'Cameo Callaton'

[Simpas]

This second prototype picture below, dates from the time I got down from the footplate after the run, these were my escorts for the day. How did I manage this you might ask? Well, for 30 years I worked for the Queen and one of my calling off points, for a cup of tea you understand, was a railway establishment. Well one gets on talking and they quickly realise they're dealing with an enthusiast....! (they can't touch you for it) and before I knew where I was I was doing the Callerton trip. The ard gadgie * (older fellow) with his arms folded, the driver, was a star and really was a proud railwayman. It was a grand day out even though I had to be up at the crack of dawn and was back home by 10am.

*Oh, sorry I forgot to tell you. During the course of my ramblings you may in places detect a certain dialect that is nothing like the way Jerry Clifford talks - there will be translations for those who 'non parle par la anglais du nord'....!

Anyway, enough of my career anecdotes, (career as defined here, is to fall headlong completely out of control. Well sometimes that's how it felt) back to the project. This is a picture of the only turnout very soon after it was laid. This is one of the Easitrac pegged chair kits that has had some of the webbing removed to make it capable of being curved, in fact the removed webbing and revised curvature can be seen here; what started out as a right hand B7 is now a fairly large radius 'Y' turnout. Construction of the kits has been subject of articles in MRJ (243) and the 2mm Magazine. The 2mm Magazine has also had easy to follow articles on two methods of altering standard turnouts into something more bespoke.

The common crossing is milled from a single piece of nickel silver and greatly assists the novice builder. The chairs appearing to support the crossing are just plain Easitrac chairs i.e. not the pegged variety, which are simply cut in half and glued on to improve the look.

That's it for now. I've got a busy modelling weekend coming up so will be back next week to 'play nicely' again. Might get a chance to have a good look around WT as well to see what everyone else is up to.

Mick

 

[Simpas]

A little update, below is a picture of the single turnout which started life as a right hand B7. It's possible to make out the beginning of my first working trap point, of which more anon. The bright coloured sleepers are brass castings used to supply feed to the rails. Just below the switch a large hole is where an electro magnet will be positioned for uncoupling using my now standard Electra Couplings designed by John Whitehead around 1979.

Below we see the public part of the layout in the raw.

what....call this a layout?

wey aye man, corsa dee....! (Yes, of course I do)

And below the devilishly simple means by which the track is held level between sector plate and layout proper. Later on I'll show how the tracks are aligned to allow running across the joint.There will be another line laid to the right of the main line (which is to the right in this view) but this will be a hidden fiddle siding, also accessed from swinging the sector plate.

Mick

 

[Simpas]

Jonte,

Thank you.

I will be writing up the sector plate but in advance of that can I say I consider this a 'lash up', it's so simple and relatively rough. The key part is ensuring the tracks stay in the same plane and that can be seen in the side view picture above. The alignment is just a hole and peg system and your own thoughts are just as good as anyone else's.

I will get round to it though.

Mick

 

[Simpas]

I'm back again and would like to show how things are progressing. With the attempt to illustrate so much in so small a baseboard things inevitably will get to a stage where they look over busy so we'll start simple...! Below is the baseboard underside with the 'bus' in place. I'm making an assumption here (always dangerous) that everyone knows what a bus is. If not shout up...! To the right side can be seen a servo mounting and an electro magnet. In the middle - a piece of aluminium 'U' channel that will hold the servo that actuates the trap point. At each end of the board you can see I have clamped pieces of mdf, using 'T' nuts, that allow me to invert the board without running the risk of damage to the topside.

Just a few words here about the servos; these are standard items bought via the Internet for less than £2.00 each but with the electronic components removed, leaving something that might best be described as a motor and gearbox inside a servo casing. This is not my idea and I am grateful to fellow 2mm Scale Association members Bob Isgar whose idea I believe it was to rip out the electronics from the servo, and David Long who pointed me in this direction. It is however reasonable to add in here that since there is nothing new under the sun this might not be a new development so apologies to anyone who thought of this earlier and is not being credited here.

