Seasons Greetings

Where has December gone? There are some exciting scenic developments to report on 'odsock Corner' but they can wait for another day as we switch to 'Christmas Tree Halt'. New additions this year are the post box and a canine companion for the lady waiting on the platform. Both are castings I've had for years, bearing the hallmarks of teenage gloss paint...

Wishing all O9 Modeller readers the best for the season and I hope Santa brings all the modelling goodies you have on your list. If you are in need of any modelling inspiration then why not give our friends at the Micro Model Railway Dispatch a visit? Issue 16 has just been published and 'Christmas Tree Halt' appears way back in issue 3. Talk about time flying!

Colin

 

Hanging Basket Liner Blues

Regular readers will know I've been an advocate of using hanging basket liner to represent grass for about 20 years now, resisting the more popular methods of grass application that have become available... until now. 

Having got the basic ground cover in place I was ready to start the application of hanging basket grass in my usual fashion by laying down neat PVA and applying the brushed hanging basket, letting it dry and pulling the backing off before manicuring it as desired. It failed, twice over. After several sessions I had a very patchy effect and several areas had no effective grass "growth".

I had used my usual PVA, twice. Some of the PVA was absorbed into the material and not bonding to the ground surface. This current PVA is a just post-Covid purchase and I'm not convinced it is as good as the old stuff. I then tried Gorilla PVA and had better results but not perfect, still ending up with some areas entirely not stuck down. I then tried a coat of Matt Medium on the next area to seal the surface first, but it made little difference. The photo above was the result - it may not look too bad in the photo but there should really be grass everywhere...

This is a closer view, PVA was applied across the whole area in front of the rocks!

I have put some of the issues down to the coldness of the workshop during the week I was laying down the grass, hovering a few degrees over freezing most of the time. I have had a few fails before but never to this level and frankly not to this level of disappointment. I have now stripped back a lot of the current grass, sealed the surface with Matt Medium and added a thin layer of ground foam to start again. At around the same time I fixed down the resin tree stump and blended in the ground surfacing around the base.

Whilst I am still a big proponent of this method of creating grass I decided that I could do without the hassle and I therefore bought myself an early Christmas present in the form of a small static grass applicator. Experimentation has begun...

Colin 

Twigging On

A few weeks ago I posted a picture of a twig pretending to be a tree as part of my sketching out of the scenery for 'odsock Corner. Shortly afterwards I started to rework the twig into a tree using some old Hornby wire foliage branches (from the Skale Scenics range 10-15 years ago), removing their lumpy foliage and supergluing them in place on the adapted truck.

At this point I did propose to use another twig to make something a little taller and narrower to better fit this location. It had only taken a couple of hours to get to this stage and I planned to store this  for future use elsewhere. However I then decided to make changes to the existing frame by pointing the branches upwards rather than outwards, and twisting in some extra smaller branches at the extremities. I then used modelling clay to smooth out the joins between the twig and the branches.

To further blend the wire branches to the trunk I mixed up some of my remaining scenic mix of paint/PVA and added in some tile grout to stiffen the mixture, I had hoped this would be a good basis for bark but it dried quite light.

Contrary to popular opinion, tree trunks are not brown, more a grey-brown-green mixture and to create this effect I started with grey primer and Humbrol brown spray paints, spraying uneven coats of them both to create a mottled effect. The brown can was splattering quite a bit and gave up shortly afterwards, another one to add to the shopping list!

To blend the colours together and add shadow into any recesses I gave the tree a wash of black-grey all over and when this was dry I dry-brushed grey-green over the lower trunk and branches, getting as far up as I could angling the brush between the branches. This gave a very pleasing effect and I had one of those "stop" moments before I went too far!

After all this work to the armature I feel that I have achieved a much better shape than I had initially created and a very satisfactory colour. It is now ready to add the foliage in due course before planting it in place on the layout alongside the modified Hornby tree (which requires a few further changes) and the recently purchased fir tree.

More soon...

Colin

'odsock Corner - Bits and Pieces

Where does time go? Work started on these items back in September and has proceeded embarrassingly slowly...

