Calidore

Lovely clip, Paul. I do have rather a soft spot for those Fowler half-cabs and that one is excellently weathered.

Afternoon all, Thought I'd share a few pics of the very quick project I've knocked together in the past week or so -- a very non-specific 'somewhere in the West' shed scene to pose engines on as a display box. The main feature is a scratch build based on Wadebridge coaling stage which I've long felt an urge to model. Only remaining jobs are to paint in the rail sides, add the steps down from the stage, and maybe position a couple of people. 30338 simmers on the back road A shamefully unweathered M7 poses alongside. As well as the actually-finish-something-manageable urge, this has been an exercise in using up scraps, which has been most gratifying. Total tally of odds and ends used up is one offcut of laminate from laying a floor the other week, three dodgy short lengths of Peco Bullhead, 1/3 tube of tile grout for the ground cover, a sheet of spare mountboard for the backscene and proscenium, and various bits of plastikard and Wills sheets. Total investment £8 timber for the frame, and £4.50 for the water crane. Not bad! Adam

Superb! Really looks the part. The middle one seems to be suspicious of the gentleman pointing a futuristic looking recording device at him

A fantastic scene Paul, really photo-perfect as with all your work. How are you managing without a wrapping paper box, though?!

Excellent to see 825 and 926 alongside each other. Shame there’s probably not sufficient appetite anywhere to get 825, 847 and 506 together; having three serviceable S15s around at the same time is surely rather rare. On another note, I think even the Bluebell don’t currently have two operational engines in Maunsell olive. So curiously the NYMR is the place to go for 1930s SR glamour for the time being.

Caught a sneak preview of 30925 today while she was temporarily brought out of the wheel drop shed. Although most below the running plate is still to do, the main bodywork looks to be finished and really is very smart. She's currently sporting an odd combination of lined SR green rear driver and bogie wheels, with black front driving wheel (at least on the side visible from the picnic area). Very much looking forward to seeing her in steam. Also a very enjoyable round trip behind 506 for the first time since overhaul -- it makes a truly tremendous racket going up the bank!

It’s interesting that at this point, people seem to be so used to reservations not working that when the system is operating it causes more confusion than it saves. I’m currently on a single very crowded 802 and the crush of people is actually being made worse by the attempts to leave reserved seats free, causing a lot of backwards-and-forwards as people try to work out where they’re allowed to sit. The service was already 13L on arrival at Oxford and the dwell time was extended further because people couldn’t even get on the train due to the congestion. Pretty sure the first off-peak up fast is normally formed of a 9 or 2x5 set anyway, which is another matter, but at least this way there won’t be any question of which seat to take for passengers at Reading or Slough — there aren’t any!

Hoping for some news on these soon — although as mentioned the original delivery estimate of April/May clearly isn’t happening it’d be good to know when we can look forward to them.

An unforgiving in-progress shot of a project from the past few days. Renumbered to Nine Elms' 80143 and with the early crest changed to late, just needs a Waterloo - Clapham ECS headcode and it'll be on the way. The lighting is hiding the underframe, which was the most pleasing part, and accentuating all the ugly bits! As ever it looks subtler in the flesh so the photo is a little disappointing.

I agree with all the comments on the leaf litter and ground covering, it's looking great. The timbers on the crossing are fantastic as well. Adam

Morning all. As various small layout ideas keep churning over in my head but continue to resist being built, I thought I'd start a small topic to chart some stock weathering. On the menu shall be various goods wagons (not scary), Maunsell and Mk1 coaching stock (moderately scary), and eventually M7s, T9s, and Bulleids (scary). I've been experimenting with mixing acrylic dry brush and powders, and am quite pleased so far. Any comments or suggestions appreciated and I'll update as and when more come through the works. Roof still to do. Adam

Hi Rob, long-time lurker but seems like a good time to drop in and say how much I enjoy this thread and your layouts. The ground textures and the stock weathering in particular are fantastic. All very nice for those of us with a LSWR leaning too. Adam

I’ll certainly be making a visit when they open — first of many I don’t doubt. Never thought I’d live in touching distance of one of the ‘big’ retailers, especially not by them coming to me rather than the other way round!

^ On a similar note regarding upkeep - I’m currently on a 5-car 800 Oxford-Paddington and being shaken to within an inch of my life. The vibration is really quite atrocious, to the point of feeling like there must be a flat or something at times (can’t actually be the case, as it occasionally abates, but it’s the closest comparison I can conjure). I’ve generally been a fan of these since their introduction but I’ve never experienced this before. Has anyone else?

