7mm When There Was Steam.

Prairie Tank

Prairie Tank

Western Thunderer
Earlier this year I decided to quit model railwaying.

This decision was, in the main, down to being totally fed up of paying top prices for 'professionals' to build me inferior, cheap short cut items. Some of which looked great in photo's but under close inspection were very very flawed.
My way of railway modelling had always been to concentrate on what I am not to bad at and to paint figures to sell to commission people to make what I was pants at. I now realise that this plan was fundamentally flawed and I had made a very bad decision when it came to applying it to the what I wanted.

Any way, after kicking my heels and feeling fairly miserable for a couple of months and after encouragement from a few of my railway modelling friends and a 'severe' talking to by Mrs PT (who was probably getting fed up of seeing me with a face like a wet weekend) I decided to take the plunge, rip up what had been done and start my Scale 7 lay out again, this time doing just about every thing by myself with just a little bit of help from my friends.

While viewing this thread, remember that most of the things in it I have never done before, so please cut me some slack.

John :)
 
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Prairie Tank

Prairie Tank

Western Thunderer
My rolling stock and loco's were all BR Western Region circa 1956 so I decided to stick to that period. The lay out is fictional but based on what could have been if the water Mills in my area had all still been in operation when the railways were being built.
We still had a Paper Mill just down the road from me until it burnt down in 1974. The area is now Hurcott village.

The station buildings has just been repainted in the new BR(W) region colours and the spear fencing is being worked on, black being the new colour which will be modelled showing men at work on it.
The water crane and tower will be represented in very worn GWR colours, the refurb had not yet got to them, may be it never would.

I managed to just about save the Grainge & Hodder board, and some turn outs, two of which required repairing, sleepers and rail. I also saved the platforms but removed the printed paper covering that had started to show more bubbles than an Aero bar!

I decided to tackle a building first, I had never used plastic brick sheets before so I thought give it a go and if it looks awful then I know it would be better not to continue.
I had a signal box that was covered in printed paper, again looking very bubbly, so while the platform was soaking in the bath, I set about the signal box. Mrs PT could not moan about the use of the bath for this job because she had talked me into redoing the lay out, an excuse that is still serving me well ;)

I measured up the signal box and cut the plastic sheets that had arrived from Slaters earlier that day. I chose Slaters because their sheets are thin and they were recommended to me by several people who know about making buildings correctly.
I had to make allowances for the general un squareness of the signal box but managed to get the sheets looking ok. The hardest part was getting the window shapes cut out, I managed on my second attempt so only wasted a small amount of plastic.

The signal box is based on the one at Highley on the SVR so I painted the bricks a yellow/buff colour. I experimented with different colours and ways of adding the mortar.
I wanted a dark mortar and found that the easiest way to do this was to use a run of Citadel Agrax Earth Shade.
The bricks were then dry brushed and then individual ones picked out is different colours. It is important to place the model in it's final position when doing the individual bricks so you can get them to look right.

The wooden sides were made from Coffee stirrers, rubbed down and cut to fit. These were painted Rail Match BR(W) Cream

I used Slaters slate plastic sheets for the roof, topped off with a piece of plastic dowel. I used a grey that I mixed for the basic slate colour, they will be dry brushed and weathered once all the buildings are done so the roofs all look the same age.

The bannisters are plastic the middle part of the bannister being cut from a flat sheet. These were painted Rail Match BR(W) Brown and Rail Match BR(W) Cream.

I was happy with the interior it just needed a little finishing and a signal man to be added. I will also add a very dull light so the interior can be seen with out the need to remove the roof.

John :)

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Prairie Tank

Prairie Tank

Western Thunderer
Being fairly pleased with the signal box and now feeling a little more confident in my ability's I decided to have a go at a new back scene. The original lay out was going to be used for shows, 'When There Was Steam' is going to be a home lay out only. This means things can be chunkier and fixed in place.
I wanted a back scene that did not have joins in it, however I am certainly not up to painting the sort of thing I wanted so needed to go with printed stick on types again.

