DJTrains

Thanks Dave. I haven't decided what to do with the viaduct yet. I'd be happy to let it go to a new home - or will store it away safe and finish it as a diorama...... fyi on its board its 1 ft wide x 7 inches tall, length can vary depending how much you want to cut it down at the 'crossover' end. Cheers, Dave.

Thanks Paul, its all about the Mojo and seeing it all as fun again rather than a chore / bad memories. time to move on, and I hear Mike is house trained these days - altho I might need to let him out if he's had chips with curry sauce for lunch

After taking a couple of months off from Crofton (mainly due to the winter weather and my continuing recovery) I have now forced myself to accept that Crofton cannot unfortunately continue in its present form. Although its very sad for me to do - esp after so much work - from Mike as much as me - I have to now accept my life has changed and I need to stop worrying about the layout and concentrate on the now and getting some 'little wins' to keep me positive.. I will therefore be slowly starting to dismantle the layout with a view to keeping as much track, points and scenery as can be saved and put them aside for future projects. I had considered (with Mikes advice) to cut the layout into sections for possible relocation, as it was built in modular self supporting sections, but on reflection this would just move the 'problem' to a different location. I plan to take all the parts, advice, and most of all new found knowledge and skills to make an 'indoor' layout approx 12 or 15ft x 3ft (TBC) which will be modular and to an 'exhibiton' standard - and which I can cope with moving and working on on my own - and more importantly will be in the house where I feel the safest, and then I can work on it in all weathers / times of year etc. There are many reasons for this decision, that I wont go into here..... and as most of you know, I came very close to death in the layout lodge, and time has not taken those feelings of unease away. I think the 2nd blue light rush to A&E was the tipping point for me mentally and it continues to be tricky for me. Sorry to put a downer into my thread, but Onwards and Upwards as they say - and I'm looking forward to cracking on with the next plan - so you haven't seen the back of me yet. I'll leave this thread here until I start the new one - but it will probably take me a month or so to clean out the lodge and do a stock take before working out the size, plan and location for the 'next one'. (so if you hear a big 'Groan' from Mike you'll know why ). Thanks to all of you for following and supporting me, and I'm glad to have made so many new friends thru this great hobby of ours (even if I do forget your names) So to sign off for now, I'll leave you with some last pics of where I got to, and if anyone has a 15' x9' space they need filling, get in touch soon lol.

It's nice to see I'm not the only one asking this question. as a newcomer to 7mm modelling, I was very surprised at the amount of 'fiddling' required to couple up. The 'hand of god' at some shows is almost constant with operators struggling with penlight hooks and the like. 3 links & screw links are obviously more accurate and prototypical, but for my own 'home' use I am quite happy to forego this for something more user friendly.... I have bought some of the MagClic couplers, but so far have not been able to get to the back of my Dapol Pannier bufferbeam to replace the hook. here's the link - and I will certainly be looking into the options given above also.

That looks like a superb solution Martyn. Well done.

that is quite something Mike. well done for what you're doing for the charity. You've certainly got some amazing support from the guys on here and especially Chris at Rotarail. No pressure to be the best in show then... (even if its not something they officially award as its all for charity...) great news all round.

Well, Mike only bloody made it onto the shortlist for RMWeb Modeller of the year, in the British Model Railway Awards... see the main RMWeb page for the link to vote. Well Done Mate..... some pretty tough competition there, but all the best....

FYI - To all the Followers on Oak Road - There's a new banner at the Top of the RM Web homepage with the following link, asking for nominations for the shortlist for the British Model Railways awards 2018. I've nominated Mike in the category RMWeb Modeller of the year. I know that there are a LOT of very suitable candidates, (and maybe some more worthy of the praise) but if you are impressed by Mike Buicks work, or have learnt any new skills from following this thread, then I'm sure he would be humbled if you were to nominate him too; http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/140100-british-model-railway-awards-2018-nominations/

thanks Paul, its a full year clear with doctors permission for driving... any other attacks reset the clock. I've got a desk set up inside now too so thanks for the link. I even got Mike insured on my van , but Oak Road only fits in his, So I guess the comedy Clown wagon will continue... hopefully with less of the wheels falling off tho

