Tomathee

As promised I've returned with an update. I'm not sure it's quite finished but it's 'built' and roughly in place, and I wanted it moved on from my workspace so I can have a go at something else over Christmas. Quick disclaimer that it probably falls out of realism on a couple of things. Off the top of my head it's a girder backing onto what will probably be a field type scene, so effectively a couple of feet of ground above the tunnel covering part of the girder section (made more sense in my head). Firstly, it was a Wills kit I used (SS57 Vari-girder Bridge), not sure wheere I got Peco from in the last post. This was to go with a supporting structure that I ended up scratch building with 2mm card and a plasticard sheet I found in the model shop (not sure of the brand). I think I mentioned at the beginning I had tried a Peco ready made tunnel mouth but I couldn't see a picture, so I've added one below, also for comparison with what I came up with. The clearance wasn't really there, with enough wiggling I could get through without scraping the paintwork but it got a bit silly. I'm using the worst case scenario of the longest stuff I have on both lines which is highly unlikely to ever happen, however playing that against sod's law I wanted to be sure. The girder bridge I assembled as per instructions and there's nothing complicated to add, used a paper template to make it wide enough and double faced as some of the back will be visible. The side walls of this I used as a template on to 2mm card, which I did at double thickness for the wing walls, ahead of mounting the plasticard. I cut one corner of the triangle off and flipped it to make a small buttress(?) at the end of the wall. I also did the vertical sides at the front of the entrance for the girder to sit on/in. I did the same again but shorter, these sit behind and are what the girder sits on. I also did a couple of small pieces for the far end of the wing walls. Once I had all the card pieces I used them as templates for the plasticard sheet. It was new to me, but found it quite easy to cut and fairly cheap (£3.30 for I think an A4 sheet). Before mounting the plasticard I used Halfords grey rattle can primer on it and the girder section, also the card as some of it might be visible for a while until I finish the scenery and it was no extra trouble. Then mounted the plasticard to the card with Copydex. I then embarked on what felt like an eternity of trying to get the right paint colour and technique for the plasticard. I wrote down various things I tried but it ended up getting so out of hand I can no longer make sense of my notes. I had acrylic, enamel, ready made wash, home made wash, sponges, stippling and more. Luckily I had a spare bit of plasticard that I cut out wrong handed for one of the walls to practice on and wipe down several times. I also watched several youtube clips and ended up with a bit of a mishmash of various things, a few examples of attempts. What I ended up on was painting an overall grey coat and spot painting individual stones with 3 or 4 different shades. As fresh it didn't look great but adding a wash I think helped a bit. I did an all over grey wash then some dark grey/black for the mortar. I tried a dust type wash but I'm not sure it looked right. In the meantime I also spent some time looking for a colour to do the girder bridge, I ended up using Revell bronze green which I'm fairly happy with. On to assembly, I had a bit of struggle getting the girders to stick to the vertical walls either end as the bottom was the only part with a decent contact surface. So I used some card scraps to make the surrounding area level and used a spare bit of mounted plasitcard to kind of sandwich the girder between front and back. Loctite all purpose seemed to do the job with attaching the plasticard pieces together. I had some smaller plasticard pieces around the sides and so on, these are ok but below a point the plastic will start to curl and add an extra issue of keeping it flat whilst the glue dries. On the inside wall of the vertical sides which was a few mm wide I just used a pencil to mark out the horizontal stones. On to a couple of finishing touches. To finish the capping on some of the walls I was able to use some of the junk sprue parts from the girder bridge, primed and painted Tamiya buff, looks a bit bright but didn't have anything else and wanted to not have more grey. Lastly pics of it in it's rough final place. The back of one of the wing walls was part of the experimenting for the paint but I've put it so it's almost hidden, between the tight angle against the backscene, when the scenery is added behind it should soon be forgotten. Earlier on I said it wasn't quite finished. I need to put something for capping on the vertical walls and little buttress at the bottom of the wing walls. I've got card options from other kits but if there's a plastic option I'd rather go with that for consistency. I'm also not sure on the wash, particularly the mortar wash which might be too dark, in two minds on that, and something to tone down the buff capping, which I'll do once I paint and add the other capping in the same colour. Also to continue into the tunnel, I have more plasticard for side walls to go inside some distance but I'll go with a simpler painting method. Maybe need it on the roof as well though it will be invisible from almost every angle. Finally the surrounding scenery, particularly the hill/field to sit on the tunnel and come up to the mouth. Some of the wood and insulation board is in the background that I've made a start on, this will extend to this entrance and slope upwards from the tunnel, with some grass banks either side of the wing walls. If there's any comments or suggestions please put them forward. This was the first time doing a number of things and it was mostly enjoyable, but for my procrastinating and indecision. At some point I'll have to do something like this for the other end so anything to improve on this one or that I can take forward for the next one would be great. Thanks again for the tips which was now a couple of months ago.

