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Stubby47

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Blog Entries posted by Stubby47

  1. Stubby47
    Whether or not this layout fits the criteria for the 2010 RMWeb challenge, I'll be building it over the next few months, hopefully to have something decent to take to Taunton in April.
     
    So I thought I'd start with one of the planned buildings for the backscene - 'The Algernon Cuthbertson Arms'.
     
    This is the real pub in Truro it will be based on.
     

     
    Progress pics as they happen.
     
    Edit: 1st pic of the basic walls cut out and ready to stick to some mount card.
     

     
    2nd Edit: Actually went into town armed with a tape measure today and it turns out my first attempt is waaaaaaaaaaay too big...
     
    So a re-think is in order as to what suitable plasticard I have, or whether to venture into self-scribed stuff..
  3. Stubby47

    Another Tumbledown Shed

    By Stubby47,

    The last time I updated my thread was to add an entry about a little tumbledown shed.
     
    That was far too long ago, so I thought I ought to add some more entries.... starting with another version of the very same shed.
     
    Following the launch of my bespoke building building service, a commision has come in for two buildings, this being one of them.
     
    So, although not quite finished in these photos, here is my 2nd model.
     

     

     
    Edit 30/09/13 - A bit more progress :
     

     

     

     

  4. Stubby47

    Tumbledown Shed

    By Stubby47,

    Having been following the 'Quality of Blogs' thread, it reminded me I'd not updated my own for some time.
     
    My driving theme at the meoment is creating buildings suitable for the module I'll be taking to the 2012 Taunton Member's Day. As well as the Starcross Pumping house, I've been making a far smaller shed to fill a small corner. I hope actually to add a set of 3 sheds, all different in style, but all models of real prototypes.
     
    This real shed can be found immediately to the west of Pizza Hut, Maiden Green, Truro. I've been intending to model it for some years - the photos were taken in Feb 2006.
     

     
    The model is not quite complete - there is a lot of groundwork to complete, but this may be achieved better once the shed is on the baseboard proper.
     

  7. Stubby47
    Made a decent start on the diorama this evening.
     
    Made in the usual way of 5mm foamboard for the sides & base, the base having a second 5mm sheet spaced by more 5mm strips to give a sandwich.
     
    The concrete is just 1.5mm card, painted with water colours. It needs proper weathering & greenery added, the loading dock is still unpainted and none of the buildings are stuck down.
     
    The flat backscene buildings are from an idea by a YMR member, who also produced the windows & doors. Brickwork of course is by Scalescenes.
     

     

  9. Stubby47

    Factory diorama

    By Stubby47,

    As if I haven't got enough to complete, I thought I'd make a little factory diorama.
     
    This is the concept :
     

     
    These are the main backscene buildings :
     

     

     

  10. Stubby47
    This is yet another project I've started, - hopefully I'll get the impetus to bring some of these to completion...
     
    However, I saw this building earlier this year and thought it would make a good project for the winter evenings.
     

     
    I've made a start on the main structure, it just needs glazing, a roof and the small outbuilding adding to the front.
     

     
    Edit: Roof added, bar the slates, plus the road is now there to provide to context.
     

     

     
    Edit 20/10/10: Slates now added, plus the garage is built, but not painted yet.
     

     

  11. Stubby47
    A bit of thinking, musing and pondering, followed by a bit of card cutting and paper sticking, has resulted in the main warehouse building being created.
     
    The theory is that the original building was completely re-vamped inside, creating a new upper floor height and window/entrance. Consequently, the outside of the building was also re-arranged - the large windows were bricked up and smaller ones inserted in the brickwork (still to be done). The main entrance was widened and a roller shutter was fitted to replace the original wooden doors (still to be done).
     
    What this gives is a suitable structure for the location, and which has a reason to be at odds with the alignment of the track (as it was there first).
     
    From the model perspective it fits nicely with the backscene, but contrasts with the track to reduce the simplicity of the three simple sidings (I hope, anyway).
     

  12. Stubby47
    Following the pleasure I had building Woodbrick Road, I'm embarking on a new photo diorama / micro layout based more in the far south west, so I can have somewhere suitable to take piccys of my Beattie Well Tank and various clay wagons,
     
    The real Drinnick Stores was never served by rail, in my imagined scenario the rails were laid many years after the buildings were constructed, so are just simple sidings into the yard. The ground has had to be cut away to provide level rail acces, so a simple earth bank/ loading dock was dug out to facilitate unloading.
     
    Construction of the board is an experiment with foam board, to see how good it is at A2 size. There is only board at present, but I'm planning on at least one more, to convert the diorama into a working layout.
     

