what are people doing on their layout right now

Started by B1 61126, August 16, 2011, 07:59:35 PM

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KevTheBusDriver

I am sure someone will tell me "There's a kit for that..." but here's my attempt at a 11'w.b. pallet van diagram 221. It's a stretched Peco 10' wb chassis with the ends from a Peco 15' wb pallet van and sides of thin plastikard - the roof is also stretched with a 10 thou 'skin' of plastikard on top. 3 pictures from different stages in the build.
I'm hoping that the Fox transfers I've ordered today will do for this vehicle. There's another one on the way but this time the body is using remnants of Foxhunter kits from way back!





The buffers at this end had lost their heads years ago -I fitted some nice new turned brass ones from Osbourne's.



Les1952

#3271
I'm currently taking cruel enlargements of Bregenbach im Schwarzwald to find the little bits I've missed and fix them scenicaly before the layout goes out to Crewe on May 13th.

As I've got a holiday in the middle of the prep time it is getting a bit frantic, especially as locos need to be serviced and uncooperative ones left out of the box.


BR114 propels the red set of double-deckers over the viaduct.  This train needed testing in both directions with five different locos.  Any of the five needs to take either push-pull set both ways round the layout, hauling one way and propelling the other. The other push-pull set has the loco at the opposite end of the rake.

*** edit,  before anyone points it out that BR114 is a BR112.  The 114 was next in line to run the train ****


A cruel enlargement of the widget factory shows a cobweb not completely removed and a need for a bit more clutter to be added. the uneven paving will stay that way.  It may be accidental but it adds to the atmosphere.


In the area below and to the left of the viaduct are the happy campers.  Although I'm largely happy with this cameo the pic shows up an unfinished rock face that needs to be looked at (and which was sorted this morning).


The ancient Minitrix class 144 (DCC Fitted) lays over in the station allowing some roundy-roundy testing with the other train that shares its fiddle yard road.  The pic shows some lifting of the vegetation in the ballast and a little weathering still needed on the foot crossing, and worst of all a distinctly wonky fence at the back of the platform, though I'm not entirely sure this is fixable quickly.  Long term it will have to come off and be replaced by some more substantial stuff.

All seemingly little jobs but all confirm the rule that a model railway is never finished. 

Les




Catsick

Contemplating.... bit like ballasting but without the mess   :)
You don't know what you can do what you can't

KevTheBusDriver

Maybe not 'right now' but in the past week...
a desire for a model of 31125 made it necessary to sacrifice 'Wigan Pier' - sorry. I could not bring myself to chop a latest 31172, especially with its intricate light guides.




I did the 'hacking' of the headcodes before painting the roof blue.




The headcode discs are ex-class 24 detailing pack (available from Bachmann in 3 days!)




The 'tiny wings' on the sides of the centre window are just plastikard superglued on - carefully! No manufacturer has reproduced these on models (the tooling would be too complicated), but when looking at the prototype they are so 'obvious' they really ought to be there.




I added cab handrails using 5A fuse wire superglued into 0.5mm holes.

Just now awaiting the transfers from Railtech...

Why 31125? This loco's claim to fame is that on 16 July 1977 it hauled 1E91 Walsall-Yarmouth on it's own. Normally 2xClass25 (total 2500hp), this was a tough job with just 1470hp. I travelled on it from Walsall to Birmingham, recording the sounds for the whole 24 minute journey.


KevTheBusDriver

In order to improve the appearance of the Bachmann Class 44 Peak D1, I added discs (I used those from a class 24 detailing pack - available from Bachmann) - I think the result is worth the effort; the discs are sitting in 0.5mm holes drilled (carefully) in the ends... if I knew how to drill 0.35mm square holes, I would... :)








crewearpley40

Kevin.  Done a decent job there mate on both locos. Chris

KevTheBusDriver

This may be better in a 'hints & tips' for modellers, but with 2 Farish 'Peaks' to renumber, I was contemplating the usual total repaint before applying Railtech transfers, when it struck me 'is it possible to remove numbers/names/logos from a Farish loco without wrecking the body colour?' In the past I've scraped them off before repainting, but it would be so much easier if...
Well the answer is YES it CAN be done! I took a cotton bud (pointy end) dipped in a little clean white spirit and rubbed it gently over the number. At first it looked like nothing ws happening, but after about 2 minutes, some of the digits began to fade!. I battled on and within 5 minutes, all traces of the number (and in this case a data panel, too) were gone! The resulting bodywork paint was 'shiny' but that will only assist when applying the new transfer. I'm sure a thin coat of matt/satin varnish will make a super job. I used the same method to remove a 'Peak' nameplate (the lettering goes before the plate colour). Within an hour I'd renumbered 2 'Peaks'!
here's a photo of one of them after using this technique':



And the other:




Happy N-gauging! :)

crewearpley40


Jeff P

Hi all, having my first attempt at weathering and ballasting my track.

PGN

#3279
I'm building the cattle dock and end loading bank to conceal as much as possible of the baseboard join. The siding runs right to the edge of the left-hand board, and the idea is that the cattle dock and loading bank present as a single structure, whereas in reality one part is on each board.

I will have some sheep being herded into the dock to provide further camouflage for the join, and a well wagon with a traction engine on it waiting to be unloaded. (Or maybe, having been loaded, waiting to be collected by a pick-up goods train ... )
Pre-Grouping: the best of all possible worlds!
____________________________________

I would rather build a model which is wrong but "looks right" than a model which is right but "looks wrong".

Greygreaser

Well done PGN - i take my hat off to any attempt to disguise the 'train set oval' on two boards. I'm currently thinking barrow crossing or walkway to 'cover' the rail joints and coal staithes with a walkway between which i can drop in or take out for splitting the boards.
Other idea is to emphasise the gap as a drainage gulley?
This was first attempt at the board walk from 'lollipop sticks' which I've now remade in timber planking from a Ratio pack I'd bought some time ago ::)

Second time the width is closer to 8ft6ins as per a sleeper and the plank width is nicer - also the colour


A jack of all trades is a master of none, but often times better than a master of one.

PGN

Well, I don't have any gaps in the rails to conceal because I've used Kato unitrak for reliability of running. So the rails stop short of the board join, and after joining the boards together I just drop in an expansion piece, open it up and connect it at each end.

(Not my idea ... I saw it on a layout at an exhibition about 10 years back and thought "Hey ... there's the solution to all those track alignment problems!")
Pre-Grouping: the best of all possible worlds!
____________________________________

I would rather build a model which is wrong but "looks right" than a model which is right but "looks wrong".

stevewalker

The lower right track looks well out of gauge at the end.

Newportnobby

Quote from: stevewalker on August 21, 2022, 01:31:38 AM
The lower right track looks well out of gauge at the end.

The left hand of the 2 rails looks to have come out of its chairs. There's nothing will cross that safely  :worried:

chrism

The zig-zag in the boards looks wrong to me, there's no logical reason for it.

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