MarshLane

A somebody once said "Your not indecisive ... you just can't make up your bloody mind!" . You'll get there mate .. just keep chipping away and don't get disheartened. I think I've said before ... my loft plans for the BIG Arksey took two years to get where I was happy with them! By my standards, your hardly off page 1 of the sketchbook at the moment ;0) Rich

Definitely ELJ after seeing those two mate! Rake of mk1s for the 40, and mixed freight for these two

I think deep down that's your end desire mate. Bite the bullet and go for it ... they say it's easier second time round! Oh, no, that might be something else!!!! Looking at what you achieved in 4mm, I think you'd move mountains in 7mm. Rich

Looking nice Jinty, My spell checker seems to be developing an LMS feel, as its stopped changing you to Minty! Those wagon bodies look superb - I'm going to have invite myself for a days tuition on all this weathering lark, it looses me completely at the moment ... have to drop off that package and see if I can watch the master at work Keep 'em coming mate, very inspirational as ever. Rich

Asleep .. there's modern traction in your area and your asleep! Pah, the modern day enthusiast does know he's born ... in my day they use to get us up and send us out spotting before we'd even gone to bed! Funny, I remember Arrrrkwright saying the same thing about Errand Boys! Ah happy days - I was stood with my Dad that day at Meadowhall. Seemed all very strange (with an odd headboard if I remember rightly) back then .. little did we know we were going to be inundated with the little bu$$ers and that they would exceed the number of 47s built!! I do sometimes wonder where the railfreight industry would be without the 66s today however, as much as we enthusiasts might like to get rid of the damm things at times and bring back the 37s, 47s, 56s and 58s, I can not help feeling that without the reduction in costs and maintenance a lot more freight traffic would have been on road..... Sorry to hijack Marcus .. now stop having fun driving trains and get on with things, my fingers are aching holding this pen! Rich

Hi Andy, Oooh interesting, I'd have thought the Macro setting would have handled that a bit better than it has. But I suppose its more designed for flowers and the like which are at an even depth than photography. For my opinion, I'd stick to Auto around 400ISO, and if you can find away of keeping the F stop as high as possible, that will give you the best outcome. Thanks for taking the time to do that. Really nice shed scene! Rich

Looking good Andy! When you have five minutes (if the manual makes sense to you ) I'd be interested to see a shot similar to No. 001 - the first one you posted, taken in Macro mode. You'll have noted there is a very shallow depth of field - it looses sharpness very quickly, thats because the Aperture (the F Stop) was on F3.5, ideally if you can find anyway of getting that to F8 or above (preferably F10 or above) I think you might find your happier with the outcomes. But as ever, as long as your happy thats all that matters!! Nice colour off the camera tho. Rich

Hi Andy, Ok, firstly - if you get stuck anytime - feel free to PM me I'm more than happy to help. Yes, keeping the F stop as high as possible is the best thing for model photography. GPS Secondly, a wider point that doesn't apply to the Canon SX420 camera you have, but might to others reading this. Many smaller cameras now come with GPS. This writes the location of the camera into every image you take (down to about 2-3 meters). Thats great when your out walking the dog or on holiday and want to know where you were when you took the picture, but for model photography we're into a dodgy area - obviously if you put a picture on rmWeb anyone (including those devious little devils who like taking things that aren't theirs) viewing that can plot the position of the camera on Google Maps very easily and find out the location of your layout, and shed. Im assuming that like me, you won't want that! My advice is to either turn it off totally (unless your away on holiday) or depending what software you use to manage your pictures it can be removed. I use Adobe Lightroom and one of the export options is to 'Remove Location Data from EXIF' which I always tick and it takes all the info out. Initial Settings I've downloaded the Manual for your camera and had a wander through it. Firstly, make sure the image Resolution setting (Page 37 in the manual) is set to Large to give you the best pictures, and that the video mode (if your going to take videos with it) is set to HD (Page 38). Unless you specifically have reason to do so, resist the temptation to go lower than those two settings 'just to get more on the card' you'll end up with lower quality images that are like postage stamps!! Model Photography settings Have a look at P54 of the Manual, it shows that you have a Macro function, as it doesn't appear you can alter the Aperture (F Stop) setting manually on that camera, that might help with model railway photography - specifically anything that is close-up. The camera is more auto biased aimed at point and shoot - which is fine. You've said about the ISO setting (P51 tells you how to change it), try and keep that around the 200/400 mark if possible, 800 as a maximum. Its all trial and error, but on most modern camera's anything above 800 will get noisy, because the image sensor is getting hotter taking the picture (very basic explanation!). A few years back 400 was the maximum, but digital technology is improving all the time! Also just watch if your ever using the flash, as you may find it bounces off the lens when extended and gives you a shadow on the bottom of the image. Brief background If your not aware, ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture all work together. Lets say that with ISO at 200 In very basic terms, the shuttle speed is the speed at which the shutter fires, the higher that goes up, the lower the Aperture comes down and it all depends on the amount of light available. When your in lower light, the same still happens but you'll be on very low shutter speeds which could introduce camera shake if your not using a tripod - sometimes even when you are, on longer exposures you can get shake when you press the shuttle button. So the answer is to get more light into the camera, the way to do this is to increase the ISO speed, in essence that makes the camera run quicker gaining you a little bit of light. If you were photographing outdoors on a gorgeous sunny day, perfect light is 1/1000th of a second (Shutter) at F8 (Aperture) at ISO200. A cloudy overcast day is more 1/640th or 1/800th of a second at F6.3 on ISO640/800! Obviously come inside and the light level drops again, as cameras see light generated by bulbs and tubes different to daylight. Hope the above is of use to you - don't want to hijack your thread so feel free to PM me if you've any queries mate. Rich

