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.

Slaters O Gauge Lowfit Wagon finished and in service

So a few projects continue to tick over in the paint boxes and on the layout detailing. I am making a concerted effort to complete various projects that are half or nearly finished, such as various wagons and the class 33 in the paint boxes. The lowfit wagon has recently been completed. This is the slaters O gauge kit that has been finished in BR bauxite. As per normal it was painted with an air brush using Railmatch enamels and had Railtec transfers applied. I feel pretty pleased with how this one turned out.

Finished lowfit wagon placed on the layout.

The wood effect on the wagon floor and rusted rings in the interior. I might put a load in this wagon in due course.

The wagon was pictured on the two end boards of Kimmington Quay, where I have applied some static grass and laid down some of the basic scenic elements. There is a lot of tidying up to go, but I am close to being able to add the backscene in. These two end boards from the layout have been set up in the lounge over the last week and I have been doing a bit of the scenery each evening. It feels great to finally get this element of the layout moving after a very long time! I will produce a full update on the layout later this week, when these scenery elements are done. But for now a picture of the pub wall and the road leading to the platform/quay front. I am really pleased with how this is developing - it is starting to look like a Devonian road!!

The pub wall and rock face with some very basic scenery elements applied - this all needs tidying up and some bushes added.

The typical Devon road down to the platform and quay front.

O Gauge Class 33 Repaint Ongoing and a little more layout progress

Modelling progress continues to tick over, with lots of items in the paint boxes and one of the baseboards set up up downstairs so some scenery can be competed. The class 33 repaint continues to make slow but steady progress. The BR blue has been sealed with a satin varnish coat, after some details were picked out with weathered black. The bodyshell will get some weathering washes applied over it next, before the addition of transfers.  All in all, this is shaping up nicely, but there is plenty more painting to go on this project.

Some basic weathering of the Class 33 body shell has been completed, this will now have some weathering washes applied over it.

The end baseboard of the layout has also seen some basic scenery work. The retaining wall for the pub has been built, alongside some paving stones added to the garden. I need to finish off the painting of the retaining wall this weekend, before adding in some grass and bushes, before gluing down the pub. A rock face has also been painted behind the pub, representing an old quarry. Most of this rock face will be hidden by vegetation, although I have made an attempt to model the bedding planes of bedrock, typical of the North Devon geology. The scenic detailing will stop for a couple of weeks now, but I am hoping to take some time off work later in March and spend some dedicated days attacking the detailing at this end of the layout.

The pub retaining wall, now scribed and in the process of being painted. The rock face of the quarry behind the pub is also visible.

O Gauge class 33 repaint and some layout scenery

So this weekend I finally got around to removing the lining/masking on the O gauge class 33 repaint. Removing the masking is always a slightly nervous affair, as you are never quite sure how successful the lining will have been. The body sides had slightly different shades of BR blue built up over it, providing some tonal variation.Once removed, overall it looks pretty good. There are a few areas where the masking was not quite tight enough and the BR blue has got through a little. This was caused by me putting this project down for severeal weeks in-between painting; over severeal weeks the masking often pulls away a little. Fortunately, the lining was good, so whilst there is a little touching up to do, there is nothing too onerous. The plan this week is to finish off the base coats and apply some varnish, ready for a light weathering and transfers. I have the DCC chip and speaker ready to go, so it is just a question of getting the body shell finished and getting the sound chip installed.

The class 33 before the masking/lining was removed, showing the layering of the BR faded blue.

With the lining/masking removed, the faded yellow ends do not look too bad!

Over the weekend I also found a little time to do some layout detailing. I am currently trying to get some of the bigger scenery tasks finished, so I can get the backscene and some buildings installed. The rock face behind the pub has been started, alongside the pub retaining wall. Both were made from some DAS modelling clay. When dry the pub wall had the blocks scribed in with a file and I have started the painting process this evening. There is some more dry brushing to do, although a lot of the wall will be hidden under vegetation. There is a little more scenery work to do before I can plonk the pub down, but it is getting close to being installed. 

Pub retaining wall and rock face behind the pub - it is a tight squeeze with the pub sitting between the two.

So overall some good progress and fingers crossed I can the momentum up with both the layout and the class 33. It would be great to get the layout close to finished this year, but lets see!

O gauge Lowfit Wagon and a platform shelter

So not an awful lot of progress has happened recently on the modelling front. Part of the slow down has been the adding of a new puppy to our household. She is fantastic, but does take up a lot of time! Modelling time has mainly been spent trying to finish off some of the buildings for the layout. I am hopeful I can get the layout set up for a few weekends relatively soon. When this happens I want to be able to add various buildings and get them blended into the scenery quickly. So I recently (finally) finished off the first diary building for the layout. The second main building for the diary is very much still in construction, but I should be able to get this finished off this year. I have also spent a few evenings knocking up a small shelter for the platform. This was made with some off cuts of foam card and plasticard strips, with very much guestimated dimensions. It still needs a little tidying up but should be finished this week.

The dimensions of the platform shelter are a guesstimate, but it looks about right to my eye.

Platform shelter, showing the sloping roof.

