Cheers Doug, very kind of you.
I find that having the Pentrecourt Halt section substantially finished is a great encouragement to continue, part of the magic of N scale is watching the trains move through the landscape and being able to post photos and get feedback all helps.

Steady progress into the evening on the Halt, a test fit onto the layout shows how it's getting on. A further 8 supports are needed for the approach walkway and under the pagoda hut.

Lucky I've got a jig :lol:





cheers
Marty

Looking good Marty. That 'jig' has definately paid its self off. I can imagine how much time and heartache it has saved you. :thumbs

Cheers, Gary.

Thanks Gary, they are fiddly little suckers but strangely therapeutic :cool:

Cricket on the radio, air conditioning on, iced tea in the jug, holidays and modelling in the railway room…. it the RAC would turn up and tell us why the VW Tiguan wont start (or better still fix it…) life would be perfect.

OK… flat battery on the Tiguan… easy solved.  Annoyed though as we specifically asked the service centre to check the battery when it was serviced less than a month ago because we thought it was going and got the OK! 
Luckily T wasn't in a hurry to get the quilting shop! The bonus is that the RAC patrol-man was a whiz on Tiguans and gave me a bunch of tips and tricks to get the best out of it. Swings and round-a-bouts.

That has slowed down production today but the Halt has now reached a stage where the access pathway needs to be constructed to meet up with the ramp onto the platform. 
Space restrictions have forced me to turn the ramp 90° to the original, as per a normal halt it ran parallel to the tracks. 
Polystyrene base, then a coating of ballast I think….






Whilst hanging around in the garage with the both the roller door and bonnet up on the Tiguan, the plank for the Llandyfriog Junction work over has been cut to the basic size and plonked onto the layout for marking up to fit.
16mm MDF, which wasn't really the preferred timber but the availability of 12mm ply or MDF in the mega hardware was nil, zilch, nada.  So 16mm MDF it is, at this point in time, apart from being heavy and needing sealing there is nothing else against it.
The plan is to use Seep point motors which, from what I've gathered from those on the forums that have gone before in N scale, benefit from an offset from the throw bar on the points as it enables the on board switching to engage more reliably. The linkage from the seep to the throw bar is long enough, I checked.





cheers
Marty

Is that a diving board I see before me?  :lol:

:lol: A swimming hole, that's what I need, not an embankment!

The Halt is looking really good Marty :thumbs

….. and that's one h@ll of a plank :lol:


Ed

Thanks Ed, 

The plank is significantly thicker than wanted but there was a certain amount of impatience involved when purchasing. Hopefully it'll do the job.

Scratchbuilding in N scale…. sheesh…. 

Rear railings on the halt… the uprights are 1mm x 0.5mm rectangle, brass rod for the lower railings, styrene top railing. Getting it to look all square requires steady, thoughtful progress…. and I blew it.

Getting the holes in the uprights lined up is the first challenge, slow and steady, set square, brass sheet as a guide and all uprights lined up next to each other worked. Then threaded the uprights on to the brass rod.


 

Getting the first upright glued into it's slot in the platform with all of the weight of the brass rod was very difficult and in the end this is where I blew it. By the time it had been tacked in place I forgot to set the height correctly and the whole thing was too high…. didn't notice it until later.

Spaced the uprights out along the rod and glued in the far upright…




All uprights now glued in place, once the two outboard ones were in it was pretty straight forward from here, just had to make sure that the uprights were…. err…. upright. 





Then thread the second brass rod through, slightly larger holes in the uprights than the rod diameter to ensure that it doesn't bind too much while threading through, the uprights are so fine that they bend really easily.
Started to tack on the top railing of styrene and thought, "that looks too high?" and indeed it was, almost a scale foot higher than it should have been. Several non-PC but heartfelt words were said!!!
Rather than trying to unglue the uprights and lower them (which would have been a right PITA) the craft knife was used to trim the tops of the uprights. There was enough variation, of course, to put a wave in the top railing. 





Colonel Frobisher (Ret'd) has had a look at it and will probably pass it is servicable but not pretty… sigh.



