7mm Layouts and Dioramas by Stephen Fay Weymouth coal stage and St Stephen’s bank

[Compton castle]

The stone walls for the castle progressing through the paint shop
A productive day in the paint shop, the retaining wall has now been mortared and the paving slabs have been picked out in 4 different colours plus the base coat. Lots of weathering washes to go.
A little progress on Weymouth coal stage as well

 

[Compton castle]

Time to mock up the station overall roof
Sketch out a facade to cover the girder. I’ll make up a roof using kit bashed canopy kits and plastruct components.
I’ll see about getting the facade laser cut as an overlay to sandwich in the glazing.
The clock is an option at present.

 

[Compton castle]

Mocking up the station roof in foam board today, the original plan can be seen underneath the grey primer, I don’t think this version felt right so a few measurements to centre the windows over the tracks and we have this option with extended planking added beneath.

 

[Compton castle]

Track weathering at the station.
Two very dirty oily spots where engines would stand. Plus some rubbish strewn about the place inspired by a recent picture of Bristol Temple Meads.

 

[Compton castle]

An afternoon spotting at St Stephen’s bank
This time we headed up to Haskins Hill and tunnel.
Starting off we see a Plymouth to Liverpool train headed by Clifford Castle 5098 assisted by 5164
First time this end of the layout has been outdoors since completion

 

[Compton castle]

Next up was a Bradford bound service in the capable hands of a Castle, as we are in Whitsun we are not quite at summer loadings but the return trippers have had a very nice week of weather and finally passing a Goodrington sands to Plymouth service behind a Mogul.

 

[Compton castle]

Next along was a Plymouth bound goods in the capable hands of a Grange
Providing banking assistance was a 56 Jumbo,
A rare beast in Devon

 

[Compton castle]

Farmer Joe moving the cows to a new field
I only noticed the wonky building placement after I took the picture!
and finally a Prairie/ Grange combination

 

[Compton castle]

Almost overlooked these pair
A mogul and Castle combination
Followed by a Manor / Castle pairing

 

[Compton castle]

Back at St Stephen’s General today painting the island platform building
Washes being added from brown to black and then grey a lovely upgrade for the platform canopies from York model makers GWR posts
I also ordered a platform canopy to hack about for the overall roof here Is is after I removed the legs and glued it to a pair of Girders
With the temporary fascia in place. Lots of plastruct to add to it yet but it gives us an idea.

 

[Compton castle]

Shrewsbury has been the source of inspiration for a few things on this project and that continues with the cantilevered water crane I’ve just made up
I’ve given it a waft of primer to show up where needs sanding and smoothing.
The pipe will run along the retaining wall to the water tower which will also be cantilevered off the retaining wall sitting on RSJ’s again inspired by Shrewsbury as is the castle in the background.




The canopies have the frontage on and are now ready for spraying. The columns have been painted and are a lovely upgrade.
I’ll also add some corrugated tops to the roof section and swap out the supplied ridge for something from York Model makers

I’ve also ordered a signal box from Rail Model formerly Laser craft Devon. I’ve built a few of their kits for Pete W’s Leamington spa, they are well designed kits but a little old tech wise compared to the latest stuff.
It is an option instead of the offset buildings and steps that can be seen in the 3rd picture. I will be altering the build a little in that it will overhang only on the front and not the rear and I’ll look to add some additional detail. I’ll build it up and sit it in place to get a feel for it.