A very short update this time - I've not had as much time as I'd like in the train lodge in the last couple of weeks what with hospital appointments and starting the dreaded Christmas shopping.... Plus I only feel comfortable out in the lodge during the day when there is someone else at home.... and no, I'm not afraid of the dark, just feel uncomfortable as I was down there on my own on a dark night when I had my stroke, and it doesn't sit well... especially as I've now got stroke induced epilepsy to deal with !! Anyway, I'll keep going as best I can, and with the usual great help from Mike.. I bet he really wonders what he let himself in for. but I'd be making a right hash of it without him. Still continuing with the first stages of ballasting - and colouring as we go - this is the viaduct board so far; also continuing to paint up the station approach road - which has now been covered with plasticard... this is just a primer colour for now; Also thanks to Gaz for making me a half sized block of flats to match the other two - so I now have a staggered set of 3. He forgot to paint the bottom brickwork, so I've still got that to do, and then bed them in with a car park, paths and grass..... Other news - I now have a 'current' version of Flying Scotsman (with smoke deflectors !) to help Tornado out with the RailTours. - video clip is on my twitter page - @CroftonNGauge - I find it easier to put videos on twitter as there's no way I'm going to try and teach myself video editing for YouTube Also thanks to Mike convincing Steve at Railtec to do a rush job overnight at Warley, and making me up the transfers, I have secured a second GWR HST set and sent both off to Anthony at West Coast Resprays - so hopefully in the New Year you should be seeing both ' the Welshman' and 'Old Oak Common / Legends' running around Crofton. Have a great Christmas everyone, and I hope you all have train shaped boxes under the tree...

well if you know Mike, you'll know I don't get away with a single short cut, and the really annoying thing is that he's usually right !!

Time for an update... I've been doing various jobs... First off, the Fascia has all been filled and painted and is looking much smarter; I've also realised (after prompting from Mike) that the station approach road and car park needs covering in plasticard - rather than the ply surface - so that has also started; Once I have it all down and filled I will be painting it all several times with a mix of colours to create a realistic tarmac effect - and this will include the last coats on the platforms themselves so I can start ballasting through the station and get the platform edging stones down. On the subject of ballasting - the long slog has finally started..... This is just the viaduct section prior to final tamping etc, and was more to see if the ballast was going to look ok. I'm no where near getting the glue out yet, but I think we have a winner ballast wise - only another 80m of track to do You may have also noticed a load of catch pits in the station pic above.... these have also been made up and painted (from Scale Model Scenery) - the spacing at the moment is approx 125mm, but I need to go back and 'randomise' them a bit before I glue them in ready for ballast. I thought 4 packs of 12 would be plenty, but there's 46 in the station alone !!! So more repetitive jobs to come making up another couple of batches. On the 'fun' side, I've now got a full GWR Green HST set all rearing to go. I'm going to see if I can give it 'The Welshman' makeover ... Ideally I'd like another in Old Oak Common / Legends livery too - but we'll have to see on that one. So I'll be head down now for a bit pushing tiny bits of stone around with a paintbrush, and painting grey things grey again.... what joy. if you want to follow me on twitter look for @CroftonNGauge..... its easier to put vids and pics on there straight from my phone. Will try not to leave it so long for the next update.

I could have sworn u put my name here somewhere ?? Huh ??? Gotta stop sniffing that Superglue Mike, its making you imagine things...... Are we mad ?

Hi All, sorry for the lack or recent updates, work is continuing and I will try and get some more pics this weekend (altho at Tolworth show tomorrow). Such a shame you can't upload videos here - (and there's no way I'm setting myself up on YouTube)........ But if you feel so inclined, please feel free to look Crofton up on Twitter where I will also be posting vids from time to time.... just search for @CroftonNGauge Thanks all, Dave.

Great to chat with you at the Great Electric Show Steve, and well done for the award - well deserved. Hope to see some more pics here in time... Its certainly given me some inspiration to replicate the reading style canopy - in N gauge ! Do you have any other 'channels' such as Facebook, twitter etc ? Cheers, Dave.

If I'd known you were taking this pic, I'd have ducked (or crashed a train, or both!)

thanks Paul. its a combo of the platforms being a little small and the cabinets being a bit big. But this is all there is to go with, and I'm not about to start scratch building 50 odd cabinets !!

I think he's still working on a website etc but has a good range of products already. He is currently selling through a few railway groups on Facebook. Best way to contact him for pics, prices etc is on facebook messenger search for 'Modelaser Gaz' and if u mention me he'll know what u mean

