More changes for St Mewan-

Another one of those bits days.

I can't find the running in board that I made for St Mewan! So, nothing for it but to make another- guaranteed to find the original now!

Needs some black paint to cover the MEK stain and posts to mount it on.

Next up is the Station Building. The one made I have never been completely satisfied with as the proportions looked wrong to me.


It started life as a LCUT kit  -
http://www.lcut.co.uk/index.php?product=B%2000-00&title=B%2000-00

So, out with the big knife to modify the roof and then  fabricate a canopy, again from the bits and pieces box- thank god we are in lockdown or I would have spent a fortune at local model shop! A couple of posts for support and the paintbrush awaits!

 I think that it looks better- the white strip under the roof is the canopy mount. A lick of paint......

AnotherSignal Box for St Mewan-4mm.

As I previously may have mentioned ,I have made a blunder by miscalculating where the signal box would be sited on St Mewan. There isn't enough room!

So I have searched for platform mounted boxes and I have found a few examples in the West Country.

Next , a search through the bits box gave enough bits , almost; to build a box of the right style and dimensions.

Mostly this is a Ratio box which I have built without the base, fabricated a new floor and back wall. The base will be covered with brick paper and the box painted Light and Dark Stone. The windows have been glazed but will have to wait until painting is done and dry- wet weather is due so time to complete this model.

Loads for Mineral Wagons in 4mm.

Today was one of those days to do the tidying up and do the little things that I never seem to get round to. Firstly I have a few Mineral Wagons which have needed a load for some time. Having a few offcuts of plastic card and a piece of balsa wood made a frame and a quick carve with a knife gave the rough profile of a load. Sticking them together, the plastic with MEK and the balsa to the plastic with UHU gave a cheap base for a coal load. I did a couple of these before I found a third wagon! 

Then , once dry they had a liberal coating of PVA before being dunked in real ground up coal. Sounds posh but in reality just put in a stout polybag and beat seven bells out of it until the required size is reached. Then again- leave to dry.

And there we have it- a couple of loads for Mineral Wagons. I will let it all dry and then trim before inserting into the wagons - plus I may want to get them out one day!

First Structure bedded in.

This is the first structure to be secured onto St Mewan.

Made entirely of artists mounting card it provides a scenic break to the fiddle yard and the clay siding. It has been covered with Howard Scenics 4mm brick paper.  The coping stones areplain card painted grey.

A totally freelance design to fit the location.

Ballasting the track.

The least favorite part of building a model railway has to be ballasting the track.

The tedious part is getting the ballast to go, and stay, where you want it and preferably not in the pointwork mechanism. I use a fine granite ballast from Attwood Agregates.

My way of securing the ballast is, once it is laid and relatively even, is first to spray with a very fine mist of water with a drop of washing up liquid. Once this is soaked then dilute PVA, again with a drop of w/u liquid is applied with a cheap plastic pipette. Nothing more to do but let it dry,overnight, and hope that it all sticks where you want it to.

For the clay siding I have applied some magnesium ballast to help with weathering the track once the loading buildings are set in place. This I have tried to blend with the granite ballast.

St Mewan Station building.

I hadn't been completely convinced that the station building made for St Mewan looked in proportion.

 To me it looked top heavy so out came the big knife! Let surgery begin! Firstly off came the roof.

Then I sliced off several courses of bricks leaving about two above the doors and windows .

Once all cleaned off the roof was refitted and clamped in place overnight to dry.

I think it looks more in proportion now bearing in mind that this is a narrow layout and the width of station building was going to be a compromise. Well, this is how it came out and how it looks sitting on the platform- much betterI feel.

St Mewan Control Panel!

A grand name for something so small!

Apart from the handheld controller which plugs in, this is the nerve centre of St Mewan.

Five point levers and one isolating lever and three section switches and that's it.

Everything on St Mewan is operated from a double 16V AC outlet transformer the leads of which just clip in. And- at long last it all works!

Platforms for St Mewan.

Whilst waiting for paint to dry, I had a think about the platform for St Mewan.

Was I going to take the easy route and use ready formed platform edging? No, not me- I am a punishment glutton!

Numerous pieces of mounting card cut up to provide the foundation and face. Then the face was covered in Builder Plus-(Howard Scenics are similar)brick paper and a narrow strip for the overhang was affixed.

Probably a bit premature but the face has been glued down on one board before I have ballasted the track. At least the ballast will butt up to the platform edge

Rail painting.

