LBSC123

Well I thought I had better give people a well overdue update on the layout. Despite lockdown, I've been somewhat rushed off my feet passing out as a Guard on the 'big railway' and with various projects I'm involved in at the Heritage Railway I volunteer at. 

Despite that, I have managed to make some progress, and have got the Thames Barge to a point of getting the first of primer on. It still needs some finishing in areas, and I'm somewhat hamstrung in terms of not having an airbrush. I've got the bits for the rigging, which I fit when I've got the hull into top coat. 

Alongside this I've been painting the various wagons shown previously, this has given me a new found admiration for those of you who regularly kit build, it's very time consuming! I guess we really spoilt by the RTR offerings these days. I'll take a photo of the state of play of these when I next get them out to work on.

I've got various detailing bits for the quay too, which will be fitted in due course (I still need to build a lighting gantry and fiddle yard... difficult on the 4th floor during lockdown... 

Alongside this, I've received my Terrier back from being weathered, it looks rather splendid. 

I also had a few Rule 1 purchases... Perhaps these will spawn their own layouts in due course?!





The S100s have always been a weak spot for me, since seeing one of their Yugoslavian counterparts working in a colliery in 2014. 

Hope everyone is in good health throughout lockdown. I'll do a more comprehensive update of progress over the next few days. 

More soon. 

3 hours ago, wainwright1 said:

Hi LBSC 123.

 

Are you contemplating any of the new Hornby 4 wheeled coaches which are said to resemble the LBSCR ones quite well, apart from the grab handles ?

I have not seen any good detail images of them yet, but have provisionally ordered a set of the LBSCR  and LSWR  liveried ones from my local supplier.  Will go nicely with Terriers, E4s, Adam Radials and M7s, with a bit of modellers license.

They are only doing their 6 wheeled ones in Southern livery at the moment, but no doubt 4 wheelers later.

 

All the best

Ray

Hi @wainwright1, thanks for the question. At present I’ve got a number of the Hattons coaches pre ordered, in my mind the 6 wheelers don’t look too far off the ex LCDR stock that went over to the island, and the 4 wheelers could possibility representative of other 4 wheelers (ex LSWR/MSLR etc, I know there not THAT close but I won’t look too closely).
 

At present I’m not sure what to do about the Hornby ones on account of the fact they look rather like ex LBSC ones but are 6 wheelers, I’ll think on it, but won’t be cancelling my Hattons order... 

The bigger problem is the rapid acquisition of coaching stock on a goods only branch.... maybe I need to build another layout, or fit a small platform to the quay?

2 hours ago, TeakDB said:

 

The four wheelers look to be pretty much based on the LBSC Billinton stock to my eye, if they bring them out in southern green later I would be tempted to just replace the handrails and use them as such.

Yes, this is my thinking too...

Does anyone know if any LBSC 6 wheelers made it into SR Green?

As I understand it, they only sent LBSC 4 wheelers over to the Island (and ex LCDR coaches with the centre wheel removed). 
 

I think I remember reading that some were possibly used for Lancing works trains(?), and a few LCDR 6 wheelers lasted into the 1930s on the mainland too.

Seems like an odd decision to do 6 wheelers not 4 wheelers, imho. I’ll stick with Hatton's for now... 

Looks good. 
 

A Thames Barge can be obtained from: https://www.vintageminiaturemodels.co.uk/

As discussed on my own layout thread it makes a fairly nice model, albeit with some filling required.

The rigging and masts requires a bit of lateral thinking as there isn’t much provided in the kit, I haven’t quite worked out how I’m going to undertake this yet...

1 hour ago, LDM34046 said:

With the paint ordered my next step is to fit the buffer stops. My plan is to fit them prior to weathering the track so they’re coated in the same colour before touching in a few details after such as the wooden beam and rusty bolts. Most of the buffers will be built up with small amounts of foliage and grass.

