GWR57xx

A sad end to all the previous work, but I’m looking forward to seeing the new layout develop.

It’s a pity all the earlier photos have been lost from RMWeb.

6 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Thank you, also for the insights! I would be happy if I could achieve the mortar courses on your coaling stage, and  look forward to seeing your 3D printed walls. 

Kind of you to say Mikkel, but I'm still fumbling my way along picking up gems of advice from the really good modellers here...

These are the latest test pieces I've been experimenting with:

The two pieces on the right are laser cut card, one of which was sealed with Mod Podge before painting & filling (just to see what, if any, benefit it gave).

On the left are my first three trial 3d printed pieces. These are U shaped, intended to wrap around the base of a buttress. The top course is chamfered.

Top was a test to see if the wall could be printed face down on the build plate (for speed). Answer a resounding NO as the "elephants foot" has completely obliterated the brick detail.

Middle: as my laser's kerf is approximately 0.2mm, this piece also has 0.2mm gaps between bricks. Hardly any filler has stayed in the gaps. The photo makes it look better than it is because of the very low sun producing nice shadows.

Bottom: a test with different gap widths. Starting at the top row of chamfered bricks, left to right two bricks at a time the gaps are 0.3; 0.4; 0.5; 0.6 & 0.7mm. Then below that, top to bottom two courses at a time the same sequence of gaps. From this I picked 0.4mm as the gap to use on the next test piece.

I printed two copies, the lower one having a small amount of texture applied to the surface of the bricks. It is not very noticeable though, so probably not worth the effort.

These are prior to applying the filler, to show that I haven't flooded the gaps with paint but neither have I worried too much about getting some paint in them.

The filler has been freshly applied here. I'll leave it to fully dry and set then give it a brush over to clean the excess off the brick faces, but I think it compares quite well with the mortar on the laser cut pieces.

@Mikkel, thanks for the compliment 🙂. I must get on and finish it, but I keep getting distracted…

As it happens, I’ve spent the past couple of days 3d printing test piece walls to determine the optimum size for brick spacing and mortar depth to give the best result for the polyfilla method. It works well for me in 7mm, but probably needs larger gaps than 4mm can provide to give a realistic result.

I’m finding that the 3d resin printed walls need wider and deeper gaps than laser cut ply, mdf or card, probably because with the latter the paint is at least partially absorbed by the material, leaving space in the mortar course, whereas in the former the paint sits on the surface of the resin and closes the gap, which therefore needs to be bigger to start with.

I also found that it is necessary to give the base colour time to fully harden and also give it a coat of Matt varnish to seal it before applying the filler, otherwise the colour can bleed into the mortar.

I’m very impressed by your station building, as I have been by all your other Farthing builds. It is modelling like yours that has inspired me to want more from my own modelling. Thank you.

Lovely layout. Any further progress?

Those are incredibly detailed, beautifully painted figures.

I have a collection of similar Napoleonic figures but I couldn’t get anywhere near that kind of quality of paintwork.

Lovely!

Great spread on Llanidris in the June BRM - layout is looking superb.

Congratulations 

Looking good .

I think the central column is structural. The water pipes are in the corners of the coaling platform.

Here's a couple of photos from Didcot:

Also, the coaling platform is slightly raised above the level of the rails, so the wagon door is almost level with the platform when open:

Hope this helps.

Best wishes,

Peter

If you click on the "Activity" tab at the top of the page there is an option "Content I Started". Would that get you where you want to be?

And the modern solution:

Falkirk Wheel

I like the idea of being able to see the line continuing somewhere off-stage, but on the negative side at exhibitions you operate from the front of the layout by the fiddle yard from where you can easily talk to the viewers watching the action on the scenic boards. With the proposed extension in place you will be more remote from those viewers, and also remote from the action you are controlling in the station area. Would this be a problem?

I stumbled across your blog while searching for advice on buying a first airbrush. Very impressed by your work. I've only read the first two subjects so far (this one and Set 732), but will catch up with the rest shortly. Now following.

Thanks for explaining everything so clearly.

When you apply the powders is that onto wet paint? Do you then seal them with varnish? Sorry if I missed that information.

I came across your blog at random during a search and I was so impressed by what I saw that I've just finished reading the entire thing from beginning to end. WOW! Don't know what else to say...

As Compound2632 suggested, you could just have a water crane at the headshunt end, either ground or platform mounted.

Ragstone models do a couple of suitable GWR types:

http://www.ragstonemodels.co.uk/water-columns.html

These would be gravity fed from the water tower at the shed (beyond the overbridge).

Just finished reading your blog from beginning to end. Marvelous work. I'm looking forward to seeing the layout at Aylesbury in a couple of month's time.

Edit: Sorry - I just did a google search and came up with something you posted over two years ago (https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/114430-water-crane-for-sherton-abbas/), so please disregard my comments!

I feel such a fool!