katwigan

Hi, I have used a product here in Oz called "Distress Ink", massive range of colours in the form of ink pads, applied by sponge pad for larger areas.

I stole the first one to try from my wife's collection, normally available from papercraft shops, I am sure they would be available in the UK (It is probably where they come from)

Not near my layout at the moment so can't show you where I have used it, but certainly worth checking out.

Regards

Kevan

Hey all thanks for the compliments, comments and support,

Hopefully I will get to progress things still although having just started another round of Chemo not much has happened in the last few days.

They ( the doc's ) said about day three you WILL feel like you have just been hit by a Mack Truck, They didn't say it was such a big one nor that it would keep coming back round the corner.

Anyway, Day 5 after first dose today don't feel quite so flat, hopefully I will get some more cobble cast this arvo.

WIll see how we go next week when they hit me again.

In the meantime I  will try to keep up the work in progress.

Latic hopefully your plans can come to fruition, if I can help out in any way, give us a shout. My Great  Granpa Taylor had a bungalow somewhere in Parbold (Many years ago) don't know where, but it was always known as Grandpa's Bungalow by my dad and aunts.

Cheers for now

Kev

Hi all,  it's 2:00 am, can't sleep, news on the C treatment hasn't been good of late so I here I am !

Never mind what some people say " Railway Modelling Preserves Sanity "

 ( Hmmmm, think I'll have that printed on a tee shirt!)

Anyway, other than some weeds and a bit of rubbish ( Chip papers etc ) this small part is ready to be located and secured in the Goods Yard area adjacent to Fyffes warehouse.

Fyffes will be at the top end of the photo with the l/h line entering and the r/h passing on into further areas.

Coping stones in place on both sides , the l/h side butts up against a 'platform' face allowing access to the cattle vans.

The other old T/T well has different treatment in the centre fill to allow lorries to turn and reverse into Fyffes without churning up too much of the gravely coal dust area.

The crew seems to have buggered off for a cuppa or some chips. ( badly needs a layer of dirt and grime on the 1F )

Some lazy sod left a pile of the T/T Well edging behind after the job was done, surprised there isn't a greater load of weeds on there by now!

Just thought, I had better add a couple of old rusty capstans and probably a cable or two.

Anyway, going to have another crack at sleeping.

Goodnight

Kevan

Hi, danstercivicman, I haven't figured out how to link to another thread,but if you go to "Scenery,Structures and Transport" on I did a thread on there titled "Rough Ground Area" when I was experimenting with the 'gravely substance' (which is in fact a flexible,premixed tile adhesive, it contains shredded rubber granules which give it the rough finish look. The colour in the above photos hasn't been painted that is it's natural 'set' colour.

Manna, the pointwork was a preferable option, operational wise and like I said somewhere earlier they seemed to have spent more time altering all of the surrounding area and facilities that I defy anyone to achieve the correct combination. Hence I tried for something a little different than just pointwork or just wagon T/T's, glad you like it.

Cheers 

Kev

Hi all, 

In order that I can position the Fyffes building I first needed to get the tracks positioned on the approach to it. This also meant that I would be having to step up and lean over the top yard in order to to do a lot of the other associated work eg, the setts and the road access ramp etc.

So I decided to cut a piece of 3mm mdf to use as a seperate base and fasten that down afterwards, this enabled me to work sitting at the workbench and minimize the strenuous excercise of stepping up one step repeatedly.

The surface was to be a mix of plaster molded Setts and some compacted gravely substance so applying it while being at the workbench allowed me to take more time over the application etc.

 Anyway the pics probably show better what I have been up to,

First up a bit of a long shot showing the area I am working in,

The higher end of the access ramp complete with setts but without the edging finished off, the surface was given a wash of a darkened Burnt Umber and then a light rub with fine emery paper when dry. Some of the black spots are blowholes in the molding, I thought I may fill them with 'muddy water'.

The broken sleeper will get covered over eventually.

A view looking back up the ramp with a painted but unsanded area of setts in the foreground. Also in the foreground is my  ( as yet unfinished) portrayal of one of the wagon turntables that had at some undetermined stage been removed. Looking now there should obviously be the two rails still embedded  in the setts to the left of the TT. Also need to slowly fill in the gaps without gluing the point , fortunately the  fill material doesn't leave joint lines and remains workable for several hours after applying.