 

Any tips on painting electro frog points? I’ve been told to mask off the blades but other than that give an even coat across the whole point.

 

Regards

 

LDM

Are you reliant on the blades for your frog polarity/electrical connectivity? If so definitely mask them.

What are your using to paint them? My normal technique is to do them by hand with a brush, as it’s more controllable and enables colour differentiation between the rails and sleepers. Either way, I’d ‘go steady’ and if using an spray can go for a few light passes, followed by touching in the areas that had been masked by brush.

Hope that helps 

Hi @Schooner, it looks like the project is progressing well and I'm following with interest. 

To be honest, I can't help feeling the Goods depot building in your post above is a bit modern compared to the rest of the buildings, in both design and materials, and wonder if the corrugated depot you were planning to use would suit the scene better?

Best,

Will

Cracking progress as always, @TeakDB, I can scarcely keep up!

The LBSC Box van looks a lot better for a replacement chassis. I shall watch with interest to see how you get on with the 5&9 Models. 

Inspiring stuff as always!

Lovely trees @chuffinghell, what was your technique for decorating them?

Happy New Year!

On 29/12/2020 at 22:27, Ian Morgan said:

EZ Line for rigging. It is a latex filament and stretches out of the way when knocked, and is easily fixed at each end with superglue. Apply with a little tension and it keeps it all straight. Brown to represent rope - other colours available, e.g. green for copper OHLE.

 

This is on my 2mm scale Clyde Puffer.

 

 

Bill Bedford handrail bending jig. Similar offerings available elsewhere, like Eileen's Emporium.

 

Thanks @Ian Morgan for the advice Re-EZ line, I'll have to investigate it!
 

On 30/12/2020 at 00:21, Schooner said:

Very very nice! Congrats, the layout's taken a real leap forward  

 

1) Check out ship modeller's forums - there are RMWeb equivalents out there (although obviously not quite as lovely)

2) Don't panic  You already have the tools, skill and patience to make a good job of it; 1:76 is a fairly small scale for maritime modelling and the gear on barges is (comparatively) simple; it's also pretty staunch:

...and that's on a small up-river barge! It does, however, mean that the lay of the rope and wire will be obvious on the model, which might make something like EZ Line less convincing...

3) Thames sailing barges must be about the best documented and least variable sailing vessels, bar none. There's not only an embarrasment of documentary references, but loads of the real things left and working so you can go and look at/chat to them when you're out of Tier 4. Excellent choice of prototype:

The kind of information you can get from the above (open in new tab and zoom) just isn't available for many other types of craft. It's a treat!

4) It could be worse...

 

Whose barge model is that btw? Looks good  

 

Excellent stuff, as ever. Looking forward to the next update.

 

Schooner

 

 

@Schooner, thanks for the informative post and pictures of Thames Barges, they'll certainly get me started. Do you have any advice on which Ship Model forum's are best? 

The model itself is from: https://www.vintageminiaturemodels.co.uk/, it's a fairly nice kit to put together, although requiring some filling. I'm not really a huge fan of resin, although perhaps that comes from inexperience. The kit leaves a little bit to be desired in terms of the rigging, sails and masts, which is the area I've now got to, and am looking for the best way to proceed. All it came with was the tubing for the masts and templates. The picture below is from their website from a customer, and shows what is technically possible (although how I get there I am not too sure..!)

On 30/12/2020 at 08:57, Northroader said:

You’re in London, I haven’t been for a while (guess why) but I’m pretty sure there’s a Thames barge kicking around the St Catherine’s dock area.

Good idea @Northroader, that's this weekends cycle ride sorted!

23 hours ago, TeakDB said:

Excellent progress, and It really starts to come alive with the rolling stock added! For handrails I bought the dcc concepts 4mm handrail jig ruler as I like the idea of two tools in one.

