Chris Chewter

The description of removing most of the weathering does seem to reflect the process I followed. However I did find a photo of a slightly grubby full brake. Again another example of a dark grey roof with a fine texture. I had no idea it was a lead reaction to the sulphur. I shall have to try a few ideas on the full brake.

One of the things that I need to sort out is weathering the coaches. As you can see for the focus stack below, they look just too clean! Well whilst my wife watches Eastenders, I made my escape to attack the Hornby Railroad full brake that I've got stashed acting as a test subject. So my first attempt was to use diluted black Humbrol, and to wipe it off in a vertical pattern. Whilst its provides a passable weathering effect, to my eye at least it just looks to harsh! A check on some historical photos shows that passenger stock wasn't that run down. After all, fare paying passengers wouldn't want to sit in grubby coaches. (That 64xx is also alot cleaner than I usually model) So what to do? I had heard about using T-cut. The bottle that I keep ironically for modelling purposes was found and the coach was very lightly wiped, then buffed with a cotton bud, before being brushed with a tooth brush. After all, only a modeller would keep T-cut and floor varnish and use it not for their designed purposes! That looks better! And below with an out of the box railroad Mk1 for comparison I quite like the variations in the maroon paint that the out of the box model doesn't have. I haven't got onto the underframe yet, but its likely that'll just get treated with dark earth weathering powder. Anyway, I wanted to make sure I was happy with the bodysides first before going any further. Interestingly, the photos I've found show the roofs to be a much darker shade of grey. I need to give that a bit of thought to mimic the colour and texture. I think I'm heading in the right direction.

Weathered another pannier over the weekend. The aim was to make it look like 3711 behind it. I don't think its come out too badly, although I need to knock off some of the powder that has collected behind the handrail.

That ones a 3d printed body from Shapeways on a Hornby pug chassis. The name plates are from Narrow Planet with a Modelu crew. You can also use a pannier cab with a smokey joe boiler. This is Trojan in its Alders paper mill livery, (although the chimney is technically wrong) Both were fun projects all the same.

Last day of half term and the kids are loose on the layout.

A quick video of 5819 before it was sold off on eBay. This was before the sound chip was removed. (The wheel slipping was understandably edited out!)

Point rodding has turned up from Modelu They’re tiny! For a moment I did wonder if I had the correct scale. Let’s hope it’s worth it!

In sorting out this focus stack, I've decided that I've had enough of the wills point rodding. An order with Modelu has been placed to try to get rid of the uneven rodding! It also goes to show that its worthwhile vacuuming the layout before taking photos!

A similar photo to yesterdays image, but from a different angle. The driver and fireman must be discussing something before they draw back around the train.

A look down from the cottage hospital, and 6412 has pulled forwards from the train to allow it to run around.

A look down from the causeway on Silver Street to see 6412 with its single coach train. For some reason, every 74xx that ran on the line seemed to have their lamps on the left hand side, so I've replicated this with 6412.

The 64xx has been weathered and detailed so it can be put into service Its been weathered with Humbrol smoke grey and black powders, and sprayed with a matt acrylic varnish. Its then been detailed with the usual Springside fire irons, and Modelu lamps and crew have been fitted. I think that looks the part.

Quite pleased to get the layout mentioned in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/oct/25/we-are-railing-britain-embraces-the-joys-of-the-humble-train-set?fbclid=IwAR21ofCZpliIP7TuAZlhJrxTS10Rewu8rxW29YaINs1pvbVK4V37_sPcmd0

If I’m being really honest, the original numberplates aren’t that offensive.

Well 5819 is on eBay at the moment if anyone wants a 6 pin DCC chip with a free locomotive! Having a bit of a nightmare with a spot of photo editing. Took a shot of the other 14xx, when I noticed something odd about the numberplate. Looks like I need to find the tweezers and some superglue!

Like a one legged Phoenix, the 14xx has limped from the ashes. It struggles to pull a pair of coaches around a corner without a push, but just about puts in a performance on the layout without too much interference from the Hand of God. Sadly this is as good as it’s going to get with the current chassis.

