Time to Tear It Up & Start Again ! New Steam Layout Pla

[DrStroganoff]

Thanks for the comment! Yes the shelves are solid timber, so its pretty heavy !!

Today the red vinyl arrived, so the Mrs has been cutting it for me...


Getting there.

Any ideas on how I can get the Tri-ang logo on there ??

I've had a search around online for a font, but havent found one... If I had a truetype font you see, the Mrs has a machine that will cut the letters out... So I could cut them out onto yellow vinyl and stick it on... Or use the waste from the cut outs as masks and airbrush the logo on... But before I can do either of those, I need a font...

So any thoughts on getting a Triang logo on there ?

[Black-Marlin]

I would try PM-ing Sarah or Son of Triangman about it...they're both pretty good with that sort of thing. Or why not simply scan in a logo from one of your stock boxes and blow it up?

[DrStroganoff]

Hey Gav. Cheers for the ideas.

Yeah, scanning and printing the logo out would be a bit too easy wouldnt it ?

The other option I've thought of is scanning the logo.. and making a vector-based image by tracing it in fireworks or something.

[DrStroganoff]

Hi guys.

Thought I'd post up a few pictures of some projects I've been working on the last few days...

Also..

I've barely ventured up the loft for the last 2 months.... And when I have its just been to pinch bits off the layout for my shop layout !

To be honest, I'm bored with the layout and I have no motivation to go up the loft and work on it... First of all I dont like the loft, its dark, dingy and just a hassle to get up there ! The layout is badly planned... Theres no way I can reach the back of the layout... I feel as though I can do something much more detailed and to a higher standard, but not up there. I want daylight !!! I want to be able to reach the back !!

Theres a few roads I'm thinking of going down... Maybe an end-to-end type layout... probably in my music room (band wont be happy!)... And I'm even considering doing it American HO !!! Imagine that !

Theres other thoughts I've been having... maybe even a small 7mm layout.

Who knows... I'm not in a rush to do anything. But as it stands, the Strogaloft is not going to have much more attention paid to it.

So anyway, heres my current workbench projects:

Maunsell Southern Diesel Shunter. Just applied the primer before taking the photo. I have modified a Bachmann 08 chassis ready to take it. Its a Golden Arrow kit, and the modifications were relatively simple. Just a bit of filing around the cab area of the chassis.


Next up, a Genesis Armour Plate wagon. After building the 40T Girder wagon I fancied having another crack at a Genesis, and I must say, this one was a lot potchier than the girder wagon. Bogies were a pain, and I feel that the kit isnt as well thought-out as some I've seen. It also has 3 round buffers and 1 square one... that surely cant be right !!! But apart from the bogies, the kits are nice, very little cleaning up to do, and they feel good and solid.



Finally, acquired the new Bachmann 150 which is going to be weathered in just a little while !! Really nice model. Very impressed. Although my preferred livery would have been the classic Sprinter livery with the gangways at the front... a 150/2 I believe ?

[DrStroganoff]

A quick pic of the 150... subtly weathered, and posing for the camera

[Elsparrow]

Sir, you're not just good at modelling, you are a mighty fine photographer.

I'm yet to get a close up of my LMS stanier without blurring the photo.

[Zanziba]

If your camera has a picture of a flower on it somewhere, choose that setting for very close-up stuff.

I agree, this is an amazing bit of modelling.

[Elsparrow]

Sadly, that is the option I am using!

Just a very unsteady hand.

[Zanziba]

Sit the camera on something and take the photo (e.g. the baseboard or a box). If it is a digital camera it may have anti shake features which are not turned on.

[DrStroganoff]

Cheers chaps

Yes i was just using the 'macro' setting on the camera to get the focus... and resting the camera on the edge of the baseboard. When I was taking photos in the loft I'd have to take loads before I'd get a good one... But that was due to lack of light. Best bet is to take the picture with plenty of light in the room, makes all the difference !

