Chris Chewter

Now onto covering the tree. I use Woodland Scenics plaster because I have yet to find another solution. It slops on really well, however is fragile to damage, so I coat the main trunk only. The branches I leave as uncovered wire to allow for flexing if it gets snagged by an arm when cleaning trackwork. The plaster dries really quick, so you can soon move onto spraying the trunk. I use Halfords grey primer, and a light spray of Humbrol earth brown. Don't worry if they look naff, the next stage hides the sins! If anyone knows of a better material to plaster, let me know! i tried rubber and that just looked awful!

Towards the end of the branch, you'll probably want to split the branch. Spread the ends out, and trim with a pair of pliers. Go back to working up your main trunk, and repeat the branch technique wherever you want another branch, until you get to the top.

Now you can start to twist it together. Once you get to the height you want your first branch to appear, select anywhere between 5-10 strands, and start to twist these off from the main trunk.

In case anyone wants to replicate the trees on Tetbury, this is my technique. Please be aware that it probably won't stand up to the modelling masters, and would make the people at Pendon's toes curl, however I feel they make good trees, of a realistic size, and are generally cheap to make too! Firstly, lets get started on the armature. for this you need a way of winding florist wire into a loop. I use 30 gauge 0.32mm wire because I read somewhere it made good tree armature wire. I use a bit of plywood, although I read somewhere of a chap who used a paperback! The hole holds one end of the wire,and I loop it around 25 times for a sapling, 50 times for a pine, and 100 times plus for a big deciduous. Once you've hit your target number of loops, cut it off the reel and slide your loops off the winder. I hold it in a vice so that you can cut the loops in half without them springing all over the floor.

This afternoons progress, half of “the splash” I need to bed in the rear of the cottages and sort out the join in the retaining wall. It also needs a vacuum once the glue for the green stuff has dried!

What to do whilst obeying the governments social distancing rules, let’s spend an afternoon winding up a few additional wire tree armatures. A nice scale 50ft!

Firstly, I’ve corrected the cliff face river bank by creating a fake bank of Woodland Scenics coarse turf. The flat plateau by the house can be covered with coarse turf and finally some Jarvis foliage. This is then fitted out with some Seamoss sprinkled with Gaugemaster mid green leaves. I think that looks a lot better. Next, perhaps I’ll get rid of those loops from the adjacent tree! The white is the white PVA holding down the seamoss bush.

Well I know I previously said I was happy with the station approach, I’ve never been convinced by the ‘reeds’ by the cottage. Reeds is inverted commas because I never knew what I was making, and turned a blind eye they were frankly massive in scale. I know we all like to see nicely polished photos, but I thought these photos may help others in the same situation.

How about another photo of the cottages? I’ll just leave that here:

One problem with modelling a real location, is that you can’t just stick stuff anywhere. Well, technically you can but if you do you miss part of the point of modelling a real location. At least twice, I got too far into a routine, checked the photos only to find scrubby grass and had to rip up and relocate chunks of seamoss bushes. However I think I’ve done the station entry now. And reality: I think I’ll start planting along the splash next, but I’m going to leave that for another night. I’ve had enough untangling seamoss for tonight!

Certainly more green stuff seems to be doing the job. However this is the limited result of 3 hours work. This could take me some time! Well, it’ll keep me out of trouble for a bit!

Spray glue arrived. Let operation stick green stuff everywhere commence! I present: one brambly garden with a few plants near the house because they look nice and attracts the eye. I also present: a few more trees near the end of the roadway to hide the fact it runs off into oblivion!

Bit of weathering tonight following the practice on the 9f kit. A lot happier now I’ve adjusted the technique! And a reminder of what it looked like:

Not much to report tonight. Just been doing the weeding. However I used coarse yellow scatter, so instead of dandelions, they look more like daffodil heads or primroses.

It’s a shame heavy goods engines never made it to Tetbury. They do look smart simmering at the platform! I also decided that the children in the lane needed a bit of adult supervision! From this angle you can see that I really need some planting behind them. Just waiting for a copy of John de Frayssinet‘s “Scenic Modelling” to land on my doormat, plus a box of seafoam, because lumps of rubberised horsehair covered in foliage doesn’t seem to be the full picture!