    There are a few old factory buildings in the Redruth-Camborne area which are now disused but stlll standing - I'll be using these as inspiration to provide a partial backscene. Imagine an old stone building, the roof has collapsed, the window frames have all been removed, and trees are now growing inside, with branches coming out of the windows.
     

     
    This layout will also be a first for me as it will involve quite a bit of vegitation, something I've tended to avoid so far...
     
    Again, some photos to follow.
  13. Stubby47
    I've put a few of these pictures up on various threads, but thought I'd bring the topic together within my blog as the diorama is now finished.
     
    This idea started off from a photo I took of a high level rail line which runs through Leeds.
     

     
    I was taken by the variety of wood finishes on the wall, and wondered how I would make a model to represent it. One thing led to another and having been impressed with Sandhill's 'Brookstone' and Coachman's carriage photo track, I thought I'd have a go at something similar.
     
    So, armed with a stanley knife and an A3 piece of black foamboard, I created a short baseboard. I've been to the loco yard at Llangollen, and whilst I took probably the best photos in the world, ever, on my SLR (before I realised there was no film in...), I do remember the ground was virtually black from the years of coal, oil, ash and soot.
     
    I attached two pieces of straight track, then covered the surrounding ground in 1mm card. Paper was then laid between the edge of the rail and over the card, to hide the chairs. Similar paper was added between the tracks (in the same way that new Peco flexi track inserts are fitted) to hid the sleepers. All this was give a coat of blackboard paint, then crushed coal was added in a bed of pva glue. The road was coloured using make-up from the £1 shop, the pavements are Slaters paper.
     
    The walls and arches are scalescenes aged red brick, with the actual arch stones very kindly provided by John Wiffen from a de-skewed verison of my original photo.
     
    The upper edge of the wall is a strip of patterned wood, as found in the dowling and shaped wood section of your local d-i-y emporium, then painted with a suitable stone colour and dry-brushed with a dark green. The main walls have also had various shades of weathering powders (more makeup...) applied.
     
    The fences are Ratio again painted and weathered to look old.
     
    Each of the arch in-fill panels can be removed and swapped around, the idea is I'll create some more which can be era-related - fly-posters for gigs, for example, would help define a period in time. Similarly the billboard on the end wall can be changed for others with different, time-specific adverts.
     
    So what of the rolling stock to go on the track ?
     
    These are some of Kernow 08 I've weathered. I've got plenty more locos, both steam and diesel to have a go at, these will appear on here as time permits.
     


     
    These are some of a Class 25 - straight out of the box.
     


  14. Stubby47
    Following Shortliner's quests for magnetic letters for his 2010 chalenge layout, I purchased a tub of similar items from the local Early Learning shop.
     
    Juggling with the contents, I have manage to come up with the following :
     

     
    This will, of course, be painted once the glue has dried - though not sure what colour as yet...
     
    Stu
  16. Stubby47
    It's starting to come together now.
     
    These shots were taken with out the extension fastened to the main building, hence the slightly wobbly look and the columns not looking exactly correct.
     
    The main view from a similar perspective to the original prototype

    A seagull's eye view

    A close up of the office

  17. Stubby47
    This is another of those Marc Smith inspired ideas....
     
    The picture below was taken at the Launceston Steam Railway yard. The building, I believe, is being used as a residence, but I will be re-defining it's use to that of the Polbraze Harbour Office. Marc had asked in a comment on my gallery if I would be making a model of it - well, yes, I am.
     

  20. Stubby47
    Further to last night's ponderings, I've decided that the crate will be replaced by a 3ft x 2ft bespoke box. I've also had a play-about in XtrackCAD and come up with this.
     

     
    The blue represents the modelled water, the thick brown lines the edges of the opened out side/front. The hinges are represented by the red lines and the grey blocks are the lift out sections of quay, to allow the side/front to fold up. I may adjust the edges of the water to co-incide with the quay walls.
     
    The track is all Peco, small radius points and set-track curves - these will give a consistent radius. The track will be infilled, as Keyhaven, the buildings will be Scalescenes warehouse.
    The fiddle yard will be simple cassettes.
  21. Stubby47

    Harbour in a Crate

    By Stubby47,

    Whilst musing on the Cement Shed boxfile, and doing some modelling on Wheal Tiny, I've been thinking about another concept - a harbour in a crate.
     
    Sounds daft (so it must be one of mine), but consider this...
    Take a crate, similar to that used by Marc Smith for Bracty Bridge , and cut out one side and the front. Make these pieces hinge from their bottom edge, so when laid flat the layout forms an L shape. Leave the back and other side in place, to retain strength and provide a back/side scene.
     

