Barry Ten

Cheers! Looking at the pics, I really must do a bit more to conceal that join between the two canopy sections. It's not as obvious to my eye in real life but really stands out in the photos. Tonight I have been cladding the platforms and making a recess for the building to fit into, so there's no black line around the base. So, having passed the point of no return, the first set of platforms and structures for the layout will be in GWR mode, which suits me fine.

Both locos will probably get an outing on Albion during Model Rail Live next month.

Cheers, Frank - as you know I admire your work very much.

That was just your life - Metallica

Thanks all. I made the chimneys with a section of square plastic tube which I then clad in Wills stone material. A better idea would have been to clad them with Slaters embossed sheet, which is thinner, but I had none in the spares box. Perhaps I'll revisit the chimneys at some point in the future - it won't be all that hard to replace them since they are fixed to a sub-floor rather than the roof itself. I think my wife would have a fit if I proposed another 4mm layout - I haven't even got room for my *other* GWR BLT, which is currently sitting in the garden shed along with Cogirep. The idea with Abbotsbury is that it will sit on the S&D layout when it's in GWR mode. The real Abbotsbury branch was very attractive but it would have been staggeringly monotonous to operate in a realistic fashion - just 14xxs and nothing else.

I wasn't sure whether to post this here, or over in the S&D blog (and increasingly wondering why I felt that two blogs were a good idea in the first case, given my distinct lack of modelling focus). Anyway, I mentioned on the S&D blog that I was thinking of renovating this old model of Abbotsbury: The model was built in 1982, using the plans in the Paul Karau book on branchline termini. It was one of the first scratchbuilt structures I ever made, and while dimensionally accurate (or not too far off) it left a lot to be desired in the finer details. But then, I made do with basic materials - some slaters embossed stone plastikard, some plain plastikard, and a lot of card salvaged from old shop posters. I was quite pleased with it at the time, but it never ended up on a layout and by the time it resurfaced in the 90s, time had not been kind to it. Various bits had warped or fallen off, and some of my modelling was starting to look very clumsy. The windows were a disgrace, and you could tell I'd got bored by the time I got to the chimneys - they were just sections of square profile wooden dowling, crudely painted to simulate stone. The model has sat on my shelves ever since but while casting around for a stand-in for Shillingstone, I gave it another look and wondered if it wouldn't be worth spending a bit of time fixing and improving. Suitably encouraged by Wenlock, I've spent a few evenings reworking the nastier bits. I didn't realise that this was a "William Clarke" building, by the way, but Wenlock's comment on my blog has had me spotting William Clarke buildings all over the place. I was able to save the ridged canopy glazing, which still looked good - I removed the old attempt at valencing, fixed new Ratio parts in place (spares from the platform canopy set) and then gradually corrected the warped canopy as best I could. I ripped out the old doors, which were made from layers of plastikard cut to shape, and sourced suitable replacements from a pair of Peco station detailing packs. The new doors were a bit shorter than some of those on the model, so I added small windows above the lintels. I couldn't salvage the old main windows so I ripped out all those on the front. This time I added frames with plastikard, giving the windows a bit more character. The framing is now correctly white, rather than the cream on the original. I didn't bother correcting the rear windows as the station was never made to be viewed from the back - the rear elevation is actually very boring as Abbotsbury had no doors on the back, the platform being accessed by means of a gate at the side of the station. New chimneys were fixed in place of the old. They're a bit chunkier than the real ones, and still need a bit of detailing - they'll never be more than an approximation of the very elegant things on the real structure - but they look better than the old ones, and are at least vertical this time. The old model was painted in chocolate/cream, but this time I reverted it to GWR colours. There is still a bit to do but I'm pleased that it is looking a lot less tatty. Good for another 30 years?

Very nice. I'll have to confess that the pair I built are still running on the wheels that came in the kit as well, although I mean to replace them at some point. I particularly like the brake van and barrier wagons.

I love hanging basket liner - it's the best thing ever. While I accept that it is best viewed as a basis for further texturing, rather than an end in its own right, its sufficiently grassy looking, in its natural state, to fool my eye into thinking that some definite progress is being made. Rather than endless hours faffing around with glue, paint and Kermit-coloured scatter materials, you can cover dozens of square inches of model landscape in seconds, giving that instant gratification of seeing scenery begin to come alive. I had not used it before working on the S&D layout, but once I started, I become so sold on its merits that I made sure I bought enough of the stuff to see me through to the end - even if my local garden center should suddenly stop stocking it. I paint the underlying plaster with burnt sienna, so there are no white patches likely to show through, and once that's dry - a few hours - I then apply PVA or Copydex and press chunks of HBL into place. In case you have not used this stuff, it is very forgiving, being sufficiently stretchy and compressible that you don't need to fit shapes together with tremendous precision. And once two pieces are fixed down adjacent to each other, they can be blended together by coaxing the fibres from one to spread across to the other and vice versa. Later, after applying scatter materials, static grass, etc, you won't be able to see the join. It even works pretty well between two scenic modules. In the lower picture, below the 4F, you can make out the right angle join where the removable module sits in its gap. But it's far from obvious in the flesh and again will not really be that apparent once additional texturing has taken place. Cheers again...

