David Holman

In SE England, it has been half term week, which for a consultant primary school advisor [ex headteacher to boot] like me means some welcome down time. That said, I'm semi-retired these days, so try my best not to work too hard/often anyway. So, an opportunity to get some serious modelling time in... However, things did not go entirely to plan - probably because I tried to do too much, in too many areas & ended up being less satisfied with my efforts than my usual 'little and often' approach. The moral of this little story is that you can have too much of a good thing and that building a model railway should definitely not be a race - even if you are working to an approximate deadline. Work quality suffers and satisfaction levels fall. It also reminds me of one of my modelling rules - namely 'stop while you are winning'. so many times, I have found myself trying to do one more job at the end of a session, only for it to fail, with much language unbecoming of a headteacher, though actually, as a profession, I have found we are pretty good at profanities, though never in front of the children of course. Hence I now regularly remind myself that if a particular task is not complete, then it is better to leave it for another day. Nevertheless, procrastination is the thief of time, it is said, and what certainly does work for me is to try and get in an hour or so of modelling at least 4 or 5 days a week. If not, it is very easy for a week or more to go by with nothing getting done & it then becomes ever harder to start again. The antidote should this happen, is for me, to either dig out a kit, or do a bit of research. Happily, the extensive resources of this website are a fine source of inspiration. Enough of this wittering! There are books to be read, websites to visit and a glass of Bordeaux awaits.

Humbling comments chaps. You certainly know how to make someone feel good! The white, corrugated building started life as a dairy, believe it or not, but there wasn't enough room for it on the previous layout. However, you are right, it is Wills sheets, the corrugated asbestos version, which to my eye look fine in 7mm scale. The provide the overlap of sheets much better than Slaters. The building is now serving as the Arigna Town Miners Welfare... The barn is also all Wills sheet, on a card formers. The stonework is used all over the layout and is marginally easier to paint that brickwork. The trick with the corrugated roofs is to run dirty thinners into the gullies and when dry, dry brush the ridges with a lighter shade of the top colour. See Martyn Welch bible for details. Meanwhile, have become unhappy with the back scene behind the goods yard, middle board, so that has been painted out, pending a mark two (or maybe mark 3) attempt. Will keep you posted.

Have been working my way along the layout, towards the station, from the fiddle yard. A couple more trees done and much fun experimenting with the electrostatic grass tool. 6mm fibres mainly, but also judicious use of postiche [artist's hair], spray lacquer and fine crumb. Have had to adjust the colours on the backscene as the trees did not match the colour of the Woodlands scenic matting I used for the foliage. Still more work needed here as the colours are still probably too bright.

Here are a couple of pictures I promised, showing how the use of an electrostatic grass tool can enhance a rubberised horse hair hedge. The first is showing bare 6mm fibres, the second after a spray with beige paint. Good possibilities for a winter hedge methinks.

No varnish Mr P - whatever the powders are made of, they stick quite well without it. Am sure the process of roughing up the surface keeps the particles in the crevices and most is brushed off anyway. Doubt if it will stand up to a lot of handling, but my fiddle yard is a full train turntable, so shouldn't be a problem [i hope!]

Good stuff! Always a positive when trains not only look good, but run well too. By no means a given, in my experience, so well done.

Very nice, though a further enhancement is described by Gordon Gravett which uses an electrostatic grass tool to put 6mm fibres on to the rubberised horsehair, then spray brown/grey, before then adding the fine crumb. The fibres are great for hawthorn, gorse or any thorny or fine branched hedging. Dead simple and very effective. Will put up some photos at the weekend.

If I hadn't been committed to SLNCR, I would certainly be having a go at the T&C. Argadeen has long been one of my favourites and roadside tramways are another. Add in the ability to run a C class diesel and it becomes almost irresistible. One day...

Thanks - Sprinks album is my bible, while have five cattle vans to date, all scratch built. Are yours 4mm or 7mm? Mine are the latter. Bread wagons currently on hold as may not have room in the fiddle yard. One day though...

That is the one. Apparently now the best selling rtr O gauge loco ever. Runs as well as it looks too. Minor gripe is the lack of an underside to the boiler, which shows much less in black, but at this price, it is hard to complain.

