David Holman

Not sure, but may have been running out of picture space, so here are a few more ideas. Most of this workshop has been looking at different types of grass cover, with Postiche or scenic matting for the larger shrubs. Have also used lichen to good effect for certain types of bushes, but make sure it is of a realistic shape and dust well with scatter before planting. More upright shrubs see us returning to old fashioned methods, i.e. there is no quick fix for these things. There is a variety of stuff we can use & again Woodlands supply a good range. The packets I've bought over the years seem to last forever, so are good value. Various shades of sisal make for longer grass/reeds & need to be laboriously planted as clumps in pva. More 'twiggy' strands can be dipped in pva [individually, or in small groups] and then dipped in fine scatter to produce a variety of plants, such as nettles and so on. You can find such things ready made too, but I find the colours are often too bright and making your own is cheaper & more fun anyway. By now, I'm hoping you are beginning to see that ground cover is really just a matter of experimenting with the various materials on offer. There really is no single 'best way', but I like to think recent ideas are a big advance on dyed sawdust! Aim to be subtle and pay attention whenever you are out & about [in town or country]. Digital cameras/phones are a great help in taking pictures of those details/cameos scenes you want to model back home/down the club. That is just about it for this series for now, though will aim to do something on man-made ground cover in a while, when I'll try to show you how I've done the road and yard surfaces on my layouts.

The way to use Pastiche is to first tease out a small tuft. Then, holding it in a pair of long nosed pliers or similar. spray with varnish/fixative etc and then lightly sprinkle with fine scatter. The effect of a couple of colours is shown below. As a matter of interest, the spray stuff I'm using at the moment was bought at the Tolworth show, a couple of weeks ago. As the label suggests, it is a bit less toxic than the usual varieties and therefore better for use indoors, especially if you work in confined spaces. If you can't get hold of Pastiche, then scenic matting sold by Woodlands is a good substitute . It tends to come in a mid green shade, but darker ones are available. The trick is to cut or tear off a small piece, no more than 2-3cm square and then tease it out as thin as possible. This works just as well when adding tree foliage as it does to creating ground cover. As before, then spray with fixative and add scatter of choice. The spray mount is also used to fix the shrub down, though PVA will work just as well. For certain types of weeds, then a light smear of pva across the tips of your grass, when dusted with fine scatter produces a nice effect. Have also included pictures of how to add flowers. Don't use the coloured scatter on its own, mix it 50-50 with green - it produces a more subtle effect I think. Speaking of subtle, there is one picture in there which shows a second covering of fibres [using the Grasstech], on top of the different colours I showed in the previous entry. The choice of 'undercoat' can have very useful effects on the overall scene. Check out the real thing and copy!

Couldn't agree more Eoin. One of the best aspects of our hobby is that [for layout builders in particular], one can have a number of very different projects on the go at any one time. Plus, after a spell of, say, loco building, it can be very nice to do a building or some scenery for a change, while simply sticking the model on the shelf and going down the pub/watching TV/doing nothing can also be useful as you suggest.

Thanks JB - felt sure you'd be able to help. Did coach No 9 in a somewhat pristine dark brown, as it did appear to get a repaint in the early/mid 50s. The new models will be much scruffier!

Work on Sir Henry has had to be put on hold for a while, until I can get to the Reading Trade Show in a couple of weeks time. Reading is a bit of a pre-Christmas Mecca [there's a metaphor mix for you] as traders large and small gather to show off their wares. Laurie Griffin Miniatures and Northants Model Supplies will be two of my targets. The former for a set of inside motion, chimney dome & safety valves, the latter for buffers. Also need to see Roxey and Eileens for other stuff, plus have a Clogher Valley 0-4-2T from Ragstone models to collect. Reading can easily get very expensive & that is just in terms of 'needs', allow that 'wants' to take over and am sure it would be now problem seeing spending go into four figures, if not five... Anyway, now stymied with Sir Henry as can't do any more work on the boiler till I've fitted the dome [which also places boiler bands] & the chassis is in the same place, though now complete apart from the inside motion, as I fitted pick ups and brake rigging recently, as pics show below. In the background, can be seen what I've recently been working on, namely a couple of new coaches for the train which Sir Henry will be rostered to on the layout. As ever, these began life with the purchase of two Alphagraphix card kits, one for SLNCR six wheel saloon brake No 4, the other for bogie No10. Bodywork on the saloon didn't take long. Essentially it is a 40 thou box, with over large cut outs for glazing, to which is overlaid a 20thou outer. This then has microstrip put on for the panelling. A Tyrconnel under frame has also been folded up & awaits Slater's wheels. As an aside, you can see what happens to solder/flux when you don't clean it off immediately! Yesterday afternoon, while listening to footy on the radio, marked out the sides for the bogie coach, which uses the same principals. These were originally outlined by David Jenkinson in his book 'Carriage Modelling Made Easy' Well worth getting if you do this sort of thing. Am hoping to finish the coaches in the typically 'well weathered' look of the SLNCR in the late 1950s. That will mean a base coat of bare wood, then a daubing of Maskol, before the top coat is applied. This should create a well weathered, peeling paint effect. SLNCR coaches were painted a shade of maroon, though what this weathered too is less certain. When you get to read this JB, would be interested in your opinion.

