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backwaterscotland

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  1. backwaterscotland
    Another year has passed since the last entry and the progress in that time has been.......nothing. Lots of ideas but zero progress. A few pieces of stock built but that is all.
     
    I was recently asked if I could show a layout at a local "arts & crafts" show so I took all the detritus off the layout and had a look. It wasn't good, the baseboard and one of the backscene boards were slightly bowed, I had a step in one track cross the board joint and a lot of work was needed to bring the layout up to a suitable standard.
     
    So, with a heavy heart, the decision was made to scrap the layout. The station building, goods shed and hut have all been rescued along with all but 1 length of track.
     
    On the upside, this layout in both it's incarnations has taught me a lot. I have learned to scratch build buildings, how not to build baseboards, loco conversions and many more skills.
     
    To the future? Well I'm off for an adventure doing something different - a distillery layout in Gn15 (1/22.5 scale, 16.5mm track representing 15" gauge) and I'm still building EMU and DMU stock for a Strathclyde based layout. For now I depart Kyle but who knows if I will return?
     
    A final picture, the layout as far as it got with some of the stock for my new project being tested :
     

     
    Andy 8)
     
    Cul Uisge - Kyle in 4 feet - 2006-2012
  2. backwaterscotland
    The blog hasn't been posted to for nearly a year so I though a quick update was in order.
     
    Not a massive amount of progress due to health problems and getting distracted by building some 1980s Strathclyde DMUs and EMUs but the fiddle yard has had an extra siding added to add a little flexibility.
     

     
    The station building has had the metcalfe slates replaced with slaters plasticard ones and a coat of paint. It looks a bit better but still needs some more weathering.
     

     
    Finally, a view from under the bridge looking towards the station.
     

     
    Once the station building is finished, the small platform on the front right of the layout will be detailed and finished as an engineers depot with a portacabin.
     
    I also have a Gaugemaster "clouds" backscene to install.
     
    After that it will be some weathering, particularly the track and ballast, and some detailing.
     
    Andy B)
  3. backwaterscotland
    On the layout there are only 4 buildings - the station building, goods shed, portacabin (for engineers use) and a small hut that stood between the main loop and the siding at Kyle until the early 80s. It can be seen here : Kyle Station 1982
     
    As a diversion from work on the station building I looked at photos of the prototype hut and built this :
     

     
    Basic structure is artists mounting board, the door is a peco one cut in half and the cladding is corrugated plasticard left over from making the goods shed.
     
    Time taken to the current state, about 90 minutes.
     
    Andy B)
     
    P.S. an update on the station building will be coming soon
  4. backwaterscotland
    Some progress has occurred with the 24/1 as I have had the filler out for other projects and did the filling on this at the same time.
     

     
    Changes to the Bachmann bodyshell so far :


     
    Replace roof domes with headcode boxes - Brassmasters resin castings
    Replace side grille with 5-hole plate - Brassmasters etch
    Fill holes from disks - filler
    Fill recesses on roof - filler
    Add vents above doors - Brassmasters etch
    Add blanking plates where headlights were - Brassmasters etch
    Fill steps on bodysides - Brassmasters etch
    Cut Tablet Catcher recesses - plasticard and plastic strip

     
    I'm pretty much happy with the body now, next to the paint shed!
     
    Andy B)
  5. backwaterscotland
    In response to requests to show progress on the station building, I thought I'd better get on with the station building
     
    The window frames have now been fitted and look OK - not brilliant but I'll live with it. The glazing will be added once the building has been weathered.
     
    The main roof structure is now in place as is the canopy structure. The roof will be covered with slate plasticard once I get some so for now I have painted it dark grey to see if I am on the right lines. The canopy is temporarily attached for just now as I want to fit the brass valencing and primer it before fitting the canopy permanently.
     

     
    I still need to sort out where the chimneys will go and add details such as drainpipes, signage. etc.
     
    Here is an overall view showing how things fit together :
     

     
    And with D5116 and a BG to give an idea of scale :
     

     
    Looking at that last picture I need to tone down the railside and ballast a little
     
    Andy B)
  6. backwaterscotland
    I've been looking at my stock and deciding on what I need to buy and what is excess. The main running era for the layout is 1975-77 with the odd foray back to 1972 (purely so I can use my Clayton ) and forward to 1985 (to use my Large Logo 37s). Some of the stock may be renumbered/renamed before it's used. I've put some links to pictures on the old RMweb/fotopic where possible.
     