Thanks Chris, Im going down the same road as you - to give the impression of the type, rather than a mm perfect replica! The finished version of yours does look really nice! Need to speak to Paul about sugar cube speakers for it when its complete, along with the correct audio! Rich

Hi Andy, Nice camera mate - not sure if you can with those, but if possible, (tell me if I'm telling you something you already know!) set it to Aperture Priority (usually an A setting) and then set the F stop to F8 or higher - the shutter speed will come down automatically, so its a bit of a final line balancing act between getting a shuttle speed high enough that will stop camera shake and keeping the F stop high. If your not aware, the higher the F stop, the greater the depth of field, hence more of the image is in focus. If it doesn't work for you, stay with what does!! Just a suggestion, and apologies if you already knew that! Rich

You missed out the cup of tea between can't find scalpel and find it!!! Pen is poised as they say! Are you using the plasticised as an overlay on the foamboard then? Rich

Hi Andy, Oh I had forgotten about Trewithen .. I'm struggling to keep up mate! The two new additions look nice, so shall watch out for them appearing! Rich

Any progress on Kingsford at all? Rich

Thanks Marcus ... hahaha good idea! although I might pass on that one! . Thanks for the picture, thats helpful, didn't realise there was one at Embsay. Cheers Andy. Rich

Evening all, Well managed to get a couple of hours this afternoon to do a little more trackwork on the layout. Still need to paint part of Board 2 black, but that can wait for a decent day! The pointwork on this board is now almost complete, just have the second wing rail, and two check rails to fit. This is only the fourth 'vee' I have soldered up and I'm really pleased with how clean its come out and how its worked! Once the point is completed, the next task is to get the power feeds soldered in, then it can all be spray painted and weathered before being ballasted. EDIT: Forgot to add, there are some chairs missing at the moment, those need to be added too! In other news, I've also got the body off the Fowler that arrived last week - and have been measuring up and designing the drawings for the new centre cab body, so that is progressing slowly too. Like Chris Klein's centre cab version, the position of the motor and circuit boards is such that I don't think I can get away from them showing within the cab, but I have a sneeky idea that I might be able to hide them a little, but time will tell. Rich

Speak to Steve at Railtec Transfers, if he doesn't do them, he will be able to create exactly what you want. Rich

Hi Marcus, Yea thats a valid point too! Mind you its your layout, so long as your happy with it everything is good! As you say, it can give variety in lighting which is no bad thing! That building looks superb mate - really well put together. I'm taking notes! Rich

