a little guidance the spring should now be in the right place and the coupling should work again! I hope this helps someone - I've just managed to get 5 working again with this method. Cheers David

Hi everyone, Thanks for the comments above, Not a lot of progress recently, other than splodging on some sleeper grime on the tracks in readiness for ballasting, however a couple of new wagons have arrived. I know I'm a little late to this party, but these really are stunning models! I'm not sure what you'd do with these at the docks, but once I'd decided that this layout was going to be set in Cornwall I wanted a couple of these! I have read a little criticism of Rails of Sheffield's eBay prices, but I have always used the "Make an Offer" function and more-often-than-not, they've accepted an offer I feel is reasonable. Cheers David

Hi everyone, A bit of progress this week. Now I am happy that the wire-in-tube all work, and the wires are nicely trimmed, I have covered the tubes around the tracks with some very crude papier-mache. (basically just scrap paper plastered down with diluted PVA) This has covered most of the holes down which ballast would disappear and gives me a nice base ready to spray the whole lot of the track with Sleeper Grime or such like. I have added the Dapol Magnets. I used a cutting disc to cut them in half. This was easier than I anticipated, after only a little pressure from the rotary tool, the magnets seemed to fracture along the line I was attempting to cut. Removing 3/4 sleepers instead of 7/8 is far more agreeable, and this has the double advantages of halving the cost of the magnets and making them much less noticeable. They seem to work just as well, you just have to be a little more careful where you stop! I also learnt a lesson today! With the track firmly glued down with Copydex I couldn't slide the peco spare sleepers beneath the rails to fill the gaps between points and bits of flex-track. I managed to find a couple of lengths of 1mm x 1.5mm styrene, so used this to make sleepers where they were needed. Although they are currently really noticeable as white styrene, once all the track is sprayed brown, then ballasted, then weathered I am happy that they will look the part, and without careful study you won't be able to tell them from the normal sleepers. Finally, I have quickly added dummy point motors and a little bit of cable trunking in places. This evening I have carried on playing testing the layout. One evening this week, I need to get the airbrush set up and give all the track a coat of "sleeper grime" then it will be time for ballasting. Cheers David

Hi James, Thanks for the comment, I have learnt through mistakes! Every time I have laid track I swear I am going to thoroughly test it, but there is always something I miss that I need to correct later, often requiring major surgery once work has progressed. I am going to have a few more goes at running lots of different stock before I move onto ballasting or building up the scenery over the point wires! Cheers David

Hi William, I said earlier on I was going to make it non-era-specific, but having nearly bankrupted myself changing eras before I am sticking with my privatisation era stock. I have also got the new scalescenes modern station kit which looks fantastic, and reminds me very much of Trowbridge near where I grew up. However I still think it would really work with china clay hoods and steam engines, but I won't be buying them anytime soon! Cheers for the comment. David

Evening all, I have had a really busy week, so these pics were actually taken last weekend. With everyone else here captivated by Eastenders it seems a good opportunity to catch up on some RMWeb! After finishing the wiring, I am please to say.........It works! After many traverses up and down using a Farish 08 the only two issues were: a. I needed to trim a couple of the point operating wires, where they protruded slightly above rail height, which fouled the chassis of the loco. This was easily achieved with a cutting disc in the rotary tool. b. because of the tiny movement involved in the "throw" of the points in n gauge sometimes the slide-switch wouldn't travel fully home and therefore wouldn't change the polarity of the points. This was easily rectified by removing a few of the cable clips to allow a little more play in the wire to give a bit more slack, allowing the switch to complete it's range of movement. Here is the first train coming up the hill from the docks... Here is the main plan for freight workings: 1. a "trip" working arrives on the main line. 2. It pulls into the main platform road. I will fix a Dapol magnet at the crucial points for uncoupling. 3. The loco pulls forward to run-round 4. After running round the loco sets back into the loop siding and waits for the road to the docks branch. 5. When given the all clear the train slowly heads down the hill to the docks. Here is the train in the "bijou" fiddle yard. Hopefully I will have a quieter week next week! Cheers David

Is anyone else clicking on this link regularly? These beattie tanks will soon have clocked up more miles than the real ones! Am I alone in (probably naively) assuming that ships went direct eg China to Felixstowe? This one has already stopped in Singapore and Colombo and is now heading for Suez. Is it cheaper to go "all stations" rather than an express, much like trains from Paddington to Heathrow! David

**Branch Line Reinstatement Progress Update** Engineers are pleased to report that the project to reinstate the branch line to Poldeen and Poldeen Harbour is progressing on schedule. After the completion of track laying works last week, work has now progressed to installing the requisite electronic systems to allow trains to run safely. A Network Rail spokesman said "track laying was more difficult than we had imagined, working in such a small space made it extremely tricky to get the rails aligned and points working. Now we have moved onto the wiring, this too is proving more extensive than we had planned, but is progressing well." It is hoped that the first train may venture down the long-forgotten Cornish branch line in the next 7 days or so. Passenger services and freight workings to the harbour branch are planned for later in 2015. In reality I have spent most of the last week or so wiring. The controller and mini control panel are in situ (in need of a hoover in the pic). Nearly all of the wiring is complete. Red and Black are track feeds, blue and orange are the feeds to the isolating sections and purple and green switch the polarity of the points. The last two jobs for tomorrow are to connect the switches to the waiting choc blocks and run some wires to the controller, we should then be able to have a test run. Cheers David

