7mm Heybridge Basin

[Richard Gawler]

I have glued down my first scenic models, and so my groundworks give way to the landscaping. I haven’t used plaster for years, though I have used paper mâché and card surfaces. This is my first go with Sculptamold.


I will probably curse the water column for evermore, but I have to fix it now so I can fill in the adjacent ground surface. Offcuts of foam board to reduce the depth of the landscape formation (see later!)


I want the mature tree to be demountable so the tree gets a locating tube, a ply spacer and some mesh where its roots have raised the ground surface. I have shoved the sharp ends of the mesh downwards into the cork.


Three layers of card to make a profile, and more patches of foam board.


Cling film and masking tape, then the Sculptamold.


The metal mesh was good; the mixture dried out overnight. The foam board less so; and a patch 12 mm thick laid directly onto a cork tile even worse. These areas are still damp at the end of the third day. I suspect priming these surfaces with PVA was unnecessary (if well-intended) and it is certainly slowing everything down.

Patience.

 

[LarryG]

0 gauge is certainly more satisfying. Even where the track is laid on the baseboard unballasted, it still looks realistic.

 

[Richard Gawler]

0 gauge is certainly more satisfying. Even where the track is laid on the baseboard unballasted, it still looks realistic.

Larry this is very kind of you. I do enjoy making things, and my choice of subject is letting me do this to my heart's content here. I watched 'Blackwater' hauling a PW train on a club layout and I found the sight more satisfying than watching trains in the smaller scales; I felt the models actually looked like they had a purpose. I couldn't do this project in 00 (let alone N): I don't have the manual dexterity or eyesight to achieve the standard I want but worse, the end result would look like something of nothing. Conversely, I find modern diesels and mainline coaches rather overwhelming in 7mm; good in a garden but otherwise all too much of a good thing. Also, because such models I see are RTR, I wouldn't get much long-term pleasure from owning them.

I am however still short of satisfaction here. To be blunt, I want success but I have only the vaguest of notions of how to get it. I have a visual balance on Heybridge Basin; and I can achieve a reasonably spacious apearance as long as I don't fill up the sidings. I am on my way to an old-fashioned look, though this needs more effort to lock onto the 1890s. Making this scene specifically Essex is very difficult indeed; at least in part because most of Essex was much like Suffolk and Norfolk before its 1930s housing boom.

My present challenge is my choice of colours for the landscape. I can experiment on fairly large sheets of card before commiting myself on the layout. If I can get this right then the ballast can go on afterwards, and suddenly a picture ought to emerge.

 

[Alan]

Richard if you can try and find Tollesbury Quay model railway on the internet. A lovely layout based on Tollesbury further down the Blackwater than Heybridge Basin. It even has the tide coming in and out. It is an O gauge layout.

 

[Richard Gawler]

Richard if you can try and find Tollesbury Quay model railway on the internet. A lovely layout based on Tollesbury further down the Blackwater than Heybridge Basin. It even has the tide coming in and out. It is an O gauge layout.

MRJ no.246 has nineteen pages of this wonderful layout by Martin Stringer. I will study the photos with care.

 

[Pencarrow]

At the moment, the choice of colour for natural surfaces is giving me the greater difficulty. I must make a start somewhere, so it seems sensible for this to be where ignorance of the prototype can help me; and few observers have real evidence to educate me and spoil my own little made-up world.

E H Bentall pioneered the use of concrete to make building blocks for walls and buildings. An example is the cottage at 5 Colchester Road, in Heybridge, CM9 4AL:
Cottage in Colchester Road

This building is the former lodge for the mansion named The Towers, now lost to modern housing development.

I will imagine the railway used blocks like this to build the passenger platform at Heybridge Basin. I am using embossed styrene “paving slabs” from Roxey Mouldings, these give me the 2:1 aspect ratio.

View attachment 218534
The ignorance is, I don’t know what the natural colour these should be. I have settled on warm shades to reflect the local aggregates, and give me a contrast with the setts which will be of granite.