Wonderful, right up my street (er, rue).

I tried jigsaw scenery but I couldn't find the corners to get started.

Here's a bit more work on the scenic landforms at the northern end of the summer module. I've been doing scenery the same way, more or less, for about ten years now - establish basic contours with card or MDF profiles, fill in with expanded or extruded polystyrene where possible, and then cover the whole lot in plaster. I find it quick and easy, if messy along the way, but very satisfying. The other thing going for this method is that it produces very lightweight and dimensionally stable scenery, which is therefore suitable for being built in modular form. I used this approach on the American layout, where various bits of hill have to be capable of being detached from the main layout to allow access to hidden trackage. A natural extension of this idea - not original to me, I hasten to add - is that, having built one piece of modular scenery to fit a given slot, why not build another, to exactly the same dimensions? This second piece could be used to shift the location or period of the layout, as mentioned in my last blog entry when talking about platforms. Building the second piece is easier since the basic shape can simply be traced off the first piece, onto a suitable piece of card or MDF. As an example, there's a large piece of scenery on the summer module which forms a stretch of sloping ground, leading down from the tracks to the edge of the board. The first module, which is shown in situ, will be treated with grass, bushes, flowers etc to form a nicely textured summer embankment. But a second module could be built to the same dimensions but having allotments on it, or grotty workmen's huts. Another could contain a retaining wall, with a small industrial scene modelled in the foreground, or perhaps a cottage or two. And here's the same area but with the module removed: My experience with the American layout has been that, once scenery is in place, it becomes hard to see the divisions between the removable modules and the fixed parts of the layout - and it's even better if a fence or similar can be placed along the boundary to trick the eye. The only limitation is that it's probably best to think about these modules now, rather than try to incorporate them into scenery that was already developed. To give an idea of how simple these modules can be, here's another, smaller one (the piece of pink foam) in place on the other side of the tracks as the road descends from the bridge. This will be again be treated as an embankment, but a second version could incorporate a rocky outcrop or perhaps a retaining wall supporting a small building such as a tin chapel or tearoom. Finally - a hint of things to come - this is the sort of view I'm looking forward to enjoying when the scenery is developed. I've resisted the urge to photoshop the clutter visible through the bridge, but eventually there will be an impression of the landscape continuing on beyond the confines of the layout module. Right now I'm tremendously excited by the possibility of these swappable modules - within reason, I could have dozens of layouts in the same room - S&D, Cambrian, North Cornwall, Devon ... even Scotland? Who knows? Cheers again and thanks for reading.

The usual enviably neat work...

It's a very good point about the possibility of warping, CK, but I've been looking at the long-term stability of some similar long, flat structures on the American layout and so far things seem stable - but we'll have to see, of course. I was even thinking of embedding magnets in the platform. At the moment the structure is very slightly droopy over its length, like an aircraft wing, but that may change when I add the top surfacing. I did think about adding rods to fencing, but concluded that it would be too fiddly/fragile - perhaps I shouldn't have dismissed it so quickly. I will have to add fencing to the nearside platform which is seen from the rear rather than the front, but I suppose the tubes could be disguised quite effectively if need be? Wenlock - cheers, yes, there's something about the station which have caught my eye, it's very pleasingly designed. It would have once have been the terminus of a branch line off a larger layout which was never completed due to a house move in 1984.

