7mm Heybridge Basin

[Richard Gawler]

Thanks for this Rob. It is good how you "see" what I am trying to do because I couldn't explain it in words or pictures. The variations across the width of the road and at the edges here do look good.

At the moment I am doing test patches away from the layout using chinchilla bathing dust and some light grey ballast from Green Scene marketed for 2 mm scale. What I want to try next is some off-white scatter material, to represent the white bits in Essex gravel and to reduce the intensity of the result.

The only materiaI can think of is talcum powder, which is almost too fine. I wonder if anyone does a white scatter . . . perhaps one of the Continental manufacturers?

 

[NHY 581]

Glad it may have helped, Richard.

There is of course white weathering powder. That by Humbrol is more coarse than say the equivalent from the like of Mig, AK etc. so may suit the application better.

The caveat with using white weathering powder is that a little goes a long way.

But....if a speckling effect is wanted, dipping the brush then tapping it over the area rather than brushing in may produce the desire effect.

As could, perhaps, simply flicking white paint in moderation over the area may work better, with no need to seal afterwards as in the case of weathering powder.

Rob

 

[NHY 581]

I should have added.........to gauge the overall colour pallette, I pop stock on as I go along to give me an idea of the final result.

So perhaps popping your Buckjumper ( it probably isn't one but you know what I mean ) on the track next to the ochre etc and see for yourself. If you're happy then so are we.

Rob

 

[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.

. . .


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.

It occurred to me, a closed-up baseboard joint could work using something flexible instead of something rock-hard. I have spread scatter material onto latex glue across the baseboard joint and then later, when fully dry, slit the joint open with a scalpel blade.






The baseboard joint ought to disappear completely under some static grass, but to be on the safe side I have put a fresh edge nearby but at a different angle i.e. not parallel. This will mark the end of some hard standing. The strong edge ought to draw the eye away from the baseboard joint.

I have started a discussion topic on Mapei 'Latex Plus': https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/threads/using-mapei-latex-plus-on-the-layout.12944/

I don't want to eulogise but this is probably the best scenic glue I've ever found, certainly for an application where a little movement can be expected.

 

[Richard Gawler]

View attachment 212778
I want to have a demountable backscene, this extending between the two red markers here.

View attachment 212776
I have cut a slot in the back of the extension baseboard to hold this backscene. The strip of square softwood here is reinforcing the top of the baseboard. There is room for a landscape profile panel between this strip and the slot.

View attachment 212775
Behind this is a “tool storage area”, really just a place to keep the uncoupling hook and be able to see it from a distance. The two terminal posts are here to connect a controller to the layout or to connect the track to something else e.g. a rolling road, and the escutcheon plate is for controls for the lighting rig. These parts came from a pair of hi-fi loudspeakers found in a charity shop, all the drivers were shot

View attachment 212774
For the avoidance of doubt I really am making this up as I go along, but at the moment I am still pleased with what I making.

Something no-one tells you about modular layouts is, expect to want a fresh backdrop for every plausible configuration. This is my first for the Heybridge Railway: "Heybridge Basin with extension".


These M6 bushes go in with an allen key. They are an alternative to tee nuts, and the advantage for me is they can go in from the front. The thumb screws are by Ganter, thank you to Tony (@Osgood) for pointing me towards these.


The panel drops into the slot in the extension, and wraps around the back of the main baseboard.


Hardboard seems sensible for a curving panel.


The hoggin is mostly chinchilla dust with some white sand and grey and brown ballast added into the mix. This covered well with one coat onto wetted Mapei 'Latex Plus'. The miniscus around the crane base stayed under control too, more by luck than judgement but useful all the same.


Adding some colour to the ground surfaces makes the rail sides look less intense, or maybe this is just me?

The curving panel with its abrupt ends won't suit all tastes but I think it will work in my living room, which is where I will have to keep this model when I eventually get the main layout underway.

 

[Richard Gawler]

I am trying cabinet maker's dowels for aligning the extension. These are cheaper than pattern maker's dowels and easier to fit. Also the pattern maker's dowels are out of stock at Station Road Baseboards (stationroadbaseboards.co.uk) at the moment.
. . .

View attachment 212619

I had some kind of senior moment when I chose the dowel positions for the extension because I gave myself decent access for barely one bolt and nut to hold the baseboards together.

I have settled for two longer handwheel bolts, with their bushes installed into the extension.


Handwheel bolts can be had with a sleeved section but they come in packs of five, so I settled for plywood packing inside the main baseboard.


