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Paul Robertson

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Blog Entries posted by Paul Robertson

  1. Paul Robertson
    Topping and tailing some details on the layout with the completion of the permanent way. Since we are in the southern region it only seemed right to put a third rail running down into the station. Due to the small nature of n gauge I didn't worry too much with the detail. I painted some 1mm styrene strip dark brown then cut a ramp into the ends. Having completed that the top of the '3rd rail' was painted silver. 
     

    (third rail installed) 
     

    (and from the other side) 
     
    I also decided to put the extra lighting in the other high mast by the Linkspan getting a much better lighting effect. 
     

    (lighting towers now giving out a lot more light) 
     

    (note additional vehicles have now arrived) 
     

    (much better flood lighting on the Linkspan) 
     
    I've been sketching some perspective views onto the back scene and will hopefully start painting shortly. 
     

    (all lit up) 
     

    (suitable semi-trailer load now placed on ferry by the yard tractor) 
     

    (lorries and coaches all lined up) 
     
    Many thanks for reading

  2. Paul Robertson

    A good days work...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    With rain stopping play in the garden I had an afternoon of painting and doing details. 
     
    First job was putting some signs about having printed off my sign sheet
     

    (cutting out various signs for the models) 
     

    (the portakabin signed up) 
     
    Once I had done a few signs I switched over to painting the dock and bridge abutments concrete grey. 
     

    (Dock greyed up) 
     

    (abutments painted) 
     
    Whilst letting the paint dry I made a start on the arches brickwork. 
     

    (first brick bay started) 
     
    At the end of the day I put everything back on the layout to see how it is looking. 
     

     

     

     
    I'll try and do some more tomorrow
     
    Thanks for reading
     
  3. Paul Robertson

    A little lighting...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    Not much time to progress over the last few days but before I did too much more I wanted to get some lighting in to ensure I could cover up the wiring fairly easily. 
     
    My first go at the high masts was with a yellow LED to represent a sodium bulb. Unfortunately having tried it out there wasn't enough light coming out of it for the effect I wanted and I didn't have enough room in my brass rod to get any more LEDs. 
     

    Initial trial with a yellow bulb. Can you spot the light?!) 
     
    For the top of the light mast I tried a cut down bottle top. The first one whilst getting there felt a bit too big
     

    (first attempt with a bottle lid) 
     

    (attached to the top of a brass tube) 
     
    Whilst doing the washing up another smaller bottle top passed under my nose so grabbed that one and cut off the screw shank to get it to size. 
     

    (A bit of a wonky top but good enough for a second trial) 
     
    Replacing the yellow LED for a white one provided a much better result. 
     

    (white light LED high mast light) 
     

    (and another view) 
     
    Pretty pleased with the result as it will make the layout a bit of a centre piece in the room. I need to create a second mast and then put some yellow lights under the bridges. The Linkspan and ferry will have white lighting as will the buildings eventually. 
     
    Managed to coax my yellow pen back into life to finish off the dockside lining as well some further white lining down the train Linkspan. 
    (lining finished off) 
     

    (just need a bit more signage) 
     
    Many thanks for reading

  4. Paul Robertson
    So having created a security kiosk I was happy with yesterday and with only a limited bit of building time this evening I decided to set up a little production line to produce the two others I required. 
     

    (sort of cabin I was looking to create found on a Google search with some useful dimensions that just needed dividing by 148)
     
    By close of play I had managed to complete all three:
     

    (three completed cabins) 
     
    And located on the layout
     

    (two controlling the entrance onto the upper and lower linkspans) 
     

    (and one controlling the access ramps) 
     
    Following this trial run with scratchbuilding I feel emboldened to perhaps try a portakabin or two which are required around the place. A bit more research required on dimensions and door / window sizes. That and the Linkspan wheelhouse will keep me busy for this week! 
     
    Many thanks for reading and happy modelling! 
     
    Paul
  5. Paul Robertson

    A place to stay...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    With the advancement of the back scene into the townscape I needed to create some building facades to try and link the painted back scene with the main model. The first building I tried was to the left of the station bridge. I thought this might work nicely as a slightly down at heal establishment whose heyday of catering for well to do passengers eager to catch the first ferry of the morning to get into Paris by midday has long since gone. Its clientele are now more likely to be railway workers at of place for the evening, or business travellers needing a quick booking. 
     