I’ve always been a bit cautious about weathering due to the chance of wrecking a decent model. I’ve purchased a Dapol 9f kit to experiment on and to give things a try. It’s been useful because I can simply wash the model and start again. The photos are attempt 3... or is it 4? I think this is as good as is going to get, although the tide marks by dome is annoying and might need a dab of black to hide it. This has been made up with Railmatch frame brown to the frames, dabbed with Humbrol dark earth weathering powder. Humbrol brown weathering powder wafted around below the running plate. Above the running plate it’s Humbrol dark earth with Humbrol smoke powders to the barrel and tender sides. So is it worth me persevering, or shall I hang up my stipple brush and leave it to the professionals?

Did you know that for every show, Ross painted three identical paintings? And that is practically impossible to buy a Ross because every triplicate painting is held in storage? No? Then you might find the link below as fascinating as I did! https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/arts/bob-ross-paintings-mystery.html

How about something slightly different. There’s a lot of kit that is required on a footplate. Whilst in most model locomotives it isn’t seen, but with its short roof, a 28xx was never a loco of comfort, and that cab is clearly visible on this model. The 28xx class never made it to Tetbury, I own one because I fire one on occasion. I’ve included the broom in the corner and the bucket that you keep tripping over but is very useful if your gauge frame blows. Then there are the kit bags that you end up fumbling over when operating the slacker pipe. But what’s the most important bit of kit. The shovel propped in the corner? What about the tea cans on the warming plate? And for vanity, yes that’s a figure of me in my usual pose on a 28xx, leaning against the cab side and monitoring the water and pressure. Bags, Cans and the shovel are from Hardys Hobbies. Bucket, and broom are Springside. Figures are Modelu.

Spent the afternoon repairing trees. Any damaged or white bits have been painted. The poor trees by the goods yard have been filled out, and I’ve added in a few more pines. I’ve made up a few more trees, but I’ve now run out of spray glue!

I do think tank engines look better when they are fitted with crew, lamps and fire irons. Not too sure I’m brave enough to weather it just yet...

After studying KNPs Little Muddle, I need a bit more ground cover on parts of Tetbury (although I have to be careful as the photos show the steep bank to be fairly sparse!) so after consulting Gravetts “Modelling grassland and landscape detailing”, I made up some foxglove type plants using some wallpaper brush bristles and some purple scatter to give a bit of colour against the sheer amount of green. Also popped a couple of Hardies Hobbies figures in the goods yard area to give it a bit of life. Hopefully a couple of foxgloves in the background give a splash of colour. (I know I need to tidy up the trees.) As for KNPs Little Muddle, it’s a beautiful layout to aspire to and it’s well worth studying. I was also pleased to see that I’m firing his pannier on page 41!

When supervising the kids playing trains, I’ve noticed that the railway needs some cameo scenes to keep the viewers interest. That’s slightly challenging as most photos of the station are normally devoid of people. After a Modelu shopping spree, I’ve set these scenes up which seem to have come out quite nicely. A quick glance between the trees towards the cottages reveal a couple in conversation. And I thought a pair of children would give a bit of interest half way down the layout.

Interesting how the little details make the layout come alive. Lamps fitted and the platform trolleys in position tonight. And I really like this one, although the lamp is too tall really. I’ll attack it another night.

Things didn’t go to plan as expected when the black wash was a bit sludgy and was applied a bit too thick, but after washing it off slightly and applying some Woodland scenics coarse turf, it was looking good to me. The smaller rock face behind the pre fab was painted in situ. The photo was used to find any remaining white patches. And the cliff face put back onto the layout. Most of the work was done by my daughter under supervision and I think she’s done an amazing job.

What to do with a bank holiday? Well what about one part of the layout I’ve been avoiding. I’ve been putting off the cliff faces for a very long time and the plaster moulds were still white. After some experimenting, myself and my daughter followed the woodland scenics leopard spot method and the Earth Colours kit and decided that spots of light grey, umber and a final wash of yellow ochre seemed to work. We then moved onto applying it to the main cliff face.