My 7mm scale 1950s workbench

[jhb171achill]

Just now, leslie10646 said:

I have to agree, with David, David (think about it, the wording is correct!). I like clean model locos too and if you look below, they CAN be authentic!

How do you explain this photo of your loco months before closure

At Glenfarne, taken by the late Lance King, Copyright IRRS

It had just had its regular cleaning. Come rain or shine, it got one every 22 years throughout its life. Next would have been due in 1978.

[Galteemore]

21 hours ago, leslie10646 said:

I'm a bit late to this discussion but I have to agree, with David, David (think about it, the wording is correct!). I like clean model locos too and if you look below, they CAN be authentic!

How do you explain this photo of your loco months before closure

At Glenfarne, taken by the late Lance King, Copyright IRRS

PS The building looks great.

Ok Leslie - I’ll take the bait! Clean engines have their place- like a fully lined out MGW one..

Enniskillen looks lovely, and I suspect this is not long after her last shopping at Dundalk. However, Bob Clements’ photos on the very last day show Enniskillen rather dirty, as seen also in these cine stills of her last revenue working on 30 Sep 57 . Should I ever finish ‘Blacklion’, she will be in gleaming black, though ! Anyway, I don’t think my Enniskillen looks completely unloved!  

 

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by Galteemore

[David Holman]

There is that picture of Lissadell, albeit some time out of traffic, where there seems to be more rust and dirt than paint!

 Perhaps because my memories of steam are from the early 60s onwards ( and especially 66 onwards), I rarely saw a clean loco. I also think that it is not easy to make a convincing job of a clean black loco - especially a shiny one. Gloss finish looks too much to my eyes, while almost as soon as a loco begins work, then a patina of dirt and dust is inevitable, which on a model gives all important texture and contrast to an overall black finish. Indeed, there is little if any black in the photo of the prototype above, just many shades of grey. Fab photo either way.

 Nice looking track David - Code 100 flat bottomed, I presume?

Edited December 1, 2022 by David Holman

[Galteemore]

Indeed, David. There is also a photo in Keith Pirt’s Irish colour album of a very much in traffic Hazelwood looking decidedly shopsoiled - with a very rusty chimney to boot! As for the track, it’s code 100 indeed. It’s all I know ! 

[Galteemore]

Last week’s copper track looked like this. Now it’s a bit more like the ash ballasted and thus weed infested PW horror that was SLNC track…..bit of rail cleaning and vacuuming required before we can run anything….

Edited December 13, 2022 by Galteemore

[David Holman]

Almost a shame to clean the rail tops!

[David Holman]

What did you do to colour the sleepers? Looks very effective  - including a subtle hint of wood grain.

[Galteemore]

Usual mix of planning and accident David! Various shades of light grey and very light brown/tan randomly brushed on. I find that a ‘saw’ brush with various length bristles helps give the wood effect. It was even clearer before the PVA mix went on , some of which went over the sleepers. I haven’t done any 7mm scenics for a few years now so this little piece is a chance to refresh my memory and try a few new things….

[murphaph]

Even a usually cruel close up is extremely convincing. Bravo.

[Galteemore]

In an unprecedented burst of effort, ‘Lurganboy’ has taken a Great Leap Forward. Much time has been spent fettling chassis and body to ensure that we get the 5’3 clearances right. In a tag team effort between soldering iron and angle grinder today, the boiler was assembled and trial fitted. Motor hole cut and inside of splashers ground out to allow the 36.75 axle width. Put the bones together and it all seems to fit ….much to do, but it’s been an encouraging day.

[DiveController]

Little beauty! Looks fantastic and sooooo impressive in O gauge

[leslie10646]

David, that looks terrific.

Bit worried about the "Great Leap Forward" bit - the last iijit to have one of those starved countlless millions. I hope you're not starving Timothy and Christopher?

[Galteemore]

Don’t worry Leslie -not emulating Chairman Mao…I’d originally thought about describing the day as a Stakhanovite one but thought that wasn’t appropriate either….the forum software actually auto-capitalised Great Leap Forward, which is more of a worry. I’d just meant it as a generic description, not a quote from the Little Red Book! 

6 minutes ago, leslie10646 said:

David, that looks terrific.

Bit worried about the "Great Leap Forward" bit - the last iijit to have one of those starved countlless millions. I hope you're not starving Timothy and Christopher?

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by Galteemore

[Patrick Davey]

Wow fabulous work!

[leslie10646]

стахановец, my dear David? Not many Workers in USSR worked as hard as that. As such workers were bent on striving even harder for good of The Socialist State, you were right not to use it - after all, you serve TWO Kings!

[David Holman]

Coming along very nicely!

[Galteemore]

Trialling some dummy fishplates…..

Edited January 5, 2023 by Galteemore

[murrayec]

Looks real.

Eoin

 

[David Holman]

That looks ridiculously good and with a fine cut in the rail top would challenge anyone to say it is not the real thing!

