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ullypug

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Blog Entries posted by ullypug

  1. ullypug
    Work on Cheddar is so slow at the moment. I seem to be doing quite a lot but for minimal signs of meaningful progress.
    With the wiring on board 4 finished, I've started on the control panel that will be attached to the back of the layout at this point.
    I'm using 2 lever frame kits from MSE; one is of considerably older vintage than the other. I really liked having levers on Wheal Elizabeth, though that was only 5. Cheddar will have 25.
    I'm wiring the turnouts and signals to be independently operated from the track power, be it DCC or DC.
    So far I've made up the frame kits which were a bit of a struggle but once painted they don't look too bad.

    The levers will be linked to DPDT slide switches to change the polarity on tortoises for the turnouts/signals and I'm presently wading through the delights of wiring them up.
    Eventually the frame will sit in a box with just the top of the frame visible and the section/uncoupler switches located alongside.

    In between all of this I've been playing with the odd wagon to break things up a bit. The mink D & mink G were acquired part built in OO so have had springing and under frame detail added. The BR Fruit diagram 1/230 is a straight Parkside kit with springing.


  2. ullypug

    Back to front

    By ullypug,

    Evening all
    Gosh, it's almost 3 months since I posted anything about the WC&PR. edit can't count!
    Well I have been busy with the T9...
    Had a blast at Expo EM North last weekend and on the journey I home I was reminded that the next show I'm exhibiting at is Clevedon's debut. Eeek
    Nothing like the headlong descent into blind panic to get the juices going!
    So where was I?
    Oh yes, at the last local EM meeting, there were a few mutterings about which side of the layout should be the front. Well these mutterings have been developing into full blown conversations and following a visit by Gordon Gravett the other day, a decision has been made to turn the layout round.
    Sounds more dramatic than it actually is since everything is demountable anyway. So I've temporarily taken down the lighting rig and turned the baseboards round. This afternoon has seen the carcassing made for the backscene. Don't worry, the photos below just show it resting on the back of the layout. There won't be any gaps and having had a good look at Simon Challis' Cheddar (S&DJR) at Expo North last week convinced me to try my hand a painting on lining paper and then getting it laminated/encapsulated. That way it can be one continuous scene which will sit in front of the carcassing. Initially I thought it was going to be a view towards the Bristol Channel but it looks like it'll actually be the back of the Curzon cinema. Check out the link here for a 1930's view.
    Clevedon aerial photo
     
    The down side of this is I will have to tart up all the buildings that don't have a back (lesson there ahem) as well as sort out some bits of unpainted scenery and replace all the sea moss trees. The up side is that the easily breakable bits are now further from the paying public. OK so the operation will have to be from the back, but with manual point operation, I actually don't mind that much. The sheds, stock and greenery will eventually act as scenic blocks and the lower height of the layout (it's about 1.1m) lets the viewer peer over.
    I think this might work quite well. Oh and yes, this now means that Weston and Clevedon could theoretically be operated at the same exhibition

    Overall view of the layout (sorry there's so much clutter but I needed the wide angle)

    Portishead end

    Weston End

    Portishead end and water tower

    Platform with test wagon

    View through the original WCPR connection spur to the GWR Clevedon Station. The engine shed roof isn't fixed down by the way.

    View over the sheds towards Weston

    View over the sheds of the GWR connection

    Close up of the sheds
     
    So, next step is to replace the trees and do it properly, add a few hedges, paint the backscene, add tonnes of detailing etc etc!!
    laterz
  3. ullypug

    Backscene

    By ullypug,

    Evening all
    I have been a bit preoccupied with the backscene of late. I must admit to getting really stressed doing them. SWMBO is quite a talented artist and has helped with the last two layouts but it very nearly ended in divorce last time...
     
