Playing with the detail (WR)

Well i've been mainly playing around adding little details. I hope however to get some more bits this weekend at the Bristol show. I'm also going to need to start the wiring and to get it done properly. I suspect i'm going to change and go for peco motors but its still all got to be tested. And also so far none of the fiddle yard has been completed. But i still have time.

I'm also looking at the rolling stock. So far i have virtually nothing but who knows, i have nearly 7 months to buy the required bits and pieces so it might be a bit of a scrabble but we should get there.

Lighting up time (WR)

Well I've now ballasted in the back gap between the wall and the first siding, I've also begun painting around 200 odd 3rd rail chairs so i can begin drilling the holes. Its a very boring and monotonous task!
I've also fitted some non working lights to the rear. They are brass construction and very strong, much stronger than the knightwing cast ones i was going to use. They are of course removable for transport. These essentially hide the poor gaps on the scaledale walling.

I've also added two advertising boards to the front as where the viewer would stand there is planned to be a road so these could be seen from there, these are standard Modelscene items.

Hopefully come the Bristol show next weekend (I'm on the DEMU stand on the Friday) i hope to get alot of bits such as my point levers, some GEM water taps for the platform and some other bits and pieces. Hopefully this means the week after that it should be a flurry of activity.

Anyway always more work to do.

Painting the Insulators Red (WR)

Well tonight I've fitted the rear wall and cut down the three overlarge industrial units. I can now ballast in the are in between. It means i can also begin the tedious task of not only painting but installing the 3rd rail. One job i do need to do before i start fitting however it put in the barrow crossing between the three way and the scenic break. The bricks on the scenic break are nearly finished, they just need to coating with some grime and some varnish to tone it down and then the sky can be added. This is going to be done using the peco sky sheet. The same sky sheet will also be used on the back scene when i get round to it. Oh well back to work.

Also the modelling fotopic site has been fully updated with many not previous uploaded shots. See the links next to this.

Just Another Brick in the Wall (WR)

Well today I've managed to fit the ground signals. I've also sprayed up the industrial unit a nice shade of rail grey and also sprayed the brick wall. I've also mortared it and I've now begun the very boring task of picking the bricks out. So far I'm around a quarter of the way through and I'm already fairly bored, but in little bouts its not too bad.

The next job will be to fit the rear wall, along with cutting the three larger units down even more as otherwise they are too close to the wall. The one i'm working on at the moment still needs a roof and some more of the peco train shed side wall ventilators. It seems that no one has any spare and peco wont provide any either. Still I'm sure I'll find something.

Also my fotopic sites are being given a through overhaul. I'm updating the images with better ones and also uploading many that have never been seen before of previous layouts and rolling stock. I may even upload photos of layouts I've taken at shows. The modelling site looks a little spartan at the mo but hopefully the first will be up tomorrow with the rest following during the week. The transport site will follow after than as its a much bigger job.

Anyway still more bricks to paint....

Some scale walling! (WR)

Some more work today despite the good weather and the ash. I managed to pop into Model Railways Direct in Portishead. I thought despite its location (in the middle of a housing estate) its a brilliant shop. Excellent range of bits for OO and they price match with the big box shifters in the RM. They also have alot of the bits and pieces and are planning to get more lines in. I fully recomend them as a customer. I also finally managed to get my two ground signals (they don't have any left now :D). Now I've got these and the 3rd rail bits I've put off doing the wiring to finish the rear scenic area.

I've put the new walling in along the rear and through some ingenuity using a Peco Trainshed building cut about i have a suitable building to fit the gap. It will get a new coat of paint before being anglicised a little bit to try and hide its origins. The ground signals have also now been drilled. The next job is to drill the holes for the 3rd rail, just need to remember to do it every 4th sleeper. Theres also the flasher unit to installed, the trouble I'm not sure i have the right bulb after the first one failed. The new bulb just doesn't look right.

I'm also still contemplating whether to use Peco point motors with base plates or stay with the seeps. The Seep motors have no adjustments and seem a little down on power. That's a decision that doesn't need to be made yet however.

For the 3rd Time (WR)

Was reminded through something else today that i haven't updated my blog in a while. Well the reason for this is two fold, works been very busy and secondly i had a club show to deal with in the mean time. Trainwest passed without incident and despite being exceptional knackered by the end it enjoyed it. I also managed to get hold of a 507ish. I actually got an MTK 313 kit virtually identical apart from the panto well and a slightly different window arrangement under the panto well. Anyway more on that in later post.

What about the layout then, well its being completely rewired. I wasn't happy with the quality of my wiring. I'm also having terrible difficulty with my point motors not firing. I suspect alot work will be required here. Also it was mentioned in the previous post that it was DC control. That's still the case but the All components unit i had need a another dc output for lights. So while in Cardiff today on a course i popped into Lord and Butler (a fantastic shop, no connection, just a customer) and they had a Gaugemaster 100m which has all i need in being twin control and having both DC and AC outputs for £25. Oddly enough that's what i got for the all components one at the weekend by selling it to a trader. I haven't made anything but i didn't lose anything.
I'm still having difficulty in finding a Eckon ground signal, they seem to be like hens teeth.

In terms of the scenic side i now have enough rail chairs and the Z gauge rail joiners i need for the layout. I may stop the wiring to do this as i will need to fit the flasher unit for which i also have a new bulb except this one is 12v, just hope the flasher will cope with 12v now.

I've not taken any new photos as there really isn't anything to show but i will do once the 3rd rail is in.

The April Fools update

It looks like its staying as a DC layout for the time being. I foolishly bought an All components MPC3 with handheld for £25 at the Slough toyfair today. Quite a bargain i thought.

In terms of the layout, i still havent got an z gauge rail joiners (might try n gauge ones as i have some of those), the holes are now all drilled though. I've also fished out the 3rd rail flasher kit but i'm not sure what the best way to mount the little micro/reed switch is. Its not a U shape as i expected (although i probably could bend the wire to suit. I've also found a supply for some yard lamps. Ok they are kits but for £5 a pop and they look reasonably british its got to be worth a go. i did look at the Express Models one but at £32.50 they are a bit pricey. I've also got some buffer stop lamps to build using some Eckon signal LEDs that i have left lying around. Looks like i shall be busy with the soldering Iron over the rest of the weekend.