Slaters 12t Planked Van into service - another one finished!

Over the past couple of weeks I managed to finished another 12t planked van for the goods train. This is the fourth 12t van I have finished, with 3 slaters wagons built and painted, including a Vanwide and a weathered Dapol 12t van with plywood sides. The Slaters kit was built as per the instructions and went together pretty easily. The paint was applied using Railmatch enamels via the airbrush, although I did a little hand brushing in an attempt to bring out some rust patches, especially on the wagon ends. The transfers are from Railtec.

Finished 12t planked van.

Two view showing the rust patches on the end of the van.

So another wagon has entered service for the layout. The four 12t vans were the minimum I wanted for a small rake of wagons, which were used for propelling fertiliser traffic along the branch line. So finally I have finished the first rake ready to use on the layout. I am looking forward to giving them all a test run and to do some shunting moves with these in the small sidings. The layout is planned to have a number of fixed rakes, with the 12t wagons for the fertiliser train the first one. The second rake will be somewhere between 4-6 milk tankers for the dairy and a healthy array of parcels stock is being built/detailed, including 2 SPVS and some CCTs, alongside a number of engineers wagons that I am slowly getting around to building. 

So further modelling tasks for the coming weeks are to finish the herring wagon, which is awaiting transfers, alongside progressing with the main dairy buildings for the layout. The class 33 paint job is finished, but the locomotive needs to have the DCC sound decoder/speaker wired in, a driver to be added and then to be reassembled. The layout needs to be put up but I just cannot find the time at the moment to make it worthwhile. Hopefully later in August or September I will be able to get a run of a few days where I can really attack the layout detailing. However, until then, I will push on with finishing off these other projects and getting ready for when the layout is finally put up. 

O Gauge Quaymasters Cottage - finished

Another little piece of modelling I have finished off recently is the Quaymasters cottage. This building will sit at the front of the layout and act as a scenic break towards the tiny fiddle stick where I have the point levers and DCC controller. This project has been a long one, due to the house move and various house renovation tasks that have got in the way. I think I started building this sometime in 2022 but any momentum was continually broken with other domestic tasks!

This side faces the viewing side of the layout, with the office door open, so the interior can be seen.

This is the track side, which faces the backscene. Ironically I prefer the blue door on this side compared to the black door on the viewing side - typical!

The kit comes from Fair Price models, which provides a basic wooden shell. Once built the shell was coated with PVA glue and a layer of polyfilla was added. This was sanded down and any imperfections were infilled, before a final sand off. The exterior walls were then painted a dark grey, before scribing the polyfilla with a sharp point to create the stonework. The stone colours were dry brushed onto this base, before a quick varnish and the application of a couple of weathering washes. The windows/doors/interior details were then added, before the roof was glued down and the the roof tiles added. The roof tiles are thin card cut to shape, which then had some base colour coats added, with some dry brushing on top. The guttering is from Modelu, with some plasticard downpipes.

The cottage with the basic stonework scribed.

Without being too critical of my own modelling, there are a couple of bits I could have improved - namely the overhang of the tiles to the guttering - it is probably 1mm to short. The Modelu guttering has quite a thick edge and I did not account for his when placing the tiles on. However, otherwise it is all good and for now I will have to live with the guttering! The interior and lights really add an extra dimension to this model and as the building will be positioned at the viewing edge of the layout - these interior elements should be visible.

The interior of the Quaymasters cottage.

With the internal lights switched on.

So another modelling project ticked off for the layout. I am looking forward to placing this onto the layout and blending it into the scene. One of the skills I wanted to develop with building the O gauge layout was my capacity to scratchbuild/detail buildings. I feel these skills are slowly starting to get there and I am feeling more confident about tackling other building projects for the layout. However, the time and space to set up the layout just does not seem to arrive at present. Hopefully towards the end of August I will manage to find a week of time, but the next tranche of layout detailing might have to wait until September. At least that will give me a little time to finish off the class 33 so I can have a few trains to play with....

O Gauge 12t GWR open wagon

 Over the last couple of weeks I have managed to put the finishing touches to another wagon for the layout. This wagon is a GWR 12t open wagon that I finished in BR freight grey, with a fair amount of weathering, befitting a wagon in 1970s condition before withdrawal. The wagon was built from the basic Parkside kit, which was a Xmas project a couple of years ago.

Finished 12t open wagon, in 1970s condition.

