Dbr1295

Love the first photo in that last set. Cheers, Les

Ha ha, maybe.... Is it still analogue?

Thanks for the generous words Andy. Definitely will be at Morrinsville, are you exhibiting? Progress on the layout has been a little slow of late as I have digressed slightly.... Cheers, Les

Hi all, Here are some photos of the quarry train now fully weathered and all wagons with loads. Weathering was carried out using a various methods using the basic ingredients - washes, powders & chalks, artists oils, dry brushing and details picked out with enamel paints. At the moment there will just be the 5 wagons, but I may do another to add some occasional variation. Of the wagons jut above, the 16T was done by the following method; The underframe was given a wash of Humbrol sand. Rust spots are burnt sienna and burnt umber artists oils applied with a tooth pick, with the ends cut off at different points to get variation in width. The burnt sienna is applied first, then the darker burnt umber in the centre. Chains and latches were dry brushed Humbrol leather. When dry the body was given a wash of Humbrol dust and this was gently wiped off with a tissue. The under frame was dusted down with dark earth powder with touches of rust blended in. The body also was giving a dusting of the dark earth powders, starting at the top and dragging down. The axle boxes and buffer faces were touched with a mix of oil stain wash and powder to represent grease. The 7 plank wagon I first high lighted the gaps in the planking with india ink. Rivet/bolt heads and the chains were picked out with Humbrol leather. The body and underframe were then given a wash of sand. On the body this was toned down by a gentle rub with cotton buds. Then the underframe and body iron work was dusted down with the dark earth powders. Rust powders were streaked down from the metal work on the body. The whole wagon was then given a dust down with light dusty coloured chalks. Grease applied as per the 16T. The wheels are painted Humbrol chocolate brown and dusted with the dark earth powders. Once done I wafted over a coat of matt varnish to seal everything down and tone down the brighter colours a little bit. In the picture below the corrosion along the bottom of the oxide 16T was down using the artist oils dabbed on with a tooth pick The wagon loads I described before - a small block of wood with card cut to the size of the wagon interior glued to it, painted black, and "stones" from sifted sand. The stones are "poured" in to acquire the hump from loading. Cheers, Les

Hi All, I thought I would share this picture with you as it shows close to 3/4's of the layout, so it will give some idea of how it's all laid out and of the state of construction. Along the back of the layout is fairly well coming along but there's still work to be done along the front. And the signal box needs finishing. I started this ages ago, but just can't seem to get enthused into finishing it. Currently doing the interior. Also, I need to complete the platform surface. I just haven't been able to come up with a way that I'm happy with. The texture is either too smooth (and paint like) or too coarse, I just can't seem to find a happy medium. And I've yet to be able to create a colour I'm happy with. I will continue my experimenting. Finally, a picture of the same train passing the loco shed on its journey up the branch. Cheers, Les

Last weekends projects. 2 weathered Bachmann wagons. With the open, I highlighted the joins in the planking with India ink. Then the wagon was giving a wash of Humbrol Dust. After which I applied powders, predominately earth brown, as well as a little rust mixed in. The van also was giving an all over wash of dust. On the underframes I used predominantly earth brown again with a little rust. On the body & roof I use the brown again and some sooty black. Then some detail was picked out with dry brushing a little leather and gun metal in places. A dap of oil wash was put on the axle boxes to simulate grease. Wheels were dusted with the earth brown powder. Afterwards I sprayed them with a matt varnish, as well as fixing the powders I find this help tone down the colours. The open was given a load of stones. I think I've described in an earlier post how I do this. Cheers, Les

Happy new year all. Not a lot has been happening out in the west of late and here's a couple of pictures to illustrate the state of inactivity. As can be seen, the station building has finally acquired a canopy and guttering. Chimney pots and down pipes and other details still to do. The next picture shows a mock up of my thinking for the space behind the station approach. The idea is for a small rundown workshop or other form of shedding (not a "station garage"!) in amongst trees and scrub. Cheers, Les

Beautiful job Mikkel, real craftsmanship.

Hi all, Some Sunday afternoon photos. The guys unloading the coal wagon must be a bit camera shy, or disappeared for lunch. Not sure why they would be working on the Sabbath though. Pannier tank 7754 taking water and preparing for a trip up the branch. 7754 eventually departs with a very short, and not very profitable, goods train. Cheers, Les

Thanks NZflyer, but already have one and have recently replaced that with the Bachmann one. Cheers, Les

Hi All, Here's a picture of the station building showing progress to date, albeit rather slow. The roof is fully tiled now. The tiles were made from black drawing paper, 0.2mm thick. I first painted one side all over dark slate grey, once dry then added patches of various other shades of grey, feathering these out until there was practically no paint on the brush. Using a sharp blade I cut this up into 3mm wide strips. To ensure that the tiles were cut pretty much to the same length I knocked up a jig from offcuts of plastic. To cut the tiles I used a blade with a curved profile in a rolling, chopping motion. This I found gave a cleaner cut. Using black paper ensured that the edges didn't need painting. Once all cut I put them in a small jar and gave it a shake, and this made sure that I was able to achieve a fairly random effect when I attached them. The decorative ridge tiles caused me more of a problem, I did a quick search on the internet and found various etched brass options, but me being a bit tight thought I'd have a go at making my own. Didn't turn out as neat as I would have liked and certainly not as good as if I'd used an etched option. But not too bad. For my first attempt I tried thin styrene strip, drilling the holes and trying to carve the profile - this didn't work. I ended up using 0.2mm paper again, drew them up using Word on the PC, then made a mirror image along the top. Printed it off and folded it in half, then folded the tile bits out to give the desired profile. For the small holes I found a use for those broken drill bits I never throw away. What I did is hold the shank from a broken drill in a pair of small pliers, use grooved jaws as this will stop the bit from twisting, lined it up over the position of the hole and tapped it with a hammer. Make sure the end is flat with sharp edges and I had an old cutting mat underneath. It actually punched out a nice neat hole. Wear eye protection as the drill can break. I then used a sharp blade to chop rather than cut around the curved profile. Cut them to length, painted them and then attached them. Cheers, Les