    So I started off by cutting out some thin balsa wood and then cutting further thin strips to make some eaves. 
    (balsa wood about to be covered with brick paper) 
     
    I thought as the hotel was likely to be built at the same time as the original harbour station that a similar brick paper would be suitable. 
     
    I then made up a sign to advertise the hotel to station passengers who might have missed their connection and are in need of a last minute bed for the night. 
     

    (harbour hotel sign put on.)
     
    I then started painting on the rest of the building in perspective onto the back scene. Lots of masking tape was employed to get the right perspective lines. 
     

    (painting on hotel front wall with the top row of windows) 
     
    I used my acrylic pens to add the details to the roof and windows. 
     

    (working on the next building using the same technique) 
     
    I worked my way down the terrace of buildings using this technique with less detail as we got to the end of the street. Having completed this I then made a couple of outline industrial units to go to the right of the bridge. 
     

    (corrugated industrial units made out of some leftover sheet I had in my modelling tin)
     
    This was painted up in the dull corporate Seahaven blue that other metal structures around the port have been painted (they must get a job lot of it and then paint everything that might corrode) 
     

    (once painted up I then painted in the perspective roof again masking off to get the right perspective lines.)
     
    Having painted on the roof for the units I then used my paint pens to put on some skylights. The rough idea are these are part of the customs warehouse. 
     

    (completed station backscene) 
     
    Having completed the station backscene I then painted a backscene for the ferry so it feels like the ferry extends further than the model. 
     

    (getting the block colour in place) 
     

    (ferry backscene complete) 
     
    I might start on the port control tower next. I feel I'm getting there. 
     
    Thanks for reading
     
     
     
     
  6. Paul Robertson

    A quick update...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    Just a quick update tonight as I didn't have much time. The shrubbery has grown dramatically today with the rest of the embankment covered up. I've left a small amount of embankment clear for a small diorama depicting a landslip. 
     

    (embankment fully vegetated) 
     
    There are two structures that will adorn the top of the cliff. The first was an abandoned WW2 observation bunker. These were always very crude bits of architecture so thankfully quite easy to model. Digging through my box of bits I had some 3mm ply which I cut the walls and roof out of. Having glued it all together it was painted up in suitably grubby colours before being stuck above the tunnel portal and then covered with encroaching scrub. 
     

    (the old bunker with a commanding view of the harbour) 
     
    The second structure for the cliff will be the concrete control tower but that will have to wait for another day. 
     
    Thanks for reading
  7. Paul Robertson

    A start made...

    By Paul Robertson,

    Starting the Linkspan winding machine house building tonight. This will take more than an evening to complete. My styrene I beam arrived today so could get on with it. Firstly I started with the housing base structure which will eventually stand on legs above the Linkspan bridges. 
     

    (first stage - styrene beam structure) 
     
    Once I had finished with this I started on the housing itself made from Wills corrugated plastic sheet. 
     

    (progress on the upper housing) 
     
    Next will be a removable roof. I'd like to fixing Led lighting to the Linkspan structure and the housing will be a good place to hide wiring but will need access every now and again. Following the roof I will construct a walkway around the outside of the housing out of thin balsa. Something for the weekend. 
     

    (where the structure will sit or be it on angled stilts once the winding house is complete) 
     
    That's it for today - thanks for reading
     
    Paul
  8. Paul Robertson
    So today I had a bit of time to do some more modelling and advance my scratchbuilding skills. I need a portakabin type structure to act as a combined office for the ferry and train staff on the quayside. Having done a bit of research on sizes of units and suitably scaled them down to n gauge I started to produce the model
     

    (my sketch drawings and scaled dims of a standard 12155x4050mm portakabin. I initially cut the floor and roof out of thick balsa and glued together with strengtheners in the corners to give a bit of rigidity. I then cut out the windows from thin balsa sheet and scored the door which I hope the outline will come out during painting. Windows had clear plastic fixed across them as per the kiosks I showed in a previous blog. For the toilet windows I fixed an additional sliver of white paper across the top
     

    (Initial shell construction of the portakabin) 
     
    Having got the shell complete I used thin styrene L shaped strips to pick out the edges and generally smarten up the box structure. The final finishing touch was to build the support legs and structure over the roof again out of the L strutt. The L strutt was actually a mistaken online purchase which I expected to be another form but it has come in very handy. 
     

