derek

Really love that bridge @Patrick Davey. Colours are fantastic. Well done

Fantastiic stuff Noel

this is some craic! Better than the eurovision anyway

Lovely model Kevin. Especially like the camber on the hips of the roof

@josh_I agree with @Flying Snail above. Definitely seal the boards, but as he says, use any old emulsion that is lying around. It will be far cheaper than buying varnish, and the colour won't really matter, as you will be covering it with scenics, track, ballast etc.

Thanks Alan. Should have thought of a punch. I was thinking more along the lines of something electricity driven, or even air driven. One of my punches is heading for the grinder so.

@Tullygrainey. Excellent work as usual Alan. Can I ask you about "scribing" the das clay? Do you leave the clay to dry completely before scribing, and if so what do you use? I always try to have my stonework done while clay is soft, but I intend starting on a station building soon, and I don't think my usual method would be practical. Also, the subtle green/yellow weathering- I am totally going to steal that idea. Looks great.

Love the job on the loco James. Any chance of a side on view? What did you use to weather it? And how? Basically I want a step by step tutorial. I am thinking of weathering my A class, but don't think I will ever get up the nerve unless I know exactly what to do and use

Thanks Patrick. No, it is actually a piece of mahogany I used. The cobbled surface is actually grooved out with a CNC machine. (One advantage of my trade ha ha). Similar to the platforms at the station. I actually ran out of straight track and had a couple of curves left, so that is how I ended up with that set up. When God gives you lemons........... @Patrick Davey

I have made a start on the cattle dock for the freight yard. Only early days with it .

Welcome back James

Love the rock face George. Very well done

To be honest @Davenport all my stone work is painted using the same method. I just use standard black and white emulsions, rather than buying patented paints. Mix the two to get a shade of gray I like. Put that on the walls first and when dry, apply a black wash. With these walls they turned out too light on the first attempt so I went over them again with more black. I used the same method with tunnel facings and church walls, using different levels of black with each. Hope this helps

Thanks lads. The walls were made from Das clay @Patrick Davey. I made a "former", basically a frame of 6mmMDF 100mm long by 48mm high. Clay pressed into it an levelled off. stone effect was achieved by use of this yoke I made a couple years ago from an old tv box card. My name and account number are still on it This pic is of another jig I made for smaller stones, but it gives a better view of how it was made The clay is then removed and flipped over to do the opposite side (placed back in the frame). Best side is turned to the camera ha ha. Ok so, more greenery it is. Thanks again @Galteemore @Metrovik, @Patrick Davey and @Gabhal Luimnigh

Thanks Alan. I was trying for the "grimy" effect. Might take the tweezers to the greenery and reduce it a little

Next up I think , will be a cattle dock at the church end of the yard ,and then ballast the whole yard. Oh I am really looking forward to all that ballasting- not

When you say "finally made a start after 40 years", what do you mean exactly. I suppose it's obvious, but I'm still asking

Again, thanks for the kind words @meathdane and @Bob229. As I mentioned , I have been creating new "stone" walls to replace the brick paper ones previously around the freight yard. this is what was being replaced - I had to make 18 wall sections (100mm each approx) from Das clay and 21 pillars- And this is what I ended up with. I tried a bit of ground cover as well but think I may have overdone the greenery a tad?

Excellent photos @NIRCLASS80. Good photography makes all the difference. And a super layout to begin with of course

That roof is mind blowing. Fantastic as usual, Kevin

Many thanks for all the words of support, lads. Means a lot. Thankfully the treatment has worked well for me. I have been fighting this thing since 2010 but this is the first time I have needed chemo. Hopefully I will get a break for a few years now. Previous treatments such as anti-body therapy and radiotherapy, while not as severe , are not really long lasting. Onwards and upwards now . Won't let it get me down

No updates on this thread in quite a while. I have been receiving chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma since December. The treatment resulted in quite bad back pain, so I did not really go near the layout. I had a meeting with my consultant during the week and the good news is that my latest scan was all clear. Cancer gone, in other words. Happy days. The trade off with my particular lymphoma is that it is non aggressive and slow growing, but it can never be fully got rid of. This means it will almost certainly return in the future, but hey, I will take the victories where I get them. I had been making some wall sections before Christmas to go around the railway yard, so hopefully I will have some some pics of those soon enough, now that the treatment is finished. Bet ye can't wait

Excellent! Never get tired of this layout

Fabulous !

Maybe @josh_ might be interested if they are free. I believe he is looking for donations below