Similar packing for the other bolt reduces the number of turns needed and satisfies the inner nerd.


The electrical connection is a DC power socket secured into the main baseboard (right) and a mating plug on a flying lead in the extension. The housing of the plug is broader than the hole in the plywood, so separating the baseboards disconnects the plug without straining the wiring.

 

[Richard Gawler]

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

I couldn't cope with the sight of the painted landscape. Ten days on, this is all covered with scatter, bare patches are filled in, and this is a much better time to take a break.

The backdrop panel will always be demountable because I want the fiddle yard to be on my right in the hobby room. Model photography will be possible from the back:


The "reverse angle" hides the illogical gearing on the crane.


The hand wheel for the valve has fallen off (I only noticed in this photo) so Blackwater could be here a while.

I put the layout aside for a wee break knowing I can count the essential works on the fingers of both hands:

1. platform surfacing
2. basin water and edging
3. lever frame and its point rodding, point indicator
4. ballast
5. fences, signs, notice boards, oil lamp(s)
6. figures, parcels and freight
7. backscene open sky or illustration
8. lighting rig

I have made quite a few of these and most of the materials for the rest are to hand.

I need to take a break because the model is getting wearying, but I will miss sharing photos on WT the most. I expect a month or so will do the trick

 

[NHY 581]

A break from it all can be quite refreshing, Richard. I've certainly benefitted from a change of project, change of pace and with an enforced break due to a holiday, I know I'll be ready to go on my return.

I do like that Manning Wardle by the way. Minerva's finest ?

Rob

 

[Richard Gawler]

I do like that Manning Wardle by the way. Minerva's finest ?

I hope not. The crankpins have undone themselves three times and I've have to reset the quartering twice.

If you have a look at my Workbench thread you will see accounts of my modelling for my Heybridge Railway project. The thread is organised as well as I can make it, threadmarked and searchable. From my opening post, "Blackwater" obviously got me started in 7 mm scale but I don't really go for RTR nowadays. I prefer to make my own models, and share what I have made with like-minded others.

I really do want to take a break, so in the meantime you may well find answers to further questions in my Workbench and indeed on this layout thread. Happy modelling

 

[Geoff]

Hi Richard,
I really don't understand how I have missed this excellent thread, which is full of interesting info and some damn fine modelling. I'll be keeping a close eye on your progress from now on.

Geoff

 

[Hayfield1]

I hope not. The crankpins have undone themselves three times and I've have to reset the quartering twice.

Richard

How about using a bit of thread locking compound ( not super glue)

I use Bondloc B270 studlock, you get more for your money than more expensive products, and you can easily undo the bolts if required

 

[simond]

I’d very strongly recommend not using threadlock.

If you can undo it reliably in some years’ time, then ok, but much better to resolve the issue, rather than the symptom.

if you can’t undo it in a few years, you’re going to have real issues if you need to.

 

[Hayfield1]

I’d very strongly recommend not using threadlock.

If you can undo it reliably in some years’ time, then ok, but much better to resolve the issue, rather than the symptom.

if you can’t undo it in a few years, you’re going to have real issues if you need to.

Simond

That's the whole idea, you can undo it in the future, that is why I said don't use superglue. I was told by a reliable retailer it was what I needed as an alternative to its more expensive competitor.

 

[simond]

Still better to fix the problem, ie why it tries to undo, rather than the symptom ie loose crankpin nuts

Wholly agree that superglue in such a situation is a disaster as it will be stronger than the crankpin - but some thread retainers, initially soft, get harder with age, and they too might prove troublesome.

 

[Richard Gawler]

Hi Richard,
I really don't understand how I have missed this excellent thread, which is full of interesting info and some damn fine modelling. I'll be keeping a close eye on your progress from now on.

Geoff

Geoff thank you for your kind words. When I joined WT, the Heybridge Railway was already underway with a wagon building programme. I started my workbench thread to describe builds of individual models, mostly wagons and locos and recently some scenic items. I try to record things which are new to me or which I have done a better way than the last time. Logically, the thread will eventually diminish to photos of freshly-completed models but this could never happen as I keep on learning better techniques and improving the ones I have.

I have always viewed this layout as place to glue down models and put trains on track. The only original modelling here has been building the track and the station platform and of course the landscape, which have to be done on the baseboard. "Heybridge Basin" is supposed to be a learning project which will give me a test track and a photographic diorama, and the confidence to build a larger layout "Heybridge".

The veneers on the baseboards are here for domestic reasons but this could become an exhibition layout. Its main limitation is its lack of operating interest but I have co-opted people with the right mindset into running previous efforts and viewers seemed to have enjoyed things

. . .