It could very well be a C........? But it isn't

Evening all, Just a quick question for our knowledgable friends (well thats everyone other than me!) ... ... has anyone any experience of getting brass etched, or CNC milled? A friend and I are going to try scratchbuild a modern bogie diesel loco that is now in industrial use, and although nominally too big for Arksey I decided I would like one. A chance conversation ended up with a good friend saying well it cannot be too hard can it - fatal words!! So, my mate is doing the CAD drawing, and I'm hindering by getting him to try and teach me at the same time lol, and then I'm going to try and put it together. Our current thought is to get the main frames milled out of brass or steel, firstly to make sure its all square and secondly to give it some weight, and then use etched brass to make up the bodysides and bogie frames. Each bogie will be motorised with a delrin chain linking the two axles. Any advice, suggestions or pointers anyone has (on any topic! Etching brass, milling, scratchbuilding etc..) would be appreciated. I know that when creating the etch brass drawings there is a front and a back design to allow half-etching to take place, but I'm still reading up on the process. I think it will either be done by PPD or Grainger & Hodder (is that the right name?). Our aim is that if one works out, we thought next year we might put a layout together that could used four or five of them, hence we want the build process to be as easily repeatable as possible. I've been very lucky in that using a couple of contacts within the rail industry, we've been given permission to go and measure up one of the locos, and take loads of detail photos of it, so I'm hopeful for a good result! Just another little project that is on the go! Although it will be very slow progress as we are not rushing it, I'm going to build the ES1 kit before I build ours. Cheers Rich

That photo plank with the Cumbrian background really does look the business - great stuff Dave . Very envious of having scenery like that around you! Do like the 68s as locos tho, don't beat a 37 by any stretch, but compared with a 66 or 67 they are nice, and a good sound as well! Right, off to sit in a darkened room for an hour or two now! OOOh thin ice there Marcus .. you'll be getting 'Cease and Desist' copyright notices from the green team Rich

Hi Marcus, Love the detailing you've done, really good, and the grass between the hard standing is great! Don't take this as a criticism, and its only my view, but I actually prefer that cutting under the other lighting. The shadow makes it more realistic as though its a sunny day, where as the LED lighting while lighting the area up makes it look dull, but bright, overcast day - if that makes any sense! Just my view however! Whole layout looks superb tho mate, well done. Rich

Thanks Jon, I've read the instructions about four times now, so looking forward to getting it start - albeit a bit nervously! No doubt the good chaps on here will, as you say, be along with help and advice! Just to show that I have't been lazy (in case anyone hasn't seen the Arksey thread) - the baseboards are just about complete, with just a bit of painting to do! Rich

Hi Paul, Glad you had a good time yesterday. Hope you enjoyed seeing the 37 running about. Just a thought but way not but the big picture on one side. Go for a more focused piece that you keep adding to, and let it de slip over time as real sheds did? So a two/three road shed building with fuel point alongside. Then once that's underway, think how it might have been expanded? Rich

Great update Simon - loved the video and agree with Jinty's comment totally! Rich

Evening all, Well I seem to be flying along at the moment - far quicker than I hoped, although its all about to slow down for a week or two, as the next 10-14 days at work and home are likely to chaos! However, despite thinking I'd got a day to myself, I got dragged away by a couple of relatives to help them with bits until just after lunch, then having returned to a small amount of sunshine thought sod it, I'm going to have a couple of hours on the baseboards ... so I did! Both were erected for only the second time, and came together well. The two scenic ends were removed from the layout and the exit holes to the fiddle yard cut out of them with the jigsaw. Then, having previously cut all the various parts for the Lightbox on Board 1, I set about putting everything together, which almost worked! Unfortunately one small supporting block of wood decided to split as the last screw went in, which left the Lightbox with one corner being about an inch lower than it should have been, so remedial action dealt with, it finally came together well. Although the side and back of Board 1 have now been painted black, I've still got the paint the light box and bottom front. A couple of people have asked on PMs why go for black - why not choose a brighter colour? Well as a photographer, I always feel that when a colour photo is placed on a black background, the colours appear more vivid and brighter and the detail jumps off the page. The reason for this is that the eye is no distracted by other colours and things going on, and mentally tunes out the black background to focus on the image. Im hoping the same will hold true for the layout, with viewers eyes focusing on the two boards and the scenery. So before track ballasting and scenery can start whats left to do? - Fasten the top of the lightbox on Board 1 - Well the front and Lightbox of Board 1 needs painting black - at which point all of the woodwork is complete on the core layout - The lights need fitting to the inside of the light box and wiring back to the central connector that will be on each board - The track needs finishing on Board 1, thats really just the point - All track needs laying on Board 2 Thats not too much actually, probably another days work one way or another, but like I said earlier - it will probably be a few days before anything else gets done. I thought it would be useful to show the full layout as it currently stands: Also just to show whats behind the light boxes, the lights will be fitted to the angled blocks of wood - my aim being that by shooting the light at 45degrees, it should bounce around the layout and provide an even light.