Onward with the building of the station platforms, which - for reasons that will become clear later on - needed to be done at this stage, before completing scenic work on the overbridge. Way back at the start of this project I had the idea of making the buildings, station fittings etc removable, so that the layout could be swapped from one region or period to another, not being rigidly tied to the S&D. After all like many of us my interests extend beyond one prototype/time period and the rash of new models from the manufacturers has made many subjects much more readily modelable than they would have been only a few years ago - eg, the forthcoming Dukedogs should have the same effect of the Cambrian as the 7Fs have on the S&D, removing one of the major obstacles for those of us who don't have the time/inclination/ability/money to build kits. But as work progressed I gradually dismissed the idea of making the layout multi-region. While I could see ways of swapping buildings, and even signals (Dapol's new plug-and-play items being a boon) I was stuck on how to arrange station fencing that could be easily swapped between running sessions. Various half-baked schemes were thought up and discarded, but none were very satisfactory. Recently, however, I had a re-think and hit on the idea of making the entire platform a removable item, complete with fencing, lamps, station furniture, building etc. Could this be done? The platforms are both curved, one 5', the other a bit shorter. The platforms would be need to be assembled accurately, but also made in such a way as to retain sufficient strength to be removed and stored while another is swapped in its place. As a test, I assembled a length of Peco's platform edging. I'd not used this product before, preferring to scratchbuild my platforms, but it proved to be very suitable; flexible enough to conform to the required curve, but rigid enough in the other dimension. I then set about constructing a kind of aircraft-wing structure using Peco edging and numerous card strips, glued down onto a backing of the same card. This backing was carefully cut to shape using templates, and fixed down temporarily using drawing pins. The basic structure before adding the top platform surfaces, which will probably be Wills paving: Establishing basic clearances with a 12T van, to which a couple of sheets of card have been sellotaped. I spent a good couple of nights very carefully laying out the dimensions for the platforms, checking and double checking. Double checking clearances as the structure sets, but while the glue is still soft enough to allow adjustment. I've built enough platforms to have a short list of troublemakers: Kings, long prairies and westerns being among the usual suspects. My experience (touch wood) is that if these get through, everything else will be OK. I've left a good margin for error, anyway, since the eye-level viewing is very forgiving. The 5' platform being lowered into place. The position is indicated by lines drawn on the baseboard, but eventually the surrounding scenery will form a recess into which the platform drops. For that reason I haven't been able to finish the overbridge just yet. Finally, in the absence of Bachmann's Shillingstone model, I've been using this old model of Abbotsbury as a rough stand-in. It's 30 years old, this model - I built it in 1982, almost my first exercise in scratchbuilding, using the plans in the Paul Karau book. We're both a bit worse for wear now, but I'm still attached to this model and quite fancy spending a bit of time tarting it up - replacing the warped canopy, better window frames etc, chimneys, doors, interior etc. And it's got me thinking that perhaps the sensible thing might be to go GWR/WR to begin with, saving the S&D theme for when the resin models and Southern signals become available. The benefit of the removable platforms is that each can form the template for the next, so the process of making a second set should be relatively quick compared to the first pair. Of course it might all end in tears but I think it's an experiment worth trying, and with this in mind I've now got ideas for making some of the non-railway scenic items swappable. Cheers!

Bit more work on the bridge, following some feedback from the ever useful Captain Kernow - it does look better for those dressed stones supporting the girders, doesn't it? I also re-worked the culvert to suggest that it had been incorporated into the same works as the bridge: (Not also bus stationed on bridge, in compliance with model railway cliches section 3, paragraph 4.2.)

Update - I found a photo of some dressed stone blocks of the type CK mentions and they projected slightly proud of the abutments, so I was able to layer on some thin plastikard without disturbing the existing work. Excelllllennt....

Thanks, CK. I can visualise what you mean. Typically it's all glued down now but I will see if I can retrofit an impression of those blocks, or at least have a closer look at some stone built abutments to see what the situation is. They were going to be brick until the last moment, too, then I decided I would try and harmonise them with the culvert.

I love the approach of building it as carefully as you would a "proper" wagon. I've always liked these fictitious private owner vans, some of which looked very plausible.

I've spent a few evenings beginning to add the road overbridge at the northern end of the summer module. The pictures in Iain Rice's book on using the Wills materials proved very useful, as did a trawl of the internet - I had my doubts about a structure of this type spanning more than two tracks but soon found that it wasn't unheard of. The construction is nothing fancy. I had some girder bridges salvaged from my old layout Wyvant, but these were all unfortunately slightly too short for the situation here, so they went back in the scrap box. In the end I did what I'd already done on Paynestown, which is use the Wills vari-girder components. The bridge here would require more than one pack, but I had some spares bits left over from Paynestown which did the job. I still have a lot of detail to add in terms the supporting stonework, abutments etc but have run out of the relevant sheets for now. Looking up to the underside of the bridge. As with Paynestown, I felt it was worth adding some suggestion of the lateral beams spanning the gap between the girders (and supporting the roadbed) although they're not really visible in this shot. To get an impression of the beams, I needed some corrugated material. Since I didn't have anything at hand, I used a trick I'd seen on a model railroading DVD (for forming ploughed fields) which was to soak open the structure of a cardboard box, exposing the internal corrugations. If you do this carefully you can get really nice clean corrugations which when painted will look the part, or a lot better than nothing at all. In fact I didn't even bother painting these since the raw brown looked plausibly rusty to my eyes. Finally, the culvert under the tracks was built using the very simple Wills kit. I constructed it as a unit, adding several inches of false lining to the tunnel so that there's something to see when you look into it. As is hopefully obvious, neither the bridge nor the culvert are at right angles to the tracks, but are both slightly skewed which I think gives a more interesting and lifelike arrangement. Still lots of work to do in building up the landforms, etc, but we're getting there and it's nice to see some scenery, albeit of a rudimentary kind, begin to take shape on this module. Cheers, and thanks for reading.