Chris64B

Peter, what make are your parcels coaches? I'd like to make up a parcels train. Cheers, Chris

Just brilliant - I could look at your photos of Llanbourne all day! Please keep 'em coming! Chris

Looks like good progress, that bridge is lovely and beds in well with the ballast! Sounds like a good idea, and a bit less clichéd than a burnt out car perhaps? Cheers, Chris

Happy New Year! Just catching up, looks like good progress! The HST looks good with it's new lighting and detail paint, makes quite a difference. Cheers, Chris

Hi all and Happy New Year! Apologies for the lack of updates in the last month but it's a familiar story I'm sure, busy Christmas, back to work, etc etc! I have managed a bit of modelling time here and there though, and focus has turned to the yard as I'm getting fed up of looking at bare cork.... First up, I've added some ground details here and there before ballasting including drain covers and point levers (from Knightwing): I've also been cutting some Wills concrete rendering sheets for concrete hard standing around the shed and future fueling point (also from Knightwing): Overall I'm pretty pleased with the 'feel' that's starting to be created and looking forward to getting it all ballasted and weathered etc. I also need to get the nice new yard lights actually wired up and working! In 1:1 scale, I came across these two at Swindon while waiting for the train to Bristol a while back. Harry Patch about to leave for London: ...was joined by this beast - good Lord it's hideous! Cheers, Chris

The shed's looking great Marcus, nice work! Are you planning any roof detail? Railings, ladders, vents etc? I'd quite like to use my old Hornby diesel depot as a base for an 'enhanced' and extended version to sit in my yard and wondering where to get some of those sort of details. Cheers, Chris

Thanks for the info on the crossing Gary - useful stuff! And thanks for the compliment Craig So what have I been up to? Just small steps really, have now completed ballasting around the entire lower level circuits, just a little bit more weathering to do. A few more location cabinets and dummy point motors painted and wired up and I've started to gather some bits and bobs to improve the yard area ahead of ballasting and concrete hard standing there. More on that next time. Other more significant purchases have been some new lights for the platforms and the yard. I'm really pleased with these... I've been hunting for ages for some suitable '1980s' looking platform lights. Most are either old fashioned globe/gas type lamps or too modern LED/high output looking ones. There are expensive ones and cheap and nasty Chinese ones but I finally found these which had just the sort of look I was going for: I think they look really like the type of concrete or metal flourescent lights you see in old 70s/80s photos of stations like Doncaster, Finsbury Park, Kings Cross and York. I got them from 'Layouts4U' - Item code 616 three quarters of the way down the page - http://www.layouts4u.net/oolampposts.html and http://www.layouts4u.net/616.jpg Then next up are my yard lights - again I looked for ages for some suitable looking ones that weren't too old or too new (I sound like Goldilocks) or really cheap and plasticy. Then I found the RMLectronics website and decided to splash out on some lamps from their superb range! I know they are winding down somewhat and only producing to order now but they provided excellent service (including making them slightly shortern than standard for me) and the lamps I received are just fantastic quality. I went for the 'Southern Region' concrete yard lamps as they look a lot like others I've seen in period depot photos from around the country (Frodingham, Shirebrook, etc). I decided on the concrete post type rather than the wooden ones as I felt they were a bit more 'modern' (50s/60s) in appearance and would sit well in a 1980's yard that's dwindling somewhat from its heyday: They came in a satin black finish: And I've painted them up in a suitable weathered concrete colour: Really pleased with them! Just need to get them all wired up and working now! Cheers, Chris

Haha yes I know that feeling!

The platforms are looking great Mike - that paint effect on the slabs looks very realistic, when you remember how you did it, do share!! Makes me realise I might need a bit more tonal variation on mine.... Cheers, Chris

Great stuff, really atmospheric! I'm looking forward to seeing all the detail you'll add to the depot and yard, it'll give me some inspiration for mine Cheers, Chris

Thanks all! Thanks mate! I just used Humbrol model filler from the tube, quick to dry and easy to sand. The etch is a Jim Smith-Wright one, £10 from Modellers Mecca here - http://www.modellers-mecca.co.uk/accessories/13175-jsw01-drains-manhole-covers-and-general-ironwork.html Has a good number of each type and a large variety for a reasonable cost. Only thing to note is there aren't any circular ones, they're all rectangular or square. Yeah, went for the subway as they take up a lot less space than a bridge on the relatively short and narrow platforms I'm limited to. Thanks! Yes it was pretty easy - thought about breaking out the airbrush but didn't seem to be worth it and I'm more experienced with enamels and a brush! For the surface I used a pretty dilute (white spirit) mix of matt grey 140 with a little bit of matt black 33 and tried not to make it too uniform when brushed on. For the sides it was an undiluted mix of matt 28, matt 140 and some white and black dry brushed for calcite marks and streaking/staining. Trail and error really, it probably doesn't matter about the exact colours. Oohh that looks quite promising, thanks. Hadn't seen that before. Cheers, Chris

