Chris Williamson

Mike, can you let me know what time the next train is due through Close Mooar crossing and I'll slip out and take some photos? It's only a five minute walk down the hill from here ! You've caught the station building and goods shed perfectly.

Fine dry weather has required my time in the garden. There's not been much progress on the office and workshop. Some months back I did start to paint the small chimney of previous posts. Here's where that has got to. I'm still wrestling to get the appearance I want to achieve, but I do finally seem to have mastered thinning the paint sufficiently and applying it thinly enough to leave an uneven matt finish. A general view: And a little closer: Mortar, weathering, dirt and soot still required, all of which will be new to me!

Work on blending the join continues slowly. I've resorted to very, very carefully scraping with a sharp blade to get rid of the long scratches left by the needle file. Meanwhile work has started on the hip roof. There've been changes since I built the cardboard mock-up: some of the dimensions of the structure have been increased to better accommodate the terrace that hides the fiddle-yard; a more diligent scrutiny of the photographs I have brought the realisation that the ridge of the original workshop and office building only ever ran between the chimney stacks in the gables and hadn't been extended into the hip roof of the newer extension to the building. With the change in dimensions and the manner in which the two elements of the roof intersected, I thought it prudent to check my maths and the application of Pythagoras' famous rule to the hip roof geometry. Scrap cardboard is cheaper as well as quicker and easier to experiment with that Wills sheets. Happy to say the template fitted perfectly at the first attempt. Having confidence from the test fit, the template dimensions were transferred onto Wills slate roofing sheets. I'm hopeful of having the opportunity for further progress later this week.

Balley-yn-Eas is back! Thankfully I have only had to make one trip off the Island, albeit for a number of weeks. I'm hoping there's no further need to travel as the best part of a 1000 mile round trip isn't something I'm in a hurry to repeat any time soon. My most pressing duties have been fulfilled and all that remains is to deal with occasional correspondence over the coming months. Since my last post back in April I have managed to snatch the odd hour to continue work on the office and workshop building. It's an activity that has provided the perfect balance of distraction and occupational therapy at those times I have most needed the like. I'll post more in due course, but in the mean time, here's a couple of pictures relating to the struggle to make Wills slate roofing sheets join and blend. This is work in progress and I hope to be able to improve on what you see here by means of judicious use of needle file and sharp knife. Work in progress on the operators side of the roof and the 'raw' joint on the layout side: Closer view of work in progress on the operators side of the roof:

WOW! That sounds like a great idea that's just got to be tried. Of my three other options I can report as follows on a trial build of a small nine-pane (3x3) window: Construction from fine strip - has indeed proved difficult and time consuming; didn't quite manage to get all the glazing bars at right angles to each other when made of two full length verticals cut to fit inside the frame and the two horizontal bars cut from three pieces each so that they fitted between both the frame and the verticals; the end result was just about acceptable if a little 'rustic' in appearance. Cutting out from thin plasticard as a single piece - also proved difficult and time consuming, with a final appearance that was far from convincing; it's well nigh impossible to make neat square cuts, even by trimming little by little, and keep everything perpendicular; then end result really wasn't very convincing at all. Scribing the glazing with the desired design followed by the careful application of paint to represent the glazing bars, wiping the glazing clean where needed - well this worked up to a point but, while being quick, was messy and it proved difficult to clean the glazing without also removing paint from where it was wanted. This last approach in turn inspired me to attempt a fourth method, currently in process - having lightly scribed the frame and glazing bars, I applied 6mm masking tape to part of the design in the horizontal direction so that one frame bar and one glazing bar were left exposed and the exposed bars were then painted between the tape. Once the paint had hardened for a couple of hours the tape was carefully removed. The end result looks reasonable in appearance. I'll leave this for a week or so to fully harden prior to repeating for the remaining horizontals. This process can then hopefully be repeated for the verticals if the tape doesn't lift the existing horizontal paint at the time of removal. This will be slow work with the need for the paint to harden sufficiently between stages. If this works, the big plus is that I can play with the tape until I'm happy it's in the right place without risking damage to any of the work so far. But the WOW has to be tried as it will be so much quicker and easier to execute if the end result looks good enough. Alas, very recent sad and unexpected news from a far corner of the British Isles is going to put modelling on the back-burner while I take up the duties of Executor over the coming months. Updates here are likely to be infrequent or non-existent for some while to come.

