wiggoforgold

Upwell Drove has been set up in the garage to test changes ahead of the SWAG members day. The landscaping is now nearly done, just one small bit left. It will have to wait util May though. Stock needs checking and there's a new J70 to weather. Alex

Rob, fenland skies! Stu, Jonty knows. He's planning to be there on the 28th. I believe he's staying about 10 miles from Taunton. Alex

It appears that Jonty is currently lurking in deepest Somerset. He assures me he will be at Taunton however. In the meantime it has fallen to his stalker to take a few photographs. Here are 46440 and 46496 laving Diddington with a train of fruit bound for the midlands. The train is double headed because of the hilly nature of the line between Huntingdon and Kettering. The J70 that delivered the vans from Upwell Drove can be seen waiting in the headshunt. Alex

Mark and David - thank you for the kind comments. I just love vans, and actually always seem to have ideas for half a dozen more tah I can make at any one time. After nearly 50 years at this, I finally feel I'm starting to get somewhere and obtain the atmosphere I want. If I was starting again, there are bits of Diddington that I would do differently, but I,ve got lots of ideas for improvements which will keep me occupied for years to come. Alex

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Vans for Upwell Drove wait in the yard at Diddington for transport to the SWAG members day. Looks like that photograper fellow is around somewhere..... Alex.

Work is in progress for Upwell Drove's trip to the SWAG members day on 28th April. The landform is now pretty much complete, and I'm installing the buidings at the village end of the layout. At the terminus end, I've bedded in the base for the water tank, and added some bramble to make it look slightly overgrown. Here's some more pictures of the current state of play. Taunton will be the last public appearance of the Elm Lane section. We are putting a new fitted cupboard in the layout room, which wont leave space for Elm Lane, so a reborn Middle Fen is planned, shorter and wider, with a model of a fen drainage engine. Alex

Like this CK? My name is Alex and I claim my free pasty.

A lorry stands in the yard at Upwell Drove. Today, it is an AEC Mammoth Minor owned by Cyril Ridgeon of Cambridge, delivering goods to the station for onward transit by the train from Upwell Drove. On the model, the lorry is positioned as part of the view block to reduce views of the train entering Upwell Drove through a hole in the backscene. The model started life as an EFE AEC Mammoth Minor, purchased from Antics in Plymouth’s Raleigh Street (before they moved to Royal Parade, never mind Cornwall Street) about 25 years ago. People who think EFE models should remain pristine and boxed should probably stop reading now. For my part, EFE supplied me with the basis of a 4mm, 1950’s lorry. I thanked them for their help, and proceeded to make it more suitable for my requirements. The model was first stripped down to it’s component parts, drilling out the rivets which allowed me to separate the cab and back from the chassis. Cab interior, glazing and tires were removed. The underside od the lorry body and the chassis were painted with various mixes of Tamiya NATO Black, Dark Earth and Red Brown. The whole body and cab were given a spray of Humbrol matt acrylic primer to tone down the factory finish. The inside of the lorry back was painted to represent weathered wood, starting with a spray of MIG Faded Sinai Grey”. This colour was brought to my attention recently by Martin S-C in his Green Soudley thread on this forum, and it is becoming my new “go to” colour, along with Dark Earth and Tamiya NATO black. The cab was flush glazed with thin clear plastic sheet, fixed in place with “Glue ‘n’ Glaze”, spread round the window aperture with a pin before the glazing was dropped in place with the aid of a damp finger. The tyres were painted separately, with MIG “Anthracite”. Weathering started with various mixes of Humbrol “Smoke” and “Dark Earth “ powders, mixed with water and then Humbrol Decalfix, which formed a slightly sticky mixture which was brushed on to the model. When dry, some of it was removed with micellar water (make up remover), and a 2mm glass fibre brush, used very gently. The tires were refitted to the chassis, and the chassis was then lightly sprayed with earth and dust colours, before the body and cab were refitted, using a bit of superglue on the stubs of the rivets to hold them in place. A bit of earth weathering pwder was brushed over the chassis and underside. The sheeted load is the load from an EFE Bedford TK, filed down slightly to fit. It was airbrushed with MIG colours – a pre-shading of Anthracite, before being sprayed all over with Faded Sinai Grey. It was highlighted by dry brushing with various Tamiya greys, given a dusting of Humbrol “Smoke” weathering powder, and sprayed with Humbrol Acrylic matt varnish. (Another couple for my “go to “ list) That completes progress so far. I want to add a bit more details to the cab, such as wing mirrors, do a bit more painting of the headlights, and add number plates. I’m currently working on the buildings for Upwell village street, part of which can be seen in one of the photographs. I’m also working on the fencing and gates for round the yard and road, and for the disused cattle dock. More details will follow soon. The layout is booked for the SWAG members day at Taunton at the end of April, so I’m working towards that. Tomorrow, the layout is off to the garage for some improvements to the wiring. I’m off to watch Milan – San Remo on the TV. Alex