View attachment 218537
The platform copings can be stone flags rather than concrete slabs. I bought these offcuts of stone slips from the late Richard Stacey and they have been in my scenics cupboard for years. Richard's family continue the business as “Miniaturebrickscom” through eBay.

View attachment 218536
There is a lot of yellow brick in Essex, even my 2000-built house has some. I am happy with all of these masonry colours. The track looks less harsh in real life.

View attachment 218535
If I can keep going and the platform looks good enough, it ought to draw the eye beyond the expanse of fake water in the basin.

I have consumed all of the large pieces of stone. I expect the rest of the surface will be something to look like compacted aggregates or ash.

Hi Richard,
To my eye the colours of the platform stonework are too 'forward'. I would mute them with a thin wash of grey to knock it back a tad. I've always worked from the premise that colour fades and is muted with distance and that, at the distance we view our railways, more restrained use of bold colour aids realism.

Obviously just my personal opinion, others are widely available.

 

[Richard Gawler]

I've always worked from the premise that colour fades and is muted with distance and that, at the distance we view our railways, more restrained use of bold colour aids realism.

I've got out my metre rule. If I stand behind my layout as if enjoying a little shunting, my eyes will be between 0.45 and 1.0 metres from the model. If I am at an exhibition, the viewers on the front side will be rather further away; their viewing distance might be 1 to 1.5 metres.

These dimensions scale up to represent 20 to 65 metres. Quite a big range, but the min-max range for the exhibition viewer is proportionally smaller than the view for me. I suppose for me (standing closer), an over-muted centre-field is better than an under-muted far field. Conversely, reasonably life-like intensities will go well with model photography. My present opinion is, I am probably overthinking this much too much!

To my eye the colours of the platform stonework are too 'forward'. I would mute them with a thin wash of grey to knock it back a tad.

So far, my use of really bold colour (red) is for small parts: the handwheel on the water column, the gears on the crane. I reckon, if what I need is a thin wash of grey to knock a few things back then I am in a happy place

 

[Richard Gawler]

Please forgive me for deleting a couple of my recent posts. I will post the photos again but in a more coherent way.

The exposed surface of the Sculptamold I laid 12 mm thick (on 13th July) dried out after about 80 hours, and since then I have continued to work up the landscape formation with sheet cork, Sculptamold and DAS modelling clay. Sculptamold and clay dry bright white and don’t photograph too well hence the paint before taking these photos.


Wet Sculptamold won't smooth down perfectly. The material responds to coarse abrasive paper but I am finding it easier to fill in the hollows with a fresh mix. The bare Sculptamold here is still wet, so slightly off-white. The rectangular panel is for the tiny telegraph office.


Sorry about the rather full frontal lighting too but I am in the corner of the room. Drilling holes for the backscene inserts I met panel pins and two failed holes need hiding.


The main thing is, the layout is finally gaining some shape.

 

[Richard Gawler]

I wanted to leave the baseboard extension (with the sea lock) until later because it is an afterthought and it will distract me from getting a finished diorama. Then it dawned on me, I must at least work up the baseboard join so I get the scenic colours to match on both sides.

This probably sounds bizarre but I haven’t built a scenic baseboard joint since the 1970s. Every layout since then has been on a single board, usually attached to a fiddle yard. So I have put some effort into the task here.


I have two of these end cheeks (as transit panels) from Grainge and Hodder. The strip of clear adhesive tape is to help me release the panel later. I dyed the Sculptamold brown so I could see it, and then pressed DAS modelling clay up against the tape to build a profile.


The clay dried and I took off the end cheek. Quite a decent-looking edge; the dark patches are where the dyed Sculptamold reached the end of the baseboard.


This gave me an edge to work against.


The baseboards are now bolted together and aligned carefully so the track across the join is perfectly flat. Kitchen foil adds negligible thickness and protects the first side of the join.


I pressed fresh clay down onto the second side, working it tight against the kitchen foil.


The clay shrank horizontally when it dried and this left a gap about half a millimetre wide along the top. I filled this with putty, grey in this photo.


Painting has improved the appearance.


