4mm Polsarrett: BR(S) N Cornwall Clay, The Final Countdown

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And low, it came to pass, that despite the perilous snot of nose, we have a momentous occasion.

As Mr SheepBloke put it: "Nice to see the brake vans heralding a visit by the Bath Railway Enthusiasts And Sylvan Travel Society. No doubt Norman Lockhart and Ivan Peterborough were present."

Quite impressed with the Beattie Well Tank, it last ran probably over 8 years ago and has sat in a display cabinet ever since.

 

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Sorted, electricals done.



The panel connections ended up going straight to the Megapoints controller. I bought a load of 500mm long servo extension cables. Chopped one plug off soldered those ends to the switch panel and plugged the other into the board. Much simpler than using multiple shorter cables.



The other thing the extensive testing revealed was that the spring wire on the servo turnout actuators was occasionally catching on the screw on the servo arm. Minor mods required. A packer was inserted at the arm end and a second pivot hole drilled in the mounting bracket. Annoying click now gone.

 

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Last night I made a not very good start on ballasting. I forgot the key stage in the method... Spray ballast with water before dropping on the watered down PVA mix. As a result the carefully arranged ballast rearranged itself.


Much better results this morning once I remembered why it went a bit wrong.



Cracking on...

 

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That's me done for the day too.

Couldn't resist putting a small area of green down, just to get a feel for what it might look like.

 

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Time to look at the dries as they will help determine what the rear scenics end up like.

Raw materials:


2 sets of the Kernow clay dries and chimneys. One bought and one donated to the project by a good friend.

And a few minutes of brute force later...



A lot more parts to play with. Now off to the garage with some sharp blades and a good particle mask.

 

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Looking forward to how you treat those clay dries.

I think abuse might me a better word...

 

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Going to look the part I think...



The tape and aluminium angle is just to keep everything square whilst the glue and filler set.

And in other news, the signal box now has a roof.

 

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Absolute stinking cold, so confined to barracks. A spot of painting called for I think...



After all Polsarrett has a show in April...

 

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And now with added fenciness.

 

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Anyway, many hours later I've reached this point.



I can't help but think that the kit is overly complicated for what it actually is. Not a straightforward kit to make and I suspect many have been thrown at the wall part completed over the years!

 

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No updates for a while as work has been silly busy. The LSWR cottage is however progressing.



Roof and chimneys mostly done.



Research material for the next bit... Windows.



It's a 'based on' rather than a replica so I won't be too fussy.

 

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Second layer done.



Will leave them to harden over night before giving the surface a light sanding and cutting them out.

Would have been harder to do without the Chopper.

 

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So, I bought this L-cut kit as a shortcut...





But there's not much of it left...

 

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After spending an hour looking through boxes of my old stuff to find the missing parts from the concrete hut kits, I decided it was time for a little bit of painting.



Takes me quite a while playing around with the paints until I'm happy with the finish. Even more tricky trying to get 3 different items with a similar finish!

 

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Still a work in progress but getting there...

 

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Delivery just arrived from the stash of Mr Sheep Bloke...



And a few more of the current state of the cameo:











I think it would be fair to say that progress has not been very progressive in the last 6 months!

 

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The fact that the new arrival appears to be a little unsteady on its wheels can in no way be attributed to the BWTs:



I've asked and they told me, honestly and truthfully, that they had nothing to do with the incident, saw nothing and were nowhere near the scene.

A rock solid alibi if ever I heard one.

Case closed.

 

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Modelling has recommenced!

 

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Jigtastic...

 

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New (very old LSWR) coaching stock for the layout. Nice coaches but the livery seems a bit washed out.


Obviously the M7 took a wrong turn somewhere and was borrowed for a few turns by Wadebridge shed.