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Paul Robertson

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Blog Entries posted by Paul Robertson

  1. Paul Robertson

    Why Seahaven?

    By Paul Robertson,

    Whitsun week in the 1980's for me as a child was always spent camping on the coast at the Warren in Folkstone in a blue canvas clad frame tent. Days would be spent watching the Sealink ferries arrive and depart from the harbour along with the obligatory trip to the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway and building massive sandcastles on the sandy beach, whilst at night I would go to sleep to the sounds of EMUs pounding along the Shakespeare Cliff coastal mainline (or rain on canvas!). My visits encapsulated the changeover from BR corporate blue to Network Southeast Sectorisation and the splitting off of Sealink from British Rail. I wasn't really aware of the Train Ferry just a few miles up the coast and never witnessed its operation first hand. But I enjoyed the atmosphere of the close proximity of boats and trains on our occasional walks in to Folkstone Town and past the Harbour Station where third rail emus would trundle past the fishmarket, over the harbour viaduct and into the curved platforms to await their dwindling number of international foot passengers off the grandly Nordic named Sealink ships. If I'd known now what interesting rail manoeuvres were taking place daily on the Western Docks with a free refreshing walk along admiralty pier to boot I think I could have persuaded my father to make an afternoon trip of it and clicked away a few shots with my kodak instamatic camera. 
     
    My interest in building a train ferry layout stems from these childhood memories and also a growing interest in freight traffic and why we as a country seem unable to get so much of it off our roads. I appreciate the 'market forces / financial viability' arguments but there seems something intrinsically right about railways moving freight (which is the reason why they were built). I was also really interested in speedlink and wagonload freight and having come across David Ratcliffe's book (see below) it inspired me to think in more detail about a possible layout including childhood memories and my interest in limited freight traffic.
      
     
    Many iterations and plans were drawn up for grand loft layouts to model a whole working n gauge harbour but it quickly became apparent with a young family and lack of time and funds that such grandiose projects would have to be scaled down and so Seahaven was borne. Its primarily a shunting layout that works at 2.5 levels in n gauge and measures approximately 5ft by 1ft. the first 1.5 levels is a wagon shunting yard using a mock up of the rear end of Nord-pas-de-Calais as a fiddle yard connecting via a linkspan to the dockside, with a hidden storage yard off scene. Being new to n gauge and not having done any modelling since my teenage years I'm keeping it relatively simple and not going for movable linkspans or tidal effects! The 2nd level is the harbour station for third rail emus to trundle in and out from a connecting branchline through a suitably Shakespearean Cliff tunnel portal. As a suitably frustrated Civil Engineer I'm also enjoying detailing the structures and ensuring correct radii for roads, etc although I'm trying not to be too OTT on the detail, just want it to look and feel right. 
     
    I made a start over a year ago one christmas on the base boards although have been collecting suitable stock for a lot longer than that with birthday money being saved up. This summer with staycations happening I decided to spend a few days working on the layout a bit more and this is the current state of play:
     
     
     

     
    As you can see still very much work in progress but gaining momentum now and really enjoying getting back in the railway modelling saddle! I'll try and keep this updated as much as possible as I add new stuff.
     
    Thanks for reading
     
    Paul
  2. 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
  3. 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
     
  4. 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. 
  5. 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. 
  6. 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
     
     
     
     
  7. 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
  8. Paul Robertson

    Slow and steady...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    It's been a while since I last added an entry. Family life and slightly less photogenic progress has meant little visually discernable progress. 
     
    The first item of note are the trestle legs that I have been building with my rather rough and ready carpentry skills
    (nearly completed trestle legs) 
     
    They just need something at the base to stop them doing the splits when weight is applied. I have a bit of rope off cut that I think will do the job. 
     
    The other main job being done was the sealing of plywood and balsa with resin and sanding down. Having applied one coat I trial painted the ferry and to be honest I could tell much difference to if I hadn't bothered to seal it! (rushing again!!). So out with the resin and sandpaper and three coats later I tried again. A better finish was obtained if a little grainy, but my overall lesson learnt was if you don't want a grainy ship don't build it from wood! 
     

    (second coat applied) 
     
    In terms of colour the train ferry in its first and second liveries used the old sealink blue which as far as I could work out was like BR blue. The acrylic paint I bought seemed a little light so I mixed in some black to try and tone it down. When applied this just dried far too dark so after that I used the blue paint as is. It's not a specialist colour matched paint but actually looks surprisingly accurate. Having completed 3 coats of blue I measured and masked up the sides ready for the white paint. 
     

