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!