Pottery Quay. EM test track / shunting plank.

[Phil O]

Last weeks progress was a bit limited, by various extenuating circumstances and being away for the weekend.

The first job was to cut some 4mm MDF for the scenic are corner fillets, I dislike square corners if I can avoid them.



They were then sawn partway through to allow them to be curved, I then secured the first one to a couple of cans of paint with tie wraps, the tins were of approximately the correct diameter. once secured the fillets were painted with neat PVA and allowed to dry, I applied three coats in all. Whilst the PVA was drying, I have started to prime the wood work.



The above picture shows the first fillet in place and wedged in position whilst the PVA dries. The 2nd fillet is now going through he same process as the first.



This shows progress to date. The fiddle yard area has had two coats of primer.

Once the 2nd fillet is fitted the back and end scenes will be primed and both the fiddleyard and back and end scenes top coated, hopefully this week.

 

[Phil O]

Not much to show here this week, the 2nd fillet is fitted, but I haven't taken a photo, As I forgot, still a chance to get one later.I turned up at the club on Thursday to find that my new helper had started top coating, unfortunately he was using the grey for the outside, instead of the white for the fiddleyard, so next weeks job will be to try and cover it up and paint it white.



A start has been made on the 1361, see the new thread. I will post a link shortly.

 

[Phil O]

Firstly here's the link to the 1361 builds A tale of a pair of 1361s

Having sacked the painter after last weeks fiasco I have managed to repaint the fiddleyard, it's not 100%, but white was never going to and I wasn't going to start again. I have made a start on the scenic part of the layout and I think that another coat will do it as the backscene itself will be covered with an ID backscene, I hope to take the necessary photos in May or June, when there's enough foliage on the trees. That's the plan anyway.


I have scent the above board to Australia

Whilst doing that I found that the legs wouldn't fold together so I had to cut a couple of inches off the bottoms of the legs. I then started to think about how I would fasten them for transist when I noticed that by chance the bolt holes for the cross braces were more or less in line ( there is a god! 'sometimes') so I cut a bit of wood and drilled a couple of holes and Robert is your uncle!



Just got to formulate a plan for this board.

Ohh Sh8t, I have splashed white on the grey!

Another problem manifested itself this week, the jumper cable for the turnouts is too short, since I fitted the legs, I have entrusted this job to my ex - painter, as he is at least able to use a soldering iron.

I hope to fit the lighting LED's this week and start checking that all the wiring is correct. I then hope to return to loco building to see if it all works.

 

[Phil O]

Here's this weeks update, such as it is. The new jumper cable was made up and fitted.

After some set backs the LED lighting is now making progress, I thought it would just be a case of stripping away the plastic covering on the pair of wires on the outside of the LEDs and soldering on a pair of wires and fitting plugs and sockets, this was not to be, all that worked was a metre length at each end, by chance I touched the exposed end of the central copper tape with the meter probes and the central section lit up, so I eventually ended up with the lash up that you will see in the photos below.




This will need tidying up once I have secured the fiddleyard end of the strips. They definitely give off a fair bit of light; I have turned hem down to enable a reasonable snap. The layout is still upside down, as it's a lot easier than working up hill. Once I finally get the lights sorted, I will hopefully be able to test the wiring next week.

 

[Phil O]

Well last week I got the lighting sorted and the layout back on it's legs.



This first photo shows the lighting on maximum and the next one shows it turned down to what looks to be an acceptable level.




Work has commenced on setting the turnouts up, but having a few snags with it.

 

[Phil O]

Having got a few problems with the 1361 chassis, I have turned my attention back to the layout and have more or less got the turnouts set up, apart from one which doesn't want to play and shed its stretcher bar. I have replaced it and now need to set it up.

Whilst I had the top off I have taken the opportunity to sort the backscene, I have cut 55mm off the bottom and it looks ok, I didn't have time to take a photo of it, but I do have one of it laid out on the floor prior to taking the scissors to it, but it needs cropping as there is a lot of floor in the picture.

 

[Phil O]

Here's the photo of the backscene



This is the view of Mount Edgecombe which is the southern backdrop to most of the dockyard.

The reason for sky on the left is that it's impossible to get photos looking towards Devonport Station as there is new development and the dockyard road bridge blocking the view, which would have spoilt it and all the modern street furniture and signage would need to be taken out. How much any of it that will remain visible once the low relief building are built and fitted remains to be seen.

 

[Phil O]

Well, that was a good morning, I eventually got all the turnouts set up and working. I also have pretty much got the first section of backscene ready for fitting, I just need to cut the holes for the trains to enter and leave the fiddle yard and adjust the legs so that the backscene boards butt up against each other, rather than overlapping a bit at the top.



The only light source is the flash on the phone, giving the shadow, the lighting unit is on the floor. The curling paper in the middle is the foamboard delaminating.