    The plan for Clevedon has always been for a continuous backscene. This will include the town at the Portishead end, pan round including Hangstone Quarry then flatten out to reflect the levels towards Weston.
    Originally I envisaged a photo stitched thing but it soon became apparent that Clevedon (despite what some of my friends who live there think) has actually moved on since 1940 meaning the original aspect had been affected by more modern buildings.
    So one Sunday, I found myself wandering the streets taking photos of various buildings. Luckily a supermarket car park and a sports field give a pretty good vantage point.
    We are fortunate to have Martin Goodall in our EM area group and he has written articles about backscenes in MRJ's 221 & 222. I didn't quite want the Cotswold stone look but an evening watching him demonstrating his painting techniques convinced me I could have a go.
     
    The backing medium is 1700 grade lining paper which is sprayed with a blue and a white Halfords car aerosol (Olympic Blue and some white or other) to get the basic sky pattern.

    Buildings were sketched out using the principles of parallel perspective and then transferred onto the paper using tracing paper.

    The painting then commenced using artist's acrylics.
    The initial attempts were a little 'Costa del Clevedon' with too much terracotta.

    Once the blocks of colours had been laid down, the building details were added with watercolour graphite pencils. The applied shading softens when moistened with a paint allowing a representation of windows, cills, bargeboards etc to be laid down.
     
    I've attached some photos of the final results. I wouldn't call myself an artist at all so I'm really pleased with how it's turning out. There's still a bit to do; the green will be lightened to reflect trees and bushes and the quarry will include a bit more detailing. Still, you get the idea.

  4. ullypug
    lovely day for photographing models today, no direct sun but bright. Put Wheal Elizabeth up in the garden and spent a happy hour snapping away. It's amazing what the public doesn't normally see from the front. I now have a list of things to attend to before the next show, which isn't until January.
     
    Looking forward to going to Scaleforum tomorrow. Hope to see a few of you there.
     
    Cheers
  5. ullypug
    Evening all
    One of the nice things about our hobby is we can decide to do something completely different if the mood takes us, so in a break from layout building I decided I needed to build some whitemetal wagons.
    A fruit C/D and Southern Open from David Geen and a diag AA16 (I think) brake van) from D&S I've had lurking in the cupboard for a while.
    As they're all P4 I decided they needed some form of compensation or springing. In the end the brake van is compensated using the original parts and the other two sprung with Bill Bedford W irons.
    Not completed, but they're getting there. The brake van needed new solebars forming from channel to allow room for the rocking W irons.

    The bridge is showing the effects of filling and scribing the stones to join the PECO stone sheets I've been using. I think the technique is going to be ok for the station building but more of that anon.
     
    I try and spend some time at the tinking table every day if I can get away with it, even if it's only 10 minutes or so and the next couple of wagons have benefited from this. They're both RTR and as they're hoppers, in both cases I've decided not to spring but compensate with a sloppy axle and add quite a bit of weight. The Hornby ex LNER coal hopper has had a bit of work done to get the wheels in. They said the Heljan dogfish couldn't be re-wheeled to P4, well it can and without major dramas. The trick is to file quite a bit of the pin points off the axles before putting the wheels back in. Cheddar's going to need quite a few of these and I wanted to see if I could find a way of not having to build them all out of Cambrian kits with the individual spring axle boxes I added for the one on Wheal Elizabeth. Don't worry, it's going to get repainted!

    Lastly, I've made a start on some of the trees that will be gracing Clevedon using armatures from a mixture of paper coated wire and ordinary stranded stuff. Long way to go yet but I thought I'd better start since I'll be demonstrating some of this scenic work at Expo Em in a couple of weeks!! Method copied straight out of Gordon Gravett's book. He's a clever chap isn't he?!

  6. ullypug

    Board 2

    By ullypug,

    I've pretty much done all I can do to the first board (in the modelling room anyway). The remaining scenics are going to be best left until the whole thing is put up in the garage for final spraying, weathering, coaling and flocking.
    So I've put up the next board which essentially is the platform and yard throat. There'll be a couple of small sheds at the back, lineside fence and a few small trees.
    Couldn't resist putting most of the stock out on the layout and you can get a flavour for what the layout will look like most of the time anyway.

    I've finished the signal cabin with oil lamp. There's also one on the station building if you look.

    I'm quite pleased with the sneaky view you get through the buildings of the original exchange siding with the GWR. You can just see the second tractor lurking behind the smaller rail car
     
    The large railcar is where the single platform will be located. This will occupy pretty much all of the front of the board with a small waiting shelter and a couple of water towers.

