Ollerton 'N' 5'2"x3' Split Board

[1977joey]

Hi Mat,

Thats coming along great, really like the station canopy, looking forward to seeing some trains in it. Keep the pictures coming

Hope you've had a great Christmas & all the best for 2012,
Mark.

[ASFC]

Cheers for that Mark, I hope 2012 brings you some of that layout satisfaction your craving, Good luck with Chester Northgate!

Mat.

[ASFC]

Happy New Year!

It has been a busy day or two on the layout. Firstly my mainline now has point motors, I used Seep PM1s and and a Gaugemaster CDU. Also it now has working colour light signals, and looks so much more like a real railway, rather than some baseboards with track glued to it!



As you can see, the roadway up to the bridge has developed. The flat area at the bottom is going to have a fire station and some shops. You can lso see the beginnings of the access to the depot in the far bottom right corner. Once I have finished this hill I intend to move forward and start making the rest of the board less flat.



This photo shows one of my new signals in the distance. Unfortunately it also shows up my untidy platform construction. They are still a work in progress, although they have had their first coat of paint finally.

As usual, any comments, criticism, questions are welcome!

Mat.

[ASFC]

Following my last post, despite what I said previously, the photo in the last post with the 101 in just shows up the platform height problem too much. So I went back and ripped the lot up and started again, see photos below:





You can see my preferred Platform construction method, cereal card structure, plastikard top, with metcalfe N Brick paper for the sides. The 156 is my longest vehicle, so was used for gauging runs. At the back you can also see the area I spoke of before more clearly, where the fire station and a shop will be. There is going to be houses/shops all the way up the road to the top of the tunnel area, probably in low relief.

Mat.

[ASFC]

Well, I had a weekend of modelling for once!

First up I completed the footbridge that will go from the island platform to the station entrance:



I started off with the built bridge, finished in light grey from humbrol. However having looked at online photos of similar bridges (like the one at Rye in Kent), I decided it needed to be a bit more filthy! As you can see below, I dry brushed on a darker grey (27 I think) before adding soot deposits from where trains pass (or have passed in the case of one side) underneath. I finished it off with some scalescene posters and Farish people.



(This side will face the back of the layout when done-so the one remaining running line is on the right)

Next I Moved on to making headway with my platform building. Now this building is basically two ratio apex platform roof kits glued together, with a cut up Kestrel Water tower providing the brick built office. The office was weathered, first by painting it brick red (70), then giving it a wash of light grey (147) then giving it a wash of dark grey (27). I haven't quite finished this building yet, the platform signs are not quite done, the roof has no glazing. Not sure whether to weather the valances or leave them in that 'freshly painted' look!



You can also see I finished the platform rebuild. I don't seem to be getting this right because now the platform surface looks too dark. Opinions?

Finally I moved forward on the hill at the back. To achieve this I have clad the bridge abuttments at the far end, as I wanted to do this before using papier mache on the hills. I will paint the brick and engineers blue/grey, before completeing the deck of the bridge. Hopefully I can cover that cardboard next!



As usual, all comments welcome!

Regards

Mat.

[1977joey]

Great work Mat, you really are getting a lot done , something i need to do with my layout
keep the pics coming

All the best,
Mark

[ASFC]

Hi Mark, thanks for you comments, I look forward to seeing the latest progress on your own layout.

Regards

Mat

[ASFC]

Update time!

It has been a busy ten days, when not at work or revising, I have been taking Ollerton forward!
Ollerton now has its basic landscape, the village area is all worked out roughly, and trackside items are progressing nicely.



The bridge abutments have now been painted, and the hill has been done in papier mache. I am currently fashioning parts for the underside of the bridge.



Here I have started building some low relief houses for the backscene.



This is where I went next, as can be seen I have added the signal troughs and lineside boxes, and have masked the platforms for the coping stones. Behind the bowl you can just see the houses in the previous picture, which I have started to weather.




These two pictures show the layout after some painting and weathering, the tunnel mouths were weathered when I did the coping stones, I think my bad photography skills are showing up some unfinished effects! Even though I have colour lights, in my little world the signal box controls access to the yard!

Finally I did some little rolling stock projects. I have added bufferbeam detail to one end of the lovely Dapol 26 I own, and I have also started my Parkside Grampus (I have a Clam hiding in the stash somewhere aswell!).




As usual, all comments/suggestions/critcism welcome!

Mat.

[ASFC]

Not much to update on, but I have been experimenting with videos on my phone recently:

http://youtu.be/ajJn7cFQNg4

Picture quality isn't much, hopefully i'll use a better camera next time!

Mat.

[1977joey]

Great video Mat, i especially like the noise of the train wheels going over the rail joints, thats well realistic . Love those working signals too

All the best,
Mark

[ASFC]

Cheers mark. The realistic sound is the joint in the baseboard! Unfortunately only the camera seems to be able to pick it up, I can't here during normal running.

Mat.

[ASFC]

Crikes! Bottom of page 4! And it has been four months!

Unfortunately not much has been done, due to commitments at university and work etc. What has been done was done in the past week or so!

The Ballasting is a mix of woodland scenics extra fine brown and grey mixed, sealed in place with Pledge Mulit Surface wax (read: Klear!) and a touch of Tamiya matting agent. I pinched this unashamedly from Karhedron of this parish. Works a treat, dries rock hard, and doesn't cause issues like PVA and water does.

The Scenic scatted is various woodland-sealed with pva out of a spray bottle. The roadway is very white atm because I am using the woodland road system, it was on sale in my local modelzone. It has been quite easy to use. Hopefully next I am finally going to get that bridge finished!









Cheers!

Mat

[1977joey]

Hi Mat,

Great to see Ollerton back .I know what you mean about finding time to model, I know mine was in busts, then some weeks nothing at all due to working shifts.

You're ballasting looks great. Some parts of mine need attention, & yes I agree about the PVA & water, as I thought mine had fully set, but when it came to hoovering the excess, I now have some bald patches....especially in the station which i need to sort out.

Keep the pictures coming

All the best,
Mark

[SouthernBoy]

Glad to see your layout is still coming along Mat - definitely great progress on the scenic side since your last post

[ASFC]

Hi Mark, thanks for the comment! I think the days of PVA and water are gone for me!

Hi Southernboy, thanks! When can we expect another instalment on Frankland?

Cheers

Mat