2mmKiwi

HI Nick - The moss is made simply from mixing matt yellow and Humbrol Matt 63 leather to a suitable shade and then combing with talcum powder. Then it's a process of carefully daubing it on the roof with a stiff brush a little at a time, building up the effect. I advise following a photo to get an idea of the typical places and ways it form up. The talcum powder is quite important because it stops the fluid affect of the paint. Maybe some kind of sponge material could do a similar effect

This morning I added in the stone wall which has been white washed. I now need to find a domestic gate to fill the gateway. Does any know a good range of etched gates available in 2mm? After I get the gate in there is another sign to go on the wall - keeping up the intense advertising :-)

Nice work above John - Keeping in line with the "down under" contributions to this site. I have attached a a further update to my earlier posting of Harry Galls cottage, now including the little shop that the Galls ran until the early sixties - to my knowledge. The shop is a faithful representation of what was there including all the signage which I have created. There is still some more to come including more signage, a gate to the right of the shop and a stone wall. The photo is taken from inside the northern entry to the St Erth goods yard.

Hi Rich and all, I'm happy to share some notes. Question - would it be more appropriate to answer your query in the "Any Questions Answered" folder? I don't want to break protocols Steve

Hi Rich - Do you mean a step by step for the roof construction and painting or just painting? Steve

Hi Jerry - thanks for the compliment. For a long time I've wanted to have a go at this lichen/moss that is common on slate roofs in the St Erth area. I used Tamiya Matt Yellow and Humbrol leather 62 combined with talcum powder to make a semi gunky mix that I then dabbed onto the roof. I think I can improve this technique more. - Steve

This Cornish cottage is nearing completion and is in situ for this photo. The chimneys need a bit more weathering, more flower gardens and a clothes line will be inserted in this scene eventually. This is my model of Harry Galls cottage which stood opposite St Erth Station entrance. With so many changes happening on the real St Erth these days it is great to be restoring the old order, albeit in model form.

I really appreciate you sharing this option Jerry. I'm looking for 5069 Isambard Kingdom Brunel which was operating in Cornwall in my chosen period. Steve

I concur with your thoughts Izzy, I don't think many would have batted an eye lid at the wire if you had not mentioned it. As you say it looks pretty good even in the photos with a plain white background. Sometimes the risk for damage trying to undo something is not worth the correction. :-)

Three really nice shots Tom - the trees in the top photo really carry the close photography well. Thanks for posting

Hi Ian, Nice looking set up. Are you able to share how you have attached the information board/valance in the front of the layout? I'd like to have something similar for St Erth as it creates a greater connection for the viewer to the history. I also take it that those 2mm Association signs on the upper valance can be ordered from one of the shops? SteveM

Hi Jim, The windows are just stock and have had no modifications. Steve

Hi Justin - this is pretty interesting and the first time I have see these small printers that can produce items of the quality we require in our scale - at home so as to say. Thanks for sharing and please keep us informed on your next print project Steve

As a GWR man - that County looks most interesting - can you tell us more about it? Would it fit on a Nigel Aston Chassis? Steve

Hi Tom - the sash windows are a custom etch I commissioned from Peedie Models. They are a two part etch, the bottom half of the window is a full frame with the bottom half of the full frame having the muntin bar etched in . The upper sash is a half etch with the muntin bar in and is soldered onto the lower full frame. The upper story windows are taken from the Severn Models Signal box kit etch and trimmed individually accordingly. They are set in place in a rectangle frame which allowed me to set the middle ones in an open position. The assembled holding frame is then glued to the back of the wall. S

I'm curious - is the Woodland Scenics range available in the UK? I'd be surprised if it wasn't or it could be branded under Heki S

Yes Justin way thinner than what I understand to be office paper, also thinner and stronger than tissue paper. I should also give a plug to Peedie Models who made the bespoke etches for the lower sash windows that overlap - good service. I believe that sash windows should overlap and it adds to the model when made this way. I also did something different with the walls which are plaster over plastic. I tried it as an experiment and it seemed to adhere well. This allowed me to have sharp corners, a bit of texture in the walls (including a few flaws) and I like the resulting hue that the paint soaking into the plaster creates. S

