richard w

Got rather sucked into another project this month. Have been thinking about getting a thumper and using my 2epb (bought very cheaply) to bash into a third coach for the thumper. The thumpers usually ran as 3 car sets. Shame the model is only two cars. Seen a few that have been converted on here over the years. After some research and a think I decided to have a go at it. Took the bodyshells for the 2epb apart and cut the cab off the trailer car. Modified the trailer chassis to take the conductive coupler at both ends and swapped out the pickup shoe bogie for one without the shoe detail. Sanded the various bits of body until they fitted properly and glued them together. Filled, sanded and primed until I got a smooth finish. Primed the whole thing with expo grey primer from a rattle can. Airbrushed the NSE livery. I ended up mixing my own version of NSE blue to try and match what Bachmann had done as closely as possible. Phoenix precision NSE dark blue is very very different to the Bachmann shade. Didn't really fancy repainting the whole set so had a go at matching. Cut and shut various bits of interior from the 2 epb model until I had something close to what you'd find in a 205 centre car. I've also cut the end of the circuit board off (so it fits back in the modified chassis) and soldered two wires onto the tracks for the interior light feed. This will allow the lights to be switched via the decoder with the rest of the train. Modified the 205 model itself by renumbering to 205009, extending first class, adding NSE branding and deleting the high intensity lights. I also removed the factory weathering and applied coats of tinted satin varnish to bring the colours closer together. The white was very hard to get right but after various passes with tinted varnish (added a blob of grey) I managed to get close to the phoenix precision shade on the centre car. Put everything back together and tested the directional lights and interior lighting. The blue on the centre car is still a touch too blue so I'll be doing another pass on that with the tinted varnish in future. For the most part I'm pleased with the colour match, wasn't easy. I've fitted a pair of class 101 drawbars as they bring the model a bit closer together while still working on tight curves. The lighting all works with the centre car being dimmer than the outer cars for some reason. I'll take a look at that in future but for now I'm going to enjoy running it for a bit. Cheers

I used the airbrush to apply a heavily thinned white wash. Kept building up coats of paint until I reached the desired level of faded red. Go careful, easy to overdo it.

Lovely job lads, very impressive.

Taken a break from the scenery over the past month as I often do to avoid getting burnt out. Instead I've been getting on with some weathering. Weathering and repainting is perhaps one of my favourite tasks. Every few months I group together a batch of models that need work and then go through them over the course of a month or two. First up was to finish a small job I started ages ago. I've experimented with fading the paint on this Bachmann OCA and added various patches, washes and rust to the wagon. I've also added some brake disks. A job that's been in progress for several months is these Accurascale PTAs. Taken a long time to finish each one but I've finally got to the end of the rake. I've also added some extra ballast to the Accurascale loads to make them look a bit more real. These have been weathered with a mix of oil paints, airbrushing and weathering powders before being sealed with a heavy coat of matt varnish. Another job is a rake of Mk1 Pullmans I've been slowly building up over the past few years. I ended up with a mix of different roof colours and didn't like the appearance of the complete train. Photos I've found of the Pullman Rail set used in the 80s shows a light grey or perhaps weathered white roof. I've primed then painted the roof of each coach with Railmatch Flint Grey and then applied a slight weathering treatment using Railmatch Roof Dirt. This has done a nice job of tying the train together and I'm now much happier with them. Also fitted some Hunt buckeye couplers and weathered those too. Enjoyed the new IZAs vans from Revolution Trains and have now started weathering them. These vans were often very dirty so I'm weathering each pair slightly differently to create a varied mix. The various ferry vans that carried the cargowaggon branding certainly look quite odd in pristine condition. I've applied a black wash for all the details and then used Railmatch frame dirt for the underframe and sides using the airbrush. I darkened the shade slightly for the roof and sealed the job with matt varnish. In addition to those I've received a Heljan example as a Christmas present in the form of this IWB van. I've always fancied some of these over the years and have weathered this one in a similar style to the IZA. I'll be looking to add more to the collection in future. This particular example featured a blue roof. Most of them appeared to have a grey or dirt roof so before weathering I painted this one gunmetal. Finally a nasty job that I've been avoiding for years. I was fortunate to purchase a number of Bachmann Polybulks when they first released several years ago. I was never very satisfied with the factory weathering job on the later livery but purchased a rake of 5 at the time. This particular livery was only available as a weathered option. Since then the wagons have not seen any further production runs and the values of these are now quite silly. I held off doing anything to them considering the value and rarity of these but as part of this round of weathering decided to try improving them. I've removed 90% of the weathering using a bath of LAs Totally Awesome and gentle rubbing with a cocktail stick. The result is a cleaner "rain washed" wagon that so far I'm happy with. These are still very much a work in progress at the moment but I'm pleased I was able to avoid damaging the livery.