Updates have been a bit slow, but I've been back on the modelling and continuing to work on the parts i can do inside. The relay cases have been given a thin wash with a much lighter grey and are starting to look more 'dusty' . hopefully another wash with a thin black to pick out the details and they can be called done. After months of me badgering Justin at Scale Model Scenery to make an N gauge version of his Relay platforms, he finally did some for me; They are unbelievable fragile but once they are together they are a lot stronger. However they are a very tight fit for the Ratio boxes I've also been trying to get the warehouse done so I can move on to the scenery and greenery. Still lots to do to 'bed' this into the surrounding including fencing it off, and weathering it down (maybe painting the roof again to a more 'dirty' colour).... but for a mainly one handed effort I'm fairly pleased with it. I've also built a metcalf Pub kit to go in the corner at the end of 'Eastleigh' bridge. But being a very modern image layout I figured it needed some updating And just to show the scale of this - being N gauge and all....... Finally, I've also cheated by getting a couple of laser cut flats from a guy called Gaz Robertson who has started making amazing models in N gauge. I chose a fully built and a low relief model to replace the pair of awful scenecraft resin flat models I had. These came fully painted and ready to go , but I will need to add some clear plasticard behind some of the windows. This shows how they compare to the scenecraft ones And you can also have any name you want added to the front So thats all my updates for now. I'm sorry none included actual updates on the layout itself, but I'm hoping all these little 'side shows' will start to come together soon to create a more finished looking layout.

Cheers Paul, I started with Humbrol Acrylic grey primer, then tried a few in Humbrol acrylic Aluminium (which is what they are above as the newer ones look like stainless steel), and have some Halfords primer, but they are all too dark, cos as you say it needs to be very light - almost powdery, so will either grab a rattle can at Gaugemaster at the weekend, or mix up something myself. Cheers, Dave.

Haha ha, thanks Ian, getting better and itching to get cracking again. But no. the size is fine...... but they are the wrong colour - LOL

Another little side project - Relay Boxes (Location Cases) One thing which I find is often missing from modern image layouts (more so in N gauge) is the vast number of Relay Boxes which are seen on the railway everywhere, near every point / signal etc. This is probably due to the cost and poor availability - something that I was struggling with anyway. The most accurate versions are the ones by Ratio ; But in this pack there are only 2 of the most common size, and at £6 a pack thats about £3 each (plus a LOT of spares) !! AS there are about 46 points on Crofton (plus signals to come etc) I knew I was going to need a lot. I spoke to a couple of 3d printers, and a couple tried to be fair to them, but the quality of 3D printing in 2mm just isnt there yet and most of the products I've seen to date look like they've been chewed by a puppy. SO.... After reading a post on a Facebook group from a guy who made a resin copy of a 7mm gate, I thought I'd give resin casting a go. For the simple shapes I wanted it was a very simple process. First off you make a simple mould by putting the items you want to copy in a small 'box made from plasticard,; then mix up a 2 part silicon rubber ( its all pre - measured so you just mix 2 things together in a plastic pint pot and pour it in) ; this only takes about 30 mins to turn into solid silicon rubber - at which point you can pull it out of the 'box' you made ; then you have a reuseable mould to make as many copies as you need. I used a 2 part resin which again is a simple 50/50 mix part a with part b and dripped into the mould with a plastic pipette. the resin also takes about 30 mins to cure, but longer if you can. I also found it can stay quite 'sticky' if you don't let it air cure for a while before painting. a 'pro' would use a vacuum chamber to ensure there are no bubbles in the silicon, but to be fair, other than a couple of tiny imperfections which I can live with, they have turned out really well, considering I've never done this before, and every detail of the original has been copied. The silicon rubber is under £7 (and this gives you about a pint), and the resin was £18 - altho I bought way more than I needed(for other projects too) so this can be a lot cheaper, plus as with most 'chemicals' now, this is courier only delivery so I wanted to make sure I got enough in 1 go. But I now have an endless supply of more Relay boxes than I'll need. If this stuff can be found in hobbycraft or somewhere then it would be a lot cheaper than paying courier costs on top too. I just need to find the right shade of light grey and I can start adding them to the layout.

Thanks Paul, I really appreciate the support.

Things have been moving forward a bit slower recently on Crofton. This is mainly due to the crippling effects of the fatigue I've been suffering due to the recovery. The brain is a very amazing tool, but when its in 'repair' mode it is absolutely exhausting. I'd heard about fatigue before and brushed it off as just 'being a bit tired' but wow. Imagine waking every day to feel like you'd just run a marathon..... But you didn't come on here to hear about my issues.. .. I've been continuing to 'prep' the scenic areas for when they will start to turn green... and have started that by covering all the brown paper with a layer of neat pva, then when dried a coat of burnt umber acrylic.... looks a bit drastic at first but this will all come good. I am also trying out a small stream of my own design.... again this will look a lot better once the banks have their vegetation. I'm experimenting with a piece of clear plasticard which I have mist coated the underside with sleeper grime..... I had already added some reeds to the stream bed with some green cotton strands.... and with the effect of the murky water you can still see them if you look closely - (ok not TOO closely ! ) With Mike's help I'm also fixing the last of the fascia boards in place which means I can finally paper over the top of these to the edges and also start pva and paint these sections too;