chaz

Many modellers will have an uncompleted model (or three) lurking in the cupboards waiting for some attention. Some time ago I had decided that I needed more modern (in BR steam terms) vans for Dock Green to make the stock look more typical. I had made up five vans and given them a coat of paint and then rather lost interest - the focus of my modelling having shifted from British O gauge to my On30 Furness Valley. Over last weekend I decided to try and get four of the vans ready for the Peterborough show. As this means they must be ready to be packed away on Thursday night for loading into the van, I would need a pretty speedy way of weathering them. Three of the vans are JLTRT resin cast SR vans, one even-planked, one with the two-width planks and one plywood. it's these three vans that are the subject of this post. The underframes of these kits push in snugly into the one piece body. I had previously painted them matte black so I decided to treat them to weathering powders as a quick way to make them more convincing. Anything black tends to disappear into an amorphous blob with any detail largely lost to view - a very good reason for weathering. I used four different Humbrol powders - rust, dark earth, black and smoke - although the latter was really confined to the bodies. You will need the surface of the kit to have a key - powders will not adhere well to a gloss surface. If necessary I add a matte varnish first - I find Vallejo acrylic resin varnish very good, thinned 50:50 with a good acrylic thinners and sprayed through the airbrush. I usually add powders to a model on an old baking tray (Poundland!). This contains the powder and stops it spreading everywhere, staining the carpet, your trousers etc and also allows the inevitable spillage to be collected up for later use. To save time I thought I would try "painting" the white end of the brake levers with white weathering powder. This has worked really well and given just the sort of worn look that can be difficult to achieve with small areas of paint. A couple of suggestions for powders - rather than dipping a paint brush into the pot of powder and then carrying it straight to the model tap the powder from the brush onto a palette first - I put it onto the baking tray - then pick up small amounts and apply these to the model. It is very easy to apply too much and it's not always so easy to get it off. If you do get too much powder on the model don't brush it into the surface but shake or blow it away - a dry blast from an airbrush will remove most of it. ----------------------------------------------------------- The bodies had been painted with matte bauxite a while ago. I sprayed patches where the transfers were to go with Vallejo gloss varnish. Once the the numbers and letters were on I over-sprayed them with matte varnish. Looking for quick solutions I used MIG "dark wash" to start the weathering. This is enamel based - presumably acrylics would dry too fast to be practical. Of course you can make your own wash but I need speed this week. I painted the van side with the wash, ensuring that it penetrated around all the details with no gaps. With cotton buds I wiped the side removing much of the wash. All strokes of the buds were vertical so any marks remaining would confirm to the affects of the weather. If the wash starts to dry out a small amount of white spirit on the cotton bud will help. I left the wash overnight to dry thoroughly and in the morning, to intensify the weathering effect, I added the Humbrol powder "smoke". This is a very dark grey and I prefer it to black for building up that steam-age sooty look. Two vans compared. I'm happy with the one on the left - the other needs more work on it's chassis. By the way - go easy on the rust! I do see some weathered rolling stock where rust predominates. Wood doesn't go rusty so the only rust on a wooden van should be on the metal parts or small areas of staining which rain has carried away from rusting ironwork. I should just add that you may well have different or better methods to weathering models. I detail my methods and hope they are helpful - it's up to you how you proceed. Chaz

Now look. I will admit to liking one GWR locomotive having seen it running on the Bluebell Railway and hearing its excellent exhaust note as it pulled away at the head of the four coach set of Met' coaches - the Dukedog; but somewhat rare on the south end of the ECML I think. Dean Goods? Isn't the J6 a more modern and much more attractive machine.....? As my father would have said, "GWR? Gresley Was Right!". Enough of this banter, my next posting will have photos taken at the Peterborough show. Chaz

A WHAT? The closest we are ever going to get to one of those Swindon things is my rather nice Ivatt saddle tank. A model which caused me much trouble, the kit being pretty awful. It was tempting to paint it in lined BR black as 68846 was so treated but I thought that so atypical that it actually runs under a thick layer of filth. Those are my two ex-GNR tank locos - now joined by the J6. It wasn't unusual for a shunting tank to be so neglected that the layers of dirt completely obliterated the BR totem on the tank sides. On a more conciliatory note I might point out that those fans of pannier tanks (and there appear to be a few misguided souls of that persuasion) never have to look far at most (all?) exhibitions to find one - if Dock Green is not at a show you might search in vain for anything GNR, LNER or BR(E). So let's have less of your nonsense. Chaz

You are entitled to your opinion, erroneous and misguided though it might be....

