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Pugsley

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Blog Entries posted by Pugsley

  1. Pugsley

    Finally!

    By Pugsley,

    Hah, I bet you all thought that this project was dead and buried!
     
    Truth be told, I did as well, after being seduced by 7mm scale and shiny technology, oh, and cars. However, of late I've worked out why the layout wasn't really progressing - I find track building and wiring incredibly boring and, seeing as I don't have to do them, and there are many other interesting projects to spend time on, I haven't. I considered ripping up what I'd already done and building a small 7mm layout instead, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do that. So, with my wife insisting that she wanted our kitchen table back, I had to find a solution.
     
    The solution appeared to be to find someone to subcontract the track building and basic wiring to, allowing me to concentrate on the bits I enjoy, such as the scenery and the buildings, etc, to go on the layout once finished. The hardest part was going to be to find someone who was prepared to take on the project, who I felt would be able to complete it to my unfeasibly high standards. So, a chance conversation at the SWAG do last weekend resulted in the layout heading North after the show, to Darlington. Simon, of S H Model Making is going to do the honours as I know that I can trust him to finish the track to my standards (no pressure, if you're reading this, Simon!)
     
    Have I sold out? Probably, but at least this way I have got about 12 months to concentrate on building stock for the layout, so it's going to be a year of 4mm scale, with a bit of 7mm Cargowaggon thrown in for good measure. The first job is to finish the tamper, then the 455. I'm also looking forward to getting back to the tank wagons.
     
    The occasional progress report on the project will appear here, from time to time:
    https://www.facebook.com/SHModelMaking
  2. Pugsley

    Setting the scene

    By Pugsley,

    The next project, now with Chittle well and truly out of the way, is an incursion into Southern Region territory, with a might-have-been line between Bagshot and Woking.
     
    The story goes something like this:
    The line was built in the early 1920s as an alternative to the light railway proposed between Sunningdale and Woking, via Chobham, which was never built. The line provided a direct connection from Ascot and Bracknell to Woking by branching off at Bagshot, and running through Lightwater, West End, Bisley and Knaphill before joining the main line again near St Johns.
     
    The line was electrified and the layout of the station modified in 1967, at the same time as the rest of the South-West mainline to Bournemouth was electrified. At the same time the station was remodelled to accommodate the new oil terminal, with a new station building and access built on the former goods yard. The branch line to Bisley camp was also lifted at this time.
     
    The line was closed to passengers in 1976, after the canal bridge near St Johns was weakened in a dredging accident and had to be demolished, with the line beyond West End being lifted. Oil trains continued to the local fuel distributor until 1984, and the loop was retained so that aggregates trains, now coming from the Reading direction, could continue to reverse into the terminal, as the terminal has no run-round facilities. The stone trains are routed through Bracknell, and access the line to Bagshot through the chord at South Ascot.
     
    A large expansion in the town, and the progressive nature of the Network SouthEast sector at the time lead to the station having it's passenger service reinstated in 1988. Luckily the 3rd rail equipment had been left, albeit isolated, when the passenger service ceased in the 1970s.
     
    The station was originally composed of an island platform, with the main station building, on a now mostly demolished platform, connected by a footbridge. The far platform road has been filled in, and it is in this space that the new station building has been constructed, with the rest of the platform left as a bay.
     
    One of the former main lines is extended slightly to act as a headshunt for the run-round and the other main line now forms part of the goods loop. The far platform line (which is now the bay) originally continued to Bisley Camp (hence the name Bisley Junction - Bisley village, further down the line, only had a halt. Evidence of this lines embankment can just be made out, but has mostly been obliterated by the housing development. With the expansion in the town, the oil terminal has started to receive trains again, and another local industry (office furniture) now receives bright steel in vans from the UK and coated steel from abroad.
     

     
    The station at West End is marked by the blue dot on the map, the Stone terminal by the purple. There is one additional station on the line, at Lightwater.
     
