David Holman

Emery boards, new workshop files [old ones full of solder], which shows the missus did read my wish list. However, also got a the Classic Commercials kit of a 1939 Austin van in 7mm scale. She gave me this too - though in actuality I'd bought it myself at the Reading Trade Show. However, if you tastes are as specific as mine, it pays to be careful!

Here are some notes about my latest wagon for Arigna Town and the rather extensive weathering job I gave it. The model is of the Sligo Leitrim horsebox, actually a WLWR model, given to the SLNCR after their own was damaged in an accident. The Sligo’s van had been old, but the replacement was even older… As with much of my stock, it begins with an Alphagraphix card kit, though as usual it is only used as a drawing. Bodywork is a plastikard shell, embellished with Evergreen strip. Running gear is made from whitemetal castings, supplied by Alphagraphix, while wheels are the usual Slaters, opened out to 34mm back to back, to suit Irish broad gauge in 7mm scale. The first photos show the completed model in primer – Halford’s automotive spray can – which was then brush painted in overall grey brown acrylic [using artists colours], as I wanted to simulated bare wood showing through old, faded, peeling top coat. The Alphagraphix card kit shows the horsebox to be painted dark green, so next day a top coat of Humbrol dark matt green went on and this was then left to dry and harden for a couple of days. The next steps are largely copied from Martin Welch’s book ‘The Art of Weathering’ and involve using Humbrol Liquid Poly to partially dissolve the top coat and begin to expose the acrylic wood colour underneath. This is the clever bit, because we don’t want to put the base wood colour on top of the main coat – that is just not how it happens on the real thing… The next pictures show the effect of the Liquid Poly on the top coat. Suggest you use your computer to zoom in on the surface and see how it has become crazed and cracked. As before, this then needs to be left to harden for a couple of days before the next steps. Once hardened I then used a small flat screwdriver blade to scrape away at the crazed paint, exposing bare wood beneath. A glass fibre pencil was used in the same way to remove even more paint and therefore almost bare planks in places. Where metal strapping was exposed, this was later over painted with a mix of Humbrol grey, gunmetal and bauxite [64, 133, 53] – these colours also used on the underframe. The lettering went on before this – done by hand using a white gel pen, then a fine tipped orange marker on top. Again this got gentle treatment from the fibreglass pen to wear it down. All of this work not only scrapes the paint back, it also fades it to a lighter shade, as per real life. The final act was to give the whole model a thorough dusting with weathering powders [Freestone Models], including the roof, which had earlier been painted in Precision roof dirt. Still need to add door handles, but hopefully the model now looks as it would have at the end of its working life – dirty, faded and rather worn out.

Wonderful stuff - always look forward to seeing the latest postings. Have done outside Walschaerts and dummy inside Stephensons, but inside motion really does move it up a level, even in broad gauge.

As we know that one of our group was/is a postie, am now wondering who will admit to being the prototype for the model below? The models are whitemetal, from PLM Castaways. No painting instructions, but the Web is endlessly helpful [Google images of donkey carts worked well]. Nowt on the harness either, but again, the web has plenty of advice on how to harness your donkey, should that be your thing... Used single strands of fine wire, stripped out from multicore for the reins, but they are VERY basic and my levels of patience are very selective! Still have to decide what load to add. Turf one possibility, though this is a coal mining area. An thoughts on final detailing most welcome.

Now there's a thought. Thanks minister - will have a go.

Below are a few more pictures of the layout in its more scenically finished state. Essentially they try to portray the arrival of a goods train, with SLNCR Small Tank in charge, plus some shots of it shunting. Have tried to take the pictures from 'natural' angles - either the top of the water tower, trackside, or beyond the hedge looking across the station. The are a couple of shots of Railbus 2a arriving as well.

