Kingsbridge - old new layout

[Mayner]

Great layout Noel OO at its best! Reminds me of some of the plans in CJ Freezers plan book for larger layouts and the Rev Edward Beal's West Midland Railway.

 

One word with the tank train if its carrying Class A (petrol) should have at least a couple of vans or mineral wagons as barriers between the tank wagons loco & guards van. At one time CIE used a nice rake of silver Texaco tank wagons on the North Wall-Inchacore oil train

[Kirley]

Always something special about a train of Tank Wagons

[Noel]

Great layout Noel OO at its best! Reminds me of some of the plans in CJ Freezers plan book for larger layouts and the Rev Edward Beal's West Midland Railway.

 

One word with the tank train, if its carrying Class A (petrol) should have at least a couple of vans or mineral wagons as barriers between the tank wagons loco & guards van. At one time CIE used a nice rake of silver Texaco tank wagons on the North Wall-Inchacore oil train

 

Thanks John. Its a very long slow process. Safety measures now in place with barriers as per your helpful advice. The track work is Peco code 100, but I hope to lay code 75 on the lower branch line level.

 

Barriers in place

 

Black'n'tan service has been resumed

 

Side profile view rather than modeller overhead

Edited July 21, 2017 by Noel

[Noel]

Legomanbiffo DCC Sound demo (supplied by DC-Kits) - LokSound decoder. I posted about the installation of large speaker in Q&A (DCC section), including the cutting and fettling to get the speaker to fit inside the body.

 

 

Used a tripod and camera this time instead of phone

[enniscorthyman]

Legomanbiffo DCC Sound demo (supplied by DC-Kits) - LokSound decoder. I posted about the installation of large speaker in Q&A (DCC section), including the cutting and fettling to get the speaker to fit inside the body.

 

 

Used a tripod and camera this time instead of phone

 

Great Demo Noel,thanks.

Loco sounds great.

[jhb171achill]

Just testing my eyesight - what are the greyish things on the ends of the goods vans? can't make it out......tis me age.....

 

That goods brake van is a beauty.

[Noel]

Just testing my eyesight - what are the greyish things on the ends of the goods vans? can't make it out......tis me age.....

 

That goods brake van is a beauty.

Hi John, not sure which image you saw these in, were they in the video clip or photos? The 20 ton brake van is from Irish Freight Models. Noel

[jhb171achill]

The goods vans parked behind A20....(brown)

[Noel]

The goods vans parked behind A20....(brown)

 

Ah, vents on 40 yo Lima CIE vans

[jhb171achill]

Oh! Now I see...

[Noel]

Have had a lot of fun over the Christmas break tinkering around with bits and bobs, but I need to stop 'playing trains' and get on with work on the layout. Had fun over the weekend discovering more about the MM 201 sound chip. It has a rail clink which combined with the rail squeal sounds very realistic when slowly arriving or departing from a station.

 

Woodvale Junction on a dark winters morning

 

Edited July 21, 2017 by Noel

[Kirley]

Great pictures Noel, strange the way the different lighting can produce some very atmospheric images.

[jhb171achill]

Superb!

[ttc0169]

Nice shots of the layout Noel-a busy place.

[Noel]

Some activity with new rolling stock arrivals on layout this evening.

 

Irish Freight models - 20 ton brake van - I just love these brake vans

 

Irish Freight models - CIE Bulleid Heat Van (on test track bed sample) - A welcome addition from my favourite era

Edited July 21, 2017 by Noel

[Junctionmad]

very nice

[roxyguy]

Love it, especially the mix of the different rolling stock.

[Kirley]

A video of a Bulleid Van in this clip

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4U5MWhTpnM

[Noel]

Love it, especially the mix of the different rolling stock.

 

Thanks. I am very pleased with the Irish RTR stock we have collected over recent years from Murphy Models, Irish Freight Models, Silver Fox, and others . Ten years ago it would have been but a dream to have access to decent looking Irish RTR stock and locos, unless you were prepared to build it and more importantly had both the talent and time to produce a good end result. Combined with suppliers of Irish kits such as Provincial Wagons and SSM, etc, we have never had it so good, and the quality bar is ever raising. Looking forward to IRM raising the bar even further when their models start shipping in the not too distant future. In the mean time I am still hoping to bodge some of my old LMS and GWR stock into some form of Irish coaches and goods wagons.