    (rear view of completed structure with blanked windows for toilets) 
     

    (and a front view) 
     

    (Rough position for portakabin on layout with kiosks in the background located by train Linkspan to provide joint accommodation for the railway and port workers.)
     
    I will need to create another smaller  one for the network rail workers by the train station. My next task will be creating the winding house for the linkspan. I'm currently waiting for some styrene I beams to come in the post before embarking on it. 
     
    Thanks for reading 
     
    Paul
     
  9. Paul Robertson

    Action Stations...

    By Paul Robertson,

    I'm onto the second to last scratchbuilt building for this layout. This is the station building itself which as mentioned previously I have wanted to build in the art deco style. Some examples I like are as follows:
     

    (Surbiton station) 
     

    (DE la Warr Pavilion) 
     
    Firstly I completed the platform to give me a base to build up from:
     

    (supports put in place behind the Peco edging) 
     

    (Thin balsa sheet laid on top of the structure) 
     
    I then started to construct the canopy out of 3mm ply and checked to get the height right. 
     

    (initial trial of the platform canopy) 
     

    (and from the other direction) 
     
    I then started to cut out windows and walls from thin balsa for the waiting room and platform offices
     

    (platform wall stuck in place) 
     
    Need to finish off the other walls and then there will be a second level with the canopy acting as a viewing platform for a restaurant/cafe for passengers awaiting their ferry. 
     
    Thanks for reading
  10. Paul Robertson

    Advancing the asphalt...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    It's been a few days since I last posted but progress have been steady. I've been focusing on completing the das clay roadway around the Dock area. 
     
    More rolling between balsa formers to get the right depth before smoothing off with a shaping tool. 
     

    (rolling out the das clay to correct depth and standard width before laying on a pva layer) 
     
    There was a lot of cutting and shaping the clay to get it around lots of tricky corners. 
     

    (all the clay in but looking a bit rough.)
     
    Once dried I sanded down the clay to get rid of the wrinkles and smooth out some of the bumps. 
     

    (sanding down the clay. The small triangle on the right hasn't been done yet and the sleeper end bumps can be seen through the clay. These were sanded out). 
     
    Once all the clay was sanded and the dusted hoovered up I then started to infill the tracks with thin strips of balsa. Straight lengths of track were relatively easy whilst points were quite tricky. Radius tracks required me to wet the balsa and gradually bend it between my fingers.
     
    (initial infilling with balsa strips) 
     
    Once every piece had been cut out my type 66 was driven over it to check clearances with flanges and that all the electrics still worked. 
     

    (type 66 testing the infill) 
     

    (limit of progress today - a few more points to be infilled) 
     
    A final shot of the dockside:

    (Nord pas de calais back in Dock) 
     

    (the second Linkspan paving beginning to stretch down to the train deck) 
     
    Thanks for reading
  11. Paul Robertson
    So today has been spent on alot of detail. Taking lots of thin balsa strips and neatening tunnel mouths and providing a bit more structural detail on abutments

    (additional bridge abutment detail) 
     

    (tunnel mouth neatened up ready for some 'concrete' paper
     
    After a comment from another user here I spent a lot of time checking clearances with two types of wagon before sticking down the walls to the HM customs warehouse 
     

    (an early train load of taxable goods - probably scotch whisky) heads into the customs warehouse siding to check clearances) 
     
    It took about 4 attempts in shaving off plywood before the wagons would clear the walls!
     
    Another small step on the ferry was to round off the stern to give the end of the ship a more boat like feel. 
     

    (ferry stern cut and sanded down) 
     
    I'm also looking at the lighting masts and have created some balsa wood bases for them. The first attempt got destroyed when I tried to drill some holes through them. A second attempt was more successful. 
     
     

  12. Paul Robertson
    I have one space left for a scratchbuilt building. I've always been fascinated by the harbour control centre at Folkstone. Call it ugly or misunderstood beauty this bit of brutalist architecture stood guard over the harbour for all the time I can remember in the last 70s 80s and 90s only recently succumbing to the demolition man with the wholes ale redevelopment of the harbour.

    (a brand new control tower) 
     
    The control tower for Dover harbour looks like something from a second rate regional airport compared to the striking outlines of what Folkstone was given. With its radar rotating round it looks like the control room wants to either set sail itself or take off to France without getting its feet wet! 
     