    (first coat of white paint on) 
     
    To be honest its rather difficult to notice from the photo that I've applied any white at all! I guess it will take at least 3-4 coats to cover up the wood and blue overspill before the black and red on the funnel can be added. 
     
    Other balsa / ply structures are also going through similar resin prep. Now I understand why plasticard is so popular! I live and learn. 
     
    Thanks for reading
  9. Paul Robertson
    Following on from yesterday's scratch building attempt of a security kiosk I had a look at it again this morning and decided I could do a bit better
     

    (yesterday's effort was a bit crooked and lacking in detail) 
     
    I thought the scale looked a bit too big as well and a quick Google found the the height was a bit on the generous side for this type of building. Out with the craft knife and some more styrene angle to highlight window ledges and to make a door and I soon had a more reasonable looking cabin. In the spirit of recycling the peco clear plastic packaging which my plate girder bridge sides came in was cut up and used as glazing. I made the roof a little larger to give a nicer overhang effect and this was the result:
     

    (I even managed to incorporate a shelf for the occupant!just needs a spot of paint.)
     

    (And located on the head of the Linkspan Bridge to provide shelter to the poor soul who has to control the traffic in all weather's during loading.)
     
    Just another two of those to make! 
     
    Having finished this job off I wanted to complete the last section of Linkspan bridge to the upper (vehicle deck) of the ferry. To do this I first needed to tidy up the ferry stern, straightening edges and filling gaps with thin layers of balsa. Once completed I created the second 'movable' Linkspan section using 5mm ply as a base with peco plate girder bridge sides cut and joined together. A further small section of ramp was include to allow for a smooth transition between Linkspan and ferry deck for vehicles.
     

    (completed up bridge deck) 
     

    (And from the other direction looking towards the ferry) 
     
    Both upper bridges can be removed to allow access to the lower level. 
     
    This now completes the major bridges on the layout the next job will be to build the winding gear housing that will sit above the Linkspan structure. This will be a much bigger scratchbuilding challenge but is basically a corrigated shed on stilts! So lots more balsa with Wills corrugated sheeting kit. 
     
    Many thanks for reading
     
    Paul
  10. Paul Robertson

    Lining out...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    This weekend was a chance to finish off painting the asphalt and to make a start on getting all the road lining and decals down. Ferry terminals seem to be covered with white yellow and red lining of different sorts so out with the acrylic pens and bendy ruler to start marking it all on. 
     

    (marking on the top road lines first using the bendy ruler for the corners.)
     

    (I then marked out a chevron where the two routes split before marking the lines down the ramp.)
     
    The ramp road crosses the railway at the bottom. Due to the dockside industrial nature I decided to make this an open crossing with give way decals rather than full barriers. The first thing to do was to mark on the box junction. I decided to go with a hybrid design using the diamond pattern courtesy of my daughters set square but spread over the whole box as when vehicles are running they use both lanes in one direction on the ramp. Not quite to DfT diagram standard but as this is a private road I didn't think that mattered. 
     

    (box junction marked on) 
     
    I really like these acrylic pens. They make line painting really easy. 
     
    I then lined the rest of the junction

     
    Having completed this it was out with the scale model scenery self-adhesive decals again to put the finishing touches to the road markings. The tiny writing proved quite tricky to get off the sheet, but everything else came off and onto the layout relatively painlessly. 
     

    (arrows where the traffic flows meet)
     

    (decals applied to Junction) 
     
    Having completed the approach roads I turned my attention to the dockside. Having looked at images of Dover the mooring points are marked with red paint and a yellow border whilst on the train ferry Dock there were numbers marked on the dockside I assume as a count down for the ships crew to know when they were about to butt up to the Linkspan. I wanted to mark out the area of the tramway in a similar way to how it was done at Weymouth with a single 45 degree line and dashed outer edge. Unfortunately my yellow pen started running out when I got to that part. Here is the state of play when I finished this evening. 
     

    (marking the mooring points) 
     

    (additional parking bays marked in with yellow lining progressed. Lots of no parking paint slapped down) 
     

    (scaled count down to Linkspan in metres along Dock edge) 
     
    I need to order a new yellow pen to finish off the yellow lining. 
     
    Thanks for reading
     
  11. Paul Robertson

    The sky's the limit...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    A busy weekend only left me this evening to make a start on the back scene. I wanted the feel of a breezy summers day with high clouds and decided the impressionist look would likely be the best approach. So it was out with the acrylics and lots of big sploshes of very light blues (I had to lighten the first application as it felt too dark and rich and then using streaks of white brushed in with a bit of sky blue and a small amount of grey to give depth and shadow to the clouds. 
     