Hi all, It's been a very long tome since I've posted on this thread and not a lot of modelling has been done in the time. I have recently done a little bit of work on the layout, doing the scrub and undergrowth, trees etc at the end of the back siding and a little bit more on the station building, mainly the roof. Here are a couple of photos showing my latest efforts. View down the road to the goods yard View across to the end of the siding. Compared to the view in the prior post I think this is an improvement. Finally, a picture of 7754 as she draws to a halt at the station with a passenger train. Tiles are on the roof, still to do the ridge tiles and flashing around the chimney's. I had to carve away along the top of the front wall to enable the canopy to sit flat, this will be hidden once the canopy's on. Cheers, Les

Well done on the sale Andy. I think Pencarne has been my favourite of all your projects, so far.... Cheers, Les

Hi Andy, Should make things more interesting having an extra siding. Have you thought of putting the yard crane where the truck is? I just can't quite see how much space there is there in the pictures though. Cheers, Les

Having seen this neat little layout in the flesh this weekend I can say it ran pretty well and apart from one troublesome (cattle) truck the kadee's worked good the time I was there. It certainly attracted a lot of positive attention with the auto uncoupling, something the use of isn't often seen at shows here in NZ. Well done Andy. Regarding the small radius points, they didn't cause any grief and I would say that to change them to medium radius would mean that you would lose some of the running length available as the loop would need to be lengthened. As it was, running with the small Pannier tanks, they didn't look too bad, and everything was fairly in proportion. Did you find a solution for the LED's? Good to catch up with you again and no doubt we'll see you in a couple of weeks at the Hamilton show. Cheers, Les

Hi Andy, Just caught up with Hawkinsfield. That is a really neat little layout, I like it. How big is it? Cheers, Les

Hi Guys, What been happening out west lately? Not too much actually. But some jobs have been tackled. Firstly, finally got gutters and down pipes and doors on the engine shed. Guttering was done with 1/2 round and downpipes with round Evergreen styrene. Downpipes fixed to walls with fine copper wire from electrical cable. Doors fabricated from styrene strip. The shed still has to be bedded down into the ground. Some grass added to the end of the goods shed siding, and the approach road to the yard started. Still needs some weeds etc to make it look more scrubby. The road was first painted light grey, then fine, almost dust like, sand sprinkled on. The sand was made form already sifted fine sand sifted again through material from an old shirt so it was almost talc like in consistency. Downpipes added to the warehouse building and it was weathered using powders. Lastly, a picture of the station building canopy under construction. Again this was made from styrene strip and sheet. My previous post shows how I made the parts for the valance. Cheers, Les

Today I needed to came up with a way to made the pickets(?) for the canopy valance on the station building. I decided on 0.4 x 2.0 styrene strip, but I needed to make approximately 90 pieces, all exactly the same length and with a 45° point at one end. I found that my mitre box had slots in it the same width as some single sided razor blades, so I ended up knocking up a fixture using the mitre box, metal off cuts and clamps. Pictures below will illustrate this better than I can describe. It actually worked out quite well, and I managed to produce consistent components in a reasonably short time. The fixture Cutting the 45° Finished part Hopefully someone else may find this useful. Cheers, Les

Thanks Mikkel. The work you've been doing on you Farthing layouts is very impressive. As you say there is different ground covers. The ballast is Woodland Scenics medium on the "main" lines and fine on the sidings. The cess along the track and the ground around the loco shed/water tank is ash. The road is fine sifted sand ground into wet paint with my finger. The rest of it is sifted dirt and sand, sometimes a blend of the two. The sand actually comes from a corner of our section and is a nice sort of buff colour. I sifted it into a fine, which I use for ground cover and coarse which I am using for the loads in the quarry train. What's left over are a nice representation of smaller rocks. The grass I use static grass, either Noch or Woodlands Scenics or most often a blend. Cheers, Les

Thanks Paul. I think the trick with small layouts especially, is to keep them simple and not too cluttered. I think I've mentioned before on here that I use smaller buildings to give the impression of more space. Cheers, Les

Very nice work Mikkel

Some more photos from the weekend. This time of 7754 departing Wydgate on a mixed train. Hopefully this isn't an indication of a decline in traffic on the branch. Cheers, Les

Thank you James. This little layout has sort of become my main project of late, whilst the other layout has gone on the backburner.... Photographing the layout is another part of this wide hobby I am enjoying. I think it, as well as posting on here, is also helping me to improve as a modeler. Pictures viewed on a computer monitor certainly show up any untidy or unfinished work! Cheers, Les

Nice detailing Chris. really like the mail bags on the trolley in the first pic. Cheers, Les

Hello all, 5328 brings in a goods train, leaving the wagons on the main as she runs around. These wagons are all about 20 to 25 years old, the product of Messer's Bachmann and Dapol. They look a bit chunky, especially in the undergrubbings region, compared to later models, and maybe one day I might replace them. I have considered using kits from the likes of Parkside, but there's approx. 40 to 50 NZR 3/16" kits already out in the train room that I really should get onto first. This was supposed to be just a side project, but it's started to get a bit more than that! Cheers, Les