Time for a break, hot and still here at the moment. I think I'll work on some trees.

Marty

ok so you think you blew it,but it still looks good from where i am (a few thou miles away)
seriously it does look fine
:thumbs;-):cool:

Cheers Owen, 
You've got great eyes mate :lol: 
I'm just annoyed with myself. I can do better…. there was a plan and forgot to follow it. 
… I've run out of brass rod too… off to the dealer :pedal


9 trees have had a coating of matte medium from a rattle can and are drying in the 32° C summer sun.





… and
This little beauty has arrived from Shapeways via Wizmacnz's shop and his CAD magic… it's had a wash with detergent and once dry will need painting….




It's all go on the Newcastle Emlyn Branch today… spoilt for things to do.

cheers

Marty

I know what you mean about scratch building in 'N' Marty and that's definitely been a labour of love - (or should that be hate).
Either way it's turned out very well and you deserve a gold star. 

… and that from an expert in the trade… thank you sir, awfully chuffed. :cool:

It is amazing and looks terrific.   The thing is, when you see N scale pictures like this modellers in all scales can appreciate that the subject is small but I think it can't properly be assimilated unless you hold it or see it right in front of your eyes.   (Marty, when you've completed a model do you constantly find yourself being surprised at just how tiny it is and then thinking 'how the hell did I do that' or words to that effect?   I certainly do and it's not from self praise but more from wonderment).

Ken

Ken, 
More often it's "how the h@ll am I going to do that!" :shock: :lol::lol::lol:

I delight in building something that I can look at and say "that looks right to me."
Luckily I'm a bit OCD and patient… otherwise I think it would drive me nuts. :lol:

Thanks for your comments, your neat and sharp card buildings are one of the goads that push me to try harder.

cheers

Marty

Great model work Marty,Plus I like your plank.It should keep nice and level.Did the old headband magnifier turn up.?.
I have always admired you guys working in watchmakers scale and how you keep your cool.Me I seem to lose my temper with 4mm scale more often these days.My fingers seem to have grown in width with age.
Cheers,
Derek.

Cheers Derek,
No, the old magnifiers haven't shown up yet… as I say, when they do, there will be half a dozen other lost items in the same spot I'm sure. Definitely glad the dealer had some in stock, waiting for the old ones to show up just wasn't an option.

Those fingers 'eh… just for the record more work on the Halt railings today. The brass rod is 0.45mm and it has become obvious why the long section at the back was completed first, it was the easiest. These short runs around the walkway where there are only two uprights are incredibly fiddly. 




The magnifiers are on full zoom, superglue is being applied a half drop at a time from the tip of a cocktail stick and these are the tools being used… luckily there has only been one occasion today where the floor has had to be inspected to locate a 10mm section of brass rod. :roll:




… and FINGERS… are for holding the tools ;-) :lol::lol:





Painstaking and slow… but it is coming together and I am having fun.

Marty

:):):)Great stuff Marty,So thats were I have been going wrong.I must remember fingers are for holding not useing on the model building .

Derek.

Halt… stop… desist… 
Time to move onto something else. 

The Halt is substantially complete. It needs painting which will go on in the background while other things are getting done.

Lights… there is a dream that scratch building tiny GWR platform lanterns is within my capability with the micro LEDs now on the market… but THAT is for another day.Firstly, the micro LEDs need to be sourced.

The platform sign has been scratch built….




Very pleased with the build so far….




… and it's pretty unique I reckon, so, the effort to create it to my mind is worth it. Colonel Frobisher (Ret'd) is still recovering from the New Years Eve festivities.





… and just sitting in place it looks like the height is spot on too… bonus. :lol:






cheers
Marty

Marty take a bow,that is brill, I can`t do it that good in 00,
:thumbs:thumbs:cool:

A beautiful piece of modelling Marty that looks right at home on the layout.

For my buffer stop lights I used the 0.8mm nano lights from DCC Concepts. They do them in both red and proto white so you might find them suitable for your platform lights. Here's a link http://www.dccconcepts.com/led-selection/nano-leds/6x-prototype-white-nanolight-w-resistors