 

[Phil O]

Yesterday I got the backscene fitted, but not without incident and a fair bit of swearing, I started at the left-hand end and all was good, I thought, but as I turned the corner the backscene started running up hill and it was well stuck to the double-sided tape. I cut my losses by cutting it at the baseboard joint, this left a gap of about 4 mm at the top and nothing at the bottom. The 2nd half went fairly well, but isn't quite flat at the join. To hide these faux pas, I will be erecting a couple of chimneys to cover them up.




As you can see it's at its most noticeable when looking from left to right.

 

[Phil O]

More progress, not all of it exactly photogenic, I have trimmed down the servo operating wire on the turnouts and fitted the 2nd stretchers to the two visible switches on the tandem. This allowed me to run stuff through the exit hole into the fiddleyard and to my utter surprise a 70ft auto trailer goes through, admittedly without a roof, but an LMS van comes to grief.




So I put a cutter in the dremel and the problem was soon sorted.

I have also mocked up a foundry chimney and associated building.



The dock water has also been painted, this is a first coat and I will see how it looks once dry. I have also ordered a piece of perspex for it, this will need a hole cut in it to take the tug.

I have also started to tidy up the lighting cable in the fiddleyard area. I will be fitting a junction box on top and a single cable to reach the floor.
Hopefully I will finish that tomorrow.

 

[Phil O]

I collected the perspex on Friday and I fitted it this morning. I also roughed out the hole for the tug to sit in.



And the tug plonked on top.

 

[Phil O]

Finally, have a few minutes to do a bit of an update. The hole was cut for the tug and painted the underside of the perspex.



I will use some Mod Podge to add a ripple effect, very rarely is the river flat calm.

 

[Phil O]

The perspex has now been Mod Podged. The first picture is immediately after the application.



The clear area is where the water is unaffected by the wind. The next picture is around after the application.



And a close up.



I wish I had attacked the popped air bubbles, whilst it was still tacky. The next one is when it has dried.



Finally in place with tug.



I'm quite pleased with the result, but those popped air bubbles are P'ing me off and I'm slowly attacking the worst ones with a small brush in the hopes that I can cover them up.

 

[jonte]

Nice work, Phil

I can understand your frustration with the odd bubble or two because you know it’s there and your a bit if a perfectionist, but the rest of us I doubt would even notice.

Jonte

 

[Phil O]

Thanks Jonte,

You can see the little roundish marks on the last photo, but I expect you're probably right, I would like to attain the holy grail, but my meagre skills don't match my aspirations. It's all a bit of a learning curve and I'm enjoying the journey, none the less. A lot of my skool reports, remember them? said "could do better."

 

[jonte]

Thanks Jonte,

You can see the little roundish marks on the last photo, but I expect you're probably right, I would like to attain the holy grail, but my meagre skills don't match my aspirations. It's all a bit of a learning curve and I'm enjoying the journey, none the less. A lot of my skool reports, remember them? said "could do better."

Don’t be so hard on yourself, Phil. This is better than you think.

Jonte

 

[Phil O]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, much appreciated.

 

[paulc]

The perspex has now been Mod Podged. The first picture is immediately after the application.

View attachment 128694

The clear area is where the water is unaffected by the wind. The next picture is around after the application.

View attachment 128695

And a close up.

View attachment 128696

I wish I had attacked the popped air bubbles, whilst it was still tacky. The next one is when it has dried.

View attachment 128697

Finally in place with tug.

View attachment 128698

I'm quite pleased with the result, but those popped air bubbles are P'ing me off and I'm slowly attacking the worst ones with a small brush in the hopes that I can cover them up.

Hi Phil , i think the two foot rule should apply ref the air bubbles or is there a diver under there , ah ha .
Cheers Paul

 

[Phil O]

A bit more progress, my order from Slaters turned up on Thursday, so the dock now has stonewalling and the slope and the building next to the chimney now also have the stonework added, or cut.



It has surprised me at just how much of a difference in appearance there is in just adding the sheets to the seawall. This should be ready for painting during the week.


The cladding has not been stuck to the building, I need to source some decent sized windows first, so that I can make the cutouts. The chimney is being clad in SE Finecast brickwork, their sheets are a bit bigger than the Slaters sheets.

 

[Phil O]

Hi All

Following a trip to the clubroom yesterday to get a meter reading I took a photo, to produce an end of year report on the progress made since the end of the first lockdown. I have not added posts of the progress made as I neglected to take photos as I went. So the progress made is as follows the quay wall has been painted and I added some rubbing timbers (sorry I don't know the technical term) and modified some signal ladders to provide access.

A ratio water tank, with crane mostly built apart from the delicate bits. A hand crane has also been made, I may add a second one. Also the quay edging slabs have been made from DAS strips cut, painted and added.

Finally a few wagon kits have been put together, but not finished, as they need some weight adding and odds and sods before painting. I put a few on the layout to show progress.


The hand crane is only temporarily plonked in position for the photo, as are the ladders, they will be vulnerable when I get round to adding the setts to the quayside and I can't do that until I have got at least one of the 1361's running. I did make a little progress in that direction, in that I finally got the chassis to run, but they need the cylinders and con rods adding and tested on track, rather than turned upside down with a couple of wires for power.

Hopefully we will all have a Happy New Year!