Thanks for that Heather. The running now seems as smooth as you might expect with a Maxon motor and ABC helical gearbox. I have a feeling it may have a long stint as yard pilot even though it will be running in "Stealth Mode". This may cause operators to scratch their heads as the extra length (the tender) may cause problems on the headshunt! Of course I won't be really happy until it has a sound chip in it but at least it can figure in lots of still photographs. I think it looks splendid and its grubby condition will fit right in on Dock Green - but once again the camera overlooks all that nice weathering - check out the photo in my previous post #4943 for a more truthful picture. Chaz

I like the idea of features at the front of the layout (in your case tower blocks, on my FVRR it's trees) which the trains run behind and are glimpsed in between. I have also used a slope down towards the front to make a narrow baseboard look wider. Both ploys have a lot of value. Chaz

I must agree with you about the overhang of the A4 on the sharp curve - it also seems to exacerbate the inaccurate gauge of the track (although I doubt if you could get a P4 Pacific round a curve that sharp at all). I would write that angle off as a no-no - worth a try though... Chaz

I'm afraid age and a failing body means I've given up exhibiting. All that faffing around, lugging heavy things up and down stairs, getting home late at night and so on . . . Plus I don't envisage getting this layout finished for a few years yet which will mean I'll be even older and even less inclined. There's masses to do with modelling an urban scene - even just for the roads in the pic below: street lights, railings, direction signs, traffic lights, advertising, weathering, and so on. One of the things that fascinates me about your modelling is the way that you deal with all those small changes in ground level, little inclines, steps between etc. I must admit I would find all that bewildering, I wouldn't know where to start. But it is a great strength of what you do and makes for an utterly convincing depiction of an urban landscape. Terrific! I sympathise with your feelings about exhibiting - at Brighton we had to carry the layout up stairs to the first floor, and this coming weekend we have to drive from Eastleigh to Peterborough (and back). Fortunately two of us will spell the driving so it shouldn't be too much of a challenge. Although I usually think it's worth the work I have on occasion wondered how much longer the team can be persuaded to join me. Chaz

I opened up the tender of #29 and found that it had been fitted with a Zimo twin sugar-cube speaker, which might have quite a lot to do with the excellent sound quality. These go for £20 but are worth every penny IMO. Chaz

WOW! Those are the sorts of photo that make following this topic so worthwhile. As I contemplate them I can hear the blower of a double-chimneyed Pacific as it sat at a platform and then the soft exhaust as it glided, apparently effortlessly, away. I have a distinct memory of "Isinglass" on a stopper at WGC. The board came off and a minute or two later it got under way, snaking over the crossover to the down fast without a trace of slip or indeed any exhaust smoke or steam (height of summer). Impressive. Despite the fact that I saw it regularly "Isinglass" was a favourite of mine, an old friend. I never saw No. 90 - the closest I got was 91 - "Captain Cuttle". My father, who did his train-spotting before Hitler's war, had a different set of regulars. Chaz

The J6 has at times seemed like a Jonah, with various problems preventing its use, the last of which was the failure of an ESU LokSound decoder just before the Brighton show opened. On Friday I removed the "dud" and installed a Lenz Standard V2 decoder, plugged into an 8 way socket - for easy change back to sound in due course. As this model has had a bit of a chequered history so far I approached the set-up programming with some misgivings. Hooking up my five-foot test track to my Laptop via a SPROG and using the excellent "paged" mode that the SPROG software has I set the address (4253 - based on the loco number 64253), the acceleration delay (25), braking delay (15) and top speed (48). Switching to drive mode produced a smooth controllable response with no risk of it running amok on the short runs of Dock Green. RESULT! So 64253 will be running at Peterborough and will be, for me, the star of the show. It will replace the class 26 which will sulk in a cupboard. Chaz

Not taken to exhibitions? How disappointing! I would have loved to see this layout in the flesh. Your attention to the detail of real buildings is unusual - certainly I don't recall seeing a layout that faithfully represents a recent urban landscape. I suppose we must settle for your photographs - keep 'em coming! Chaz

Progress on the FVRR has been on hold with preparations on Dock Green for the recent Brighton show and the upcoming Peterborough one dominating my time. However I took time off yesterday for a trip to the O gauge trade show in Reading. One stand had a few On30 items including a K37 (much too large for the FVRR), a MMI C-19 (I would have bought this at a very good price if I had not recently bought one) and a Bachmann Mogul in the lurid Christmas colours. This too might have been purchased at a good price but I have several moguls lurking in cupboards - buying another seemed silly. I did talk to Paul of EDM about getting some TCS WOW chips for the fleet so some of the locos may get the full treatment in the coming months. Full treatment? DCC sound, swapping of provided parts to get the shape I prefer (road pilot, straight stack, coal firing), lettering and numbering, weathering. I also bought a number of detail castings from Duncan Models which will appear in my engine house in due course (centre lathe, bench vices, tools, wooden wheelbarrow, assorted oils cans). I will do a posting on these when I have the time. Today I must get my J6 running. Chaz

