Chris Nevard

Thanks Paul - I like the sound of that! And they run so well too - all I had to do was widen the back to backs a little and bingo.

Thanks Mike, age of the wagon would tend to suggest your thoughts

For brick recently I've been using Halfords red primer and do the usual pale wash over for mortar. We tend to overdo pale mortar on models, though in real life it's often darker than the brick. Feathering in some Humbrol 'brick red' and 'leather' randomly will give some colour variation. Picking out the odd brick more accurately in another colour can look good, but it can look a little cartoon like if overdone, that could probably be addresses with a little dry-brushing to reduce the effect if it looks a little like a 'painting by numbers' exercise.

For the 'blue bricks' the same grey that's used for slates won't be far wrong. Luckily, whilst steam and semaphores are mostly long gone, we have plenty of old brickwork around for reference.

That might be similar to the revel brown. It's just that my local Modelzone only stocks Revell these days. I like gunmetal black too - it drybrushes to a lovely oily sheen. I hanve to thank Darren of Torrington fame for that tip after seeing what a beatiful job he does on his locos etc.

Ken - those greens work well for SR building green. I just remember it and generally recall the green being a very pale almost copper oxide colour and nothing like what we see on preserved railways (that's probabaly down to the fact that they're repainted far more regularly than working BR). I'll have a look to see what I use for the SR 'cream' later - it certainly will be nothing like the bright yellow 'railway colour'.

Hi Missy, yup, those 'stone' shades get used for dry-brushing everthing too - as you say, it really helps with the patina. I don't think I ever use any solid colour straight from the pot these days - well bith buildings and ground cover anyway.

Beautifully neat work!

The bit of kitchen roll was after a good old dry-brushing session, it was too pretty just to chuck, well not until a camera was pointed at it first.

Ah, the banana van - a couple of those are also on the refurbish list - white metal?

The main issue is that the previous owner 'weathered' everything using some splatter technique, with the above I've given them a wash of a dull matt gunge (a blend of paint and Carrs) to reduce the effect which can be seen underneath, but now to a lesser degree.

Thanks again B)

Ladies and gents! Thanks for you wisdom here - ABS, now that's a blast from the past from my first stage of toy chuff chuff bodging between 79-84 (came back to nerdydom in 2000)

Leaving things to the imagination.... I like that

Due to the tight headshunt drivers keen running into it (including me) hence the warning panel and it adds a little colour to a predominately dull stone coloured scene and a total contrast to the other end which ends like this

Much love went onto that etched brass gate and anyway I like it 'so there'.

I look forward to it with delight

A Mondeo is big enough - and with the price of petrol I'll be just using a bicycle shortly!

You'll have to get along to Barrow Hill Roundhouse in September for Model Rail Live for its first proper outing

Sadly not, just Catcott Burtle - not enough room! Though this layout would be a lot simpler!

The pug runs very well - I had to open up the back to backs, this reducing waddle and slop

Model Rail Live Sept 2011

Yup

My tip is to not be here too often..... pontificating on here is model making time elsewhere (that's my BIG tip to the armchair set who always have some excuse).

Thanks Brian - I would not be telling the truth of I didn't mention that Quai:87 hasn't had some influence here. See you at the weekend I guess B)

A curved nameboard over the gate had crossed my mind, I'm a little worried about casting too many shadows on the backscene and placing too much detail at the edge of the layout. But, there are other other places such could go like above or even painted onto the aerial walkway next to the pub.

I don't mind clichés if they work - now who makes those three staggering happy drunks? B)

Thanks chaps!

There's a long way to go yet, but it runs fully and it now starting to look like a proper model railway at last. I'd bring it down to MaddocksRail next weekend, but with Catcott the I'm fully loaded sadly.

Its first outing will hopefully be at Model Rail Live in September at Roll Out The Barrowhill Roundhouse in Chesterfield, there it will be use to showcase the new Model Rail/Dapol Sentinel etc....

I was only going to cobble the foreground, but the technique pressing a ball point pen (without the ball point) into DAS is so easy I decided to do the whole lot. They're not perfect as I'm sure non-modellers will take delight in telling me, but it's all about effect/illusion and there's no way I have the time or inclination to carve every set individually. As we all know, this hobby is a balance of time, ability, whilst still having a life away from the workbench and here - that I'm sure the more sane without dead mothers in cupboards understand fully.

A fun video - emjoyed the others in your cllection too B)

The mug was empty at the time, I'd had enough ale down the local earlier (which would explain this bazaar post I guess)! I'm a dining chair modeller - proof! Dining chair modellers do have to build something though, because there's no way I'd be allowed to take over the dining room if there was no real reason

Good old Humbrol leather! I wonder how many railway modellers actually use it for such? This is cracking work BTW B)

Thanks chaps - I guess a quite call to Mainly Trains B)