SteamingWales

I've recently bought a pair of Skytrex GWR Water Cranes. They are really nice and easy to assemble kits. I am however a bit underwhelmed by the look of the hose bag. Is anyone able to recommend anything that would be suitable and a bit better looking than the white metal cast

I'm looking into ordering one of these models but have a question regards the DCC version and hoping the hive mind of RMWeb can help. The price difference between the DC and DCC versions is around £25 give or take, yet the average price of Next18 decoder is around £20. So if I order the DCC version what do I get for my extra £5

Its been a while since I have worked on the layout due to other commitments,but currently stuck inside thanks to Storm Francis with nothing else to do so thought why not get back into it with autumn on the way. With this in mind I wanted finish off the shed so have got hold of some 1mm MDF for the roof. I chose this over regular card or plasticard as I wanted something substantial for the roof that wouldn't warp or bend easily. This is just the initial cut of the roof which needs so filing and sanding to fit snug onto the main building Happy modelling

Hi Ralf Happy to help. I'm on a tight budget so to speak so price was the most important really, wasn't bothered if it had a reservoir or any additional bells and whistles. I just shopped around a bit to find the best deal. Eventually found one on Amazon (added the link) as these were cheaper than model shops. After some research turns out most are all the same model, just with different branding on! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Airbrush-Fengda-FD-18-2K-Compressor-accessories/dp/B01984G2OG/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=airbrush+kit&qid=1590857213&s=kitchen&sr=1-8 Honestly the best purchase I have ever made. So much easier to get an even finish than brushes Hope that helps

It's been a bit quiet with progress on the layout lately but I have been scouring the internet for a decently priced air brush to paint the concrete hardstanding with one found it was straight to work with masking the necessary areas and then on with the painting Weathering this is going to be interesting as this will be my first ever time weathering a surface!

Thanks for the help everyone. Just be doing some reading around and it seems a frog juicer is the ticket. TIme to open my wallet!

Hi all Currently building my first DCC layout and have a conundrum with frog polarity. The layout has 2 electrofrog points (yes it's only small), one of these in in the scenic section so easily enough to wire up to a point motor, with the other in the non scenic section and this can be operated by hand. The question is how to wire up the point so that the frog polarity can be changed? I DO NOT want to use a point motor unless absolutely necessary Cheers

Nice little diorama. (Just caught up on everything on YT) I assume the lamp is concrete? Have you of/will be weathering it as it looks rather clean?

Just a summary of this weekends activities. With the girder bridge complete I have now been able to judge the height of the walls required either side of the bridge, and the continuation of the wall then at a lower height. With this done I made use of the good weather we have been having to spray all the card buildings with artists picture varnish. This will prevent the ink from running on the buildings when they receive some weathering After this I decided to construct a small building where the shed clerk would be so engines could be signed on shed etc. Quite happy with this so far, though I cannot decide whether to add internal details such as desk and stove or simply plonk a roof on top? Anyone have any thoughts? Finally I also took delivery of an EFE 30' BET Weymann s/deck bus in "Fishwicks & Sons" branding. I fully acknowledge that this bus would have operated nowhere near where the layout is meant to be based and it would be more suited to a layout within the Preston area, however this was my local bus company before it when bust in 2015, mainly due to competition from Stagecoach. Having now moved away from Leyland I wanted to add a bit of home to the layout so it's staying! As always, Stay Home, Stay Safe, Keep Modelling

Last night's efforts. The arrival of some additional modelling materials meant I could construct the girder bridge. Made using the Wills Vari-girder kit and styrene H columns from Evergreen for the deck supports. Time to paint and weather

First off hoping everyone is staying safe and not going insane. What times we live in. Life in general has got in the way of modelling recently but with all the extra time we now have I have had opportunity to carry on with the layout. First thing to be done was the installation of lighting within the shed. This has been done using the hanging lights from Layouts4U. These have been tested and all work, just need to work out how to get the wires down from the shed and through the baseboard. Next on the list to be completed was the concrete base for the shed. The Standard 3MT amply demonstrates that the flange clearance is all OK with no derailments (it has been tested with multiple locos) The last job has been making a start on the bridge abutments that will form the divider between fiddle yard and main diorama. This is a scratch built card construction and probably took more time planning than actually building, there are so many different prototypes!!!! I eventually settled on having the main bridge sat on a concrete plinth as this seemed the most common prototype and easiest to model. Just to give an idea of what it will look like with the completed bridge I made up a cardboard mock up of the bridge and I'm quite happy with the way it is going to look. Time to build the damn thing now Happy modelling and stay safe

Just catching up on this That ivy is very nice indeed. Keep up the good progress

That's a lot to paint!!!! Would probably take me a month!

Just watch the YT update, liking it so far. Will be following with interest!

Not really on update on progress as there hasn't been any, more of a PROGRESS IS COMING. So I have recently received the Wills Vari-girder kit enabling me to make a start on the divider for the fiddle yard, as well as some lights from Layouts4U. These will go inside the shed suspended above the 2 roads from the roof supports, then I can think about putting a roof on the shed and completing that area of the layout

Good progress so far and a nice bit of scratch building. Will follow with interest

Good progress so far and a nice bit of scratch building. Will follow with interest

Copydex glue. After this piece I am going to be a little less enthusiastic with the application and only go under the sleeper so as not to get the sticky outer edge

The first bit of track is down!!!!!!

Decent progress and liking the whole layout. I have had a bit of experience with foam core but for mocking up structures mostly which I use a cool glue gun for as to not melt the foam. Copydex glue might be an idea as I use that to glue cork or just bog standard wood glue

After reorganising my tool box I was in the mood for a bit of modelling. Thoughts therefore turned to the backscene and what to do with it and boy it turned out to be a difficult decision (probably spent more time researching and thinking than modelling!). However I concluded: 1. I didn't want to leave it blank as it is rather a large space. 2. I didn't want simple glue on backscene because there isn't enough depth in the board to use one effectively 3. It needed to integrate with the overbridge/fiddle yard divider This therefore is screaming retaining wall so I set to. At the end of the day it feels as though I didn't really much but it's a start!

My bad the description may be wrong. The SMS board is the longer of the 2 on offer (110cm) and fits snugly in the large Christmas tree storage boxes

Thanks for the support. Your right, having the extra track was to add a bit more operational potential as otherwise it would literally be just run locos in and out which is a bit boring. By having the extra siding there is room for shuffling locos about the shed

Hi 88D The plan is to run it DCC. Given it is a shed scene with lots of locos running it on DC would just be a pain having to isolated loads of different section

Unfortunately little progress over the last few days due to other commitments and unfortunately this is the state of play for a while ☹️ I did have time however to warm up the glue gun and make up a mock of the divider and girder bridge/embankment