[Noel]

A video of a Bulleid Van in this clip

 

Nice find thanks. Don't you just love these old clips from the heyday of diesel trains on Irish rails. The music takes me back to the 60s.

[Noel]

Enjoyed a running session earlier with mixed goods traffic.

 

 

Have been busy experimenting with air brush on some old rolling stock and off cuts of plasticard, trying different paint colours and weathering experiments. Jeepers it takes a while to setup each spray session and even longer to clean up afterwards.

 

Also continuing experiments with different ballast mixes and track beds. Below Woodland Scenics medium buff ballast on top of 3mm foam track bed, over sprayed with dusting of RailMatch sleeper grime. This is my favourite so far as I think I will prefer the warmer colour of track ballasted this way to contrast with greenery rather than more authentic grey and green.

Edited July 21, 2017 by Noel
lexdysia

[Sulzer201]

Lovely train of mixed wagons and the bo bo in the b&w livery. Great job on the pw, it looks very realistic.

[ttc0169]

Nice work, well done Noel

[Noel]

Lovely train of mixed wagons and the bo bo in the b&w livery. Great job on the pw, it looks very realistic.

 

Thanks. I've started to convert some of the Bachmann BR rolling stock to a semi-irish look (poetic license) and weather some recently accrued Irish wagons as well as old lima vans, and a few kits to finish, and some of Leslie's. I just adore the look and operations of pre 1975 goods trains, pick up freight, and all that interesting shunting which is great fun with a sound equipped baby GM. Old proverb from my nostalgia memory - "If it doesn't have an engine at the front and brake van and the end - the train had its end bitten off by a shark"

 

Nice work, well done Noel

 

Thanks Noel. It's slow progress, but getting there gradually. The tooling up, learning and experimentation has been fun. I lapse into playing trains too much, when I should be cutting, painting and gluing more. I'd really like to get the embankments shaped in foam and plaster cloth the in the next month or so.

[Noel]

Bought some of these Bachmann early era tanker wagons on eBay over the past few years. Gave these three a very light dusting of weathering, just enough to take the shine off them. The under frames need more work and a bit of oil spill colouring, but its fun experimenting with the air brush. I have an awful lot to learn.

 

 

Bachmann oil wagons after the shine was taken off them

 

I am using some old Triang and Hornby wagons as test beds so I don't risk making a mess of the lovely Bachmann wagons.

Edited July 21, 2017 by Noel

[Noel]

This weathering milarky is addictive!

 

I'm a complete beginner but it is SO much fun experimenting and learning by trial and error. Lots more to learn. Tonight got 7 wagons lightly dusted and 6 coaches gently weathered (1xCraven, 3xPark Royals, 1xGSV, 1xMk2a).

 

Found it easiest to take wagons off their base and remove wheels

 

Still have to do the chassis on the van. I don't want wagons to look too dirty or like they are close to scrap heap, just in use and slightly weathered so they don't look like they came out of the box looking all shiny and new.

 

Lima - Vans

 

Silverfox - GSV (the weathering dulled the bright orange of these RTR models)

 

Murphy Model - Craven

 

Irish Freight Models - Park Royals (the weathering dulled the bright orange of these lovely RTR models)

 

Assorted goods wagons very lightly dusted to get the toy shine off them

 

GSV very lightly weathered

 

Craven with the shine removed

 

This really is addictive and the temptation is to keep going and add too much. Next trial will be a wash on mineral wagons, over sprayed with light dusting of grime. After that its the IFM laminates that need dulling down.