Poor weather over that last couple of days provided the opportunity to work on the next section of cladding. A start has been made on the bay window that's such a distinctive feature of this building; the basic frame being constructed 'in -situ', but without being attached to the cladding. The assembly can then be completed and painted separately before being attached permanently once everything has been painted. Sorry the photo is upside down, but I don't appear to be able to get it to upload the right way up! The dilemma, now, is how best to complete the finer details of the window frames; both the bay window and the other windows? I've not found anything remotely suitable that's available for purchase. To my mind that leaves three options: construct from fine strip - difficult and time consuming; cut out from thin plasticard as a single piece - also difficult and time consuming, with the risk of one slip of the blade ruining the work thus far; scribe the glazing with the desired design followed by the careful application of paint to represent the glazing bars, wiping the glazing clean where needed. As far as I recall, the third option always worked well for me in my N-Gauge days. But then you can get away with that sort of thing in 2mm scale. Thoughts, anyone? A pertinent WOW, perhaps??

It's got to be done some time! All I need to do is to find the time and the space. Looks ideal for a layout incorporating a larger mineworking. The tramway from inside the the Great Laxey Mines to the washing floors was built to a gauge of 19 inches, while the tramway from the washing floors down to the harbour had a gauge of three feet. Rolling Stock | The Great Laxey Mines Railway (laxeyminerailway.im)

Many thanks Woody. That looks like another great tip that could save time and effort, not to mention providing a means of saving work that might otherwise be beyond redemption.

A little progress made on cladding. Now it's available, I thought I'd try out the new Wills slate walling. Others have already observed that these sheets include a number of overly large blocks of slate even by Snowdonian standards. How many 4mm workmen would it have taken to put the biggest of the monoliths into the wall? Needless to say, some work is going to be required with the sharp knife to cut these down to Manx proportions. The big question in my mind was how readily was I going to be able to 'blend' joints, particularly on any apex where two walls meet. A couple of evenings allowed an experiment on a gable-end and chimney stack. Before: After: A single sheet isn't tall enough to clad the entire Gable and stack. There are three pieces and two joints in the following view. The first in line with the 'cut-out' for the terrace and the other half way up the height of the stack. I just needed another 10mm or so to get to full height. Here are a couple of views of the overall effect:

Should we split this out into a useful new thread for others to add to? A reference catalogue of 009 dimensions, especially kits. This would allow prospective purchasers, who haven't otherwise seen or got a sense of the dimensions of a particular item of stock, to decide if the item fitted with the 'loading gauge' and general 'scale' of their particular setup or project. I'm thinking of the sort of dimensions that @BernardTMP has kindly provided for us this far.

Referring back to Andrew Scarffe's book. Here's the inspiration for my mines office and workshop: Space available has dictated that the prototype design be 'cut-down' for my model. Anyway, heartened by the success of using foamboard as the substructure for the small chimney, work has started on a foamboard 'frame' for this building. As the majority of the faces will be larger than any one sheet of Wills walling, the structure is too big to be put together without a sub-structure to build around. I have to say I am enjoying working with foamboard. It's very easy material to work with and structures like this can be quite quickly put together. The sun shines and the gardening awaits, so cladding is going to be an activity for evenings unless the weather turns.

Tom, I had to look twice to see you were producing two sides at the same time in the first photo. Any thoughts on using the jig to produce a 4 compartment small bogie coach?

A while back I acquired a Copy of Andrew Scarffe's book, published by the Manx Heritage Foundation, now Culture Vannin: It's a fantastic source regarding structures, buildings and working practices, not to mention the history. At best, I'm not sure I'm going to have room, or time, for anything other than a static representation. But it would be interesting to know if anyone has thoughts on creating a z-gauge based working model in 4mm scale?

I've no problem with other people's pictures in this thread and thanks for sharing. The link is very informative, too. The more we share, successes as well as failures, the more we can learn from each other. Having just acquired an airbrush from a certain Merseyside retailer, I'm now absorbing George Dent's Airbrushing for Railway Modellers from the Crowood Press. There's a lot to take in before I'm going to feel confident of turning the airbrush on hours of work. Practice on scrap appears to be the way to get started.

Thanks Tom. I've seen a number of people make references to Evergreen now. I'll take a look. Things have clearly moved on since the days of packets of poorly cut Slater's plasticard strips. The one and only remaining model shop here on the Isle of Man has very limited supplies of materials so I suspect that I'll be hunting on-line as and when I start coach building.

