Douglas G

I think you've made a typo - it's Saturday the 21st June, not 24th June according to the website. I agree that it has not been well publicised to the world outside the 2mm Association.

Hi Cav, It's looking good - I'm enjoying this thread immensely. I am convinced that modelling a real location and trying to match prototypical proportions, positions, texture and colours is always going to take longer than an imaginary location, particularly in N gauge were there are fewer building and structure products available and more scratchbuilding and trial and error is likely to be needed. Douglas

Thanks for your kind words, Richard. I like what I have seen so far of your layout too, especially the colours and the way you have got the Peco track to look so good. The spaciousness and lack of cramming things in my model comes from modelling a real location. However, I do wonder if some parts of the final thing will look a bit too sparse, especially at the right-hand end, and if some of the buildings will look lost in the landscape. But at least I can argue that is how it actually was. I can see why people often go for selective compression of station and track layouts, not just to save space but for a more interesting arrangement and appearance. The down side of modelling a prototype is the time it takes to get things right, particularly ensuring that the proportions and relative positioning are correct and that colours and textures match the real thing. This has involved me in redoing several parts in order to get things right, adding to the time taken and disillusioning me at times. For a fictitious location whatever you do is right, I suppose, as long as it is line with prototype practice and the overall effect is convincing. It doesn't help that in N structures are easily damaged, especially when building them into the landscape. In working on the cattle dock and access road, which involved putting the cattle dock in place, I have managed to squeeze and break some of the railings of the cattle dock, and it is taking a while to repair them as they are thin plastic strip and quite fragile until all joined up. Earlier I managed to break off the canopy of the main station building when adjusting the ground level around it, and still have to reattach this. I suppose it's all part of the process. Douglas

Many thanks, Alan. At the rate I'm going, it is going to be a long time before the layout is finished!

Hi Missy, Yes, you're right, it is a potential stepping stone to 2mm FS. However, I suppose people considering FiNetrax will have to make a decision how far down the finescale route they wish to go, just using finer N gauge track or crossing the stepping stone to 2mm scale track and wheel standards. For me FiNetrax combined with commercial N gauge stock is where I want to go to right now. As I have said here before, I don't want to have to rewheel my stock and I hate soldering, so want to reduce the amount I have to do as much as possible. I can live with modern commercial N gauge wheels, especially as you tend to look at them from the side usually. Douglas

One of my dislikes is prominent baseboard joins and I wanted to disguise these as much as possible in my model of Dulverton, which is on two baseboards with the split in the middle of the station. I couldn't avoid having to split several sets of track in the process. To disguise the join I chose a line that passed down the edge of the goods yard access road and then followed the line of the point rodding coming across from the signal box and through tunnels under the two platforms. I hope the point rodding next to the break will mean it is not very apparent. For the line of the baseboard join towards the front I have used the curved edge of the access road leading down to the weighbridge. The join passes through the base of the weighbridge hut, which sits in a recess in the surface between the access road and the cattle dock loading platform: The edge of the embankment that forms the left-hand edge of the access road projects out of the left-hand baseboard to disguise the join: The other area I have been working on is the back left corner of the layout, behind the hotel and cattle market out buildings. I have gone for a curved background that is a quadrant of a circle, with the backs of the cattle market buildings being cut off at the back by the backscene (not yet in place). You can see where I have had to extend the land surface out after I changed the curvature - there have been quite a lot of bits I have had to do two or three times to get it right: I am not sure where to go next - there are so many things to do. Stick on a thin layer of Woodlands Scenics scenic scatter as a base for static grass and surgical lint grass? Put in the hedges? Put in the fences? Douglas

I think it was Code 80, but perhaps a better comparison would be between FiNetrax and Peco Code 55 "Finescale". The difference with the turnouts is even more striking, especially as the switch blades on the Peco Code 55 turnouts are thicker than code 55. I am now planning to use FiNetrax for my layout and have just got a copy of the 2mm Society book "Track" to learn about some of the techniques of track making. The distinction between N gauge and 2mm Finescale is definitely blurring with these developments, especially as the availability of FiNetrax will no doubt encourage people to make their own turnouts for configurations that are not available in the range. Douglas

After a few weeks of very messy work, with dust from sanding foam and plaster, here are some pictures of progress.

