Jaggzuk

Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2011. Well our due date came and went. This gave us a bit more time to finish the building works; the kitchen units went in on Monday, then carpet in the nursery whet down on Wednesday night and our son arrived the following day (16th Dec) all safe and sound. So, apart from slowly getting my head round all things baby including some serious toxic waste I am now starting to realise that I now have perfect excuse to play trains, model and 12" to the foot - so what is the ideal age to buy them a Hornby Trainset?

Hi Kevin Not replied for a while (a newborn sort of changes your focus) but these shots are totally awesome! Just the right amount of ambient light to make them look and feel very real indeed. Oh yes, enjoyed seeing your recent mag article too. Happy New year to you Paul

As I intend to carry on with North Marsh Road outside of the 2010 Competition, I though I had better get my blog up-to-date. So there we go my blog is now fully updated with all my posts from the 2010 forum area. If you have been following NMR then there is nothing new in any of the posts, but if you have not seen my layout before, then please start with post 1 and work your way backwards so to speak. Please do leave any comments as I would love to hear what people think of the layout and my ideas etc. As I mentioned in my last post we have a baby due at the beginning of December, so I am not sure how or when I will make any new progress on NMR. Plus, today my builder started digging some big holes out the back of our house for our kitchen extension!!, Oh yeh right that's a good idea, why not rip out the kitchen six weeks from our due date Mmm well it's supposed to be a 4 week build, so let’s hope baby is not early!! Anyway, as and when I do any modeling I will post details…. Paul

It looks like my 2010 competition layout is going to have take a back seat for a while, which is really disappointing, the reason, well our baby is due in December!! So not really that disappointing As we are still trying to renovate our house, I suddenly have a lot of DIY projects to complete before Dec arghh!!! OK, so I might not have got anything ready for the 2010 competition, but with out it running I would never have even have started. So to Andy and RMWeb, I say a big thank you. North Marsh Road will carry on, just not as fast as I would like. Plus my model railway space might end up becoming the baby's room Anyway guys, I will continue to watch you all romp to the finish line and I looking forward to seeing all the completed layouts. Paul

I have to keep reminding myself that this is 2mm, I do not know how you do it Andy, building track in 2mm. I struggled with 4mm - maybe I am just getting old and loosing my eyesight It does all look very neat and tidy. Well done. Looking forward to the turnout construction. Paul

Hi Andy That looks like a really neat and well constructed baseboard frame, I don't think there will be any deformation in that! Paul

As mentioned in may last post a some major work and home projects have been completed which meant that a much needed holiday was due. This was supposed to be spent up in Scotland, but a two week forecast of rain and gales put paid to that. So we ventured South West to Cornwall instead and found much better hot sunny weather. As I also said in the last post not much has happened on NMR, so I managed to sneak some wagon kits into the campervan to make while on holiday; well I think building a kit is a bit like a reading a book on holiday - nice and relaxing. So after nice long evenings spent watching the sun set into the sea I came back with the following competed kits (excluding painting): LNER 12 Ton Low Sided 'Lowfit' Wagon - Parkside BR Vanwide VEA Air brakes Wagon - Parkside LMS/BR 16 Ton Steel Mineral Wagon - Cambrian Class B Tank Wagon BP Wagon - Dapol 20 Ton Cement Wagon - Dapol BR FM and BR BD Containers - Parkside These all came out of my stock pile, a draw full of wagon kits from all the different manufactures just to try them all out to see which one is the best, easy to build etc. I would say that Parkside and Cambrian were all round very good; no flash, easy instructions and went together well. Both came with steel wheels and brass bearings. The Dapol was not so good, although there were good instruction and there was a high level of detail on the Cement wagon when compared to the recent Bachmann RTR, but the level of flash, bowed and brittle parts meant that a lot of trimming a had to be done and lots of the finer parts kept snapping. Both kits came with only plastic wheels with steel axles, no brass bearings. (Note - these kits were about 4-5 years old) So, RTR verses kit build? Well obviously RTR quality is now 1st class. A kit brings much enjoyment and relaxation in the building. So as I like building wagons but I am also prepared to buy RTR, I think from now on I will focus my kit building on those wagons not in current RTR production, like the VEA. Here are some picture of the wagons built. Bachmann Presflo vs Dapol Cement - Side View Bachmann Presflo vs Dapol Cement - End View LNER Lowfit and BR Vanwide VEA Class B Tank and LMS/BR 16 Ton Steel Mineral BR FM and BR BD containers. I intend to use the two containers along with the Ratio Provender Store kit (the next build) to create an sort of railway engineering/PWay/S&T compound which will be just behind the signal box. These will be made to look run down and very aged, I hope. On with the baseboard and track build next...