Over time the lamp and the wagon with the missing planks were joined by a few other pieces as ideas developed, the tree stump making an appearance during layout planning and is a Steve Bennett casting. All finally received a coat of primer and were painted over a few weeks and were matt varnished on the weekend just before the weather turned a lot colder. 

The fence is cobbled together from Slaters left-overs from a childhood project and would have been easier to start from scratch but I like to recycle... Also recycled is the bench, another S&D kit, one of a few bits assembled and painted by my Dad for Shifting Sands. It was later removed in favour of a Peco telephone box and I have restored the paintwork on the planking where a figure had been removed leaving the brass strip exposed. It has hidden itself rather well with just some careful colour matching and then dry brushing to match the shade of the lamp post.

Colin

Saturday Snapshot - The 422 Tops

 I realise that I have completed a project and that I have failed to take any pictures of it until this point... oops!

You may remember that I had purchased a spare 422 Modelmaking wagon chassis frame at Narrow Gauge North and used it for various bits of experimentation with axle boxes and the like. With the release of the Heywood-style 'Tops' wagon bodies I picked up a two-plank version at Narrow Gauge Now in October. The spare chassis was quickly fettled to suit and the two Araldited together, with the only other detail work being the addition of office staples at either end to form the lifting handles. Painted in Humbrol red-brown with black-grey ironwork I think the result is very pleasing.

I had originally painted the number plate in red with a brass surround but realising this looked a little gaudy I repainted in black with a white surround, the number '3' is a dry-print transfer from a GWR wagon sheet.

You may notice a small cut-out in the lower edge of the headstock, the final experiment with this chassis was to test the feasibility of fitting MicroTrains couplers. With Mathieson 7mm wheels in the Peco chassis around 0.5-0.75mm needed to be removed in a strip 5mm wide. The jury is out on whether these wagons will ever get that style of couplers but I thought it worth the try and not noticeable enough to reverse the adaptation.

Colin

One for the Road, Two for the Trees

Although I was happy enough with the roadway on 'odsock Corner I felt that it fell short of representing the rough surface of a obscure countryside trackway. The area that I was happiest with was the second crossing where I had a good basis for the areas worn away by traffic and time. I was convinced that I could get a better texture and colour...

Another mix of paint, PVA, tile grout powder and fine ballast was created, this time with more brown paint to warm the shade. This was laid over the original surface but not consistently, creating variation in tone and level. Whilst the mix was wet yet more fine ballast was sieved over and tamped into place to create further texture. 

I then let it dry overnight before the temptation to tinker set in. The following day further sanding of the surface took place, then some cunning setting of the resultant debris using matt medium. Another overnight to dry and weathering powders were used to add further colour variation to the various areas to represent those places where the dampness always seems to linger longer.

With plenty of mixture left over and knowing it would not keep, the area in front of the office building and around to the disconnected siding were treated, in front of the office I added both ballast and ground foam to the wet mixture to represent a rudimentary gravel path in the earth. As with the surplus of the first road surface mix, I also took the opportunity to coat the areas of ground formed from paper laid over polystyrene. Once everything was dry the grunged-up area of track had some shading added using weathering powders.

I do like the way the siding squeezes between the office and the tree... talking of trees, you may spot in the photos above that something curious might be going on... I had established early in the design process that I would use a Hornby Skale Scenics tree that I re-foliaged a couple of years ago, but I had a feeling that I may need a little more. Back in May I purchased some fir trees by 'Model Scene' (not the Peco brand) from CM3 Models with no real purpose in mind (other than joking about turning this layout into another Christmas scene!) but with the scenery now well under way I decided to try one in the gap next to the other tree. 

It has no trunk to speak of below the branches so is actually floating in fresh air at the moment. The flash of red through the leaves is a clip holding another idea in place. This twig was pruned from a bush in the garden last year along with a couple of others with their use as tree armatures in mind. A tree in this location was indicated on the mock-up but it is close to the edge of the board so will require some care and thought to create something that will not clash with the covering box.

Of course all of these trees are actually under-scale but at least they have enough height to not look too wrong in proportion to the small space of the layout. With plenty of smaller shrubs and bushes around I think the overall result will be effective.

Colin

Beyond the Kato 11-109 - the 11-108!