It was nice to see the review of FiNetrax by Ben Ando in Model Rail this month, and to read that a more detailed article on using it is on the way there and also in the NGS Journal. Is it going to really take off now, I wonder (and hope)?

Just a quick update, as I haven't posted anything recently. Over the last few weeks I have been plugging away trying to get the basic landscape done to my satisfaction. It is looking a bit of a mess as a work in progress, hence I haven't posted any pictures. There are lots of bits of foam and dust from sanding all over the place. Much of the left-hand board (the west of the station) has now had the Knauf foam landscape covered with Javis Scenery Maker plaster bandage. I stuck the bandage down dry onto a coating of PVA and then brushed on water with brown acrylic paint added to set the plaster. Once dry I added a thin skim of ready mixed Polyfilla to fill the pores in the bandage, again with brown acrylic paint added. Once sanded smooth where required, the surface has been finished with green acrylic paint ready for the grass to be added. The road, and side lane, made from black plasticard, are also stuck in place, along with the road bridge and embankment at the left-hand end, which makes a big difference. I am trying to get the shape and heights of the landscape as accurate as possible, which has meant lots of trial and error and occasionally redoing some sections to get the shape and relative levels correct. Aerial photos have been a godsend for this - they were well worth the cost of getting prints. I now need to move on to the right-hand board which represents the land as it dropped below the track to the east of the station. This should be easier to do, and the foam is already carved to shape. Douglas

I always look forward to seeing and reading more about this layout. I was a bit disconcerted to read about the failure of two of your Dapol signals. For something that has to be built in to the landscape and which cannot be removed easily, it is essential for the mechanism to be reliable. Douglas

Thanks for the comments. I have been working on this corner of the layout the last couple of nights, and as it happens I don't have any choice but to go for the single curve in the corner as the background has to pass behind the cattle market buildings next to the hotel. It has involved a bit of trimming in places and adding on some more ground surface in others, but it is coming together now. I do need to extend the two roads and try to disguise the joins as much as possible. On the tree front, after the failure of the ordinary PVA, I have once more had good results with Deluxe Materials Scenic Spray in sticking the foliage flock on to the tree. It is great stuff, I think. The only problem is that the spray comes out very wide and I always seem to end up with glue on my hands, arms and watch, no matter how careful I am.

I am trying to decide how best to shape the background for Dulverton, as it determines where I finally cut the baseboard surfaces before landscaping. I am very much inspired by Iain Rice's "An approach to Model Railway Layout design", where he promotes curved backdrops to avoid visible corners. However, he does'nt seem to say what shape of backscene is best. In the plans in the book there are two approaches. One is a straight background across the middle and relatively small radius, uniform curves (a quadrant of a circle) in each corner. The other is more of a compound curve, with a large radius and shallow curve in the centre increasing to a much tighter radius at either end. Here are sketches of the two approaches: I was wondering if anyone has ideas on which approach gives best results in terms of the curvature being less obvious and avoiding shadows and changes in levels of illumination. My gut feeling is the compound curve may make the curve less obvious when viewing from the middle in front of the layout. Having tight curves at the ends is not an issue as people tend not to be looking there and they may be hidden from view by scenic breaks or proscenium arches in any case. Any thoughts would be welcome!

Many thanks for the link. I did find them through a Google search a few months ago, but your post was a useful opportunity to see if they have added any more pictures, as I understand there may be more to come from the photographers. I think the first one with the two lorries in the coal yard may be new. One is a Bedford O lorry with a military-type cab belonging to Goodlands coal and builders merchants that appears in several pictures - I am hoping that Oxford will produce this in N as well as in OO. Cheers, Douglas

Once more ordinary PVA is not up to the job. Now that the glue has dried, most of the foliage scatter has fallen off revealing the sisal fibres beneath. I'll have to try another glue, either the Green Scene Grass Masters flock Cement or the Deluxe Materials Scenic Spray, which I know is very sticky but which might get right in among the fibres where I don't want the foliage to be. What is it about me and glue that doesn't stick....?

