Glorious Steam - Diorama 1

[Physicsman]

Regulars in the S&C section will be aware of Gill Head, an ongoing layout in EM. And, in all likelihood, Hell Ghyll Sidings, a "plank" in 00 - at the pre-amble stage, scheduled to "lift off" around March time.

 

Gill Head is far from complete. It's taken me the best part of a month to sort out the large cutting and much scenic and railway-structural work remains to be done. So, how about yet another project to keep me busy?

 

I've decided to build some dioramas. The first will be 00 gauge, details below. A future project, details to be sorted, is likely to be in O gauge, based around a steam shunter situation. I mention these projects as a way to whet my own appetite. The more I think about them, the more I want to do them. Discussion of the latter project can wait until later in the year - so NO discussion of it on here.

 

Which brings us to "Glorious Steam". Please read the rationale behind Hell Ghyll Sidings for a fuller explanation of the use of 00 gauge. For this project I decided to create a highly portable model that would display any of a number of my 00 steam locos and that allowed me to include a large number of scenic elements, in principle based around the S&C.

 

The diorama had to include:

 

A twin-track main line that would be fully ballasted and operational: ie. include a mini-track bus for DCC (even if the locos only moved a fraction of a metre)

An embankment, to include relevant vegetation.

Adjacent railway structures such as telegraph poles and (maybe) a signal.

Background field area to allow a couple of trees to take root. In the longer term, said trees would be home-made using wire-wound techniques.

The ubiquitous dry-stone wall to give some character to the scene.

 

IN FACT, the walling was the PRIMARY driving force behind the project. The "mass-produced" stuff on KL2 and GH is more than adequate, given the lengths required (GH may run to 15 metres!), but I really wanted to model a wall closer to an S&C prototype.

 

A search was made of a large number of (potentially) relevant S&C images and Steve Gibbons (Ramrig) finally provided me with what I was looking for - a splendid image of Britannia 70004 from 1958. This image is shown below (uncredited photographer):

 

 

The diorama will appear as viewed from the right wall, overlooking the main line with the embankment, wall and other stuff to the rear.

 

I'm going to use birch ply boards, 12mm thick and each of 60cm x 40cm. Notice the plural in boardS. The 2 boards will be built separately with the potential to "mate" together to allow for eg. a Brit and 3 coaches, 9F with several wagons etc.

 

So there you have it. The whole thing is a bit of a test bed, especially for the improved (hopefully) walls. If successful, I'll repeat the procedure on HGS. The difference being that only around 130cm of wall is required here (about 65cm per board), whereas HGS will need roughly 800cm+ of the stuff!

 

And as you'll see, very shortly, THAT is going to take a HELL of a lot of doing. I take comfort in the time I spent on the viaduct, a much bigger ask. Either way, it still points to total insanity on my part and the prospect of a padded cell (equipped with DAS, PVA and ply!) in the future.

 

Jeff.

 

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Physicsman

[Physicsman]

One of the defining features of the Settle and Carlisle route is the stone walling adjacent to the railway and in numerous, nearby fields. A lot of walling has been built on Gill Head, though the method used hasn't changed since my first efforts in (around) 2012. It's a very tedious process - though it can also be surprisingly relaxing. The stuff produced has been more than adequate for the long runs of wall in the (relative) background of cuttings and embankments. However, I thought it was time to try to improve things a bit.

 

The first pic shows a section from a typical Cumbrian dry stone wall. These walls vary in height, depending on location, between around 4'6" to 6' (135 - 180cm). 

 

 

There are a lot of stone courses to pack in to a model, which in 4mm scale is going to come in at around 20mm high for the main wall (22mm-ish including the coping). To make things realistic I've aimed for around 8-9 layers, though the irregular nature of the structure - with different stone shapes and thicknesses - adds to the difficulty.

 

For the new walling I've added in a proportion of "rounded" and rough faced stones, to go along with the predominant thin, square faced stones. This process would be much easier in 7mm or one of the larger scales. Some would argue that the existing walls are perfectly adequate and give the correct, overall impression. Maybe.

 

Here's part of what I've been working on over the last 3 days. It's had one light wash of greyish acrylic to take the stark white edge off the DAS used to build it. It's taken about 10 hours to make 60cm of wall. The wall is set onto a 20thou plastikard base as it will be transferred at a later stage to the top of an embankment on the diorama.