Whilst painting the wagon, I attempted to produce a faded base livery, which was applied by Railmatch enamels from an airbrush. Over the top of this I used various AK Interactive washes to pick-out elements of rust and weathering streaks, before applying transfers and sealing up with a couple of coats of Matt varnish. The transfers were Railtec and went on perfectly! The final two varnish coats had a dab of matt black and sleeper grime added respectively, which has really helped to unify the finish.

Ready to roll on the layout!

The interior floor.

So another wagon is ready for the layout, which is fantastic news. The rolling stock is starting to get to a critical mass now, whereby I actually have enough stock to run some trains! This wagon will run with several other open wagons,  ferrying materials up the line of the quay. A future task has to be attempting to fit some removeable tarpaulins to these wagons, although this is for another day (I have already had one disastrous attempt at this!!). 

Hopefully there will be more progress to report soon, although the hot weather is limiting the amount of modelling I can do at the moment. However, several other projects are close to being finished and I really need to get the layout set up soon to push on with the detailing. Fingers crossed I can get to this over the coming weeks.

The Platform Shelter

I cannot believe its July already and I still have not get the layout set up this year! I was planning to take a week off towards the end of June to sort out some of the detailing on the station/quay front boards and this still hasn't materialised. However, in anticipation of finally getting the the layout set up complete with turntable fiddle yard (which is built!), I have been finishing off various buildings ready to install onto the layout.

The open shelter front facing the prevailing south-westerly winds across the estuary!

The first completed building is a small platform shelter. This was built with offcuts of formboard and some plasticard strips, with very much guestimated dimensions. The shelter has been painted with varying colours over the last few months, with base coats added via of the air brush of any old shade of colour left in the airbrush after painting something else. Following this, some hand brushed streaks were also added to the sides and ends, before sealing up with some matt varnish. In the centre of the interior is some ducting, which will allow a light to be fitted. I am not quite sure what to use for the light - it requires something suitably dull and uninviting! Anyhow a job for this week is to buy a small lighting unit, which I can glue into the roof.

Side end view.

This is the back of the shelter - which will face the backscene - it will generally be out of view unless a photo is taken along the goods line on the back of the platform.

So something finally finished off and ready to place on the layout. There are various wagons that are also close to coming out of the paint boxes, alongside finishing the quay masters cottage. So some good progress and it feels brilliant to see some models finally being finished off...time to book a weeks leave off work me thinks! In the meantime, if I can get the class 33 sorted out and put back together then I will at least have a couple of locomotives to work the layout....

Herring wagon progres and lights on in the quay masters cottage

Modelling activity has continued to be sporadic recently, with only the odd hour here and there being found. Painting has also slowed down, with further coats of varnish required before I can add he transfers to severeal projects. However, something that has witnessed some incremental progress has been he Herring ballast wagon. This was a 3D printed kit from Skog and was the first 3D kit I had assembled. The basic elements of the livery are now in place, with a weathered black and rust finish being aimed here. 

I am going to try to get rid of some of the remaining 3D printed lines with a bit more varnish painted by hand to act as a filler. When viewing the digital image close up some of the print lines are still obvious - despite an awful lot of filing during the build. I am planning to build another, but next time, I will use a primer as a guide to further sanding before painting. Overall, I am not convinced by the quality of the 3D prints at present, although the potential is there to produce a huge range of wagon kits in O gauge, which is something that has not been previously possible. I think give it 10 years and the printing quality will be so high that these print lines will not be an issue. However, for now, a bit more work to do, before I can get transfers on this one.

Herring wagon, with the basic livery added.

Another project that has seen a little progress is the Quay Masters cottage, which has had its internal lights added, alongside the some interior details. There is a little more tidying up to do on the exterior, with a couple of the window/door frames have a little light bleed; so these need to be filled in and repainted. I might also add a curtain/blind to the window in the office - the window seems a little bare without it in place. The roof tiles are slowly being added and I hope to get the roof painted and guttering/downpipes added before the end of June.

On window in the cottage is illuminated as well as the office.

The office extension to the cottage, with the light on. I really wish I had fitted a blind now to the far window!

In June I am planning to take a week off work to work on the layout. The main tasks are to finish off the quay front, add in the backscene and glue some of these buildings down (and of course run some trains). I have also nearly finished the fiddle yard/turntable, so I am hoping I will have a fully operational layout. If I really get a move on, I might also finish the class 33 in time for this running session too. 

