Inspiration Required!!! Feel Free to Pry

[haeckmaen]

Hello, I've nothing to add to this excellent modifications adding lighted headlamps, but just happily noticed your jinty passing eastern germany in the background

[Spavo]

lololololololol

That is so funny! I always thought the houses looked a little strange............

Thanks,

Gav.

[Lofty]

Actually it is a mock up on Salisbury Plain Training Area where the troops practiced for the invasion of Germany

Lofty

[joshing_man]

Nice work Gav but I have to say I hadn't noticed how good your ballasting is before - it really is great. What did you use as the effect to my eyes at least is superb?

Andrew

[Spavo]

Thanks Guys.......

Hey Andrew.....

I have to say from a long long time ago on one of Lofty's layouts it was the 1st time I had seen someone blend a really realistic transition from the trackbed to the lineside, I studied his pictures like a maniac and I used those slate chips, I can't remember where I got them from but they were advertised on ebay as stone chips ballast or slate chippings ballast...

After that is was pretty much trial and error but constantly going back to his photo's to try to copy they way he had blended it so it was all down to Lofty really but thanks for the feedback!

Gav.

[Lofty]

it was all down to Lofty really

He has a lot to answer for

Thanks for the recognition though

[peak]

Great loco modifications there Spavo The Levington chap has a lot to answer to.
Also the ballast as stated is ace. There's nowt wrong with copying! I do it all the time!

[m.levin]

Very nice lights Gav, you were right.

[Spavo]

So after 4 years of this layout and promising never to add anymore baseboards, (3 so far!) I had to go and do it again, photo's will be on later but I was just sick and tired of having a couple of hundred quids worth of loco's stuck on a siding at the back of the layout with nowhere for them to go.

I have simply added another piece of board to the side of the existing loco sidings and ran a full strip along the side of the layout with enough space for 3 sidings in width, the pointwork between them is in the middle so I have a total of 6 sidings....

It will be great to have my lovely BR blue and green diesels more to the front of the layout and not tucked away....photo's later lads, just charging the camera....

Thanks,

Gav.

[Infrontcat]

Hello mate!

Great to hear the layout is still developing!!! Since you are promising photos I shall make sure I keep 'em peeled tomorrow

Cheers fella

Tim

[Spavo]

Cheers Tim and here we go.....

Obviously it is a build in progress but there isn't any rush, I have put yard lights in but they are not wired in yet and only one half of the sidings are anywhere near completion....

Here are a couple of pics showing where I made the spur from the previous yard.....in the forground is the other half, to be done and shown at a later date!







Basically the track was laid on 3 layers of cork to get the correct height, ballasted in and then 1st brown then black scatter used to fill in between the rails...











As usual there were plenty of matchsticks getting used.......







Finally there were a couple of those cheap wills kits used for huts about the place...






I am currently starting on the other end which is the same really except I am adding a DMU servicing platform, for the DMU obviously and also one of those Knightwing oil kits for the diesels, I won't have the room for the oil storage tanks so I am going to cheat by using a couple of old oil tankers there and building them into my timetable to be changed to give a little more operating interest.

Cheers guys,

more updates later,

Gav.

[Spavo]

More later today hopefully!

Gav.

[Black-Marlin]

Looking great Gav! Particularly like the ballasting, especially the heaped stuff that builds up by the doors to the huts! Very realistic

Cheers,
Gavin

[m.levin]

The Fine ballast does look good Spav

[GROTLAND]

Very cool Gav. Seems you can knock out scenes at the speed of light but still the quality gets better. These pics remind me of a preserved railway just before the gates are open to the public. I like how you've kitbashed stuff into the the scene and it doesn't look like it's placed. The matches as surprising. and that fence after the crossing(to the left, matches too?, nice detail) and textures of ballast. Your class 50 looks to be a bit mottled at the cab(looks good) have you done something to it because I have the same model and mine is bold as brass(too bold). One other thing....your B1 looks very ill, does it still run?(valve gear seems to be drooping right down).
Cheers for the great pictures.