The best thing to do is to study pictures of the area you are modelling. Ballast is highly variable in colour & may be a good idea to mix two or more to get the effect you want. Don't forget that mainline ballast will be different from that used in goods yards too. For the latter I've used Woodlands fine cinders [even in 7mm scale] and would recommend that in 00 as well. For running lines, Woodlands medium works quite well. A serving railwayman at my model club reckons about 8 lumps between each pair of sleepers is about right. as he drive a Javelin for a living, presume he got that from being stopped in the station, rather than 140mph between... A mix of 2 brown to 1 grey looks good on our club layout, but then it all needs going over with paint, powders or whatever to simulate brake dust, oil etc, depending on which part of the track you are modelling. It is these little extras that will really help bring things to life and there are lots of colour pictures in book & on the web now to help.

While cannot comment on the accuracy of the models re the prototype, they certainly look the part and that is a real tribute to your workmanship, in particular the quality of the final finish. Tempted to say with those standards, why aren't you scratch building in 21mm gauge? Guess I already know the answer - time and output. And why not. Lovely stuff.

Must have missed this, but glad I noticed at last. Really top bit of work in a great setting.

There are a few colour photo albums which might help you. Tom Ferris has done two 'Irish Railways in Colour', while the is also Irish Traction in Colour by Colin Huntress. Actual quality of film that long ago means tones can't always be trusted, but then again, most stuff had a fairly heavy covering of grime. Nice to see someone new getting interested and the website can usually find someone with the answers you want - often a long way from Ireland! Check out the links to photo-collections too, there are some real gems.

Proper job. Like railcars and DMUs there are lots of subtle curves, plus a full interior to cope with. Well done!

Well, here he is. Don't think the cap is 'standard', but the black uniform bit certainly not difficult to paint. With the harp logo being no more that a scale 1mm and the wrist bands a mere 0.1mm, am thinking nobody will mind me missing them off.

Who would have thought a request of what colour to paint a 40 mm high figure could produced such a response. The very best of what this forum is about.

Will have a go with my S&D models postie and let you all know. Might not get the wrist band in though, even in 7mm.

Many thanks for the kind comments. The bufferbeam is indeed wood, rather than brass supplied in the kit. However, must admit to serious error as loco is Hazelwood, which should of course have a different cab. Gawd knows how many hours I spent checking photos to miss that! At some point will have to add the extra bits... Fingers crossed, Arigna Town will make its debut at the Chatham Show in early June. After that, open to offers. Would love to take it to Ireland eventually. One day perhaps.

Though there is still a lot of detailing to do, much of the layout is at least now covered with scenic materials, so here are some views of areas that have not been seen for a while. The sharp eyed among you will notice that the butter factory is now Leitrim co-op - an ideal [if fictitious] source of van traffic both in and out of Arigna. There are people too, while the view across the field to the station and yard is enhanced with the last bit of greenery filled in. See previous post and the workbench forum for more details, plus the buffer stops post for close ups there.

One more tip is to use talcum powder to tone down colours. especially good with stock, but works almost everywhere and if you don't like it, can easily be removed. The two pics show where I needed to touch up a section on the level crossing. Stick out like a sore thumb at first, but the addition of a bit of talc blends it in nicely

The final bit of groundcover on Arigna Town has been the field in front of the station and yard. As a proportion of the layout, it is quite large, so needed a variety of colour and texture to look right. Started with a layer of PVA, on top of which went a scattering of Woodlands 'fine medium green' scatter. Then wetted it all [with a water spray from the kitchen] and after a couple of mins for the glue to wick up to the surface, got to work with the Grasstech. A mixture of several different lengths and colours went on all in one go, then it was left overnight to dry. The second phase involved adding more Woodlands scatter onto the tips of the grass fibres, having first put a light smear of PVA on with the tip of a finger. Postiche, teased out and fixed with spray varnish went next, with more scatter material sieved on. Spent a while doing this & then the next day added some longer dry grass stems [sisal], glued into the grass. finally, more spray varnish was added in various places where the grass was a bit thin, to thicken and lengthen the cover and while still wet, some more fine scatter was sprinkled on. Would still like to do another pass, with fine scatter mixed with yellow & white crumb to suggest buttercups and daisies, but have run out at the moment, so will have to wait till the new year. Hopefully the pictures tell the story

Here is my take on an Irish buffer stop. Needed one for the other end of the turntable and eventually went for an ABS kit of whitemetal castings. Ditched the rail built beam [too short for broad gauge], in favour of a sleeper, though suspect the corners need clipping. My usual faffing around with the Grasstech and scatter material completes the scene.