In plastic modelling circles (Airfix et al) there's always a step dropped in about washing sprues in case any mould release residue remains that will later affect gluing and painting. I've never personally had this issue but it must exist for it to be so widely mentioned in guides and videos etc. Could be a similar issue at play here?

Thanks, I thought that might be the case. I'm sure this is partly me procrastinating, and I'm making more out of it than I need to. I could go either way and once on to the next job forget all about this deliberating. I'm not sure what happened with the greys, I'm only using what I have to hand, rather than buying something specific but it's still several pots. With a couple of them after applying I couldn't see any difference, which may be a comment on my eyesight as much as anything. Thanks for the comment on it jumping to a bit dark, I think that's partly caused by losing some of what I thought would be intermediate colour steps. What I might do is use the other spare bit currently masked for a final go, and mix that darker colour with the light to see if I can find something a bit closer together. I think I'll go with the bottom approach, I can always do a bit of dry brush alter on (and the sponge is more fun!). Will be back with the results...

Hi guys, I've got a scrap of plasticard I've been testing a couple of paint colours/techniques on, that I will use for a retaining wall/tunnel portal I'm making. It's the first time I've used this material, and scratchbuilt something, and dry brushed a wall, and used a sponge. As it's so far off-piste for me I'm not sure I'm heading in the right direction. I've had in mind all the usual tips (don't overdue it etc), but I'm normally found lacking in the creativity/art department and this is no different. So far, I've primed with grey, then done a grey all over, then split in half. I did one half dry brushing with a few different greys, and one with dabbing a sponge gently, using the same colours. Whether it's because of light or something else I'm not sure which had the better outcome, so firstly I'm looking for an opinion on that, I flit between the top one looks good as a rain washed type of effect, and the bottom one looks better from the stones being less uniform. Second, if I should add more to it or if what I have is enough (it's not based on anywhere specific). Third, I think (though happy to be corrected), that how it currently is will need some kind of extra step to address mortar. I had thought some kind of beige wash, but I'm not sure, I don't want it to stand out too much. I've added a few pictures below to show what I have so far. Please feel free to add any critique, as I said I'm happy to follow instructions or put a kit together but visualising things and coming up with a paint scheme for a wall with nothing to guide me isn't my strong point. Many thanks

Thanks for all the replies, apologies for the delay in replying, I had started on the solution and I'll come back once it's finished. I liked the O gauge idea and if my current idea doesn't pan out will probably go back to it. I think the thing putting me off was the intention is to have hills/fields behind it and I didn't want the tunnel taking up too much of the 'view', which I imagine these would add a decent chunk on to the height. This was poorly explained by me and picked up a couple of times. I've done the track as streamline spaced along straights, and opened up to around setrack on the curves, it's a small layout so in reality the outside loop is a bit wider than 3rd radius and the inside a bit wider than 2nd radius. However at some point in my laying of it there's a stretch of around 6 inches where they are wider than setrack, only a few mm or so, but is obviously where I want this portal to go. I would have looked at this but for a couple of reasons. The tunnel is to hide a tight curve at the 'far corner' of the layout which I can't do anything with at ground level. I plan to eventually have hills/fields on top of it all. I've also got the other end of the tunnel which comes from the station, off the loop. I wanted that so I could have the loop that passes the station 'hidden' and have a bit of separation between it and the station. Also a good idea and outside the box, I don't think I'd have ever considered anything like this without a picture though it would be suitable for what I want as a backup option. This for me was the solution I was looking for but unable to imagine myself. I've seen these girder kits used so many times in the bridges as the name on the tin suggests that I hadn't thought of using it for this. With that initial idea you do find other options such as Scalescenes plate girder bridge and others which give the same "misdirection". So I've gone ahead with the Peco suggestion and am working on it, almost prepared the shapes ready for brick cladding and to paint it all, then I'll report back. Thanks again for all the suggestions and input.

