Chasing Rainbows

Well what an extraordinary couple of weeks it has been. We joked before the Lincoln Newark exhibition that it might be the last one we went to in a while... and making the decision to miss Narrow Gauge North it turned out to be so.

I contributed a few pictures of 'Shifting Sands' to a Facebook "virtual exhibition" last weekend, nothing new but enough to generate some interest, conversation and feedback. But one in particular bugged me, seen previously here, the white sky was a result of a lack of suitable software skills at the time. I have now had a further play and have finally added some decent looking sky to the shot. As the kids are sticking rainbows in the windows as something to spot when they get a trip out of the house, so I thought I'd push the photo editing skills a touch further!

Stay safe.

Colin

The Beck Bridge - Growth

No, I haven't added an extension, but I have been doing a little work on the Beck Bridge over the weekend, including moving the fence at the right hand end to a different angle, just in case I ever add a backscene with a curved corner... I've also picked up a couple of new scenic products at recent exhibitions and have been carrying out a few trials, some which have now manifested themselves as new additions to the diorama.

I've added new areas of brambles to the front of the scene, the idea being to make the scene look less 'square' and less flat. Having seen mention of using the "other" sort of Hanging Basket Liner in a magazine recently (the sort with a coconut mat effect), I acquired one and carried out a few tests, one of which has made it onto the scene at front left, whilst the larger area on the right has been created in situ.

The 'raw' coconut effect liner is seen on the left, I have started to peel the bulk of the material away from the adhesive coated backing part. I then teased/spread the fibres out a bit and sprayed with hairspray to hold them together. The piece on the right has then been sprayed with two shades of matt brown aerosol (Halfords dark brown and a lighter Humbrol shade).

The painting stage is entirely optional, I think going forward a mixture of painted and unpainted pieces might work (along with adding a second layer here and there to add more height).

The pieces on the diorama were then glued in position with PVA, this is one of my test pieces sprayed with more hairspray followed by foliage fibre (Woodlands Scenics) and then coated in hairspray again and various shades of foliage sprinkled on.

Whether created on the bench or in situ, I've used two shades of foliage fibre from Woodland Scenics and Hornby Skale Scenics, then two different types of foliage sprinkled on over more hairspray and then some coloured scatter added to give the effect of small wild flowers. I've also added short lengths of stalks reaching over the height of the foliage, achieved using Tasma Products 'field grass' cut into short lengths and secured with a small dab of PVA when the stalk was pushed into the main part of the undergrowth.

It is however always tricky to photograph scenic work...

Visible to the right, and also front centre, are some Martin Welberg weed tufts, which really add to the textures in view. They come as a big pack, it should last me a while!

When I moved the fence I opted to remove the seagull from it. The reason for this was two-fold, firstly when I took photos of my 009 Gmeinder on the diorama last week it was clearly in view looking huge, and it was also a little vulnerable when the diorama was boxed up. He has a new perch now, observing the goings on.

This shot actually shows the different textures in the brambles rather well, including the Tasma stalks and some Mini-nature leaves I added in small patches.

I'm still pondering adding a backscene, that also may be something "new2 for me...

Colin

Gmeddling About in 009

Prior to exhibiting my 009 pizza layout 'Old Quarry Line' last July I quickly reworked a Minitrains Gmeinder as a spare loco. I had limited myself to replacing the bonnet side vents with a MG Models etch and altering the cab doorways a little to lose the door one side and add a canvas side sheet and wooden planking on the other. This was the result.

It was only meant to be a temporary work-around but I've grown a bit attached to it. However, the cab sides were still jarring a little, they just didn't look like they belonged on a Feldbahn locomotive...

This is where a recent O9 project came into play. I realised the etched cab sides from the 009 cab on the A1 Models test-build did have a slightly Feldbahn-esque look to them. This is the etch as seen on A1's eBay listing.

Offering them up they were a little too wide and a bit too tall, but setting to I managed to cut them down to size, re-drilling the bottom handrail hole as the original was lost in the cutting. Having added the handrails I then realised the real thing would most likely have shorter rails to allow for a removable cab top, so I removed them, re-drilled and re-soldered them in place. Then came the moment of truth, the cab was carefully removed from the Minitrains loco and bathed in 'Super Strip' to return it to bare plastic to make the required changes. With detail removed and sanded flat I was able to Araldite the new sides in place.

Milliput was used to fill the gaps between the etched sides and plastic parts, being careful to try and retain the rivet details on the ends. I opted not to add a split line horizontally on the cab sides/ends to represent the removable cab top. Even so, it now looked a lot more like a Feldbahn locomotive despite still being a very much a freelance interpretation

Painting then followed, I have managed to match the weathering (what little there was) to the original paintwork on the bonnet and I'm really happy with how the cab corners look, the time spent carefully filling and sanding the join has paid off with the rivet detail intact.

The original driver, already much modified from a Dapol example (largely flattened on the other side) has had further surgery to cope with the new door layout. Having infilled the old door opening to the right with styrene before adding the etched sides, he has had a chunk taken out of the back of his right arm and leg to accommodate this (and a chunk from his left arm too). He now sits in such away that it highlights the thinness of the cab sides at the door opening. He is also now an integral driver, securely polystyrene cemented into the cab side rather than relying on glue under his feet!

On the other side of the cab the original canvas cover have been resized to fit the new opening, with planking retained below

Before reassembling the cab onto the loco I was able to resolve the issue of less-than-perfect running I had encountered with the loco, eventually resorting to having the wheels out and tweaking the pick-ups a little. I was also careful to replace the glazing in the rear window with thinner material as there was evidence of the flywheel making contact with the old window.

Colin