lash

Steve looks like a labour of love to me . I polyfilled a whole dockside scene years ago on and abandoned layout ,I suspect that might have been a cause of the abandonment . Have you looked at Andy Y’s Keyhaven Quay on the RM archive site ,well worth a visit for all sorts of reasons but one of the best quayside layouts I have seen . Richard

Many thanks looks like a very good selection

Very nice small layout ,loads of atmosphere and lovely cameos . My next layout will probably feature colour light signals ,where did you get yours please . All the best Richard

All my dads old albums from the 20s and 30s use white china graph for notes ,it was very common and written directly on the photo or sometimes in the album itself . Happy days

Thanks Adrian and Steve. Goood advice all round . I’ll delve into the odds and ends box next week to find some suitable bits and bobs ,I’m sure I’ve got an old Hornby girder support and some Knightwing pipes somewhere . I’m afraid I lack Adrian’s ability to make an utterly convincing model of Waterloo from toilet role tubes ,sticky-back-plastic ,old cotton reals and pipe cleaners ( with added detail from a stash of coffee stirrers ) Happy modelling all

Primed the bridge abutment bits and the girder deck with my usual matt grey acrylic spray can . Don’t know what other people do but I always prime plastic ,apart from anything else it gives a really good idea of imperfections that need sorting as well as a great base for any paint treatment, washes ,dry brush and also coloured pencils which I use for brickwork. Checked angles and built the abutments on sub bases then mocked it up again . Here are pics . Think an extra girder support between the wider spaced tracks might be interesting visually and maybe a large diameter mains pipe of some sort immediately below the bridge deck . Here are some pics including a BR 2mt tank on parcels duty, I’m gradually going back in time with my pics ,blue diesels ,green diesels now late steam ,rather fun and I need to dig out my earlier stock I’ve stored somewhere safe . That might involve a trip into the attic which may not be a great idea with my back still a tadge tender after humping girders as Adrian noticed

Oh hell twinged a muscle in my back so modelling standing up. Put together a the Wills vary girder bridge with 9 sections . Will leave it till harden then trim and prime tomorrow.

Thanks Adrian I’m quite pleased at the moment so more progress soon I hope . One more pic from last night,I really like this one.

Finished the evening with a mock up of the overbridge . This is the visual disguise for the end of the scenic board based on Wills abutments with a Wills vary girder deck . I do not want it square to the baseboard edge so I’m working out the angles .

More running and adjusting the cassette and connection to the main board . Running quite a variety of stock class 33 and green Hornsby 08 on a short oil working and my lovely 2H. Some derailments at the join but getting there. To boost my morale I added some of scenics as a mock up and taste of things to come.

Managed to get one of last nights pics the right way up ,so here it is .Not a clue why my pics are going antipodean but technology is a blissful mystery

Many thanks Adrian you are as ever most encouraging. I’m posting from the middle of the Solent on a lovely evening with and lights from ancient tube train moving down Ryde pier, all rather nice .

Another happy few hours modelling this evening. I completed the main board connections for the cassette and the slidy cassette itself . No great problems and after dealing with a dry solder joint test running with my blue Bachman 08 went well . A bit of fettling and cleaning and I’ll have the whole layout running ,and that is a pretty big thing because it means I have just scenics to do and a lot of that is already done and ready to install . The other big thing ,and I know I go on about this being a learning layout for me , is my fear of soldering is no more . The results may be messy for the moment but after the last couple of days I know I can take on routine jobs with confidence . Heading south for the weekend tomorrow but hopefully some scenic work next week , starting with the road bridge that will be the exit. Would post pics but for some ufathomable reason they are displaying upside down !

Steve it’s been a brilliant summer on IOW and we are looking forward to autumn with bracing walks on the beach and evenings with the woodburner . My weeks are spent in Newcastle under Lyme and so that should mean evening modelling time ,work permitting . The bollards are by Langley who do loads of good quayside stuff All the best and thanks for the encouragement Richard

Meanwhile a mere 5 months later I’m back modelling. It’s been a brilliant spring and summer and I’ve been at the house in the Isle of Wight every weekend and more, we’ve had a great first year. Had a great couple of hours working on the fiddle yard connections . Over the last few months I have extended the main board to accommodate these and the work this evening completed the first of three track connections including wiring to provide a feed to the slidy cassette on the fiddle yard. The pics show what I’ve done including the connector on the slidy cassette .

Oh goodness just brilliant, and so subtle too. South of the river 1960 when Terry and Julie were still yet to meet.

So this is the start of the cunning plan . I made a rectangular cutout in the foam board and cork at the end of the cassette down to the Perspex . I cut down a two connector section of an electrical connector block to fit in the gap . The prongs will go into a similarly positioned connector block in the adjoining base board end . This will mean making a small extension to the baseboard but with foam board and some wood battens for a firm connection that should not be too hard . The result should be a neat location and electrical connection in one . What could possibly go wrong .......

Oh meant mud not muse in last but one post , predictive text being a bit arty this evening ,mind you a muse might be helpful in encouraging layout completion as a night off from poetry but she wouldn’t be swimming in that muck

So I’m leaving the water well alone tonight and letting it fully cure . My plan now is to work on a truly cunning plan involving electrical connector blocks operate the cassette slidy fiddle yard . This is a bit of a mental block for me at the moment and if I can sort it then I hope I will have the impetus to finish the layout .

Not quite cured and still a little milky but I’m quite pleased . It could be a bit murkier but the muse shows through nicely and if the tide is just coming in I suspect the water would be clearer .

I did say it was inspired by the mud under Portsmouth Harbour station ,given the locality could have been anyone but someone walked home from the dockyard that evening .

Big moment just poured Woodland Scenics water stuff with murky colouring in a thin layer , hope it dries ok ,I rather liked the bare mud but hopefully some shallow water with the incoming tide will make it even better, tomorrow will tell when it’s all cured without the milky look and hopefully a suitably unpleasant shade to complement the mud . Here are a couple of pics with the job just done, nice blue 08 too for those that like that sort of thing ( I seem to be more and more )

Steve Just finished reading the whole topic . Very inspirational and I love the little touches which make the layout come alive. On my own layout Milton Quay I’m learning less is more and you are getting it just right. It’s also great to see a layout completed . All the best Lash

Thanks Steve ,it was inspired by the visual delights of the the tidal mud underneath Portsmouth Harbour Station. I was tempted to do a bit more but I suspect this is a case of less is more . Next steps are touching up the paint and then a shallow pour of Woodland Scenics water stuff with some suitably nasty colouring . Think I’m going for tide just coming in look with the bike etc nearly submerged but not quite .

Had time for some modelling at last Worked on the quay ,bollards ,a ladder and detritus in the mud