Back in February I completed number 6, a Simplex from FK3D styled on the Abbey Light Railway's 'Druid'. This ran on a Kato 11-109 as intended by the maker, although I had revealed a little more of it by removing the false 'skirt' under the underframe to make the end result more realistic. However, I always thought that it looked a little too 'perched' on the chassis, in particular too much clearance under the re-railing bars was a bit off-putting.

The inspiration for what follows was actually my yet to be built FK3D Lister locomotive, which takes advantage of a feature of the new-generation Kato chassis being built around a 'core' of weights holding the motor, flywheel, drivetrain etc to the point that the upper cover really only stops things falling out of place. I had also discovered the version of the Kato chassis (11-108) that had very little detail and was in fact noticeably narrower than the fake locomotive sideframes of the 11-109. My initial thoughts to somehow use a chassis without a cover and wondering how to fix it in place, turned to using a further-reduced 11-108 to lose 1mm in ride height.

The starting point, number 6 on a 11-109, with a frame height of 14.5mm and the 11-109 sideframes filling the space underneath.

The alterations required the the 11-108 chassis (stock Kato image used). The aim was the leave a raised area in the centre to match the opening in the body of the 3D print. In particular I will draw your attention to the cut at the right hand end of the top - do not cut to the right of the raised area as this will remove the clip that stops the motor moving backwards, I started this but soon realised my error! Cut along the opening about 1.5mm in from the edge instead and then file down the area to the right. All cuts were made with the top cover removed from the motorising unit.

The resultant conversion is seen with the original 11-109, we can see how much narrower it is and how the end platforms are lower than the 11-109 frame. The areas over the axleboxes were at about the same height as the 11-109 frame but I have chamfered them away to fit into the cut-away area under the body. I have painted the axleboxes matt black to better hide them and switched the baseplates over to give the new chassis the sprayed matt black one from the original chassis. 

In order to secure the new chassis in place I have used two screws which pass through the endplates into holes drilled in the underside of the body, centre at the rear and to one side at the front. As the motor protrudes out of the top of the cut-down chassis I had to remove an area under the bonnet of the print and reposition the weight that counterbalances the whitemetal driver figure. This view shows the slightly angled areas that will form the main interface between the new chassis and the body, inboard of the strips that sat on the 11-109.

The end result is a 13.5mm measurement to the top of the frame, bringing the rerailing bars closer to the rails and looking a lot less perched with the bonus of fresh air between the axleboxes and the ends of the loco.

So, was it worth it? I think so! Now you might be wondering why I didn't just cut away the old frame and carry out the same modifications, well I find the Kato plastic a little awkward to work and the less I had to remove the better, especially along the length. I also have memories of taking too much away from a 11-103 in the past and actually rendering it useless... but at least I have a spare motor for my older locos...

Colin

Carry on Again...

A midweek "extra", things must be moving along!

With the basic box assembled I added a few features to allow 'odsock corner to be securely stored within or displayed on top. A peculiarity of this build is that usually I would drill holes in the front and rear of the box as these are usually the longest elevations, but this one is square, and there is also the issue of the front of the layout being drop-framed and having less space underneath...

As well as drilling the holes for the bolts, on top of the box I added two plywood triangles which suffice to engage in the front corners of the baseboard to secure it when displayed. 

Although the bolt holes in the box are in the front and rear... the corresponding holes in the layout are in the sides of the board and a 90 degree turn is required on un-boxing, hardly arduous! Under the board captive bolts are held in place with small blocks of timber, drilled through and then opened out to hold the bolt. These were clamped and bolted into place whilst the PVA glue dried, with WD40 on the bolt threads to try and avoid any unwanted fixing.

After a mask up of the edges of the hardboard panels with low-tac decorators tape all the timberwork then had two coats of yacht varnish applied. Disaster then struck when the low-tac tape lifted the surface of the hardboard in places making a bit of a mess. Varnish also ended up where it wasn't really meant to leaving me to say this isn't my best work... The surface of the hardboard had some wax furniture polish applied which hides the worst of the damaged surface.

The layout board also had a coat of yacht varnish on the underside to protect the woodwork and then a couple of coats of grey primer on the outside edges, another coat of this may be the final colour in due course, applied after scenic work is completed. It is all looking very grey at this stage, the other day someone mentioned that they actually thought it was going to be a winter scene, but another season will soon roll around.