    (it seemed to sprout antenna over its life time) 
     
    There was quite a boxy (=easy to build) office building underneath. Not sure I will have room to recreate all of it as I plan to sit it at the top of the cliffs over the tunnel mouth. But some representation I think will be possible. 
     

    (rear shot showing covered parking area) 
     

    (a rear detail) 
     

    (and all boxed up just before demolition) 
     
    It will be fun having a crack at this. I might need to build my cliffs first to see how much room I have to play with. Then out with the calculator and ruler to work out some rough scaled dimensions. Having now scratch built the station and Linkspan I feel more confident taking this on! 
     
    If you have any memories of it or better still a dimensioned drawing I'd be grateful for your help 
     
     
    Thanks for reading
     
    As an adjunct to this just found an article that explained the actual history of this building. It wasn't harbour control for the port but instead controlled the pilots in the Dover Strait area. https://www.flickr.com/photos/tesselate/sets/72157645569502707/with/14785308103/ article can be found here. But since I like the look of it I think I will repurpose it as Seahaven Harbour Control Tower instead. 
  13. Paul Robertson
    It must be the inner geek in me but I've always found gantry signs interesting structures and have wanted to model one. This wasn't going to be a motorway gantry sign as the prototypes I've seen at Dover are a thinner a frame type structure than the massive monolithic structures put up by Highways England. 
     

    (prototype signage at Dover with a frame structural supports) 
     
    I started off making the sign face out of a piece of balsa sheet. I wanted this lit as per prototype so needed to build this in at an early stage
     

    (main sign face structure completed with two white LEDs built into the top of the sign. I allowed a small slit for the light to wash down the face of the sign.)
     
    Not sure why (probably impatience), but next stuck the signs on. Not the best idea as it all needed to be painted and lots of glue stuck about the place but hey ho! 
     

    (signage cut out and stuck on) 
     
    Having done that it was time to construct the legs. I built these out of styrene I beam 
     

    (legs being constructed) 
     
    Alot of these signs have a large lump of concrete painted yellow at the base of them so I cut out some thick balsa to represent this. 
     
    Next was painting. The light box along the box was painted black to reduce light glow through the structure. The frame was painted the same yellow white colour as the high masts to give a bit of a link between the structures and the concrete base yellow as per prototype. 
     

    (all painted up) 
     
    I now needed to wire it to the layout so out with the hand drill and I made a few more holes around the layout. 
     

    (wire connection ready) 
     
    Connecting it all up was a bit fiddly but still managed OK. Then cross fingers and switched it on
     

    (gantry sign in place and lit up) 
     

    (and here is the rear pointing the way to the exit) 
     
    It now provides a nice feature to this end of the layout which was looking a bit under utilised compared to all the business at the other end! 
     
    Not sure what to tackle next. Might be some das clay around the yard railway line or perhaps lighting the ferry. 
     
    At least the passengers can now work out where they should go! 
    (daytime close up shot) 
     
     
    Thanks for reading
  14. Paul Robertson

    Carrying on with paving...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    Tonight I managed to finish off the point infilling and then get on with finishing off the paving. 
     

    (infill finished off along the dockside) 
     
    First of all I paid attention to an area of das clay I wanted to turn into concrete (wanted a bit of relief from the tarmac). Concrete needs a nice clean edge to represent the formwork so out with the craft knife and metal rule to straighten up the edges. After that I scaled down and scored 9m movement joints into the das surface. 
     

    (area to be 'concreted' tieded up and movement joints scored in). 
     
    Whilst I had originally bought the Indian ink to create tarmac I hadn't been impressed with the results but a couple of coats watered down did look very much like concrete so decided to use that technique instead. 
     

    (a coat of watery India ink. Note how it picks out scored movement joints) 
     
    Having done this I then got out my acrylics and started to paint the asphalt Road. Lots of different shades of grey finished off with a thinner brush and lighter colours to represent where most of the traffic go. 
     

    (Linkspan junction with the lighter paint showing where the vehicles go) 
     

    (with the viaduct bridge back in place) 
     

    (and a final shot of the portakabin on its concrete apron) 
     
    Just need to paint the rest of the Dock then I will need to put all the lining and road painting decals on. 
     
    Thanks for reading
  15. Paul Robertson
    A bit of detail at the base of the cliffs today with crushed chalk added and some more signage and traffic management. 
     
    I wanted to make some water filled traffic barriers like this. 
     