Back to the ramp area again the Coping Stones have been fitted to tidy up the edge.

Mr Jones has arrived in his apparently brand new lorry. More setts req'd to fill in those gaps @ the rails.

Same shot but after giving the setts more of a rub

Must find the cable and go back to using my camera instead of the phone which has no depth of field judging by these shots, sorry 'bout that.

I can only count 9 Stubby, well 10 if you include the painted concrete inside the building, I will have a look amongst my collection to see if I can contribute similar.

Cheers 

Kevan

Wow mate, haven't seen any of those before.

If you take the two passengers heads out of the scene that last shot could be a very good model.

All the shots are great and they are all showing the yard entrance area I was on about above. Do you know I even have a folder on the PC labelled 

" That B....y Crossover" containing the various photos maps etc of the various configurations.

Cheers for them, 

Kev

Funnily enough, I have just been struggling with exactly the same problem ending up with two cuts around any of the traced lines with a narrow ragged piece being cut out of every line. When I zoomed in far enough there were definately what appeared to be two lines.

In actual fact each section comprised of only one line that was basically joined at each end of the section. Trying to delete any of it just got rid of the whole section of line.

Eventually I gave up and drew the template my wife req'd  in a CAD program,( reaching a pro rata agreement on the number of modelling hours wasted in the process) ( Not really, she is a great source of  encouragement )

Problem overcome, Normal Modelling has resumed.

Kevan

When you think about it, the pointing on brickwork probably averages around 1/2" deep, in scale terms around  0.15 ~ 0.2 mm or 0.007 ~ 0.008",( a human hair is about half that ) it 's no wonder that some molded brickwork looks overly deep.

I tend to model exclusively in card, using as much as I can photos of the buildings I am doing as the finished 'face'. This is  largely due to my ability to paint anything in a decent manner is about the same as a rodents. ( Often it probably looks like I have used said rodent as the applicator )

Buildings in the real world may be made of different materials but predominately they end up looking in the same state relative to their age, so in my case anything I would try to paint would stand out like the proverbial dog's watsits. 

So I stick with what works for me.

Kevan 

I think that is as Downesesque (?) as I have ever seen! I am sure he would more than 'enjoy' your effort, I would think probably 'Doff his hat" if He had one!

Kevan

Definitely Ian, the intent of this test was to see what what the dried surface finish looked like and it will certainly need 'dressing up' to various degrees for the various areas proposed. certainly tufts of grass, weeds, bushes etc etc along with the obligatory muddy puddles in the goods yard area. 

The surface tension of the product is such that it could probably be smoothed considerably more than I did if required but also it would hang onto embankments and slopes without subsiding.

I am quite happy with the crude test piece and hope to give one of the smaller areas on the layout a go soon once I have some weeds etc available. I will post an update then

Hi,

I have been looking for a suitable material / method of covering some Bare Earth areas on my layout Wigan Wallgate recently. The type of area that is not covered in grass or weeds  on an embankment or a rough area towards the back of a goods yard area  typically. 

Anyway the mind also strayed to some unfinished household jobs that have been on the backburner while I do battle with  that C word. One job sent me scurrying out to the shed to locate some stored material.

Some of which was soon daubed onto this test piece below ( ignore the granite setts that's not it )

This is as applied with a small spatula, the grey,mottled material in the bottom R/H area

Several hours later as it is starting to dry

Still not fully dry yet, takes about 24 hrs, but dry enough to give it a rudimentary spray of  brownish colouring

The next step I guess is to try it on a bigger area or embankment.

I think it looks very promising, certainly from a surface finish PoV. It comes premixed in a 1Kg container for around A$17 , it dries slighly flexible due to the recycled rubber content and it is self adhesive. A rough calc shows that 1Kg would probably cover a couple of sq metres at about 3mm thick, however a small area on my test piece is only 1.5 - 2mm thick and has bonded really well. 

I suppose I will have to tell you what it is now.

Not sure if it is available in UK but I am sure there would be something equivalent.

OR does it look B awful?

Kevan

I was going to ask what the forecast was for up there Manna,

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside! 

Probably a few degrees cooler than you guys up north (ish) here at Christies Beach.

Merry Christmas

Kev.