     
    This would give a layout that would be viewable from the front and end. I'd yet to work out how to make the hinged pieces work, but thei main idea is a layout which simply folds up to transport, with something like a bungee cord around the top edge to hold it all together. The quay sides would be similar to Chris Nevard's 'bit on the side', so raised off the floor of the crate.
     
    At the moment, this is pure fantasy, but I'm sure I'll have a go at it some time.
  22. Stubby47
    Ok, so I now have another dilemma... how wide is 7mm track (given that OO is 16.5 mm) and would 7mm stock run on code 100 rails ?
     
    Also, if I made the receiving line mixed gauge, standard (wagons) & NG (loco), would it look 'wrong' (ignoring Rule 1 for a moment)?
     
    The rationale (!) behind this train of thought is to use a loco from Wheal Tiny (when I've built it) to both propel the hopper wagon on to the upper track to discharge the Cement, and also to manouever the standard gauge wagon under the exit hopper, using a mixed gauge track.
     
    Comments more than welcome, please.
  23. Stubby47
    I like this blog thingy.
     
    Following comments from NeilHB, Kenton & RandyWales, futher musing has taken place.
     
    I'm probably definitely almost certain I'm going for a 7mm scale layout (sorry, boxfile). Thanks to NeilHB for the info on 7mm standard & NG track.
     
    RW suggested pre-loading the conveyor feed hopper (CFH), but this would necessitate some sort of mechanism to control the flow, something I wished to avoid.
    So, the upper track will be 7mm NG, utilising the old Hornby 4mm hopper wagon disguised as 7mm NG... This wagon has a reasonable capacity and if the CFH has a narrow exit chute, possibly with an attached agitator courtesy of a mobile phone, the flow to the conveyor could be kept going for longer.
     
    RW also suggested that in place of the mixed std/ NG lower track I use a road tractor, in a similar fashion to the Faller system, to move the standard gauge wagon(s). But, would such a system be able to be reversed / controlled simply? (At least, I know I don't have the skills to achieve this).
     
    However, I'm leaning towards a rope and capstan system to moved the standard gauge wagon in and out of the 'shed'. In its simplest form, this would only need to be a thin cord attached to each side of the wagoin, and the 'inwards' end wrapped around a capstan at the end of the track. By manually pulling on the appropriate cord end, the wagon could be made to move. This would save me having to build my own 7mm loco... (again - probably beyond my skillset at the moment).
     
    So, thanks for the suggestions - it seems as if I'm completely ignoring them but they have helped me to clarify things.
  24. Stubby47
    You know how it is, you have this great idea all planned in your head, you know exactly what you want your layout to look like, then along comes some smart-alec with a wild suggestion and everything goes t*ts-up.
     
    So it is with the Cement shed.
     
    Marc asked if I have a track plan - the track was only going to be a few inches jutting in from the left side, enough to hold one hopper wagon over the hopper.... But Marc also said "And added track on the lid is another stroke of genius!" - I hadn't intended to put any track on the lid - until now.
     
    So this time, it's ALL YOUR FAULT, Marc !
     
    The revised plan actually also solves another dilemma I was having about where to send the cement to from the end of the conveyor. With the addition of the track on the lid, I can now put the cement back into a hopper wagon...
     
    This is my usual crude Google Sketch-up offering, but I think the gist of the idea should be there.
     

     
    Full hoppers enter stage left, and discharge onto the conveyor, which then raises the cement to the other hopper and then discharges into another hopper wagon.
  25. Stubby47
    This is a quick sketch of how I see the boxfile developing.
     
    The scale will be 4mm, set probably current day.
     
    The box will be vertical, landscape-wise, with the lid opening flat in front to give a partly extended baseboard and a place to add information. The inside of the box will be made to look like the inside of a large stone / cement processing shed - think the inside of one of Chris Nevard's buildings on Cement Quay. The track will enter stage left, about 1/3 of the way up the side, and lead to a hopper position - this will use the old Hornby / Triang hopper wagons on a home made activation gantry - something I've used before on a half built layout.
     
    The cement will then drop into a large hopper (as Maenol Mine), then be fed down on to a conveyor belt, which will run stage left bottom to stage right top, then discharge the material through a hole in the building side (original base of the boxfile). The rest of the 'shed' will be full of offices, walkways, etc., plus a full lighting system.

     
    As and when I obtain said box, and make some progress, all will be revealed here.
     
    However, 1st question - do you think I should use actual corrogated plasticard for the inside of the shed walls, or the Scalescenes TX29 sheets ?

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