I have also finished off a slaters 12T fruit van. This was built as per the instructions and will be used in the enparts engineering train. 

12 Fruit van, which will be used in the engineering enparts train, in olive green livery.

Otherwise, I am not really building any more wagon kits at the moment. I love building wagons, but with limited modelling time I want to finish painting some wagons and locomotives for the layout, not to mention needing some coaches to be detailed and weathered. I have finally treated myself to a new air compressor (an Iwata Sprint Jet) and am going to work my way through a quite long list of detailing/respray/painting projects before starting anything new. I currently have about 6 wagons in the paint boxes,  the class 33 having a respray, a class 122 awaiting detailing, the engineering olive BSK to repaint and a class 42 warship ready for weathering. So quite along list of things models to paint! Currently, a lowfit wagon is the closest to completion, with the weathering nearly finished and getting close to having the transfers added.

So some sporadic progress. Hopefully I can get the layout set up soon and really press on with some of the detailing. In the meantime, I have plenty of projects to keep me going!

O Gauge Class 33 Repaint into BR Blue

So a bit more progress has been made on the class 33 repaint. I have repainted a few body shells in 00 gauge to reasonably good affect, but an O gauge body shell seems like a daunting prospect. Anyhow, I have finally finished applying the initial coats of faded yellow to the class 33 cab ends. Sunday morning was spent with scissors and tweezers applying the lining and trying to make sure it was straight. After putting on the initial lining, the ends were masked off and I started spraying the body shell with BR Blue.

The painted locomotive ends, ready for masking off. The lining and masking tape that were used are in the bottom left of the picture.

The thin white strips are the lining tape, before an area mask off, using thin masking tape.

Even after the first initial coat of BR blue, the impact of the pre-shading is apparent and I am optimistic this will provide some great tonal variation on the body shell when it is completed. There are several more coats of BR blue, faded BR blue and very faded BR blue to go. Great fun to see this shaping up.

First coats of BR blue applied over the primer and pre-shading.

So fingers crossed when the masking pulls away there will not be some terrible join in the lining. I forgot just how much fun it is to respray a locomotive and add in all the tonal variations and weathering detail as it progresses. I have the DCC Loksound V5 sound chip from Howes to install and I have finished weathering the chassis, so this is now ready for reassembly. The transfers from Railtec have also arrived, so maybe this locomotive might get finished in the next couple of months.

O gauge class 33 repaint, a BSK and a SPV

 A happy new year to one and all!

I have been continuing to make some headway on several models over the festive period and it has been great to have some time to dedicate to modelling/painting each day. I stripped down a class 33 earlier in this year, which was the Heljan model I brought for a bargain price in BR green/FYE livery for a repaint. The chassis/underframe/bogies have all been weathered and are ready for reassembly. Once reassembled I will be able to add in the Loksound V5XL decoder and add a speaker to the fuel tanks - these are being ordered today. The body shell had a light priming (I ran out of primer part way through and need to order some more) and then had some basic pre-shading applied, before the first coats of yellow on the ends. One of the best bits about stripping a body shell is that the weathering process can be incorporated into the painting process, allowing some depth and subtlety to the finish. The locomotive will be finished in BR blue, suitable for the mid 1970s - so not too scruffy as the class 33s were repainted into BR blue around 1973/74.

Basic pre-shading work applied with weathered black from an airbrush, alongside some streaking grime enamel wash.

The second coat of faded yellow applied to the ends.

The BSK project has moved on a little. I decided to remove all of the coach side fittings, such as handrails, handles etc. In doing so I obviously managed to lose a few of these, so I have emailed Lionheart to enquire if they can send me some spares. The windows at either end have had some plasticard simply glued across them. Having a look at some prototype photographs on the web, coaches within the engineering fleet seemed to have various windows welded shut. So I have added a couple of these for variation. The coach sides are now ready to have a wash today and go into the paint boxes. I can see the repainting of this coach into engineering olive will be difficult, as the windows have pre painted divisions on them, so getting these to match the coach sides is going to be tricky. I suspect that I will have to keep the livery application pretty simple and add the windows in as soon as possible, so the different window frames do not stand out too much.

The BSK for the engineering Enparts train, now ready for a wash and to head into the paint boxes.

The BR blue parcels SPV wagon was also a complete repaint. The transfer application on the first attempt was rubbish, the wagon ran poorly and I also dropped it on the floor and dented the roof. So this also went into a bath of Superstrip some months (maybe years!) ago. It is just about finished, although I will apply one more coat of matt varnish this morning. This wagon has been an utter dust magnet, despite being kept inside a Really Useful Box. I have no idea how this happened, although the painting on this wagon started before we decorated the hallway - which is probably the reason. Anyhow, this wagon is a much better attempt than then the first version and despite the dust, I am pretty pleased with it. 

The Parkside SPV wagon nearly finished.

So some cracking progress and I have been thoroughly enjoying myself. With the SPV finished off today and a lowfit wagon nearing completion, it certainly feels like things are moving again after a longish hiatus this year. There are more wagons entering the paint boxes over the coming weeks and I also want to get the scenery moving on the layout - so as always plenty to do...hopefully more progress to report soon....