As mentioned in my blog, have recently completed two SLNCR brake vans. Construction was fairly straightforward, with a plasticard shell, detailed with Evergreeen microstrip on Tyrconnel models whitemetal chassis. Initial painting was by using Halford's grey primer spray can, then hand lettered with a white gel pen. The first picture shows them in this initial, raw state. Then used a fibreglass pen to rub down the paint an lettering to make it appear worn. Afterwards a wash of 'dirty thinners' [Precision roof dirt], was loaded on by brush, holding the van at an angle. This means all the dark colouring is pulled into scratches and cracks, like dirt would be on the real thing... The next pics show my GW model rivet press, which I use to emboss rivets onto micro strip for wagon strapping, plus the Freestone Models pack of weathering powders. There a quite a few options out there these days, but these are the ones I get on with. The littlle make up tubs make them easy to store and apply. Before the weathering powders though, I spend time painting the metal work - mainly wheels in this case. A blend of Humbrol 53 [gunmetal], matt black and leather [63] give a nicely worn effect, as first described by Martyn Welch in The Art of Weathering. The Freestone powders were then dusted on using a medium sized paint brush, as appropriate. The key here has to be to work to a suitable photo. It doesn't have to be the wagon in question [though this helps], but do work on what you can SEE, not what you imagine. A lot of the powder gets brushed off and can be saved in a new 'generic dirt' tub for future use. The final [and very important] trick is to then give your model a dusting of talc. This has the effect of softening the work and gives a neat, dusty, effect. Obviously, much depends on the level of grime you are applying and in both case here, this was pretty heavy. I feel it looks ok, though that is for others to judge. Hope this helps!

Clearly not, seems to be the answer! either I have stumped you all, or [more likely], this is not an area of interest perhaps. Anyway, managed to get some answers of my own, which weren't entirely what I was hoping for, though many thanks are due to Ixion for their advice. The little Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T is a fair ringer for the J28 which ran on the Timoleague and Courtmacsherry tramway [though this was actually a Hunslet]. I was hoping that I could replace the axles with extended ones available from Slaters and then tweak out the pick ups and move the brake shoes. However, the Ixion wheels are on 1/8" [3mm] axles, whereas the Slaters ones are 3/16" [5mm]. Ok, longer axles could be cut from suitable steel rod, but might present issues with wheel quartering. In addition, the drive wheel axle is knurled & getting the gear off could be tricky. All this adds up when you have to spend [a very reasonable] £225 for the little loco & immediately invalidate its guarantee... Which is a shame as it could otherwise have present an ideal intro to 7mm scale Irish modelling. Having said that, if you are happy with 32mm gauge, then why not? If so, I would urge anyone contemplating such a project to go for light section rail [say Code 100]. Once did this for an English roadside tramway and have several folk asking me if it was broad gauge. Tyrconnel models do the other two Timoleague locos and some coaches, so a model of this delightful line is perfectly possible. would still aim to do 36.75mm gauge though - it just looks the part.

The last few weeks have seen the completion of a couple of brake vans [sLNCR types] and a change of focus to the scenic side of things. A total of nine tree 'skeletons' have been made from a mixture of florists and other wire, then coated with layers of filler and PVA, before being painted, ready for 'dressing'. The process seemed to take forever, but when it came to dressing the first tree [an oak to hide the entrance to the fiddle yard], it seemed only a few minutes work with Woodlands Scenics 'matting' and a reasonable representation was in front of me. Planting took a bit longer, as it is important to fit the whole thing into the ground, but while I'm sure I'll want to go back to it, there was much encouragement in getting this first little cameo in place. Next to the tree is the Station Garage. Based on the Alphagraphix kit, this is in fact made almost entirely from plastic sheet. Essentially a fairly simple building, it will be all the bits and pieces that go with a garage forecourt and exterior which made of break this scene. The petrol pumps are made of plastic and clear sheet, with filler nozzles coming from suitable looking bits of whitemetal from the scrapbox, while the hose is just wire, still in its sheathing. The level crossing gates are also scratchbuilt and are hinged, pending some future date when I build up the courage to mechanise them. Over the crossing is a detached Georgian house. Done in half relief, the oak tree tries hard to hide this, while in front are lawns, gardens full of perennials, hedging and a rose arch over the front gate. A mixture of woodlands scenic scatter materials, lichen and fibres - work out for yourselves which is which! The next step will be the end terrace on the other side of the road, plus the area around the signal box. this will test my ability to follow the ideas outlined in Gordon Gravett's new book, which deals in some detail with the rough ground we find in yards, lanes & the like. Another tree will go behind the signalbox to hide the part relief of the Welfare Club. My workshop is a total mess at the moment, with tubs of scatter material, glue, sprays, filler and goodness knows what else. Scenic work certainly requires a wide range of materials.

Am now at the stage where 'ground cover' is being added, so decided to start from the fiddle yard end. Hopefully the tree and garage help to hide the exit to the train turntable. Relied heavily on the writings of Barry Norman, Tony Hill and, especially, Gordon Gravett, who's new book, 'Modelling Grassland and Landscape Detailing' deserves to be the reference book of the next few years. you do need an electrostatic grass 'planter' though. Will add some more notes in my blog. The garage is still not finished and the close ups of the petrol pumps expose the crudity of my hand lettering. However, while the Classic Commercial castings and transfers remain unavailable will have to do for now. The pumps are [like pretty much everything else] scratchbuilt and came from doing an internet search for pictures. the choice of Esso was down to the 'head' being the simplest shape, though have since found that headless examples were quite common in Britain, so presume the same occurred in Ireland?