One reason you might like to think about for including detail work that will later be invisible to a viewer may well be that it might not be invisible to a compact camera. On my layout (Dock Green) I sometimes place a camera in a position where the resultant picture is of an angle impossible even to a contortionist (although there is frequent evidence that spiders are enjoying these viewpoints!). I am then left regretting compromises that I made during the building of the layout (crude unprototypical structures, unpainted bits etc). Arg! Roof structure should be light girder work, not plywood and foam board. I live with this compromise and many others as they are not at all obvious to the viewer. You might decide to do rather better. Chaz

A very small tip when working with reed switches. If you need to bend the wires at each end it can be done. However just bending with no technique is likely to crack the glass. It's easy - just hold the wire close to the glass with a pair of snipe-nosed pliers and the wire can be bent through a right angle (the usual need) without a problem. Hold the wire straight with the pliers and bend the wire with your thumb outside them. Chaz

Thanks for the explanation, with which I concur. Of course anybody who doesn't like Peco's compromised standards is free to build their own track (something I have done for my On30 layout - no wheel drop over my switches). Chaz

Can I blow a very small trumpet of my own... Dock Green will be there! Anybody unfamiliar with this 7mm layout can see photos of it on RMweb, just follow the link... http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/58132-dock-green/page-198 This page has photos taken at the recent show in Brighton. Chaz

A cautionary note... Before the Brighton show I fitted all my Peco points (except the "Y") with the crossing inserts made and sold by Parliamentary Trains. As I have no way of testing the railway at home all I could do was to propel a few wagons through the points and watch what happened. All appeared well with the bump through the crossing eliminated. Once the layout was erected at the Brighton venue I did what I always do before the public enter - I ran a few moves. It was immediately clear that the inserts were causing problems with several of the locos, lifting the wheels enough to cause a stall. Suspecting that I had not pushed the inserts fully home I checked for this but couldn't find any evidence that they were sitting high in the crossing. All of my stock, apart from a few RTR locos, have Slater's wheels - including the worst affected - a kit-built 0-4-0ST which is compensated and usually runs well. This stalled through every crossing I tested it on. Reluctantly I removed and discarded the inserts. IMO a stall is much worse than wheel drop. Now I have read postings on RMweb which have enthused about the product - so I was disappointed to find that a neat solution to a long-acknowledged problem didn't work for me. Chaz

OK, and Silver Link?

Any plans to stock TCS WOW decoders? I'm going to need a few....

Of course you can carry on using the incorrect pronoun "she" to describe a machine, that's your prerogative, but I will stick to English!

I ordered a Lenz decoder from Track-Shack and the last 8 way socket they had in stock. Came very promptly, well packed. What's not to like! Chaz

Well, here are the last four from Brighton. Imagine that strange noise is coming from the bottom of the barrel.... You will forgive me if I post one more of the J6, sitting on the stretch of track below the signal. In the cramped space of Dock Green yard this often serves as a loco spur. We could run locos off-stage and onto a cassette, but parking them below the starter keeps them in sight. I bought some pigments at AC Models in Eastleigh the other day so maybe the days of these too-clean road vehicles are numbered. The porter drinks tea and tries to ignore those heavy looking boxes that will need to be man-handled onto a trolley. One of my favourite views across the goods platform to the far end of the reception line. Locos sit here until the yard pilot takes their train to the headshunt. Chaz

I dip into this thread every now and then to get my fix of seeing modelling of a real place firmly based on research. Each time I do it gets more convincing. I don't think you need to be in any way apologetic about the compromises you take with building sides that will be out of sight. What alarms me is how well you do them. KUTGW! Chaz

Long meetings? One strategy which is very successful at keeping 'em brief is to hold them in am empty room - empty as in no furniture! When you issue the agenda you do it attached to a clipboard (the agenda, not yourself). It is amazing how succinct people can be under those conditions. A half-way house is to institute a stand-to-speak rule. This can also keep things brief: very few people will choose to "witter on" when they want to regain their seat. Love the panorama of the A1 under the bridge (more shots like this please) although the pedant in me would argue the loco is not a "he" but an "it". Chaz