  7. ullypug

    Boards half done

    By ullypug,

    Like I said in the last post, progress will be slow but steady. 4 board carcasses done. 4 to do.
    Jig is working well. Not very exciting I know!
    Took a load of track photos at Didcot last week and will hopefully start building it in the autumn.
  8. ullypug
    Where did the last fortnight go?
     
    Some progress with the bubble car. Second end finished. Just waiting for the handrails to arrive courtesy of Southern Pride and 'courier'. Think I'll have to lower the original end a bit looking at the photo. Got the High Level lo-rider power bogie installed finally. Was a bit of a struggle as I'd cut off most of the Lima mounting bits when I originally built it. Anyhow, it seems to fit now, though I haven't tried it under power yet. I think it looks alright though.
     
    Managed to make headway on lining the other side of the O2. Just the numbering to do and the last bits of black on the valance. Yes I will clean up the tank sides (looks like some methfix residue still clinging). Oh, and the motor arrived so I can think about pickups and finishing off.
     
    As for layout progress, don't ask! There isn't any (although I did look at the baseboards earlier today, but that doesn't really count!).
  9. ullypug
    Cor it's been a while hasn't it? Whereas I used to be able to count my modelling activity in hours, now it's minutes. Happy to report I've finally finished off the bubble car. Well I say finished, there's a mist of weathering, head codes to add, etc etc.

    I'm really pleased with the way this has turned out. Ok so you can buy a Hornby bubble car in green but that's not the point. This model means a lot to me personally because it's taken so long to build. I bought the donor unit 27 years ago when I was working at the model railway in Weston (not a bad summer job as they go) and the Craftsman conversion kit I reckon was bought from the Bristol Model Railway show about the same time (when it was still at the exhibition centre - I caught the bus I seem to recall). So we've got history.
     
    The lining is Fox transfers and having now used them twice for lining, I have to say I'm really impressed with their stuff and service - they made up a special pack of all the bits I needed. Yes I know the upper stripe should be the same thickness as the mid body stripe it being a West Country engine but I don't care! I'm still chuffed to bits with it. Glazing a mixture of flush glaze and err actual flush glazing, all secured with Johnsons Clear.

    Photos attached. Taken in poor light so apologies. It is green honest!
  10. ullypug

    Cement hopper

    By ullypug,

    As well as getting Wheal Elizabeth ready for the Cheltenham show this weekend, this week I've been building a 51L kit for a Castle Cement air braked hopper. This will be added to the modern image fleet for occasional use. Nothing to do with china clay at all as far as I know, but there were workings to Chacewater, so maybe an excuse for a diverted working? The real reason is it was on the bring and buy a couple of years ago at Scaleforum.
    I'd kind of hoped it'd be ready for the show, but I've only got to the undercoating stage. Still it may get a run out.
    The kit's built as per the instructions, some sketches would have helped but otherwise it went together ok. The pressure gauges on either side were missing from the kit, but I'm not sure I'm that bothered about it.

    I took a few pictures before I packed the layout up this afternoon, including one of the new platform and additional bridge. I think it needs a bit of detail yet, but as I run 1958-1988 I don't want to put anything on there which dates it at the detriment of other periods. Maybe a pagoda style shelter would help, though I've not modelled the whole of the platform surface obviously.

    The first outing for the end to end format with passenger working will be at Manchester this October for those who are interested.
  11. ullypug

    Cheddar

    By ullypug,

    I'm still thinking about Cheddar and have come up with a track plan using Templot which scales out at the right length, but bends the layout into a 180 degree curve. The reason for the plan is to fit into a 15ft x 13ft space which I could theoretically use in the garage. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to put the layout up at home, which is something I'm keen to avoid. The prototype was on a curve, but nowhere near as severe. I think it works and has potential but I do wonder if going to the trouble of P4 means I should keep it exactly as it was and have end to end or larger roundy roundy.
     