Hi Justin, Thank you for your compliments - to answer your questions: 1. Slates - for all the slate roofs on my buildings ( see Oct - Nov 2018 2mm mag for another example) I use the paper that is used to seperate the Evergreen Scale Models 0.005" Sheet Styrene 9009. It is a very thin paper but quite stiff, so it responds well to notching with a sharp knife and carries the painting process well. I use the traditional overlapping strip process, having pre notched the "slate" for half the thickness of the strip. The secret to laying the strips straight is to mark some horizontal guidelines on the roof base and to cut the strips well longer than the width of the roof so you can place them on holding the ends with a bit of tension. 2. Mortar - the hips and ridge on the roof are made from pre notched stripes of sheet plastic folded to a suitable angle. Once the roof painting is all complete I used masking tape mask off part of the roof near the ridges and hips leaving a small gap of about 0.3mm away from the hips and ridge edges. For the mortar I used Woodland Scenics Foam Putty slightly watered down and this was just troweled on in small amounts and spread along the ridge line with a Tamiya SS paint stirrer. I spread some of the excess over the ridge tiles with my finger and this filled the wee scribed gaps between the tiles quite nicely. After it dried reasonably I very carefully peeled the masking tape making sure to peel in a downward direction so as not to lift any tiles. The edges of the remaining mortar were patted down to blend into the roof slates. The mortar was then toned down with a thin greyish wash. I hope this explanation works for you. Steve

This more "just off my work bench" and in situ on the layout. I've just completed this model of the former Station Masters house at St Erth which overlooks what was the goods yard there. Built in 1904 by the GWR, my model is as it appeared in the late 1950's. The house has had a veranda and a number of extensions added since my modelled version, and is still in use today. I have built this model with co operation from its current owners (rather bemused that someone in NZ is modelling their house) who have sent me dimensions and photographs. The husband was even sent up a long ladder to get the roof height dimensions! Positioning on the layout has restricted the build to a partial structure and even then I have had to bring the building forward slightly from it's proper position. I most pleased with the curtains which have folds and the mortar work on the roof as per the prototype. I had not attempted the latter before, but as it was a prominent character feature felt it was needed.

Thanks for the painting overview Ian - you do a superb job, in my opinion the best coach painting in our scale. There are a few good key points I note and will tuck away. We don't have precision paints in NZ, I managed to bring some back from a UK trip one year and they are very good. Steve

Hi Ian, It would be most interesting to see your paint process if you can spare the time. The paintwork of your recent 6 wheeled coaches is so precise and neat, I'm intrigued about how you do this. Steve

This is an interesting discussion, and it seems to me that modelling brickwork with printed papers vs textured materials is quite a contentious subject. I have not used printed papers on my layout to date, preferring an exaggerated texture over printed finish accuracy. I would add that there has been very little brickwork required so far, only a few chimneys and a partial platform side. But I admit that some printed brick finishes look very good indeed. To me, the printed papers look very good when viewed directly front on. I can recall admiring the brick and stonework on a couple of layouts and having it confirmed that they were printed surfaces. They can look very good in photos as well, but as mentioned in earlier dispatches - less convincing in the flesh. For me the printed paper finishes look less convincing from an oblique angle - there's a kind of flat sheen to the surface which gives the show away. So I feel that it's not so much a texture debate, but how light plays on the surface. If we apply the scale texture rational, then why don't we use printed paper for road surfaces as well? I'm also not sure about how printed paper responds to any other weathering effects like moss and grime around the footings of a wall etc. that one might want to add? Maybe the users of printed paper don't do extra weathering - or don't need to. On the other hand, as others have mentioned there are issues with the textured materials that are available and I have not been able to achieve the level of detail sharpness in a painted texture as that of the printed variety yet. Still, having said that, I'm yet to give it a real good go. I'm still not convinced enough to say printed brick papers are the only answer, but if I had a lot of brick work to do, I would be definitely investigating it seriously. My conclusion is that like the great coupling debate, and the photographic background vs painted debate, that it comes down to personal choice and which compromise matters the least to the individual. But I will be following this thread with open minded interest SteveM

Thanks for sharing these interesting photos - this layout is truly a impressive body of work. I really admire John's commitment to recreating an accurate historical account of the North Cornwall railways. It's also (from my limited knowledge) a fairly unique approach to layout design in the UK, following more a style of US layouts? Looking at this last batch of photos it's interesting to see some details of the layout super structure. I would like to see more details of this aspect, which is often over looked. Things like the lighting rigging and frames, the trestles and the skirting/curtains - their design and how are they fixed to the layout. What is best practice? Can anyone refer me/us to further information on this aspect?

Nick - I would just like to further reinforce my appreciation of you taking the time to produce these videos. I was thinking that there are many chassis build articles written in the traditional way in the 2mm magazine. Whilst they do have a use, I think that this type of video is a superior medium for sharing information and learning. In your videos I can see exactly how you are performing each task and picking up on the important subtleties that are invariably skipped over in the practicality of a written article. It's like a personalised workshop for the masses and I'm sure many of us will have greater confidence and knowledge to tackle a complete build in the future as a result of your good work here. I'm already building up a list of useful tools that I need to acquire as well, so you are contributing to UK exports and economic growth as well ! :-)

HI Nick, I've only built one chassis and I consider you a master at locomotive building. It's really great that you are producing these videos so people like me from other countries can see how you do things and learn from you. Thank you very much Steve