What needs to be done is the electronics, in the form of a small circuit board, need to be removed completely and two new wires soldered to the poles of the motor. You're exactly right "thez nee pictchas of the sorvos gutts" (there are no photographs of the servos inards)

The wires are run off from the servo unit and connected to a supply which can be something as simple as a 1.5volt battery via a double pole double throw switch. The centre terminals of the DPDT are connected directly to the motor and the outer terminals connected to the power supply. One pair have the polarity reversed which simply means holding the switch over in one direction powers the motor forward and in the other reverses it - really simple. The power in this instance is a plastic case containing two AA batteries as seen in the picture below. Little cases like these can be bought for under £2.00 from the electronics dealers who ply the model railway shows. They’re also obtainable on the High Street where you might pay a little more for them, but still not very much. I have some which will hold one, two, four or eight batteries which will provide me with 1.5v, 3v, 6 v or 12v. Because a bias centre off switch is used it is simply held over one direction until the motor stalls at which point it is released.

Whilst making the servo operate in the way it does is definitely not my idea I may have individualised the way it operates the piano wire shaft that moves the switch tiebar, because it is this aspect I have not seen before. The two pictures below show what's happening I hope, in the time honoured 'spot the difference' style. This servo is in fact the one operating the trap point and has the micro switch for the one and only point on the layout (did I say layout..?) ganged in. I have some pictures of the 'cobble up' that is the micro switch mounting but it's reasonably obvious what is happening from these two shots.............oh, alright then, I'll explain.

I am using the full amount of travel the servo has to offer; there’s no electronic servo controller at all, it’s all really simple with about 75% - 80% of 360 degrees being travelled by the servo arm. Switching power on simply sets the motor running and when it reaches its own limit within the casing it stalls, the DPDT switch is released and the switch blades are held over because the low gearing within the servo act like a spring - job done. Also to be seen in these views are what I think is my own take on the switch actuating rod, a length of 0.6mm piano wire. People normally make a Z bend of sorts with the operating wire which is fed through one of the holes in the servo plastic actuating arm and use servo controllers to restrict the amount travel. If the Z bend method were employed here the actuating piano wire would protrude above the tie-bar into the scenic area every time the switch was thrown then fall back to the 'at rest' position when the servo stalled. A separate piece of scrap brass is used as a fulcrum (seen in the picture) through which the piano wire passes. At this point there is a piece of mercontrol tubing soldered above and below the pivot point preventing up or down movement when the servo arm rotates. (otherwise the piano wire will fall out…!) It is feasible to drill a hole in the aluminium ‘U’ channel to use as the fulcrum but I decided against this because it’s easier to thread piano wire up through the hole in the turnout tie bar and fix in place if the servo and ‘U’ channel are separate entities at the time.

That's it for now....

Mick

 

[Simpas]

Rich,

Thanks very much but shhhhh - I've been very busy of late and haven't had the chance to do any posting. Retirement, it's great isn't it...!

The next 2mm Magazine is coming in October and I have written part two for that. I will endeavour to give WT subscribers a sneak preview beforehand time permitting. At the moment I'm engaged at a local crown court - the judge says we are the most important people there. Hmmm..!

I'm glad you weren't bored stiff at the weekend because I've been known to ramble at times, although not nearly as much as young Clifford (Fosse Way is a good route Jerry...!)) and my little CC effort hasn't really marched on too much, except for the painted cabinet, and the stonework experiments are indeed just that. I will show my failures though, sorry, my unsuccessful attempts thus far, at some stage assuming I can get a result with which I am happy.

We haven't failed until we stop trying to achieve - well that's my story and I'm sticking to it....

Mick S.

 

[Simpas]

Good morning all,

Those who are 2mmSA members may well have seen these pictures in print in the current 2mm Magazine which has just hit the streets. It was my intention to update this before the magazine went out but my pictures were a little on the large side to upload. Apologies for my apparent tardiness, I'm too used to taking and preparing pictures for print publications. I'm grateful to Adrian for his help in this respect.

Anyway - off we go. Here are some closer up shots of the servo (which is not really a servo now..!) and shows the component parts of the turnout and trap point operating mechanisms.