    Thoughts anyone?
  12. ullypug
    I'm glad I started to put the year in my blog updates as progress has slowed!
    Pleased to report that the panel/frame for Cheddar has reached my 'that'll do point', for the time being at least.
    I finally managed to get the MSE lever frame into some semblance of working order. I think it is probably one of the worst things I have ever had the misfortune to make. It certainly shows it's age and the fact that the art work for the etch was hand drawn
    If I was starting down this path again, I would use the Scalefour society's kits for these as they're much, much better in comparison.
    In the end I gave up with the sprung catch block because the parts as supplied had a working clearance of about 3mm on all sides, rendering them pretty much superfluous. I put the first one on but as it didn't work and had no bearing on the operation of the switches connected to the tail of the lever, I duly stopped. I also had to drill holes closer to the pivot of the lever so the arc equated to the throw of the DPDT slide switches shown in an earlier picture, but that's obviously not the kit's fault!
    I've put all the other switches in along with the ability to change from DC to DCC at a future point in time should I ever go down that path.
    To keep my sanity, I've also been building a couple of Slater's MR 5 planks for eventual use on the PDSWJ layout which may or may not be called China House Quay. That I'm still thinking about!
    So I've attached some really interesting pictures of the panel and the rats nest of wiring under board 4. It will get tidied up, I promise. At least with the panel finished I can carry on wiring the Cheddar boards over the winter. I'm sure I said the same thing last year mind you...
  13. ullypug

    Cheddar - The first point

    By ullypug,

    I'm presently trying to remember how to make track. It's coming back to me slowly.
    Ply sleepers stained with Indian ink and C&L chairs. All works so far.
     
    Layout is also coming on. Boards 1 & 2 now have topography.
  14. ullypug
    Well it's been a few weeks since my last confession, so I thought I'd post an update.
    It's quite useful seeing where I was at the beginning of March because to me progress is glacial. When I look back at the last entry I can see that I've done more than I realise!
    Board 8 (the one at the Wells end of the layout) has seen the contours formed with a mixture of foam board and one strike light weight filler from my local diy emporium (Proper Job - other retail outlets are available) which can be applied in a thick layer and sets hard after 24 hours. Very impressed with this stuff and crucially it's really light. Almost foam like.
    I've made a start on the overbridge now that the turnout mechanism has been installed, driven via a remote linkage from a Tortoise motor. The stone sheeting is Peco 2mm stone. Better than the usual Wills coarse stone for representing Mendip stonework IMHO.
    Board 7 was worked on at the same time to match contours etc.
    Board 6 has been dragged up from the garage and the baseboard tops added from a mixture of 12mm ply and 3mm laminate floor underlay for the track base and blue 15mm foam everywhere else to keep the weight down.
    With boards 6&7 bolted together I've laid the main running lines with ply and plastic components.
    Most of board 6 will have the main station building and train shed covering it hence if you look closely you'll notice I'm using a load of 3 bolt chairs I had left over rather than 2 bolt GWR ones...
    That's my story anyway and I'm sticking to it!
    Track work flows nicely to my eye anyway. Need to finish off board 8 before the next board can take its place on the production line.
    Until next time.TTFN.
  15. ullypug
    Some 46 years since the track as lifted in this quiet corner of Somerset, the permanent way gangs have returned once again.
    After having expressed a desire to go down the flexi-track route, I have persevered with the original ply and plastic option as intended, for the time being at least.
    Step 1 was to make a suitable jig from offcuts of plasticard.Pre-stained sleepers are then slotted in and the first rail added, the chairs having been threaded on.
    I've printed off templates from Templot and stuck to the track bed having cut through the sleeper positions. The track edges are drawn on with a ball point pen and the rail positions pushed through the template into the foam beneath.
    Step 2 is to glue down the sleepers with first rail into a bed of PVA, before completing the other rail using appropriate S4soc jigs.
    It helps that I've managed to rig up space to allow me to work on 2 adjacent boards (1&2) up in my tinking room. Plan will be to complete scenic base layer for board1 before moving onto board 3.
    Track testing so far is an assortment of wagons of varying wheel base and weight.
    All is well.

  16. ullypug
    Sorry...
     
