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Paul Robertson

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  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
    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
  4. 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
  5. 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. 
  6. Paul Robertson
    Have completed the ferry painting I then wanted to try putting on the transfers. I had created the designs on Microsoft publisher having copied the ferry logo off a downloaded jpeg. Unfortunately the jpeg quality wasn't good enough quality just to scale it up so I redrew it using the block shape tools in the software and tries to get the colour as close to the original as possible. I had purchased some transfer paper off the Internet and printed off a sheet. 

    (transfer paper printed off) 
     
    The boat name seemed a bit big so scaled it down and reprinted on the same sheet (this stuff is expensive!). 
     
    Having read the instruction sheet it recommended applying 3 coats of acrylic sealer on top to prevent the ink running. Another quick purchase later and sealer was purchased. 
     

    (first application of sealer) 
     
    This stuff is really smelly so having had many complaints from family members the next applications were applied outside. 
     
    I trialed one of the oversize ship nes on a spare bit of ply to see how well they went on
     

    (trial transfer completed) 
     
    Happy with this I decided to tackle the less visible side first as a trial run. I had made plenty of airfix kits in my youth so assumed this would be something similar. Indeed it was although due to the size of the transfers I needed to keep some of them in the water a minute and a half to fully wet the back and get the transfer to slide. First attempt for the logo failed as it stuck in the wrong place and my attempts to move it bent it out of shape. So used the other one which eventually did work. Cut out the lining and transfered them onto the model as well. Once the lines were on then on with the ship name. The result was the below
     

    (first side complete) 
     
    Due to my mucking up the first transfer I had to reprint a sheet and then spray finish it all again. Very time consuming. 
     
    Lessons had been learnt from the first side and the other transfers went on much easier. 
     

    Using a big oven tin filled with water. to give enough room for some of the longer transfers. 
     
    The final result was this
     

    (Nord pas de calais in Dock in its new livery) 
     
    Pretty happy with the result. Deciding whether to weather it at the moment although looking at photos the ferries seem to be kept very clean when in service. I have some laser cut handrails on order now to finish off the rear the ship. 
     
    Now in the process of applying my resin balsa coatings to the rest of the structures. 
     

    (other structures getting a similar treatment) 
     
    Thanks for reading
  7. 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
  8. 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

  9. 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. 
  10. Paul Robertson
    So a busy day of modelling today with the aim of getting the Linkspan winding house structurally complete. 
     
    Firstly I assembled the leg structure cutting the tops and bottoms of theain structural supports to get them sitting at an angle as per prototype. 
     

    (leg structure coming on ready to be attached to main support structure made yesterday.) 
     
    Having created the legs a quick check was made to ensure the legs lined up with the 'concrete' pile caps. 
     

    (initial trial location to check they all match up) 
     
    Having done that it was time to make the roof. My first time making a hipped roof and lots of scrapping and shaving required to get the fit correct. Once relatively happy with it lots of styrene was used to cover up the gaps around edges! It's amazing what a little styrene will do! 
     
    Some thin balsa was stuck on the roof to indicate machine access doors should they need replacing and then a personnel door. Finally a walkway was created again with thin balsa with a kick rail as well. 
     

    (completed winding house with removable roof for later addition of lighting) 
     
    Below are some shots of the winding house in its proposed location. 
     

     

     

     
    Just some handrails, winding gear, control kiosk and some stairs up the structure to put in but that can be for another day. I'm pretty pleased with the overall structure. Nothing stuck down yet as I want to paint it all first. 
     
    Thanks for reading
     
     
    Paul
  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
    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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  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

    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
     
  17. 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
     
     
  18. Paul Robertson
    Managed to get the train ferry funnel completed with a single top coat of black. Will need to do a bit of touching up but basically it's done. I slid in the vehicle deck to get some shots. Just some signage, transfers, and some handrails to finish it off then on to other things
     

    Funnel masked and painted
     

    Masking removed after a few hours and the vehicle deck slid into position
     

    The rear of the ferry where all the tyres hit the deck from the linkspan
     
    And some shots fitted to the layout
     

     
    Just need to finish everything else now!! 
  19. 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
  20. Paul Robertson
    Various odd jobs around the layout today. The first was an attempt at painting the Dock which utterly failed. My paints were cheap rubbish which I could do anything with so will have to invest in some better quality paints and try again. So with a quick change in plan I set about giving some relief to the railway arches which will form the base of my station. 
     

    (thin strips of balsa cut out to the arch shape and overlaid on the 5mm ply to give a bit of shadow and then a further strip of balsa to represent brick piers.)
     
    The idea is that these brick arches represent the original base of the 19th century railway station at Seahaven Eastern Docks which was subsequently knocked down and replaced by an art deco structure in the 1930's when the original train ferry Linkspan was constructed. Just need to get some n gauge brick paper to cover these. 
     
    Having completed this the next thing to do was to start the process of building the platform edge. I used the Peco concrete edging as this is prototypical for the southern region. 
     