More soon...

Colin

Carry on Clamping

The storage box for 'odsock Corner is now complete, it has been something of a saga for what should be a simple job! Firstly, I didn't have the hardboard and timber strip in stock as I had used most of the supply last year when I enclosed part of my new shelving in the workshop (which of course I have done nothing with...), so a trip to B&Q ensued and a shock at the price of these supplies (my old hardboard was free from an old wardrobe!). The new timber strip, despite being the same size as the old stuff, was actually slightly bigger too but I've ignored that. 

After careful measurement of the baseboard and material thicknesses, I calculated the sizes of the hardboard panels (with a +1mm allowance) and cut them accordingly. The timber, 25x11mm section (which B&Q retail as 25x10.5mm) was cut, again slightly over-length, and panels then assembled one-by-one, to get as many clamps on each as possible. Allowing for drying time this took place over a couple of days, after which I sanded all the edges of the hardboard back to the edges of the timber to allow for neat and square corner joins.

From my home made kit of parts I could then assemble the box. Being a square layout my sides are not equal lengths, the two shorter ones sitting inside the two longer ones to make the square. I paired up one of each on a flat surface, glued and clamped them together, checking for squareness and then repeated for the second pair. My 18" clamps came into their own with this along the top edges (at the bottom) supported by the smaller clamps along the corners.

The two pairs of sides were then brought together, again on a flat surface, into one assembly. Again, plenty of clamping!

The final piece of hardboard to add was the top, this was slightly oversize and would be adjusted at a later stage. The timber lengths under the clamps are to spread the force along the edges of the board and keep pressure along the edge as the glue dries.

Once set the edges of the top were sanded smooth and then the saga took a new turn. The vertical timber sections protruded slightly below the hardboard sides and I decided to sand these down. My power sander had other ideas and when I wasn't looking took a chunk out of the hardboard in one corner. Words were said, tea was brewed and I went off and cut the grass... on my return I had cooked up an audacious plan to remove a strip from the entire base of the box, hardboard and timber. This was carefully measured out and the timber corners cut first with a fine saw, and the hardboard with a combination of Stanley knife and saw. It worked, and (gently) sanded to finish the result was actually better than it would have been originally. 

By co-incidence the height of the box was now actually identical to that of my 009 layout 'The Old Quarry Line's box, which it probably should have been all along! However, the saga (or given this post's title, the farce) would continue to throw a few curveballs at the subsequent stages...

Colin 

O9 Archeology

The 7mm Narrow Gauge Association has recently restarted it's second-hand sales service, as mail-order, members-only service with items listed and illustrated on a dedicated website page. Mention in 'Narrow News' that a quantity of O9 items were selling well led me to log in and take a look. Amongst the interesting items was an Owen Ryder R&ER coach kit, unopened... emails were exchanged. Paypal paid and the Royal Mail delivered.

It really is unopened, look at that tape! This really is a time capsule from one of the earliest manufacturers of O9 models. The range was later taken on by the late Howard Martin at Avalon Line from whom I bought a version of this kit a good few years ago. It's build was described in Building the Avalon Line 'Ratty' Coach Kit.

So, did I keep it wrapped up for posterity or break it open and build it? I gave in to temptation, opening the tape and removing everything from the bag, it was a very tight fit! Inside all the parts are still carefully wrapped up in tissue paper, secured with more tape. My temptation was only partial as I haven't opened that, yet...

Colin

The Road to Nowhere

With the rockfaces on 'odsock Corner coloured to an initial satisfactory finish my attention turned to the road surface. My aim is to achieve both of these finishes prior to general ground surfacing, in order to allow the latter to overlap in a realistic fashion. The basis of the roadway had been laid some time ago in the form of mounting card and treated with button polish to harden the surface. I had intended to then follow a similar principle to that used on 'Shifting Sands', only to find, much to my surprise, that the Green Scene product I had used 18 years ago, had dried up...

The first step I took was to weather the planking on the first crossing, using various washes of acrylic followed by dry brushing in weathered wood shades. The centre planks are not yet stuck in place and are out of line in the picture.