Thanks Mickey. It is meant to be the tree on the right in this photo: http://www.francisfrith.com/dulverton/photos/carnarvon-arms-hotel-c1960_d60036/#utmcsr=google.co.uk&utmcmd=referral&utmccn=google.co.uk It will need the odd protruding bristle (sisal string) trimming off before the next layer of foliage is stuck on wherever it is bare. I estimated the correct height by extrapolating from the hotel roof with a ruler. There will be several more conifers to do for the hotel garden, of different types, plus some more trees, pines I think, across the road next to the road bridge. I did buy some Gaugemaster pine trees with a view to trimming them to a more random shape, but I decided making my own was better. The trick is to make them bigger than you need and then trim them down to size.

A lot of faffing recently in my modelling with not a lot to show for it. My trials with scenic adhesives gave good results with all the products I tried except for the Evo-Bond PVA and the War World Scenics Premier Fast tack Glue, both of which gave patchy and thin coverage. Perhaps the smoothest finish suitable for a lawn came from the Grass Masters Flock Cement, available from Green Scene. I am still not sure what colour flock to use for the lawn. I want to try reducing the size of particles in Woodland Scenics Light Green Coarse Turf using a kitchen grinder/mill, as this colour is near what I am after and is not available in their fine turf. The other bit of faffing about comes from getting the curve of the rear of the landscape at the right-and end behind the hotel and outbuildings. This curve will form the line of the backscene. I think a larger radius curve would be better than what I have at the moment, so I will need to recut the edges, made more difficult by the different levels in this section where the land drops behind the hotel. More positive results come with my efforts to produce "bottle-brush" style trees for the garden of the hotel. After searching around for a suitable wire that was not to thick, but which would not break when twisted to form the tree, I found Homebase Light Duty Garden Wire which does the trick. The picture below shows the first tree I have made with the first layer of Gaugemaster Dark Green foliage added with PVA. Once this is dry I will add a second layer of foliage. The trunk is from plastic tube.

Thanks Ben, I have already got one of the VEA kits from Parkwood Models days, and they are only just in my model's time period, being built in 1962. But it would be good if they were to be released in the Society's range. I was thinking more of Cav's consideration of doing his own three-D printed version and his asking whether it was worthwhile given the cost. The problem as was said earlier is the brake gear, as these wagons used BR clasp brakes. I live in hope that having produced wagons with LNER clasp brakes, Bachmann will at some stage produce wagons with LMS style clasp brakes, as there were a lot of them. I think they would pass for the BR style used in the Vanwides, perhaps with a bit of modification. Cheers, Douglas

There used to be a Parkwood kit for a Vanwide/VEA. The Parkwood kits were taken up by the N Gauge Society an many have been released, but I can't see any mention of this particular kit in the Society kit list. I wonder if it is still to come or if there is an issue with the moulds. http://www.ngaugesociety.com/index.php?page=ngs-wagons Douglas