Took a long time to progress far enough with all the details in this little spot. Most of the time was spent waiting for stuff to dry but I got there eventually. Started off with some track detail. Cable trough, wires and relay boxes etc. I've used the Peco dummy point motors for the time being. I was aware that these are rather generic and over scale so will swap those out for something better in future. Didn't realise I'd installed them backwards so will correct that when I'm next back up there. Installed fences, trees and bushes around the rest of the scene. Focused on the bushes especially making sure I got that dense embankment appearance. Adding the wire to the fences was a bit tricky but well worth a few hours of time. I've used grey cotton rather than the supplied wire as its looks a bit more toned down rather than bright shiny metal. Plenty of growth on the far side for added depth. Also to hide the point where the farm track meets the backscene. Finally various grasses were added to the field in the foreground. I've kept this simple and avoided the cliché sheep and cows. Just a simple overgrown plot of land with a path running around the edge. I also didn't want to distract too much from the trains as this is a good spot to watch them run past. I've also extended the embankment beyond the backboard as this helps hide the fiddle yard and anything that might be seen looking through the bridge. I've still a number of details to work on for this spot. A few plants with some colour like cow parsley and buddleia would go a long way. Some dogs to go with one or two walkers along with a small amount of litter caught in the fence. Some extra painting and age to the fence posts as well as additional weathering and detail to the road itself. For the time being at least I'm quite happy to move onto the next bit of bare plywood.

I've designed those houses to take garages in between to help hide the backscene. I'm basing them loosely off these houses in Reading. Wil be working more on that area in the coming months.

I have some of those in the yard. Very effective, just hard to see with all the other bits going on.

Quite right, thanks for pointing that out. I always use the spray booth in my videos unless it's something on the layout like track weathering where use of extraction is not possible or practical. The filming they did with me was shot in a single day. It was very much unplanned with the majority taking place in the loft. The cameraman had a rough idea of the format he needed to follow and we just worked off the top of our heads from that. I do most of the modelling work and airbrushing elsewhere in the house but there is limited space. With the cameraman and all his gear setup in the loft we just tried to get it all done from there. As Andy and Phil have said previously much of what you see is for the sake of TV. I'm sure Hornby and many of the individuals who have taken part work completely differently when not on camera and working to a timescale.

Busy as usual. I've been working on building a farm bridge at the far end of the layout to form a scenic break and better hide the fiddle yard. It's made from Wills girders and Wills brick plasticard. All painted with various Humbrol and Vallejo colours. Built up the scenery around the bridge a little bit and while it's far from finished I'm quite happy with the effect so far. The muddy road was achieved using sculptamold and running a vehicle through it while it was still wet. Further up the line I've started another scratch build which will form a back row of semi detached houses. I'm using the same design for each house and will add some individual details to each one after the main build is complete. I'll be adding gardens eventually to better tie the scene into the railway. Going to take a while before I get that far but I'm pleased with the scenes so far. This area was crying out for some buildings.

Been fitting some EOT Lamps over the past few weeks. I'm using the DCC Concepts ones and have fitted about 6 so far. Quite a fiddle to do but I'm pleased with the results. Managed to hide the circuit in the toilet of the coaches. Some of the wagons proved a little more challenging.

I suspect one of those two people was me as to my knowledge the most recent statement was this. https://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/pg/201/KMRC-Skrifra---PECO-News-Update---Summer-2021 I had clearly missed the latest update. I'll hold off ballasting my temporary slip and look forward to any future news.

I've not cut very many circles but the machine should be able to do small ones no problem. Cricut design space is free and I've not encountered any financial restrictions with it. Its web based but there is a desktop application for it. Your designs are saved in the cloud. Its uses its own file format. I'm not aware of being able to import or export drawings from it. It requires a user account of course but your machine is not tied to said account. It simply looks for the type of circut machine you've selected when you tell it to cut a job. Hope that helps, cheers

Been a while since the last update. I've been busy making some changes to the branch line. Previously I did some scenery to this area and ran the track round the back of the layout out of sight. I was never completely happy with it but it served as a good start and allowed me to come up with some better ideas. So with those ideas in mind I removed the terrain, branch line curve and started again. This time I was able to create a much smoother curve for the line. I also ballasted and weathered it before fixing the section to the layout. Now when you look under the bridge the ballast and detail continues right through. The same applied for the bridge which I rebuilt taking lessons and ideas from the original attempt. After quite a bit of testing I started the scenery. Much happier with this now, the trains run much better than before and the bridge is a vast improvement over the old one. The line runs off scene into a reverse loop. A lenz BM1 fitted back at the station allows for automatic running of the branch with realistic braking, acceleration and stopping time in the station platform. Another project off the bench was this Bachmann 101. I've painted into NSE and added weathering and passenger figures. A new arrival in the form of this sector 47. I've weathered it and repainted the driver as I do with most of my 47s. The train its pulling has also received similar treatment making sure to rub off the weathering around the handbrake wheels and data panels. Another job was to tone down the weathering on my class 60 to better reflect the condition they were in in 1990/91. I've also fitted a driver. A much bigger job concerned the TEAs behind it. These have been stripped back to fresh models and re-weathered. First time using oil paints and it was quite good fun getting the effects right. I've also added the weld lines with a pencil. I've also been cleaning up weathering on various items of stock to better reflect the era. Also added many passenger figures and drivers along the way. Now I have a functional branch line many of the DMUs on the layout are finally getting the attention and use they deserve. Lots and lots left to do but I'm having great fun. Particularly enjoy revisiting stuff and improving it. Cheers

