Tony Simms

Looking good, Andy. Anticipating the next installment!

As promised, I returned to the D49 today. And then remembered why it got put to one side. Not only did the cab roof need attaching, but there was also the (very) small matter of the Wakefield Lubricators. Even with a good kit (and this is an excellent kit) there will be a point where you have to use some initiative. Despite looking and relooking, I could find no trace of etching or casting for the said item. The approximations that I have cobbled together, are plastic cubes from microstrip, with etched washers to represent the wheels on the face and surplus washout plugs to give the profile on the lid. Once painted, you probably won't even know they're there, but it's something I just couldn't leave out. For those who might not have followed my previous prose on the NEAG blog, the kit is by Bob Jones and designed especially for 2FS. When kits are this good, it's a pleasure to build them; even a ham-fisted donkey like me can have a reasonable bash. Here are a couple of shots of the loco chassis and the tender: Just the handles on the smokebox door needed now, then it's off to the paintshop. Ready for the 2mm AGM in October? We'll see...

Paul Many thanks for the comment. The Howatt book has been the main source of info along with large scale maps and a couple of extra photos culled from the NRM archives. I have also undertaken several site visits (not much of note there of course!) and the bridge is built. I have scaled the station building from old photos, but if you have any extra info, that would be great! There will always be less than perfect archive information for stations like Brafferton (Masham was the same, but at least many of the buildings were intact). We do our best and try to enjoy the modelling!

Ack! No excuses; get on with the modelling! Seriously though, sounds like fun. Take these opportunities when they come.

Pete Yes. The SiSt trees are the ones on the outermost edges of the layout and are small etches on a mounting post; quite nice and reasonably priced. I will be getting some of his larger ones too to use in conjunction with the WS Fine Foliage which in 2FS gives some fair representations of medium sized trees. Cheers Tony

Mark Thanks for the kind comments. I've stopped making trees in 2mm scale, as there is so much stuff out there that is good, cheap and easily adaptable. I'd rather spend the time on locos or stock, or getting the layout something like finished. I've suddenly realised that I've probably lived more than half of my life, so sometimes you have to compromise!!

Yeah, I struggled with photos as I'm currently working with the whole layout erected in the garage. Lighting isn't ideal and I can't always get to where I want to stand!!

Hi Yes the backscene is a watercolour; it allows for a slightly "fuzzy" approach. A bit like the rest of my modelling!! The grass is MiniNatur grass fibres applied with a cheap static applicator made with an electronic fly swat and a tea strainer. I've only just started using it, but see Missy's blog for some very nice grass photos on Highclere.

Time to address the left-hand end of the layout. In real life, the line just plodded on over several miles of open farmland before reaching Pilmoor Junction. This would look a bit odd, running the line through an undisguised hole in the backscene. Time to invoke my modellers licence! There are several copses and small woods dotted around the line and indeed at Pilmoor itself there were substantial woodlands. So I've simply moved a small wood so that the line runs through it. A base of dark green acrylic paint was applied to the plaster and some Woodland Scenics undergrowth was dotted along the board-backscene join. A few dabs of watercolour are intended to carry the illusion of woodland into the backscene: Now, you may be one of these very organised modellers; everything in it's right place. Not me I'm afraid. Once I start, things get messy and stuff gets picked up and put down without much thought. I'd like to think it's my artistic side coming out; my wife says I'm just messy. Anyway, before I get going, things do seem quite ordered: Here I'm using trees from Woodland Scenics and SiSt Trees, flocks from the same along with Mininatur grass fibres, Brillo pads cleaned and sprayed, Greenscene flock cement, spray photo-mount and several bags of "grot" (accumulations of flocks and scenic materials reclaimed and blended) and tea-leaves. The trees had been initially placed to work out a naturalistic scheme and then removed to enable permanent fixing. Starting from the back, trees are glued in and undergrowth from the above sources is fixed into place, checking regularly to ensure I'm getting the desired effect: Some of the undergrowth is made using clumps of static grass sprayed with photo-mount and sprinkled with flocks etc. Others are formed from teased out Brillo pad flocked in a similar manner. I will need to add some more, tinier clumps of weed and overgrowth at the edge of the woodland, but this will be done when I add the fencing. The right hand piece of woodland is otherwise complete; the left hand is yet to be done: Subsequent to the final photo, I painted in a bit more foliage adjacent to the hole in the backscene and added a little bush near the base of the hole. Anybody else having fun with scenics?

Thanks to Nigel Cliffe 2mm Chairman and technical boffin, this blog is now linking back to the 2mm.org.uk site. So if you use that to scan blog updates, I'll appear there. Thank you, Nigel.

Thanks for the positive comments guys!

Missy and Andy Thanks for the kind comments. I decided to make the move as I get the impression that posting here draws a wider range of visitors rather than just the die-hards who might visit via 2mm.org.uk. Hope I can keep the post Expo modelling rate up. Decent progress has been made in the last month or so. Cheers Tony

Tom That would be the D49 Hunt/Shire from the 2FS kit by Bob Jones. It's nearly finished, but has been for well over a year! Look out for updates on this loco in the very near future... Tony

No, not for me. For my blog. I've decided to move my missives on building Brafferton here. Previous wafflings can be found here: 2mm NEAG Hopefully I'll keep it up to date and keep the layout moving forward.