Petermac's Railway

OK chaps - many thanks for your input, all of which has been taken on board.  :thumbs

If I could "do" photoshop Matt, that would be an easy solution, however, I can't so that's no good ……………

I took a couple of rushed photos of the single rising track so you can better understand the problem facing me.  This shot (the only one of the "couple" I bothered to post  ) is from slightly further back than the earlier one and from that "higher level" I mentioned.  The 3 tracks disappearing centre bottom are the main through routes into the station and that swinging off left serves the rear platform.  Once under the board carrying the station building, it is completely underneath the gradient track extreme left. The 2 bunches of wires you see adjacent to the throat points are the Megapoints servo controllers feeding the motors used in this area.  You can see just how little space there is between the shed wall and the retaining wall.  The rear platform track will have to go into a tunnel almost immediatelt it leaves the main lines so, at that point, I'll have slightly more area covered although I'm not sure what I'll use for landform between that track and the 3 main lines - there isn't a heap of space !  I may just manage some terraced house backs along the shed wall with little more than a footpath behind them before the 30ft drop down the retaining wall.  A factory wall, built on top of the retaining wall however ………………….. :hmm :

Am I missing something? Why can't the single track be moved to the edge of the retaining wall, this will give much more room for buildings up against the shed wall, and why can't the engine sheds be moved forward, to give more room behind? I've moved the track about an inch and moved the engine shed about four inches.

Sorry - I misunderstood Phil. 

Yes, it would be possible to move the single track to the edge although I doubt it would make a huge difference, not in housing terms anyway.  The trackbed it sits on is only about 3 inches wide, if that.  If anything, I'd have thought it would be better to move the track closer to the back wall so that the disguising houses could be a tad further away from that drop onto the tracks below the retaining wall.   Remember also, this track is rising all the way.  It's level with the retaining wall about half way along its current length so it would be quite a drop at this end …..

I admit to being confused by your comment about moving the engine shed.  When you say "move the engine shed forward", do you mean towards the camera position or towards the operator's position on the right ?

Again, moving it closer to the camera position wouldn't do anything positive - the main lines curve around behind it  so I'm not sure I understand what I'd gain…… :roll:

Maybe crossed threads on both parts Peter :)

I would move the single track nearer to the wall because that would make distance between the trains and the houses, even though it's just a small amount it would create depth, as for the engine shed move, I moved it towards the camera because you mentioned that there was very little room where the tracks are behind, I just thought your comment meant, not much room for modelling etc?

If you need me to PS something to see what it looks like, let me know, but it would depend on what photographs I can find, for example houses at the right angles etc. The pictures don't need to be spot on as PS allows bending, streching and warping.

[user=753]Phil.c[/user] wrote: 

bending, streching and warping.

Sounds like my attempts at springing out of bed…

I'm looking for a painting course - any tutors out there ?

I want my stone retaining walls to look like those filthy sooty walls in the industrial north in steam days. (GWR modellers please look away  ;-))

My starting point is Slaters "O" Gauge stone plasticard primed with rattle can grey acrylic primer.  I do have an as yet unused airbrush but think maybne hand painting/washing is the way to go:



Usually with me, everything looks just passable until the paint arrives.  Then everything goes to pieces.

I have read about how you did your beach wall on Teasel Bay Chris but that's not the effect I'm after.

Any hints and tips chaps ?

Hi Peter
Plenty of filthy sooty walls on my GWR layout . Although, sadly, I have never quite captured the grimy look that I remember so well from mill towns on both sides of the Pennines. Tetley Mills and Pen y Bryn are two layouts which I think do reproduce it accurately. Hopefully I can do better when I get round to the long wall that will finish off the hotel/town square module….all those Wills packs are still languishing in the drawer:oops:  

Bearing in mind the above I am not sure how useful my painting advice will be!:roll: â€¦â€¦anyway this is how I will be doing it

Spray the entire wall with paint that is a shade or two darker than the desired finish

Paint the courses with diluted mortar colour. Dont worry about paint getting on the stones, before it dries brush it off with water……..hence the base paint being initially darker than required.

Now the tedious part……you can dry brush some area with variations of the base colour…particularly the foundations but many of the stones should be picked out individually in a variety of shades

I would then finish it off with some weathering powders

Good luck…..I look forward to seeing the finished product!

Best wishes

Great to hear from you again John - I was about to give you a shout to check all was OK.

Many thanks for your tips on painting the walls.  I had in fact assumed it was better to base paint lighter than finished colour on the premise that it's easier to darken than lighten.  Obviously not……..