Decent weekend at Tolworth. Was very lucky with the weather - it started raining about 10 mins after I got the layout unloaded on Saturday morning & began again soon after driving away on Sunday. There were some pretty big layouts there this weekend & all of a high standard. We were backing on to the Guildford club's 0 gauge Normandy layout, a vast tail chaser that could have easily held a small exhibition within it. They certainly kept things running, never less than 4 trains circulating all weekend. Made for some good train spotting when I wasn't busy, but very noisy at times, when 10 coach expresses were crossing 30 wagon freights. Hard to hear what people were saying. The rebuilt turntable crank eventually worked ok, though lost a screw from the chocbloc connector & the only substitute I had fouled one of the frame's fixing bolts. Hence the 'table clunked its way round till some judicious work with a file shorted the bolt... Had problems with the Y point to the cattle dock too. For some reason, the wire in tube became almost impossible to push & pretty stiff to pull. Hence took the decision to leave well alone on the Sunday and not run the cattle train. Better this than one end of the run round loop being put out of action, as this would have stopped everything apart from the railcar. Not a major issue in terms of running trains though, as the goods shed siding holds ten wagons, so we simply swapped 5 for 5 on each pick up goods. Generally, everything else continues to run well, though I notice some of the metal stock is beginning to show signs of bright metal appearing through minor paint chips. Chimneys and any sharp corners are always vulnerable, even after using metal black as a pre-under coat it seems. That said, the layout has had a pretty strenuous year. Starting with Orpington in January [60 mile round trip], then York [450 miles], Epsom [100 miles], Gravesend [30 miles], Sevenoaks [50 miles], Bexhill [120], Worthing [120], Beckenham [70] & Tolworth [110]. So, that is over 1100 miles travelling, being loaded in & out of the car 18 times & operated under the public eye for a total of 15 days. By & large, the layout [and indeed its operator] seem to have survived well. The baseboards have proved robust enough to withstand the extensive handling, as has the Ulysses sub-structure of beams & trestles. That is it for the year now, but 2016 promises to be even busier, with St Albans & Pontefract in January, then St Neots, Alexandra Palace, Reading, East London & finally Cultra, plus a coupe of others in between. Will aim to continue the diary as the layout goes even further afield in the new year.

Superb, thank you sir. Have done a bit of resin casting myself and single sided stuff is pretty straightforward. Not mastered the doubles though! The resin I use joins well with cyano. Best if the surface is slightly roughed first, I find

Hells bells, did not realise it was large scale. Am even more impressed now. Never ceases to amaze me what is out there. Thesecbig models have such presence. At Ally Pally a couple of years ago the was an American G scale, standard gauge 'depot'. Around 10m long, it was enough for a decent number of box cars, plus a Budd for passenger traffic. Looked fab, ran really well. That was the same year I came REALLY close to G scale three truck Shay. The 121 is superb, well done sir! Am guessing it will be 45mm gauge.?

The first three pictures show the range of colours we have in the Club stores at the moment - not quite 40, but not quite enough either. For preference I need to get some more of the yellow/straw colours to capture that late summer/dry grass look I want on the linesides. The next three photos are back to front, as they show fibres on top of a scatter mix - which is the final photo. The latter uses Woodland fine and medium mid/light/dark greens, plus some fine earth too - essentially to create the base layer beneath the top layers of grass. The three middle pictures show fibres attached with both Spraymount and using the same [60/40] diluted PVA mix that the scatter was put down with. Either works well, though the PVA needs time to dry while you can add further layers with Spraymount [or matt spray varnish] immediately. Hence layers of varied colours can be built up very quickly. While the adhesive is wet, very fine, darker scatter can be sprinkled on to make the colours even more varied. Likewise change the colours of the fibres as you add layers - subsequent ones should normally be lighter, but as ever, think about what you are trying to do and check photos, the real thing etc. Beware lighting too, at the club we have fluorescents that are not that strong and colours looked very washed out compared to home - though this does not show too much in the photos. Ran of of Spraymount, so the Postiche and top layers will have to wait until next time.