[Galteemore]

Thanks - knew I’d missed something! It was only meant to be a test track for locos but it’s got a bit out of hand..

[David Holman]

Looks very 'in hand' to me!

[Galteemore]

What I did in my Christmas holidays … as hinted above, the test track has grown from having some ballast to some scenery, to realising that the IKEA Lack shelf allowed me to model Abohill halt (between Florencecourt and Belcoo) to absolute scale. So my photo plank actually replicates a scale section of the SLNC, which is rather fun. As usual, lots of mistakes and lots of learning too. Original photo taken post closure by J J Smith - no photos of the station in use have been published. Thanks to @Patrick Daveyfor pointing me to battery LED lights ! Now I’d better finish a loco to pose on it…

Edited January 8, 2023 by Galteemore

[murphaph]

Amazingly well done. The backdrop blends in completely seamlessly!

[David Holman]

Fabulous!

Time very well spent.

[Patrick Davey]

Oh how nice is that!  Echo @murphaph's praise for the blending of the back scene, just beautiful!!

[leslie10646]

Jaw-droppingly good.

AND I had no idea that IKEA made baseboards which you can attach to the wall!!!!!

[Tullygrainey]

That is beautiful! 

[David Holman]

All sorts of lessons and inspiration here, not least that you don't need a huge space to produce something of quality. For me though, it also shows the influence of artistic talent, which makes this scene live and breathe.

 A great place to photograph favourite models too!

[Galteemore]

Thanks everyone. Lots of inspiration from this site and Gordon Gravett’s books……Got to say, too,@David Holmanthat your mantra, crudely summarised by me as ‘model what is there, not what you think is there’ has been been most helpful! 

Edited January 9, 2023 by Galteemore

[David Holman]

Back in the day, when tv programmes were made for schools to watch, a favourite of mine was "Look, Look and Look again!" Sound advice for anyone and even when you look at early Picassos, it is clear he was a brilliant draughtsman before he followed other paths.

 Cubist model railways another matter methinks!

[Tullygrainey]

33 minutes ago, David Holman said:

Cubist model railways another matter methinks!

Might be worth a try?

Gino Severini: Suburban Train Arriving in Paris, 1915 (Tate Modern)

[jhb171achill]

43 minutes ago, Tullygrainey said:

Might be worth a try?

Gino Severini: Suburban Train Arriving in Paris, 1915 (Tate Modern)

.....(tries to work out what livery it's in, and whether it's upside down.........)

[Galteemore]

WARNING - PICTURE HEAVY POST!

‘Abohill Halt’ was conceived as a test track for new locos. So it really needs new locos to be tested…at long last ‘Lurganboy’ is done. It’s been quite the learning journey. As an early version of the kit, it included the very stumpy chimney that was later replaced by a new casting: not much help to me though! So I had to source a new chimney - and Laurie Griffin came up with a very nice GW option which looks close enough. Far more challenging was The Great Rivet Disaster….read on if you dare.

I was intrigued to find when I opened the kit that someone had done the original owner a favour by embossing the rivets. I was delighted - SLNC locos are full of them and it would save me a lot of work. Al went well until the primer went on - and  the rivets were invisible. Charitable assumption is that thirty odd years of storage in various temperatures had caused the brass to expand and contract so many times that the embossing had faded - critically, on all the tanks and bunker surfaces. This is a huge problem -  rivets on an SLNC loco are a defining feature. You may as well leave the chimney off as not have rivets. Mercifully I had some Archers transfers to hand. They’re not perfect by any means but at least there is some surface definition now.

Anyway, we’re finished now. I realise that some people like clean engines. But let me make the case for weathering. Look at Lurganboy in clean black and red. She looks nice enough but none of the detail really pops. The underframe and body have little definition. But also look at the overall scene. The loco sits on the scene rather than in it. This is what, I think,  happens on many otherwise excellent exhibition layouts. The elements are individually exquisite but don’t gel. Not saying my stuff is exquisite btw!

So we weather to knock back the rawness, make the details stand out, and make the scene blend together. The underframe has had a scunge of enamels mixed on, stippled with talcum powder to give that greasy, dirt encrusted melange of a loco chassis. Above the frames it’s all just weathering powders. Black and dark brown from above, where the soot falls. Greyish brown dust from below where dirt rises. Go slowly and work from photographs. The patterns here are all taken from 1950s colour snaps of SLNC locos.

Glazing, real coal, and crew added to complete the picture. And yes, it does actually run! https://youtu.be/9H5RIh9Uoc8 (oops don’t think track is quite as clean as I thought…..she runs sweet as a nut on the bench) 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2023 by Galteemore

[leslie10646]

Absolutely fabulous!

Mind you, it shows how nice it is to have a nice big oval to test / run things in!

 

[murphaph]

Amazing work and the weathered version is far better looking to me too! It just adds so much realism.