Below can be seen the construction of the mounting for the micro switch from scrap PCB and brass angle - a proper 'botch up', but it works which is what matters, and needs little explanation. Refer back to previous pictures illustrating the movement and it will be apparent the micro switch can be changed out in seconds. without the need to employ a soldering iron. The change can be done is in seconds.

A little piece of 10 thou brass has been used to extend the arm that operates the switch and this can be seen in both pictures. It's simply folded over with friction ensuring it doesnt come off. If it needs anything else to retain it a dab of solder or a spot of superglue will do.

In the below shots of the baseboard can be seen the cutouts created for the DCC control and switch panels that will be installed. The picture really speaks for itself. I've simply cut out a rectangle of the apropriate size and in order to recess the switches (which will go in the right hand side cutout I've cut some small short strips and stuck them on the inside to create depth. This means the switches themselves won't be liable to damage during transit.

Below shows the view from the inside from which can be seen the simplicity of construction. The coil to the right of the servo is an electro magnet which will be powered by a bank of eight AA batteries.

I'll put some more up during the course of today, by which time I will have resized more of the pictures. In my earlier posts I must have just been lucky.

Mick S

 

[Simpas]

Jonte asked a little while ago about the sector plate so here is an underside view of the way it has progressed. It has been wired up and as can be seen is still a very simple affair. The unplugged plug dangling, is the feed from the main board and the two wires are soldered to a piece of PCB. It feeds the short section of track on the non moving section of the sector plate (left) and the track on the moving portion of the plate (right) via the switch. I used an inline plug and socket to enable me to remove the sector plate itself without having to get the soldering iron out. I need to take a couple more pictures of the sector plate from above to illustrate the simple alignment 'peg' so may try and do that today...!

Can you spot the curious Otter...?

The fiddle.

There is one proper hidden fiddle siding that runs the length of the main baseboard (all 2' 6" of it..!) and what follows is my method of connecting it to the sector plate board

You have already seen the main single road sector plate at the right hand side of the layout which has limited capacity (one train length) but comparing this little project with the prototype that inspired it, there will be twice the number of trains appearing in model form than was the case at the real location so these fiddle arrangements I am about to describe should be more than adequate. I needed to be able to have some means of storing the train that was not being 'run' at and achieving this is the single road storage/fiddle siding behind where the back-scene will be. In order to avoid too much fiddling about with alignment when the sector plate is being attached I decided not to have a second track joint at the baseboard edge and instead opted to simply lay plastic track base on the sector plate side and slide the rails through from the layout proper. The single fiddle track road will not be painted so sliding the rails back and forth is relatively easy and it's a sure fire way of letting me know the fiddle yard is correctly aligned. See images below - upper view shows the rails before they are slid across and the lower shows them in place ready for traffic. Before you ask, the track on the sector plate is concrete sleeper flat bottom stuff, believe it or not this has raised detail which reads 'DOWMAC', the marvels of spark erosion technology...! Available from the 2mmSA as are all the plastic track products.

Below, on the main part of the baseboard, the sliding rails to the sector plate, bottom of picture (the upper track is the 'main line'). These are electrified by two pieces of PCB being fed from the bus below decks, using a soldered connection seen to the right of the plates in this view, with a phosphor bronze wiper soldered to the underside of the rail and bearing on the plate maintaining contact as the rails slide through.

In the photograph below will be seen a similar system is employed at the other end of the layout where the 'main line' and explosives siding disappear off scene. I moved away from the single fiddle stick idea adopting a broader approach, in more ways than one, and used this opportunity to extend the explosives siding on to the same fiddle base. This effectively gives me two fiddle roads at the left hand end which will mean additional flexibility allowing me to 'hide' a cut of wagons from public view. There is another beneficial effect of this; because I have no photographs or detail of the explosives facility that existed at the real Callerton, I can now just imagine it is some way off beyond the bridge which will form the scenic break into the fiddle at the left hand end and not be subjected to comments like "it was never like that". Electrical feed at the moment is only to one of these two fiddle roads, the one at the bottom of the picture, and is achieved slightly differently to the long fiddle siding by connecting wires soldered to the base of the flat bottom rail and allowing the rails to slide into the first three chairs on the layout in much the same manner as the long siding does on to the sector plate. This can be seen below with electrical feed to the front one (in this view) of the two spurs. The other road is not fed at this stage but could quite easily be if felt necessary in future. The Peco buffer stops are there to allow the three sleepers worth of rail to disappear and not run the risk of my careless clothed arm catching them. The visible wire and plug connect to the bus.