 

Fortuantly SR freight is very easy to paint so I look forward to the next update! I'd also caution you to look closely at the provided roof for the lbsc covered goods as I found that mine weren't cut straight and had a big too much overhang on each side- although yours may be fine.

 

David

Thanks for the warning, the roof on my LBSC Van has long been lost in the mist of time, so if you could send the dimensions over for this that would be much appriciated @TeakDB
 

1 hour ago, Schooner said:

Oh, and I'd also suggest reaching out to @bgman, creator of truly beautiful scratch ship models of relevance to both of us - including a Thames barge and their West Country relations (sort of), the Severn trow and Tamar barge.

 

Thanks for the tip off and exquisite photograph of the ship and rigging... It looks like I've got some research to do!

Hope everyone has the best New Years possible given the circumstances.

On 18/12/2020 at 01:03, DLT said:

 

Me too!

I've just come over from Shalfleet Quay, via your link.

Another superb layout, beautifully capturing the atmosphere of the Welsh Highland during its brief working life.  And built in such a short space of time to boot.

Hoping I will get to see it at a show someday.

All the best,

Dave.T

On 19/12/2020 at 09:20, tractionman said:

A lovely layout and a brilliant step by step series of posts describing its development, hugely inspiring, thanks for posting.

 

All the best,

 

Keith

Thanks both for the kind words, I did get a little further on with the layout during the first lockdown. Now it's sadly 100 miles away at my parents whilst I am in London for lockdown. I certainly haven't forgotten about it, and will be returning to the layout at some point in the future to build some more appropriate stock and detail the layout.

I'll try and find some time to re-visit this thread with some photos of the layout as it stands. 

Best,

Will

2 minutes ago, D-A-T said:

Bill Bedford bending jig?

https://www.eileensemporium.com/component/hikashop/product/2562-handrail-grabhandle-bending-jig-4mm

This looks just the ticket! 

Apologies for the lack of updates over the festive period. I was having a well earned rest, unfortunately not with family this year due to being stuck in Tier 4. 

This enabled me to make some progress layout, namely and the rolling stock. I'll let the photos do the talking.

I've built a Smallbrooks Road Van, LBSC Box Van and Open wagon, these were started some years ago and so as a result possibly had a few mistakes along the way, namely the handrails on the Road Van (I really need to get a smaller drill bit and a something to bend the handrails with, any ideas?). That said, I think they'll look OK when painted and weathered. 

I've also built up these two ex LNWR Ratio wagons these will represent ex IWR/IWC wagons, painted into SR livery. 

Finally, I've built up 3 Cambrian Models ex LBSC wagons, a staple of the line. 

These will all need painting and transfers in due course. 

I've also been working on a Thames Barge, which can be seen below. I'm not far off painting this, but need to do some work on the rigging. Any ideas on this greatly appreciated! 

More soon. 

On 19/12/2020 at 22:34, TeakDB said:

So today I made some unexpectedly good progress;

 

I finished (for me always a loose term) building the lbscr horsebox and started a smallbrook lbscr van ( @LBSC123).

 

The horsebox as always was a lesson in reading ahead on the instructions as soldering lamp irons from the inside when the slots arn't wide enough or soldering brake shoes to w irons already in place is not what i'd call a logical order. My additions to the kit were the door droppers in slaters plastistrip, roxey lbscr grab handles,  the iow added handbrake (out of 2 different plastic kits and some 51L V hangers) and  saftey chains in a very lazy manner from some fine slaters chain I was going to use for bolster wagons. Still missing is three steps on one end for access to the roof and the axleboxes are wrong- however as I have neither of these spare to hand at the moment I am going to paint this up now and add those bits later.