     
    Trackplan is more or less like this, and I hope the notes above help to make some sense of it:
     

     

     
    The inspiration for the layout comes from several sources, St Denys, Chessington South and Addiscombe. I've got this kind of thing planned for the terminus end of the layout:
    http://neillwood3163.fotopic.net/p51672801.html
     
    And that's about as far as its got, save for one try of the templot plans on the board, and a point and a bit (about 1/4 of the way through the second point :mrgreen: )


  3. Pugsley

    A Quick Update

    By Pugsley,

    I dunno where time goes these days - one minute it's Christmas and the next it's Easter! Still, I can offer a quick update on the 37 project - it is structurally complete and painted, with a few little bits to add before the weathering commences in anger. This is how it is at the moment:
     

     
    The biggest problem at the moment seems to be a ride height problem at the No.1 end, this is currently riding some 2mm too high, which although it doesn't sound a lot, is enough to make it look a little odd. I'm not quite sure what's causing that at the moment, but I'm hoping it won't be too hard to sort.
     
    Some of it has been weathered though:
     

     
    I had to do the fan before fitting the (rather nice) Shawplan grille, otherwise there was no way of doing it later.
     
    Tom - This is about the best I could get of the ripple effect now it's painted. I think I could have done it a bit more now, as the paint has increased the subtlety of the effect, but it's a very fine line to overdoing it!
     

     
    Edit - Image upload now working!
  4. Pugsley
    Lack of updates should not be confused with lack of progress, although the two are usually related - I can't write about doing naff all, well, I could, but people would soon stop reading it!
     
    However, in the time I've not been here posting, I have summoned up the courage to actually make a start on painting the 37 and it hasn't been the disaster that I feared it would. It came close to it on a number of occasions though! Mostly problems with paint adhesion, I don't think I cleaned the body quite enough before assembly, and on a couple of occasions I thinned the Railmatch acrylics a little too much, which didn't help. A bit of remedial work with some fine sandpaper did the job though, and now you'd never know!
     
    This is how it looks now:

     
    After masking all of the stripes around the door areas, I was starting to wish that I'd decided to build it as a triple grey example! Still, I'm fairly pleased with the end result, even though it has required quite a lot of touching in in places - I'm not sure Tamiya masking tape is as good as it used to be.
     
    I've also got the replacement brake shoes from Shapeways - these are the best quality parts that I've had in the FUD material, and they arrived within 7 days.

     
    I've now ordered some more, as I was three quarters of the way through doing the first bogie before realising each sprue contained enough brake shoes for one bogie, and I had only ordered one of them.... Mounting the brakes in position has also confirmed that I have some room to add extra pick-ups, so these will also be put in place, which should help with the problems experienced on the first test run.
     
    In addition to the bogie works, a coat of Klear will go on the body next, in preparation for adding the decals, of which the orange cantrail lining is what I'm looking forward to least. Everything else is straightforward, there's the Kingfishers to go on the engine room doors and the numbers are Replica rub-on ones. I'm toying with the idea of putting the OHL warning flashes onto thin plastic sheet, or photo paper, and sticking them on, to provide a little bit of relief, but haven't quite made my mind up in that respect.
  5. Pugsley
    No not class 20's, (or that, you smutty individuals ), but one of these:

     
    Which has proved invaluable this weekend, as I've started adding detail to the cab of 415. It's great for cutting multiple, identical, pieces of styrene, with the supplied adjustable fences - angles are included too. It's very easy to set to the size you want too:

     
    Various people have said to me that the problem with going up in scale is that you end up adding smaller and smaller details, because you can. They've been proved right! After trawling the net for pics of 37 cabs (a big shout to Brian Daniels here - his pics have proved invaluable for this B) B) ) I've found some pictures of the cab of 694. Although 415's detail may be different again, I've used it as a base for the detailing. I've made a start on the nose end bulkhead:

     
    I've started with these, as this is where the bulk of differences seem to be, the kit rear bulkheads look spot on - they'll just need painting and weathering. The changes are minor, but worthwhile, mostly centering on the panel in front of the secondmans seat. Other changes I've made are an additional gauge and elongating the hole for the AWS indicator down and to the right - the hole in the bulkhead means that it sits too high and to the left. This wouldn't normally be a problem, but it would be really noticeable once I've put the cab-shore radio in place.
     
    I've removed all the detail from the secondmans panel before adding some spare door open buttons from my 455 etches and building the other parts from assorted microstrip and rod.
     
    Here are some of the other details I've been working on over the weekend - can you tell what it is yet?