 

 

Jeff

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by Physicsman
Grammar

[Old Gringo]

Hi Jeff,

 

That wall is both superb and incredible at the same time.

 

Just what sort of size and roughly how thick are your capping stones? 

And please tell, how are you making them?

 

Thanks also to Steve for discovering the cracking photo of 70004 on a London St. Pancras to Manchester Central express.  'William Shakespeare' looks in fine condition, just like on a similar duty in July 1959 storming through Millers Dale Junction (black & white picture by E.R. Morton, BRILL Vol.4 No.1). I wonder who the photographer might have been in 1958?  Like others no doubt, Michael Mensing and P.J. Hughes both shot on colour film in the Peak in 1959.

 

Can't wait to see Hell Ghyll sidings take shape and then some more pictures of 'Brits' in action between beautifully manicured stone walls!

 

All the very best,

John

[Physicsman]

2 hours ago, Old Gringo said:

Hi Jeff,

 

That wall is both superb and incredible at the same time.

 

Just what sort of size and roughly how thick are your capping stones? 

And please tell, how are you making them?

 

Thanks also to Steve for discovering the cracking photo of 70004 on a London St. Pancras to Manchester Central express.  'William Shakespeare' looks in fine condition, just like on a similar duty in July 1959 storming through Millers Dale Junction (black & white picture by E.R. Morton, BRILL Vol.4 No.1). I wonder who the photographer might have been in 1958?  Like others no doubt, Michael Mensing and P.J. Hughes both shot on colour film in the Peak in 1959.

 

Can't wait to see Hell Ghyll sidings take shape and then some more pictures of 'Brits' in action between beautifully manicured stone walls!

 

All the very best,

John

 

Evening John.

 

Great to see you posting on here - a rare treat!

 

The stones are made in the same way as those for the viaduct and previous walling - but I've tried to add in a bit more variety this time AND made some of them thinner than before. DAS strips are created 8mm wide and of thicknesses from 1mm to 4mm (scale 3" to 1').

The base of the real walls are around 2' wide, tapering to 1'6" at the top, so I've used 8mm at the base and trimmed slightly at the top - down to around 6mm wide.

 

The thinnest strips have been made even thinner - maybe 0.5mm - by scraping along the 1mm strips with a Stanley knife blade.

 

So - the stones are between 6 and 8mm wide.

They are between 0.5 and 4mm thick.

The lengths vary between about 1mm (3") and 8mm (2') depending on the location in the wall.

 

Coping stones at the top have been thinned and mis-shapen with a blade.

Other stones have been "chivvied" with a pointed file to create surface texture and to round them.

The majority are - as in the prototype - of the smallest thickness with lovely stright-edged fronts.

 

The 60cm of walling contains around 1200 stones, so 20 stones per cm length.

 

The model is typically 22-23mm high, with the coping stones taking up 2-3mm, angled over.

 

I hope some of that makes sense. It'll hopefully form a nice backdrop to the locos in the diorama!

 

Jeff.

 

 

 

 

[Reorte]

Nice work, I do like a bit of walling.

 

Where's the photo taken from? I can't place the location but it's a great shot.

 

The bit of wall I did for my Kirkby Stephen I made from Polyfilla - smeared it out on a non-stick surface, fairly roughly to get a variety of thicknesses then just broke it up as needs be. You can get some very thin pieces that way should you need them.

 

[Physicsman]

Morning Simon.

 

The photo of the Britannia wasn't on the S&C. I'm reliably informed it was at Great Rocks on the Peak Forest line in 1958.

 

J.

[Reorte]

1 hour ago, Physicsman said:

Morning Simon.

 

The photo of the Britannia wasn't on the S&C. I'm reliably informed it was at Great Rocks on the Peak Forest line in 1958.

Ah, that makes sense, that's why I couldn't think of any S&C locations that matched. Not getting Great Rocks though, oops, since I'm just a few miles away from there! (I live right next to the Peak Forest canal and was thinking of walking up a bit of the tramway that headed up to the quarries later).

