Somewhere on the County Down

[Tullygrainey]

A bit more progress with the layout. A station platform made in two bits because it will cross the join between the two baseboards. I used mounting card for the structure and after a failed attempt to use chinchilla dust for the platform surface - it ended up looking like congealed porridge after the glue went on -  I settled for 180 grit sandpaper glued to the top surface with wood glue.

 

Many of the stations on the County Down had cast concrete coping stones, 3ft x2 ft, along the platform edge. These had distinctive diagonal cross hatching, 8 lines in each direction. Deciding how to model these held me up for a while. 3D printing might well be the solution but that's a mountain I've yet to climb. Even base camp is still over the horizon. I managed to draw one coping stone to scale on the computer then copied and pasted to get what I wanted. The result was printed onto paper which I'd pre-painted with a suitable mix. (I'd already tried printing first then painting, only for the nice printed lines to disappear under the paint, despite using water colours). The printer survived being fed painted card. Phew!

 

After painting the sandpaper with various shades of artist's acrylic, the coping stone prints were cut into strips, scored and folded then glued down along the front of the platform and wrapped over the leading edge. 

 

Wills Coarse Stone (SSMP200) was used to cover the platform front, sanded back a bit and wiped over with filler. Paint did the rest.

 

The station building will bed down into a shaped hole cut for it in the platform. It's still sitting a bit proud in this photo. A bit of weathering will also help to blend building and platform together.

[Mol_PMB]

That is looking superb, and your experimentation with different techniques has really paid off.

I was going to suggest the edging could be laser-cut (I have such a toy) but I think your painted and printed version looks wonderful!

[derek]

38 minutes ago, Tullygrainey said:

A bit more progress with the layout. A station platform made in two bits because it will cross the join between the two baseboards. I used mounting card for the structure and after a failed attempt to use chinchilla dust for the platform surface - it ended up looking like congealed porridge after the glue went on -  I settled for 180 grit sandpaper glued to the top surface with wood glue.

 

Many of the stations on the County Down had cast concrete coping stones, 3ft x2 ft, along the platform edge. These had distinctive diagonal cross hatching, 8 lines in each direction. Deciding how to model these held me up for a while. 3D printing might well be the solution but that's a mountain I've yet to climb. Even base camp is still over the horizon. I managed to draw one coping stone to scale on the computer then copied and pasted to get what I wanted. The result was printed onto paper which I'd pre-painted with a suitable mix. (I'd already tried printing first then painting, only for the nice printed lines to disappear under the paint, despite using water colours). The printer survived being fed painted card. Phew!

 

After painting the sandpaper with various shades of artist's acrylic, the coping stone prints were cut into strips, scored and folded then glued down along the front of the platform and wrapped over the leading edge. 

 

Wills Coarse Stone (SSMP200) was used to cover the platform front, sanded back a bit and wiped over with filler. Paint did the rest.

 

The station building will bed down into a shaped hole cut for it in the platform. It's still sitting a bit proud in this photo. A bit of weathering will also help to blend building and platform together.

Wonderful

[David Holman]

Fab.

 Think the printed paper approach is the right one, especially in 4mm scale. Am guessing the markings on the real thing were fairly shallow and probably would look too deep on a 3d print. And you've still given a nod to modern technology!

 What could work in this situation is resin casting. When I've done my own wagon sides, found that even the fine scratches of a wire brush on the plasticard masters are picked up by the resin. Likewise even a glass fibre brush. Both good for wood grain effect.

[Tullygrainey]

2 hours ago, David Holman said:

Fab.

 Think the printed paper approach is the right one, especially in 4mm scale. Am guessing the markings on the real thing were fairly shallow and probably would look too deep on a 3d print. And you've still given a nod to modern technology!

 What could work in this situation is resin casting. When I've done my own wagon sides, found that even the fine scratches of a wire brush on the plasticard masters are picked up by the resin. Likewise even a glass fibre brush. Both good for wood grain effect.

You're right about the level of detail resin can produce David. It amazed me the first time I tried it. I did consider resin casting for these at one stage but in 4mm scale each one is 12mm by 8mm and I wasn't convinced I could even make a reasonable master either in plastic or clay. Also, if I made only one stone, the business of casting copies would be beyond tedious but if I tried to make a master row of them, consistency would be the challenge. The originals, being concrete casts, are all exactly the same. The paper versions have worked better than I expected but they're not as robust as plastic or resin would have been. I've sprayed them with artist's fixative but a coat of matt varnish might also be a good idea.

Some survivors on the remains of the platform at Ardglass station. Photos I took last year.

[Tullygrainey]

16 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

That is looking superb, and your experimentation with different techniques has really paid off.

I was going to suggest the edging could be laser-cut (I have such a toy) but I think your painted and printed version looks wonderful!

Many thanks. I hadn't thought of laser-cutting. Another technique not yet in my skill set

[Mol_PMB]

18 minutes ago, Tullygrainey said:

Many thanks. I hadn't thought of laser-cutting. Another technique not yet in my skill set

It would do a nice job of engraving the surface patterns and cutting out the strips too. Could be done in a material like 1.5mm or 2mm MDF to match the thickness of the real coping stones.