     
    They're a bit rough round the edges - I need to work on my miniature crafting skills a bit (Willard Wigan has nothing to fear! ) but they do the job - as long as someone can tell what they are, I'll be happy!
     
    I've also been adding cab door detail to the inside - it just didn't look right with the plain resin moulding behind the cab door area. There's still a way to go on this yet.

     
    I don't know why I can't just build kits as they are, but the more I look, the more I notice and the more I want to add! It's some sort of affliction, I think - a desire to make life more difficult for myself Off to carry on with chopping now...
     
    PS - If you don't know who Willard Wigan is, take a look here and prepare to be amazed:
    http://www.archipelago-art.co.uk/id36.html
  6. Pugsley

    The real slim Shady

    By Pugsley,

    Whilst not exactly a thrilling example, I thought I'd post a little about how I've made the cab sunshades, as it has useful applications beyond this simple example. In fact, I used the same technique when I made the operator cab for the 07-275 tamper that I've yet to finish.
     
    I found a suitable picture of the sunshades on line, that would do for what I wanted with the minimum of manipulation. It is possible to correct perspective and rotate images within photoshop, or GIMP is a useful, free, alternative.
     
    I cropped the part of the image I wanted out of the picture and pasted it into CorelDraw. Here, I can resize it and lock it as the background. There is a trace program included with the version of CorelDraw that I have, but it isn't much use TBH. Instead, I used the standard drawing tools to trace around the edge myself. This is the result:

     
    The curved part had come out a little flat, so I adjusted that, by eye, to match the curvature of the roof. Measuring the width of the window gave me the width of the shade, so the drawing was adjusted to that dimension. A test piece was printed, cut out, and placed against the window aperture to check the dimensions. This highlighted that the item was too deep, so this was adjusted whilst keeping the width constant. Once happy, the part was duplicated 4 times, and the final template printed.
     
    Here are the tools required for this job (excluding the scissors ):

     
    The pritt-stick secures the template to the glazing curing the cutting process, but peels off quite readily. Even if some should stick, all traces can be removed with water. Once cut out, this is the result:

     
    I had originally planned on using Tamiya Smoke to tint these and have them slightly see-through, like the real thing. However, it just isn't dark enough, so ended up painting them with black acrylic. They will be secured into the cab roof, anyhow, so the fact that they're not see through shouldn't detract from the final effect.
     

     
    I'm going to secure them with the canopy glue shown in the picture - it seems to be a kind of PVA adhesive, originally designed for securing aircraft canopies - it dries perfectly clear. It's a lot more controllable that superglue, and isn't very visible if a little too much is used. I've also used it to secure the glazing into the cab assemblies - it's proved to be a very useful product so far. It's not exactly cheap, but the bottle should last for a very long time!
  7. Pugsley

    A brief glimpse

    By Pugsley,

    After what seems to be a very long time, the heavyweight 37 is finally finished. Unfortunately, I can't say too much about the methods used at the moment, as it is scheduled to appear in a future issue of BRM. So, all I can post at the moment is a couple of teaser pics to prove that I am actually achieving something from time to time:
     


     
    I'll put some more pictures up once the magazine is out.
     
    It hasn't turned out quite as well as I'd hoped as some of the materials and techniques used are a bit experimental, but it's still looking quite good, IMO. It has been good practice for the big 37 though, which I really need to overcome my fear of painting, which is the biggest barrier to progressing with it. Well, that and the fact that the first run didn't go so well, but I think that's down the back EMF being enabled on the chip which got confused by the signals from 6 motors. I now need to build a small length of track to use my rolling road on, so I can hook it up to the Powercab and start tweaking CV's. There'll be more of that in a later update.
  8. Pugsley
    Links for the next parts of the saga:
    14 - Done it! (well sort of)
    14A - Done it 2! (well sort of)
    15 - Stepping up a notch
    16 - Oh bu**er!
    17 - Paying the (sand)piper
    18 - BOGIES!
    19 - Lining up ducks
    20 - (Traction) motoring on
    21 - Getting closer but a long way to go
    22 - Monkey in the well
    23 - You stud!
    24 - Tanked Up (and Boxing)
     
     
     
    The focus for the next stage of this project is going to move from the blog section, to the normal forum bit as the additional interaction is going to prove useful, I think. I'll still put the occasional post in here for construction that isn't related to the bogies and certain progress milestones, probably.
     
