HO Cranzahldorf DDR 1970s the first scenic area nears completion

[34091 Weymouth]

Simon,
I like this class a lot, but your model is not a Reichsbahn (east) machine. Both Germanys had to replace the brittle boilers in the 1950s. The Bundesbahn (west) boilers can easily be identified by the modified front footplate and by the absence of sand boxes on top.
The Reichsbahn (east) kept the sloped front footplate from the original boilers.

Wikipedia has a very nice description of both variants.

This is the east German version:

View attachment 190669

really sorry, but then.... rule 1

Michael

Hi Michael thank you for the information. It was a case of the loco popped up & it was the nearest I could get to an East german one. It'll do for now, I'm not overly bothered, it looks something like & that'll do. I do hope roco re release this model but with all the refinements of dcc & loco drive. We might also see variations of the class.

Si

 

[Roger Pound]

The original Piko H0 range from East Germany (pre-reunification) included a class 41 which carried the DR style boiler. These greatly under-rated models were very accurate for the time and may appear on the second-hand market occasionally even now. Even if an alternative means of propulsion was preferred, perhaps a Piko body and another chassis could be subject of a conversion - who knows? Br41's were, to me, an eminently attractive class and examples survived to the end of steam.

Roger;

 

[Tim Hale]

The original Piko H0 range from East Germany (pre-reunification) included a class 41 which carried the DR style boiler. These greatly under-rated models were very accurate for the time and may appear on the second-hand market occasionally even now. Even if an alternative means of propulsion was preferred, perhaps a Piko body and another chassis could be subject of a conversion - who knows? Br41's were, to me, an eminently attractive class and examples survived to the end of steam.

Roger;

A Piko BR41 on a Roco BR42 chassis*is definite do-able, because I had such a model. The Fleischmann Reko BR41 has long attained the status of ‘unobtainium’ with a €500+ tag to match, if you are able to find one.

Tim

*You will need to hack the Piko tender body because the Roco tender is for an oil-burner, or simply obtain a Roco coal tender body.

 

[34091 Weymouth]

HI,

Just remembered that Revell/Esci offered a number of HO loco kits, a nice DR BR41 could be adapted from just such a kit, certainly a cheaper option than hacking the old Piko model. You merely need to find one……

Tim
View attachment 191453

I'm going to see if I can find one of those cheaply
It might be able to be bashed with the roco body to create a nice model.

Cheers

Si

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

The Br41 was re-released by Italeri.

 

[PaxtonP4]

They are readily available from a number of shops and Amazon at about £16.

 

[34091 Weymouth]

I thought it might be time to do a Cranzahldorf update as I've not active for a while.

Activity has been rather slow recently, on the run up to my 2 week holidays that I'm currently on work took over & it was a very busy period. The holiday has been spent mainly with the kids doing family trips etc so the layouts sat idle.

This week however on a day we wasn't doing much I decided to go into the workshop & just remind myself where I was. The first thing was that I needed to add some more structural supports on the scenic baseboards. When I built the layout i placed a central support in the boards to add the legs too. I had more supports cut but until I knew where point motors were going I couldn't add the other 2 per board.

After a bit of a headscratch I got to work & got all the structural parts of the layout done.
Me & my daughter have been working on cutting some polystyrene sheet up to create hills & this evening we've sprayed the track with a primer to uniform everything before I give it some sleeper grime & other shades to weather the track.

I'll share some photos once we've had another session over the weekend.

Si

Music tonight is this absolute cracking record which I think is the best record this year. From the Ballard of Darren this is Blurs return,

 

[34091 Weymouth]

Well today's been a game of 2 halves!

I treated myself to a iwata neo & I've managed to use it once before totally destroying it. The nib on the end snapped leaving the threads in the end of the brush.

Apart from that we've moved on some with the layout & got some base coat down. It's just a brown emulsion i got from b&q in a tester pot. We've painted the road too, this isn't the finished product, it'll be cut from stiff mounting card & layer down properly. I just painted it in so it gives the layout a bit of colour.
I'm going to paint the backscene white next then glue the polystyrene hills down ready for a coat of modroc. Once that's done it'll get some static grass.




I've just stuck some primer on the goods shed kit which is the next build project. Still lots to do but it's nice to finally be onto scenic work rather than wood & electrics.

Si

 

[34091 Weymouth]

This evening has been productive, I've sprayed the main colours on the goods shed & assembled the main parts of the body.