I expect this will get chipped and show white but at least I have had a go. DAS clay can be had in Terracotta colour which would be better.

I think the idea here was right but something like glass fibre resin would make a stronger job. Still, I have the end cheeks to protect the ends for transit.

 

[PhilH]

I wouldn't use DAS or anything like it on the edge of a baseboard joint and, as you mention, in time it will chip away. I've always stopped the baseboard surface just short of the joint and finished the edge with stripwood fixed to the baseboard framework. The top surface of this needs to be shaped to the profile required on both sides, which does take some time to carve away the surplus material. I then solder the rail ends on both sides to small brass countersink screws set in the stripwood near the joint and hidden under the rail.

 

[Richard Gawler]

I wouldn't use DAS or anything like it on the edge of a baseboard joint and, as you mention, in time it will chip away. I've always stopped the baseboard surface just short of the joint and finished the edge with stripwood fixed to the baseboard framework. The top surface of this needs to be shaped to the profile required on both sides, which does take some time to carve away the surplus material. I then solder the rail ends on both sides to small brass countersink screws set in the stripwood near the joint and hidden under the rail.

Phil I can only agree with you in every respect, which doesn’t sound too promising for constructive argument

When I come to build my layout of Heybridge itself I really should be including such timber profiles when I build the baseboards, probably around the time I install the dowels. If I use G&H modules (6 mm ply), I will also need to add some strips of ply or softwood along the insides of the baseboard ends, to provide support for the cut-back baseboard tops.

For Heybridge Basin, I could cut out the clay and glue in some slender strips of wood, but I don’t really want to do this at least right now. The task is harder than it might be because I put strips of softwood glued in under the clay and these will never come out. A rebuild using glass fibre or even epoxy glue might be easier.

This area of land was used to stack timber as it was unloaded from ships. I might get away with a strategically-placed stack of timber beams or planks. Or a brown felt pen.

 

[Dog Star]

I can only agree with you in every respect, which doesn’t sound too promising for constructive argument...

Seems to me that Phil's comment has"grounds" for constructive approval.

So that makes two of us because I do just as Phil describes. See here:-

7mm - Scruft's Junction:- Down the Garden path

New Year and first project completed - aim was to finish the first of two Forest of Dean goods sheds, going to take a break before continuing with the second Goods Shed. Progress has been to produce a capping strip for the corrugated roof, Mother's Turkey Foil came in very handy, its ok but I...

www.westernthunder.co.uk

Rgds, Graham

 

[PhilH]

I don't know it would work into your final plan for the area, but maybe you could provide a narrow paved strip or timber walkway on the surface, leading from the paved area across the track to a path on to the platform. If the edge was laid against the joint it would protect the edge of the DAS on that side and make any damage on the other side less visible. Just a thought

 

[Richard Gawler]

In my Big Scheme, the main baseboard of the diorama is a "module" while the extension is simply a "baseboard". The difference being, the length of the module is precisely set so it will crate up with other modules, while the length of the extension baseboard is a casual dimension I can add to as I please. So I could glue a disguise of some kind onto the extension, to extend above the join.

I do think, Sculptamold is unsuited to making up profiled baseboard joins. There isn't much about this material on WT so below is my final unused photograph.


This is about as smooth as I could get Sculptamold to lay in its wet state, in an application tapering from 0 to 4 mm thick

The material responds to repeated sanding and a little filling, and this can eventually create a hard and smooth surface; and the material can be dyed before laying or afterwards; but it won't support the robust sharp edge for a tight baseboard join.

I may rebuild the join here (though I would prefer to do some fresh modelling), and I certainly hope to do Heybridge itself a better way.

 

[Richard Gawler]

Mockup on 9th April


Layout on 24th July.

A lot of my effort over the last three months has been to try to achieve some visual balance on the layout. Here are some of the views I will have for model photography. The buildings lift off to provide variety and help with shots from the back of the baseboard.









I can now try to work up the scenic dressings or have a go at the basin especially its water, maybe even some Magnorail swans. But really I have found the last couple of weeks quite exasperating while waiting for materials to dry out and I want a break from it. So maybe enjoy the summer time or return to the bench or a bit of both for a while

 

[NHY 581]

All looking very nice, Richard.

