Graham T

Lovely work!

I've also slapped some paint onto the lamp hut. I can see that I need to do some touching up around the window, and of course it will get suitably weathered in due course. I used Vallejo acrylics; dark flesh for the light stone, black grey for the roof, and a 2:1 mix of amaranth red and chocolate brown for the dark stone. I'll glaze the window with Kristal Kleer once I've done the touching up. Yes my approach to the layout build is a bit scatter-gun, but that's one of the nice things about the hobby I find - lots of variety.

Well, each to their own I suppose...

I think the postman might be a touch peeved if I started weathering him...

Nicely paradoxical

The postman came up trumps today, and this arrived. It's the Lima parcels van. Not cosmetically perfect (but then which of us is?) but it should clean up nicely with some weathering and a bit of detailing.

There's another Rule 1 Rob, as I'm sure you know. 1. In an interaction between a man and a woman, the man is always wrong. 2. If by some quirk of fate the man happens to be right, refer to Rule 1.

I just had a brainwave (that happens occasionally). The baseboard is ply over battens spaced at 12" intervals. So I can cut a space in the ply from below, then reach up to the elevated section to fit the point motor from underneath. The Boss might grump a little about using the jigsaw indoors, but needs must and all that...

I've now made a start on the second, smaller section between the two bridges. Applied some lessons learned, and made the gaps in the lattice smaller, as well as using a less dilute PVA. This seems to work better, although there is still some work to be done. I also had another face/palm moment when I thought about the motor for the point just to the left of the steel bridge, that leads into the station throat. Some of the groundwork will obviously have to be lifted in due course. Still - all good practice!

Thanks George.

In other news, rather chuffed to let you know that I've just been accepted as an Associate member of the Guild of Railway Artists. (Not for my OO landscaping efforts, I should add...)

I am planning to use static grass later, so that might help with my wrinkles

Sounds like a good idea Stu, thanks. I thought the tissue layer would dry stiffer than it has to be honest; maybe I diluted the PVA too much?

Hmm. Thanks George. Time to put on the thinking cap. Don't really want to tear everything up and start again...

Thanks for the tip Stu. Unfortunately I didn't see your post until I'd already done this... The covering hasn't dried out fully yet. When it does it will get a coat of brown acrylic. I'm not very happy with the wrinkles but am struggling to get rid of them (theres a quotable comment if ever I saw one!)

I'd never used one before, but have found it works well (so far). The only issue is you tend to get very thin strands of glue between where you've applied it and where you stand the gun between applications; but those are easy enough to clear up when you're finished.

And now with the card strip lattice added. I read that this is quick - hmmm. It took me ages! Very solid now though, and still easy to trim with a craft knife if required.

At least it would only be flat on the bottom... ... I'll get my coat.

Reminds me of chicken tarka. It's like chicken tikka, but a little otter

Here's where I got to last night. Pleased with the results so far. Unfortunately I won't be able to work on the other side of the river yet, as I still haven't figured out where I will need to add wiring, and that will need to be done before I do the scenic work.

Thanks Ben. That trackwork of yours looks good. I've decided to go with Code 75 bullhead flexitrack and Code 75 points. I appreciate that the points are flat bottom rail, and that the sleeper spacing and length is slightly different, but I think I'll be able to live with that. I wanted to go with Peco bullhead points as well, but the limited range, and non-availability, pushed me to the current option. I did see the other thread you mentioned, and was sorely tempted. But impatience got the better of me in the end! Where did you get the cosmetic chairs from, and were they a pain to fit? Also, which point rodding did you use? I want to add that before I do any ballasting. Of course I need to lay some track first as well!

I don't know who came up with the idea for the hot glue gun, but I'd like to buy them a beer. What a great tool for modelling! This is the result of about an hour's work. I'll also add card formers running at right angles to the ones already in place, although it's pretty solid already to be fair. Then strips of card in a lattice over the top of the formers, before coating it all in paper towel soaked in dilute PVA.

I see what you did there Looking good.

I got the second bridge lashed together yesterday. Here's a worm's eye view of it in place, followed by a bird's eye view of the whole stretch of river. Now I will start looking at where the lines of the banks will run, and start to build up some of the groundwork. Looking forward to that - but had better do some real-world work first I suppose!

I do like those myself. But for these bridges I've been using cheap disposable craft knives, the sort with the snap-off blades. They work just fine for cutting 2mm card.