    This is the drawing I've used to prove that the concept is sound, using the dimensions of the parts that I've found so far. It all fits in the space I've got available, which is a good start!
     

     
    The original copy is to exact scale size, the diagram above is enlarged for clarity.
     
    The dark blue bits at the top of the image are the chassis rails, on the floor moulding, that project downwards. The red box around the bogie is the maximum height allowable to ensure that the buffer centres are a scale 3' 5.5" above rail level (24.21mm), although I could allow myself an extra mm or two if required, there's variation in the real thing, after all
     
    The hornblocks are from Slaters, and the inner frames will be etched from either 0.70mm brass or nickel silver, I haven't decided yet. One thing to note, the wheels haven't come out very well in that picture, the larger floating green things you can see are the axle mounted gears, with the grey rectangle underneath being the rail. I'll upload a better diagram at some point.
     
    Now that I'm satsfied that the concept works, and I've found the right parts for the job, next job will be to finalise the motor and gear positioning before deciding on the design for the frames and motor mounts. What I learned when designing my class 455 etchy bits is going to come in handy here!
     
    The best part is, now that it's public, I'll have to get on with it and make it work!
     
    The adventure of the springy bogies will continue Here
     
    Edit - I've just noticed that this is chapter 13, I do hope that's not some kind of omen...
  9. Pugsley

    Tampering

    By Pugsley,

    I've put the bogie work on the 37 to one side for a minute as I wanted to do some actual modelling instead of sitting at a computer drawing things. After a gentle prod by another member, I've remembered that there has been a little progress on my tamper since the last update on RMweb 3, here:
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=653897#p653897
     
    It's made a visit to the paintshop:

     

     
    I've replaced the etched handrails in the kit with some formed from 0.33mm wire - they look more convincing than the square etched ones. There is plenty more to do on this, but I wanted to get the main body colour on first, as some of the parts that need to be added are very fine, particularly the pipes up the sides, and I thought it best to get the main coat on first. Buffers (Hornby Class 50 buffers) are just poked into their holes temporarily at the moment.
     

    It's pleasing to view it from the side, as it shows the real difference between my model and the standard kit. The biggest difference being in this area:

     
    Structurally, it's complete, most of the parts to be added now is all the plumbing and there is a lot of it to do! I won't be making terribly rapid progress with this, more picking it up from time to time and doing bits when I get fed up with drawing.
  10. Pugsley
    Having had the house to myself most of the weekend, I've used it wisely to get quite a lot of modelling done, both in real world and virtual. I've now created the axlebox for the Nitric tank project, and I'll probably do the Timken version at some point in the future.
     
    Behold the mysterious floating axlebox:
     

     
    The SKF logo is a little more prominent than it should be, but that's unavoidable due to the resolution required for printing. I understand that the minimum feature size for FUD is 0.1mm. I'll reduce the size with judicious use of wet and dry after printing.
     
    Just the rest of the wagon to go now!
     
    I've made a start on the second class 37 bogie as well, so there is a slim possibility that it might be sat on its bogies at Telford. It probably won't though
  11. Pugsley

    Still loving it!

    By Pugsley,

    It's sad, but I've been like a child with a new toy over the last few days seeing what else I can do with these oil paints. I've known about them for a long time, Rich Divizio of mtw (http://modeltrainsweathered.com/forum/) has been using them for years, but I'm still getting excited by playing around with them and discovering things for myself. I think I need to get out more....
     
    Side two of PR58265 has been completed, and I've now worked out how to use them for the spillage staining effectively:

    Which involves applying the paint sparingly, then dragging down with a dry brush.
     
    On this side, I've also used the oils on the underframe to good effect, using raw umber mixed with black and white in varying quantities to add highlights and shadows. This leaves things a bit glossy though, so it needed to be overcoated with some matt varnish on this one, as I didn't want any shine.
     
    Pix - I've used the JSV on this one, it brushes beautifully and dries nicely matt. It is definitely spirit based, and cleans up OK with the odourless thinners I normally use. I'll run some through the airbrush soon and let you know how it goes.
     