I had planned to do the base colour then dry brush the "soot".  I read the Tetley Mills thread again but coildn't see any details about his paint scheme.  Sadly of course, I can't ask him ………

If you're about to do yours, we can at least compare notes.  I'm practicing on a spare piece of plasticard which should prove interesting.

The late Alan Downes painted all of his stonework in wood dye, building up layers and depth, which created different tones across the stones.  Look back at his photos, it is quite an amazing finish.  He did a demonstration of it on the series Toy Town, which used to be available on YouTube, but sadly it is no longer there (I suspect a copyright issue).  However, it really was just a case of splashing it on and letting each layer dry.  Once finished, and VERY dry, he added the mortar lines, but I can't remember how he did that.  Perhaps someone else will recall it.  I have always thought his stonework looked most realistic, so was surprised at his method and how easy it was to do.  Weathering powders could be added to ensure the sooty look you after.
Michael

I'll have another look Michael but I think Allan used fireclay for his base - certainly he used to do so.

I'm not sure Colron dye would stick to plasticard - there's nothing for it to soak into - one can't "stain" plastic…. …………. :hmm

You may well be right, Peter, I am going from memory of watching the programme once, before it was taken down.  I was pretty sure it was plastic though…. old age or false memory syndrome!
Michael

I think Alan described how he used wood dyes on his YMR thread and I am almost certain it was on plastic……I will try and find it…….I actually took my Wills sheets out of the drawer last night……I may well start on them shortly!

Looks the part! I used the O gauge version for my sea wall. I painted mine with a few washes of various greys and then the green seaweed dyes. A sea wall is a different colour to a railway retaining wall though. Yours will be pretty sooty!

I think Peter's got it. I'm sure I remember Alan Downes using fire clay.

I'll see what I can find in the archives about Allan's colouring methods - I do remember the Colron wood dyes but thought he was initially very much into "traditional" materials like card.

Good to hear from you again John -  hope you're recovering well whilst not suffering too much from the dreadful heatwave in your part of the world.  :cheers

I can confirm I am not losing my memory….. definitely used on Wills plastic sheets.  he may have used other things too, but definitely plastic.  Oh, and talcum powder for the mortar lines, which were then carefully dabbed with….. wood dye!.
Michael

Mr Downes had a thread on RMWeb and i am sure he explained his method. It was Wills sheets, coated in Colron wood dye, then dusted at an angle with black aerosol paint and he used talc for the mortar. Most effective. Tetley Mills was also famous for its black industrial look but i cannot remember his methods.
"Anything You Can do, I Can Do Better ! Robinson and Downes. - Scenery, Structures & Transport - RMweb

Thanks for the link Ian - I've had a quick look but I'll need more time it seems - it's a long thread.

I'll also dig up both Allan's and Tetley Mills threads on here.   :thumbs

Hi Peter

To save you time here is Allan Downes answer to the question "How do you weather Wills Random Stone" :


 All the stonework used here was WILLS RANDOM STONE SHEETS (SMP 200)  where I first brushed them over with COLRON LIGHT OAK WOOD DYE which  acts both as a primer and the base colour to the plastic sheets.
  
  Working a sheet at a time, lay it flat then aim a very light dust coat  of ACRYLIC MATT BLACK up and under the stone courses but don't over do  it.
  
  When this has dried, rub talcum powder well into the joints then scrape off the surplus.
  
  Using the COLRON ENGLISH LIGHT OAK again DAB, NOT BRUSH, this over the  stonework with a large FLAT modelling brush where it will soak into the  talcum powder and because the dye is corrosive, it will adhere the talc  between the courses permanantly.
  
  However, you can use different shades of wood dye if you wish but it  MUST be COLRON as this is spirit based and not water based which will  just run off the plastic. - oh, and the matt black MUST be acrylic as  the dye will not attack it.
  
  I hope this helps but try it out first on a spare sheet.
 

There were 266 pages in that RMWeb thread  :shock: fortunately I didnt have to read every post, in fact I found this in a much shorter thread. It was actually quite fascinating going through the posts. He was the most amazing modeller, such a sad loss.

Now I have to locate a similar spirit based dye in Canada……the local hardware stores dont stock Colron and importing isnt an option……I would imagine that it should be a bit easier for you.

I will be interested to see how you get on

Best wishes 



 
  

Many thanks indeed John - I habn't thought of looking on RmWeb and his thread on here didn't go into such detail.

I'll certainly see if there is a similar product available here - like you, importation from UK is somewhat of a minefield here since Brexit.  The "everyday" wood dye here is from the Liberon range but I have no idea if they are water or spirit based.

Again, many thanks for digging this up for me and, to all those I suggested Allan used fireclay and not plasticard for his stonework - my apologies, I stand well and truly corrected !