    It's been a long time since I've posted anything on this blog, but plans have developing and the game is most definitely afoot.
    Clevedon's now out and about on the circuit which means it's time to start building the next one. Well there's no point in hanging around is there?
    So what's happened since the last post? Well, the track plan has been tweaked and twiddled so that all in all, the layout plus fiddle yards is no more than 32ft a ruling dimension stipulated by an exhibition manager who will remain nameless. This means I've trimmed a bit from the Yatton end and scrunched other bits up elsewhere. Very technical this compression lark...
    I've taken out the southern most siding (Bryants) as I just couldn't get it to fit.
     
    The buildings will remain as actual, though I haven't measured Axbridge goods shed yet (on my to-do list) as it seems to be a copy of Cheddar from what I can discern from the books.
    The 8 main boards have been set at 1000mm wide (3'3") and 820mm (about 2'7") long. The dimensions are set by various factors like reducing the amount of waste material to a bare minimum. Fiddle yards will be 1500mm long.
     
    I've been thinking about the baseboard design and have decided to revert to birch ply. It's going to be a 6mm frame with additional 4mm ends and side profiles (so essentially a 10mm ply frame all round). Track bed will be 9mm ply with extruded polystyrene for the scenic areas.
     
    The wood was purchased using funds acquired from last week's bring and buy at Expo EM so it's all systems go!
     
    First task has been to build the jig I'm going to use to build the boards, so in theory they're all the same size and nice and square. This may seem a bit daft but my garage doesn't have a level floor and I wanted to make a flat surface upon which to build the things. The plan is to eventually use the jig base as the base for the layout's storage and possibly transportation rack. Method in the madness see?
     
    So this week I've finally started. The base of the jig was obtained from the same timber merchant and was purposely cut to the ruling dimensions. The jig as you can see is a framed base with side panels that will be used to set the board frames.

    OK so this isn't that exciting in terms of modelling but it does represent a bit of a milestone. It's going to be quiet on here for a while as I slowly work my way through the 8 base boards. But there's no rush.
     
    Yet.
  17. ullypug

    Cheddar hybrid baseboards

    By ullypug,

    Two updates in as many weeks?
    As I mentioned in the last update, I'm infilling the baseboard tops with 15mm model foam acquired from Panel Systems. For the two embankment boards the foam is cut to fit between the ply stiffeners. For the 'flat' boards it will sit on top alongside the ply track bed. It's glued on with 'No More Nails' - actually the local Proper Job version 'Instant Nails' at £1 per tube.
    Lots of photos that probably explain things a bit better. I'm using off cuts to make up the embankment. I think I've got some 50mm Trylon foam off cuts from my Clevedon layout somewhere which might be a bit easier.
    Full size Templot printed off to get the trackbed cut. I can almost see the trains!
  18. ullypug
    OK, so things haven't progressed as far or as fast as I'd hoped. I blame the distractions of the Collett Goods and one or two other diversions.
    Still, a rare day off today after a weekend up North has allowed me a little time at the work bench.
    4 months on from the last blog post and all that's happened on Cheddar is another board now has power.
    It does have 4 point motors and now includes the catch point I forgot to install the first time round protecting the up line from the stone sidings at Cheddar West. It also has the Axbridge end crossover.
    A couple of videos have been embedded below.
    I couldn't find a prairie under the debris that is the modelling room so a blue Hymek deputised on this occasion.
    The next board has the single slip and in theory marks the half way point of the layout wiring.
    It may not be all that thrilling but it is mildly satisfying!
     


