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Here is my proposed entry for the Cameo Layout competition. The entry form is currently winging its way to the organsiers.

 

Layout Name:           Black Drake Wharf

Scale:                       7mm O Gauge Finescale

Size:                         Scenic area - 5ft x 19in

Staging:                   Cassettes

Layout Type:            Industrial / canal wharf

Era:                          Mid 1930s

Control System:       DCC - NEC Powercab

Operation:                From front of layout

Sound:                     On board DCC loco sound, ambient background sound using cube speakers mounted behind the facia pelmet

Baseboard:              Integrated plywood board, cabinet / facia & curved backscene

Lighting:                   Angled LED Strips behind facia

Stock:                       Mix of detailed RTR, kit built & some scratch built

Industries:                Bakery, Canal Interchange, Small Engineering Manufacturer (these may be subject to change)

 

Photos of left hand & right hand views show current construction. Track is laid & ballasted, wiring and point control has been completed. Scenic work is just commencing.

 

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Edited by vaughan45
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Looks very nice indeed, right up my street.

 

Do you have a track plan you can share with us, please?

 

Thanks.

 

Back of cigarette packet style track plan below as requested. Some aspects of the buildings design are fluid although those for the l/h warehouse, terraced house back and bakery have been completed. Evaluating a couple of different arrangements of buildings for the small engineering company. The use of a canopy with a partial solid side wall was 'borrowed' from one of Neil Ripley's designs, although trying very hard not to incorporate any clichéd items (bus on bridge?) or modelling someone else's model

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Edited by vaughan45
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And here's one I built earlier..

 

This is the sort of thing I am striving to create (only better this time). A couple of dubious shots of my 'The Basin' O-16.5 gauge layout I built a couple of years ago and then sold.

 

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A real little stunner, that layout; look forward to seeing your entry flourish.

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Limited progress this week due to work commitments. The area of stone setts on the wharf side have been extended and there has been further fiddling around with building alignments. I have started to fit the beading around the viewing aperture, after which the case will be primed and finished in Farrow & Ball Lichen Green to blend into the domestic arrangements. Three photos of the casework below. The baseboard & case are 6mm marine ply, whilst the backscene is 'bendy' MDF. The third photo shows one end panel which is already green as it has been re-cycled from an earlier project.

 

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Edited by vaughan45
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Two further photos, one showing the left hand end of the layout case which includes a pocket for the DCC handset. Operation of the layout is from the front. The other photo shows the two small cube speakers that have arrived and will be mounted behind the facia. These will be used to provide the ambient background sound, if I can manage to produce a suitable sound scheme!

 

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Edited by vaughan45
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  • 2 weeks later...

Quick update. All the casework has had several coats of matt green paint and work is progressing on the canal wharf wall, the cheats brickwork is Redutex English bond with edging stones & mortar courses from plastikard. The first of the base coats for the canal bed have been added, with further tonal variations to be painted on, before several layers of PVA are applied. 

 

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Edited by vaughan45
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  • 2 weeks later...

REDUTEX was a new word to me - so I had to look it up on the www!  Looks an interesting product, and most effective on your wharf walls.

 

What is it like to fold around ends of walls - or is there a good technique for disguising 90 degree joints?

 

Tony

Edited by Osgood
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REDUTEX was a new word to me - so I had to look it up on the www!  Looks an interesting product, and most effective on your wharf walls.

 

What is it like to fold around ends of walls - or is there a good technique for disguising 90 degree joints?

 

Tony

 

That's something I will shortly find out - although most or the planned buildings will use embossed plastic sheet of various types. The sheets have some thickness to them so it should be possible to lightly score the back and the fold against a straight edge.

 

I have a small building I am currently working on, so will hopefully post some results later this week.

 

Cheers Vaughan

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How are you doing the stone setts, please?

 

The setts are also a Redutex product. Previously on layouts I have used either embossed plastikard or embossed them using a suitably shaped instrument. One of the challenges I have set myself with this cameo is to use commercial products to speed the build, providing they are as good as or better than I can achieve from scratch. On my last couple of layouts I always felt the stone setts were less than satisfactory, so opted for the commercial product.

 

Cheers Vaughan

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Quick update. Further work has been done on the wharf with some additional detailing installed. The first couple of PVA coats have been added to start the water effect, a brown wash has then be applied to give some tonal variation. A further 2 or 3 coats of PVA will hopefully be applied this week, allowing sufficient drying time between each coat. A start has also been made on building up the ground at the right hand side of the layout and design the building to be positioned nearest to the front. In a change of plan it will not be a houseback, but a small warehouse of brick and corrugated iron construction.

