MAP66

Evening folks,

Not much progress made in the last week but some decisions made on the backdrop or should I say lack of. I decided that my CBC would look more effective as a 360⁰ viewed diorama as opposed to my last CBC 'The Coal Drop' which I feel was too enclosed and views were too restrictive. Having all round views also helps with taking photos as you have multiple angles to choose from. 

I have put some photos up to show how things are developing with the base and the cattle dock, I intend to complete these first before I return to the cattle van. Look at the first photo of the close up of the gates and without reading any further, see how long it takes you to see the obvious mistake .... Answer below.

I only realised myself when I looked at the image as a close up, as I had managed to glue the right hand gate on upside down. What a numpty, fortunately I was able to prize it back off and put it back on right way up. This is what happens when your eye sight starts to let you down, I already look like something out of NASA with my magnifying visor every time I attempt to stick something fiddly together. Its really annoying though when I try and take a swig of tea when I'm wearing it, as it never ends well.

I hope you enjoy my other progress photos, you can see that I am attempting to give the effect that the cattle dock has been cut into the embankment with the ground gently sloping onto the ramped side.

While researching photos for a History Society post on a 1950s train journey from Edinburgh Waverley to Sutherland, I came across an old ‘Scotsman’ newspaper article. The images reminded me of early school summer holiday journeys, travelling North to stay with grandparents in the Highlands. An old taxi cab was booked to transport us and our luggage to Waverley Station. The first stop before joining the queue for the train, was the John Menzies newstand to buy our favourite comics for the journey.

My CakeBox, which I still have to plan will be based on the road ramp down to the station, where the taxi rank was located down one side, and a corner of the bookstall/newspaper stand, with lots of figures waiting for the station staff to allow them to board the train North.

The model will be 4mm Scale/00 Gauge with a small section of track, platform, newspaper stand using elements from a paper kit by Wordsworth Model Railway, W&T whitemetal Taxi Kits, Model Scene gas lamps and various model figures, including passengers and railway staff.

 

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Looks like your going to have all the ingredients for a scene full of atmosphere.

Looking forward to how it progresses.

All the best

Mark

Thanks guys.

 

Haven't managed to do anything today, hopefully I will get a bit of time to do some tomorrow.

 

Jerry.

Slow and steady wins the race Jerry.

Best

Mark 

Start has been made.

The plan is this.

Waiting 01.JPG

 

The sleepers are being respaced.

Have cut them but not spaced evenly. had to super glue the end ones because they kept falling apart.

Waiting 02.JPG

 

 

The base is foam board and the embankment is card formed

Waiting 03.JPG

Waiting 04.JPG

 

Will have to make another tree now.

Will put it on top of Embankment outside the fence

I like your idea Geoff, don't see many water troughs modelled and your an old hand at tree making now.

How will you model the water?

All the best 

Mark

I like the look of this and I like the name - I think I said it once while walking on a footpath across some fields and getting chased by a load of bullocks. Will there be a backdrop or will it be open on the other side?

Thanks micro modeller for your kind comments. In answer to your question I am currently toying with a few ideas and have not yet decided on whether a backdrop will feature or not.

I need to try out a few scenarios first.

All the best

Mark

Hi Gerry and Happy New Year

Its great news that your feeling better and have started modelling again, very much looking forward to how your box file project progresses.

All the best

Mark

Great idea!

 

Phil

Thanks Phil, glad you like my idea.

Sorry for taking your name in vain 

All the best Mark

Well here’s my entry entitled ‘Oh Bullocks’ a play on a common phrase often uttered when plans go off-track. But apt for this entry as it features prize bullocks waiting to be transported to the county show.

Trouble is, there’s still no sign of the loco. The prize ‘Beetle’ cattle van is still waiting patiently at the cattle dock waiting for its train which is now 30 minutes late!!!

I came up with this idea to fit in with the theme as I have already nearly completed constructing the Parkside PC67 ‘Beetle’ prize cattle van and Ratio cattle dock ref. 502. I am planning to use these two kits on a micro GWR layout in P4, which will be my first attempt of a P4 layout. Which is handy as they will sit nicely in this first CBC of 2019.

