Over last weekend I managed to finish off some of the last remaining jobs on the Charlton layout, which were the adding of the lights to the station and the addition of some trees behind the station. These were jobs that had been put off for a while, but once started progress was swift. The layout is only 1ft wide, with the station position near to the back scene. This has caused some problems, as the station needs some context behind it before the backscene, but there is not a lot of room to play with.
The lights are on at Charlton! This was photographed in very dim light and there are clear shadows being cast on the backscene from the station lights. However, I am still very pleased with the result here.
The trees behind the platform help break the scene up.
There was not a lot of room to work with here, so I began by fitting in some trees behind the main platform. These were off the shelf models from Noch and Faller and it was a bit of a tight squeeze to fit them between the station and the backscene. I have also recently purchased a big box of sea moss, so I set about making some smaller shrubs and trees from these. This is a first attempt at using this medium, but I was delighted with the results and these were also fitted in behind the station.
The shadow effect is clearly evident in this picture.
In less dark lighting the shadows on the backscene are reduced, with the lights producing a pleasant effect.
The stations lights were added to the station by drilling some holes into the platform (taking a deep breath!!) and supergluing in place. The lamps are 3v LED lamps from layouts4u, a cheap and good looking sets of lamps. These were wired up to a double AA battery holder and hey presto, quick and easy working lights. The light from the station lamps is a little bright so I might tone this down in the future with the use of some resistors. There are shadows clearly being cast onto the backscene.
The far end of the platform with a couple of trees added in.
The station building I constructed many years ago and it is great it has finally found a home. However, I had managed to place a frog juicer on the underside of the baseboard right under the platform. This meant I could not simply drill through the baseboard to install a light for the station building. So, I purchased a 1.5v circular batter and simply bent the connectors of a small 1.5v LED to shape and installed it into the building. It is a pretty quick and easy fix to give a good light to the building. As the building was built many years ago it was not designed to have a working light inside it. Consequently, the light clearly seeps out under the edge of the building. I am going to insert a small floor to plug up this gap in the building. Both platform structures are simply positioned on top of the platform - so changing the battery will not be a problem.
A simple solution for interior lights!
Over the last few weeks I have also built a little station building to fit over the baseboard join. This is a run down little structure knocked up from some plasticard and painted with some enamels. This was placed on the platform with the other station furniture glued down, such as signs. I think this shelter really looks the part and am pleased with the overall outcome of the station.
The new platform shelter, which will eventually be positioned over the baseboard join.
So the layout is finally finished! There will be a little bit of tweaking here and there, but overall it is complete. My first completed, working layout. This was meant as a quickie project over 6 months and has taken on a life of its own. But it is a real relief to get it over the line! I need to find of day and some space to set the whole layout out and really give it all a proper work out. I am generally quite pleased with the result and learnt a lot of lessons along the way. The problem is, at the moment, I do not have the space to run this layout regularly......so a little 5ft micro-box layout is already on the cards! I will start this off over summer watch this space! Until then there is plenty of stock to finish off to run around Charlton with the first exhibition date fast approaching.
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