    (this is the sort of thing I was after) 
     
    I started with some trusty balsa cutting into three strips and sticking it together. 
     

    (balsa strips stuck together) 
     
    Having stuck the strips together I chopped them into scale 1m sections before painting them white and red
     

    (painted red and white. I then drew two black spots on each side of the base to represent the forklift lifting slots) 
     
    They were then stuck on the the road to reinforce traffic movement at the top of embankment. 
     

    (barriers in place. I made up some spare to stack in the corner of the yard) 
     
    Having completed this I stuck down some chalk I had ground up along the base of the cliff. 
     

    (bashing up chalk with a hammer) 
     

    (chalk stuck to base of cliff with watered down pva) 
     

    (more chalk along the cliff) 
     
    Having completed this I then put some chevrons along the base of the cliff to keep vehicles on the straight and narrow. 
     

    (chevron signs fitted to the base of the cliff) 
     

    (and the other side...) 
     
     
    Thanks for reading.. 
  16. Paul Robertson

    Coming together...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    Some times modelling can feel like a very slow process with very little to show for large amounts of time spent fiddling around. Then one day suddenly everything seems to come together to start looking as one might have hoped. 
     
    The past few days have been a slow process of trying to get the road surface looking right and introducing road markings. Lots of wrong turns smudges and lessons learnt. Today has seen a bit more progress in the right direction. 
     
    First job of the day was marking on the movement joints on the concrete bridge. There is a centre joint that goes through everything and then intermediate movement joints for the concrete walls
     

    (movement joints drawn on with a pen) 
     
    This now needs to be weathered some more to tone it all down. 
     
    Following this I decided to try out my next laser cut purchase which were handrails on the Linkspan and lifting gear machinery structure walkway
     

    (scale model scenery laser cut handrails) 
     
    These easily came out of the main sprue and were stuck down either side of the Linkspan and around the walkway
     

    (masked up and ready for painting) 
     
    Once glued down a small amount of steel blue was mixed up and the handrails painted. 
     

    (handrails all painted up) 
     
    I also distressed the station stucco with the 70 year old stucco showing the ravages of the salty sea air. Might have over done it a tad so will try and tone this down
     

    (lots of rust coming through the stucco) 
     
    One failure was an attempt to create road transfer markings with the water transfer paper in my inkjet printer. I managed to make the sheet well enough in Microsoft publisher and set the 'white' decals to print in a very light grey and the other decals in yellow. They printed out OK but when I came to cut them out and lay them on the model their wasn't enough ink on the transfer to show up. Any ideas gratefully received or else I will have to buy some self adhesive details instead. 
     

    (looked good on paper but the reality wasn't what I hoped.)
     
    Starting to come together now with the chevrons on the Linkspan and the handrails. 

     
    Might try and concentrate on the station a bit more over the coming days and printing off some signage 
     
    Thanks for reading
  17. Paul Robertson
    Having done the detail up against the cliff base I thought I could build the parapet fence on top of the retaining wall. I was wanting to create something like the below:
     

    (standard boxy parapet fencing) 
     
    I couldn't find anything off the shelf so it was back to scratchbuilding with plasticard strips. 
     
    I painted the strips up in the colour I wanted before predrilling holes for stanchions. These were glued in place before the long horizontal strips were stuck on. I used thin balsa as spacers to get the strip heights correct. 
     

    (stanchions in and first horizontal bar going in) 
     
    Used this technique for the second strip and then stuck the third on top. 
     

    (other two strips on and building fence on the other side) 
     
    Having completed the fence I then set about putting more signage about the place. This included on the level crossing, ramp, and speed limit repeater sign. 
     

    (completed fencing with rockfall signage) 
     

    (more chevrons on the ramp this time) 
     
    I've been trying to find a way of making n gauge Road cones. I then hit upon the idea of using a pencil sharpen to sharpen 5mm diameter balsa dowel. 
     

    (shaving the dowel) 
     

    (cone on balsa sheet base and a painted example in the background) 
     
    Once I had sharpened the point I cut a 5mm top section to represent a 750mm cone. 
     

    (cones in place) 
     
    Need to make a few more of these cones to create the right impression. 
     
    Many thanks for reading
     
     
     
     
  18. Paul Robertson

    Details, details...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    So today I carried on the road cone production line as well as putting more signage about the place and making a couple of extra stop barriers for the lower Linkspan. 
     