I have always liked the range offered by id Backscenes, they are very high quality and the self adhesive ones really stick well. It is a two or preferably three person job to get them on to the board smoothly but well worth the effort.

I chose the 'Suburbs' set instead of the trees that I had used last time, I was worried about hiding the joins in the sky but liked the look of the Suburbs sheets best.

Having survived the trauma of getting the sheets on to the back boards with out having a domestic with Mrs PT or falling out with any of my friends I was faced with the task of hiding the sky joins.
This is were I had one of those amazing bits of luck when you accidentally stumble up on a way of doing some thing!

I had decided to try and fill the joins with a small skim of fine white Milliput and had set aside an entire day to fill, rub down and paint the joints. So after mixing up a small amount of Milliput I started to apply it to the first of the three joins. Just as I was putting the first bit on I sneezed. The sneeze caused my finger to slip and I ended up with a blob of Milliput on the back scene.....disaster. I rushed into the bath room to get a damp cloth with which I attempted to remove the offending Milliput but it just spread it out. I took a step back, cursing away and looked at the back board. The Milliput resembled a cloud, I a rare moment of inspiration I decided to run with it and adding more Milliput started to fashion it into a cloud formation...….it actually worked. An hour later two of the three gaps were done.

The phone shows one of the joins, the best thing is, it needed no paint.

John :)

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Prairie Tank

Prairie Tank

Western Thunderer
I had decided to build the lay out from the back out. Rather than laying the track and then building every thing around it I planned to wing it and fix things in place in order from the rear and sides. That way I could get every thing square.

So the next job was the back wall, pavement and fencing. It sounds easy when I write it down but oh boy it was a long job.

I had saved the plastic that the printed paper walls for Kingswood had been glued to so had those to attach the plastic card to, I also had a very good friend who is a railway modeler and a builder by trade. He just happens to have a fantastic saw and straight edge that makes quick work of any wood cutting. Very handy for base boards and lay out components. :)

He cut a piece of wood for me, 10' long and 4" wide this would be the pavement and would go almost to the single line tunnel entrance.
I cut down the plastic walls to a height better suited for their new roll and set about covering them in Slaters plastic brick sheeting. This was then painted, the motar done in the same way as the signal box and a few individual bricks picked out in different colours. Being at the back of the lay out I had to over emphasize these bricks so they would show up.

A cardboard cobbled pavement was added to the top of the wood and weathered down. I fixed the card with an even coating of Copydex rather than a criss cross blobing of glue as used on the walls by the chap who made them originally. My way of doing it took a little longer but made sure there were no bubbles.

Spear fencing was added by drilling holes into the pavement and pushing each piece into place, it then being glued using plastic weld to it' neighbour. It took flippen hours, in fact an entire weekend. Once again I used the "You said to buld a lay out" ploy on Mrs PT because the lenth of pavement took up the entire kitchen so we had to have cold food all weekend, not even a Sunday Roast.

The most nerve racking part was carrying the finished item upstairs with out it flexing. Any flex would have broken the fencing.

I then spent the following week after work and the next weekend adding details, advertising boards, people etc plus a set of steps. These were added because I needed to make the pavement look like it was there for a reason.
I also added the front walling at this point.

I wanted to show the station and approaches make over progress so did a little vignette showing three staff hard at work, well having a bit of a tea break ;)

John :)

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Peter Smith

Peter Smith

Active Member
I have found this a very interesting thread John, speaking as one of the professionals whose work you criticise.

I was particularly taken with the signal box which you claim to have built - it looks remarkably like the one I constructed for you this summer repainted in cream and brown. I hope you are not passing off my work as your own as that could result in my taking legal action against you. Needless to say I have ample photographs that prove beyond doubt that this is my model.

Peter Smith KIRTLEY MODEL BUILDINGS.
 