More O gauge progress - Quay masters cottage and some wagons

Over the last couple of weeks I have continued to make slow but steady progress on a number of projects. The biggest task has been building and wiring up the fiddle yard turn table, which is getting close to being finished. In the meantime, other projects have continued to tick over, including getting the airbrush running over the weekends. There are numerous wagons languishing around in the paint boxes and are a couple are on the final lap heading towards transfers. The first up is an GWR open wagon, which was built from the Parkside kit. With this wagon I tried to create a faded wood worn finish, as the wagon would have been at the end of its service life in the 1970s. There is a little more detail to pick out and blend in on the underframe, before varnishing and adding transfers.

Parkside 12T open wagon nearing the transfers stage.

Another wagon nearing completion is a Slaters 12T standard van. I have a little more fading of the body paintwork to do, alongside picking out a bit of detail on the underframe, before varnishing and transfers.

Slaters 12t standard van nearing completion. A bit more blending in and fading of the bodywork is required on this one.

Alongside a bit of painting of rolling stock, I have spent a bit of time modelling the quay masters cottage. The office at the end of the building has had some interior details fitted, including a desk with a telephone, chair, filing cabinet and a map hung on the wall. The tasks today are to fit the working lights into the office and the main building, before making a start on the roof and adding on the roof tiles. There are a few more blinds and curtains to be added to the interior, but all in all it is shaping up. I have modelled the office with an open door and plan to include a scene outside of the office when I add it to the layout.

 

Quay masters cottage and office, ready for the lights and roof to be added.

The door for the office is open, allowing the interior detail to be visible. My partners only comment was, the window needs a curtain rail!

The modelled interiors. The other windows will have blinds/curtains added.

The bigger overall itinerary is too finish the quay masters cottage, before setting up the layout in the lounge for a week or so Once the layout is set up, I will pour the resin for the quay front water and add the backscene, before gluing some buildings into place. Once this is all done, I am optimistic it will look like a model railway and the big bonus will be, with the fiddle yard finished, it will be fully operational and I can start to run some trains!

O gauge Layout scenery - Kimmington Quay phase I

Alongside ticking over with the building of rolling stock, I have had the end two boards of the layout set up in the lounge over the past two weeks and have made a decent start on the scenery. These two end boards form the 'countryside' element of the layout, with the track progressing from these boards into the platform and the quay front. The scenery has been built up using an initial gluing down of soil scatter, before layering in about four mixes of static grass. The mixes of static grass start off with a basal layer of 2mm spring grass, before adding progressively taller static grass blends. I have attempted to blend the grass tones with the underlying topography, providing some subtly in the overall grass finish - avoiding blocks of homogeneous grass cover. I have had little previous experience of modelling with static grass, so I treated myself to a new static grass applicator and did some testing before tackling the layout. Overall I am very happy with the outcome so far, although there are more bushes, weeds, ferns and hedges, etc to add to complete the scene. However, with these basic detailing elements done, the installation of the back scene can progress (at least once I have done the quay front water - the last of the messy jobs to do).

The layering of the static grass in progress. On the right hand side of the image is the initial base application of short grass, whilst on the left hand side, more layers have been added to increase differentiation of the vegetation, with some bushes plonked on top!

I temporarily placed the pub on the layout to see how it would  look. I think the tones of the tunnel and the pub bled together well.

The other side of the pub (with the wires for the internal lights visible!). the lighting for the layout creates a pleasing shadow on the side if the building.

The other area I have tacked recently was the road leading down to the platform. I initially put some plaster down and smoothed this using my finger, whilst driving a model vehicle over it to provide some tyre ruts. I then painted the surface using some light enamels, with a base coat of light grey overlain by dry brushed lighter colours. Some fine sand was added, to fill in some of the potholes and then some static grass was added down the middle of the road. I am really pleased with how this bit is looking and it just needs a fence and some gates to finish this section off. 

The road looking towards the pub - that mini is far too shiny!

The road looking towards the platform.

There is a bit more to go with the scenery before I can take these two boards down and start the water in the quay. Hopefully, that can happen in a week or two. Then it is full steam ahead with the fitting of the back scene. I am really looking forward (and also dreading) the installation of the back scene, as once this is added I hope it will transform the look of the layout.  So plenty of progress and I feel the layout is heading in the right direction again, after the hiatus of the house move and all the redecorating. Hopefully, more to follow soon.