 

Another view of the very crowded end 

 

It is now had a spray of halfords etch primer and will be painted tomorrow (roof just perched on for now). For the LBSCR van im ignoring the advice to use the Dapol chassis and am using parts of a peco chassis with abs lbscr axleboxes and inevitably some plastistrip and archers rivets. I will be building this one as the less common (and crucially late arriving) d.1434 as I can get away with one from 1930 (might even add the early version of the fish only transfers). When I have more of a feel for the kit the next two in the pile will eventually be the more common d.1433 which will require small detail differences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep up the good progress @TeakDB, I'll watch with interest to see how the LBSC box wagons come along. 

The Horse box looks rather nice too, it's on my list to tackle at some point too... 

Hope you had a good festive period. 

Will

Snatched a few hours to work on the layout yesterday, and added some Mod Podge ripples to the resin.

59 minutes ago, Nick C said:

The Cambrian Brighton open is rather a nice little kit. One thing I've found improves them well is to replace the buffer heads with turned ones (wizard models), as the plastic ones are a bit crude.

Thanks for the info @Nick C, in assembling the first one I did feel that the buffer assembly did let the rest of the kit down somewhat, particularly compared to the Ratio models which also have turned buffer heads, so this is useful to know. I'll see if I can source some suitable turned heads for the remaining kits. 

Following the completion of the resin pour, I’ve been awaiting the arrival of a few parts to keep me ticking over during a Tier 4 Christmas.
 

The next priority is to build up a collection of wagons so that I can do some shunting with a prototypical stock. Initially I estimate I need about 10 wagons for the bare bones of the shunting puzzle game I’ve got in mind but this is designed for further expansion as I build up a fleet of engineering wagons, and Shalfleet Harbour Railway internal user stock, further down the line. 
 

The first kit I made a start on was a Cambrian LBSC 5 plank. They really are rather lovely. 
 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Thanks for all the help and support on the layout. I couldn’t have got to where it is without it! 
 

Here’s to a better 2021. 

20 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

Hi Alex. 

 

Ah! All noted. 

 

Iain Rice advocates a third strip at the top of /against the backscene to deal with any shadows thereon. 

 

Here's a view of the interior of Sheep Dip along with a view from the front. 

 

Rob. 

 

 

 

Apologies for the slight thread hijack, but what exactly did you build this lighting gantry out off? I'm considering replicating something similar on my Quay...

On 16/12/2020 at 22:55, TeakDB said:

Buffers was something that was vaguely on my horizon aswell so I've looked through all the books I have tonight.

 

Now in the the 50s onwards i've found (so far) 4 early SR bufferstops, some rebuilt with sleepers instead of wood for the beam. Considering the SR didnt produce a standardised buffer untill around 1928 i think for both our time periods it would probably be a bit out of character to get brand spanking new bufferstops. Now I think I can identify lbscr buffers at ventnor in the 30s after the turntable was removed and horringford on the IWCR pre grouping, I also a view of one of the buffers at a siding in bembridge in the 30s is a lswr buffer. To confuse matters further I think the carriage siding at Brading had an earth mound contained by timber as the bufferstop in the 30s. 

 

Looking at your backstory for shalfleet with a relaying of track in 26/27 I think it'd be most likely for lbsc or lswr buffers to be used- im currently erring more towards lbsc due to seeing one used when relaying a bit of ventnor in the early 30s. Im so far thinking about using these for Brading unless I find anything to the contrary.

 

Additionally since yours was originally a private concern like the FYN you could of hodgepodged any old thing and the SR may of just left it in place or added a new stop on it so really it could be anything- It also means like the FYN you could of bought any old rolling stock pre grouping so you could throw in all manner of kits- problem solved!

 

On 17/12/2020 at 10:34, Nick C said:

Looking at the two Middleton Press books, which tend to be slightly better for older photos than others, I've found 3 useful pre-war shots - 

IWCR No 8 at Carisbrooke with what appears to be a timber-built stop on the siding there.

W3 at Bembridge (so before she was renumbered to W13) with another LSWR-type stop clearly in shot.

W20 at Brading dated 1937, with a spectacularly basic stop at the end of the siding in front of the 'box - hard to describe, but must be locally made in true Island fashion!

