MAP66

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.

Evening folks I have managed to complete a few more tasks on my CBC, buffer stop installed and the stable roof has been weathered plus a few other things. I have now almost completed the Metcalfe coal office kit and you can see where I will locate this in the yard from the attached photo. I am adding interior detail within the office which will include a desk and chair, fire place with flickering LED and light. You can see the light from the coal office in the photo to give you an idea, but this is too bright at the moment and I'm thinking about adding a variable resistor to dull the light to achieve an effect which I'm happy with. In the other photo you can see me, or at least a 'ModelU' figure of me, I had the opportunity to get myself scanned as a fireman and 3D printed at the London Festival of Railway Modelling at Alexandra Palace. I thoroughly recommend the experience. As you can imagine I was expecting to plonk my miniature self on the footplate of a loco at some point but as often happens in life I've ended up in a yard shoveling the brown stuff! Hope you enjoy the photos. MAP66

Hi Kevin Your CBC looks the business, I have very much enjoyed the progress of the build from start to finish and the end result is something to be proud of. Perhaps one last photo with the sheep and train spotter?

Thanks Kevin It's great to get such positive comments throughout this build. Makes me want to continue modelling.

Just the one update photo tonight folks. The stables has finally had a rickety corrugated roof put on and I will get around to weathering this at some point. That open stable door is awaiting a horses head to poke out from within, perhaps with a nose bag. Not sure about the back scene, but certainly looks better than me attempting to paint one. The buffer stop will be at the left hand end of the track, for the right hand side where the track enters the scene - well that requires further head scratching in the illusion dept. All the best, enjoy the weather and the Bank Holiday weekend. MAP66

Hello 009 micro modeller Thanks for asking about the puddles. I also used 'Woodland Scenics Realistic Water'. First time I have used it for puddles, so it's an experiment for me and I am applying in thin layers using a small paint brush. Hopefully the end result will resemble puddles of water and slurry from the stables (Yuk).

Hi Folks Thanks for all the advice and feedback. I spent a couple of hours at he coal drop yesterday evening laying some cobbles which I ran out of and applying some general grot and grime in an attempt to try and introduce a bit of atmosphere into the scene. Some weeds have also taken hold along the back fence, I suspect these will soon be accompanied by a load of brambles as soon as I am happy with my attempts to model some. For those of you who are interested the cobbles in the main yard are from the Footpath Range by Juweela. The stone setts running along the front of the stables are from the Wills range. I have used some Das air clay to form the ground where the cobbles end. I purposefully moulded the ground unevenly so that I could add a few filthy looking puddles in the recesses (more work to do here as I'm not happy as how it looks at the moment. Still to happen; Steps to lead from the yard up to the raised track, buffer stop, coal office, horse and cart, yardmen shoveling coal, standpipe and horse trough, roof for the stables etc, etc, etc. only hope I get it finished in time!!! Hope you enjoy the two new progress photos. MAP66

Cheers Banger Blue followed what you said and it done the trick.

Thanks for your comments on the modelling. As you can see I have now found out how to change the thread title. Learning all the time :-)

Thanks for viewing and for the suggestion. Is there any way that I can change the name of this thread (am new to Forums!) Or should I just try to delete this one and start again?

So here's my entry into the CBC, a coal drop. I doubt if anything ever existed resembling what I have come up with, but I'm doing it for fun and to get back into modelling again after nearly 40 years away from the hobby. It's based on a make it up as you go along principle, hence no drawing to show I'm afraid, however I've attached a couple of progress photos to give you all an idea of what the finished article might look like. The base is from Model Scenery Supplies and has the exact dimensions for the rules of the challenge.Track is Peco code 75 and the rails are kept in place over the coal drop by kit bashing a couple of sections of a Peco inspection pit. I intend to set the era as the 1930's and have a horse drawn coal cart in the yard. I have used the Metcalfe stables as a low relief kit. There is also a coal office to add (somewhere). There's still lots to do and I will try and keep the progress photos coming. Any comments, ideas, criticisms all most welcome. Thanks MAP66