My word how time flies and unfortunately modelling progress has not been made during this time. I have spent a large part of my recent spare time working on home restoration work and my job has also taken up a lot more than just my basic hours, so with these two things added up, railway modelling has taken a very big back seat. However, the repair work, plastering, woodwork, painting, wallpapering is now complete, the carpets are laid, the furniture back in place and one bedroom and new en-suite later I can say it is finished, well almost At work too there has been a substantial milestone passed with the submission of a major bridge inspection report I have been working on for several months now. Yep that's me counting rivets in 12 inch to the foot scale! So with both of these time sponges out of the way I finally find myself leavening work on time and getting home with more time in the evenings. I also treated myself to a bit of a celebratory purchase from my local model shop which has re-invigorated me back into 2010. So what did I buy, well 3 things actually; a Bachmann Class 47, 47148 in BR Blue (32-803), a Ratio Provender Store kit and some grey ballast. I was well pleased with the Class 47 purchase as it was being sold at a very good bargain price so I could not resist getting it. But it is an early version of the 47 with numeric head codes and 3 radiator grilles, but a bargain is a bargain. As 47148 was one of the 3 radiator grille versions I tried to do a bit of research into its history but could not find much on it and the only photos I found were all of it post conversion to the Serck radiator grille type. The best shot being 47148 at Llandudno Junction If anyone could help out with some history dates as to when it ran in this version I would be most grateful.

Well I have finally plucked up the courage and have made two out of the three turnouts. I say courage as these were C&L B6 tunrout kits and I have never scratch built any track before, so I did feel a little trepidation before I started. The first one was a real challenge and there are a few minor glitches with gauge I think but it was a good learning experience. The second was much better and I found quicker ways of doing things like threading chairs on to rails before cutting them off the frets. I think I can say that although they have taken a long time to build, about 3hrs for the second one, I have really enjoyed the build process and as they look so much better than RTR ones I am now a convert - mind you I think I will stick to using C&Ls flexi track for my plain line - too many chairs to thread!! . One thing I did do before I tackled this part of the project was to read, and read. I found the books by Iain Rice very helpful, both "An approach to building Finescale Track in 4mm" and "A Pragmatic guild to building, wiring and laying PCB Track". I also found the various topics on RMWeb on the subject of track of great support. Anyway, here are a couple of shots of the turnouts - I have yet to solder on droppers and weather. The bottom one is my first attempt and the top is the second. The second will form the turnout to the sidings.

Oops should have proof read my own words there as I meant to say "I hope you are not planning on using..." I have seen the EM rabbit in the hole as an exhibition a while back, most entertaining - well of sorts. But then I am sure with a clever camera angle you could get real ones on your layout some how during one of your field trips Just curious, have you photoshopped the distant telegraph poles on to the second image or is that how many you have on the layout? They look spot on fading out to a blur, really good perspective. Paul

Reading your last comment about the next one being Eastfield Depot, I hope you are planning on using the very rare word in the world of model railways that of - "It's finished" !!? As I will repeat one of my comments I posted on your gallery, I think you are missing some further elements of scenic work – in the first shot you could perhaps have some bare patches of soil and some bunny holes? Only joking Jon, what you create in such a short space of time is truly inspirational, so I really look forward to seeing how you tackle a more urban layout. Paul

Hi James, The rail treatment does look affective, just takes that shine off. Just wondering though, is this is a permanent affect or will it come off if the rail heads are cleaned, like with an abrasive block? Paul

Hi Jon Wahay we have moved in to the moving world of Sandhills, great video clips I love the fact that the wind was catching the leaves in the trees and ivy in the 2nd clip with 47535 on high-level. The lighting was very effective too. Now we know that you are a very creative modeller and that your realism skills are second to non, but how on earth did you create your back scene? I mean, I have never seen moving clouds on a backboard before, very subtle and extremely effective - if only you could market that as a product.... You may have written it previously but who's sound chip is in 47535? Paul

Hi Jon, just fantastic, I really love what you create!! The split level is a really nice idea and I like the overgrown feel to the buffer ends. On the question of the telegraph poles and wires, I have seen black elastic thread used on an exhibition layout to great affect. It was apparently model aircraft makers thread used to create the rigging on model bi-plane wings. I have also heard that black magician thread is very good as it is very fine too. The only issue with these two is that you do not get the sag in the wires as they are elastic and you have to stretch them to get them looking right. However the layout owner did say that as they are elastic they are very forgiving if you accidentally touch them rather than pulling the telegraph pole out of the layout! Paul

One of the wagons I remember see round Kings Lynn during my childhood was the red curtain sided Campbell soups pallet wagon. As these do not exist as RTR and so as a bit of a sideline I am looking into a wagon scratch building project, to this end I have just bought 8 blank wagon body shells. I have created a new topic in the Kit building & Scratchbuilding modelling Zone to record the build progress, it can be found here - Campbell Soups wagon - A scratch build project. In the meantime here is a mock up of what it might look like, minus the underframe.

and also re the shot of the Procor Fertiliser wagons in post 129 Hi Kevin Can you let me know who your Procor Fertiliser wagons are made by, are they RTR ones? It is just that I can not find this UKF/Procor branded one on sale, well at least with Procor on which is the one I am after. Any help much appreciated Paul

Three great photos there Kevin and the atmosphere in the last one is superb, it is almost as if there is a bit of late night dampness in the air with the signals reflecting of the platform and the shed side, very good. Apart for the major trip hazard across the platform, you would almost be forgiven in to thinking this was 12" to the foot scale.

