MAP66

Maybe you could still introduce lighting into the goods shed by way of a GWR type hand lamp (see image below) which could be wired up with one of those tiny LEDS you have and either stood on top of a crate or hung from a hook on the wall. It could make a great cameo scene with a couple of workers unloading a wagon at dusk. You could use a pre-wired loco lamp which are available in 4mm scale or drill out a plastic type lamp (like the one below) and use glue and glaze for the lens and fit your own LED behind the lens. The loco lamps are slightly different to the hand lamps but at this scale it’s not that noticeable. If I ever get the chance to build a layout of my own, this is what I had in mind for lighting the interior of the goods shed. I am even considering installing fibre optic lighting into the hand lamp the GWR guard is holding, this has been achieved by other modellers but unable to recall where I saw it. Forgot to mention, I won’t be offended if any of my above suggestions are not of interest, it’s your layout and your rules but just wanted to share what else is possible for lighting.

Thanks, very kind of you to say so. Always good to receive comments which give me the confidence to keep on going with the modelling.

Yep, that's definitely the plan Mikkel - all from Gordons tree book. I really hope it works out, fingers crossed. Thank you for the comments on the bark, I'm still learning and experimenting with trees but having fun doing so

Hi DGO, Many thanks for the feedback, Mikkel has already beaten me to posting my reply, as yes the postiche if added correctly should replicate the finer twiggy bits and fill the tree out more as well as a few more pieces of twisted copper wire for the finer branches. At least I have a dead version of an Oak now though

Tree time again, I'm back with the Oak and have decided to add some copper wire to extend some of the plastic armature branches. This should give a more realistic appearance as the thin copper wires twisted together allows for all manner of weird and wonderful branch angles to be formed, much like a real Oak. The plan will then be to add some finely teased out postiche over the ends of the copper wire branches and then sprinkle over leaf scatter. I am going for a spring look, so not a full leaf canopy. Using this method, I can also determine if the copper wire adds enough realism for a winter or dead tree without the need for foliage. Anyway, here's where I'm up to, quite a bit more copper to add still...

Don't forget the Gandolph version.

Well, I'm no Alan Titchmarsh or Monty Don but that hasn't put me off planting out the first bed - back breaking work Don't bother quizzing me on the varieties, as all I can tell you is they are pretty colours and the tall ones at the back are meant to be Lupins, maybe some succulents for the rockery? There's also a trellis on the garage with a climbing rose attached. That's it for now, as I need to get some more John Innes stuff for planting out the remaining beds.

The lawn mower is part of a Wills Kit SS92 'Garden Buildings & Accessories' and amongst other items includes a lawn roller and wheelbarrow which are laser cut wood parts and the greenhouse cold frames etc are moulded plastic. The makers crest on the lawnmower is printed onto the card packaging of the kit which you just cut out and carefully glue in place. As we all know, other garden accessory kits are available. Also to note, the greenhouse on my diorama is not from this kit, it is a brass kit which I have modified with microstrip to add more glazing panels. Hope that helps.

Lawn Mower man is '1428-076R Loco Crew leaning' which I'm guessing is the figure you recognised. I'm undecided still, but I may undertake surgery on his arms to raise them slightly and bring them to rest further apart so they align better with the lawn mowers handles. I may even chop off his hands and replace with sculpted ones made from modelling clay so that his hands are actually gripping the handles. This has the potential to go wrong and he could end up with hands looking like bunches of bananas

Normally, when this happens, I always invite them in for a nice cup of tea and slice of cake. However, I shall take heed and have drawn the curtains, lights off and am currently cowering behind the sofa. If you could let me know when its safe to come out, so that I can build some more trees

I was looking into some suitable figures for the garden diorama, the idea being to have 4 or 5 but not all featured at the same time but all will be engaged in various gardening type tasks. I have a lawn mower but was struggling to find a half decent moulded figure to push it. I settled with a Loco Crew figure and changed the peak cap into a beret by simply slicing off the peak. My Grandad apparently wouldn't be seen without wearing a beret, but was no more French than English mustard and bore no resemblance to Frank Spencer. The clothing of my lawnmower man isn't quite period of the time but it will have to do. The other figures I have, look a bit more fitting for the period and are waiting to be painted up. So, I introduce the Lawnmower Man - apologies for the poor lighting on the close up.