    Quick top shot:

     
    One more TTA to do now before finishing off both of the TEAs
  12. Pugsley

    A milestone moment!

    By Pugsley,

    I'm feeling rather pleased with myself this afternoon, as it all appears to work! I've spent the last few modelling sessions constructing the axleboxes and their stirrups and fettling the equalising beams to fit.
     
    After the test assembly appeared to be successful, I couldn't resist plonking the body on top to see what it looked like, and it looked rather good IMO.
     

     
    Everything appears to be OK in terms of width across the bogie - nothing looks out of place there. There is an issue with one of the springs being slightly out of alignment (obvious in the pics), but a careful bit of work with a file on the mounting stud will sort that out. I've resigned myself to lightly gluing the springs in position, instead of relying on a friction fit anyhow.
     

     
    The ride height appears to be ok, in as much as in its current state the distance from the ground to the bottom of the body is less than I had allowed for the overall height of the bogie, so by the time the secondary suspension is installed it'll be at the right height. I just need to find out what that height is, as I don't appear to have written that down anywhere...
     

     
    What it has highlighted though, which I did kind of expect, is that I'm going to have to add a fair bit of weight inside the model to get the springs to ride at the correct height. In the photos above, the model is sitting at pretty much the maximum downtravel of the axleboxes, the idea is that the normal position will be at half travel, so the wheels can go up and down with the undulations in the track.
     
    It needs a bit of tweaking, but at least I've proved to myself that I haven't been wasting my time!
  13. Pugsley

    Quick bogie update

    By Pugsley,

    Not much to say, other than slow progress is being made on the bogies. I've now assembled the first of the frames, and popped in the first motor unit to see how it all fits together.
     
    The good news is, it all fits together!
     

     

     
    The sideframe is just held on with blu-tack for the moment, but it all looks promising.
  14. Pugsley

    Low fidelity?

    By Pugsley,

    Who needs expensive decals when you've got paper and blu-tack?
     

     
    I've started another project to give me a break from the 37, I thought it was about time I indulged in a spot of wagonry. Besides, now slow progress is being made on Bisley Jct, I really could do with some stock for the oil terminal!
     
    The plan is for 8 wagons initially. All will be fitted with S-Kits walkways, and various detail differences in chassis in terms of strengthening ribs, handbrake locations etc will be represented. To the untrained eye, it'll look like there is two types of tank, look a little closer and it'll become apparent that there are 4 different types across the 8 wagons.
     
    I'm also going to change the springs this time, for the later parabolic version. At least some of the wagons will feature springs by Cambrian, the rest will probably be built from strip.
     
    I've designed my own decals for the project, the testing of which is under way in the picture above. The Total logo is now the correct size, the Caib logo needs to be a bit bigger. The beauty of doing it this way is that I can tailor the decals to match each wagon as required, and I only have to get what I need, instead of buying large packs of transfers for only one or two items. Of course, this may turn out to be a more expensive way of doing things, I haven't had the price for the sheet back yet, but it will be sufficient to finish 16 wagons (13xTTA, 3xTEA) so even if it is relatively expensive, it shouldn't be too much per wagon.
     
    Not having to make TOPS panels from individual letters and numbers is probably the best advantage!
     
    More progress as and when, hopefully this week, when I can outline the mods required to each wagon. I need to do a little more to the 37 at some point though, I'm hoping to have the frame of one of the bogies fully assembled by the Bristol show, in a little under two weeks.
  15. Pugsley

    Lining up ducks.

    By Pugsley,

    The lack of updates has not meant lack of progress, in fact far from it! The revised etches have arrived - on two sheets this time, 0.7 nickel silver for the larger structural parts, 0.5mm brass for the rest. Some of the parts were too tricky to fold in the initial design.
     

     
    There's still something immensely satisfying about send off a computer file, handing over some dosh and getting a shiny sheet of metal parts in return!
     
    Work has also been continuing on other aspects of the project, and the last of the parts required to start assembling the bogies should arrive this week.
     

     
    The wheels have now been reprofiled to S7 standards, which proved a little trickier than the theory suggested, but having said that, I did only manage to bu**er up one wheel! It was one wheel more than I was hoping to, but these things happen.... The wheels have also been reamed to 4.74mm, so they will be an interference fit on the 3/16in axles. One thing I discovered today is that Slaters axles are not 3/16 - they're slightly under (4.72 mm) - as I've had to drill out the hornblocks/axleboxes to fit the 3/16in rod that I have - which is spot on at 4.76mm.
     