    (platform edging in and a cargo wagon out to check clearances) 
     
    Next will be building the station in an art deco style. I want it to feel a bit like the architect thought of a cruise liner when he designed it. Think de la warr pavilion mixed with Surbiton station
     
    Some further shots around the layout at close of play today 
     

    (dockside) 
     

    (View across from station) 
     

    (aerial shot) 
     
    Thanks for reading
     
     
  21. Paul Robertson
    With family games night limiting my time on the baseboard today I decided instead to do a bit more on the signage sheet I've been putting together. I noticed that with the commercial sheets you buy there is inevitably quite a lot of wastage as I don't need most of the signs they supply. Also due to the very specific nature of my project there are also a lot of signs that I require that are not available commercially. I therefore decided to try and create a sheet myself. For the standard signs there are plenty of jpegs of DfT appropriate diagrams I could download, copy and paste. For the others it was a mixture of looking at prototype signage gantries and bashing it together on the computer
     
    I use Microsoft publisher as my preferred graphic design tool as it is relatively simple to use. The below it the result:
     

     
    I've already done one trial print when I was halfway through to check quality using a sheet of photopaper to give a bit of reflectivity feel that modern signage has. 
     
    Whilst relatively happy with the outcome I've since changed some of the text sizes to get them a little more readable so the detail stands out a bit more. It will be a long time before these end up on the layout (final dressing stage) but I've enjoyed the research that went with creating this  as well as the chance to have fun with create the Seahaven Harbour Authority with their own unique logo. I also managed to get my favourite tipple and chocolate bar on the advertising hoardings! Such is the fun of modelling! Will hopefully be back to physical modelling again this weekend. 
  22. Paul Robertson

    Trialing my traction...

    By Paul Robertson,


    Blog
    So having completed most of the infill and das clay around the dockside track I thought I better try out various items of stock to ensure different wheel flanges and wheel bases work before I start painting it all up. 
     
    The first to test were two of my cargowaggons with the class 66. 
    (class 66 going into the underpass on the headshunt for the train deck Linkspan) 
     
    I tried out various sidings and locations with this set up making sure they all worked nicely. The 66 was sticking on some of the point work. I think some of the das clay was stuck on the point flange reducing the electrical contact. With a bit of cleaning this problem seemed to resolve itself. 
     

    (shunting some wagons back into the customs warehouse siding) 
     

    (lined up on the Dockside.)
     
    Having played around with my 66 I then tried out my 2nd hand Graham farish class 08. It initially pushed around my cargowaggons again sticking on a few points. 
     

    (08 on the Linkspan with the cargowaggons) 
     
    Having tried my traction I then tried some different wagons. Out came a Graham farish polybulk and my revolution trains cargowaggons twins. 
     

    (cargo twins on the linkspan) 
     

    (coming across the roads under the viaduct) 
     

    (polybulk attached to back) 
     

    (polybulk on the Linkspan) 
     
    Having tried out various items of stock I will finish off the infill and then start painting
     
    Thanks for reading
     
     
  23. 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
     
     
     
     
     
  24. 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
  25. Paul Robertson
    So this week has been spent carrying on with the train ferry getting copious layers of paint on to try and get a decent finish. Having already applied the blue (4 coats) I then started with the white. This took 5 coats of paint to fully cover the ply, balsa, and blue paint over spill. The moment of truth came when removing the masking tape. Had all that resin prep been worth while and were there any bleeds of paint under the tape? 
     

     
    Pleased to report it all went pretty well with only a few minor bleeds which were touched up with a bit of extra white and a steady hand. 
     
    Next on the todo list was the funnels which had a big red stripe on them in the livery I'm following (this was applied between 1990 to 1996 whilst Nord pas de Calais was still carrying train freight.)
     
    After some more careful measuring and masking the first coat of red was applied. This was followed by 3 more to completely cover the white paint underneath. 
     
    Whilst waiting for this to dry I made a start on the upper vehicle deck painting. Mixing a bit of white and black together the result was a bit too dark when compared to prototype. So a lot more white paint was added to lighten it. I didn't mix it thoroughly as I wanted that mix of lighter and dark greys that you get on the prototype 
     

    (final coat of lighter greyish smudgy colour with the final coat of red going on) 
     
    After waiting overnight for that all to dry the masking tape could come off. Again breath held for signs of bleeding. 
     

    (again all came out nicely) 
     
    Just the top of the funnel to do in black but the red was still feeling a bit tacky in places so I thought best to leave it for 24hrs to thoroughly dry as I didn't want to put masking on it and accidently rip some of it off. 
     
    Whilst biding my time with the funnel I decided to give the lining and weathering of the vehicle deck a go. 
     

     
    As can be seen in the prototype photo there are loads of tyre marks over yellow lines to denote parking bays with tying down points for the vehicles in rough weather along the lines. 
     
    I had bought some acrylic pens off amazon to do road lining so thought this would be a good chance to try them out. I managed to get a cheap pack of a dozen coloured pens off amazon as I didn't feel like stumping up £10 for a woodland scenics pen. To be honest I was pretty pleased with the result. Lining is never desperately neat or consistent so the quality of the pen wasnt a particular problem! 
     

    (lines marked out with lorry positioned to get spacing correct) 
     
    Whilst I liked the mixed grey colour I had achieved I still wanted the tyre marks so out with my thinnest paint brush and watering down some black paint I just made lots of little watery black brush marks over my lining. I even replicated where the yard tractors were doing 'donuts' to pick up unaccompanied semi-trailers off the ferry. I made sure where the linkspan met the ferry there was a lot more tyre markings to replicate where the deck would take the most punishment. Once happy with that I then used the black paint pen to mark the holding down points on a grid along the yellow lines. 
     

    (vehicle deck with tyre marks) 
     

    (and now with holding down points) 
     
    The next job will be to mask and paint the tops of the funnels black and then I will be onto printing my own waterbased transfers for the ship logos and side stripes. That may have to wait for the weekend! 
     
    Thanks for reading
     
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