Prairie Tank

Prairie Tank

Western Thunderer
Peter Smith said:
I have found this a very interesting thread John, speaking as one of the professionals whose work you criticise.

I was particularly taken with the signal box which you claim to have built - it looks remarkably like the one I constructed for you this summer repainted in cream and brown. I hope you are not passing off my work as your own as that could result in my taking legal action against you. Needless to say I have ample photographs that prove beyond doubt that this is my model.

Peter Smith KIRTLEY MODEL BUILDINGS.
Click to expand...

Read the post correctly Peter, I clearly state I have removed paper and recovered it in plastic. I had no intensions of naming names by the way.

Just to be sure I will add a photo of it before and after if you would like, I would hate you to waste your time and money on legal action!

John Phillips.
 
Prairie Tank

Prairie Tank

Western Thunderer
Peter Smith said:
You should always name names when insulting someone John, to do otherwise smacks of cowardice.

Peter
Click to expand...

Cowardice, seriously?

I do not name names because people make a living at it and not every ones standards are the same. What one person find acceptable another may not.

I am not going to get into an open forum spat with you Peter.

John
 
jonte

jonte

Western Thunderer
I’d venture that if you can model like that, John, you’ve no need for the assistance of others.

I especially like the brickwork on your signal box.

It’s nice to take pride in your work, but I always feel that most of the enjoyment of this hobby comes from simply making stuff. We can be our harshest critics, but we shouldn’t let our disappointment at times spoil our overall enjoyment in creating something. And there’s always a next time. Apologies for coming over all philosophical.

Good luck with the rest of the layout.

Jonte
 
Prairie Tank

Prairie Tank

Western Thunderer
jonte said:
I’d venture that if you can model like that, John, you’ve no need for the assistance of others.

I especially like the brickwork on your signal box.

It’s nice to take pride in your work, but I always feel that most of the enjoyment of this hobby comes from simply making stuff. We can be our harshest critics, but we shouldn’t let our disappointment at times spoil our overall enjoyment in creating something. And there’s always a next time. Apologies for coming over all philosophical.

Good luck with the rest of the layout.

Jonte
Click to expand...

Thank you Jonte.

It was the first brick work I had ever done, I would not have attempted to do it if I had not had some thing to glue it straight onto.

John :)
 
Prairie Tank

Prairie Tank

Western Thunderer
The area between the pavement and single tunnel entrance was next on my list.

I used Das modelling clay to build up a raised area and also to join the tunnel entrance to the back board, it is easy to work with and dry's in the air.

Once it had set I used PVA glue sprinkled with Chinchilla sand. I waited for the glue to dry then hoovered the lose sand off. It was then coloured using a 50/50 mix of Citadel Agrax Earth Shade and Reikland Flesh Shade. I waited 24 hour and then gently dry brushed it with Iraqi Sand.

A couple of figures were added, carrying on the tea break theme, oil drums, a wheel barrow, tools and a few weeds plus some bushes from The Model Tree Shop completed the scene.

John :)

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paulc

paulc

Western Thunderer
Hi John , i thought you had gone very quiet on that other o gauge forum . Its good to hear from you and back into the modelling again . I think we all go through stages where you wonder if its worth it , i didn't do any modelling as such for nearly 12 months and looked at other hobbies but in the end came back to the fold . When i told some of the guys in the club about this some of them admitted going through the same thing but most said they hadn't noticed my lack of modelling, who needs mates
In the end modelling should be something you enjoy doing , if its not working then have a break , go and poke a ball around some grass pushing it into holes , that will soon get you back to the hobby .
What you have done looks really good and there are plenty of people on here who will give you good advice if you get stuck , i would offer to help with trackwork but being in Australia does limit me in that area .
One question if i may , that lady in the printed dress keeps popping up , have you thought of doing a limited run and if so how much , I'm sure there are others who would put their hand up for one , only one though , i dont think a layout could take more than one
Cheers Paul
 
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