Hi Kevin, Thanks for the weathering guide, really good I hope to have a go on some of my VAA and VEA stock soon. Seeing the first time weathering results from D9JEF, my confidence has really been boosted in to having a go, so thanks for the photos D9JEF. Paul

Hi Worsdell Just come across your thread and the Quoits pitch model, how cool is that!! You even made some Quoits!! Being a Quoits player in the Lower Dales league in the Wensleydale area I think this is such a great thing to add to the back of our pub. Will you take of the covers off in the summer and have some figures playing and drinking beer? Are you a player? Regards Jaggzuk aka Paul

Having now got North Marsh Road under way I though I would post where the fictitious map came from. I used a copy of the 1946 OS map of Kings Lynn and after quite a bit of 'photoshopping', well Paint.neting I came up with the map for North Marsh Road. Here are the two maps - First the original Kings Lynn one (flipped) and then the edited North Marsh Road. I have to say I quite enjoyed trying to create a map that firstly matched the track layout of Wymondham and then one that was plausible with road, bridges etc.

I've decided to beef up the scenic baseboard construction as I was not very happy with the flexibility of the 3mm MDF one. So I bought a 1200x600 sheet of 9mm exterior ply. This provided enough wood for 2 long sides, 2 ends and 2 stretchers bracings. Each 'girder' still measures 100m deep was built following the same method detailed for the MDF girder. The build time was about 3 hours, which was a bit slow but it was after a full day of DIY on the house The result though is far better than the MDF one and I am really pleased with it; much stronger, more twist resistant but still very light. Here are some photos of the built. General view. Close up of corner joint which was built the same way as explained by John Chivers and I think look very neat. View showing how the stretcher girders can support track bed risers which I still intend to use. Having now made the baseboard I could not resist in creating a bit of a mock with some cardboard, track and some building outlines. The following photos give some idea of how it might all look. Overall I am quite pleased with it how it looks.

Hi James The fish plates really do finish off the track very nicely. They even look slightly shiny as if they are all greased up like on the 12" to foot version. It is these small but so important finishing touches that make things look so good and worth the effort. Paul

Hi Kevin Not posted for a while, but great to catch up with your work and seeing some great photos. I really like some of the dusk/nighttime shots like the Class 60 on Depot, it is very atmospheric. So I was wondering if you explain how you archive them; what sort of background lighting do you use apart from the lights on the layout itself and do you do any 'photoshopping' of the image to get the dusk/nighttime feel. I would love to know as they have inspired me I to try these types of shots on my 2010 layout North Marsh Road (once it is built that is) Thanks Paul

Well I have made a start on some baseboard construction trials. As the scenic board will require an underbridge, I need to be able to create some vertical depth to the scenery. I could achieve this either by having a raised track bed or by splitting the baseboard level. My initial thoughts are towards using the open framed baseboard with a raised track bed method. I feel this allows for a more natural landscape to be created which the track runs through rather than on. I have no intention to make this an exhibition layout, but it still needs to be lightweight and portable. It will be built in a converted attic and this space is used for other activities so the layout will not be permanently erected. I have seen various type of baseboard on the exhibition scene and have always liked the composite girder/cellular type – two thin outer sheets of ply/MDF with internal blocks of wood. I found a useful "How to guide" on the web by John Chivers of Barry and Penarth Model Railway Club showing this form of construction Building Lightweight Baseboards However, I decided to try out smaller sections and so my trial is made from two 100mm wide strips of 3mm MDF sandwiching 45mm x 12mm blocks at approximately 275mm centres. The joint are glued and screwed. My first trial was 2" long and appeared to be OK, but being in a rush I wanted the glue to dry quickly and so I put in front of the log burner. Upon retuning an hour later my nice straight side was now curved like a banana!! So lesson 1 do not dry in front of direct heat. My next effort was a 45" long side. This appears to be OK and very strong in the vertical plane, but it is possible to deflect horizontally with the MDF bending between each block. In guess the 3mm is a bit too thin. But with further cross bracing it should be OK. My next test will be a radius board. I hope that the MDF will be more suited to this type of board, but time will tell Anyway here are some photographs of the base board trials. First trial - before I dried it into a banana Close up of the corner joint

I just love your sketches, a real gift; the ability to use pen and paper, or rather pencils and paper to illustrate what is one head . You have a real knack with perspective!