@dikitriki Do you have a price for the T9 kit, please? Thanks. Adam

This is excellent Simon, one of the standout projects of this part of the forum. The textures and tone you've achieved are fantastic and the level of fine detailing with the fences and greenery is just right for the size. Looking forward to seeing some of that Southern steam you mentioned on there Adam

This is quite incredible -- the range of skills and methods is really admirable, with the most appropriate method for each job being used in each case. I love the streets of shops and houses, and the scale of the station is fantastic. The scratch built colour lights positioned on their custom brackets and mountings look excellent too. Adam

This is great -- every element of the scene is so well integrated and the building skills are fantastic. Looking forward to seeing more!

Thanks for all the comments and likes; most encouraging. Thank you very much. It is indeed -- I find scribing with a pencil as is usually recommended to result in tearing the material, so my method is to draw the pattern on in pencil, cut along the resulting pattern with a shallow scalpel cut, and then widen out the mortar courses with a pencil afterwards. Got a bit of paint on. The real thing has essentially no colour variation between individual stones or indeed much noticeable mortar colour, so I'll highlight a few areas of the mortar in white as can be seen on the prototype but it won't be widespread. I'm pleased with the slight shade differences using the dry brush and most of all with managing to avoid drowning the detail out with excessive paint!

A first venture into scratch building, following the exceptional inspiration to be found in this thread Based on the viaduct at Corfe, with some appropriate motive power. A few details such as the front balustrade pieces on the columns still to add before it gets the paint and weathering treatment.

Long time watcher and first time replied here Brian, but this is a lovely project. The canopy is wonderful and the station building is shaping up very smartly, with definite shades of Bournemouth West, which can only be a good thing!

Really great work on the buildings Duncan, the finishing and textures are excellent and you make it look so easy.

I’ve been thinking through several small ideas over the past few months, whilst practising scratch building various bits and pieces, but am now in a position to post an actual project for the first time. Any interest and advice is appreciated! Clavell Point is a small shunting layout and, despite seeming to be another addition to the lineup of dock yard designs (blame the USA and B4), hopefully evidences some originality on account of the specifics and setting. The layout will depict a small Dorset boatyard in the c.1956-62 period, so maintenance buildings and facilities for small vessels will define the look of the area. I like the industrial look of the gantries and equipment as well as the boating equivalent of steam shed ‘junk’ found in such places, so hope to translate this to the model. To mix things up a bit more, this industrial scene and the dockside water’s edge will occupy the rear 2/3 of the board on the landward side, but with the scene being set on a promontory reaching into the sea to form the edge of a bay, the front 1/3 will be a natural rocky drop to the water on the seaward side. Hopefully this will create an interesting contrast and specific placement for the scene, as well as allowing me to model a favourite image of the railway next to the sea. For the general atmosphere and various parts of my inspiration, I have drawn on many waterside scenes such as those at Poole and Southampton during the steam era, the smaller scale environments of Padstow and Bude with Beatties and 1366 tanks ambling about, and Hayle Wharves in the 70s; on the modelling side, I am indebted to the likes of Shell Island, Arun Quay and Harlyn Pier by my betters in the community. The attentive may note that Clavell Point is named after Clavell Tower on the coast at Kimmeridge Bay, so my imagined promontory is positioned at that point on the edge of the Isle of Purbeck curving out into the water. The line history places it at the end of a second branch through the area, diverging from the Swanage branch almost immediately following its respective split from the main line at Worgret. The line would have run slightly to the west though Holme, Bucknowle, and Steeple before arriving at Kimmeridge. The Clavell Point sidings would be found at the end of a short goods-only spur beyond Kimmeridge station, built to serve the small industries growing up there as the line was constructed. Traffic and motive power will be the usual per my LSWR and SR tastes, with the advantage that some of the slightly unusual workings in the area in reality anyway give some legitimate flexibility. Given the photos of rebuilt WC/BoB pacifics being used on the short clay trains from Furzebrook in the early 60s, almost anything seems reasonable -- I will try to limit my indulgences to relegating life-expired M7s and T9s to goods duties though! The photos below show most of what will be the board in current state, with track plan trial placed. I started placing paper building mockups yesterday, but by the evening have started on scratch building one of the main structures, which is the boat workshop on the water. Track plan (the curved point is only there to play out the curvature without fixing track down, it'll be plain track forming the single long back siding disappearing off scene). Ignore the turntable well from a previous project! No M7s were harmed in the making of... The start of the boathouse. More soon, I hope!