  19. ullypug
    Nothing particularly exciting to write home about, but the next board has been wired up in fairly short order. Only logical as there were no points and as I'm getting towards the end I'm running out of things to have wire up!
    The good news is that just leaves one to go. Then I can start assembling things and testing in earnest.
    I'd discovered since I built the track that there was a vehicular access route through the down yard to the goods shed which required a couple of crossings with check rails. Needless to say I hadn't put those in so a little bit of track lifting and re-chairing was required. I also had to extend the goods shed track and the back siding to the up yard across the board joint. Other than that it was relatively plain sailing.
    I've drawn the outline of the station building to get a feel of the layout and as you can see it'll take up most of the board!
    Still, it's all starting to come together!
  20. ullypug
    Since the last entry I've been mainly terra-forming the landscape around the Axbridge end of the layout. The sub-structure is a mixture of whatever I had to hand, namely off cuts of foam and cardboard strips which are then overlaid with some mesh material I had kicking around in the garage. It was left over from when the house was re-rendered. I knew it would come in handy one day.
    The final layer is good old fashioned paper mâché. I could have used mod-roc but I want to keep the weight down where possible. The final paper coat will be painted in emulsion before I add scenics and roadways.
    I've painted the Five Ways bridge and after a couple of false starts think I've got it to a fairly close rendition of Mendip limestone. I still need to finish this off with some final weathering etc and it's only plonked on the baseboards at the moment.
    I've also made a start on the first stone loading point on the up side which was immediately west of Five Ways bridge. I'll do the terra-forming in this corner when I can turn the baseboard round as it's too far to reach over (I've only got little arms!).
    The siding on the down side (which was laid using flexi-track) has been sprayed in a mixture of beige and grey ahead of the track detailing and ballasting. I say ballasting as photos seem to indicate it was more weeds than ballast. I've one of the excellent LMS buffer stops to go at the end of it which I must get round to doing.
    It's all coming together quite nicely and I'm reasonably happy with the way this is turning out.
  21. ullypug

    Cheddar P4 - April 2020 update

    By ullypug,


    building
    Despite the covid-19 lockdown, modelling output has slowed this month. However, I have been slowly working on the station building and feel like the to-do list is getting shorter. Canopies have been fixed in place, the south side one is removable in case I can’t get it into its travelling case.
    Rain water pipes have been added from the rather nice Modelu range and this weekend’s job has been to make the roof trussing. I made a cradle from foam so I could invert the roof and work on it separately. Main spars were cyanoed into the rafters and various cross rods and struts soldered on based on the photos I have. Once complete they were painted with a mixture of grey and gunmetal Vallejo acrylic. The photos show the effect I wanted to achieve.
     

     
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  22. ullypug
    Realised I didn't get round to writing an update last month so but happy to report that the 7th board is progressing nicely.
     
    I mentioned last time that this was going to be mainly scenic work and indeed it has. First though was the ballasting, which uses Atwood Aggregates Dulcote Stone. Then the point rodding using Modelu stools and 16 thou guitar strings.
     
    Then I could start to build up the basic ground form which is made up of layers of extruded 5mm thick polystyrene sheet.
     
    I wanted to have a camping coach on one of the down side mileage sidings but realised that it wasn't long enough, so a little extension was added to cover the buffer stops, one of which was a LMS models kit and the other from Mainly Trains, now Wizard/51L. Coach W9992 was stabled here and I'm pretty sure it was a diagram E73 clerestory, so one is on its way from Worsley Works. It'll make a nice cameo.
     
    I also the 5mm foam to make the platforms now that I've used up all the 15mm blue sheet that I had. Platform surfaces are scribed Palight then coated with Atwood Aggregates quarry dust. This is also used for the road surfaces. 
     
    Final contouring uses a light weight filler called One Strike that I get from Proper Job, my local diy store.
    Thereafter it's painted with cheap emulsion and given its first coat of static grass. I'm now at the stage where I'm adding additional texture, using Postiche and various foam scenic scatters. Much use of hairspray and fixing lacquer has been made. My modelling room now smells like a hairdressers.
     
    I'm going to remove the cast iron railings from board 6 in front of the up side  station approach as I've found a photograph showing it wasn't used here, only the down side. This does make sense given that was the main entrance. It'll be replaced with standard 7 strand GWR stock fencing instead.
     
    I've run out of GWR picket fencing so the down side but this is on order and should turn up this week. I'm presently  painting telegraph pole insulators to add these. There's still plenty to do; more scenics, a couple of sheds, station lighting and detailing work to the station itself. Oh and I haven't even thought about doing the signals yet, but I will.
     
    Posed a pannier on the line to get an idea of the final effect and am quite happy how it's turning out.
     



