Hi everyone, Short update on another aspect of the layout I've been trying to improve - the platforms.... I've decided to stick with the current Hornby platform pieces but with the aim of improving them as much as possible - my thinking being that this approach would be quicker and cheaper than creating something from scratch. First up I glued them together so that I could fill the joins a bit and I've also filled/recreated the block work on the sides to hide the join more effectively: Then I gave the platform surface a wash of diluted grey to even up the faded plastic colour - I'm fairly happy with the existing textured surface so I've left that: Once the tops were dry I painted and dry brushed some better colours on the sides and painted over the flagstones on the edges - an improvement already: I also decided that rather than filling the redundant square holes (from the canopy supports) I'd make a feature of them and stuck in a little etched drain cover which fitted neatly: Then it's on to painting the while line on the edges: And a side by side comparison of the original vs the 'enhanced' version - I'm quite pleased with it! Just gotta do the rest now! You'll have noticed I've drilled some holes in the centre circles too - this is for the platform lamps I've bought, more on those later. The other thing I've done one evening is started construction of two platform subway card kits from Scalescenes - http://scalescenes.com/product/r006-platform-subway/ - These are excellent, really well designed and easy to construct - recommended! I've chopped them around a little bit to suit my needs and make them slightly narrower as the Hornby platforms are quite narrow. Had to cut a big hole in the baseboard for them! Cheers, Chris

Looking great Paul!

Great work Jamie! The building is looking fantastic, and it's a pretty complex shape so hats off to you, impressive work! All the ornamental stonework and the little details you've added really have an impact. Looking forward to seeing more! Cheers, Chris P.S. thanks for sharing the various links, building buildings is something I need to read up on more.

Thanks for the links and images all! Great detective work Paul - that does look brilliant! It looks like some of the parts were from a custom 'Extreme Etchings' product - https://www.flickr.com/photos/dagworth/8103979625/in/album-72157631808497111/ - in the main thread Andi/Dagworth says "...with folding skirts. These were from an etch that I asked Brian Hanson of Shawplan to do for me." Will save all those links though - perhaps a project for another day once I've got some of the other basics done first!

Thanks Paul and Phil! A few others had mentioned the AHBs not being very likely near a station for the reasons you mention. Perhaps I'll look into something more suitable - any suggestions for kits or suppliers for full barriers? Phil you mentioned getting hold of some more of the Hornby ones - do you mean the existing AHBs I have already and 'pair them' on each side? Can't say I've seen that anywhere, did it happen?

Those ballast bags are brilliant! Nice one!

Great progress! I'm looking forward to seeing the retaining walls in situ - that's a job I need to do on mine (there are a lot!) and I'm undecided about whether to use card/card kits or plasticard. Your new rolling stock 'bargins' look great too - I always seem to struggle finding affordable second hand stuff like that and always feel bad when I have to say to the kids "no we can't by those new locos they are X hundred pounds!", you've done well. My son would like a few steam engines and exta carriages on the layout - I keep trying to dissuade him as it doens't fit the time period but he's too little to understand or care about that so I'll have to give in soon! Cheers, Chris

Thanks Mike, that's very kind! I guess I think just because it's a small roundy-roundy doesn't mean the scenics and other aspects can't be realistic - I really enjoy the getting stuck in to the modelling and being able to 'play trains' with my little boy is a bonus - he's learning to be very careful with all the detailed bits!! Off topic slightly - picking up on your username, does it relate to an Impreza Type RA? I've been looking at early ones (V1/V2 STIs or 555s) and getting very tempted!! Cheers Chris

Hi again everyone - sorry it's been a while! Thanks for the compliment Steggy! I'm going to make an effort to up-date this more freqently - I'll try 'little and often', rather than storing up a few weeks progress so each update might be shorter just describing a few evenings work but at least it'll keep a bit of momentum on the thread! So here's what I've been up to in the last few weeks to bring you up to speed.... Ballasting has continued, including under the tunnel (you can see in as there is a long slot cut into the side board - I'm also thinking of a way to produce a tunnel liner so you don't see all the way under the upper level!). I just need to finish a bit on the loop platform then the whole of the outer circuits will be done! I've been trying to finish up some of the trackside details, so here's a look at how I've added some details to the dummy point motors. First up I file a slot in the cable socket bits at the end: Then I can cut and bend some suitable wire to represent the cables and actuating rods - these are superglued in place along with some tiny bits of sleepers to stick out on the other side so it looks like the motor is mounted to the extended sleepers: Here's how they look in situ with some orange trunking (the cables still need painting satin black): I've also been painting new buffer stops and some AWS ramps and these will all be fitted shortly: Next up I'll add some photos about my plans for the platforms... Bye for now, Chris.

