Patrick Davey

The sand loading bank has been completed and getting bedded in with foliage. I was going for a weathered concrete look, but I think I may have gone too dark….?

If neither of the new tooling announcements is the long-awaited steam one, I shall be travelling home via the Samaritans in Dublin. Unless the number 80 is mentioned.

Can't wait for these - have the B&T one plus the 4-pack dark greens on order. A perfect fit for my current CIÉ layout.

The sand loading bank at Clogherhead is taking shape - the sub-structure is plasticard and the vertical faces have been covered with DAS and will hopefully be finished to represent concrete, it is currently drying outside. The coping stones, also made from DAS, have also been finished. Once the loading bank dries completely I'll add the coping stones and paint the whole structure.

Tis versatile shtuff!

I think DAS produces a very realistic stone effect when it's fully dried, lots of nice random chips etc.

Also more of the coping strategy as well….. I will need some coping stones for the top of my sand loading bank so I’ve used a plasticard jig to form DAS clay into long square strips which will then be cut into the coping stones.

TO QUOIN A PHRASE….. Doing some more prep for the construction of the eventual station building, in the form of quoins for the corners of the building. I have decided to try making these a structural feature rather than being purely decorative - 2mm square rod and 1mm plastic are the components but it’s very fiddly getting the quoins all the same height but any discrepancy can usually be smoothed over with filing afterwards.

Some more scenic work today.

Any sign of that by now famous IRM countdown widget............?

Thanks for the nice comments above! Foliage being added now. The project was intended to be a simple shunting layout to showcase the DCC sound capabilities of the MM and IRM locos but I'm starting to get carried away now......

The upper stretch of the stream bed has been 'stoned' this evening:

Thanks DJ - appreciate the nice comments Yip - all the structures on my builds are homemade (one exception last time though ) These were built from mount card and plastic strip, along with some stone-embossed plastic sheet. The painting was a mix of various shades of grey with washes of black and white, repeated until it looked ‘right’ to me The girder bridge also had a rusty wash added. All have been planted now and blending is underway. Cheers for the kind comments everyone!

A few small structures on the workbench at the moment: stone arches for the culvert where the stream passes under the railway, and a small girder bridge for the beach road to pass over.

Simply sensational - jaw dropping stuff!!!

And..... the path up to the future church has been taking shape, complete with fine 'wrought iron' gates courtesy of the folks at Scale Model Scenery:

The platform has been surfaced today:

Buffering and bridging today:

In the buffer zone:

I exhausted my stock of hanging basket liner so I got some more, but it’s a slightly darker shade of green - should actually help create more realistic varied ground colours. The remaining white areas will be covered in DAS clay for roads, the beach and the station forecourt area. Have also marked out the footprint of the church and built the girders for the overbridge, from mount card this time rather than my more typical plasticard.

Maybe because it's not a micro layout - makes sense now thanks Alan!!!

All good questions but I have no notion!! Might be able to salvage a flat wagon out of it at least.......

Have no idea - and even more of a mystery is the fact that only one of the two wagons was so affected!!!!

But in better news….. I have started applying the hanging basket liner base for the landscape. It looks like a bit of a patchwork quilt just now because I’m using up the offcuts from previous projects, but all will be blended together with scatter material and foliage etc.

FILE UNDER: HOWLERS Sometimes you just have to put your hands up and admit you made a complete mess of things.... Yesterday, I completed two of @leslie10646's fabulous new GNR wagons, and even if I do say so myself, I didn't do too badly as there was a decent even finish with the Halfords primer, and I took extra care to get the decals positioned properly before sealing everything with matt varnish. So far so good... These were intended for the sand traffic at Clogherhead so I put some of the actual sand into each wagon, thinking it would be a good idea to drop in some dilute PVA glue and let it set overnight...... Sorry Leslie.........