More anon

Mick S

 

[Simpas]

Jonte,

Thank you. There a good number of interesting projects that have been entered and I think a high proportion are meritorious. I also think the Competition has got a lot of people doing things they maybe would not otherwise have done, which is good news all round for the hobby and the individuals concerned.

I'm costantly lurking here and elsewhere looking for, and finding, inspiration from what others are doing.

Mick S

 

[Simpas]

Here are shots shots taken today showing the sector plate viewed away from the main baseboard.

It can be seen I have added a couple of sides to the plate to prevent accidental plunges to the floor. Looks as though it could be ineffective but, surprisingly, things don't seem to go very far if accidentally knocked. (I don't think it would withstand a size 9 boot mind but thankfully there aren't too many layout kickers about these days..) It's aligned to the rear hidden fiddle road in this view the alignment being achieved by two carefully drilled holes lined with copper tube in the bearing plate. A short piece of brass rod which is a comfy fit inside the tube drops into a similarly lined hole in the base bearing plate. I soldered a short piece of the copper tube into a bit of double sided PCB and this extends into the sector plate with the fiddle track on. Because of this it only needs a single screw to secure it. I'm just showing off with the little knurled brass wheel but does have a function - the extra mass generated means the 'peg' can drop into the hole in the bearing plate under its own weight as soon as it reaches the drilled locating hole. The locating hole for the other position can be seen just above and to the right of the visible screw that keeps the bearing plate fixed to the base and in this picture it is possible to discern the mark left by the brass peg as it tracks over the bearing plate. I did consider springing the 'peg' but quickly went off the idea because it makes a satisfying 'tink' as it drops relatively freely into the tube.

Aye, I've splashed a bit of matt black paint on the sides as well....!

Below, a view of the sector plate aligned to neither of the roads but shows the brass 'peg' from which it is hoped can be gleaned the simple nature of the alignment.

And here it is in the position it would be to enable the train to leave the fiddle and enter the scenic part of the layout. Astute observers will see I have dispensed with the MDF washers where the 'T' nut bolts that secure the fiddle yard to the layout are located. They turned out to be a bit flimsy so I stuck a couple of larger bits of wood in - much better.

That's about it as far as the sector plate goes. It's the first time I've built or used one and I'm pleased with the way it works.

Mick S

 

[Simpas]

Now that I have completed a good few non modelling tasks (collecting brownie points as I went) I am now in a position to do a bit of catching up with the postings. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can report everyone is up to date with progress so far.

The last couple of pictures were of the sector plate and, staying with fiddle, here is a shot of what will be the scenic portion of the layout. The front road or explosives siding has yet to be extended as does the single rear fiddle siding which will be hidden beneath scenery. Do you know? I was almost certain I had taken a picture of the completed rear siding from this viewpoint ''burra wuz wrang' (roughly translated means, I fear I am mistaken) and this, although taken a little while ago, is the only such view I have. The uprights at each end are simply offcuts of 6mm MDF which are there to protect the rail ends as I manhandle the thing around the model room.

Moving forward time wise and spinning the board over again we can now see there has been some progress made with wiring. The red swtches top left are DPDTs which I am using as on/off. They are, top to bottom:- section switch for rear fiddle road, section switch for left hand fiddle, switch for electro magnet (the power for which is the transistor battery (right top) and switch to operate the turnout and trap point. The green circuit board as many will recognise immediately is the NCE Powercab panel.

LEDs are what I'm using for lighting and these can be powered by 12 volts DC using a transformer - I have a couple of the variable voltage sorts, or a bank of 8 AA batteries. It is something of a cobble up with the LED self adhesive strips being stuck to a shaped sheet of 2mm plastic that is screwed to the inside of the layout cabinet. The lights are quite effective. Somebody who knows more than me about lights will tell me I've done it wrong, but it hasn't failed, or worse still caught fire yet - I like them.