Well, the trial and tribulations continue with the landscaping. Having taken off all the grass flock from the lawn, I redid it using Woodland Scenics Scenic Glue. The Woodland Scenics Green Grass Fine Turf I used the first time (as in the pics above) was too dark for lawn grass IMO. Strangely in their Fine Turf Woodland Scenics don't do a lighter green except for the Burnt Green, which turns out to be too brown for my purposes. Yet they do have lighter greens that would be suitable in their coarse turf. Having looked at different fine flock products, I decided to use Gaugemaster GM 150 Foliage Light Green, as it was the closet I could find to the colour of the real lawn in early summer. This product is actually in clumps, so I sieved it through a tea strainer to get the smallest particles possible. This time the grass flock stuck on well. I then gave it a spray with Deluxe Materials Scenic Spray to seal it. However, at certain angles there was a noticeable sheen to the glue on the base, despite the adhesives supposedly being matt. It didn't look right to me. There was also a variation in the colour of the flock particles - those that had absorbed more glue were darker - actually a better colour. I thought a solution would be to brush it all over with Matt Medium, which I have read can be used to seal flock. However, this lifted the flock up into clumps and it came away in patches in places. Another disaster! I think part of the reason the finish was looking shiny at the base is that the lawn is made from plasticard painted with enamel paint, which is smooth and non-porous, unlike with plaster or wooden surfaces. So back to square one. I have used water and kitchen towel to loosen the glue and scrape the lawn take it back to the paint once again, ready to give it a third go. However, before going any further and risking problems on the actual model, tonight I have tested Woodlands Scenics Fine Turf flock using six different adhesives on small squares of plywood first sprayed Humbrol olive green acrylic paint. Then over the weekend I am going to split each into three sections, and try sealing with sprays of Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement, Deluxe Materials Scenic Spray and Windsor and Newton Artists Matt Varnish. I want to see what gives the best adhesion, most smooth surface and least shiny effect. The adhesives I have used are: Evostick Evo-Bond PVA Woodlands Scenic Scenic Glue Grass Masters Flock Cement Finescale Model World Fast Grab White Glue War World Scenics Premier Fast tack Glue Deluxe Materials Scenic Spray It is becoming clear to me that scenery adhesives are not all the same and can give very different results. Also it is clear to me that different people have different opinions on what works. For example, some say that hair spray can be used as a fixative and light glue for tree foliage, but others say that it is too brittle, and that matt medium or repositionable spray adhesive should be used. I think the only thing is to experiment and find out what works for me...

Great stuff! This thread is just so creative and evocative of times past.

This sounds interesting - I do like 2mm/N models based on a real location. I look forward to seeing further report of your progress. Are you planning to use commercial N gauge stock rewheeled to run on 2mm FS Track? While it is quite easy to convert diesels by drop in replacement wheels or machining the existing wheels, there can be issues with converting steam locos. You will need a lot of locos, I think. Douglas

I have just removed all the flock - it was a bit worrying that almost all came off with the hoover and only a small amount needed to be loosened with a fibreglass pencil.

Hi John and Ben, Thank you so much for your kind comments - I do appreciate it and I find it very encouraging to get feedback. I now have a plan B. I will scrape all the scatter off and start again. This time I will spray the lawn area with Humbrol matt grass green acrylic spray, but leave the soil area under the trees as brown. Then I will stick the scatter down with Woodland Scenics Scenic Glue this time - hope it sticks!. I will also change the colours of scatter I use. I will swap the WS Fine Turf "Soil" for Fine Turf "Earth", as this is a lighter, more reddish colour more like the soil under the trees in the photo of the real thing above. And for the lawn I will swap the Fine Turf "Green Grass" for "Burnt grass" (odd name that) as it is a more yellowy, less bright green. This is more like the real photos and it should also help to give an impression of distance for this area, which will be at the back of the layout. I have also used false perspective in the path that runs down the lawn - I have made it narrow towards the back so it looks further away, or at least that is the idea...Then at the back I will probably put a small sized hedge to again give the impression of distance and hide the join with the backscene. The real boundary was much further back. It is interesting what you can see in a photo of the model compared to a photo of the real thing. Even though I have used the Fine Turf for the grass and have sieved it through a fine sieve, the particles of scatter don't half look enormous compared to the scale of the grass blades in the equivalent view of the real thing. The last two pics above show the base on top a piece of dyed Boots Lint I have been experimenting with. The lint fibres are much more to scale. I don't think the lint is suitable for a lawn, but I am hoping it will work for a grazed field. Onwards and upwards...

Here are a couple of pics of the results with the Woodland Scenics scenic cement: You can see where I rubbed the scatter away with my finger - it was very easy to do.