Rob.

 

[Pencarrow]

I wanted to leave the baseboard extension (with the sea lock) until later because it is an afterthought and it will distract me from getting a finished diorama. Then it dawned on me, I must at least work up the baseboard join so I get the scenic colours to match on both sides.

This probably sounds bizarre but I haven’t built a scenic baseboard joint since the 1970s. Every layout since then has been on a single board, usually attached to a fiddle yard. So I have put some effort into the task here.

View attachment 220164
I have two of these end cheeks (as transit panels) from Grainge and Hodder. The strip of clear adhesive tape is to help me release the panel later. I dyed the Sculptamold brown so I could see it, and then pressed DAS modelling clay up against the tape to build a profile.

View attachment 220163
The clay dried and I took off the end cheek. Quite a decent-looking edge; the dark patches are where the dyed Sculptamold reached the end of the baseboard.

View attachment 220162
This gave me an edge to work against.

View attachment 220161
The baseboards are now bolted together and aligned carefully so the track across the join is perfectly flat. Kitchen foil adds negligible thickness and protects the first side of the join.

View attachment 220160
I pressed fresh clay down onto the second side, working it tight against the kitchen foil.

View attachment 220159
The clay shrank horizontally when it dried and this left a gap about half a millimetre wide along the top. I filled this with putty, grey in this photo.

View attachment 220158
Painting has improved the appearance.

View attachment 220157
I expect this will get chipped and show white but at least I have had a go. DAS clay can be had in Terracotta colour which would be better.

I think the idea here was right but something like glass fibre resin would make a stronger job. Still, I have the end cheeks to protect the ends for transit.

Good Morning Richard,

Picking up the point about chipping of the edges...

I would separate the boards and along each edge run some watered down PVA mix (same as for ballasting) and allow to soak into the clay stuff. Once dry, brush over with a coat of neat PVA.

Have done this on a number of exhibition layouts. I've also gone over the horizontal surface near the edge with epoxy.

 

[Richard Gawler]

I would separate the boards and along each edge run some watered down PVA mix (same as for ballasting) and allow to soak into the clay stuff. Once dry, brush over with a coat of neat PVA.

Thanks Chris.

The boards are separated and the runny PVA is soaking in as I write this.

I don't intend to do a test on the robustness of the edges but the PVA will do no harm.

 

[Richard Gawler]

Hi Richard,
To my eye the colours of the platform stonework are too 'forward'. I would mute them with a thin wash of grey to knock it back a tad. I've always worked from the premise that colour fades and is muted with distance and that, at the distance we view our railways, more restrained use of bold colour aids realism.

Obviously just my personal opinion, others are widely available.

I try to compose my progress photos to make them reasonably attractive but the exposure is always manual (the only communication between camera and flash head is "fire!") and I don't pay much attention to the white balance. So anyone trying to judge the colours of my models from these photos is disadvantaged to start with.

To try to remedy this I have taken some photos outdoors in bright sunlight. The camera white balance is at its factory setting for bright sunshine and I know this gives a good rendition of colour. I begin with the bare stone and the painted concrete blocks . . .







. . . and then move on to the telegraph office . . .




This final shot shows the intensity of my model painting against a path from neat Yellow Ochre. To my mind the rail sides are on the limit and could be cut back a little; the rest is about right.

I think the reproduction of the colours here is accurate, so let the judging begin! Better to point out flaws now than after the scenic dressings are chosen and glued down. I want a bright and cheerful layout; not a foggy day. I also think I am quite brave to put up photos in such harsh lighting

 

[NHY 581]

Morning Richard,

I think you are on your way to achieving your aim.

If I may pop a photo of a small test plank put together by a friend of mine, James Daniels. He has built this in EM, and I found his treatment of the yard/ road areas very pleasing. He, too, had used yellow ochre ( oils, I believe ) as a base before adding burnt umber and some dark earth type of shading to the edges. For comparison and perhaps a degree of reassurance?





Rob