I briefly mentioned a cabinet - well here it is, standing on the two Combitech trestles I made for it. The cabinet has an integral thin ply backscene which was a doddle to fit and because of the size of the project essential to guarantee the sky doesn't have a 90 degree bend in it.

Further two shots showing where I am constructionally at the moment. Although I have given the cabinet and parts of the fiddle a coat of satin black paint, which I felt had to happen before I got much further, the cabinet itself hasn't yet been photographed by me in that state. I will try and put that right in the next few days.

The views below show the entire length of the layout viewed from two directions taken 'out on the patio' before the paint job.

I said that in a posh voice.........

Mick S

 

[Simpas]

....on the terrace - surely?

Are the LED strips all the same type of light or have you mixed bright white, daylight and warm yellow LEDS to give break up the starkness?

I like the main board - very neat .

Dave,

LEDs are 50/50 warm white and cool white. I took them from the reel seen in one of the pictures and soldered 29" lengths individually to the lash up of a pcb on the right of the picture insulating each with the red tape you can see. The little socket you can see takes the battery supply or a feed from the multi volt transformer.

Mick S

 

[Simpas]

Thanks for the comments, I'll see if I can get a picture or two of the whole thing posted up, now the extremities have been painted.

Now that I'm contemplating the scenics I'm going to be getting into a couple of things not attempted before - stonework and trees. I've been playing with some 3mm expanded polystyrene for stone walling. When I've completed some trials I'll let folk see the results.

I am as ever, lurking to steal all your ideas......

Mick S

 

[Simpas]

Very inspiring this Mick, and it was good to be able to view it at Stannington yesterday.

I look forward to viewing progress.

Regards,

Lee.

Thanks Lee, it's good to be able to use a small project as a 'tryout' for things not previously attempted.

cheers

Mick S.

 

[Simpas]

OK, here's where the project is as of now.

The shot below shows the whole thing after painting the cabinet satin black. I have fabricated a cover for the left hand fiddle purely to allow the stock (DMU at the back or explosives vans at the front) to disappear into the darkness. The picture also shows the LEDs lit. Some useful suggestions from Nigel Cliffe yesterday regarding diffusing the effect of the LEDs which I will be incorporating into the final job. I have been playing with hiding from view the rear single fiddle road. Here you see nothing more elaborate than a thick card divider. It literally does just have sufficient depth to conceal the train with, at its narrowest point, only 35mm between the virtical wall and the back of the cabinet. Well, as my dear departed mother used to say; "enough is as good as a feast..!"

The girder bridge sides are a temporary fix to see how things look. The real ones are being etched for me by Bob Jones - they'll look canny because Bob is a bit particular with etching. At this left hand end of Callaton there will be a preponderance of stone built retaining wall because the scenic break (the two bridges) carry a disused colliery line. (another one of my inventions... well, it's my train set..!) I'm hoping a lot of the stonework will be hidden by trees, something else I'm looking forward to attempting which hitherto I've not made yet. Well not counting the twig and lichen efforts in my early modelling years which bore little resemblance to anything from the real world. Pay little attention to the card structure at stage right - this is just an experiment to see how much I need to do to disguise the exit on to the sector plate.

I have adjusted the carrying handle so that is sits horizontal. Every self respecting cameo has to have a handle.....
Aye, it diz.. tha knaas (oh yes it does..you know..!)

The following few images were taken recently in the Newcastle upon Tyne area to give me a datum from which to work when I attempt to get the colour of stone right.First one is Hoults Yard, Walker Road.

Next, this is between Stoddart Street and Clarence Street junctions with New Bridge Street. (ECML north of Newcastle) There will be a little retaining wall like this on Callaton.

The rest are Redheugh Bridge Road, on the north side of the Tyne just outside the Metro Arena.

As can be seen there is a bit of variety here with some being regular and some not quite so regular and the myriad of colours....!

