Beagnach end: A Branchline terminus.

[LNERW1]

Ballast looks better than mine... yours isn't covering the sleepers anyway! Pond looks great too. Congrats on making any progress at all. I know I haven't.

[derek]

22 hours ago, Metrovik said:

I used this stuff,  https://www.marksmodels.com/?pid=46076

purely because it seemed a lot less confusing than All the different types of woodland scenics water and most importantly because it was right beside the ballast glue on the shelf.

Sheesh, never came across that stuff before. It does look a lot simpler than the W/S stuff ok. Oh well, I have it now so I am gonna use it even if it kills me. The W/S water was a lot more expensive too- 33 euro I think. And I am not too sure how much it will cover. Hopefully do my river from one box. Hopefully.............

[LNERW1]

Looking at the schedule, next post will be on my birthday! Quite a nice present tbh.

[LNERW1]

On 16/7/2024 at 2:39 PM, DJ Dangerous said:

 

You're way off with the prototypical sign:

 

 

That went over my head the first time I read it…

[LNERW1]

I'll be seeing you on Sunday anyway, but for the benefit of those not so lucky, any news on the layout?

Edited October 25, 2024 by LNERW1
-looks at typo, sees typo, posts anyway.

[Metrovik]

Oh my god, it was August when I last posted a "monthly" progress report..... 

While it has been a very long time, being snowed in has allowed me to make some very decent progress. Firstly the plan has changed somewhat. The layout is now set firmly on the Waterford and tramore railway and despite looking nothing like either of the stations is a rough (emphasis on rough) representation of a scaled down Tramore station. (New layout name: Trá beag?) 

To reflect Tramore station a bit more accurately, I got rid of that ugly flat roof and added a second storey. 

The real world ain't flat so similarly to the actual station I'll be adding grass behind the platform and beside the running line. Does anyone know can you apply static grass directly to a wooden baseboard?

And finally I have managed to assemble a somewhat prototypicalish W&T passenger train.

Let's hope next month comes a bit sooner eh?

[LNERW1]

30 minutes ago, Metrovik said:

Does anyone know can you apply static grass directly to a wooden baseboard?

It’s probably best to unify the surface below the grass- this is an assumption however and not out of experience. Painting all surfaces that will have grass on them with a dark brown paint should give a realistic base colour that looks like soil and a more uniform texture. Another tip I’ve heard- pretty obvious but still important- is to use more than one colour of grass, and keep in mind what time of year your layout is set. Hope this helps.

[Noel]

2 hours ago, Metrovik said:

Does anyone know can you apply static grass directly to a wooden baseboard?

Yes you can and I’ve done it, but it is better to have base boards primed with undercoat paint or a sealer. Track underlay, ballast pva and static grass bind to it better. Many folks paint a dark brown colour under their static grass which gives an earthy soil look if there are any bare bits and also better bonding for the PVA. Unsealed wood just soaks up vast amounts of PVA. Looking good. Nice project. Frequently folks apply static grass to plaster cloth land scape shapes, banks, embankments, hills, etc, which its white so painting brown before static grass avoid ‘white’ bleed through any bare patches of grass. Baseboard  being wood helps as it’s already brownish.

[Galteemore]

Gordon Gravett also recommends a coating of scatter crumb before static application. This adds body and depth to the grass.

[Mol_PMB]

I use a surface coating mix of artex plaster, PVA and brown poster paint, and then on the final layer I sprinkle on the finest grade of brown ballast to add texture. That gives a great basis for the vegetation.