 

I do like the wall, is it two layers and infill as per prototype? The attention to detail, what with tapering it too, means I wouldn't be surprised!

Edited January 9, 2022 by Reorte

[Physicsman]

I've tried to increase the level of realism by a small degree of tapering - though (to be honest) it's not noticeable - and a wider variety of stones.

 

However, given that the wall is only a little over 2cm high, I couldn't contemplate building it with front and back layers. That will certainly be on the agenda for any walling in 7mm scale, but for the moment I'm at my limit of dexterity - and eyesight!

 

No, I'm not building them in N!! 

[Old Gringo]

15 hours ago, Physicsman said:

 

Evening John.

 

Great to see you posting on here - a rare treat!

 

The stones are made in the same way as those for the viaduct and previous walling - but I've tried to add in a bit more variety this time AND made some of them thinner than before. DAS strips are created 8mm wide and of thicknesses from 1mm to 4mm (scale 3" to 1').

The base of the real walls are around 2' wide, tapering to 1'6" at the top, so I've used 8mm at the base and trimmed slightly at the top - down to around 6mm wide.

 

The thinnest strips have been made even thinner - maybe 0.5mm - by scraping along the 1mm strips with a Stanley knife blade.

 

So - the stones are between 6 and 8mm wide.

They are between 0.5 and 4mm thick.

The lengths vary between about 1mm (3") and 8mm (2') depending on the location in the wall.

 

Coping stones at the top have been thinned and mis-shapen with a blade.

Other stones have been "chivvied" with a pointed file to create surface texture and to round them.

The majority are - as in the prototype - of the smallest thickness with lovely stright-edged fronts.

 

The 60cm of walling contains around 1200 stones, so 20 stones per cm length.

 

The model is typically 22-23mm high, with the coping stones taking up 2-3mm, angled over.

 

I hope some of that makes sense. It'll hopefully form a nice backdrop to the locos in the diorama!

 

Jeff.

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Jeff,

 

And another post from me, that you'll no doubt be surprised to see!

 

Thanks very much indeed for the detailed explanation.

 

Just a thought, but by using the pictures from post number 2 and attaching this section of text; then adding a picture of that completed section, painted, plus a bit of weathering detail and set into a bit of grass, you have the basis of a really useful modelling article.

 

Super detail, thanks again.

 

[Physicsman]

John, that's a good suggestion.

 

It may well be that Andy Y will get in touch with me - or vice versa - when the diorama is well underway, and suggest an article for BRM.

 

I'm ordering the ply boards later today and I'd expect to make a lot of progress - except for the trees - in the next month or so.

 

Jeff.

[Physicsman]

Here's a view of a longer section of the new walling - and it's had a bit more acrylic wash dumped onto it.

 

[teaky]

Your walling has always been good but this is something special, Jeff.

 

Looking forward to further developments. 

[Physicsman]

5 hours ago, teaky said:

Your walling has always been good but this is something special, Jeff.

 

Looking forward to further developments. 

 

Rob, thanks for the encouragement. You're pretty good at that, being one of the prime movers of the viaduct-cladding technique!

 

Btw, if you ever need a good laugh, have a look at your post re. the "Fell" on page 127 of the KL2 thread. Always makes me chuckle.

 

I was unconvinced of the wisdom of the "new" walling as I started to assemble it, bit-by-bit. But once I had about 15cm of wall, with the PVA dried-out, I was happy with my decision to give this new madness a try. Hopefully, the diorama will do it justice.

 

At the end of the day it's just another thing to try, isn't it?

 

Jeff

[teaky]

3 hours ago, Physicsman said:

 

Rob, thanks for the encouragement. You're pretty good at that, being one of the prime movers of the viaduct-cladding technique!

 

Btw, if you ever need a good laugh, have a look at your post re. the "Fell" on page 127 of the KL2 thread. Always makes me chuckle.

 

I was unconvinced of the wisdom of the "new" walling as I started to assemble it, bit-by-bit. But once I had about 15cm of wall, with the PVA dried-out, I was happy with my decision to give this new madness a try. Hopefully, the diorama will do it justice.

 

At the end of the day it's just another thing to try, isn't it?

 

Jeff

Yes, that should serve as a warning to anyone contemplating asking for "behind the scenes" photos of you at work! 