Re hand made v commercial track, the middle ground is occupied by the likes of Marcway. Arigna uses their points, which can be very comparable in price to PECO if you buy off the shelf, though custom made is around 50% more. One particularly useful version in 7mm scale is their 6' radius Y point. From toe to clearance is just 12"/30cm. Would imagine the 00 version offers similar economy of space. A standand PECO Y in 7 mm is half as long again... Marcway points are copperclad construction and self isolating, so if you use wire in tube control, no additional switching is required.

Have followed this with an interest & at times a feeling of smugness [petard already being hoisted!]. When I returned to modelling [early I'm married life having done my bit in pushing up the value of brewery shares and chasing women], for some reason [perhaps to impress my wife] I decided I was not going to become a box collector, but would aim to work at my modelling. Hence started in EM gauge, where there was nothing RTR & any new model came from a kit or needed adapting. Somehow managed to avoid collecting unmade kits too. Generally I'm happy buying something to build, so I have very little unmade, cluttering up drawers. Collections of raw materials are another matter, mind. Tools likewise. Moving into 7mm narrow gauge initially cleared out the spares box as was into a freelance phase and this scale enables all sorts of fancies. 7mm standard gauge soon limits your buying as a single wagon will cost 30 quid minimum and a loco kit soon passes £500 when wheels, motor gears are included. So, you make haste slowly and as it is [or at least was] more of a builder's scale rather than an operator's one 7mm can naturally rein in the spending. Or it used to. Those new Ixion and Dapol locos are endlessly tempting, but at shows I keep going back to my old maxim of 'needs or wants'. I may WANT that model, but do I actually NEED it? So far, that has helped me avoid buying a G Scale three truck shay, Heljan Deltic, the latest J15, D16, Black motor, Dukedog, etc etc in 4mm. Nemisis looms in the Alphagraphix catalogue and the new Ragstone Models Clogher Valley loco kit. These are not necessarily things that will always be available, though the Branchlines coach kits for the CVR are still there over 20 years since first introduced... Then advancing years brings disposable income [no mortgage or loans] and more spare time to do stuff. Arigna town is finished, so a new project is always on the horizon. Am sure you can see where I'll being going. So, guess that brings me full circle & my smugness at not having 'too much' has evaporated. Yes, not piles of RTR boxes, but drawers full of plastic sheet, card, metal strip, scenic stuff, tools etc etc AND a small, but growing number of 7mm NG kits for a certain CVR...

Fascinating stuff JB & even if we don't work to a timetable, this sort of thing is invaluable in terms of creating a sequence for running the trains.

Rather than do scenery straigt on to the baseboard, it can be a good idea to practice by doing a small diorama on a bit of spare board. The one above I made when starting out on 36.75mm gauge. The track is code 100 rail glue to cardboard sleeper with contact adhesive & have played around with various materials/colours - especially since I treated myself to the Static Grass machine. None of the fibres you can see here are 'straight out of the packet'. All were mixed to some degree - mainly adding pale/straw types to light/darker green. The next pictures shows what happens if you only use a single colour. Top left are 'mixed long fibres' [6mm], below that is medium dry grass [3-4mm]. Top middle is 'short dry fibre' [1-2mm], while below is 'short, dark green. Top right is 'long hillside green with 'long wild grass' below. The last two are my favourites, but I mix them as, as required [& sometimes just what is available!]. A case of study pictures of where it is you are modelling. The shorter fibres give a more dense covering, but that said, once the first layer is dry, you can hit it with spray mount, clear varnish, etc and then go over it with the Grasstech again. At first, it is easy to get carried away by this and grow ever longer grass, but in practice after a couple of goes, it starts to look wrong. The other pictures show things like the effect of putting fibres on a layer of foam scatter [used extensively on Arigna Town] & also over boulders [coarse grave set in the same]. The grassy tufts in between the sleepers were done using the Noch puffer bottle [great for small or tight spaces], while there are a couple of shots where I've used Postiche for brambles etc. You can also see a couple of areas where I've mixed bright 'flower' coloured foam scatter with finer, dark green foam, to create a wild flower mix in amongst the static grass. More of that later. Am going down the Club tonight, so hope to do some photos of fibres on scatter foam, colour variations & so on, while on a future input will focus on just using scatter. with a static grass machine, note that total time for this sort of work is very much minutes & not hours. It really is very satisfying!

