Newtz1981

Ok, so back into the build again now after many months of nothing and I'm pleased to say that all 3 yard lamps have been painted black, all wiring connected and tested and ready to go. To make sure that they stay upright I have added plaster to the base and I am filing it flush once dry. Two of the lamps have been finished this way and the third will be done today. After that's done it will be time to paint them up in rust, dust and soot. I'll post some photos when they are done, but trust me they are looking amazing and really bring the layout to life more. Looking over the yard with the lamps in place certainly brings out more realism to the scene.

Hi Del, I must admit that there have always been some amazing models on Chris's website for sale - if only I could afford the ones I want more often. He has a 9F and two Duchess loco's right now, however as much as I would love them I have a Duchess kit to build and a 9F is on its way (soon I hope) from Fine Scale Brass. I'm really looking forward to getting 42754 though from him and detailing it up as well as a good weather job.

The shed plate is 17D - Rowsley. Looks familiar does it? A model you've known before perhaps?

Wow, I can not believe that I have not posted anything for almost 4 months! How life has been busy this year. Well updates will start to come more regularly again soon, however in the meantime I just wanted to show off an addition that will be in my fleet shortly. I have put a holding deposit down on another ex-LMS Crab 2-6-0. For the price it was advertised at, and the condition, I couldn't say no.

In my last post I mentioned I was creating a hillside. The area on the far side of the layout near the bridge needed something, and so I thought that a small hillside would be perfect. Here are photos showing the progression of works so far. After the poly had been glued together it was shaped and then a coat of plaster was spread over the face. When dry I painted it with Matt Brown. The aim is to show that the black/sooty/ash ground also spreads up the hill a little, so I added Matt Black and feathered it a little to blend with the brown. Next, I used Humbrol weathering powders to tone the paint down and blend a little more. The powders were sealed with Matt hairspray. Different shades of ground cover and ballast were then applied. The ballast was applied first at the bottom, then when that was dry I added the ground cover. When all was dry I added thicker clusters of ground cover. The results so far look great and the final touch will be adding static grass to the ground cover and finally around the base of the hillside itself. Here are a few more photos showing how it looks as I write this post:

I have painted and tested two of the three yard lamps. Holes have been drilled in the base boards to fit them and the below images show the placement of the two painted ones so far. In the background you will see the early stages of what will be hillside.

Hi Simon, The bags are just cast white metal I believe. They came with the kit from Syktrex. Warm Regards, Newtz

I've been working on the water columns and also the yard lamps. 2 of the 3 yard lamps have been painted and the lats one will finished soon. After that they will get weathered. The water columns have had the hoses added and both hoses have been weathered now. Having said that, the below photos show the assembled water columns with only one of the bags weathered, just to show the comparison. Water hoses never stay clean for long around a steam shed. The progress on the yard lamps so far. They look amazing and I will show you more of them when all 3 are finished.

Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you for following the progress of Newton Grover over the past twelve months. Here's to a great 2016!!

Work on the yard lamps has been taking place over the past 24 hours. My search for lamp shades really didn't give me many options that I thought would suit what I was after, however then my Father brought my attention to these little white things that you place over screws so that the screw head can not be seen. They seemed almost a perfect size, so I've used them. The below photographs will show how the lamps now look. You will also notice that I have added a loop handrail at the top of the posts. I noticed in my research photos that most yard lamps had this. Next step will be painting and weathering, which is something I'm really looking forward to!

I might be heading to the UK for 3 weeks in 2016, probably early June. If I do get there, I will have to do a lot of exploring and research too. I'll keep you all posted.

I prefer the radio play to be honest. I'd rather not tarnish the images I've built in my mind - and as the famous Goon Show quote goes "It's all in the mind, you know!"

I might be upside down over here, but I'm walking backwards for Christmas!

Thank you D. It is far from finished though. Adding shrubs and brambles? You do realise this is an MPD layout, not a country halt or mainline station.

