Rhysb

11 hours ago, Temeraire said:

 

Get Rhys to do it?

send it my way Nigel!

11 hours ago, Iron Horse said:

More cracking weathering going on here Rhys, what was the process on the PBA if you don't mind me asking? Not that I'll ever be able to recreate it. Love the Turbots.....almost convinced me to start mine....you make it sound so simple

Adrian, thanks for the kind words. First a Matt varnish which is left to fully harden. Then a wash of 50/50 frame dirt and roof dirt with enamel thinners. Let that dry and then a light grey acrylic paint dry brushed on. Finally to represent the China clay deposits...... China clay! (Im sure you could use chalk or white paint instead). Finish with another Matt varnish coat.

A quick weekend project this weekend in the evenings was a tiger clay wagon. This came in gleaming white but as we all know when these were in service they were never clean for long! Pretty pleased with this one considering the few afternoon beers I enjoyed in the sun!

stay safe

Rhys

Good Morning all, 

One project which I worked on a few weeks ago now but forgot to upload here was my BBA weathering project. I received 4 of the fantastic new BBA wagons from Cavalex and they really are a great model but they had one problem! Back in the early 1990's I never saw one that was clean or without some form of rust! Therefore they hit the workbench:

Firstly they received a good coat of matt varnish which was left to fully harden then out came the washes, the railfreight red was faded and the grime and dirt layers. The left picture is the out of the box one:

Next the rust layers:

Once fully dried and another coat of matt varnish they hit the layout (left hand wagon is weathered, right one is out of the box):

Also I managed to buy some metal wagon loads from Goodwood Scenics. They are certainly not cheap but well worth it and they are value for money:

Few more weathering projects to do including some more parcels stock and some locomotive traction!

Stay safe

Rhys

Amazing James. A great project. Can’t wait to see the 47’s and mk2’s

Just when I think I’m getting better at this weathering lark you go and set the bar even higher! Great job.

Rhys

Afternoon all,

Just an update on the warehouse. All finished and back on the layout. I added some greenery and a faded look to the roof:

And back on the layout:

The steel wagons have been into the speedlink yard!:

Hope your all safe and well

Rhys

12 minutes ago, pitbull1845 said:

I know,  weathering isn't my thing though,  will have to save some money and send them off.. 

You could send them to the Leighford weathering yard!

Looks good Nigel. Sometimes bringing something back to life or up to date is very satisfying and a skill in itself. Well done.

Copy for me too please!
 

Rhys

35 minutes ago, pitbull1845 said:

No, A colleague has an interest in designing 3D items so we've come up with this. I was then put in touch with someone else who has an interest in 3D printing and printed them out for me.      

You will be asking someone else who has an interest in paint next 

4 hours ago, Iron Horse said:

Yes please

:-) Here goes then!

First thing I did was get an idea of what I wanted the graffiti text to look like. For this I just printed out a graffiti font from windows. Secondly as I sell spray paints I had the ability to ask a few artists how they do it and then I copied their idea in mini-form.

First stencil out with a pencil an outline and then start with the background colour. Either black or white normally. I used the cut out letters to give me a guide:

Pencil back out again to stencil in the letters:

Finally build up the layers of colours!

Thanks

Rhys

Now for something a little bit fun! I recently bought a couple of the Bachmann brake coaches for my parcels rake and as soon as I put them in the yard the little OO figures with their montana spray paints have had some fun!!!

Hand painted. If anyone is interested in how I did it I can post some in-progress pics!

Thanks

Rhys

So building work has commenced! The first building to get the treatment is the main warehouse on the backscene. This in its current form is about 1/2" thick whereas it will become a lot deeper to add perspective to the layout. 

 So Steve at Railway laser lines laser cut me a framework to my design. I had to design this in such a way to be able to mount the existing building and provide an internal structure for the new side walls and roof. The original building was made with Pikestuff/Rix parts from their scratchbuilding range. Thanks to Nigel (Melangoose) and an ebay purchase I managed to get some more spare sparts to complete the build.

First a test fit of the exisiting model onto the frame and a re-wire of the lights:

Secondly to ensure it fits with the base and backscene on the layout:

Second phase was the new roof and again test fitting on the layout:

And finally once the roof was complete out came the Montana spray paint and the roof has its new colour!

Lastly the warehouse fits back onto the layout in its new home!