Junction mad says it all far better than me, likewise Mayner!

So, Tolworth this weekend and another show to prepare for. Hopefully have given the turntable mechanism a new lease of life in the form of the innards of a chocolate block connector. Stripped off the plastic coating and beneath is a brass block with two screws that nicely take 3mm steel rodding which forms the under baseboard drive shaft. Hence should now get a good, non slip purchase from the crank handle. Meanwhile, the Austin 7 needs a wheel fixing and everything else is due a pre-show clean up - track, wheels, pickups etc. Then it is an early start on Saturday for an 8am arrival to set up before the show.

Sometimes, less is more - and this little scene = a lot

On 30th & 31st January next year, Arigna Town is going to the Pontefract and Normanton model railway show, at the heart of the Yorkshire liquorice & rhubarb triangle. As none of my usual helpers are available that weekend, I'm wondering if anyone from the IRM community is interested is joining me? You would need to be fairly local, as I would not be able to offer travel expenses or accommodation, as that has already be agreed with the club. However, you would get free entry to what is always a very good show, with lunch thrown in as well. The layout is very simple to operate, being analogue, with wire in tube point control and no section switches, though an ability to use three link couplings is essential, as is running trains a prototype speeds. It would be nice to link up with like minded souls, so if you think you can be available on either Saturday or Sunday, send me a personal message & I'll get back to you with further details.

With pretty much all RTR track work, as far as I'm aware, none are particularly close to prototype dimensions. Peco, for instance, has sleeper spacings that are wrong, because the track is a compromise to fit with HO as well as 00 [presumably for the USA and European markets. However, at least their medium radius points are about 900mm/3ft. Hornby's are much tighter, which is why tension lock couplings are a must - otherwise, buffer locking when propelling stock would be inevitable through reverse curves. A 900mm radius point [technically, it should be called a turnout] in 4mm scale works out at 68.4 metres on the real thing. In old money, that is just over three chains [66 yds], which would only happen in dockyards, where there would be a check rail and the locos would have big buffers to cope. I believe that early mainline diesels were built to cope with a minimum radius of 12 chains, or well over 3 metres in 4mm scale... So, getting prototype radii ain't going to happen unless you a blessed with enormous space. A simple oval would require the equivalent space of a double garage! In practice 900mm radii will look fine [especially compared to Hornby. Go along the self build route [eg C&L kits] and they do not talk about radii in mm, but go on A5, B5, A6, A7 etc turnouts. I've built some in 7mm scale, where [i think] a B5 equates to about 2400mm [8ft] radius. In 0 gauge, Peco points are 1800mm [6ft] radius, where aPeco point is about 450mm long, a C&L one nearer 600mm. In 4mm scale a 900mm point will be about 10 inches [250mm] long. Overall therefore, in 4mm scale 900mm radius points will work well and look good for most purposes. Tighter radii are fine in specific circumstances like dockyards, while broader/sweeping curves will certainly enhance a mainline scene. Trouble is, few of us have the room and even if we do, the urge is always to have more layout! By the by, the spell checker on this thing substituted g for f in the word buffers. Just as well I spotted it - though industrial engines did indeed often have big'uns...

That is one very nice piece of work.

I have both Eoin and Geoff was indeed a true warrior. Never met him, but know one or two folk who did. The models he shares in the books are just stunning. There is a section on firebox washout plugs I need to go through shortly, can only hope a little of it rubs off...

More Klingon [in my dreams], than Viking... not sure there are many 'warrior' railway modellers out there!

I believe the kit is now marketed by Gladiator Models, Eoin. Don't envy you on the Scotsman - a serious amount of work, even without the flaws! Am hoping to fit working inside valve to Sir Henry. fingers crossed a Laurie Griffin Miniatures kit will do the job. At least there is decent room between the frames. Time was, you could call yourself a real man just by doing outside Walschaerts, now Ballyconnel Road locos have inside valve gear in 3mm scale...