I'm seeking to represent the stonework with 3mm expanded polystyrene. There are other methods using one or other forms of plaster or 'Das' type materials but I've almost settled on the less messy stuff. The down side is it's a bit more difficult to paint. So, although I do like the polystyrene method, the jury might still be out. Here are some of my attempts at reproducing stone, the earliest are at the top. I hope you can see the courses in the unpainted one. These are scribed with any sharp instrument and I have tried a few. I'm now preferring a sewing machine needle in a pin vice. There are two challenges, one being the depth/precision of cut and the other, painting.

It has been beneficial to fabricate a 'T' square of sorts, just a simple affair does the trick. Keeps everything plumb - well it will when I learn not to over cut....! The loose piece of 'I' section plastic sits over the plain upright to give a (more or less) uniform horizontal line - the filed recess ensures this.

All comments welcome.....

(Cryptic unconnected comment) Jerry....! Beautiful piece of drilling kit received tonight.

Mick S.

 

[Simpas]

I'm back again....

The next few pictures show what's been going on of late. I have changed my mind about what kind of a bridge will form the exit at the left hand end and now plan on having a disused self acting incline, of which there were plenty in this area, and there are a couple of reasons for this. First the width is slightly greater than a country road, but the most important factor is because it is a disused incline I will be able to model it overgrown and maybe more easily disguise the transition into the scenic break. The first three pictures show the removable (at this stage) incline track bed. It's made from brass sheet with some styrene sheet stuck to it for rigidity. It has some track bases glued on. It's part of a three rail section that sometimes appeared near the top of an incline close to the 'kip'. Just the sleepers are left with a couple of lengths of rail. Next shot shows the corner of the layout where it will sit with just card for support at this stage and the next picture with the bed on top of the card 'abutments'. You may well be able to detect where one or two things have been tried before - me plannin's nowt se clivva n worran arful mess. (I did say my planning left a lot to be desired and oh dear, I'm not such a tidy worker)

The next picture shows a couple of girder bridge sides. They are in fact etched nickel silver and have been altered to my requirements by friend and fellow 2mm Scale Association member, Bob Jones. These are just a little too long at present but that's how I asked Bob to do them on the basis that this kind of thing is easier to reduce then increase in size. The final picture today shows how the bridge sides started out as flat etches.

I have been forging ahead with the stonework as some people who visited The Model Show (TMS) at Poynton last weekend will have seen. I've been cutting 45 degree angles and making what I think look convincing abutment quoins. You can judge for yourselves when I get the pictures taken.

This may be the last posting before Christmas so compliments of the season to everyone and happy modelling (if the opportunity presents itself) over the next fortnight or so.

Mick S.

 

[Simpas]

Hello again everyone, an eventful festive season out of the way and now back to some modelling.

Things have moved on a little in the last few days. The first two pictures were taken just before Christmas and show my attempts at improving the stonework with a method of scribing the quoins and joined using my Heath Robinson method of sticking them together. Put an engineers square on and cut down guessing at a 45 degree angle as I went. It's surprising how accurate it can be. New blade required almost every time though otherwise the blade 'gathers' expanded polystyrene as it goes and makes the cut messy. The first one was just an experiment, but picture two will be getting used.

Below is a shot showing the rough setting out with the incline trackbed base still sitting on a piece of brass. I've changed my mind about this now and reverted to just using the plastic that was stuck on top of the brass and it seems as though it is solid enough as is.

The final shot below illustrates considerable progress from those above. I have decided to top and tail the stonework with thick card to give the construction a bit of strength with a string course parapet and pilasters extending upwards. The parapet is more regular in construction than the abutments as seen in some prototype constructions. The coping and cap stones are just thinner card and at the moment the units are still separate. My intention is to fix the track bed in place soon and that will make it a single construction which will help when fitting the girders. The stonework needs a little bit of fettling with some coping stones still to add and then the whole lot needs undercoating. I'm going to paint the bridges as a complete separate unit and add them once certain of the other scenic work is further on such as track painting and ballasting because I dont want to have to protect the finish on the stone while airbrushing the track.

Although I have used a mix of PVA and Deluxe Materials 'Foam Armour' to stick the foam together I have used two part epoxy to glue the cardboard courses on and the same stuff to continue the stonework pilasters and parapets above. The layer of card upon which the units sit will be masked by the scenic groundwork embellishments. I'm reasoanbly happy with it so far. Shown in the area on the far side of the bridge is a piece of scribed polystyrene which will form the retaining wall at the back.