Have a word with me at Taunton....:)

I haven’t posted in this thread for a couple of weeks, but there has been progress. The water tower and water column have been built and placed on the layout. I haven’t fixed them in place yet as I am still working out the final position. I had a couple of false starts on the water tower. The original plan was to make a model of the tank at Wisbech East. I built the frame and placed it on the layout, but immediately felt it was too big. Cut the frame in half, which can be seen in some of the earlier pictures of the layout, but I still wasn’t happy with it. I started to make a tank for it, but again it was too big, so progress stopped while I though of suitable alternatives. I then read on this forum about someone using Wills girder bridge panels to make the sides of a tank. I had some panels in stock, and a bit of experimenting with these gave me the tank size I wanted. I then built a base for it from Plastruct square section strip. I haven’t finished the top of the tank yet. I’ve modelled it open, but would that be the case in reality? Being open would allow rainwater to get in. and I’m thinking some sort of cover (I have in mind a planked top) would be more appropriate. The water column is based on the one at Upwell, and was soldered up from various diameters of brass tube, detailed with wire. 46444 of this parish kindly gave me an etched handwheel which was fitted to the column. The delivery “bag” is from a folded piece of masking tape. Using different media for construction got me thinking about the different materials used for various projects in the last month. I’ve used several: · Diddington turntable – wood · Upwell Drove water tank – Plastic · Upwell Drove water column – metal · Houses for Upwell Drove village street – card · Lorry for Upwell Drove yard – resin I’ve also built an electrical connector for the control panel, and weathered the J70 and a couple of wagons. That’s all for now. More soon. Alex

Good evening Martin. I've been reading this thread since you started and am greatly enjoying your build. I like "system" layouts, and I have long admired the Madder Valley, so I was instantly taken with your idea. Looking forward to seeing it develop. Alex

It makes the mixture slightly sticky, and helps adhesion, particularly in crevices. If you let the mixture dry you can deactivate it with water

I patch painted the roof and footplate with Tamiya Acrylics (Mainly NATO Black and Dark Grey). The widows were masked off, and the whole sprayed with Humbrol Acrylic matt varnish (wonderful stuff). I then painted the body all over with Humbrol Smoke weathering powder, mixed with water and Humbrol decalfix. I then wiped most of it off with a damp cotton bud. When dry, more was removed with a damp cotton bud. The skirts were brushed with Humbrol earth weathering powder, used dry this time. I also used a mix of earth and red oxide powders on the skirts and cowcatchers. Some dust coloured paint was lightly airbrushed on the bottom of the skirts. It still needs a crew (Airfix) a lamp (Modelu) and the supplied shed plates fitting. Alex

Hi Colin. I used the factory firtted windows. I wanted to use the supplied froms but I couldn't get them to stick to the glazing as recommended in the booklet. I'll have another go at tidying the windows, as I think the factory ones might be a bit to thick to use in the open position. Alex

