O Gauge Dairy Building and warehouse

In anticipation of getting the layout set up for a bout of detailing, I have been pressing on with getting some of the buildings ready for the layout. Finishing the quay masters cottage was a big step forward and I am now making an attempt to finish off the next of the buildings for the dairy platform. The basis of the model is a low relief warehouse (from Fair Price Models). After assembling the kit using superglue, I painted the exterior of the building with PVA glue before spreading polyfilla over the surface. This was sanded down, the holes filled in with more polyfilla and then had a final finish of wet and dry, alongside using a nail file to sand out the windows and door.

The main dairy building for the layout. 

Originally I was going to scribe this exterior surface but I quite like the smooth finish and I have now decided to leave this as a smooth mortared finish. The basic wall colour is now painted, although I need to seal this in with some varnish, pick out some of the brick work on the window lintels, alongside adding some windows/doors, roof etc. In addition, the central window will have a detailed office with interior lights, etc. I also need to get some custom signs made up for the exterior of the warehouse - I think I am going to have a try at designing these myself, with a factitious company name.

At the same time, I have been constructing a couple more buildings to add onto the layout. This includes a larger warehouse, with a covered gateway. This building needs a bit more sanding before a second coat of polyfilla is added to cover all the blemishes. This building will  have eventually have a scribed finish. This building has a greater depth than the main dairy office, so I am not certain it will fit onto the layout. However, I still have the small DCC test track / microlayout to finish - so I will be able to find a home for it somewhere.

The larger warehouse in the process of construction.

There is also a third warehouse that has been cut up to make two smaller building; when constructed the original warehouse was three stories high and it poked above the backscene - so out came the saw! These two building are now also in the same process of sanding and adding polyfilla.

In other news, the layout still has not been re-erected. We have had lots of people to stay over summer - which is great - but given the size of the layout it is just not practical to have the layout up, when we have people over. So the date has been set for the end of the September now to re-erect the layout and really get to grips with adding the backscene, getting these buildings glued in and adding a lot of the detailing. In anticipation of the layout detailing commencing I have also been buying lots of detailing parts to add to the layout. So fingers crossed, when the end of September arrives I can really make some progress.

O Gauge Herring Wagon finished and in service

Another wagon I have managed to finish recently is the Herring wagon, which will form part of a ballast train on the layout. This wagon was built from a 3D printed kit supplied by Skog and it was my first attempt to build a 3D print; therefore, I approached the build as a learning experience for future  kits. Overall I am pretty happy with the finished wagon - it is not perfect but this is a reflection of my building skills and not the kit design.

Finished Herring wagon ready for the layout. 

During the building process I attempted to file down the 3D printing lines. Once in the painting box some of the 3D print lines were still visible so I hand painted some varnish onto the body sides to act as a filler, before further painting. This largely worked, but with hindsight I should have spent another evening or two with the file out, removing as much of the print lines as possible. The kit was largely built as supplied by Skog, however I swapped out the axles/bearing boxes for some Slaters ones. I also replaced the brake levers with some brass Slaters ones, which I modified to suit the wagon. Wheels and bearings also came from Slaters. The wagon was painted using Railmatch enamels and some AK interactive washes, with transfers a mixture of Fox and Railtec. 

Now that it is finished, I will buy at least one more of these wagons, which will run with a catfish, dogfish and possibly a sealion or two.

In conclusion, I think these Skog kits are brilliant value. Now that it is finished, I can see where I could have applied a bit more time to filing process, but otherwise I have a wagon to run in my ballast trains that is not otherwise available in O gauge. I said it on a previous post, but give it 10 years and we will be able to have much higher quality 3D prints of virtually any rolling stock type. Hopefully, we can all have 3D printers in our homes, happily printing off wagons! So back to other modelling tasks, I still have plenty of other projects on the go, but I am slowly working through these. I have made some more progress with the buildings for the layout and the next job (still) is to reassemble the Class 33 and add the DCC sound chip. So hopefully, more to report soon!

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.