ianLMS

Thanks Mike - your comment is very much appreciated. More detailing to come in the future, but I need to get back to playing trains for a while first!! Ian

Cleaned the garage up a little and added an old tractor in need of TLC plus a few more little details. Tractor came out of the Airfix RAF Bomber Re-Supply kit.

Here are a few more pics after cleaning up a little and adding a bit more detail. Its been several months since I ran a loco so my next job is to clean the room up, clean the rest of the layout and track and dust off the Roco z21 for a serious running session!

Thanks Keith, I will be ordering one of those very shortly!! EDIT: 12.23 - Just ordered one!!! Ian

I agree - they are great model kits to begin with and easy to put together.

My thoughts exactly, the bridges frame it perfectly and the unusual diagonal sidings configuration look very interesting.

Cheers Andrew - I need to clean it up a little and I have a few more exterior details to add but its mostly there.

Here are a couple of more shots. Camera highlights stray static grass, dust and debris I need to clean up though!!!

I took a few better pictures last night. Camera really shows up areas I need to clean up, vacuum, dust (roads, inside the garage etc) repair and improve so will work on them over the next few weeks.

Very much looking forward to seeing this develop. I was born close to Bury St Edmunds and enjoy seeing layouts I can relate to. Often looked at modelling something like Clare, Lavenham etc (overhead pic attached). Maybe one day I will get around to it.

I haven't seen a post of one of these on the forum yet, so thought I would share my attempt at building one and setting it into the layout. Just a very basic pic at the moment, but will add more later. Its the OO gauge variety, printed at 90% to help a little with forced perspective. However, this did make the pumps and accessories a little large, but not too bad. Its a nice, easy kit to put together and comes with plenty of detail. I added plastruct gutters/downpipes and interior LED lighting. For more detail, I used a Scalelink Garage Workshop kit (pumps, oil dispenser, car jack, vice etc), Scalelink 1930's petrol pumps, along with a Wills Workshop kit (lathe, pillar drill, bench), some Model Railway Scenery laser cut shelving plus brass etch tools from Severn Models. Also inside I cut an inspection pit and fitted an Oxford car (Austin 7 I believe). Outside is a motorcycle from the Airfix RAF Bomber Command Re-Supply kit, another Oxford Car and a scratchbuilt shed with an Oxford motorcycle and sidecar outfit. Let me know what you think! Ian

I quickly took a few pics this morning before heading out to work - quality of the pics aren't very good at all, so will get better ones in the New Year when I have added the detail and cleaned up a little! Motor Vehicle workshop/garage is a Scalescenes download and I have added detail such as benches, lathe & drill (Wills workshop kit), lifting jack, oil dispenser, pumps etc (Garage workshop kit from Scalelink), shelving, posters and various tools (etched kit from Severn Models). I have fitted interior lighting so when its wired up I will take a shot of the inside. Motorcycle is from the Airfix RAF Bomber Group Resupply kit, pumps are Scale-link. Little side shed was scratchbuilt and holds an Oxford M/C with sidecar. Stone walls are from Ebay. Bridge was scratchbuilt using foamboard with Slaters Plasticard overlay. Static grass was applied with my homemade grass applicator topped of with various flocks/scatters. More detail to add to all areas..... I have a plan to hide the joins in the roads as the garage scene, row of cottages and 90 degree left hand bend sections are individually removable sections so I can gain access to the track under the hillside and reach into far corner.

I use scatter as the main medium at the back of the layout, and scatter topped with static grass at the front of the layout. Helps to give a bit of perspective i think.

As you can guess, I am not a prolific poster, however, i have been hard at work on the layout and have almost completed the remodelling of the back left corner with new track layout, new hillside/tunnel, road bridge, motorcar workshop/garage, and completion of Church Lane. Static grass and foilage added, although a bit more to do before its complete. Now adding some detail to the area, plus a cameo scene or two and it will be ready for me to take a few pics. Hopefully after Xmas. Have a Merry Christmas everybody. Ian

I use Green Scenes scale 4mm ballast and it seems to look just fine. Apparently, they measured real ballast and scale down the chippings to create theirs. Weathering would definitely help with the appearance. A quick look on Google images of real railway tracks would give a good idea of colours, but I would suggest thinned brown shades for the outer ballast, dark grey for the ballast inside the rails and rust on the rail sides and chairs etc. Weathered wood or similar brown/grey on the sleepers would help as well.

Looking good there Paul. Excellent scratchbuilding/architectural modelling going on. SWMBO will no doubt give great advice on the types of shops that might adorn such a street, however, be prepared for jewelers, hairdressers, coffee shops, boutique's, ladies fashions and a handbag/hat emporium!!!! You could sneak in a gentleman's hunting/ outdoor pursuits shop/model shop/bookies/barbers etc to even it up! oh and of course a greasy spoon or chippy!!

http://www.scalelink.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000002.pl?WD=check%20plate&PN=Anti_Skid_Plates___Anti_derapante%2ehtml#aSLF058 Scalelink has several different patterns of checkplate which might work for your purposes. Ian

Brilliant stuff - really coming along nicely and at a decent rate as well. Scalescenes have some good shop interiors/names/ideas which are downloadable and may help with the detailing.

Excellent progress - looking forward to watching it unfold!!!

I have a cheaper version, Irodo Solder-Pro 70 ( http://www.pro-iroda.com/pro70k.htm)and is very useful for heat shrink, heating styrene rod to shape it etc. I dont use it for soldering as the heat from the side tends to damage everything within an inch, so use a regular iron. Mine coughs and spits a little to begin with but settles down after a while p probably due to cheap lighter gas. I can still get spare tips, but the fitting with the gauze probably not. However, at only £30+ for the kit, if it played up a lot, i could easily replace it.

Sorry to jump on the thread but i have a similar question. For cleaning brass before painting and/or cleaning track should i be going for the 70% or 99.9% IPA? thanks. Ian

Height of the layout could be a contencious issue - depends if you want children/folks in wheelchairs or the vertically challenged to be able to enjoy the layout or not. I like layouts that are eye level so you can view it as if you are on the platform, however, it also means you miss a lot of detail further into the layout. I have no issue with layouts being lower to the ground. I can still bend down to get an eye level view, although too low would put me off completely. My layout is set at 40" high, which as I'm 6'2 still allows me to stretch over to fix things, crawl underneath to the middle and enjoy eye level when i'm sat in the control seat. Lighting interior of buildings just means you will need to model the interior with some detail, but again, I do like layouts with lighting, especially if the exhibition lighting or layout lighting isnt great.

Very impressive carpentry skills there! Wish I could say the same about my bodge ups! Looking forward to tracking your progress especially the scratchbuilding and LMS stable! Good luck Ian

Here is the link to the local brewery in Suffolk which may have additional information to help. I can definately recommend the brewery tour and beer cafe! https://www.greeneking.co.uk/our-beers/greene-king-brewery/ Ian

I used superglue to fix my fencing down, however, the stronger the glue, the more likely the item will break when you do catch it with a sleeve etc. I have lost count how many time I have had to re-glue and repair fencing, people, lamp posts, water cranes etc I break everytime i try to do something like clean the track, retreive a derailed loco, or re-designing an area of the layout. I guess I just need to be more careful! Ian