Hattons Christmas Sale, over 240 lines. Looks like a good effort, have a few on my wishlist that I've not seen at these prices. Also of note if it's your scale are the O gauge A3/A4 down to £299 in some cases

Bravo on the refreshing openness of your approach to the problem and communicating the plan.

Derails are doing 30% off when you buy three or more Hornby 4 and 6 wheel coaches. However should add, I was going to impulse buy a few but some of the headings don't seem to match the picture/product code so I left it to avoid any potential hassle. I've bought from derails before and they are excellent, and the free postage threshold is quite low. E.g https://derails.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=3881 R40119, listed as 4 wheel 3rd LNWR. The picture is a 6 wheel first LNWR, the description says 6 wheel 3rd in L&BSCR, and Google says 6 wheel 1st LNWR. I'd suspect the code and Google are correct and if it was higher on my want list I'd take the gamble.

Thanks @curlypaws, I'll probably keep it simple for my first example and go with the pre fitted sound, then I'll have it for comparison against any future projects I DIY.

Hi guys, I've been tempted by one of these at what seems a fair price after having it on my wishlist for a long time. What I wanted to ask about was how the sound fitted examples square up against buying a DCC ready version and separate decoder/speaker. This would be my first foray into a sound fitted loco of any sort and I couldn't find anything on google by way of comparison, for this or any other examples of factory fitted sound vs DIY. Thanks

Good show, someone else mentioned Oakenshaw which I also thought highly of, son went for the making tracks layout as his favourite, their future plans sounded ambitious so will be good to see. A pint of coke and packet of crisps was the wrong side of £5 so we went over to Asda, plenty of options if you walk/drive round the stadium and I think I saw a tea/coffee van outside which would have been cheaper for the morning break. Just a single purchase of some metcalfe houses I had my ear bent into buying. Was tempted by several things but not quite enough to part cash, unfortunate as particularly with the used sections it looks better than going online.

From the title I thought this was to do with guilt from an other half and a plea for packaging that would be less likely to get us into trouble when it arrives

Thank you both, I've had a look and with the worst case, however unlikely, of longest coaches passing there's less than half a cm to put something in the gap. I had ten minutes at lunch to look at a possible solution of raising the portal a bit, the area causing the obstruction is on the top left/right corner of the opening (poor description) and by raising it, it seems close to working. I need a bit more time to put something solid for backing and get some more scrap wood and card for it to sit on so I can trial and error it to see if it's a legitimate fix, I'll report back.

Hi guys, I've created a bit of a problem for myself that I should have seen coming really, wondering if there are any options I haven't so far considered. I laid my track many many moons ago with the intention of landscaping later, including a tunnel. A bit more recently though still many moons ago I bought a tunnel portal on impulse that I thought would fit the bill. Fast forward to the present day and, if you haven't already guessed, said tunnel portal isn't wide enough for my longer stock to get around the curve it is placed on. The issue is a combination of it being a double track that is slightly wider than set track to allow wider curves, and the fact it is on a curve to begin with. Once I calmed myself down, the options I've so far worked through: Tried the tunnel on different areas of the curve, some of which do come back down to set track width before ending up at streamline width towards the straight. Still not wide enough until a point far enough along that it would cover too much of the layout, so what I have is unusable really. I thought about cutting it open further but I'm not sure if I can make the edge look the part. I made a Scalescenes single track portal that included a decent enough solution for the edges but I don't think it would work here as it's paper onto plastic. Considered relaying the track - I think back to all the effort it took getting the curves correct, cork, wiring, canting, the landscaping so far and I don't think it's the outcome I want. I also think I was close to the edge on the tracks being too close for collisions when laying it, so not much space to reclaim anyway. Measured the tunnel portal I have (PECO) to look elsewhere, looked at other tunnel products - Metcalfe, Scalescenes, all of which are the same or smaller width. Following that I think my remaining options are: Found a Noch tunnel portal which may suit as the sides are more vertical below a curved top, though I can't confirm the size online and it's £15 to take the gamble. Try a bridge type solution over the tunnel exit to cover essentially an undecorated hole in the landscape Attempt a scratchbuild Scalescenes/other, though creativity isn't my strong point neither is cutting a smooth curve... Looking for any suggestions you helpful people may have Thanks Tom

