Tricky

I have another idea brewing: prompted mostly by thoughts of motive power….

At the moment the stud will be the 0-6-0 (currently in Warren Haywood’s paint shop), a half cab (to be made) followed lastly by a Manning Wardle 0-4-0 (also to be made). This last creation will handle the quay traffic down to the mill. The specific idea I have brewing is to also employ the MW as motive power for a ‘works train’ which serves the mill workers and possibly workers associated with another industry down that end of the layout (brewery?). To this end, I imagine the MW in a free-lance livery - something perhaps like GE blue, with a free-lance coach of some antiquity to match. 
 

So, firstly what do folk think of this plan?

Secondly, do you know of any cheap-ish ways of sourcing a suitable coach (kit?) as I have no real experience of coaching stock as a whole. The MW will be from Slaters. 
 

Thanks!

Inspiration acknowledgments to @wenlock for his ‘Lady Jayne’ spotted shunting at Sherton Abbas over the weekend at Uckfield! And also congrats to him for ‘Best in Show’ as chosen by the exhibitors. Well deserved! 

12 hours ago, John Besley said:

Those spanners are from a card decorating set and simply painted in gunmetal metalcote, then buffed with a soft cloth (my hankie! dont tell)

Stunning work. 
 

How many of us I wonder have a collection of hankies with paint spots all over them…?!

Here are some better shots taken outside of the dioram. I have made the baseboard from MDF with a solid hardwood edging, hand polished. Overall it measures 1040mm x 360mm x 360mm high. The scenic elements were skilfully taken care of by Neil Podbery and the beautiful sky-line backscene by Paul Bambrick. It features a ground frame, bracket signal and the begininnings of the turnout that it protects. It would be ideal to display rolling stock and locomotives to best advantage. It really is a first-class diorama - the photos don’t really do it justice and I am very pleased how the collaboration between Neil, Paul and me has worked out. It will be the first of many…!
It is for sale for £1550. Please contact me if you are interested.

19 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Not lost your touch then Richard.

 

Dave

Not yet…!

Actually I’m dithering a bit over selling it. It may be quite nice to keep hold of something I’ve made! 

Here’s a few snaps of a diorama/photo display I’ve just finished. I made the ‘hardware’ and Neil Podbery took care of the vegetation, with Paul Bambrick painting a backscene. I’ll take some overall shots of it when I can get it outside. And it will shortly be up for sale. 
 

1 hour ago, kitpw said:

You've got the boarded shuttering for the concrete spot on (and the corrugated sheeting too).  Quite an early date for in-situ mass concrete construction:  is it still in existence? Not everyone's cup-of-tea but I have a liking for C20th industrial architecture and it's a remarkable piece of work - original and model!

 

Kit PW

 

 

 

 

 

It is still there, just. No corrugated exists any more but the concrete I think is fairly bomb proof! 

Been working on an interesting prototype - a concrete silo which was used in a stone crushing plant attached to a Great Western branch near Exeter. The original was built around the turn of the last century and is in quite a brutalist functional style! It makes extensive use of shuttered concrete and is just about still standing, although fast succumbing to the ravages of time. Construction is mostly 3mm mdf laser cut and covered in paper strips. I may well do a write up with a more in-depth description of the methods used. 
 

Evening shadows…

9 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Which does make me wonder (not expecting an answer, of course, as it's between you and your customer) how the price of a new replica compares with the auction price of the original?

Well, I can in fact answer this question very accurately - mine is by way of a charitable donation! 

22 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

Then comes the signal box to mount it on?

 

Dave

Indeed. I think Network Rail have been slow in deciding what they are doing with a handful of suitable candidates for the VoBR to purchase. 

9 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Ex-Midland boxes seem to be quite plentifully available, or have been. But, @Tricky, the Midland Railway Study Centre has a collection of Midland signalbox name-boards if you want to study the exact shame and size and fixing position of each letter, along with spacing. (Though I would be cautious and check that none of these are LMS replacements.)

Fortunately, the original one recently came up at auction and I was able to obtain a hi-res image of the whole board, which I used to scale off letter spacing and fixing. 
Additionally, Dave Harris has been very helpful in supplying photos of some of the study centre collection. 

3 hours ago, martin_wynne said:

 

Of course it wouldn't. Templot is a tool. It does whatever you tell it to do. 

 

 

 

Martin.

Thanks Martin, as I said, I was ‘told’ by my customer that he had tried Templot and couldn’t get it to do what he wanted. I’ve got no real experience with it so just went down my usual Autocad route - especially as drawing for the laser is a doddle. Nothing derogatory intended about Templot, no offence meant, I hope none taken. 

3 hours ago, Crimson Rambler said:

At a guess an embryonic sign of some sort - many were painted dark blue with white letters, while signal box name boards were ultramarine blue.

 

 

Crimson Rambler

Correct. It’s a full-size signal box name board, and will read SHARPNESS SOUTH. As I say the photo renders the ultramarine blue as a little brighter than in reality - it’s not far off the swatch in Midland Style but it’s still fairly bright! I have laser cut the letters out and I’m just in the process of machining up the bevelled surround trim. At just over 10’ long, it’s a beast! 

Any guesses as to what this is going to be?

I will say the photo makes the blue a tad brighter than it is in real life!