I've done quite a bit or trial and error with the cutter over the past 18 months. Generally speaking it is surprisingly accurate for what is it. The card I use is 2mm thick. The addition of location tabs during the cad can make for some very precise and strong building shells. I use the knife blade for most tasks with the fine point blade being useful for cutting complex items from plasticard such as windows. The width of the cuts appears to be about the same as what you'd achieve with a traditional modelling knife and straight edge. Lowest spacing I've done is 0.25mm for some window frames which seems to be the limit. Some of the window frames will fail during the cutting process as the material can loose its grip on the cutting mat. Thicker materials like card require 4mm or greater between cuts as such thin strips can cause the material to delaminate in the machine. Some tasks still require traditional tools and methods. I use the machine mostly for repeatability of boring tasks such as windows and pasticard sections in plain or brick. It can be a very helpful bit of kit and save considerable time on a project. However like everything it can take a few months to figure out what it can and can't do. For N gauge that will be more of a challenge. Good luck!

So far I've not had any issues with the point. Once a train passes over it remains switched in that direction. As such trains will switch direction on the loop with each 'lap' of the branch line. Polarity is handled by a Lenz reverse loop module which is solid state. The points requires no switch or motor as a result so are free to swing in whatever direction the train is approaching from.

I used some of that LED tape/strip and stuck it to some plasticard. Glued some sides onto that and finished up with some clear plastic over the top. Masked up the LEDs and painted the whole thing white. Sort of looks like a light fixture rather than LED tape. I put some glue in both ends to seal from light blead and also give the very thin wires some extra support.

Managed a fair bit of progress over by the canal scene this month. I've added loads of junk and rubbish to it for that authentic British feel. Poured in a load of realistic water on top of that and finished up with some mod podge water ripples. The canal boat is a 3D print. Found a suitable file for one online and printed it out. I then spent ages painting it and added some accessories. Very fiddly little thing to do but I'm reasonably happy with the results. Next up was the office building that goes next to the canal. This took far longer than I expected but I'm very pleased with it so far. First I built the outside shell of the building and painted/ weathered etc. Then focused on interiors for each floor making sure they can be removed easily for future detailing or repair. Added some all important lighting using LED strip and some plastic to box it all in. Long way to go yet but things are starting to look more like a town now. Several more buildings left to do for this area plus street lights and endless other details.

Seems to be a lot of variation with the road markings. I've looked in various places and found triangles, arrows or nothing at all. I'm not sure which is right but its handy being able to peel the markings away should I change my mind in future. Will keep looking, cheers.

Been so busy the past few months I've not had time to update this thread. Progress on the layout is going well. I've started adding retaining wall detail to the rear of the mainlines along with litter, weathering and some grass. Also been making some progress on the start of the town area. I decided to rebuild this section this year and make things a bit more gritty and urban this time. Retaining walls are from wills and certainly look quite a bit better than my previous homemade effort. Also put a bit more thought into the magnorail car system this time. Its now much more reliable than before. Tricky to get right but I ended using foam and cutting a channel for the track and chain. Then a thin sheet of plastic can be glued over the top for the cars to run. With the addition of some road and paving it's looking quite a bit better. The road surface is made from large clear plastic sheets. I painted the plastic on the underside to allow for the cars to run on the smoothest possible surface. Some light weathering on top being careful of the corners has worked well. I'm now starting to add various small details around this section using plenty of reference material to try and create an urban scene. Still a long way to go but I'm quite happy with the progress so far.

I scratch built that from some brass wire and super glued it to the girder.

I forget the name of the layout but it certainly inspired me when I saw it. Fantastic work.

More urban is the plan. While the previous effort did the job I never thought it was very interesting or detailed. Figured I'd have another go and focus more on the buildings.

I've been busy again. This time I decided to extend the scrap yard as I had quite a lot of fun building it originally. A scene like this is never really finished but its finished enough for me to move onto something else. I'm sure I'll be back adding more bits and pieces to it but I'm quite chuffed with how it came out. Also gave me an opportunity to mess about with 3D printing. I'll be adding some more in different colours. Need some fridges and microwaves too. I added some puddles this time. Used railmatch gloss varnish straight from the tin. Worked better than I expected, only needed one application. Oxford Diecast freightlifter. Repainted with railmatch equipment orange and repurposed for scrap duties. Some engines sitting on tyres ready for possible sale. Some classics hiding out of the elements. Used toilet paper saturated in thinned paint for the covers. Video in the usual place for those interested. I'm going to take a break from this bit and work on something else for a while I think. All those tiny pieces have me needing stronger glasses! Cheers

Impressive! They certainly look the part and run very smooth. I found I had to put a small blob of blu tack on the top of the battery to ensure reliable connectivity with the contacts. Apart from that I've no problems.

I noticed the raised edges were most pronounced on the flat thicker pieces. To hide them I painted the back side of those parts and glued the partially raised face to the building. On thin stuff and embossed brick the effect was only minor. For those bits a good coat of primer and paint sorted them out. Cheers