    I've also milled down the central boss of the wheels so it is now only about 0.5mm proud of the tread of the wheel.
     
    The hornblocks have been milled down so they are now rectangular, as per the real thing, and the bearings are in place on the traction motor assemblies. I'm hoping that the 2mm tubing that will form the shafts for the intermediate gears will be here in the next couple of days.
     
    Hopefully, further updates during the week will show the first bogie taking shape!
  16. Pugsley
    After yesterdays trials and tribulations, one of the first things I did this evening, once home, was to turn the boards around to see how it would look viewed from the opposite side to the original plan.
     

     
    I think it works better - I'm much happier with the appearance of the layout now, it just works better IMO.
     
    The mugs and herb jars are the storage tanks, the CDs are the loading canopy and the coasters are a small office building. The Bachmann boxes by the far wall are a low-ish relief building for an industry that shares part of the oil terminal yard.
     
    I've taken the opportunity to check out the photographic angles as well, and it's going to work much better this way round. Here's a rough idea of how the layout will look from a distance:

     
    And some of the possible angles:



     
    I'm happy now that it's showing a bit more potential
  17. Pugsley
    Lack of progress on here doesn't mean I haven't been doing anything, far from it, I've spent hours and hours (what feels like an eternity!) soldering bits of brass together, and ended up with these:
     

     
    It hasn't been going very well - these are the best of the ones I've made, I've scrapped at least two, and the ones that remain have been re-soldered many times to reach this point.
     
    Each one is made from 1mm brass wire, a small chunk of 2mm hex brass and 0.8 wire, also brass.
     
    Unfortunately, I've got the 4 front ones to make now
  18. Pugsley

    Oh bu**er!

    By Pugsley,

    Early indications are that there is a fundamental design flaw in the etched parts for this conversion
     
    To be honest, I'm a bit annoyed with myself for not spotting and thinking about it earlier. The problem is that the cranked design of inner frame, designed to bring the axlebox into the right place, without having to mill down the bogie sideframes, doesn't allow the axlebox to travel high enough up the guide.
     
    I've now got to decide whether I press on with what I've got, milling the sideframes to suit, or go for a redesign.
     
    Whatever I decide, I have to make this work, not only because I'll be fed up with myself if I don't, I've now chopped up the sideframes into two parts - the main frame and the axleboxes still attached to the equalising beams.....
     
    I guess that it was asking a bit too much that it would be a success first time.
  19. Pugsley
    Follow these links for the other stages of this project - I've had to trim the number of entries in the index box, to the right:
    Part 2 - More Gronk progress
    Part 3 - It doesn't look much different, does it?
    Part 4 - End of side 1, please turn over
    Part 5 - Side 2
    Part 6 - End of side two - approaching the end(s)
    Part 7 - Nearly the end(s)
    Part 8 - The finished article
     
    I know its in the archive, but seeing as this is still a current project, I'd better move it over here.
     
    Based on this photo:
    http://web.ukonline.co.uk/railscans/pic ... 000310.jpg
     
    The model started life as Dick Hardy, but I wanted to do something different with it. I started this ages ago, and it was intended for the later period on Chittle, but now I've got rid of the layout (and the rest of the stock), I'll probably put this one up for sale once finished - I still want to do it justice though.
     
    This was how far it had got previously:
     

     
     
    Renumbered, and the black window surrounds and cab door that the Hornby model came with have been painted grey, with a mix matched to the factory finish. I'd also renumbered it with Fox transfers, and changed the warning flashes to the early type (I'd originally planned to do it in 1998 condition, which wasn't much different). It needed fading, and the roof and sides need to be done separately - executive dark grey is a funny colour when faded, it goes a kind of tan colour. Departmental grey, however, just gets lighter.
     

     
     
    At this stage the roof has been faded with washes mixed up from Humbrol 110 and 34. The sides have been attacked with white gouache washes. The numbers have been removed, as the fading virtually obliterated them. I'll put them back later, probably after the first grime layer has gone on - as they're plastic, the oily dirt from the fuel doesn't stick to them.
     