So, here’s a couple of photos showing how it might look to give you a better idea. Hopefully you can spot the drover 'cattle attendant' sitting in the compartment out of the way of the very angry Farmer Giles who will make an a appearance later. 

MAP66

Amazing progress Stubby.

It would take the likes of me about a month to get where you are, do you own a time machine?

Very much looking forward to how it turns out, and the good thing is we won't have long to wait.

All the best

Mark

This is brilliant, so atmospheric - I love the tree and the ivy particularly

Thanks for the kind comments Southwell.

I'm pretty proud of how the tree turned out, but I wouldn't want to make another one anytime soon.

The ivy around the tree is from miniNatur with some wire wool thrown in for good measure.

Regards

Mark

Very effective and busy.

Looks great.

Thanks Kevin

Your entries have been a real inspiration for me so to get positive comments from a master modeler is the icing on the cake for me.

All the best

Mark

Hi Liam

Good to see that your making progress with your CBC and you seem to have tackled the DAS without any problems. Looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

With removing fishplates try carefully griping the end with a pair of needle nose pliers and gently pulling off. Or you could try with the track held down firmly, then using a steel ruler with the square edge up against the shoulder end of the fishplate try pushing against the shoulder until it comes off.

Good luck

Mark

Well that's it folks all finished, well the building anyway. I will put some words together and send my entry in.

Thank you all for your kind comments throughout this CBC and good luck to all those who have entered.

So I will end with some final shots.

All the best Mark.

Well I have finally managed to stick that tree in place and I have used some ready mixed filler to extend the roots which I think make it look like the tree is really rooted to the ground instead of just sitting on top of it.

Just needs a bit of a haircut to fit within the size constraints of the rules, so a bit off the top and a bit of the sides, backs OK.

That blue door to the other store room is made from a scrap of white card with the wood planks  scribed on with a pair of dividers,  I then gnarled up the top and bottom of the door to simulate rotten wood. The door knob is a track pin, I read somewhere that they make good door knobs, and they do. I painted the door with paints from the Citadel range (my sons old Warhammer paints) which have come in very handy for this project. 

I haven't checked the electrics for a while so I switched them on and stuck up a couple more photos showing the coal office, which leads nicely into....,

So what's happening in the coal office?

Well Dave the dog is sprawled out on a rug in front of a roaring fire. A roaring fire in the middle of summer I hear you ask? Well it's very early morning and there's a bit of a chill in the air, which is why Rodney lit the fire to warm the place up a bit, after all its not like there short of coal is it. Its the end of the month and Rodney is here to go through the sales ledgers for his brother Del before he catches the train into London.

Rodney's found a problem, the figures for July are not adding up, oddly enough March, April, May and June didn't either. You can see Rodney just about to take a last swig of whiskey from that mug (a bit of Dutch courage) while he contemplates how to confront his brother again on his gambling habits. Del likes a flutter on the gee gee's and he's been dipping into the proceeds again. Well there goes the profits and that really is The Coal Drop.

I must apologise for the most long winded way to get the subject title of this CBC into a story, please forgive me.

MAP66

Evening Folks

Herewith, my attempt to blend in that back-scene. Can I just say its a good job I have a tree to put in the way, which happens to be the next job on the list after a spot of weathering on that pristine looking brick wall.

A note to myself; Why have you now stuck the lav in position before the tree? Answer: because I'm an idiot.

MAP66

Well it continues, I keep on thinking of further things to add but a coal yard without loaded sacks of coal is in my eyes not a coal yard.

Those two marks on the cobblestones happened last week when I moved the coal dray out of the way to gain a better view and in the process promptly knocked over the feller carrying the sack of coal on his back. All that remain are his footprints, another job to fix! But it can wait and will probably be one of the last tasks to complete.

MAP66

Many thanks for the feedback/comments Andy, always appreciated. And yes, I do wonder, that if by having constructed six cakebox projects, that I'll set a record, for this particular competition at least?!?!

Not only have you knocked out six CBC's but you have always managed to keep the modelling standard high and that's an achievement in itself.

