Newtz1981

I have started to weather 46443. There are still many elements to do, but here is the results so far. All I have used is Humbrol powders.

Today I started to work on the pelmet/display of the layout. I have always had the vision of a 'wide screen' feel to how it is displayed, as I think it really draws your eyes into the layout a lot more and it forces you to look at things from a 'model eye level'. Here are some photos showing the start of the work. I would like to thank my father for his help in cutting the ply to shape. It's a 2 person job and his assistance was fantastic. I've used 6mm marine ply so that it does not flex/warp. It is strong and durable and I'm sure it will do a brilliant job. Once it's painted black and the NEWTON GROVE 19F sign goes up, it will look mint! The part behind the road bridge, the very big blank section - this will eventually have photographs of Rose Grove shed, so when I take the layout to exhibitions people can see what the real MDP looked like and compare it to Newton Grove.

Hmm, I can not believe that I haven't posted anything on here since July!! Then again, I haven't done too much work on Newton Grove in that time - until this week that is. I've been busy painting figures for the layout. Some of these are from ModelU which are just amazing! I've also made a good start on finishing the roof of the shed. This has been a major obstacle to me as I don't have an engineering/DIY/builders mind. However, so long as it looks right when its finished; that's the main thing! So here is a photo, showing the start on the roof. And here is a shot showing some of the figures recently painted. I've also started to weather 46443, but more photos will follow soon

It's funny how some things get put off for such a long time. Years ago I acquired a SanChen Black 5 which was not painted. A few years later I sprayed in black and then a year later, today, I finally went and painted the frames, wheels, underside of the running boards etc. After the paint dries I can add the red for the buffer beam on loco and tender and then give everything a final clean up. Note to self: work a little more often on my models

A fireman walks past single chimney 9F 92077 on his way to the 8F he has been rostered on for the day. Newton Grove 19F is an 0 gauge layout, heavily based on Rose Grove MPD. 90% of the figures are from the excellent ModelU range.

While visiting Newton Grove yesterday I snapped this moment in time, where a driver has a conversation with the foreman and a fireman carries lamps to his 8F. On shed we have 45562 Alberta, 44871, 9F 92077 and out of shot is 8F 48773. In the shed Black 5 45000 awaits its next turn of duty. Thank you Bob. I'll get around to painting that 'red face' shortly It's good to be back too :)

As mentioned in one of the latest posts, I have made up a few old sleepers and placed them on the layout. Here are a few shot shots of them in position.

Here is the progress on the Stanier Mogul. It's changed a lot from April's update

So it's been several months since I posted here. I've been so busy with work that I haven't done much modelling at all really - which is sad. However today I put rights to that and I did a little work around Newton Grove. I've taken a few sleepers off some left over track and I'll be weathering them and placing them in the yard to show that the old rotten sleepers have been replaced but not removed. It will just help add to the clutter of the environment. After contemplating the ideas for months I resolved a way of building my removable roof for the shed itself. So what I have done is purchased a sheet of 3mm perspex which I have cut to size and this will sit on top of the building. The roof will then be added to this and eventually painted and weathered. This may be a long process, I'm not too sure, but when it is done I feel it will look the part. Now, one thing to mention here is that I am no builder, engineer, etc. In fact if I was in that industry I wouldn't last very long in it. My scratch building techniques are quite average to be honest and if you saw how I have gone about producing the shed, the bridge, etc you would agree that I haven't done it the easiest way, the conventional way or a light way - however I've built it all with whatever ideas come to my mind and while they are built fairly shabby, when they are completed and they have been painted/weathered you can't tell too much that they are a hack-job I'll show some progress photos of the roof as I start to build it and I also have an update on the Stanier Mogul build too. Hopefully the loco will be completed by the end of 2017 (the builder has had it for 3 years and due to other commitments has taken a very long time to build it)

Here's a little progress on the Stanier Mogul build

Ha! Would you believe that I was there on the Saturday too!! Had we known we could have caught up for a 'hi there and hello.'

Hello Jon, Yes I did get your email. Thank you for that. I will be in contact with you again soon (I just have a few things to pay for before I can commit to a purchase). What day were you at the ELR gala? I really loved seeing the L&Y A class. There's something about those early pre-grouping loco's; they have the most wonderful look to them.