    (cone and barrier production line) 
     
    I also added some more bases to some of the cones to make it look like they have been stacked up on each other. 
     
    The next detail was pre-bought. Some grit bins from scale model scenery. 
     

    (a pack of salt / grit bins. I didn't feel able to scratchbuild these at n gauge) 
     
    I placed these at the top of the ramp and at the ends of the Linkspans where a bit of salt/grit on a icy morning might be appreciated. 
     

    (gritbin installed at top of ramp) 
     

    (and another by the portakabin) 
     
    Finally I added the signage and lifting barriers to the entrance of the lower Linkspan and some more signage to the upper linkspan. 
     

    (lower Linkspan signage and barriers installed) 
     

    (additional upper Linkspan signage with cones and grit bin in place) 
     

    (a shot of this end of the layout now coming together) 
     
    It might be time to do a bit more das clay work on another part of the layout to progress things on a bit. 
     
    Thanks for reading
     
     
  19. Paul Robertson

    Electronics for dummies...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    With my initial success of my high lighting mast under my belt I set forth today to install a lot more lighting. I wanted the lighting under the bridge to represent sodium lighting which is typical of the prototype so installed a couple of LEDs in there and did my best to cover up the wiring from view. 
     

    (yellow lights installed in under bridge) 
     
    So far so good. Next was the Linkspan proper. I wanted white light on this as looking at prototype night shots from Dover it's all white lighting on the linkspans to give the best light in these dangerous areas. 
     

    (Linkspan lighting going in with the wiring to the second high mast included.)
     
    After every instillation I wired it up to my controller and made sure everything worked. 
     
    Finally for today I decided to install some port and starboard navigation lights on the Linkspan (not sure how prototypical this is but I like the look as well as another white LED on the lower link span. 
     
    Again wired it all up switched it on and... 
     

    (oh...) 
     

    (ah...) 
     
    Well the navigation lights work well! I had been merrily daisy chaining all the LEDs with their built in resistors so what power that was left over would power the next. You can probably tell its been about 30 years since someone last tried to teach me basic electronics! 
     
    So out with the wire cutters and strippers and a cats cradle of wiring emerged under my base board as I broke up the light fittings into max of 3 LEDs wired in sync and then wired the whole lot back to the transformer again. 
     

    (suddenly alot more wires emerging from my baseboard) 
     
    Wired it all back up, crossed my fingers and switched on the juice and hey voila! 
     

    (sodium lighting under the bridge) 
     

    (some light on the matter) 
     

    (the layout lighting beginning to take shape) 
     

    (there will be more white lighting to go on the top Linkspan but the navigation lights give a dramatic feel. I also like how the light shines off the water) 
     
    One thing I found quite effective for the high masts was putting a layer of tin foil into the bottle cap to help reflect the light better and give a more even distribution as I only have one bulb up there. 
     

    (light mast with tin foil reflector added) 
     
    I will need to order some more white LEDs for the ship and building but should be able to make a start on lighting it up. Ferries tend to be lit up like Christmas trees! 
     
    Thanks for reading
  20. Paul Robertson
    Having got the basic shell of a station building I wanted to give a bit of detail and shadow relief to the structure. 
     

    (starting with the picture windows. In order to get the thin balsa strips to bend enough I had to cut against the grain to allow the grain to bend for me) 
     
    Having got the window sills and frames I then turned my attention to the first floor roof which needed a bit of filling. I wanted a lift shaft at the end of the station to give a bit of height. Took some references from the clock tower at Surbiton. 
     

    (with lift tower included) 
     

    (the platform side. I'd put a secondary shadow strip around the platform canopy.)
     

    (a final view with the shadow detailing on the tower windows and canopy highlighting the design intent) 
     
     I have some balsa sealant on order before I consider painting these to get a good finish. 
     
    Many thanks for reading
  21. Paul Robertson
    This weekend saw a milestone reached on my layout as I finished off the last of the permanent way with more das clay and a final ballasting of the station branch line. It certainly feels like an achievement covering the last of the plywood after 5 months of solid work. The first area to be done was the station layover siding. This will be for boat train stock and the odd civil engineers train. I therefore wanted the siding to have a similar well worn feel to the lower yard and used the same das clay technique with fine ballast sprinkled on then pressed in. 
     