Very happy with the added depth! Now onto the B&Q warehouse!

Thanks

Rhys

Wow didnt realise it had been so long! Amazing how time flies when your at home all the time! 

Anyway time for an update. I have been doing various bits to the layout in the workshop including a little bit more re-wiring and some additional tracks in the fiddle yard. In the main it has been odds and ends here and there.

I have however started a big-ish project on the main Leighford Junction board. I have always looked at enlarging this board lengthways and eventually this will happen but firstly I want to increase the width and replace the older backscene boards. The current width is around 20" but when I first moved it from Kevin's it was put onto a 3ft (36") table so I have now added roughly 6/7" to the rear of the layout to increase depth on the low relief buildings and then 10" at the front for new through lines and extension of the station forward.

The station will take on a kind of Westbury/West of England station with two island platforms with the original platform area forming one of these new platforms.

So a before pic towards the speedlink yard:

And a before pic towards the bridge:

In the above photos you can see the additional space at the front of the layout. The two pieces of set-track give a quick idea of the additional lines. The blue backscene I believe is part of the original exhibition layout so must be 15 odd years old now. It does show some signs of age so a re-fresh will be good.

Ans the re-build begins:

Gone is the backscene and buildings. The buildings are currently being rebuilt to more depth.

And a new backscene tested in situ. I have not decided if this will be painted sky or whether I will use a backscene. Its around 15" high now so frames the layout a lot more. In this picture you can see the additional space at the back:

Finally from the other end. The bridge I am thinking will go back to a road inspired by the Millway Road bridge in Andover. The Rank Hovis building may go behind the brick retaining wall again in inspiration of Andover station:

More updates coming over the next couple of days on the buildings and another little fun project.

Rhys

Stunning!

Nice Video Ian! Be nice to come and play trains again soon!

Excellent video Richard,

on the new canal bridge there is a wire/railing type fixture on the top of the girders. Was this scratch built or a kit?

thanks

Rhys

On 30/01/2021 at 16:46, Kris said:

Having spent much of a wet a dismal day researching colour, it would appear that I do need something similar to the colour that can be seen today. I have tried a grey that I have in stock but I feel that it is too blue and possibly not light enough. The colour on the main bridge span is Halfords undercoat grey (a single light coat) the colour on the approach span is Humbrol No87 matt steel grey. Suggestions, comments and ideas welcome. 

 

Why not use Montana spray paints? Loads of different greys and way better quality than Humbrol and Halfords and cheaper too. You want the black or gold range as they are Matt.  Available online and can be delivered too.

I would be careful with a Halfords 1k car paint on 3D printed resin.

Bridge is looking awesome.

Halfords grey primer! And I thought you were a friend 

Looking forward to seeing the new layout take shape. Is there a final track plan yet?

Trevor,

Im on my 3rd Jack Russell so know your pain. Takes time but we are left with great memories.

The layout is starting to look very "cornwall!" well done

12 hours ago, SouthernMafia said:

 

Thanks, I feel lucky to have been able to build it up over the years. The problem with having an interest in early 90s NSE, mid-90s privatisation, and the 2000s is there's always something to add to the shopping list !

Never a truer word!

Rhys

Happy Autumn everyone! As we are deep in another lockdown I am getting ready to move Leighford into its new home in the new train room. 

Previously I had started re-doing all the scenics on the layout. In some places the scenery is 15 years old so its time to do a refresh. I have also always wanted to do an autumn layout. 

Some of the trees were damaged a bit during the original moving into the workshop:

Now when it comes to Autumn there is a problem! It appears that most of the scenics on the market from Woodland scenics etc seem to be vibrant almost stereotypical orange, red and yellow colours! Anyway if you really look at Autumn some trees turn brown later in the season and some are completly bare early on. 

Anyway here is a prototype test of an early autumn tree where the leaves are starting to turn:

On with a few more trees!

Thanks

14 hours ago, Indomitable026 said:

Here’s tonight’s picture; 56013, 47474, 50149 and unidentified 37. The Penzance TPO is stabled in the back ground.

 

 

Oh and I’m also chuffed to bits, I’ve found my old original 50026 avatar - it required the firing up of a very old electrical device, I think it’s still cooling down a day later...

Brilliant photo. Do you have more pictures of the RM rake?

Thanks