Douglas G

DL-Limonene can be used as an alternative solvent for glazing and is less like to spread out from the joints and damage the glazing.

Two obvious gaps still remaining for GWR/WR modellers are a 51xx large prairie (to replace the outdated Grafar model) and a Churchward 43xx (and perhaps Collett) mogul, as promised by DJ Models.

This has come up a few times, including above

I'm also disappointed by the trees - you can see they're just made from lichen...

I must say looking at that photo on page 7 of Steam on West Country Steam Lines, I really can't see any evidence of lining on the loco itself, or the tender. But as you say, it was looking very grubby and it is hard to even tell it was green. Was it a plain green repaint, or did lining just wear off with time?

I have been researching locos on the Taunton Barnstaple line in the early 1960s. 6372 was allocated to Taunton, and I have photos of it on the line in 1953, 1955, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963. It was withdrawn in December 1963. It had no external steam pipes and a brass safety valve cover. It seemed to have been lined green in the late 1950s but by 1962 the lining wasn't apparent.

Hi Jose, Great to hear from you and your progress with Dulverton. I half wonder if Farish might yet do a GWR mogul. Looking at my Farish Southern N mogul, the same principles of the mechanism could be applied to the GWR version - shame the wheelbases weren't the same, as it might have been a route for a conversion, I am not a fan of the tender drive in Dapol GWR locos, and they might have trouble fitting it in the tenders used on the moguls. My P&D Marsh Churchward mogul is in bits after getting damaged, and the kit for the Collett cab version is still in the box, probably never to be built.

Having not done anything for 3 years on Dulverton, I am trying to get my modelling mojo back. I expected by this time we would have GWR moguls in N gauge, but with the demise of DJ models there is nothing on the horizon. Without some moguls an accurate model of the Taunton-Barnstaple line is not possible. I am getting a lot of inspiration revisiting the three volumes on the line by Freddie Huxtable.

This last photo shows what happened when I tried to do a new area of glue next to an area with the static grass already applied just before. It was the first bit I tried - a learning curve for me. I am going to sand it down and add a new layer of Woodland Scenics fine turf and then some more static fibres on top. This time I will apply the adhesive for the static fibres in one go using a large paint brush. I think is the only way to get rid of the glue line and blemishes. This field is at the front so very visible and it seems to have been a cultivated field that was sometimes down a grass ley and sometimes down to a crop, so very even in appearance.

Static grass application underway... The grass is Green Scene short (2mm), with Minatur and Polak fibres added in randomly for a bit of variation. I am learning with these short fibres that the flock adhesive (I am using WWs base layer glue as it is nice and thin) has to be applied very evenly and smoothly or it shows through - Ok if it is small patches but not so good if it is the line of brush strokes. Also it is essential not to touch the glued are and flock while sticking - I have had problems with the earth wire catching it and spoiling the effect, so now use a long sewing needle as the earth point and try to insert it on the edge. The other thing is to avoid joins between patches of adhesive, as again these show through. I have now learned to do a whole area up to a natural boundary such as a field edge, road or stream. If I do have to do it in pieces at a time, after doing the first area of glue, I do not apply the static fibres right up to the edge but leave some glue free to blend with the next area of applied glue (a little water spray seems to help as the earlier applied glue can start to form a skin and become less adhesive). I have managed to get a 15 x 15cm piece of 20 mesh Woven Wire Mesh from a company called Inoxia on Amazon for £3 and WWs have kindly sent me a replacement cap with the whole ready cut in which I have epoxied a circle of this mesh into my WWS Micro applicator. This works quite well with the short fibres, although it is hard work on the arms to keep shaking it. I am waiting for some more static fibres form green Scene and then will apply an extra layer where required using WWS layering spray - not tried this yet. I am pleased with the results so far - there is a subtle variation in colour due to the different colours of the scatter material underneath and mixing the static grass colours in slight variations.

Some fantastic scenic modelling and weathering here! The colours are really well chosen to give a natural effect of distance. I particularly like the wooden station building and the track ballasting.

Please, Mr Bachmann, adapt the mechanism from the N class and give us a Churchward Mogul to the same standard as this Castle!