 

Have made so many mistakes, and made more than a few messes with the airbrush, clogging it up on a few occasions, but with experimentation have found more ways to keep it spraying without dismantling to clean nozzle and needle every time it blocks. Two main lessons I have discovered so far are to spray little and often over the same areas, and don't let the airbrush sit for long between uses or the paint in the nozzle dries. So far I am mixing the thinners and paint directly in the cup using an eye dropper to mix approx 50/50% (thinners in cup first, then paint, then mix with paint brush handle, then back flush by blocking nozzle with finger to mix paint). I'm sure I am probably doing much this incorrectly but it is so much fun.

 

Hopefully when I get more used to the airbrush I will have a go at weathering a rake of MM orange roofed mk2's. Torn between using a light dusting of roof dirt on the roofs, or using a wash, wipe it off, and then a dusting of roof dirt with the spray.

Edited July 21, 2017 by Noel

[RobertRoche]

This weathering looks good! I especially like the GSV, but then again I do like orange things

[jhb171achill]

Very well done.....tip...on wagons, chassis, wheels, couplings, etc., usually pretty heavily weathered. The body would always be less weathered than this. The roofs quite heavily weathered too...

 

Great job!

[Glenderg]

Lol, your mixing method is unorthodox! Why not make up a jar of what you need? Perfect mix is the 1 second drop test. If the blob of paint hangs and then drops, within a second, that's the right blend. Too fast, or too slow, and something will break.

 

If you go too high up the tumblehome with weathering, you can always use white spirit on a make up sponge to draw some off, and leave the jagged lines of muck you see. It's and endless challenge though.

 

Have fun.

 

R.

 

edit - wait until you discover washes.....

[Sulzer201]

Lovely weathering there Noel, well done.

[burnthebox]

Noel, looking really good on that weathering, I read somewhere LESS IS MORE when weathering, so your going in the right direction, keep those pics coming

[Noel]

Very well done.....tip...on wagons, chassis, wheels, couplings, etc., usually pretty heavily weathered. The body would always be less weathered than this. The roofs quite heavily weathered too... Great job!

 

Thanks JB, thanks for the tip. I'm going to give the chassis under frames another coat. I'll need to find 'colour' photos if possible of H-Vans and their roofs as they would have been in the 60s and 70s.

 

Lol, your mixing method is unorthodox! Why not make up a jar of what you need? Perfect mix is the 1 second drop test. If the blob of paint hangs and then drops, within a second, that's the right blend. Too fast, or too slow, and something will break.

 

If you go too high up the tumblehome with weathering, you can always use white spirit on a make up sponge to draw some off, and leave the jagged lines of muck you see. It's and endless challenge though. Have fun. edit - wait until you discover washes.....

 

Cheers Obi Wan (Richie). Yea the mixing in the cup idea came from watching loads of youtube's especially Everard Junction and a few others. Thanks for the 1 second tip. Just today I picked up a few mixing bottles from JM (thanks btw) so in future will pre-mix thinners and paint. I have a tin of precision paints 'CIE Golden Brown' enamel, but I want to try and stick with acrylics so I'm going to try and mix a few colours to get a 1960s 'tan' colour for some resprays. Tried the 'wash' already on some Hornby Mk2a's and made a bit of a hash of it so its off to the 'coach cleaners' and start again.

 

Lovely weathering there Noel, well done.

 

 

Noel, looking really good on that weathering, I read somewhere LESS IS MORE when weathering, so your going in the right direction, keep those pics coming

 

Thanks guys, its very novice, but its a start and more importantly I'm really having fun.

 

Apprehensive about next up which is to attempt a MM 141, but I'll just have to risk it. After that some retaining walls, and then the orange roofed MM Mk2d's.

 

Question: When sealing this lot with matt acrylic varnish, should I use it straight out of the jar, or thin it 50/50%?

 

PS: I'm beginning to wonder if I should thin the acrylic paints 40/60% (paint/thinner) rather than 50/50.

Edited March 3, 2017 by Noel

[ttc0169]

My kind of weathering-nothing overdone and just right for the Park royals and Cravens, nice one Noel.

[Jim]

Some beautiful track work, A very fine layout

[popeye]

Love the weathering, it does turn a plastic model into something more real.

You will learn as you do more.

BTW i believe that you can't mix thinners with acrylic paint, just use water.

Also with acrylic wash the airbrush with warm water.