Hi all, Rab I am now 6 months post chemo and still fuzzy in the head, more so if tired. Had 3 months worth of Cetuximab as a 'maintenance program' that more or less held the status quo with the splattering of secondary tumours in my lungs. The treatment in that case had 2 or 3 significantly different side effects ;

Very dry, itchy skin usually resulting in a cloud of dust when I took my singlet off. 

Lots of paper cut type splits particularly alongside fingernails, making ordinary things damn near impossible, try doing your fly up without the involvement of your thumb!

The third and most interesting to the nurses was my eye lashes grew like weeds and had to be trimmed every few weeks!

Research is now going on to identify the part of Cetuximab isolating it and marketing it to half the world's population   

Recently the oncologist has put me on Nivolumab one of the Immunotherapy treatment regimes, so far after 4 doses no significant side effects and the last lot of side effects appears to be abating / healing / stopped growing.

Interestingly I have heard of people losing their hair during chemo and it growing back curly, I never lost any but after a recent hair cut all the back of my head is now covered in tight curly hair, much to several relatives amusement, !

Feeling much better in myself and getting back into more serious modelling without running out of steam (sorry) or forgetting what I was doing etc.

Will update after next scan in early Jan, in the meantime I wish you all 

a Safe and Merry Christmas and hopefully a Happy and certainly Healthier New Year .

Keep kicking the doors down 

All the best 

Kevan

I agree with HD on the interesting variety of the rear views of commercial premises, no matter what the era.

I have been fortunate enough to find some decent photos of these shown below from back in the 30's and 40's, many of them are still in existence, some the same , some updated.

As can be seen there is a lot of work in progress but it is slowly coming together

However, as always, Rule 1 applies !

Cheers 

Kevan

In the full size world of spray painting ( Wagner, Graco etc ) we always left a film of Diesel fuel on needles, seats and ball valve assemblies to prevent corrosion.It flushes out or  wipes off easily and doesn't evaporate like the pump storage fluids that the aforementioned companies sell.

Perhaps worth considering for long term storage particularly in cold ,damp environments.

Just a thought.

Kevan

Cheers Ouroborus, unfortunately I haven't been achieving much of late, however I have managed a bit in the last day or two. Hopefully will have something to post shortly.

Kevan

Britt,

According to the historians on WiganWorld,No, the Conservative Club wasn't where Pemps nightclub was. Pemps was around the corner opposite the bottom corner of Coops factory and next door to Gees School of Dance.

Originally the Station Hotel ( I presume dating back to when the 'original' L&Y station platform and building was in this area) it became the Labour Club ( known locally as the 'Bolshie', of which my maternal grandad was a member!) with 'Pemps' seemingly occupying the first floor at some point ( I think until a fire took off the top two floors )

It was run by the Ironhand of one Barbara Calderbank who from what I have read, collected the door money whilst sitting in her car outside, there was no doorman or bouncers and Barbara was reputedly know to have tossed out several Wigan Rugby League players at various times. A lady not to be messed with!

This aerial photo taken in the 30's I believe is the only thing I have that I can base the Station Hotel on, there are several about that show only the ground floor in existence. The model however will have to be thinned down a bit to fit into the available space. Hopefully will get around to that shortly.

Cheers

Kev

PS - Donations of Uncle Joes for adding the aroma to the model always welcome 

Hi all, thought I was getting back into 'normal' mode but that has proved to be a bit overzealous on my part, managing to get a bit done here and there but certainly not what I would like. However, I have been working in King St West of late so i will see if I can remember how to post some pics.

My walls are a lightish grey  with a darker 'cloud ' band , with lighter highlights painted straight on at backscene level. 

That fits nicely into the area, don't forget the obligatory lumps of timber left lying around to enable odd loads to be handled.

Kev

There you go, fits in nicely.

Kev

Well to be perfectly honest, in my humble opinion, of course without offending anyone who thinks differently from my point of view, but also by looking into this matter in a different perspective and without being condemning of one's view's and by trying to make it objectified, and by considering each and every one's valid opinion, I honestly believe that I honestly completely forgot what I was going to say.

Ah, Good morning Sir Humphrey

You are certainly right about the discrepancy between the vertical and horizontal beams, however with it stood at the rear on the four concrete pads with a layer of grime (dating the original installation back before the siding was foreshortened and therefore shrouding it's design in mystery) I think a nice little cameo is in the offing.

Regards

Kev