Went to Expo Narrow Gauge last Saturday & with Branchlines there, was able to get a motor gearbox. This one is an 1833 with 40:1 gears. Assembly is a matter of minutes and as luck would have it, the unit fits neatly inside Sir Henry's firebox. While I was on the chassis [and because I'd ordered the bogie wheels from Slater's], I had a go at the bogie unit. I'd bought a Northstar equalised unit ages ago for a 4-4-0 I was building, but ended up not using it.A standard gauge version, I took the easy way out and did a 'Tyrconnel' - in other words, soldered the bearings in back to front to take the longer axles. It is one of those additions that is seriously clever, giving both lateral and vertical springing. Will need to shorten the main spring a little I think, as it is currently a bit too strong. however, will wait until the loco is nearly finished as the eventual extra weight may not require it. The other pictures show additional work on the superstructure which includes beading on tanks, bunker and cab [always tricky], the smokebox door, steps and bunkers rails. The 'to do' list doesn't seem to be getting any shorter though!

Looking good so far.

Re the recent thread on scenics, I thought I’d offer my own take on the subject & show you what I do. In fact, there is very little innovation in my work, more a case of pointing towards what I have learned from others. For me, there are three key names – Barry Norman, Tony Hill and Gordon Gravett. The books illustrated are in effect the bibles of scenic modelling. Barry’s came first, in 1985, following the launch of Petherick on the exhibition circuit. This was an EM gauge layout, set in Cornwall and at the time revolutionised what we did with scenic and [should have anyway] spelled the death knell of dyed sawdust, in favour of lint and plumbers hemp, among other things. Next came Tony’s book in 1995, which made the most of the newer materials available from Woodlands and the like – mainly scatter foams, plus stuff like teddy bear fur – while Gordon’s work is the most recent and takes advantage of the latest static grass machines, while refining earlier techniques in the search of ever greater realism. Lesson number one should therefore be to get hold of one or all of these books, for each of them makes realistic scenery achievable by anyone with a bit of time and some careful observation. All the books cover how to build scenic foundations, but to be honest, almost anything will do, as long as whatever shapes your landscape is covered by a mixture of filler, PVA glue and browny grey poster paint. Flat baseboards can be built up with card, card, polystyrene tiles or whatever. Papier mache works ok, though make sure surfaces are sealed first, or the moisture can cause warping. Open top boards can use chicken wire, cardboard weave etc. Either way, the PVA/filler mix gives a smooth, hard surface on top, while with paint mixed in, should you get any chips, no white patches show through. Tools For 4mm scale and above, there is no escaping the fact that an electrostatic grass machine is not just a luxury these days. The effects are wonderful and the time saving enormous. Top of the range models, like my Green Scene version [now marketed as a ‘Flock It’] cost well over 100 euros. Cheaper versions, like the one based on a flour sifter are around a third of the price, while the Noch puffer bottles still have their uses and are very cheap indeed. You could make your own of course, but only if you know what you are doing… Materials If using an electrostatic machine, then fibres are required. These come in 1-12mm lengths, the shorter ones best in the smaller scales, but all have their uses in the larger scales. Colurs are VERY important. Grass [the main use for fibres], is rarely bright green – even on a soft day in Ireland! Sorry chaps, but some of the layout threads show some pretty vibrant/virulent, bilious even, shades. Real grass ain’t that bright. Hence go for beige and straw like colours and mix liberally with your less bright greens, because another key fault people make is using just a single colour. Forty shades of green came well before 50 shades of grey methinks! As my art teacher explained, paint what you see, not what you think, so good colour photos are essential in capturing the feel of the area you want to model. Think about the time of year too. Autumn has to be the hardest – witness some pretty hideous efforts in the model press – because the subtle blend of colours required almost always end up too bright. Spring greens are obviously the brightest, but by late June, things are starting to dry out, with many more lighter shades coming through. Geology has an effect on the flora too, so study your chosen area carefully and aim to copy what it displays. Remember too, that colours fade as you go into the background – especially important when doing backscenes. ‘Crumb’ or scatter is still important to enhance static grass fibres and a decent substitute if you don’t want to go to that expense. My personal preference is for Woodland Scenics. Fine and medium textures work best for me and following Gordon Gravett’s advice, I generally put a layer of these down first, before adding fibres on top. Other brands of scatter can be both too coarse and/or too grainy, I find, but again, never be afraid to mix both colours and media. Nature is not monochrome. Save the darker shades for trees and bushes – next time you go out, notice how these are always darker than surrounding grassland. Various thicker fibres, dried flower heads etc are very useful for making smaller plants and shrubs, so it is worth having a small stock in hand. Likewise the Woodland Scenics fibre matting. Sold with their tree kits, it can also be bought separately and has many uses for bushes, brambles etc. My other ‘must have’ is Postiche. A type of artificial hair, it can be teased out to make even finer matting than the Woodlands type & as such has many uses. The Chatham Club is busy with scenic work at the moment, so will aim to add to this thread as our work develops and show you what goes on.