 

The rolling stock roster continues to grow. The wagons in the background are a LMS fitted van with clasp brakes built from a Freightman kit, which requires finishing, a Dapol LMS 7 plank open that has had the brake gear substantially reworked using parts from the scrapbox. It has also been weighted and had a coal load fitted. The LMS unfitted van was acquired on EBay and appears to have been scratch built from a range of materials or is a composite kit.

 

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Edited by vaughan45
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I have now started to construct the small warehouse / lock up that will be located at the front right hand side of the layout. The bottom has been clad in the same Redutex english bond brickwork used for the wharf wall. The shell of the building is 5mm foamboard clad in 30 thou plastikard (photo 1). The upper storey and roof will be clad to represent corrugated iron and look similar to one I built earlier for a previous layout (photo 2).

 

The Redutex sheet was lightly scored on the reverse and then the door reveal was folded along the edge of a steel rule. Once the backing paper was removed to expose the adhesive, the wall section was gradually smoothed into position working from the door reveal, in much the same way as using 'sticky back plastic' (or applying vinyl decals to 1:1 scale commercial vehicles!). The slightly curved edge to the sides of the door opening were an attempt to portray the bullnose bricks sometimes used.

 

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Edited by vaughan45
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Looking good Vaughan45, what are the Redutex sheets like to work with? I really like the way you wrapped the sheets round the door frame, really effective.

Steve.

 

Having worked with both embossed plastic sheet and brick papers previously, these sheets are a bit different to work with. They are about the same thickness as embossed plastic sheet, but with a rubbery feel. To achieve sharp corners I have found it necessary to lightly score the rear and fold against a straight edge such a steel rule to achieve a sharp bend. Once you remove the thick paper backing paper to expose the adhesive, the sheet becomes more flexible, but unlike brick paper the sheet needs to be positioned accurately as it can be difficult to re-position. 

 

I have found that if you apply the sheet to plastic sheet, they can be lifted carefully and repositioned if they haven't been smoothed firmly in place, but on card or foam board attempting to move the Redutex will also lift the top surface from the card. This is one of the reasons I clad the foam board building framework in 30 thou plastic sheet. The biggest advantage though of the Redutex is the pre-printed finish.

 

Hope this helps, Vaughan

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  • 2 weeks later...

Short progress update. The two cube speakers for the ambient background sound have been installed behind the front facia on either side of the layout and connected. Three options are being considered for driving these:

  • Cheap laptop with mixing software (most expensive option but laptop could also be used for layout control)
  • A specialist sound device e.g. Dream Player Pro by Pricom (middle price range but still allows sound to be customised 'on the hoof')
  • Pre-prepared mix played using a MP3 player (Cheapest option but does not allow customisation away from a PC)

It is planned that loco sounds will still be generated by the usual DCC sound arrangements.

 

The low relief chimney at the left hand end has been installed, but creation of the warehouse has stalled as I need to purchase more foam board. Some further layers of PVA have been added to the 'water' in the canal

 

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Edited by vaughan45
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  • 4 weeks later...

Since the last update the cobblestones on the wharf have been completed and work is progressing on the end warehouse. In true local utility style, once my Langley etched drain covers arrive, a length of cobblestones will be removed to form a drainage channel & drain. A couple of Minerva GWR Iron Minks have been acquired, just need to raid my ABS Models parts stock to modify the buffers etc. followed by a spot of light weathering. Further work has also been undertaken on the building on the other side of the layout.

 

Progress is currently being hampered by an exacerbation of a respiratory condition, which affects the adhesives & paints I can use. Solvent based paints and glues are off the agenda at present, which is a little frustrating.

 

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Some excellent work here.

 

Is the corrugated material also Redutex?

 

David

 

Many thanks, the corrugated material is Slater's 7mm type, that has been coloured using a small number of washes. It needs some further weathering, although I am currently looking for photographic evidence of how distressed it may have been in the late 1920's / early 1930s, rather than just opting for the heavily distressed look that is often prevalent on layouts set in the 1950s/1960s.

 

Vaughan

Edited by vaughan45
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  • 2 weeks later...

This week has been mainly about grassing and tiling. The initial covering of static grass has been completed adjacent to the wharf area, before further weeds, brambles etc. are added, along with weeds in the canal 'water'.

 

Tiling has been started on the left end warehouse and decisions need to be made about the bakery / food company building at the rear. The initial plan was to have the main part of this building as 3 storeys, the same height as the backscene. However having photographed a test section, made from kitbashed Toplink factory kits, a better effect may be achieved by reducing the height to 2 storeys??

 

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The initial plan was to have the main part of this building as 3 storeys, the same height as the backscene. However having photographed a test section, made from kitbashed Toplink factory kits, a better effect may be achieved by reducing the height to 2 storeys??

 

IMHO I'd keep it at 3 storeys, because you have two 2-storey buildings already, at front left and front right. A taller one will help break up the rooflines a bit.

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