Playing around with the camera again today, here are a few snaps around Newton Grove. Crab 42851 shunts empty 16t wagons around the yard 48773 is on shed with Black 5 44871 42851 crawls past the boffy with its short train of empties

Hello Brian, Thank you for sharing that link. The modeling is amazing and very inspirational! I appreciate your feedback too. Very encouraging Warm Regards, Newtz

I have taken a tip from BRM magazine, of which I subscribe to digitally. In a recent video of theirs they show how to produce good looking brickwork. Easy enough technique, so I've given it a go. The model was sprayed in grey primer and once dry I went over the walls with thinned down, very thin, 'Buff' colour paint. This of course gives the mortar course that great look. 2 coats were applied and each coat was dried within minutes with a hair dryer. After that I purchased a cheap set of colour pencils from a local stationary store. I used three shades of red/brown to create the look of the bricks. The light shade was applied all over very strongly, then the medium brown was applied less heavily and then the dark brown was shaded on lightly with a few harder patches here and there. Result look very pleasing, as you'll see. After the walls were finished I sprayed a coat of matt hair spray all over to seal the colour. Then I painted the three doors a nice shade of green. Next step will probably be constructing the roof, or just painting and weathering the building more.

Hi Les, When you reply, you click on 'Reply with attachments'. After that you choose a file to put into your post, then you have to click 'Ads to Post' on the file (you have a 'add to post/cancel' option) when you see it uploaded. That will put it into the text body. After that you hit the black box that says Post and that will work for you. Also, Shakin Stevens?!?! I may like the song 'This Ol' House' but I think that's where it ends. haha. I'm full of Goon Show references, so I'll be sure t crack them out more often. Warm Regards, Newtz

Hi 9430, I have thought about a Super D. They are beautiful locomotives and I have always liked them. I might get myself one next year, but it will take a while to build the kit as there are 3 others to do first. I was brought up with the Goon Show. Dad was born in Manchester and he grew up with them and loves the shows. He was the one who played the recordings to me and I fell in love with that sort of humor. Warm Regards, Newtz

As Grytpype-Thynne once said in The Goon Show "Well, you can't rush these things Neddy!"That is certainly true for me as well. I have 2 black 5's in my loco fleet, one of which came factory finished in black. The other I acquired a few years later and it was not painted at all. I always said I'd get around to painting it 'one day' and early this year I painted the tender, mainly because it seemed to be the easiest part to paint. The locomotive portion went untouched - until yesterday. Now that I have a working air compressor at my fingertips I had a flash of motivation and I took the Black 5 outside for a coat of Humbrol Satin Black. I have only painted the locomotive body, purposely leaving the chassis and wheels alone for now. I need to apply a 2nd coat of satin black to the body as there were a few areas that dried thin and you can see brass underneath it, however most of the loco body looks amazing. Here are some photos of how the loco looks now. This will be numbered 45000 after all painting has been finished. Plates are already in my possession for it, it's just a matter of finishing them and putting them on, then adding the cabside decals.

Round #2 of adding weathering to the Crab. This time I have added detail to the tender frame, boiler barrel, smoke box, cab roof and running boards. More to come in Round#3 Some of the weathering will be toned down later after all the other powders have been applied.

Stage 1 of weathering on the Crab has been done and it is already looking amazing! More work to follow however here are a few photos of the weathering results so far: And here is the crab next to 48773.

Finally, my air compressor is back and working as it should! I'm quite excited and I shall waste no time in using it either. I have the day free so I'm off to make a start on weathering the 'Crab'. Watch this space for updates

Hello Les, Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate the feedback and comments. As you would have read, this layout is my first attempt at kit bashing and/or scratch building and there are many things to learn along the way. I'm just taking my time and not trying to rush to an end result - that way I feel sure that I will have good models when they are completed. Thank you again. Newtz

Hello Simon, Thank you for the tip and the link. I can see what you're talking about and I agree that it does look so much better. I'll see what I can find Regards, Newtz