Tricky

Thanks Dave, always a bit of trial and error with ground textures. I started with sanded Polyfilla and then sprinkled sieved soil into pva and then sanded that as well. It wasn’t quite right still, so fortuitously at the same time I had been repointing our garden wall and used the fine sand/cement dust that’s left over once the pointing has been tidied up. Excellent colour and a superb mix of grain size and texture. This was also sprinkled over pva. Lastly my favourite mix of horse poo and straw helps to bring the scene to life.

Absolutely beautiful as usual. Very crisp.

You’re more than welcome! Glad you find them helpful.Richard

Quite a bit of work done on the yard; Ned has a new home, as does Mr Knight. Rusty seems to have tagged along somehow as well...

The builders have moved in and fenced off the footpath, ready to tackle rebuilding part of the dock wall, out of shot to the right.

Yes, I believe so.

Hi Grahame, unfortunately I know nothing about the crane save for this photo. I have, in fact, done a rough drawing based on guess-work, judging sizes relative to the men in the photo, with the aim of making one. There are a few other photos in Midland Record of other cranes and they all seem to vary slightly so mine will probably be an amalgamation. A GA would be a real find. I wonder if the very knowlegeable guys at the Midland Study Centre can help?

Midland Class 2, 1907.

Yes it is, one of the few items of rolling stock I have at the moment that isn’t in the process of being re-wheeled and sprung. Probably shouldn’t be in use still by 1907...

So after much burning of fingers and head scratching the loco is more or less finished! She runs smoothly under her own ‘steam’ and suspended on blocks; just need to wire up the radio control stuff and get her running properly. Also need to add coal and crew, and a bit of weathering to give her a working but cared-for appearance.

Thought I'd give a quick verbal update: The ABC gearbox arrived the other day. It is a miniature engineering marvel, very, very smooth and worth every penny. Forget your fold-up gearboxes - these are the real deal. This now means that work can re-start on the loco frames, and so last night managed to solder up the hornblocks using the rods as guides. Lo-and-behold she rolls along quite smoothly first time! Some very minor fettling maybe, or just allow a running-in period for it to be really silky-smooth. Just last details now; brakes, sandboxes, axle guards and drawbar. After that, connect up the radio control gubbins and test. All I have now is a nagging doubt that a tender 0-6-0 would have been a very unlikely visitor dock-side! Still - all I have to do is strip down the 0-6-0 tank for the thousandth time and get it going smoothly once and for all - maybe! The 'Y' turnout has been successfully re-built - I think. The loco tender rolls through it nicely but testing the loco through it last night was a bit jumpy through the crossing, so more adjustment needed. Which is a shame, as I have ballasted it and had started to weather it as well. But we shall see once the loco frames are properly together. Ground works are well under way, with lots of polyfilla and lots of sanding...plus I've been making an ever-growing list of details and bits and bobs to add to the final layout. I may even finish the whole thing with time to spare to actually enjoy it!! Then again, there's rolling stock to build yet...

Looking busy - 1907 style.

I've more or less completed a few more buildings- almost there with the main structures. This first one is an office/store of some sort. The black line is a gas pipe which will serve a corner lamp when I get round to making it. This little shed appears in some of the photos of St Plilips yard. And has some very odd-looking growth on its roof... And lastly this structure is partially low-relief and sits to the right of the warehouse and covers the track. The right hand end is hidden by the stone office/store. Although I'm not sure the Midland would have allowed it to get quite so dilapidated...! Next up, re-building the y turnout for the third time, finishing the loco when the ABC gearbox arrives and making a start on ground works at last!

Two for the price of one...!

The back wall is now finished and in position. I finished it mostly with watercolour pencils, which I have recently discovered. They are like ordinary colouring pencils but are blendable with a little water (or spit!). I find them very versatile and can be used for subtle shading as well as patches of dense colour, and can be used with accuracy. So I'm this case I used them for delicate washes of pointing, picking out individual bricks, adding depth to the stonework and colour to the blue bricks. The added bonus is if you don't like what you've done, the ones I have aren't permanent although I believe there are permanent ones on the market. Because of this and also because the final effect was a little washed out and flat, I washed the wall over with very dilute spirit-based satin varnish. This also imparts a slight sheen as sometimes seen on engineering brickwork. The back wall is now finished and in position. I finished it mostly with watercolour pencils, which I have recently discovered. They are like ordinary colouring pencils but are blendable with a little water (or spit!). I find them very versatile and can be used for subtle shading as well as patches of dense colour, and can be used with accuracy. So I'm this case I used them for delicate washes of pointing, picking out individual bricks, adding depth to the stonework and colour to the blue bricks. The added bonus is if you don't like what you've done, the ones I have aren't permanent although I believe there are permanent ones on the market. Because of this and also because the final effect was a little washed out and flat, I washed the wall over with very dilute spirit-based satin varnish. This also imparts a slight sheen as sometimes seen on engineering brickwork.

That's an astonishing photo. First class.

A brief update: the main mortar colour has been added which is a very very dilute wash of a light stone colour, sloshed on and allowed to run and settle. I left the wall upright for a few minutes and then wiped most of it off gently, leaving colour in the mortar courses. I’ll let this dry before moving on to more detailed painting and finishing.

Beautiful - love it. Just wondering about the spelling of cattle...?

Along the back is a high wall which originally I made quite low but realised this left too much sky showing above it, so I decided to make the wall higher by reusing this wall but making a new lower section with arches, engineering blues and stonework to break it up. This first shot shows the construction of it complete and temporarily in position to try it for size. Construction is a lamination of mount board and ply, with additional details added in a combination of more mount board and wood sections. Bricks are scribed into the mountboard surface. The section that’s already painted is the existing bit that I’ve simply stuck on top of the new bit. These next photos show the start of the painting process. The overall brick colour has been liberally applied and left to dry. To be honest I’m not too sure what Humbrol colours I used but a combination of red-browns and a little dark and light grey. I have now added the basic engineering blue and stone colours. This photo shows the colours used for them. I painted the stone first and then used the bluey-greys to paint the bricks, allowing a bit of the stone colour to mix in as I go. The idea is to make sure I’m not painting a uniform colour but allow subtle variation. Overall I’m aiming for a brighter shade than the finished article will be. More to follow in the next day or so when I will be adding the mortar colours.

Well...my main focus at the moment is getting all the main buildings and structures done, then I can move on to the ground works. Then motive power, rolling stock, general detailing, ambient sound maybe, etc etc. Time seems to be slipping past quite quickly now, don’t you agree Rob?!

A cruel close-up.

I’ve finished the office, it’s mounted on a bit of mount board for now and will be ‘planted’ and bedded in with Polyfilla. Although I’ve just realised the door is missing a handle, and the window sill is the wrong colour...!

3 down, 17 to go...the twitching has started already...

Thanks Stephen, you are, of course, completely right. The poster does look out of place and I think I knew that really; I got a bit too carried away...! I shall change it for something else and in the meantime ponder where I can use the ‘Best Route’ poster - it’s bound to crop up somewhere else!

Thanks guys...I found the prototype at Beeston, quite a distance from Bristol but there you go...! Also the engineering blue diamonds was my idea. Don’t think the Midland ever didn’t such embellishment but they well could have...’Modeller’s Licence’!