Patrick Davey

3mm thick card - Scale Model Scenery was the source

A bit more progress this evening. Structure glued together and quoins added, along with brick detail above the top window. Painting next then attention will turn towards the windows: the frames are painted and ready to install, then arches, sills and glazing will follow. The top of the quoins here will be tidied and the building will have a flat roof with coping stones at the edges.

Very neat!

The brickwork is progressing on the first block of the mill buildings. Thick card forms the rigid structure, faced with brick-embossed plastic sheet: I use PVA glue for the larger areas and Roket glue for smaller areas, for added strength. This stuff is like superglue for card! Each wall is done separately, and a pile of railway books is used to apply pressure as the separate assemblies dry overnight. Then the walls are brought together on a thick card base: And basic flooring adds strength: This will be a stair block, giving access from the platform to the upper floors of the adjacent building (also under construction). The buildings have sufficient depth to allow some internal details to be added - the windows are quite large so this is important. Staircases will be visible at the three windows. Tomorrow I will be working on the corner pieces, which will have quoins.

I hope the linen won’t get steam & smoke damage with those 800 class queens roaring past!

Great stuff JB! Has that van from Brookhall Mill not been delivered yet?????

At last - the builders have arrived at the mill, to get started on the construction of the actual buildings! They certainly took their time...... Wondering if the tall building is too tall...... The initial design has been adjusted a bit to give more room for internal detail. David Holman has given great advice on the construction of low relief structures and how to hide their truncated gables with trees but am not sure this will work here! I need your help here @David Holman I think!!

A visitor to the mill this evening......

Cheers Popeye - achieved through the use of a very fine-tipped glue applicator, which has since got broken so no more weeds for the time being....or maybe there are enough?

More or less finished with the roadway!

I wasn't happy with the spacing of the short rails between the running rails on each siding, nor was I happy with the layout of the cobbles/setts between them...... So it was all excavated and the surrounding areas masked off: Then the short rails were relocated and a new layer of DAS was applied: Am much happier with the look now - leaving the clay to harden for a few days then painting and scribing shall commence.

The Collooney view is interesting - so I am guessing then that there was a direct connection from The Burma Road onto the SLNCR? I don't have an atlas to hand so if so, does that mean that there could have been an uninterrupted journey from places south as far as Derry? Just looked up the layout at Limerick and Athenry so as far as I can see, it looks like a train could have left Tralee, bypassed Limerick, turned left towards Ennis, crossed the Galway line at Athenry, joined the SLNCR at Collooney, passed through Enniskillen and Omagh and ended its journey at Derry Foyle Road? @jhb171achill can you verify?

Ernie I'd say a lot of those hits are mine!!! We owe you a lot for sharing so many exceptional images

The Modeller's Corner in Enniskillen has a good few in stock: https://modellerscorner.co.uk

Just superb David! Impressive blending of the backscene with the gate and wall - great stuff!!

A 'cab ride' along this layout would be super!!!

Insanely good..... my layout is 48in x 18in and it's still not finished......

Ah - that’s what I need to hear, excellent! Cheers GM

More progress - brick pillars topped off with capstones and lifebelts provided above and beside the culvert. Also some weeds added, along the wall and between some of the setts and pavers.

Gulp. Love the supernatural DART!

"...powered items...." this suggests a railcar to me........ hopefully the prototype will have been of BREL origin......

Just thinking here....as the A classes are more than likely going to sell out completely...... Surely it's about time for another major announcement from IRM?

I had better build more buses then JB!

Almost there - some subtle dry brushing applied and foliage/scatter going on.

Thanks Leslie! No need to worry, these are supplementary to the rail services, bringing workers from such isolated locations as Aghalee, Stoneyford and Hannahstown