Mick S.

 

[Simpas]

Just to show everything isn't always nice and neat, here I have started building the 'hills' before the track is even ballasted. There is a good reason for this - the bridge abutments and retaining walls etc are all just sitting on the layout i.e. not fixed. Until the track is ballasted and a lot of the messy work related to land contours is completed (or at least well on the way) they will not be fixed because the foamboard is a bit fragile and I want to try and avoid damaging it and having to re do the lot or try to repair it in situ. The picture below shows I have in fact fixed the main retaining wall (seen loose in the last picture) to the bridge abutment, filled and made good the joint showing the 'batter' with a bit of polyfiller. The retaining walls are of course just in place in this view for your benefit. Astute observers will also be able to see sundry tools and a couple of girder bridge sides lying about, not to mention a myriad of lill pins holding the lattice work card strips in place while the glue sets.

The next shot illustrates the relative ease with which my scenic work can commence with nothing around that is going to get damaged. The lattice card structure has been covered with one ply paper towels soaked in PVA and left to dry out giving quite a substantial result.

Just for effect I have dropped the stone work on so I can see how it's going and spur myself on. Note the girder bridges are loosely in place but need cutting to length. O, aye tha ganna need a birra colour on them anaal...! (they need painting too..!)

This last bit of work took place last week and to be honest I don't know where I found the time to take the pictures but you can see I have had a go at painting the stonework and laying a bit of ground cover. The cover is basic Woodland Scenics flock over which I intend to lay static grass. Yes, you're right the lower part of retaining wall is at this stage still a separate item.

The next shot is the result of my first attempt at using static grass on the disused three rail section of the self acting incline that forms the scenic break at the left hand end using one of those battery operated applicators. Don't ask me how you get many many volts through what looks like a tea strainer with two AA batteries - it's 'electrickery' as Catweazle used to say...! Remember him? ("come touchwood, truly thou art my brother in magic")
The stonework is still not fixed. I did need to make some reasonable progress with the sccenics because I had agreed to take it to Model Rail Scotland which is where I spent this last weekend. The little effort was fairly well received notwithstanding the fact its operational potential is somewhat limited...! I did a bit more work on the foreground as a temporary measure which made Callaton more pleasing to view but because this was temporary and I haven't got any pictures I'll probably not post how it appeared north of the border because it will be slightly different next time. It was avery useful exercise in terms of logistics and, oh yes, nearly forgot, I did have a backscene in place and there is an interesting tale to tell regarding that but more about that next time, as indeed there is about the ballasting...!

Re the stonework - I'm in two minds whether to apply further washes of paint. Have a look at a bridge abutment below. This is Nicholson Tce. bridge close to where I live. It's on the old Tyne Dock to Consett Steelworks, line. As one of my modelling friends says to me sometimes 'less is more' so I may attempt a modicum of subtle weathering, maybe.......maybe not.!

More next time.
Mick S.

 

[Simpas]

Aye, it's been a while....!

Don't know where the time has gone - well yes I do, grandchildren, garden, exhibiting and you guessed it, false starts. Not necessarily in that order either.

On the assumption that you don't want pictures of exhibitions, grandchildren (lovely though they are) or the garden, here are the false starts; I did promise last time to tell the tale of the backscene. I bought myself a Gaugemaster 108" sky backscene from my local vendor thinking this is the way to produce a wide open space at the rear of the very un deep baseboard. How do I apply it? Well I chose (wisely it seems) to use wallpaper paste but first I thought - what if it needs to come off? Good thinking Simpson, seal the thin ply backscene first with PVA and then you be able to remove it just like we do wallpaper - remember wall paper? Wey thez nee waalpaipa in wor hoose noo tha knaas, cos shee dizn't lykit (we don't use wallpaper in our home, my good lady wife keeps things simple so we paint walls).