 

Here's a little test piece I just found lying around - an elaborate window shutter (this is in 7mm scale) cut and engraved on 1.2mm ply:

And a whole building I designed and made using the laser cutter:

I haven't unleashed the laser cutter on an Irish project yet, perhaps I should!

Edited May 25 by Mol_PMB
added images

[Tullygrainey]

My original intention was to put cassette fiddle yards on each end of this layout. However, if it's to go out to exhibitions, which I hope it will, it could be quite challenging, not to say tiring,  to operate so that there’s fairly frequent movement. There’s also the risk of damage as cassettes are changed or turned around. I know from experience that my locos don’t bounce when dropped.

Thoughts turned to a continuous run with off-scene curves and a traverser at the back to reduce the amount of stock handling and that’s what’s been using up my time and stock of abusive language. I think it’s going to work ok but it’s just about doubled the intended footprint of the layout.

Traversers are tricky things. I’ve made mine using ball race drawer runners laid on their sides rather than upright as they would be in a drawer. It just seemed easier that way to get the levels sorted. It’s probably over-engineered - I’ve seen more elegant designs - but I wanted it to be robust and to cope with reasonably sized trains. No track or wiring yet but it will have 5 roads each of which should be able to hold a loco and 5 coaches. (I have lots of locos. Coaches, not so many. Yet.)

 

The curved joining sections are made to take 4th radius set track. It took a fair bit of trial and error to get everything to line up. The job was a trial and I made the errors. I was going round the bend, literally and metaphorically.

 

I don't actually have a big enough space at home to lay it out. This is the front hall.  I may have to throw out furniture.

 

Of course the whole thing now needs some form of support to get it up to a good viewing level so that’s the current job.

Alan

 

Edited Sunday at 18:25 by Tullygrainey
typo

[Mol_PMB]

Very neat work! It will certainly transform the operations. 
 

Just a thought - would it be worth having a couple of short, fixed dead-end tracks off each end of the traverser section (flanking the through line)?
This would allow you to store spare locos and swap locos onto trains without handling them. They wouldn’t be accessible from all the traverser tracks but should be able to access some of them. 

[Tullygrainey]

1 hour ago, Mol_PMB said:

Very neat work! It will certainly transform the operations. 
 

Just a thought - would it be worth having a couple of short, fixed dead-end tracks off each end of the traverser section (flanking the through line)?
This would allow you to store spare locos and swap locos onto trains without handling them. They wouldn’t be accessible from all the traverser tracks but should be able to access some of them. 

Thanks for this. An idea worth considering. I'll know better what's possible when the thing is up and running. That might be a while yet!

[derek]

Excellent standard as usual Alan

[David Holman]

Clever thinking for the traverser! Nice too that you can use fairly tight radius curves for the off scene sections to keep the overall footprint compact. The fact that it all aligns nicely is a real challenge on a sectional exhibition layout, so definite pat on the back there!

 Did it once in 0 gauge. The layout was about 30' x 12' of which only the front 16' was scenic. Took it to the Chatham Show, but didn't get any more invites for some reason...

 Changed it to cassettes each end and suddenly the number of operators needed doubled, so your solution is definitely the right one. Presumably, only the layout and sector table will need substantial support, with the curves cantilevered off them and maybe just simple pillars in strategic places for the curves. Minimising the amount off  "stuff" to set up, transport etc is crucial in making exhibiting tolerable - but am sure you know that!

 Great idea and will make a lovely way to show off all your fine models. Good excuse to build some coaches too!

[Tullygrainey]

38 minutes ago, David Holman said:

Clever thinking for the traverser! Nice too that you can use fairly tight radius curves for the off scene sections to keep the overall footprint compact. The fact that it all aligns nicely is a real challenge on a sectional exhibition layout, so definite pat on the back there!

 Did it once in 0 gauge. The layout was about 30' x 12' of which only the front 16' was scenic. Took it to the Chatham Show, but didn't get any more invites for some reason...

 Changed it to cassettes each end and suddenly the number of operators needed doubled, so your solution is definitely the right one. Presumably, only the layout and sector table will need substantial support, with the curves cantilevered off them and maybe just simple pillars in strategic places for the curves. Minimising the amount off  "stuff" to set up, transport etc is crucial in making exhibiting tolerable - but am sure you know that!

 Great idea and will make a lovely way to show off all your fine models. Good excuse to build some coaches too!

I've obviously followed the same thought processes as you did David. Yes, I'm in the middle of building trestles for the scenic bit and the traverser. All being well the curved link sections, which will be bolted on at each end, shouldn't need more than a brush staff or similar prop halfway along, if anything. The whole thing is already looking like a challenge to fit in the car.

I have 3 BCDR six-wheeler etched coach kits in a drawer waiting till I have the mental strength to tackle them!