MAP66

Evening folks, It's been a bit quiet at the coal drop this week as I've been in Bruges for a few days taking a short break. One good thing while I was away is that some more figures I had ordered through ModelU arrived in the post including the seated signalman (1038-076) which I have placed in the coal office with Dave the dog who is laid out on the rug in front of the fire. I attempted to fit an illuminated buffer stop from DCC Concepts, but in my haste I blew the LED for the lamp as I did not use the mini pcb board which incorporates the resistor. There are two buffer stops in a pack so I will give it another go before giving up on this idea. I have also added some static grass, moss and a bit more greenery around the scene. I really want to place the tree but this will have to be the last job as once in place the diorama can only be moved carefully. So this evenings progress photos include the interior of the coal office and more of the yard. MAP66

Hi Kevin Those scale mode scenes baseboards are ideal for the CBC, I used one myself and there's no need to get the tape measure out. Your concept sounds great, there is still bags of room on this challenge for more coal yard scenes. Looking forward to see how it progresses. Regards Mark

Thank you all for your kind comments about the tree. I have now added the scatter and removed some of the cobbles ready for planting on the scene, also done the same for the coal office. I also made a little easel and blackboard to display the price of coal, just for a bit of fun. A bit of bad news as senior management was moving things around the room not knowing that my box of fragile parts for the CBC was on top of a pile of magazines. You can guess the rest, the box and contents went crashing to the floor and the poor old coal dray ended up in 5 separate pieces. Another job for the super glue!! On a positive note though it allowed me to handle the separate pieces better so that I could add my sign writing which I have printed on sticky labels just using Word and size 4 font. So here are tonight's update photos. MAP66

Hi Gerry You have created a really great scene, I love all of it especially the full sacks of coal and the coal man with the sack on his back. Get well soon Gerry. All the best Mark.

Not much progress to report on my CBC, not to see anyway as I have been busy on the underside. There will be some lighting on the diorama which will be powered by a 9V battery. So I have secured a battery holder with velcro and an electrical terminal block to the underside of the base and installed a small toggle switch behind the fence out of sight. So a flick of the switch turns all lights on or off. At the moment I have the flickering effect LED for the fire place and 2 x ceiling lamps one for the coal office and one for the yard store. I am contemplating about fitting a working lamp to the top of the Peco buffer stop and perhaps a street light. I am not an electrical person but I'm hoping with all lighting on at once will reduce the lighting to a more realistic and dimmer effect. Topside, I have added some drainpipe to the coal office and had a go at weathering the brickwork in places using water colours. I think I have devised a method to add some sign writing to the coal dray, it needs a little more working out before I am ready to try it out, if it doesn't work we'll say no more about it. The tree is also fully sea foamed up and I am very pleased with the result considering its my first attempt, next stage will be to add the scatters and then I will need to chisel out a hollow by removing some of the cobbles to plant it. Then a little bit of Das or filler to extend the roots to give the appearance that the tree is really rooted to the ground. The coal office just needs a little more work on the interior and outside then it will be ready to place onto the scene permanently and for this I will need to remove more cobbles so that the coal office sits into the ground and does not appear to float on top of it. A little more forethought at the design stage would have saved some time here but like I said on my first post its a 'make it up as you go along' so mistakes were inevitable. I'm not too worried though as I intend to learn from them and improve for next time. Anyway, heres a photo just to show the tree and weathering on the coal office. MAP66

OK, I know that previously I said that I would paint the tree first before adding any more sea foam but I think you are getting to know me now in that I sometimes change my mind, especially if I think things are going well doing it a different way. That said, I have continued with adding more sea foam, leaving it alone and then coming back to it to add a bit more. It's taking ages and I'm about half way through. So a good time for a tea break and to post a few more progress photos of the tree. Oh, and on a separate issue the dog arrived and will soon be installed on the rug in front of the fire. I shall name him 'Dave'. There maybe a link with the yard broom here as the broom belongs to Trigger one of the yardmen. Just following on from yesterday evenings post, I purposefully left one space to place the latest photo on the tree so you can get a comparison on progress from yesterdays photos. The sea foam stage is finished apart from some trimming up. Then it will be a spray of brown paint and then the scatter.

Thanks Martyn, my scene will be mid to late summer as I need maximum foliage to help mask the line of sight. This is from my own mind, I haven't used any reference material which I expect is completely the wrong way to model trees, but that's just me. Only time will tell if I manage to pull it off.

Any excuse to drink more tea, isn't necessarily a bad thing in my book. Thanks for you're kind comments about my tree, I've just seen your recent post and yours is coming along nicely too. I have some spray glue used for static grass, so I will trial that and the wife's hairspray (she doesn't know yet) on some odd bits of sea foam and see which works out best before the tree gets the treatment.