I sealed the plywood and because the Gaugemaster product comes in three pieces I decided to use two of the lengths, cut and pasted (that has nothing to do with computers mind...!) with the 'join' appearing at the right hand end behind some trees. Everything went extremely well, I was sure I had matched the shades of sky correctly....................... hmmmm

Oh no I hadn't, I matched the colours when one was wet and the other was drying and when they dried out completely the difference in shade could be seen from the other side of the room . However my fallback was to do a bit of wallpaper stripping and go back for another backscene. The supplier of backscenes only stocks one of each different type "I can order one for you....." (three days before the Glasgow show? - Nope) I picked another one with countryside well down in the picture. At this point I decided to put the thing on in three pieces - the centre and two roughly equal sides. It's gone OK I think but as ever when you've done something there's always a better way which you only discover afterwards. It's that exact science 'hindsight'. If I was to re-paper (and I might) I would put on the first main piece then leave till completely dry before adding the outer ones. This way I think the likelihood of there being even the slightest gap at the join due to shrinkage while drying would be greatly reduced.

In the first picture below, the very fine white line in the backscene can just be discerned - look above right side of the front girder on the closest bridge. (girders not yet glued in place)

The bogie bolster is a very old 'N' kit that I carved up and spent a very long time making true to 2mm scale because when bought it was almost 'TT' scale. The palisade fencing is something I asked Bob Jones to do for me and is a really good representation of this modern security fencing. He still has lots of it for anyone interested. I had arranged the fencing differently but whan carrying the layout using the handle my index finger had a habit of going into the scenic section to steady while I was holding it and - well, you know what I'm going to say, I flattened the fence - not what you want. The grass in the foreground is laid on automotive masking tape as a temporary measure because having moved the fence to avoid damage I created an opportunity to install some allotments, which is not too far from the truth because there are stories of drivers on the Callerton 'trip' cadging vegetables when returning to Tyne Yard....! The representation of bramble bushes on the abandoned self acting incline and atop the grassed area are the results of some experimentation with postiche, luks arlreet lyk...! (is pleasing to view)

Below is a shot with some stock, just to prove I have some. The 40 is Graham Farish's latest sound fitted offering and is a cracking model. The number has been changed prior to getting a good weathering. Other vehicles in shot are, a VGA for the explosives, HEA as a barrier vehicle and on the 'main line' in the background an air piped brake van, an essential part of the consist that was 6P03.

Below is a view you probably will never see in a model magazine and maybe one of the drawbacks of a very small project. The LED lighting needs to be diffused. I have seen the results of the efforts of others using nothing more technical than tracing paper. You can see here I haven't quite made up my mind what the exact detail of the right hand side will be. There is going to be a PTE bus repair facility though and I'm looking forward to carving up a couple of Atlanteans to represent them at varying stages of repair. I'm also busy with some Laurie Adams' point rodding and a two lever ground frame. The trees are 'forest in a box' and because I'm wanting to portray a winter/early spring scene I think I have to say the jury's out on those..! The 08 is the 2mm Scale Association Locomotive Kit No 1 and on the extreme left of the picture a sound fitted Metro-Cammell 101. The original build had the fencing just t'other side of the VW camper so you can perhaps see the proximity to the carrying handle and ever present danger.

There is a bit of a tale about the ballast, its fixing and painting - another false start. Maybe next time.

Mick S.

 

[Simpas]

The trees look ‘odd’ because they’re the wrong colour. Spray a couple of pieces with medium greys,dark greys and an earth brown in random patterns, with an emphasis away from the brown, and their appearance will change drastically for the better.

Paul,
Thank you very much for the tip. I'll give that a go when I get the airbrush out next time and see where that takes me. I do think this sea moss needs a bit of a beef up but I've got plenty of it so enough for some experimentation I think..

Mick

 

[Simpas]

Bloomin' heck Mick, you're doing fantastic!
Tony

Tony,
Divn't knaa boot that lyk...! (I say, sometimes it doesn't seem that way) thank you - I'll keep trying..!

I wonder if everyone's the same here and does like I sometimes do taking three steps forward and two back. Better that, I suppose, than two forward and three back. A learning curve no less but it does help to wander round this site and see the ideas other people have and how they're adapting to changing circumstances as and when....

I am, as I imagine most people are, grateful for comment that causes any re-examination of a particular aspect that hasn't gone (or isn't going) according to plan.

Mick