I was in the UK during March and I took the chance to visit the ELR for their Lostock Hall themed Spring Steam Gala - which was amazing!! While I didn't take loads of photos, here are a few that I captured. While my friend and I were traveling to Bury, from Haworth, we drove directly through where Rose Grove MPD once stood - without planning it actually. I must admit that I had never intended to visit or drive through the location because of how much it has changed, so you can probably imagine my mixed feelings about being there. It was odd to drive through a location that I have become so intimate with through archival photographs, and my model, to see it in the modern world now. Anyway, enjoy these pics everyone Many thanks to Ian (44690 here on RMWeb) for giving my friend and myself a tour around the yards and sheds at Bury. I was lucky enough to be in this location to capture 76084 departing Bury for Heywood.

Playing around with the camera again while walking around Newton Grove. Alberta has been weathered and the crews are starting to look like crews, rather than red blobs from the planet 3D-Printed. I'm very pleased with just how good this image looks. Who said it was a model??? 44871 has finally been fitted with its plates

Here are a few more photos that I snapped, after I had completed some more weathering to the shed. And just for some atmosphere...

I have started to weather the shed. I started yesterday by painting all the brickwork with Humbrol Buff, mixed 50/50 with thinners. This gave me a great look for the mortar, as let's face it mortar is never white. I see so many modellers use white for the mortar and I think it looks far too false. Anyway I woke up this morning at 5:30am and I was inspired to do some work on Newton Grove. It took me an entire hour to weather this long side of the wall, however it has been worth every second! The brickwork was weathered with pencil. First I went over with a red/terracotta colour for the base, then again with light brown, then dark brown and finally with black. It's a long process however the results speak for themselves! While the 2MT looks good against the wall, next time I will position the 4F or the weathered Crab next to it to really show it all off

The shed is getting to the stage now where all I have to do is add the coping to the top of the shed wall at the entrance and the I can weather the entire structure. I'll do all this before I start to build the roof, as it will be easier this way. What this will also do is finally make this massive area of the layout blend in so much more with the rest of the 'scene' of Newton Grove. The bright red plastic brickwork really just stands out like, you know what, and the time has almost come for that to be toned right down. So, that might be a job for me this week

Today we finished all the lighting on the shed. There are 20 LED bulbs within the shed now and they look simply amazing. Here are a few photos to show you the last stage, adding the exterior lights. And here are a few 'snaps' that I took while walking around the shed You will notice that the loco crew and other railway staff have started to be painted. This has happened over the past few days and this simple thing in itself has brought the scenes of Newton Grove to life even more.

I've been thinking of what's on the 'To-Do' list to get Newton Grove 19F up to a standard where it will look like it is mostly visually completed: 1~ Add interior detail to the bothy and add add lighting 2~ Wire up the street lamps and 'plant' them on the bridge 3~ Complete the low relief 00 gauge terrace houses behind the bridge 4~ Add brick retaining wall behind the bridge 5~ Create cutting behind bridge where the retaining wall/houses are 6~ Install the bottom of the pits outside the shed and add steps into them too 7~ Complete the shed and add weathering 8~ Paint all figures and place them in locos and around the MPD yard. 9~ Add decals to locos, running numbers, plates, etc 10~ Weather loco fleet That is quite a list when I think of just how long some of that will take, given my work commitments mon-fri, however I'm going to see if I can get it all done by June this year so I can exhibit the layout in August at what is Melbourne's largest model railway exhibition.

Thank you Deano, I will take a lot more photos very soon. I'm just going to finish some more of the lighting on the shed first and then I will share many more images with you all

It's a jolly good thing that I'm a fireman then Jeff

Where did you get the turntable kit? I've been searching everywhere for one.

Thank you very much RobJC - that is probably one of the best compliments I could receive Feel free to share some of those photos if you wish. Newtz

I took the DSLR out this morning and snapped a few photos around the shed, with the lights on and the smoke machine in use. Here are the basic results:

Thank you Bob, it is certainly starting to look brilliant in my opinion. Actually, I took out my theatrical smoke machine last night and filed the room with smoke while all the lights were on and the entire layout came to life even more. In fact it looked so much like a 1960s MPD, one had to pinch oneself to be reminded that I was looking at a model.