[Chipster]

Good Morning Jeff

 

I'll be following this (and Hell Ghyll Sidings) just as closely as Gill Head as I keep thinking about something similar, I'm very good at thinking, very poor at doing!

 

As you know I've always been a fan of your walls and I must say the new walling is even better, the wall looks fantastic, but the first thing that struck me were the "Cams" (as we call them, Capping/ Coping stones, I think different places call them different names) just jumped out at me as looking wrong.

 

I see your diagrams have them all standing upright, (I have seen walls like that), but the reason they look wrong (to me anyway) is they should IMHO all be leaning the same way and if there is any slope on the wall they should be leaning downhill, that is how I was taught to place them many many years ago.

 

This is purely my opinion and not a criticism of your excellent walling Lord Lunester.

 

Poor pics attached taken on a damp morning in Orton.

 

Chip

[Physicsman]

Morning Chip - and good to see the "walling consultant" leaping into action!

 

I was going to email you some pics to garner your opinion, so you've saved me a job.

 

Now, as far as the capping stones are concerned....

 

I am VERY PLEASED with your comments. For years I've wondered about the direction of these things and always had the opinion that they first leaned one way, then swopped, then reversed again. It actually is a pain if they do this as the "swapping point" doesn't look right.

 

So I'll be happy to modify the "cams" to all lean the same way - it's a relatively easy fix with the scalpel.

 

The photos you've posted serve their purpose and (tongue in cheek) the "Lord Lunester" will be very happy to oblige! 

 

Jeff

[Physicsman]

Chip, just an afterthought....

 

Had a closer look at the walling patterns in the pics you attached. Modelling those walls would be easier than the prototype I'm using as the horizontal rows are pretty regular.

 

Better stick to what I've started!!

[Reorte]

Need a device for putting those stones on the top then, especially in these trying times - a coping mechanism!

 

Sorry, I'll get my coat!

[Physicsman]

46 minutes ago, Reorte said:

Need a device for putting those stones on the top then, especially in these trying times - a coping mechanism!

 

Sorry, I'll get my coat!

 

Simon, that is TERRIBLE, even by my "standards"!

 

I like it!

 

Just off to the Bunker to do some more walling.

[Rowsley17D]

Hi Jeff, found your diorama thread and that wall, as others have said, is very impressive. I hope your order for timber gets processed very soon and looking forward to progress.

[Physicsman]

On 11/01/2022 at 09:30, Rowsley17D said:

Hi Jeff, found your diorama thread and that wall, as others have said, is very impressive. I hope your order for timber gets processed very soon and looking forward to progress.

 

Update....

 

I now have the ply boards and the wood to frame underneath them (just 44 x 44mm, as usual).

 

What I haven't managed in the last 2 days is to do anything - even a stone in a wall - as I've been roped into decorating a bedroom at my dad's.

 

I think it'll be a relatively early start in the Bunker tomorrow to retrieve some "lost time".

 

Pics of bits of wood, when available!

 

J.

[Rowsley17D]

Good for you for helping out your dad, I'd have got a "man" in! There's some round our way who give special rates to pensioners.

[Neilgue]

It’s nice to see what you’re doing here Jeff. The new method is certainly a step up from from the previous. The old way was certainly spectacular, but I always felt that the stones had a few too many sharp edges. I’m looking forward to seeing a length of wall in 7mm.

 

I’m  having a lot of fun with my new resin printer, though I have been spending most of my time in Fusion 360. Virtual modelling is just as much fun as in the real world. 

 

Cheers, Neil

Edited January 12, 2022 by Neilgue
Spellyng

[Physicsman]

Evening Neil - early morning in Melbourne.....

 

I seem to be flying off at lots of different tangents at the moment, and it's fun.

 

I think that when the present diorama is "completed" - haha, it hasn't even started yet! - I'll have a go at building a wall in 7mm just to see how it works out. Could be interesting!

[Ramrig]

A

5 minutes ago, Physicsman said:

 

 

I think that when the present diorama is "completed" - haha, it hasn't even started yet! - I'll have a go at building a wall in 7mm just to see how it works out. Could be interesting!

 

At this rate Jeff you will be building full size 12" to the foot before you know it , Garden Layout?