Thank you Jack, glad it has been of use - still lots more to come, hopefully!

That’s an excellent idea, inserting the test armatures into the tree to see how different finer scatters behave in comparison to the coarse turf. I agree, the course turf looks the best for your trees, but all 3 products have their particular uses. Not just for different species of trees but for depicting the seasons as well. The ‘airier’ look demonstrated by the finer scatters would be just right for modelling trees in spring and with a change of colour autumn. With the Silver Birch, I am being super critical on myself as I have now seen what is possible from Gordon Gravett’s book on trees. He has a Silver Birch which passes as the real thing, you can’t tell the difference from the photo. So, I will embark with (Silver Birch Mark II) after I’ve finished the Oak.

The plot thickens, are you embarking on a layout or putting up some extra shelves in the kitchen?

Well, you wouldn't know it going by the results from your first tree. It's definitely not 'plane', I would say it's impressive. Thanks for the shout out and I'm vey pleased that you found working with the seafoam a good experience. I'm thinking about doing the Silver Birch again as I have some thin copper wire and postiche which I want to experiment with, which should result in a far more realistic tree. Now looking forward to seeing an avenue of your trees in front of those fine black railings.

Here's a bit more on the diorama before I return to the Oak tree. I needed to order a couple more items for the tree, hence I dropped back onto the diorama. I managed to position the chicken coop onto the base and add a bit of ground work, meant to represent some dusty earth where the chickens have scratched about. I have some left over mesh material from a security fencing kit which will be used for a chicken wire fence, the posts for which are in. There is also a gate into the pen which I have just loose fitted in place to see how it looks and I have glued a piece of the mesh material to represent chicken wire. I will wait until all the static grass and greenery has been completed before I attach the gate and rest of the chicken wire, as I discovered that the loose fibres stick to the mesh which is very annoying.

Well you got there Keith and managed to push your first scratch build over the line. Looks like you enjoyed the process as well, as did I following your endeavours. With your newly acquired skills, I hope you don’t keep us all in suspense for too long, before you reveal your next "adventure". Wishing you the very best of luck with Home Depot in CBC.

Careful Chris, make sure you have a lift plan in place and I wouldn't recommend the lift if wind speeds are over 12mph in your area. Perhaps the hand of God could assist while no ones looking

Yes, I was expecting this kit to be in plastic and was quite surprised when I felt the weight of it when it arrived. Not a real problem though, just that the chickens resemble blobs rather than err chickens. Filing can be quite therapeutic I thought that this little model was different enough (but still fitting) for my diorama which is meant to portray a larger garden belonging to a detached suburban house of the late 1930's period - That's the idea anyway.

Back to the garden diorama and I have started on the chicken coop. Its a Woodland Scenics white metal kit and I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys filing stuff as there's a lot of flash. Some time later in the evening, I started on the assembly using super glue gel and it went together reasonably well, considering the filing involved. Just finished painting the coop apart from the roof which needs a tad more filing.

Yes, I do have the grasslands one. I think I purchased it from your recommendations from your Rustons Sidings thread, or it might have been from one of your comments on Tyteford Halte - anyway, no regrets with that purchase, hence why I am looking forward to the tree book

Thanks for commenting, much appreciated. The railcar is by Dapol model No. 4D-011-004D and I had it converted to P4.

Thanks again Steve and guess what, I went online last night and managed to purchase a copy of Gordon Gravett's book on trees part 1. Can't wait to get my hands on it, so I can see how to do it properly. This making it up as you go along malarkey is very tiring on the old noggin. Great fun though.

Hi John That's very kind of you to say so. I've just spent some time looking through some of your blogs on tree making. I need to go back and have a more thorough look as they look incredible. I really need to get Gordons book and bag some postiche, hadn't thought on using that before! Regards Mark