    (das clay rolled out between formers to give right width and depth) 
     

    (clay installed on the layout with ballast pushed in) 
     
    Note I had also installed some scale model scenery catchpit drain covers between the siding and the running line. I cleaned of the das clay from the sleepers with wet cotton buds and left the whole lot to dry before painting with acrylics in shades of redy browns. 
     

    (all painted up. Note tyre tra ks marked into the clay as a base for a civil engineers access track) 
     
    All the black wooden sleepers were painted brown with an acrylic paint pen. 
     
    Something else I worked on was the high mast lighting. They havent been giving out as much light as I hoped so a quick rebuild with three extra leds and the effect was much more pleasing. The tops are a bit out of scale but the amount is of light it produces is worth it a feel. 
     

    (new light doing its job) 
     
    Having painted the das clay I then set about greening it up with burnt grass flock material laid on pva. 
     

    (flock material glued down whilst avoiding the access tracks. I even created a little landslip to keep the network rail engineer busy) 
     
    Once the siding was complete it was onto ballasting the running line. This involved carefully applying fine grey ballast then brushing it into place and off the sleepers. I've tried to replicate the cess shoulders as well. 
     

    (ballast brushed into position ready for gluing down) 
     
    A pva, water, washing up liquid solution was mixed up and then applied using a Calpol syringe to fix it all down in the same way as I did for the french drains and chalk base to the cliffs. 
     

    (ballast glued in place) 
     
    A second brushing was done to push back ballast moved during gluing. It all goes very dark when wet but hopefully will lighten again as it dries. 
     
    Next on my to do list will be putting up the network rail security fence at the top of the embankment but that will be for another day. 
     
    Before I finished today I decided to get out all my n gauge vehicles and arrange them to get a feel for the loading of the ferry over the top Linkspan 
     

    (lorries being waved on.)
     

    (network rail welfare unit in attendance) 
     
    I have a large order for extra vehicles in with Hattons at the moment. (a late Xmas present to myself!) 
     
    Thanks for reading
     
     
  22. Paul Robertson

    Found it!

    By Paul Robertson,

    Researching the structures I'm wanting to build is always an enjoyable part of the hobby for me. Unfortunately if you are trying to build something that has been demolished you are left to scouring the internet for photos, the odd scaled drawing, and perhaps a book on the subject if you are lucky. One online article that has proved a mine of visual information and reference in planning for this project has been http://www.doverferryphotosforums.co.uk/ and an article on the Admiralty Pier Train Ferry linkspan by Nigel Thornton (http://www.doverferryphotosforums.co.uk/admiralty-pier-train-ferry-berth/).
     
    I'd forgotten the link which I had come across a couple of years ago when planning the layout but after a quick internet search have just found it again. And not a moment too soon as I attempt to scratch build the linkspan winding house that sits above the bridges. The images show just what an incredible bit of civil engineering this structure was, and what a shame it saw only 8 years service before being demolished and its remains dumped in the old exchange sidings before being cut up for scrap. It would be interesting to know whether the investment actually had time to pay for itself in revenue from freight traffic! (Probably not). Not even sure whether train ferry traffic was profitable at all. Does anyone know? 
     
    There are some nice images of the Nord-pas-de-Calais actually tied up to the dockside which is useful reference. Most photos linked to the train ferry that I can find on the internet unsurprisingly concentrate on the locomotives and rolling stock coming on and off the linkspan with the structure very much a background object (such as the header image to this entry). In an age of 35mm Kodacolor film when each shot was potentially costly (not only in film but processing as well) you chose your shoots carefully. These days with 32 gigs in a standard digital camera we can 'click' away to our hearts content! Its not surprising with the train ferry operating in an age before digital cameras that those taking pictures around here (primarily train enthusiasts) would concentrate their hard earned negatives on the railway rather than ship!
     
    Another useful reference was the scale drawing of the Nord-pas-de-Calais. In my day job I use AutoCAD so was able to take this image, import it and scale it to the correct length (based on the Wikipedia entry for the ship) and then trace its outline. This then formed the template I drew out on plywood for the rear of the ferry on the layout. some additional photos of the ferry I managed to find also assisted
     

    (Whilst not in dock this is still a useful reference image of the deck arrangement of the ferry that's helping me to detail all the paraphernalia you would find on the Nord-pas-de-Calais. It also help me get the chimney widths better arranged (although mine aren't completely accurate due to scale width limitations). I also really like the vehicle deck surfacing detail here with the tie down points, yellow linings and tyre marks I assume from the ports own yard tractor units taking off unaccompanied semi-trailers. I bought a Kato n-gauge yard tractor from Osborns Models a couple of years ago and it might work nicely as a little cameo on the layout parked up ready to collect semi-trailers off the ferry. 
     