Regards

Mark

One of the items I ordered from Dart Castings is this garden privy. It's not properly bedded into the scene yet, just placed to show where it will be located.The window blind is a piece of tissue paper made to look like its flapping in the breeze. I did make a toilet chain and handle which was a waste of time as you can't actually see it. But you can just make out the sheets of newspaper hanging on the right hand wall. This is after all the days before Andrex.

The brick wall behind requires further painting and weathering and then that piece of angled back-scene needs to be painted in, then I can finally plant the tree onto the scene permanently and replace the cobbles which will, if done correctly, give the impression of being displaced by the tree roots.

MAP66

Evening folks

It seems that 'Old Ned' was a bit under the weather but a quick call from the local vet seems to have worked wonders and Ned is back on the oats again.

In other words the bits and pieces I was waiting on finally arrived from Dart Castings and so I was able to add this cameo scene today. More to come later...

MAP66

Wow this is a very nicely modelled scene great weathering and building work, very inspirational.

I see you have only just become a member, so welcome to the forum and thank you for your very kind comments.

You have given me my very first 'Wow' comment which I am very chuffed about, I hope I am able to produce some more Wow comments with the final scenes.

Thanks again

Mark

I had a go at using some watercolours to paint where the track leaves the scene. I'm no J.M.W.Turner more like paint by numbers but I think it does the trick, especially as the tree is designed to mask some of the view so it doesn't need to be a masterpiece.

I am waiting on a few bits and pieces from Dart Castings and it can take a few weeks for them to deliver, hence no posts for a while. Hopefully when these bits and pieces arrive I will be able to finally get this completed and then all I have to worry about is putting some words together and sending my entry in.

MAP66

A quick update this evening with a photo for those of you interested in chimney stacks. You can see my attempt of a lead flashing, still needs to be painted a greyish colour and weathered.

I used paper cut with a Stanley knife and glued in place with Deluxe Materials Rocket Card glue. I didn't manage to get all the flashing in line with the brick courses but close enough, life's too short to be that exact in my book.

As I mentioned in an earlier post the lichen on the roof is made from dust you find at the bottom of a box of tea bags. Dab on a spot of glue and sprinkle on the dust, blow of the excess, wait to dry and paint. Also has many other uses as well, start drinking copious amounts of tea and let your imagination run wild.

MAP66

That black and white photo is very realistic. I reckon if you zoomed in a touch so you didnt see the edge of the board, it would be very hard to tell real from model.

Thanks Luke that's very decent of you to say so. I will probably take some more B&W shots like this when the model is complete.

Regards

Mark

Here's a few more shots of the Coal drop, these were taken inside in artificial light and I am now pleased with the light level in the coal office after painting the LED yellow, its much dimmer and looks more realistic now.  I have tried to take shots from different angles and the first shot is a close up to show the padlock on the door of the store which I finally was able to make with a bit of plasticard and fuse wire and there's me again with the shovel, you will have to forgive me for wearing a fireman's hat and not a flat cap but like I said before I was intending to end up on the footplate of a loco and not in a coal yard.

The second shot looks along the raised track bed and is my first attempt of sketching the track disappearing out of sight. It's not quite right yet so more practice required on that one. Can you also see the discarded newspaper that someone walking along the alley has thrown over the fence. The third shot looks through to the tree which is still not permanently fixed in place but you can see that I have added some ivy growing up the trunk, you can also see that I have added some ivy growing up the side of the stables as well which is clear to see in the last shot.

Just for a bit of fun I used the monochrome setting on my camera phone to take the fourth photo.

Now with football coming home and all that, does that mean I will have to squeeze a football related cameo scene in somewhere? I have an idea....

MAP66  

Well there was no model making progress made to my CBC over the weekend but the Mrs did get her patio finished ready for the arrival of the new furniture tomorrow.

I say there was no progress made, however I followed the photo tips kindly shared by 'KNP' from his most recent post on his amazing 'Not Another One?' CBC and took the Coal Drop outside in the garden to take these two photos in natural light. I am very pleased with the results (lighting wise, still need to sort the focusing out) and with further experimentation with reflective boards etc.should result in some nice images, certainly an improvement from the shots I've been taking indoors. So at least I can say progress has been made on the photography side of things - courtesy of KNP.

MAP66