    The downside of using this wash technique is the wash gathering in all the detail, and looking very wrong. Since trying this method on the 08 (after using it with some success on my blue 33) I've decided it's a technique that is better suited to smooth sided vehicles. Undeterred though, I pressed on to see what would happen once some grime had been run into the panel lines:
     

     
    And to be quite honest, it looked more than a bit pants. So, I decided that it all had to come off (the beauty of gouache) and that the only way to get the overall fade would be to do a spray fade. I left the gouache washes that I had already put on the yellow on both ends, as I wanted that more faded than the black. A bit of maskol to protect the glazing, the roof masked off, and it was ready to go:
     

     
    The gouache hasn't gone completely, but it doesn't matter as the sprayed fade will even things out. I used Vallejo off-white, heavily thinned with a little screenwash added in the mix to help the surface tension. this was sprayed at relatively high pressure, and just dusted on, and built up gradually.
     

     

     
    It's looking much better by this stage. It needs a bit more work on the battery and exhauster boxes on one side, and a bit on the solebar of the other, but that can be done with gouache.
    Once the dirt starts to be added:
     

     
    It starts to look more like it should from the photo. Numbers have been added again, but from Modelmaster this time - I'm disappointed with how yellow the Fox transfers go.
     
    The griming/highlighting needs to be finished on both sides, and then it'll be onto the underframe. I haven't yet decided what technique to use on the underframe - my variation on Martyn Welchs' method, or another idea I've been cooking up, similar to that I use for buffer grease. Hopefully I'll make a decision soon
  20. Pugsley

    He ain't heavy....

    By Pugsley,

    A somewhat obtuse title, I suppose, but what the heck, I'm suffering from lack of imagination due to the heat
     
    Work continues on the heavyweight conversion, with the bogie mods done and the headlights replaced. These are Replica items, drilled through with a 2mm drill and stuck to the shell with Plastic Weld once the original moulded lights were shaved off carefully.
     

     
    It makes a massive difference to the appearance of the loco IMO, especially as the 'face' is one of the first things looked at and it's often really noticeable, although not always - it took me a while to work out why the Heljan Kestrel didn't look quite right, but that's something for another time....
  22. Pugsley

    Mikkel made me do it ;-)

    By Pugsley,

    I wasn't going to, but here, by popular request , are some pictures of the internally complete No 2 end cab. Everything is pretty much the same as the other end, but with different rear bulkhead detail. The lights highlight the detail nicely, even in daylight! I decided to stick with the 1K2 ohm resistors in the end.
     

     
    The next pic highlights the need to clean the windows!
     

     
    Showing the position of the cab lights, and the sunshades in position.
     

     
    I'm hoping to have the rest of the body assembled by the end of the week, then it'll be on to the bogies
  23. Pugsley

    Point(less) Update

    By Pugsley,

    With flights of fancy put on the back burner for the time being, where they should be, a milestone has been reached in the construction of Bisley Junction - the pointwork is more or less complete!
     
    The most challenging piece so bar was the B7 FB crossover:

     
    Which I'm rather pleased with, closely followed by the two bullhead rail points - flat bottom rail is so much easier to work with as it's obvious which way up the rail goes!
     
    The only thing left to do do all of the turnouts is to fit the tiebars. After considering several options, I've decided to go for functional stretcher bars of my own construction:

    For this I've used 0.5x1.5mm brass strip, 13mm long, with the last 2mm of each side bent to form an 'L' shape - the brass did need to be annealed to soften it before bending. Between the two brass strips is a piece of paper secured to the brass using epoxy resin, which sticks the parts together and insulates electrically. As an extra precaution I've also run thin superglue into the joint as well for added strength.
     
    The one pictured above is the prototype, which appears to have been a success so far, it's very strong, will be easily soldered to the rails and both sides are fully insulated from each other. I need to drill a hole for later fitting of the operating mechanism but other than that, it's complete. Just another 6 to make now....
  24. Pugsley
    With TFMP being out for the day, I've been able to crack on with this little project all afternoon. I go through phases with this, sometimes I really get into it and can achieve a lot in a what feels like a short length of time. Other times I don't really 'feel it' so get distracted, and don't achieve much at all.
     