    Locos :
     


     
    Heljan Clayton in BR Blue (currently D8529)
    Bachmann 24/1 Conversion in BR Blue - D5116
    Bachmann 24/1 Conversion in BR Blue - 24115
    Heljan 26/1 (modified pre-tops version) in BR Blue - 26032
    Bachmann 37/0 in Large Logo (currently 37025 "Inverness TMD")
    Bachmann 37/4 in Large Logo (currently 37410 "Aluminium 100")
    Bachmann 08 in BR Blue - 08718
    Kritter - Modified Knightwing kit on a Bachmann Underground Ernie Chassis - this is the local distillery's shunter.
     

    Trains :

    Passenger - Bachmann Mk1 BSK, Bachmann Mk1 SO - Both Blue/Grey

     

    Parcels - Bachmann BG x 2 (1 in Blue, 1 in Blue/Grey)

     

    Engineers 1 - Heljan Dogfish x 2, Bachmann Seacow, Hornby Shark - All in Olive Green
    Engineers 2 - 2 x Bachmann 20T Brake Van, Genesis Kits Salmon (with Cranes), Parkside Dundas Tube Wagon (see here for prototype)
    1980s Engineers - Bachmann BG repainted as a re-railing coach

     


     
    1970s Goods - Bachmann 12T Vans, Bachmann 16T Minerals, Bachmann TTV/TTAs, Bachmann PAVs (Grain)
    1980s Goods - Bachmann VAA/VBAs, Bachmann OBAs, Lima PAAs, Bachmann TTAs

     
    For a small station this should be more than enough stock - I suspect an additional line in the fiddle yard may help as well.
     
    There may be some special trains as well - I have a rake of the Green & Cream tourist stock (with an observation car under construction) and a Caledonian Sleeper Rake.
     
    Andy B)
  7. backwaterscotland
    Since the last update, very little has happened with the layout due to various other distractions. However, today I got some free time and decided to make some progress. The station building now has all of the doorframes and window surrounds fitted and most are painted.
     
    A nice quick project was a portacabin for the engineers bothy on the front right of the layout. Starting point was the Hornby Skaledale R8765 Car Sales Office. The brandings came off with a light scrape from a cocktail stick. Then various washes of black, brown, grey and green were applied to end up with this :
     

     
    Slightly grotty but reasonably well maintained portacabin.
     
    Andy B)
  8. backwaterscotland
    The signature loco for the Kyle line in the 1970s was the class 24/1. I already have one 24/1 as D5116 which was converted by Rippers (and can be seen here D5116) but I fancied doing one of my own. Having done some searching I have decided to model 24115 as it was at the end of it's working life as seen here : http://80s-and-earlier.fotopic.net/p47427012.html
     
    The basis for my 24/1 is a standard Bachmann 24 in BR Blue plus the Brassmasters conversion parts.
     

     
    First up, the domes are removed and the replacement resin headcode boxes fitted. This is tricky as the body flexes a lot with the dome removed. Next I removed the side grilles and replaced them with the 5-hole version and filled the side handholds. I've started modifying the front but this still needs some work.
     
    Tablet catcher recesses have been cut in the cabsides, backed with plasticard with small pieces of strip plastic representing the catcher mount.
     
    I've managed to get a quick coat of primer to show what is needed - some filling around one headcode box and the sorting of the front.
     

     
    Once the filling and tidying is done I can then look at painting the body.
     
    Andy B)
  9. backwaterscotland
    Progress is fairly slow on the station building - a lot of cutting little bits of plastic strip and painting.
     
    The whole building has now had a coat of white primer which will be the base colour. I've started to add window and door surrounds using 80thou x 80thou L-shaped plastic and 60thou strip (of course I ran out of angle before I got finished )
     
    I'm painting the lower wall and the surrounds with Railmatch BR Loco Green as this seems to be a good match to the colour the station was painted in the 1970s.
     
    Overall view :
     

     
    Full frontal - Unfortunately, this shows some of the not-quite-straight modelling! (The two pictures overlap) :
     

     
    Next I need to finish the surrounds, fit the windows and start working on the roof. I've started soldering the canopy brackets together (see here).
     
    Andy B)
  10. backwaterscotland
    On the layout there are only 3 major structures - the overbridge, the station building and the goods shed. The overbridge is simply thick card covered with metcalfe stone card.
     