While I am here . . .

I have a strong opinion, that if I take a layout to public exhibition then most of the model should to be things I have made not what I have bought. The Minerva K class sticks out like a sore thumb here. It has cropped up on my workbench thread from time to time, recently because the wheels will slip on their axles under load. It's okay with a few wagons but its days of pulling everything I have made are over. It is however the only loco I have which is painted and is the right size for layout photos.

I have glued the crankpin screws solid into the wheels with green Loctite, because I know in my heart the next time it fails I will be looking for a set of Slater's wheels. I can look to the techniques used by members of the Scaleseven Society kindly posted here by Mike (@spikey faz). But this is a workbench project, with nothing to do with the layout.

While I am supposedly "away for a month or so" I will also mention, I am sick and tired of seeing posts concerning box-opening and wish-listing. They take threads off-topic and nurture model-making of nothing more than ballasting and static grass. The whole reason why I joined WT is because this is a model-making forum, not a re-run of RMweb. I wish it could stay this way. I have blocked more members in the last couple months than in the previous two years. Whether writing this publically on the forum I love actually makes me feel any better remains to be seen

Rant over, cheerio for now, and please please don't get hung up on RTR crankpins.

 

[Ian@StEnochs]

While I am supposedly "away for a month or so" I will also mention, I am sick and tired of seeing posts concerning box-opening and wish-listing. They take threads off-topic and nurture model-making of nothing more than ballasting and static grass. The whole reason why I joined WT is because this is a model-making forum, not a re-run of RMweb. I wish it could stay this way. I have blocked more members in the last couple months than in the previous two years. Whether writing publically this on the forum I love actually makes me feel any better remains to be seen!

Well said Richard you certainly reflect my thoughts exactly and if saying it makes you feel better then that makes two of us, at least!

Unfortunately proper model building takes time so a lot of us actually making something, either from kits or scratch, have little to show on a daily basis with the result that our posts are few and far between.

RTR and trainset curves has there place, most of us started that way, but let’s keep it in proportion.

Ian.

 

[Dog Star]

Richard,

I have been impressed by how much you have created in the recent past and pleased that what you write causes me to review how I tackle similar tasks.

Rgds, Graham

 

[Phil O]

To stop, nuts and screws undoing, I use the same method as my optician uses to stop the screws dropping out of my glasses, a dab of nail varnish, the screws will usually undo with a screwdriver, but for recalcitrant screws a dab of nail varnish remover aka acetone will do it. Don't get caught by SWMBO.

 

[oldravendale]

I am sick and tired of seeing posts concerning box-opening and wish-listing. They take threads off-topic and nurture model-making of nothing more than ballasting and static grass. The whole reason why I joined WT is because this is a model-making forum, not a re-run of RMweb. I wish it could stay this way. I have blocked more members in the last couple months than in the previous two years. Whether writing this publically on the forum I love actually makes me feel any better remains to be seen

Hello Richard. We've spoken a few times in the past and, as you know, I admire your model making approach. However IMHO you are being rather harsh. Let's get the wish lists out of the way first, though. They are not to be encouraged for sure - in fact according to WT "rules" are not allowed. But as far as RTR is concerned this is a broad church and as you've probably noticed as I generally build my own stuff could be expected to be in general agreement with your sentiments. (Having said that I recognise that I've been pretty well committed to the prototype photo collection in the recent past). However some members of this forum have no interest in building locos and don't know the hot end of a soldering iron from the cold end but build wonderful wagons or scenery or coaches or buildings etc etc. I for one am fascinated by the story of resurrecting early tinplate although it's not in my remit. Some of our members simply use RTR locos, stock or track as a short cut to getting on with an aspect of building which they enjoy, which they are good at and from which we can learn.

As you say you can quite legitimately block members whose posts do not interest you. In the case of contributors who only use RTR products then yes, this is probably not the forum for them but I'm struggling to think of members on here who fit that mould.

In short I reckon it's one of those things that just needs a measure of tolerance.

This is, of course, just my opinion and is probably as unique as every modelling approach we see on this forum. This post is not intended to promote an argument and I'll post no more about the subject.

Brian

 

[simond]

Panniers.

you really can’t have too many. But building three or four of a broadly similar design, with detail differences, would be boring, particularly when they’re readily available, run well, look right, and are just crying out to be made suitably grubby. So I built two and a half*, and bought three.

* the half is still WIP, as @Pencarrow knows!