Not at all. It's a lovely model to work on, and makes weathering it feel particularly worthwhile. Alex

Weathering session on the Rapido J70 this weekend. Still a bit left to do, it needs crew and shed plates, and the end windows need a bit of a tidy. Weathering is a mix of Humbrol powders and a bit of airbrushing. The powders are mixed with decal fix before applying, and most of that is then taken off again removed with make up remover. I fitted DG couplings by removing the tension locks and the cowcatchers with holes on, and making a mounting from a "U" shaped piece of wire that was superglued into the existing NEM pocket. This left two "prongs" prodruding from the NEM pocket. The alternative cowcatcher without the holes was then fitted, with the prongs protruding between the cowcatcher bars. The mounting plate was then removed from the DG coupling, and the front part of the coupling fitted to the prongs. Alex

A change of couplings, and a bit of weathering Alex

Oops, sorry I missed this. The uprights for the sheet rail are made from the etched lower coupling link on the MJT Wiron etch, with the cross bar from brass wire. The tarpaulin is folded from a foil wine bottle top. Alex

Yes, there is a second set of cow catchers without the hole included in the box. I'm going to fit DG couplings to mine, in place of the tension locks. I think I I'll be able to do that and use the cow catchers without the hole. Alex

It's coming home....A J70 arrived today. Here's a picture of it crossing the bridge at Diddington A closer look.. Arriving at Upwell Drove Alex

Heres a picture of the J70 in its natural habitat. Lovely model. I'm sorry Chris, but mine has an appointment with a weathering session at the weekend. Alex

The J15 does look at home though doesn't it? I was forced to SE J15s on Upwell Drove when the 04 failed. The operational issue is hat the head sung only takes the J15 and one wagon! Alex

It all started when the 04 tram died when I was testing Upwell Drove for the Edington show. A need for alternative motive power caused me to adopt that GE East Anglian standby, the J15. The J15s and their companion Ivatts looked so at home I thought I would give them a spin on the parent layout. Diddington was set up for diesel operation, so the turntable had been removed. I decided I needed to reinstate the turntable for steam operation. A search for turntables on RM Web showed me a link to Kitwood Hill Models, so I gave their website a visit. It was all American outline stuff, but I thought the HO scale 65’ turntable would make the basis of a medium sized 4mm table. The pit was done, and it was motorized, so much of the hard work had been done for me. I ordered one. When it came, it was my first experience of a wooden laser cut kit. It looked great. The parts were cleanly cut and fitted together perfectly. I could hardly wait to get started. I followed the instructions carefully. When detailing the pit, I added cosmetic half chairs (the inner half of old C&L chairs) to the inside of the pit rail, and made a brick lining to the pit sides. I was going to use Scalescenes paper for the brickwork, but the instructions warned against the use of water based glues such as pva, which would have been my usual method. I thought about using Pritt as an adhesive, but I then found I had some old sheets of Exactoscale self adhesive brick paper, so I cut some strips of that to line the pit. The base of the pit was treated to a sealing coat of varnish followed by a coat of primer. The ground work around the ties supporting the pit rail was built up with Das before the whole of the pit base was treated to a mix of earth coloured emulsion. The pit base was then painted with basing glue for static grass, sprinkled lightly with a mixture of ash from the fire and Treemendus earth powder, and given a coat of static grass. The grass was then given a light coat of hairspray, and layers built up with longer fibres, with more hairspray being used between each coat of fibres. The bridge was built as per the instructions. I’ve left off the handrail, as I’m going to make a handrail similar to that on the table at Huntingdon East, which is rather lighter than that which comes with the kit. Being a single rail only. I also left off the air motor, as the turntable at Huntingdon East was hand operated. Anyway, it all works, and is now awaiting installation on Diddington. I’ll do a further blog entry when that happens. Alex

Looking at pictures, and bearing in mind Paul G's earlier comment, would I be right in thinking that on the W&U trams ran chimney first towards Upwell? Alex