Well, he is called Pat!

Many thanks everyone and especially Boskonay for the fabulous painting. A picture is certainly worth a thousand words!

As the budget is tight, then a Grasstech or other static grass machine may be a step too far as they can be anything from £30 to £100, plus you will need to get the fibres too. However, a Noch puffer bottle works well in small spaces [with fibres] and is worth having a go with if you can get one. With Woodlands, suggest sticking to the fine and medium scatter and sieve it on via a kitchen implement for more even cover. For hedges, I use rubberised horsehair [see the tutorial and workbench sections]. Even without fibres puffed on, covered with scatter it looks good. Also very effective is pan scourer type material, but make sure you tease it out really thin before adding scatter. For bushes and hedges, your local model shop may well do pack of lichen. Often in lurid colours, it benefits from being toned down - either spray can or brushed - to an even grey brown. Then once covered with scatter [diluted PVA painted on], makes very effective bushes and shrubs. The front garden of the Georgian house on Arigna Town was done this way. In smaller scales can even pass for trees, especially at the back of the layout. Not that long ago dyed lint, teddy bear fur, plumbers hemp, sisal etc were the basics for all scenic work and [especially in the smaller scales] are still valid today. For larger trees, I use the wire skeleton method, with Woodlands matting for foliage. Well worth a go and any wire will do, though the soft iron [paper covered] stuff sold for flower arranging is easy to work with and a pack only costs a pound/euro or so. Covered with filler mixed with PVA for a strong but flexible bark. Fences are indeed a problem, not least because they are so fiddly. I have a big bag on matchsticks and often use these for lineside fencing - often not bothering to put in the wire strands and nobody seems to notice! Overall, it is easy to spend a fortune on bits and pieces, when we really want to save our cash for locos and stock. That is why a bit of DIY and creativity comes in with the scenic. Most of my buildings are made from card and when I worked in 4mm scale, much of that came from cereal packets and the like. The biggest impact on scenic is colour and texture and the moral is what my art teacher always said. 'Paint what you see, not what you think', though when modelling scenics, toning everything down a shade or two always seems to be more effective. Keep going with your project - a look back over all the postings shows how well things are developing.

One for the historians! Can anyone remember what colour the postmans uniform was in Eire in the 1950s please? Have a figure I want to paint.

Nicely weathered stock, but if I may offer mild criticism the ground cover is a very bright green in some scenes. Commercial scatter materials often do not help with this, though of the main suppliers Woodland Scenics palette is much more subtle.

Am fairly sure somebody does laser cut sheets for roofing, though not sure what sort. Howard Scanics, Freestone Models, does a 7mm scale embossed sheet for roof tiles. This is a thick cartridge paper and still needs cutting into strips. Might be worth checking out the Wills sheets too. Though 4mm scale, I use their corrugated ones in 7mm and they look fine. I just bite the bullet and measure/draw out a grid on copier paper ( for slates) and card for tiles. Could do it quicker on a computer methinks. Then cut into strips and then use scissors or craft knife to cut the strips half way to give the gap between each tile or slate. Use random lengths of strip (anything from 3 to 15 slates) and build up the roof from the bottom edge upwards. Another tip is to stick the strips with double sided tape. Works surprisingly well. Would never suggest doing a roof one slate at a time, but using strips gets it done fairly quickly. A good tip in any scale is to use micro strip for guttering. Make it thick enough and deep enough to glue to the wall, but round the front edge first. Nobody notices the gutter is not hollow. Check out Arigna Town pics to see what I mean. Downpipes are plastic rod, with masking tape to suggest the joints.