Thanks Cam. That's the sort of thing I had in mind. Lead, zinc and even a little poor quality silver are mined. For now, the mine tramway is 'off-stage'. I'm out of room to include anything of it on the terraces. That said, I'm wondering about including an addit below the terraces just above river level with access by a bridge. That might present an opportunity to include a 6mm gauge line for the Ant or the Bee to run on! I'm certainly going to need a drainage addit out to the river in the vicinity of the larger engine house from which the pump is driven.

That's very kind of you to say so. To be honest I'm not sure if it's patience and talent or just a peculiar form of OCD. I'm going to have to spend some time on other domestic projects before long, including the garden, if I'm not to be so accused by the Domestic Authority here. And I still have to learn how to paint the finished article; a skill I'm still wrestling with. I'm increasingly of the opinion that the very best of the modelling we all admire and aspire to emulate has been painted by artists with a keen eye and a talent for replicating the colours, tints and shades they have observed in real life. I'd say you've done a fair job of doing that with your layout and I'll be happy I end up with a result that measures up once I've got that far.

WOW! But, alas, your post came 18 month too late for me.

Small chimney construction completed: The chimney is since primed and awaiting painting. Just a few days ago I spotted someone else's post regarding the destructive effect of rattle-can primer on polystyrene foam. Suitably warned, a coat of PVA was applied to seal any remaining exposed edges of the foamboard sub-structure. Out of interest, I primed a fragment of scrap foamboard and, sure enough, the foam filler slowly dissolved as the paint penetrated! Painting the goods shed is still a work in progress. The shed notionally started out as a Wills kit. Originally, I thought I'd use a few of the Wills building kits to speed up construction in the village. I learnt two things: I wasn't happy with the look or the scale of many of the structures as, in reality, they just didn't address my desire for a Manx look; I'm more interested in creating something 'of my own' than slavishly completing or lightly modifying someone else's creation. Of course, the down side to this is a much slower rate of construction than I'd originally anticipated. A side-effect of the above is a whole boxful of components that can be incorporated into my creations. The goods shed doors came from the Wills kit, albeit in considerably cut down form. Another 'left-over' is the crane. Maybe the mine needs one for heavy lifting between railway and the workshop and stores on the terrace above? Space is tight, but this position might be plausible. Thoughts, anyone?

Many thanks for the links back. One eventually leads back to the Dec 1959 RM and Audry's Ffarquhar article in full; makes fascinating reading. Somehow the track plan brought Foxdale station to mind, although there are differences in reality. But it made me think that the are lots of opportunities here for 'off-scene' mining or quarrying activities, further up the valley, without actually needing space for them.

I shall be very interested to see the results from your jig. As a matters of interest, which supplier did you use for your Z-section profile?

Brick capping all but done. Took far longer than expected and was much more difficult than expected. Not perfect, but I'm happy enough with the end result. "Onwards and upwards!" as Fred Dibnah might have said.

Thanks Bernard, you've reminded me that it was your original post that I had been thinking of. Do you have the dimensions for the DM17? I've now found a post, outwith this forum, that suggests DM17 is similar in proportion to DM28 and DM29: The ‘Workhorse’ Coaches are Finished – Steve's Narrow Gauge Adventure (009adventure.blog) https://009adventure.blog/2015/03/14/the-workhorse-coaches-are-finished/ Thanks, too, for your very informative post regarding DM63, DM43 and a modified DM74. Using the sides from these certainly looks to have possibilities.

Is there anyone on the Forum who can give us the dimensions to the Dundas kits DM28 Single Compartment 4 Wheel Coach and / or DM29 Two Compartment 4 Wheel Coach, both based on V of R/Glyn Valley? Having searched extensively, I've been unable to find any mention of dimensions or indeed anything that gives a clue as to how they compare, size-wise, with other stock. I recently acquired the DM64 and DM69 Festiniog style bogie coaches with a view to adapting them. I knew beforehand, from posts elsewhere on this forum, that they were on the small side, but was a little surprised at how diminutive they are. In the experience of others, is this true for all of the Dundas coach kits?

The proportions of the mock-up paper coaches look very convincing. As a matter of interest, which Dundas coach kits did you experiment with? Looking back at your earlier posts I wondered if you had used the DM28 Single Compartment 4 Wheel Coach and / or DM29 Two Compartment 4 Wheel Coach, both based on V of R/Glyn Valley? Or had you used one of the other 4 wheel coach kits? I'd been thinking of having a go at something like this myself, but only if DM28 and DM29 were of similar dimensions to the Peco ready-to-run models.