It's really starting to look like a layout now not just bare boards & track. I really want to get some grass & scatter down in the area around the crossing cottage.

That's all for now,

Si

 

[34091 Weymouth]

Me & Mt daughter Arya spent some time yesterday evening working on the first bit of the house. We've got the veg patch going & some uneven surface ready for grassing over this evening.

We made the veg patch from a piece of corrugated card, stripped back slightly & then once the glue & das clay had cured we painted it with tamiya mud texture paint.


We are hoping to do some more this evening & get the static grass laid in.

Si

 

[Roger Pound]

It is all coming along very nicely, Si. Looking forward to further developments as time allows you to progress.

Roger

 

[34091 Weymouth]

It is all coming along very nicely, Si. Looking forward to further developments as time allows you to progress.

Roger

Thanks Roger

We've been at it again this evening & I'm really happy with the progress we are making. We get an hour roughly before bedtime for my eldest, she's 8.

We've put static grass & some chinchilla dust down & it's really popped. We've still the hill at the back to do as well as more fences & more in the veg patch. I think I might add some flower boxes to the house as well.



More to follow

Si

Music tonight comes from one of the most exciting bands to recently arrive on the scene.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

I think I might add some flower boxes to the house as well.

You'll find when you start studying photos window boxes become obligatory.

 

[34091 Weymouth]

We've had a trip this morning to the model shop to get a few supplies. We needed more fencing to go around the meadow & the house. We also came across a washing line scene which I think has made it all pop.

I've also added some window box flowers from some glue on tufts cut down & extra yellow flock to give them more colour.
The creeper is a noch mini I picked up a few weeks ago whilst at arcadia.
A lot of the items in the photo are still to be glued in. I wanted to see how they looked before making them permanent.

Si

 

[34091 Weymouth]

I've been working on more of the scenic work once again. I've had to wait until this weekend to get some static grass to continue.
I got the second hilly area made the other week but I wanted to choose the correct static grass fibre with my own eyes rather than ordering off the Internet.


I've had a bit of a fight on with myself over the roads & I've gone with the heki sticky mat. It's not going to be perfect because it's not easy to curve but it's my first proper attempt at a exhibition layout so I'll do my best with it.
I've added a shoulder of brown ballast the side of the road which I'm going to add bushes etc over the top just to cover the gap somewhat. I intend to add a bit more detail to the house scene on the hill & I need to glue down the fencing in the crossing keepers cottage.

Couldn't help doing a video of the 95 passing the scenic area.

Si

 

[34091 Weymouth]

Well the weekend has crept around once again & I've done some more work on the layout.
I started off on Friday afternoon as I had a very early finish for a doctors appointment. The first job was to tidy up & glue down all the fencing & bits in the crossing keepers cottage area. Many of the scenic elements were just placed to see if they looked in the right place.

Once I had done this I finished off by gluing down the next section of the road. I planned to do a little on Saturday morning however Friday evening I went to bed to wake a few hours later climbing the walls in pain. My knee decided to go once again somehow so I didn't sleep the rest of the night. That scuppered Saturdays plans completely so our regular family trip to the stock cars was off. The afternoon I had a moment where I got up & went in the garage.

I've been using a lot of das modelling clay for very slight undulating ground. I slapped a load down & spread it out with my fingers roughly to create an uneven surface.
This morning I've been down & painted it earth colour & then added the ground cover & various bushes & shrubs.





I couldn't help posing the 70 class on the crossing & I think it looks great.



I've added some more das the other side of the crossing so I can work my way up the other side of the road & get working towards the depot.

I've still more detail to add to the house on the hill I've just not got figures etc to add yet.

 

[Roger Pound]

Looking very good indeed. IMHO your scenic work really captures the look and feel of the prototype to a 'T', as they say. I loved the video of the 95 - those big tanks were one of my favourite DR locos and I had, if memory serves, a Piko version of one many years back. Keep up the excellent work, Si - looking forward to seeing more, as and when.

Roger .

 

[cloggydog]

Lovely work, Si!

Crottendorf has been in my 'one day' file for a good while, though unlike you I doubt I'd ever have the space to do it justice. Hasn't stopped me acquiring the required stock, mind (which will get used on a smaller DR project in due course)

Br86 tanks, Br50s, 110s, 118s, reko coaches and varied freight - it ticks a lot of boxes.

The Piko Reko 41 is worth a look - I had a DDR-era production one off ebay a few years back for £30 or so and it's a decent runner.