Evening folks, I started making my first ever tree today and all I can say is I'm glad there is only the one tree required for my CBC. I'm using the wire armature method which I have then covered in ready mixed fix and grout from Wickes simply because I had some left over from tiling the bathroom. I mixed it with some PVA glue to help it stick to the wire. As I type this I am in between gluing sprigs of sea foam to ends of branches to try and fill out the tree as much as possible (very time consuming). Hope its worth the effort in the end. The tree is a scale 35 feet tall and if it goes to plan will be created and sited to help block and disguise the line of sight of the track exit when viewing from the front. I have attached a couple of photos to show where it will be sited and showing the first of the sprigs of sea foam in place. This is just to show what I have in mind, however I need to work more on sculpting the trunk and branches first and then getting the paint on before attaching any more sea foam as its quite delicate. finally all the ends will be sprayed with glue and various scatters applied. Depending on how it looks at the end of all that will allow me to decide what species of tree it is meant to be MAP66

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make much progress this BH weekend, but I did manage to find some time experimenting with replicating lichen and moss for the coal office roof. I used what I can only describe as tea leaf dust (the fine powder you get at the bottom of a box of teabags). I have been saving it up for a while as I knew it would have many uses in railway modelling. A couple of fine spots of rocket card glue onto the tiled roof and then sprinkle the tea dust over and shake off the excess, leave to dry and then paint. You can see in the photo that its a little over-scale but I was a little over enthusiastic with the glue blobs. I still like the result though. I also managed to place a fireside rug in the coal office and the dog is in the post, arriving soon hopefully. My next challenge is to make a tree which will be placed at the corner of the yard as a scenic break to help disguise the exit of the track from the scene. So to make up for the lack of progress, 4 photos for you - hope you enjoy. MAP66

Hi Andrew Well the 'grand finale' was worth the wait as it has revealed a spectacular finished CBC. Great attention to detail right down to the graffiti. That coal train really looks like its going somewhere as it disappears into the tunnel mouth. And hats off to you sir for deciding on a sixth CBC entry. I think we are all waiting with bated breath. Mark

Geoff For a first attempt of a wire tree all I can say is it looks 'bang on' to me, can't wait to see it painted and with some foliage added. I think I will have ago at this method. Well done for figuring out a way for getting the images to fit onto the silos at the right size, as it now looks quite similar to the original artwork from the photo on your first post. Looking forward to your next update. Mark

Thanks again, I will take a look and next post there may well be a dog in the coal office.

Thanks for your kind comments Class73, to tell you the truth the fire came out better than I expected. I may now need to place a rug in front of it and see if I can get a sprawled out dog to lay in front of the fire

Another quick update tonight, I have started to detail the interior of the coal office as you can see in the attached photos. I wired the flickering LED in the fire place up to a 9V battery to show the fire effect. The books on the shelf and desk are card coloured with a felt tip pen. The fire place and desk are from separate card kits available from Model Scenery Supplies. I need to scratch build a couple of chairs and that should be it for the interior.

Thanks Andrew, I might try hand painting if I have no luck finding decals. I think my CBC is still a couple of weeks away from completion and I share your passion for detailing and filling the scene. It's amazing how long it can take and how much you can fit into such a small diorama.

I think your tree looks pretty good Geoff, I need to make a tree for my CBC entry so I'm watching with interest. Not yet decided on wire or maybe sea foam. I like the Silo concept, have you thought about how you will get the art work onto the silos - I'm guessing it will be images of Land Army girls from WWII? Mark

Hi Andrew Cant wait for the reveal of the grand finale. This is a great CBC entry and I have enjoyed all your updates and commentary throughout. Mark

Just a quick update tonight folks. The coal dray I ordered from Dart Castings arrived yesterday, along with some other goodies. I've almost finished the kit which is white metal and couldn't resist placing it on the scene to how it would look, I'm quite pleased with the outcome. There will be a couple of coal men loading the dray and I need to obtain some decals as the kit does not come with any (I thought it did). I think it looks better without a horse attached, anyway Ned is in the stable. Please let me know what you think and if anyone knows where I can get hold of some suitable decals for a coal dray then that would be much appreciated. Thanks Mark

Nice work Andrew, looks like its all coming to fruition nicely. Great work with the undergrowth and all the greenery, it looks very convincing. Looking forward to your next post to see how your fence turns out. Mark.

Thank you everyone for all your kind comments. I have now managed to construct some steps up to the track level from the yard. These were constructed from the Plastruct range. I still need to put in some supports for the steps, courtesy of the Plastruct range again. The doors to the store are made from card and the hasp which you can just about see in the attached photo is a small off cut of plasticard with 5a fuse wire for the hasp. I bent the loop of the wire around the tip of a pin. I was going to attempt to make a padlock but my eyes were already at the point of falling out of my head at the concentration required, so had to give up on that one. I did however manage to scratch build a yard broom, which was very fiddly for my sausage fingers, again from fuse wire and a bit of plastic sprue. Any way photo attached. Next stage will be to attempt the interior of the coal office and I am also awaiting delivery of the coal dray from Dart Castings. I think when that's placed on the scene it will start to bring everything together. MAP66

Evening folks, the stables has taken up a new resident 'Ned' he doesn't look too bad considering he only has two legs (that's low relief for you) and he's tucking into a bag of oats.

Hi Andrew This is really coming along and the detailing is already looking impressive. Looking forward to the next update, but like you say there is no rush - I completely agree with taking the time to get the build and quality right. Keep up the good work Mark

Well after much deliberation, I made a decision - It's a store, apologies for the anti-climax but it does have shelving inside and I will fill it with yard junk to try and a make another cameo scene within a scene. I've attached a couple more photos, you can't actually see inside the store as the camera flash wasn't working but when finished both doors will be open and there will be a dim light in there to illuminate the detail, that's the plan at the moment anyway.

Thanks Geoff, its great to get comments from a fellow modeller over in Oz. I guess you're able to order the scale figures from ModelU, just the personal 3D scanning service which is not available in Oz? Regarding the space under the buffer stop, it is going to be a yard store. Probably with a couple of large doors on the front. However I have still not made a final decision on this so watch this space as it may change.