Evening all, Most of the track is now down on the layout, with wire in tube points are connected up mechanically, but not yet electrically, and I've got about 50% of the "dropper" wires soldered. I'm afraid I've ditched the traverser/cassettes/sector plate as I just couldn't get anything to work satisfactorily in such a small space. The brass alignment bolts I'd planned were just too fiddly and as the layout is going to be pretty much "one engine in steam" operation the advantages didn't seem worth the buggerance factor. Therefore anything clever has been replaced by a single length of code 55, glued down and connected with good old fashioned fishplates. I've also carved out a square for the cottages to sit in. This evening I've finished the cottages - the chimneys were too high to fit under the lid of the layout box, so have been lowered! Sunday also gave me the opportunity of getting into the garden to do some spray painting with Halford's primer, so I've finished off the gardens, with bins and fences and a couple of lampposts. These are all white metal castings. There is no rear fence, as this will be the boundary of the railway and will be added once they're fixed in position at a much later date. Cheers David

Hi Steve, Great article in the N Gauge Journal this month. Going back to those IT Trunking Cassettes - I am looking back at them and thinking I shouldn't have given up so easily! How did you make them work? What glue did you use to stick the track down, my epoxy resin was undone by flexing too easily. Also did you just use standard fish-plates for the electrical connections? Cheers David

Evening all, I fancied a break from wrestling with track laying - it never quite lines up exactly how it should does it! I have downloaded a number of scalescenes kits, which I had professionally printed last week (tagged onto the end of a print job for work). So after around 5 evening work Poldeen has it's first buildings. Making these kits is far more socially acceptable then track laying - these can be done on a cutting mat, on the coffee table while watching the telly - no power tools, soldering or smelly fumes! I am pretty satisfied with these so far, and they *should* fit onto the layout. I have cast fences, bins, chimney pots etc to add to finish them off. I am really impressed with the scalescenes kits - this is my first proper go at building one. They are incredibly clever designs. I probably won't bother with the pictures on the internal walls or rugs on the floor next time though! Cheers David

Thanks James, The red tube is simply approx 2mm diameter thin plastic tube. I have no idea where it's from as it came in the bundle of stuff I bought as a job lot. Nearly everything else had Expressway Models (South Devon Railway @ Buckfastleigh) price labels on, so it too may have come from there. To get the bends I put 0.8mm steel piano wire in the tube first, then bent it round the corners. Gouging a channel in the cork keeps it in place. Seems to work well with not too much resistance. Cheers David

One more thing (forgot about this picture on my phone!) I sat down to solder a wire onto the frogs of the points this evening, and while I was doing this, realised that as I wasn't using Peco motors, I could get rid of a bit of the extra plastic around the point. I also took the opportunity of getting rid of the little pip which stands up on the end of the tie-bar, which is a real niggle with N gauge points. Not rocket science, and I expect many do this as standard anyway, but here is the before and after of about 10 mins with a razor saw and craft knife. Cheers David

Evening all, Thanks for the comments. Re: the lid / backscene - I thought long and hard about abandoning the original box (which was mostly built when I got it) and turning it into a more traditional looking layout, but I decided that if I wanted to do that, I should have just purchased wood and built my own design, which would have been bigger! The box design was part of the appeal of buying this "job lot" and it feels like a bit more of a challenge to complete something which has some set parameters, laid down by someone else. It is amazing how quickly you can make progress with 30 mins one night and 45 the next etc.. I have now stuck down 1/8th cork onto the scenic area, then after final tweaks, I printed out the track plan full-size, from Anyrail, and glued this down too. I have got most of the tubes in place for the point control. I originally left the cork out form under the docks branch as I thought it would look good if it went down a slight incline, and was visibly a few mm lower than that main line, however now the red tubes have had to go under it, I may have to raise it up a bit. I treated myself to a "Rotary Tool" (Dremel) after Christmas, I got Maplin's version for £25 which came with loads of accessories. I cannot believe how I ever managed to cut track or copper clad, or wire etc before buying this! It was also really useful for "routing" the channels for the point control tubes through the cork. I have also made probably the worlds crudest traverser, it simply moves about in a small well just a bit larger that the sector plate itself. Since taking this photo I have now soldered the tracks and some brass tube to the veroboard. I really can't decide on how I want to proceed scenically. I am certain this is somewhere in rural Devon/Cornwall, close enough to the sea to have a vague "docks" branch . But I am lurching from watching Prairie tanks on eBay (just missed one for £35 tonight!) and buying modern branchline stations from Scalescenes. Thanks for your interest, David

Hi everyone, In the last fortnight, since this package has come into my possession, I have been working on the baseboard/box. I have filled in the huge hole in the scenic area, intended for the control panel, and moved this (slightly reconfigured) into the fiddle yard area. Everything has been well sanded, undercoated and painted with good quality emulsion. I would have gone for Brunswick Green, but not wanting painting the outside of the box to become a significant or expensive part of the project, I went with this rather nice dark blue which was at hand. I rather like the design of this, I reckon this is pretty much the intent of the chap who started the layout given the kit of bits he'd assembled. Clearly this is going to limit the height of any buildings as I've only got around 2.5" headroom - but most N gauge structures will just about fit. However I do appreciate the fact that this really will be a layout you can carry under one arm! You can just about see on the picture above, the shallow well cut for a 12" traverser. The three holes in the fiddle yard are for (L-R) the controller, a small track plan with the switches for the isolating sections and finally the slide DPDT switches for the WIT points. There is a slot cut at the bottom of the scenic break for the WIT to go through. The more I get into this I am getting tempted by ex-GWR panniers and prairies and the Kernow China Clay wagons to run on this cornish BLT! One final question - I have painted the surfaces with a couple of coats of good quality emulsion, as I understand most people paint the fascias of their layouts. Can anyone recommend a good varnish to protect emulsion painted wood? Cheers David