Good stuff! I hadn't thought of pre-colouring the ballast like that, I did mine afterwards, once it was stuck down and dry. As you say the real granite retains that mix of natural tones even once colour washed. I mixed some of the fine WS grey into my granite before spreading and also sprinkled it lightly on top towards the end to help give it all a finer appearance too - it's so light that you can blow it gently off the sleepers and into the ballast bed as well instead of brushing it in. A combination of the various ballast colours and suppliers should work well! Looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Cheers, Chris

Looking good - it makes a big difference when you get the ballast down! I was getting too used to seeing the bare cork and it suddenly looks so much more complete once there's a bit of ballast. Re the greeny/blue colour, I've addressed this simply by washing the ballast in a very dilute brown acrylic - makes it look much more natural and realistic and was very quick and easy. It takes a day or two to dry out fully and as long it's quite diluted it initially looks quite dark when wet, but lightens up considerably once it's dry. You can always do it twice or more if needed to emphasise certain areas more or less along the centre and edges of the track or use a darker blacker mix for oil stains etc. I'm in the middle of doing mine now so will try and find some pics but its simple and effective. Another little tip I discovered which made the job quite a bit quicker was instead of brushing away all the stray bits of ballast when you are spreading it down dry, try tapping the rails with something metal (I used the back of the tea spoon I was spreading with) and it makes the loose bits 'jump' off the dry sleepers into the track bed and the rest of the ballast. My track is fairly lightly glued down though (a coupld of sleepers every 20cm or so) which might make this approach work but overall it provided a big time saving as there's only a few last bits to brush off and tidy up by hand. Might try your tip about the sand for the cess as the kids have a bag of play sand which is really fine. Cheers, Chris

Thanks both! Yeah pretty happy with the level crossing bomacs and should blend in nicely once I've weathered them a little bit more and painted on some road markings - I've used a bit of modellers licence to get them to fit the three track curves as looking at pictures there seem to be a couple of standardised panel sizes that fit a normal one or two track railway but it gives the right effect. Been making some progress with the ballasting and minor bits and bobs but nothing worth photographing really so next update when there's a bit more to show. Cheers, Chris

I've been pondering adding some vaguely representative signalling on the layout and have set up a separate thread - take a look here if you are able to contribute (or like me are learning the basics!) http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/114729-signalling-help-on-my-simple-8x4/ Cheers, Chris

Hi everyone, and thanks for the recent compliments! Sorry for the lack of updates in the last few weeks - here's a bumper edition to bring us up to date.... The summer holidays have been busy but I have managed a bit of modelling here and there in between building a log store, some DIY and a holiday in Guernsey - my son was a bit distressed there might not be any trains on the island but we managed to find a few (with real working steam no less!) at the West Show: Back on the layout, construction of the level crossing has continued apace (well, sort of). I've finished the concrete bomacs using Wills cement sheet, scribed and painted/detailed to represent the individual panels: I've also painted the Hornby AHBs and (shortened their barriers) to be more realistic - before: ...and after: And also had a go at making some picket fence to go around them from some old Hornby platform fence I had lying around: There's a bit more to do (finish making the anti-trespass panels to fit up to the fences, make the road, glue everything down etc) but I'm pleased how it's turning out: Next up, I've been making and painting some more trackside details including drainage blocks/covers out of scribed balsa (and making use of Jim Smith-Wright's excellent manhole and drain etches) and Knightwing point heaters: And most excitingly there are a couple of new locos on the roster! A class 08 shunter (Hornby): And a class 128 DPU (Heljan): These are the first 'new generation' models I've purchased and I'm very impressed with the level of detail and smooth running capabilities - quite a revelation (apart from the cost!). I did have a minor disaster with the Heljan 128 DPU when I dropped it onto a wooden floor! I assumed it would have been smashed to pieces but when I dismantled it I was very relieved there was relatively minor damage (both the plastic joints that locate the bogies/gearboxes and allow them to swivel had broken lugs) and that replacement parts were available at low cost. Miraculously the body didn't suffer any damage, especially considering the weight of the metal chassis and being dropped from waist height! So that's about it for now - happy modelling! Cheers, Chris P.S. LongRail - I'll try and get some longer range shots for you soon but the layouts covered in junk at the mo! P.P.S Isn't modern technology great? I had an enjoyable evening in the garage last weekend ballasting the model railway, while catching up on the F1 via wifi on the tablet, while having a pint (very pleasant 'Quarter-Master' from Pope's Yard Brewery) - who say's men can't multi-task?!