KMCE

For building finishes, I use Scalescenes https://scalescenes.com/ . Both OO and N gauge covered. They have a few freebies, so you can have a go without any cost! I have bought and built a few of the buildings and they are both good value and give very realistic results with minimal input - instructions are good, however it is important to get the card thickness right. For the heavy card, I get mounting board from the local craft shop (c. €10) for an A1 sheet, however it does go a long way. I get good use from the "Scratchbuilders yard", as they provide, brick, stone, timber finishes, roof tiles, etc which are good value and you can print off as many times as you like. Brief note - use an inkjet printer rather that laser, as the quality of print is generally better. Regards, Ken

Good attention to detail & finishing on the buildings. From the construction photos, it looks like considerable use of thin plywood for most of the building? I like the merits of plywood's strength, but I'm too lazy to go to the workshop to cut parts - I prefer to use card with printed templates from AutoCAD for structure, & printed finishes from Scalescenes. Is the layout constructed in such a way as to make it transportable?

That is an absolutely stunning layout - well done. The buildings are incredible and very accurate - was this through site photos, or good use of google? Very impressive! Ken

That track was not going to fix itself, so I took my brave pills, put on the man pants and went at it! The copper clad PCB does make the tie rods etc easier to do, especially when you trim away some of the copper at the ends of the tie rod, so it runs under the rails without catching. One point is still giving some trouble with the switch rail not sitting against the stock rail properly - works fine in trailing direction, but de-rails in facing direction. Just needs a little fettling. The ash pit in front of the engine shed, needed longitudinal sleepers with plastic chairs added to the rail to fix and hold the rails. Looks better than the rivet construction, so I can see long days of cutting chairs to fit over the rivet and solder.... Lots of drop cables under the rails for power, however the wagon turntables are going to need a little thought to ensure I get power in both directions without shorts - not sure on that one yet; the gaps between rails may need to be generous to ensure I don't get a short across the tyre when crossing at 90 deg. Something else to fuss about later. It's really starting to come together though! The gauge and sleeper distances really looks well. BTW, the rust on the rails is real. The flux used to solder the rail to the rivet seems to remove any protection and rust starts to develop quickly - it will give an authentic look, except it will be necessary to keep the top of the rail clean for electrical conductivity purposes. Point motors and wiring to be done before I can set the base in more permanently. Regards, Ken

A little bit of progress. Painting the base boards and backs does make quite a difference. Lifeboat house is getting a little more detail and is nearly ready to dress into the layout properly - I'll probably leave it until I'm sure I don't need to lift the base again. Strand Street is starting to take shape - cobble lock street looks a bit better, but will need some distressing as it looks a bit fresh! Trying to add a little colour through door painting etc, otherwise it is all going to look a little drab!! Footpath is a little narrow - may need to bring it slightly forward. Window cills needed for the hotel to improve the look, as its a bit plain at the moment. Getting there & enjoying the journey........ Regards, Ken

Still a way to go, but getting there. More detailing, roofs & weathering to mute the whole lot down. Some form of road would be useful - perhaps cobbles with a basic footpath...... Getting there! Ken

Really nice layout there - I rather like the catch point detail on the sidings; nice touch. ken

Needed to build a small station house for the layout and looked at a few options but settled on the rather nice building in Florencecourt. It has a pleasant mix of whitewashed plaster and stone cornices with clear add-on waiting room. Best of all it's small and allows me a little more room for the backdrop & street scene. Still working on gutters, down pipes, and signage. Weathering will be done prior to fixing in place to reduce the finger marks. On a roll with building, so will probably continue and work on the backscene - you get a general gist from the printout behind the station house. Need to tidy up some details but it's coming together rather nicely. Cheers, Ken

Hello Folks, Many thanks for all the comments, they're much appreciated. Being doing some work over the weekend. The main factory / warehouse got a little more work & I started on the goods shed. Shortened goods shed, as there is not much space between the backboard and the wagon turntable - still plenty of work needed to compete. The platform is an old one I put in place for context. Really need to put some window sill on that factory!! And what every good port should have - A lifeboat station. A lot of detailing required on the slip and to tie the boathouse in. Obviously a lifeboat just poking out of the boat house will set it off nicely. Masking tape hinges until I can make up a few suitable hinges!! Cheers - till the next one.... Ken

Hello Leslie / Joe, I am a member of Scalefour Society and it has been a big help in getting going - the point building tutorial from Keith (Grovenor Sidings - http://www.norgrove.me.uk/points.html ) was particularly helpful, however he did stop short of setting up the stretchers. I started by using the Turnout ground connection kit (locking/stretcher bars & rods) from the Scalefour Stores, however this was quite elaborate & I found it very difficult to get the electrical separation needed to use the electro frog solution for power. A much simpler solution appears to be the strip of copper clad with wire / brass connections to the switch rails. Joe, many thanks for the offer of the PCB (I'm in Wicklow Town BTW), however, I have a sheet on order which hopefully will delivered shortly. Once I get this sorted, I should be able to fix the points down and complete the rest of the track. Regards, Ken

Hello All, Decided to start a new layout & also dabble in the dark art of P4 21mm. Quite a bit of work, but not a daunting as I thought it would be; building points is quite rewarding and there are plenty of resources out there to help you. The bit of info which is a little more difficult to sort out are the stretchers and tie-bars. Finally settled on using strips of copper clad PCB (on order at the moment) as the other attempts were not really working for me. In the interim, I decided to get started on some buildings. The idea is a fictitious Irish Port terminal – goods mainly but some passenger traffic from a small station. The plan is get some experience in building track and re-gauging locomotives & rolling stock. A little bit of scenery will help to set the track in its environs. Humble beginnings: Simple track-work with two sets of points & hopefully two wagon turntables at the end to pick up the track running at 90 deg to the mainline. Small engine shed - much more work needed! Factory / Warehouse to close out the ends of the track in a slightly more interesting way (?) . Plan would be to have the doors closed. I'm thinking only one wagon turntable would be active, as there would be a huge amount of work would be replicated for no real benefit. Long way to go, but this is to give a general feel as to where it is going - hopefully!! Enjoy, Ken

Hello All, Just thought I would add to this thread. I am in the process of developing a 4mm P4 layout; small table top, terminus layout to try out track an rolling stock conversions. So far points are built and will be fixed down shortly allowing completion of the remaining track. Some rolling stock and a Pug loco converted to test out the track & get the hang of compensated chassis. Early start, and a long way to go, but hopefully you can get some idea of the plan. Cheers, Ken

Many thanks for the replies folks - much appreciated. Achill, The locos are: GEM Webb 2-4-2T kit lightly modified to match GSR Class 434 Mainline J72 Badly masquerading as a GSR Class 551 I need to see where I can get number plates to put on the sides of locos - anyone here can do them in brass or similar? Ken

Wren, I'm having the same problem - base page loads, but all subsequent pages are html script. Ken

*Edited to refresh pictures Couple of photos of my small shelf layout (1200mm x 330mm). Model built as a shunting puzzle alá Inklenook sidings. Hope you like. Ken

My choice like a few before me would be for steam A Class 101 (J15) would be nice or, A Class 461 as note above Or what would be very nice - a Class 800! The trend does appear to be favouring diesel units and if it takes that route my preference would be a 121 Ken