The roadway itself is a concoction of grey tester pot paint (with a spot of brown), PVA glue, grey tile grout powder, very fine sand and the finest material sieved from my ballast mix. This was applied liberally over the roadway, adding in extra loose ballast material on the surface where required, in particular around the second crossing and to the right hand side in the areas that I had previously excavated in the road surface. The surface was stippled whilst wet to add some extra texture to the surface.

Once left overnight to dry I revisited the surface and despite my texturing I actually went over it with 400 grit wet and dry to smooth it a little. This had the added bonus of removing the mixture from some of the ballast in the mix and adding some further variation of colour. I then spent some time with watercolour paints and weathering powders to further vary the surface colours and add impressions of tyre tracks and wear.

Despite looking complete, this is really a base for further work once the surrounding scenery is in place, I can foresee adding some further "loose" material and some cracking to really get the impression of a broken-up surface.

More soon.

Colin

Saturday Snapshot III - Rocks

As anticipated I have applied some colouring to the rocks around the pizza layout using various shades of acrylic paints in the beige/grey spectrum. Dry-brushing has brought the rocks to natural shades including green at the base of the rocks to represent a damper area and staining from vegetation growth.

I've also added water stains running down the faces of the rocks, maybe a bit too obvious at the moment... There will be another round of dry-brushing in due course to add a more sandy/yellow tint and as scenic work progresses there will be moss/lichen effects to add using ground foam etc.

Colin

 

Low Cost at 'odsock Corner

I spend a few idle moments a week watching videos on YouTube, as I suspect many of us do. Railway modelling is only one of several topics I follow but I have noticed that there is an increasing number of commentators talking about the cost of new products. Yes, railway Modelling can be an expensive hobby, if you want it to be...

I'm time, space and cash limited, buying new RTR products is not on the agenda, notwithstanding the fact I mostly model in a scale where RTR does not exist, the temptations of a Quarry Hunslet in 009 or NG7/O-16.5 have (so far) been avoided. Even many of the newer, closer to home temptations of quality 3D printed O9 models have not yet drawn me in. I actually find at the moment I'm happier in the workshop with recycled card and polystyrene, PVA and DAS modelling clay creating the foundations for a miniature world.

I realise that I am out of step with most of the (railway) modelling world by appearing to spend so much time on my groundwork, but in reality there aren't that many hours in what you see here, just spread out over many weeks! For instance this last week more clay work was the initial focus of work, with Isla assisting around the side and back of the office building. This included the last vast expanse of  exposed corrugated cardboard, in reality a double-corrugated sheet with the top layer carefully peeled off when I realised it was too thick, leaving a rather weak exposed inner layer. Getting it all covered up will make life a lot easier in the long run. 

In between the clay sessions with Isla I had added clay to the two outer areas to blend in the different levels and hide the joins with the outer timber strips. My attention then turned to how to initially cover the polystyrene areas ad in particular it's join along the timber strips. I really didn't want to use tiny bits or mod-roc and the mess that brings. The quick and easy alternative was to recycle the brown paper that you sometimes find in Amazon packaging, torn into strips and applied in two layers with lashings of PVA (hence the sheen catching the light). Again I had some assistance with this task... On the edges of the board the strips were laid oversize and cut back once the glue had dried. 

The eagle-eyed may spot that during the clay work I filled in the extra holes that I had made whilst finding the optimum position for the tree, allowing for accurate location in due course. The basic  foundation of my groundwork is now complete and attention can turn to the next stages, which will be colouring in the rock formations and surfacing the roadway, before moving on to the next stages of surface coating. Whilst good quality scenic material does have a cost, by working on a small project I don't need the vast quantities that some of the YouTubers must require, and I have enough in hand not to need to buy anything at this stage...

Colin

Steady Pace at 'odsock Corner

It always seems to be a bit of a struggle to get back into the swing of things after the summer holidays and this year has been no exception. Things are now slowly moving and the ballasting of 'odsock Corner is now completed. Now you might think that is an easy one-hit job, but it was actually spread over several sessions taking it nice and steady. Unfortunately it's not the easiest thing to get a decent picture of in the evening gloom of the workshop.