Yesterday I started making a new layout in the shop window... a roundy round tail chaser type, but with all the track raised up in a 'hilly' terrain... using that big Wills viaduct I built a while back as a centrepiece. Im hoping to do the whole thing in no more than a week or 2. I'll post some pics tomorrow !

[Michael Thornberry]

Hello DrS,
Good luck with the up-coming shop-model. Looking forward to seeing the Will's Viaduct. Do you have a link to your shop? I would like to model a viaduct, in N Gauge, to cover a distance of 8'/10' spanning a river valley and canal. What is your preferred modelling scale?,
Kind Regards,
Michael Thornberry.

[DrStroganoff]

Hi Michael.

My preferred modelling scale is OO... I did have a crack at N gauge once, but didnt have much luck with it !!

Metcalfe do a good viaduct kit, which I believe is available in N... and would probably work out more cost effective than going for one of the posher plastic kits !

I just thought to myself, ahh I'll take those photos of the layout.... but I've left the camera at home ! d'oh. So tomorrow then (thats if the ol' memory is functioning)

[DrStroganoff]

As promised, heres a picture I've just taken of the layout I'm building in the shop window....

So far I've built a baseboard that fits the shape of the window... raised the track up on foam risers to meet the viaduct and laid out cork on them.

I'm currently building up the hillside with wire-mesh, and covering with mod-roc... then will either cover in basket liner, or use static grass...

There will be a backscene running quite high up along the back, with all the hills coming up behind the viaduct... and then 'the other side' of the layout will probably be an industrial type scene,

Its gonna be about 6'x4' with the backscene running through the middle, effectively cutting the layout in half lengthways.

So this is 2 days progress, and I've ran out of mesh.. B&Q tonight methinks..



Not a great shot... taken from outside !

[DrStroganoff]

Hey guys.

Done a little work on the Maunsell shunter tonight, after receiving my HMRS transfers.

Still a fair bit to do... the body needs fixing to the chassis at the cab-end... the front slots in nicely, and a lot of the chassis has been filed away at the rear to allow the low cab of the Maunsell to sit correctly. It wont sit flat without slight pressure on the cab roof though, so thats why its sticking up in the photos; Once I'm happy with it I'll fix it down. Then its just a matter of touching up the black paint around the sandboxes and along where the body meets the chassis. And of course a good weathering too

I found some pictures of the prototype in an old book I found in the loft, so they are in the background for comparison...










I'd lo have a crack at either a GWR or LNER diesel shunter next... the GWR prototype is very similar to this Maunsell one feature-wise, such as the small overhang above the front grill... and the LNER is very similar to the 08 or the LMS Class 12 (Which I've done previously.)

So yes... I'm in shunter-mode at the moment.... The Judith Edge kits look excellent... but I'm not sure I'm upto a brass kit yet....

[DrStroganoff]

Ahhh the old thread..... not the hive of activity it once was..... but there ya go

Well heres a few pics of how the shop layout is coming along.... its keeping me occupied anyway... because serving customers certainly isnt just yet....

I've still got to put a backboard/backscene on it, mainly to stop little kids having their eyes poked out by pointy bits of wire mesh I should move the Thomas stand away from it really...

Once the backboard is on, I can start work on the other side of the layout, the half that is facing into the shop. I've got my controler set up behind the counter, so cant wait to get a full loop on the go so I can while away the hours 'testing' locos










On the Strogaloft side of things... I'm still racking my brain as to what to do up there... I went up there the other night to analyze the situation.

Firstly, I'm thinking of sticking with the OO for now.... I would love to change to O gauge, but it would be a bit silly for me at the moment, because it certainly would cost a lot of money... which I dont have.

So plan-wise... I'm thinking of acually going back a few layouts to my "A bit of BR Blue for the lads" layout... where it ran around the edge of the loft.... because there was never an issue of not being able to reach anything with that design.... my mistake there was trying to cram too much track in and not enough scenery... And Im never going to try gradients again... bloomin sick of em...

So I've decided thats the 'Winter Project' anyway... first step, re-arrange baseboards and have a good think before I dive in...