    Here is the result so far:
     

    (overall effect) 
     

    (a closer look) 
     

    (and one more) 
     
    Probably needs a bit of touching up in daylight when I can compare colours better. 
     
    The next section will be the hills. This will be a bit trickier to get the right shades and detail. I'll probably reduce my brush size to assist. 
     
    Thanks for reading
  12. 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
     
     
  13. 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.. 
  14. 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
  15. Paul Robertson

    Making waves...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    It's been a little while since I last posted. I've been concentrating on getting the sea finished. Eventually after 48hrs the PVA dried. Now for the fun part of tacky glue and making some wavy texture. 
     

    (Dock ready for texturing) 
     
    Put an angle on it to make it look like the breeze is blowing across the Dock. The glue holds its shape pretty well and with the aid of a cocktail stick I could get rid of the bubbly bits and make it more wavy. I did two treatments of this to infill between rows. 
     
     

    (second row complete and left to dry) 
     
    I was pretty pleased with the end result when it had dried
     

    (final texture result) 
     
    I also wanted some seaweed attached to the edge of the Dock and piles so using the tacky glue fixed some medium flock around the edge of the water. 
     

    (flock stock round base of Dock) 
     
    This flock was then painted dark brown to replicate seaweed. A few flecks of white were also painted on waves here and there to replicate breaking waves. A final layer of PVA was then splashed over everything to give it a glistening look. 
     

    (final sea finish with seaweed bobbing in the water) 
     

    (everything in place and cliff beginning to rise in the background) 
     
    The cliff was causing a few issues so gave up for the day as I was beginning to lose patience with polystyrene and pva! 
     
    Thanks for reading
  16. Paul Robertson

    Weathering the Dock...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    Started on the dockside weathering today to try and make the plain painted balsa look a little more like concrete and a little less like, well painted balsa! 
     
    Firstly I wanted to mark out the tide lines. 3no 5mm bands would allow for different colour banding on the base of the Dock wall. 
     
    Then the concrete bays were added with black liner pen. 
     

    (black lining on the Docks) 
     

    (the three tide bands marked on in pencil) 
     
    The first colour to go on was a well watered down black base layer having first reviewed a few concrete Dock photos. 
     

    (watery Black first tide line.) 
     
    Following that a watered down brown then green layer were also added
     
    I then added a load of rust colours around the concrete and over the linings to distress it all a bit. 
     

    (tide marks complete and plenty of rusty streaks. Hopefully I haven't overdone it and my Linkspan structure won't be condemned with concrete cancer!) 
     
    Having done that I did a bit of rusty distressing on the concrete over bridge that was looking a bit too neat. 
    Here are some images below showing the current state of play
     

    (nearly ready for water) 
     

     
    I want to do some more Indian ink distressing but generally happy with the result so far
     
    Thanks for reading
     
  17. Paul Robertson
    Having completed the painting of the structure the next task would be to complete the roads. I won't be able to do the lower Linkspan until all the track is laid and this requires the ferry to be fixed down. However the upper linkspan and concrete viaduct road deck can be completed. 
     
    Before I can put the road deck in (das clay) I bought some laser cut ironmongery from scalemodelscenery. 
     

    (painted the sheet with a very watered down black paint a couple of times) 
     
    The das clay will be quite thick (4mm) so I need to raise the gullies and manholes up to get to the right level. I cut out some 4mm balsa to the size of the ironmongery and stuck it down where I want them. 
     

    (balsa stuck down) 
     
    I don't want light coloured balsa showing through the gully grate so painted the tops black. 
     

    (tops of balsa painted black) 
     
    Whilst tiny the gully grates and manholes were relatively easy to remove from the sheet with a craft knife and then carefully stuck down to the balsa
     

    (gully grates located) 
     

    (manholes positioned) 
     

    (finished layout ready for surfacing) 
     
    To give an idea of size here is a 1p piece for scale:
     

    (fiddly but hopefully worth it) 
     
    The next job will be to roll out the das clay and cut inserts for the ironmongery. 
     
    Thanks for reading
  18. 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
  19. Paul Robertson
    Large chunks of modelling time over the weekend had been spent constructing some wooden trestle legs out of wood I had lying about. Those are still work in progress but very much needed to get the layout off the carpet and away from little fingers and accidental bumps. 
     
    Tonight was my first model night of the week and so I first tried to make some gully grates out of balsa wood as I'm trying to cut down on the amount of money I'm shelling out. Unfortunately it wasn't a success so I need to go back to maybe something brass etched or another alternative. 
     