    For those of you who don't remember the how the shed started out it went from a basic mounting board shell with peco doors :
     

     
    Corrugated plasticard was added to the outside and the whole lot painted with Humbrol green spray paint :
     

     
    Finally, in the last few days the roofs have been painted silver, the small door replaced with a larger sliding door (various bits of plasticard) and the whole lot weathered. The weathering has been done using washes of dark grey and burnt umber artists acrylics.
     
     

     
    Andy B)
  11. backwaterscotland
    Some of you may recall this layout from previous versions of RMweb. The original plan was to build one side of Kyle of Lochalsh station in 4mm scale. The Mk1 version of the layout was 8' x 2' plus fiddle yard but this became to big for the room I was working in so Mk2 was begun, recovering as much material from the previous version as possible.
     
    Main scenic board :

     
    Overhead view showing trackplan :

     
    Today the layout is fairly well progressed. There is still the main building to construct, detailing to be added and weathering/painting to be completed.
     
    Photos as the layout is now :



     
    The layout is planned to run over several eras using the following stock :
     
    1960s - 2-tone Green Class 24, GSYP 24/1, Maroon Mk1s, various wagons
    Early 1970s - Pre-tops Blue Clayton, Pre-tops Blue 24/1, Blue/Grey Mk1s, various wagons
    Mid 1970s - Tops Blue 24/1, Tops Blue 26, Blue/Grey Mk1s, various wagons
    Mid 1980s - Large Logo 37s, Blue/Grey Mk1s, airbraked wagons.
    Early 1990s - Original Livery 156s, RF Construction 37/4, Kyle line Green/Cream coaching stock, airbraked wagons.
     
    Andy B)
     
    Edit - Added missing era - I always forget about the 90s!
  12. backwaterscotland
    Despite appearances to the contrary, there has been some progress on the layout in between stock building sessions. Today has seen the main section of the station building constructed based on the mockup Here (Old RMweb)
     
    As an idea of scale the station building is around 26 inches long.
     

     
    The front wall is made from three layers - the centre layer is mounting board with the window and door holes cut (fairly) exactly into it. The back layer is also mounting board but with larger window cut outs for mounting the glazing. The front layer is planked plasticard. Onto the plasticard is glued various sections of evergreen strip to represent beading and the canopy support columns. On top of these will go the etched canopy brackets supplied by Lochgorm Kits.
     

     
    Round the back there is a large piece of card (from an old bookcase back) along the top of the building for strength with room dividers made from the cardboard packing from a shirt!
     
    I've used different glues depending on the requirements :
     
    Plasticard to plastic strip - Liquid Poly
    Laminating card layers - PVA. This is slow but can be adjusted easily
    Plasticard to card and dividers/support structures - Hot glue gun. Fast and effective but little time for adjustment.
     
    Next up is start painting the building and constructing the roof/canopy structure.
     
    There was one slight error during construction - I got the front completed, put it on the layout and discovered that it was around 3 inches too long! So a section has been removed from the centre. The error crept in as my tolerances on the mockup were a little too tight for the real construction.
     
    Andy B)
  14. backwaterscotland
    The hut has been via the paintshop now.
     

     
    An initial undercoat of Halfords grey primer was followed by a thin coat of Humbrol Intercity Grey. This was then covered with washing in shades of brown, black, green and rust. Odd panels were then picked out again in Intercity Grey.
     
    The door is painted with artists acrylics and then matt varnished.
     
    In situ :
     

     
    Andy B)
  15. backwaterscotland
    I did promise an update on the station building
     
    Current progress is that the main painting is finished and the windows glazed. Chimneys have been constructed from mounting board, Metcalfe stone card and the inside of a ball paint pen!
     
    I picked up some Peco doors which I've used for the most visible doors (i.e the ones on the right hand side of the building). The toilet interior has been made from a couple of bits of card with the "tiles" drawn on in pencil, given a wash of white acrylic and then gloss varnish.
     

     
    The canopy brackets and valencing are now all fitted - both are the excellent etched brass ones supplied by Lochgorm Kits (Website)
     

     
    Next up is to sort the slating on the roof - I've tried the Metcalfe Slate card (seen above temporarily fitted) but I'm not convinced, I'll have to see what my local shop has in next week.
     
    Finally, an overall view of the layout as it stands :
     

     
     
    Andy B)
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