Will be going to this with my son, looking forward to it. Saw an advert (Facebook I think) with a very nice layout mentioned, then saw the same layout on the blog for Kernow shop, then saw the same layout was on the Hornby magazine cover so bought that to have a look, then came here to post and see that it belongs to the guy that started the thread! Looks great so will have to try and read the thread for that before seeing it in the flesh. It has tipped the needle back towards modern image on our beginning stage layout which is frustrating from the side of dipping into buying two categories of rolling stock but there's worse problems I could have. One question on how Sundays compare to Saturdays? I've not committed yet and didn't know if there's a thing of stalls only going for one day Vs saving the cost of a child ticket going on the Sunday, thanks

(didn't see an existing thread, surprising unless I owe an apology for poor search skills) Have used TMC via their website before and this time was particularly good so writing up. They seem more well known for the weathering side but the standard shop I think ha a good selection and fairly priced, and I feel when sales come up this is a shop I can always find something of interest. Prompted by an email of the latest sale along with an extra 10% payday code I put a few things on a wish list and decided which to go for. Ended up going for a third pair of Dapol MJA wagons which is the last I needed. The previous pairs I've bought over the last 18 months were £53 from another model shop and £50 at a show. With the sale and code this final pair was £42.48, nice against the price of everything rising. Being close to the £50 free postage threshold I added some kadee couplers that I've wanted to try for a while and were similarly priced to other places. The order was made at 10:30pm on Friday night and arrived around 10:45am Monday morning, approx 60 hours and over a weekend which I found impressive, as I wouldn't have been surprised for it to not have been looked at until the Monday. Different people and areas have preferences for delivery companies so it's less relevant but for me using Royal Mail is a positive, they update with emails on the delivery window and the process if I'm out is better (aka not thrown over the fence in any weather). Would recommend and definitely use again.

I'm sure I saw one going the other way so perhaps two? Put it this way there was one waiting that I got straight on to both times, that sort of thing never happens to be... Really enjoyable show after almost two years out. Felt heaving at times/certain places but I wouldn't put it as a complaint. Layouts that's came to mind include Grantham, Roxby road(?) and a modern image roundy at the bottom of the escalators to the food (not sure if the names on the last two as they were always so busy). Thank you to the 00 live steam guys also, it was the only interactive stand we found and my son loved it (may have been others that we missed or the guys were having a breather etc). Seemed a lot of trade, personal result was a Dapol class 68004 at £120 from Pennine models. Been waiting ages to find one that wasn't at an inflated price from other sites/stalls and cheaper than some of the other pre owned on sale today. Several options left, would recommend as they had some other decent offerings at good prices.

Been given clearance to attend Looking forward to it, first show since February '20.

I think I'm remembering correctly from the recent TV show where they demonstrated the steam effect that it only lasted a few minutes before needing a refill(insert correct term). It's tempting either way, the cost of a tts decoder and steam add-on would be much more done separately.

Bachmann DCC fitted Standard 4 had me tempted for £88 - https://kgrmodels.com/product/31-117dc-Bachmann-oo-standard-class-4mt-75074-br1b-tender-br-lined-black-early-emblem-dcc-on-board/

Thanks, I've seen about the reliability issues from researching this but I'll persevere with those I have and see for next time. I used gm500 for the surface mounted motors so it would be something not completely from scratch to learn.

I've already cut the point motor sized holes for them to attach directly, trying to avoid issues as some have mentioned with the longer pin not always throwing and it being harder to align under the board. I did look at the extended version originally and bought them, however to go with the method I've done the pins have been cut to size as well.

Sorry about that, in making a separate thread to keep titles more searchable for others I left out the important parts. It's peco 00 gauge code 100. They do have metal clips however don't seem long enough to bend over, though I'll have another look.

I've found several threads on securing the motor to the baseboard if using a small hole through it for the pin, however I followed one of the several other threads suggesting mounting the motor directly to the point and cutting a suitable hole in the board. This is fine however the motor doesn't hold itself in position and slips partly down, presumably to fall out completely at some stage. Do folk normally glue the four lugs that go through the sleepers either side of the pin to hold it in position or is there a less permanent method I haven't thought of? Up til now I've used surface mounted so it's a set of new problems to tackle. Thanks

Just wanted to confirm that you cannot use one PL-13 on a crossover with a pair of PL-10, in this case to go from outside to inside loop. In my head it was possible but on looking at it I don't think it's the case as the frogs would be need to be opposite polarity when both lines were running straight, couldn't find any other topic on here or google with similar terms. Many thanks Tom