    The second side is just about there now, I think. I've highlighted the panel lines with dark grime washes, and added the rust underneath the door hinges with powders - a mix of Mig Vietnam Earth, Black Smoke, Industrial City Dirt and AIM Grimy Black. I've added some rust wash from the exhaust on the roof at the front, again using gouache - it really is a wonderfully versatile medium.
     

     
    The masking tape depot plaque worked again, although it nearly ended in disaster - I hadn't noticed that I'd put the Metals flash over the corner of it, so when I removed it some of the transfer came away! Luckily I managed to retrieve the part, so managed to stick it back down with matt varnish.
     
    Work will now commence on the ends, although these are straightforward compared to the side, so I may even have this finished this evening! I need to make myself some sort of photo plank, now that I've no layout to take pictures on. It'll be a useful exercise too - there's some techniques that I want to try out.
     
    I think I've hit upon the next project already.
  25. Pugsley

    The Past

    By Pugsley,

    I guess it seems strange starting a blog about a layout with a post about an entirely different layout, but it highlights some of the thinking behind the new layout, and I feel it sometimes helps to have a little of the past to understand the present and the future. The old thread containing more info about the construction of the layout can be found here:
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=608
     

     
    Chittle was my entry in the 2007 layout challenge, which was for layouts with a total area of less than 6 square feet. This introduced a couple of compromises, particularly in terms of shape and, of course, overall size. The biggest compromise, for me, was the inability to capture the feel of railway running through the landscape as much as I wanted. I didn't want the layout to feel crowded, so the final track plan was as simple as possible, but this did limit operation somewhat. After operating sessions on Bleakhouse Road, I decided that whatever I did next needed to have more operating potential, and more shunting to keep me occupied.
     

     
    Starting from scratch, and never having built a layout before, I wasn't really sure what I was doing, so there was a large element of making things up as I went along. Initially I wasn't going to use point motors, but eventually decided I wanted to. Unfortunately, I hadn't designed the layout with them in mind, so ended having to chop holes out of the polystyrene, and glue plywood into the apertures, making much more work for myself than I ever needed to do. The extruded styrene did make for a strong and lightweight base though, and I will probably use it for a layout again in the future.
     

     
    Having more locos than anything else (that always seems to happen!) meant that it would have to be a small depot of some description, but I wanted it to be different - not another depot layout with a Pikestuff shed, and Knightwing fuelling point. I did end up with the Knightwing fuelling point (but used the less common roof option to try and disguise that...
     

     
    Various avenues of research led to Peterborough stabling point (the EWS one) as a basis for the shed and fuelling point. Again, I hadn't built a structure from scratch, so didn't really know what I was doing. I figured, in the end, that as it was to be an open building, so the interior would be visible, it would be a good idea to build it like the real thing. Wills sheets were used for the base of the building, glued back-to-back to give the necessary thickness, and brick patterns on both sides. The top of the structure as then built up with Evergreen styrene girders, styrene battening, and embossed plasticard cladding on that.
     

     
    During construction I put lights on one building as an experiment after fiding some LEDs that looked like industrial lighting in both white and yellow. It worked, so all of the building on the layout were equipped with working lights, with the hope that it would work for taking night photos on the layout. In the end it was something that worked quite well, and it was worth the extra effort.


     
    Scenery was a mix of static grass, and Woodland Scenics foliage, along with some brambles made from rubberised horse hair. Scenic methods mostly came from the Captain Kernow Scenery Clinic Service, which was most enlightning, although I used spraymount for speed, rather than the more usual PVA. The deadline was rapidly approaching by this stage!
     
    I didn't think it would be finished in time, but to my amazement it was, although circumstances at the time helped. Even more of an amazement was it winning I still can't get over it to this day. Following this, it appeared at both the main and SWAG hosted members days, and one exhibition. It's recently gone to a new home to clear space for the incoming project.
     
    There are many lessons I've learned during the construction and operation of the layout, probably too many to mention here - although the major ones are the operational interest, and not using points of too tight a radius - A5s are probably OK for small steam locos and shorter wagons, but cause problems with a lot of modern stock. Other lessons learned will crop up in the next update about the current project. See, I said there was a point to all this
     

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