Thanks for the helpful explanation on this, I shall use the festive period to conduct a bit of research myself and have a bit of think about what looks best. I’m attracted to the LBSC ones purely because they look a bit more ‘light weight’ than ex LSWR ones, which would be more in keeping with the rest of the layout, I think.

As an aside does anyone know where LSWR ones available from?

17 hours ago, DLT said:

What a lovely project Mr.LBSC, I've only just come across it.

All the best, Dave.T

Many thanks for the kind words @DLT. As is always the way, one learns a lot constructing a layout and there are a few areas I could and would do differently, that said I’m fairly happy with how it’s panning out at the moment.

Maybe on the next layout I’ll finally reach perfection... 

22 minutes ago, Nick C said:

 

The clearest photo I can find is this one from Flickr - there's another that looks the same at the end of the coal siding at Cowes, but the photo I've got for that doesn't have copyright info on so I can't post it. Both show what appears to be two rails vertically, and two forward diagonals, with relatively steep rear diagonals - which going by other photos online, I reckon are LSWR ones.

 

 

 

Yep, I think you're right about that being an ex LSWR one. I'll do some further research and see if I can collaborate this with other photos I've seen. Thanks! 

1 hour ago, TeakDB said:

Looking great, I would second the part about everything being a good learning curve as I am finding out. Thanks for your kind words but really the lbsc open kits from cambrian and a few vans from smallbrook would be the majority of the stock for your quay and well within your skills. After that im sure you'll enjoy making a few one-off bits of stock.

Thanks @TeakDB, hopefully you're right but I'm far more adept with scenery than wagons, but hopefully nothing that a bit of practice won't sort out. I'm currently working on a Smallbrooks LBSC Van which I started a long time ago, I'm hopeful this will prove to be a useful test bed for future wagons further down the line. 

20 minutes ago, Nick C said:

Lovely little layout! Living in Cowes as a child, we'd often go for walks along the 'round the island' path, especially at blackberry-picking time, and I remember getting along to Newtown Creek a few times - the prototype photo above certainly brings back a few memories, though doesn't really get across the huge expanse of mud you get there at low tide!

 

Kudos to you for going for such a large expanse of water too!

 

The only thing that jars just a little is the buffer stops - they look too modern for the Island railways, which tended to use hand-me-downs for almost everything (and indeed still does!). IMHO some semi-derelict ex-LBSCR ones would be more in keeping.

Thanks @Nick C for the kind words. I'm glad someone else has picked up on the buffer stops too, they are just the Peco bullhead affairs, I did look at some of the Lanarkshire Models ones at the point of building the layout, and tried comparing them to the (very limited) photographs of island buffer stops I could find, I wasn't 100% sure on what would be a suitable prototype and so opted for the Peco ones as an interim. They are on my list to replace eventually, once I settle on the appropriate type to replace them. 

This is the Lanarkshire LBSC one: 

Keep up the good work @TeakDB, that lining looks particularly headache inducing! 

Thanks all for the kind words about the resin pour! 
 

To answer @wainwright1’s question about depth, it’s only about 5mm deep at the most. 
 

 I didn’t really plan to go down the whole ‘deep pour’ as I have previously mentioned I wanted to model the layout at low tide. I built in a lip about 5mm high at the front of the layout to contain the resin (with the benefit of hindsight I think this was a bit of a mistake, but hey ho). As a result you can’t really see any of the water depth. 
 

I’ll consider using some sort of Woodland Scenics water effects for the waves, but I quite like the subtlety of Mod Podge Gloss as per Luke Towan.

Here’s a ‘on scene’ shot to show what sort of look I am going for.

I've finally received all of the necessary supplies for the construction of the water and have undertaken a satisfactory test of resin using acrylic paint as a tint.

Expect a more comprehensive update shortly on either the satisfactory completion of the pour or how I lost the deposit for this flat!