    Anyway I then decided to have a bit more detailing on the station and doing a bit of filling with some balsa filler.
     

    (the filler I've been using and the model behind with extra shadow details between the windows that mirror the detailing on the lift shaft.)
     

    (additional detailing around doors and the first floor roof line) 
     

    (finally, where it will sit on the railway with the arches beneath.)
     
    I have the hardboard ready to create the back scene and when this goes up I can create a walkway from the station towards the ferry to indicate how foot passengers from the station would get across. 
     
    The station now needs a coat of balsa sealant before painting begins. I'm thinking a base white render feel with lots of staining and streaks. Windows will be put in after that. I'm thinking of penning window frames on clear plastic and have some fine ink pens on order. 
     
    Thanks for reading
     
     
     
     
  20. Paul Robertson

    It's been a while...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    The past couple of weeks have been taken up with all things other than railways. The family invented an xmas card game which I needed to produce on the computer, and the emergency volunteer group I run has been involved in covid response recently. It hasn't been all quiet on the modelling front however. I completed the lighting on the ferry which now includes navigation and flood lighting. 
     

    (lighting now on board) 
     
    The train deck has three white leds to give that well lit, blazing light, feel
     

    (train deck now let up) 
     
    The next thing on my to do list was trying some yard track ballasting. I wanted to use das clay as a base and then push fine ballast into it to give a much more varied feel. 
     

    (first length of das with ballast pushed in.)
     
    There was lots of clearing off round flanges and sleeper ends to neaten it all up. 
     

    (all filled in. Note I didn't bother with trying to push ballast into das in between the point rails. I thought that would be too tricky) 
     
    Leaving it to dry overnight I painted the sleepers with a brown acrylic pen before starting to paint up the track in various shades of brown acrylic watered down and stippled on. 
     

    (ballast immediately around track painted darker to simulate oil stains) 
     
    Having a bit of time this afternoon I also put in the French drains along the edges of the road and round the embankment. 
     

    (French drain made from ballast brushed into place and then glued with water / pva mix) 
     
    Having completed the French drains I painted up some balsa wood yellow to represent concrete traffic blocks and then fixed an open level crossing sign to one. 
     

    (concrete blocks and signage in place) 
     

    (an alternative view) 
     
    Another busy week with my volunteers so may be a while till my next post. Merry Xmas and thanks for reading
     
     
  21. 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
  22. Paul Robertson
    Today was spent working on the station. I have been trying to create my art deco feel and have tried to create the feel with the canopy and windows. 
     
    Started off completing the platform level walls
     

    (walls all in and balsa edging around canopy edge to neaten plywood) 
     
    I also felt that the canopy needed some sort of support structure underneath so cut more thin balsa strips to represent  cantilever concrete beams holding up the main canopy. 
     

    A view of the underside with structural supports. 
     
    Having done this I then created the second storey which is meant to represent a cafe for ferry passengers with a seating area on the canopy. 
     

    (upper storey and window sills added) 
     

    (and the other side showing the art deco style picture windows for the platform waiting room and first floor cafe with views out across the ferry terminal. I would quite happily sit there sipping a hot chocolate and watching the transport moving about) 
     
    Thanks for reading
  23. 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

  24. 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
  25. Paul Robertson
    Having learnt my lessons from yesterday I carried on with the lighting. Trying to get as much wiring done as possible so it could be hidden by the remainder of the landscaping. 
     
    The first item tackled was the Linkspan winding house. I had left the roof removable when I had first made it to allow lighting to be fitted later on. I wanted a white light shining down to illuminate the bridge immediately beneath the winding house along with my first try with fibre optics to provide some lighting around the walkway. 
     

    (hand drilling holes for the fibre optics) 
     

    (trial fitting of lighting) 
     
    In order to get power to this without physically connecting it (is it needs to be removed in order to be able to take off the upper linkspan) I attached to wires to the base of the rear supports. I stripped the wire to make contact with another wire fixed to the layout. One leg had the positive and the other had the negative contact. 
     

    (contacts fitted to the base to provide the circuit) 
     

    (and amazingly it worked! ) 
     
    Once I had done that I concentrated on tidying up the wiring and providing some better connections for the other high mast so it now emits the same amount of light as the first. I also put a light in the portakabin so it looks like the workforce are burning the midnight oil. 
     

    (the light pouring out the office) 
     

    (the dockside now looking much better lit from the second high mast) 
     

    The Linkspan nicely lit up. Another sodium bulb has been placed in the entrance of the customs warehouse. 
     

    (view from the cliffs) 
     
    The next on my to do list will be the gantry sign. 
     
    Thanks for reading
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