Hi, I have just spotted this post and have had the same experience. Audie Baker, who used to run the Kidderminster photographic library, was fantastic at developing their database and was very pro-active in contacting people about new photographs they might be interested in. But he sadly died a few years back, and since then my e-mails via the website have never been answered. I don't know who is in charge now.

I've still not had any notification from Orange about my Freeserve email account, so I am really grateful to Colin, the original poster, for bringing this up. Why haven't they got round to e-mailing all their customers, and why haven't they put a prominent notice on the Orange e-mail webpages when you log in? I have found a lot of websites and organisations send a confirmation link to your old e-mail address when you change your e-mail address, and this link must be clicked on to complete the change, so the old e-mail needs to be still functioning... I am working through a big list - I have found some cases where there seems to be no way to change the e-mail, for example Bosch Domestic Appliances.

Great stuff, Waverley West - what this thread is all about!

I applied the first two areas of static fibres last night, and am now waiting for the glue to dry. Having tested the Polak 1mm and 2mm fibres, I found the fibres seemed thicker than other makes. I preferred the finer effect of Green Scene short fibres, so have used these, with some of the Polak mixed in in patches. Next job will be to hoover up the loose fibres with a piece of tights over the vacuum nozzle to recycle the fibres - I was surprised how much I used last night on just a quarter or so of the area to be done, so have sent off an order to Green Scene.

Thanks Graham. I realise that things go very slowly modelling a real location as there is a lot of trial and error to get the positioning and landscape right. But when it comes to adding the scenics, it is the same as any other layout. I certainly feel encouraged now things are moving faster.

Work continues on the foundation for the grass, which is mostly Woodlands Scenics fine green scatter. I am finding that the scatter doesn't always stick, especially at the edges, so some touching up with glue and extra scatter has been required in places. To try to get subtle variations in the final colour that will show through the top layer of static fibres, I have been adding yellow and green drawing ink in patches to the scatter material by dripping it on stippling with a small brush. Also to get some variation in height, to reproduce grass clumps, I have spattered on small drops of diluted adhesive and then added extra scatter on top. Below is the road bridge and water tank area - this area was bushes and trees so has Woodland Scenics fine earth scatter with Woodlands Scenics fine soil and other scatters from Javis added in in small amounts as the final layer, with small amounts of static grass to be added around the edges.. Finally the opposite (south east) end of the station: While the variation in colour from using the inks is quite strong at present, I hope it will just give a slight variation once the static fibres are added on top.

Hi Jerry, I'd be interested if you could expand on the problems with cork as an underlay in 2mm scale. My thoughts are that as it is soft, it is easier to make channels under it for wires, point actuating rods and the like, and easier to cut than plywood. I will be at this stage soon with Dulverton. I know there can be issues with glueing the cork down - I was planning to use evostick impact adhesive. Regards, Douglas

Hi Mark, That's really useful to know. I couldn't see the range listed on the J Perkins website, so I assume it's in the trade-only log-in section. I wonder why they weren't available here before - or are they perhaps a new part of the Evergreen range altogether, even in the USA? Whatever, it should be just what I need when it becomes available! Thanks again, Douglas

Does anyone know if Evergreen T-section is available anywhere in the UK, and if not, why not? The Evergreen website lists several sizes of T-section: https://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/Shapes.htm But when I look at the websites of UK model shops that stock Evergreen, T-section doesn't seem to be listed for some reason. Is there perhaps a wholesale importer who doesn't bring in the whole range? I am particularly interested in #761 0.035" and #762 0.056" for girders for an N gauge footbridge.

Hi Martin, Thanks for the information. I do have some GreenScenes static fibres, but haven't tested them yet. I find many of the fibres available from other manufacturers are too shiny or have too many colours mixed up so they don't look realistic to me. I had the same issue with a WWS micro static applicator but used a different solution - weaving an extra strand of wire into the mesh. Douglas

A great looking layout! What sort of static grass did you use - it is very effective.

Some lovely modelling.

For the rest of the layout my plan for the grass is to be a first layer of Woodlands Scenics fine turf, with a layer on top of 2mm Polak static grass. This is the first bit I have started on, the field to the left-hand side beyond the road bridge. When this first layer is dried, I will try varying the colour with green marker pens.