    (N gauge Kato yard tractor - Might need some Sealink branding to make it fit in)
     
    That's all for now - Thanks for reading
     
    Paul
     
     
     
     
     
  23. Paul Robertson

    Gaining control...

    By Paul Robertson,

    Having constructed kiosks for traffic marshals there was a further one required for the upper linkspan where the control gear should be kept to operate the structure. These are usually small kiosks perched on the end of the Linkspan to give maximum visibility for the operator. Having looked at a few examples I didn't think my standard design used so far would be suitable. The kiosks I I could see on prototypes were more like rounded grp kiosks like those produced by glasdon without a roof overhang. 
     

    (grp rounded edge design) 
     
    To create this kind of look I needed it to be all balsa on the outside so I could sand down the edges. I did however provide a bit of styrene strip on the inside to give a bit of rigidity. 
     

    (initial kiosk looking a bit boxy) 
     
    Once constructed I sanded down all the edges to give that more rounded feel as well as trying to sand the corners of the windows a bit as well. 
     

    (neater and more round looking after sanding. Also a comparison to the other kiosk design I made) 
     
    Then came mounting onto the Linkspan bridge. My first location fouled the winding housing structure so moved along right to the end and built a little landing round the back which will require handrails when I get round to buying some. 
     

    (initial location too close to upper structure. Managed to knock off legs of structure whilst testing location) 
     

    (new location right on edge of Linkspan Bridge.)
     

    (final location of Linkspan control kiosk) 
     

    (and a shot from the vehicle deck of the nord pas de calais) 
     

    (finally a shot down the Linkspan showing both types of kiosk) 
     
    Thinking about painting shortly might start on the Dock walls first as they aren't particularly visible so can hide all my mistakes! 
     
    Thanks for reading
  24. Paul Robertson
    So this evening I have been working on the marine architecture and civil engineering with more detailing on the ferry, bridge, abutment and retaining wall. Plenty of balsa wood used to try and replicate the mooring details on the ferry which seemed to have quite complicated bollards on the nord pas de calais prototype. I assume this has something to do with the moorings linked to the computer controlled Linkspan. Anyway done my best to represent it and will make good with a bit of filler! The upper Linkspan bridge now has parapets which will become concrete in the fullness of time. I've also tided up the ramp putting kerbs and footpaths in to neaten the edges. Along with using very thin balsa wood (0.7mm) bent to create the curved retaining wall. 
    Some images of tonight's progress below
    Mooring detail on deck of ferry
     

    The ramp to the lower Linkspan now tidied up a bit

    The upper Linkspan bridge with parapet walls now included. 
  25. Paul Robertson

    I see the sea...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    A family game that was played on the holiday car journey was who could spot the sea first from a glimpse down a valley. Whether heading to the ferry or just a coastal trip the first sight of the azure greeny blue sea on the horizon would illicit a chorus of "I see the sea, I see the sea." from the back seat of the car! And so it was my turn to try and create the alluring sea which I used to sea on my family holiday. 
     
    I had watched a video by Kathy Millett on an easy way to create water with PVA which seemed easier and cheaper than alot of resin based systems. 
     
    To start with I needed to paint on the base colour for the sea. I started with a 50 50 mix of green and blue and then added a bit of brown to give a bit of water shadow where walls and piles meet the sea. Having let it dry for a while it looked a bit too blue compared to prototype images so I went over it again this time with a 70 30 green blue mix. This looked a lot better 
     

    (green blue water colour) 
     
    Once this had dried the first thick layer of PVA went on. 
     

    (PVA liberally spread over the sea colour) 
     
    Its taking a lot of time to dry so I carried on with more brick papering on the viaduct and tunnel mouth. 
     

    (main brick papering is done. Just need to do the edge details) 
     

    (tunnel mouth brick papered as well) 
     
    At the end of the evening I put all the structures back to see how it was all looking. 
     

     

    (altogether and coming on) 
     
    Once the PVA has set then another two coats will go on before I get to play with some tacky glue to make waves. That will likely be in a few days
     
    Thanks for reading
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