ScR steam in the 50's

Glad you like the photos- more will follow as I get stuff done! The platform is basically a Peco edge with Wills coarse stone sheet painted and fitted to the Peco  edging, packed out with some plasticard strip to take the stone face flush with the platform edging. It is not an accurate representation of the prototype, but is close enough for me. The surface is a layer of plasticard- 60thou- and then covered with some fine flour grade sandpaper, then given a coat of household undercoat. It has to get weathering in the shape of acrylic washes added to it, but that is one of those jobs that can be done at my leisure.

Thanks again for the interest,
Ben Alder

PS- I'll check out the ballast type tonight- I tried several types before settling one I could live with.

Once again, an entire posting disappeared when trying to upload- I find this beyond frustating, and really can't be bothered with the efforts to get something to appear on-screen, so unless  someone can explain what I am doing wrong, I cant see me bothering much more with this, I'm afraid.
As, probably a parting shot, here is my alter ego at both stations.

Thanks for posting, Martin. PM sent.

Superb looking loco and great setting. I hope you do continue to post. One option might be to type up on a word document and paste it in to the thread? At least if it goes you still have all your work.

Bob

OK- nothing is ever gained by walking away from a problem, so I'll give  it another go. I have been putting some work into the goods yard  approach at Thurso this last week, and a shot of some of the work is  attached.

[user=772]Ben Alder[/user] wrote:

OK- nothing is ever gained by walking away from a problem, ………………………..

Too true Ben - great stuff. :cheers

The goods yard looks great - what are the setts ?  I presume plasticard …………:roll::roll:

That looks great ! Your stone facing painting is excellent.
I will have to do something similar in the near future.

I like the open spacious look in that last picture Ben. Reminds me of some 7mm layouts I have seen.

I've said it before but I love that backscene.  It helps to turn a model railway into a real railway. thumbs

Posting on Firefox is a b***** nuisance , with text and pictures vanishing, and Opera won't upload at all, but copy and paste and three goes at it can get a message on screen.
I am now trying Safari, to see if that is any better.

:doublethumb Well, that seemed to work first time with Safari- looks like I'm back in business!

The picture above is of my recent build of the Thurso cattle dock, which I'll go into later. The setts in the goods yard are SE Finecast, and are, to my mind, have a bit too little relief for their own good- I am not happy with the finish, but they actually look better on screen than they do in the flesh- probably a matter of the viewing angle.

The platform stonework is Wills and is painted with a base coat and then two or three washes of white and black/sepia- takes no time and gives good results.

Cheers for now,

Ben Alder

Excellent Ben,
Very glad you have persevered.
I'm enjoying your descriptions and updates.
Keep them coming.
Marty

Another view of Thurso, showing the ballast that was asked about earlier. This is by Greenscenes, and is a mixture of their 2mm & 4mm black ash ballast, with a sprinkling of fine sand in the 6' way as well. This is put on top of the wet paint and given a brush-over to tone it in. The paint used is one of Games Workshop's recently upgraded range, and is called Stormvermin Fur:shock:, but is a good match for general track bed colouring- its an expensive way of working, but I managed on six jars, and am happy with the finish.

I don't understand why you should be having problems with with Firefox, Richard.

Attachments aren't ideal.

Neither do I- it works perfectly everywhere else. I have spoken to Martin about it, but it doesn't seem to be fixable. I find Safari works, but when I upload images they appear as attachments- I'll try putting them in as an edit to get round this.


Edit- now done.

Not a problem, Richard - it must just be annoying for you.

I hope we can resolve it eventually.

I am back at the workbench again, doing some odds and ends of huts and sheds to fill various corners, so there will not be much to report for the next week or two, but I thuught I'd post a couple of pics of my previous build of The Mound- junction for the Dornoch branch- which show the same backscene as used at Helmsdale, but giving a different effect due to the smaller size and a sloping ceiling getting in the way. I do regret dismantling  this one, but there was no way I could rebuild the layout set-up and retain it. Oh for more room…..

Hi Ben,

I just stumbled onto your thread and read it from start to finish with growing awe. What an absolutely brilliant layout and superb use of the backscenes. The track bed and weathering are also very realistically coloured. I was very intrigued by the situation of the loco shed and turntable which could trap locos 'on shed' if the turntable fails. I don't know the area but would be interested to know if this is the actual situation or whether a bit of 'modeller's license' has been used.

Keep up the excellent work, I shall be following further developments with great interest. 

Thanks for the interest, and am pleased you like it. the terminus is more or less a replica of the actual site, allowing for the usual compression, and the engine shed was served via the turntable, although in real life it was a single road shed and situated on the station side of the table. I have turned it 180 degrees because of lack of space and increased its capacity to allow for more play value. There were proposals for various local branches over the years and I intend to work the station as if one or more came to pass. That is in the future though, as there still is much detailing to be done.

Cheers,
Richard

Hi Richard

Whenever someone posts photos of superb modelling like those last three, my eye starts scanning; looking for something not quite right.

I'm still looking.  :thumbs