Someone was selling a Hattons 14XX with High Level chassis on eBay. They were honest enough in the description that it didn’t run the best, which adds more weight onto the ‘sell this masterpiece of miniature engineering’ argument.

Well the Zimo decoder out of the 14xx has found its way into a 64xx and sounds excellent. No underfed screws on this one! It just needs detailing such as lamps, crew and fire irons, plus some weathering. Whilst I can’t find any photographs of this type working at Tetbury, it was too good to turn down. The 6pin harness has also turned up so the 14xx can be repaired, but I’m not expecting it to run very well upon completion.

The Hattons 14xx has annoyingly found a reason to go back on the shelf again. I had fitted it with a Zimo sound chip, but decided that sound was too good for a loco that wasn’t running 100% correctly, so I pulled out the chip to put in another loco, only for the 6 pin harness to partially come with it! I took it apart, again, to try to assess the damage, only for the centre screw to shear. I now cannot screw the keeper plate on which worsens this locos light footed running. This model has given me so many issues, I can’t decide whether to be done with it and sell it, persevere and try to get it to sort of run again, or just leave it on the shelf! I did think about putting a new chassis beneath it, but I’m unaware of anyone having success with a Hattons 14xx. It now sits on the shelf of shame for a replacement 6 pin harness to arrive.

I’ve been a bit quiet on RMweb because I’ve been trying to sort out the wiring on the layout, and unfortunately it’s far from photogenic. I’ve become more and more dissatisfied with the LED display being operated from the accessory output from the seep point motors. Two or three weren’t operating correctly, and things finally came to a head when I was rummaging in some stored boxes under the layout and ripped some of the wiring. I had previously tried and failed to install a points indicator board, but decided to try again. (The fact that the instructions didn’t match the board didn’t help) I had a feeling that the old indicator board I had was defective, all the LEDs were on and it didn’t do anything, so a new board from BlockSignalling was purchased and wired in. Following their instructions, it was wired in and hey presto, all works great! And the LEDs aren’t so bright they burn your eyes! I had also intended to put some LEDs above the switches to show if the points were facing left or right. These have been wired in and again works great! Just need to do something about the numbering... I now need to strip out the redundant cables , and thats even less photogenic!

Thanks for the update. My comment about yellow dolls was based on the yellow shunt discs at Winchcombe. Being a Western location, my presumption was that there was a risk this could have been a Western Region practice and therefore may not be applicable to this location.

Interesting. Without going off topic, how was access into the platform controlled if stock was in the platform? Was it shut discs (dolls) or by another solution?

This would be my attempt to signal the layout. As previously indicated, the bracket into the platforms would need calling on arms. In my opinion, the box should ideally be next to the running line for dropping off/picking up tokens/staffs. Disc symbols for double stacked dolls and "hand" to demote hand operated points. Yellow disc is for a shut disc with a yellow band to control movements out from the yards out into the signalled area, however not too sure if that is a GWR/BR solution and not applicable to a southern region layout.

Now my entry is in, I’m more than happy to tell you how it was made. The model was built in card, but the designing done in AutoCAD. After all, if it’s good enough to use for full sized buildings, then why not 1:76 buildings? However instead of CAD, it could be drawn straight onto paper in a similar way. Firstly, we need a set of plans and elevations for the build. The length and width are obtained from google earth, and the height by counting bricks from the photographs. The rest of the details are assumed. In the end, you get this which can be printed off two or three times to make the different layers. Its then spray mounted onto card from 4D model shop and cut with a scalpel. It’s then glued together to get this: The building is then clad in brick paper from Scalescenes.com. The roof is from a recycled cereal packet. Windows are printed onto A4 paper and glued onto acetate. 3d printed, etched or laser cut would probably work better, I just don’t have the equipment. Eventually, you have something like this. Curtains are photos from the internet scaled and printed on paper and glued on the inside of the window. Its detailed with plastic Ratio guttering and weathered with powders. I could have done a bit more, but this was as good as it was going to get whilst making time for family holidays!

Not everyone wants to publish their progress. I’ve got a build on the go, but I’m not happy with it just yet.