The resin [a 50-50 mix] sets more slowly than your stuff. Instructions suggest an hour, but it is removable within 30 minutes, when it is still flexible - which may or may not be helpful! Have not had any problems with bubbles in the casting process, though I've so far only done wagon an van sides, hence thin & open at the top. The detail the resin picks up is very good indeed. Scrubbed the master with a glass fibre pencil to impart a bit of wood grain and it is all there, along with finger prints etc if you are not careful!

Impressive - well done. Know where I will go for my next lot of mould making stuff now. Thanks!

Does anyone know if this loco can be adapted to 36.75 mm gauge. Just got a copy of Colin Boocock's Locomotive Compendium of Ireland and on p44 it shows a J28 Hunslet which is very similar. RTR models being still fairly rare in 7mm scale, with Irish ones even rarer, strikes me that this would make a nice introduction to doing broad gauge. The prototype ran on the Timoleague and Courtmacsherry tramway and at Fenit too. Would make a nice mine engine for my Arigna Town model if conversion is a easy option and £225 for a sweet running little engine is good value.

Got mine from Easy Composites as a casting kit. The resin lasts well but the silicon mould stuff definitely has a shelf life. The vans mould had bubbles that needed trimming. Will get new moulding stuff before I have another go! Will look forward to seeing what you are making

Now that's what I call trivia - much appreciated Minister. Reminds of a time years ago when operating a friend's layout of Groombridge. Very accurate model but got criticised by a viewer because the station garden did not have any runner beans growing & they were a feature of the time modelled. Needless to say, they were there the next time the layout went out... Will see what I can do about the poster!

Thanks again. All ideas and comments appreciated, especially in terms of prototype fidelity. The combined knowledge out there is wonderful.

Very much agree! peco track is fine for simplicity, geometry etc, but the sleeper spacing is wrong, being an amalgam of HO and OO. Works best with American outline.Marcway points are almost the same price as Peco and I can vouch for their robustness. They are also live frog and self isolating. However, for a truly Irish appearance the only thing that works is 21mm... By no means as scary as it sounds and Marcway will custom make points for a small premium over OO. Appreciate that for anyone starting off that OO seems more do-able, but consider 21mm in the long term as it sets the layout more than any other way can.

Many thanks once more for the positive comments. They are very encouraging to someone with no direct experience of the railway other than via photos. The idea of the Parkside van is very interesting, not least because I have several on my BR layout, so will definitely be checking the stock box. While I appreciate the comments on detail, the vans ( indeed all my wagons) are far from state of the art. For example the brake levers are Parkside left overs while the brackets are no more than two pieces of 60thou micro strip. The bees are also cut down Parkside and the lever does not link to the brake gear, mainly because I'm not sure how. The moral of all this is the good old three foot rule - actually more like 18" in my case - in that if it cannot be seen at that distance that you do not need to model it. I am guilty of including more, but it is hopefully that which contributes to the overall impression and or what stands out to you personally. For me the door chains matter, and the marks they make, so short bits of fuse wire, or strands of multicore, twisted up give a good idea of the chain. Barry Norman mentions this in one of his articles and it is so easy to include, in 7mm scale, anyway. As for weathering, having previously extolled the virtues of Martyn Welch's book, have mainly used powders on the bodywork, though did put a wash of dirty thinners over a good rubdown with a glass fibre brush to highlight the wood grain. Freestone Models do a very nice powders set, but there are others. However for underframes you can't beat Martyn's mix which is gunmetal and bauxite (Humbrol 53 and 133) plus a little grey or black. Hope this encourages others to add a little extra detail of their own, for there really is nothing difficult here that a bit patience can't overcome.

Very nice indeed - love the roadside tramway concept. Re the rubberised horsehair, in the absence of the proverbial runner horse, then industrial type floor scourer pads are a good substitute. As an ex teacher [& indeed headteacher], a chat with the caretaker produced an new circular pad, about 50cm in diameter, which I've been using for years. That said, the other varieties mentioned work just as well. Barry's book is still a great standby, while more recent works by Tony Hill and Gordon Gravett bring things up to date and are well worth having.

This is seriously useful stuff - thank you. Humbrol is indeed still available [owned by Hornby now] and 64 is the colour for wagon grey and 133 for brown [bauxite], though the latter is a satin finish. For quite a while though, I've been using Halford's automotive spray cans. These give a very even finish and their grey & red primers are ideal for wagons, especially in 7mm scale upwards. Add on the usual weathering and it works perfectly well.

VERY nice sir! Dare I mention that Tyrconnel [alphagraphic catalogue] produce a 7mm J26, while there is a 7mm small tank also available again. Methinks you are very much doing the right thing in terms of gauge though. 21mm looks so much better than 16.5