I have to admit to being as gloomy as the light in the workshop after taking that photo, suddenly going into negative mode about the whole project. I'd like to say the next day dawned bright and I was refreshed, but the weather had other ideas. So did I...

I hired in a keen sub-contractor to assist with the modelling clay work that could now be completed around the roadway, walls and office building. The walls and building were carefully wrapped as tightly as we could in cling film before placing them in location. The usual PVA base was applied before using DAS 'stone' clay to infill and shape the landscape, finishing off by stippling with a stiff brush to add texture.

 

My assistant had to go out to a friends house leaving me to complete the area in the front of the office, covering the quite poor quality corrugated card in this area. Having used up all the clay that I had taken out of the packet I stopped at this point, as I think that I may have assistance for the next session, where we can continue around the side and back of the building.

After leaving the clay to set for a few hours I carefully removed the walls and office (before the PVA got too stuck the cling film!) and by large the desired effect has been achieved. I did have to poke a few bits back down so maybe I could have left it a little longer before removing the items. We'll see next time! 

Colin

Dereliction and the Light

The workbench is slowly coming back into use after the summer break. Although the majority of 'odsock Corner's scenic needs can be met from the existing pile of pre-painted scenic bits I've accumulated, there are a couple of specific items that I wanted to create.

Firstly there is a semi-derelict wagon, in the form of a surplus Black Dog Mining chassis frame and coupler blocks, with planking from a styrene piece marked up for another project but not actually long enough here, hence the missing and wonky planks! As the wheelsets will be visible through the gaps old Parkside Dundas wheels are used, I find these easy to blacken the axle and weather up accordingly.

The lamp post is a combination of S&D Models parts, picked up cheaply on my last trip to the now-closed Goods Yard at Tuxford. It may not actually be an accurate combination of pillar and lamp but it should look the part. Despite passive provision for lighting in the office building I am not fussed about having a working outdoor lamp as it will always be a daytime scene... 

Colin

 

Back to the Drawing Board

Don't worry, I'm not about to scrap another layout project! 'Back to the Drawing Board' was the theme of the 2024 Friends of the Kirklees Light Railway gala, themed around comics and cartoons.

I arrived at Clayton West station on the Sunday in time for the 11.00 departure, with visiting locomotive 'Muffin' from the Lappa Valley Railway preparing to pilot KLR-based 'Sian'. 'Muffin' was designed by David Curwen and built by Berwyn Engineering in 1967 for Longleat, transferring to the LVR in 1976. Along with 'Dougal' she was briefly associated with Les Anderson's Axe and Lym Valley railway in 1974.

Returning on the same train from Shelley was another double-header of LVR 'Zebedee' and home loco 'Fox', two contrasting red tank locomotives. 'Zebedee' then paired up with 'Muffin' to work a shuttle to Skelmanthorpe so I couldn't resist the opportunity to travel behind the pair of them. 'Zebedee' was built by Severn Lamb to David Curwen's design in 1974, following the same outline as the aforementioned 'Dougal' as an 0-6-2T. In 1991 the cab was extended during an overhaul and she became a 0-6-4T with a very plain looking rear bogie.

There were a few issues getting the brakes set up for the shuttle service and on arrival at Cuckoo's Nest halt it was announced the train would terminate short there. Several passengers, including a contingent from Cleethorpes, jumped over to the passing train back to Clayton West, those who waited were rewarded with a change of plan and a spirited run to Skelmanthorpe after all. The Lappa Valley have a slightly smaller stone arched bridge over their line, also built on a standard gauge trackbed.

Back at Clayton West my next run was a full return trip with a locomotive that needed no further introduction, 'Bonnie Dundee' from the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway. In case you are wondering, she was representing the publishers of the several popular comics! For this trip we were honoured with a genuine Scottish driver in the form of John Kerr, who seemed very happy with her performance. Given that the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway were inspired by 'Katie' and 'Sian' during the conversion of 'Bonnie Dundee', even in tank locomotive form, it is no real surprise that she performed so well.

To finish, a view of the 7 1/4" gauge line at Clayton West, where 'Ivor' was visiting from the Pugney's Light Railway. I thought this view was quite modelable, possibly using the station canopy in the form of a half-station and hidden exit to the fiddle yard... 

Colin