  23. ullypug
    With all the running repairs completed for now, I couldn’t resist putting a few items of stock on the layout before putting it away for the time being.
    I’ve a list of jobs to do before Wells, including finishing off stock items so I’ve filled my display case with items requiring attention, just to remind me. Some just need lamps, crews and coaling. Some need motors!
    Next up will be the fiddle yards. 

    photos attached
    The prairie is heavily reworked Lima with Comet chassis 
    The Collett Goods a reworked Replica with High Level chassis 
    5757 is a Bachman pannier with a High Level chassis 
    4694 is rewheeled Bachman Pannier 
    The twin rail car a Worsley Works etch on a cut and shut Replica chassis 
    all are detailed in my other tinking table blog.
     














  24. ullypug
    With the layout up, I have been able to assess and make a series of repairs required after its prolonged period in storage. First up was to fix and rectify all of the point mechanisms and prove the wiring such that I could get trains to run from one end to the other and back into the up and down yards. There's still a lit of errant ballast to deal with but I'm happy with progress. Most of the turnout droppers' soldered joints had failed and it took a while to sort out.
     
    I also fixed down some scenic sections which had come loose, reinforced the back of the layout where the road runs behind the hedge and dealt with the chasms which had formed at board joints, inserting new ply former pieces, applying filler and squeezing boards back together, with a sheet of cling film inserted to maintain the break. Scenics have been retrospectively applied and there's still a bit more to do.Photos show works in progress.
     
    The entire layout was then turned around so I could fix the fascia to the front. Filler has been liberally applied and it is currently primed, awaiting painting and scenery tweaks.
     
    This afternoon, I dragged the two 5ft fiddle yard turntables out of their hiding place and duly unwrapped them. These are Tim Horn products and came ready assembled. They're rather nice too. I couldn't resist putting some flexi track on the top to gauge how many roads I might be able to accommodate. At least 6 I reckon. They've been given a coat of Danish oil to seal the tops and I'll treat the underside in a similar manner. Once the fascia is done, the plan is to mate up the first and last board to their respective fiddle yard boards and finish the run off track work.
     
    Cheddar is going to the Railwells show in August as a work in progress, but I'd like to be able to run trains from one end to the other, if only to appease my sense of pride!









  25. ullypug
    So it's been an interesting week.
    Having ballasted the first three boards for Cheddar following the same procedure; using Klear as a wetting agent then applying diluted PVA, I wasn't really happy with the outcome. A chat with the Attwood Aggregates people and Gordon Gravett at the Minehead show last Saturday confirmed that the ballast indeed was too dark for the Dulcote Stone it was supposed to be representing. I purchased a couple more bags and and when I got home made an unpleasant discovery. I had mistakenly used Mendip Stone instead of Dulcote Stone for the first 3 boards. No wonder!! Mendip stone is indeed a darker colour and not what I was trying to replicate. In the photos I have, the ballast is light in colour - much lighter than the cess material. Dulcote stone weathers to an off white almost as it oxidises.
    So, muttering from the Scalefour Society approved lexicon of expletives, I set about chiselling out a short section and re-applying the correct stone, using water and washing up liquid in an atomiser to wet everything and then applying the diluted PVA/washing up liquid mix. After it had dried I was pleased that the stone had held its original colour and gave the effect I was looking for.
    The bad news is that this meant I then had to chisel out all the ballast from the remaining 3 boards and repeat the application process, which is where I am now.
    Thankfully, the foam trackbed allows the ballast to be removed relatively easily with a chisel pointed scraper. It just took a bit of time.
    I'd also forgotten that you achieve better results for thin sleepered track if you lay it in a bed of glue and then sprinkle ballast on top, rather than 'the usual way'. As you can see in the photos I've had problems with the ballast floating off in places, despite wetting and having washing up liquid in the PVA. However, a little aftercare with a scraper, glue and some fine quarry dust will fill the remaining holes and improve things I hope. It had better!!
    Here are some before and after photos


    final effect I'm after in the foreground, the first 10 sleepers having been tidied up.

     
    last board drying out

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