Hedge laying

This week I have been testing out some methods of constructing more realistic hedges.  I am certainly very limited when it comes to scenery detailing, so I spent a couple of evenings googling some videos on you tube and then having a go myself.  I must admit to feeling pretty pleased so far!

The hedge starting to progress.

A class 47 about to run light to Exeter.

I started off by teasing out some clumps of rubberised horse hair.  These were then sprayed with brownish shades, such as burnt umber and sleeper grime.  I then shaped some clumps into vaguely plant like shapes and super glued the stalks together.  I dipped these clumps in ballast bond and covered with Noch leaves.  I left these too dry, before giving them a good blast of cheap hairspray.  Quick and satisfying!  I have then started to drill some holes and place these into the based board.  It needs a little more colour and variation, but a hedge is starting to creep along the first of the baseboards.  Plans for this weekend are to extend this further and add a fence as well, to start to form the scene at the front of the layout. A few more pictures below.  

Charlton non-micro layout update!

This week has finally witnessed a little bit of progress on the layout.  Previously I had become very unsatisfied with the original 3 ft fiddle yard and only 3 lines.  It was not big enough to accommodate a 2 coach train and locomotive.  So I purchased another baseboard (Tim Horn) and the original fiddle yard had a scenic break added to it, about one third of the way down.  This now gives me 5 ft fiddle yard, with four sidings (although these are not yet all laid down and wired up). 

New view of the layout with the extension added (right)

This redesign is much more satisfying.  Firstly, the head shunt at the end of the station is much bigger.  This is great, as originally the locomotive would disappear part away into the fiddle yard to run around its train.  Secondly, I can now run longer trains and more of them, significantly increasing the operational potential of the layout.  The downside is the layout is now 12ft long, so I can hardly call this a micro-layout any more!  It was meant to be a quick project, but has taken on a life of its own.  It is all good though, I am quite pleased with the way it is shaping up.

The new fiddle yard in progress!

View back towards the station from the new extension.

There is an awful lot of detailing working still be done on the baseboards and there has not be any progress on this!  I still need to build a few structures and add the scenery around this.  However, momentum and enthusiasm have both picked up a little recently, so I am hoping to achieve some more progress over the coming weeks.  The class 22 and 3 mk1 coaches plonked on the layout at the moment represent some projects for the coming weeks.  My normal enthusiasm for painting and detailing stock has disappeared over the last couple of months.  I have the Howes sound chip ready to go for this locomotive, so I hope to get this in the paintshop soon enough, although I have still to add the detailing pack to this locomotive.

The extended headshunt, with plenty of room to run around.

Class 22 ready to head back to Exeter via Barnstaple junction.

Hopefully some more progress to report this week!

A Grampus wagon ready for service

My apologies for the lack of updates recently - sometimes life just gets too busy for modelling.  Anyhow, a very hectic month has passed, where I managed to find precious little time to sit down and get on with some modelling tasks.  I find that momentum is key with projects and when it is lost, it can be difficult to get started again.

Recently finished Grampus wagon posed on the Charlton layout.

However, I finished off a couple of wagons about a month ago, but did not manage to get around to writing about them on this blog.  The first of these is a Grampus wagon, built from the Parkside kit.  It is built per the instructions, but is fitted with white metal buffers (Lanarkshire Modelling Supplies) and 3 link couplings.  As per usual I painted this with an airbrush and transfers are from the Modelmaster range.  This kit is one of a number I built in 2016 and has languished around until a few months ago for painting.  I am slowly working my way through painting this stack of built kits and it is very satisfying to see some of them finally finished and working on the layout.....speaking of which....

Another shot of the finished Grampus.

The Charlton microlayout has seen precious little development in the last month.  This is a shame because I am at the point when things really start to take off.  A few bits of scenery have been added here and there, but generally there has been little progress.  However, I have ripped up the original fiddle yard, as I was not satisfied with its capacity to hold trains to run into the station.  I have ordered another 3ft by 1ft baseboard, so the whole layout with fiddleyard now comes to 12ft!  I am not sure this really counts as a microlayout anymore!!  I plan to wire up a new fiddle yard this week, so hopefully a layout update to follow soon.