Even a small layout like this takes a lot of time and patience .

To say it is tedious is being unfair, after all it was me who decided to do it in the first place.

So after painting the sleepers I chose Precision paint 'Rusty Rails' for, well, the rails. I am not sure if this is the right decision as it has dried lighter than I wanted.

It may come good after the ballast is laid- we shall see.

St Mewan-Painting the track.

Now that the track is all laid and working-don't ask, it is time to paint the sleepers.

Usually I spray the track with a brown Humbrol rattle can but, as I don't have enough and can't be bothered to get the airbrush out some old Humbrol enamels will be used. These I have had for ages and after a thorough stir were mixed in various quantities and thinned slightly.

The mixture is very easy to apply and brings out the grain of the sleepers really nicely.

Very difficult to see the grain plainly due to my poor camera skills.

I think you get the idea though. Once completed and allowed to dry I will start on the chairs and rail sides.

 This will probably take some time so I will probably look for something else to do in the meantime -  Think there is an 0 gauge Palvan to finish!

Then Ballasting- O joy!

Something's wrong!

For some reason various of the photos have been removed from my posts-I have no idea why.

I have reposted the most recent but don't have the time or inclination to review every post and do the photos again.

Please bear with me and it may go away or that's another blog that will be inaccessable!

009 Pannelled Coaches- almost there.

This has to be the most tedious of days even without lockdown!

It seemed a good idea to letter each door with it's class type.

I have lettered thirty six doors and numbered four coaches and added some extra lettering.

But it is now done and I am fairly pleased with the result.

Just roofs and vents plus a bit of weight to go and they are completed.

009 Pannelled Coaches.

It was pointed out to me that no underframes had been fitted- this is now rectified.

Using plastic strip, channel and L shaped moulding the frames have been painted and fitted to all four carriages.

Must say this enhances them somewhat.

Just transfers, roof vents and roofs to add- we're getting there.

St Mewan Western Region Bubble Car.

The headcodes that were displayed on the Class 121 were not appropriate so a fictisious set have been added.

This is one end which will also need a destination blind name added at some point if I can workout how to produce white lettering on a black background on this computer.

Still, the 121 is complete for use!

009 Pannelled Guards Van.

So I have decided to leave the brake van in plain brown.

The lettering has been added- from a Pressfix sheet . The sheet is forGWR rolling stock and seemed appropriate for this rake of coaches.

The transfers have been sealed with a fine coat of acrylic matt varnish and the windows have been glazed.

Just the roof to cut and adhere in place.

00 Gauge St Mewan, Motive power roster complete- almost!

The latest addition to the fleet is this Hornby Class 121 Bubblecar. I had almost given up aquiring one of these- missed a Lima version at Alton for a bargain price but I dithered.

However, all things come to those who wait. I looked at S&J models website and lo and behold the exact model I wanted at a reasonable price- including post and packing. Extremely pleased with this model- it is mint and unrun so pleased to recommend S&J Models-
http://www.sandjmodelrailways.co.uk/
Seen here on the rolling road being run in, it has had its couplings removed and wire loops added. This enables screw couplings and hoses to be added- the most it will pull being a six wheel milk tank.

Old and new are introduced- the Auto-trailer will represent the late 50's and the 121 will introduce the early sixties. Also, whilst I am on the subject of service. I needed some metal wheels for the auto-trailer and located them at Colletts Models in Exmouth. Ordered and two working days later they arrived- https://www.collettsmodelshop.co.uk/

009 Pannelled coaches brake van.

 The only thing with the panelled rake is that it didn't include acommodation for the guard.

So a Guards Van had to be made. More Ratio sides have been vandalised to produce a short wheel base van which can be mounted on a PECO short guards van chassis.

Ends were cut from 009 flat bed wagons which were surplus to needs and shaped to match the tapered sides. The whole was mounted onto a spare 3mm floor and holes drilled to locate the chassis. Filler made the holes disappear and were filed to shape once dry.

Once the body was complete it received a coat of red primer and left to dry.

As I don't know what colour was used on the four coaches I painted the shell in Pullman Umber which appears to match, second coat will confirm this.

Couplings have been added and I must now wait for the paint to harden before I progress- still can't decide if to pick out some of the panels in white!

St Mewan Diesel power alternative.

In order to get as much use from St Mewan in different eras, several diesel locos have been tested for use. In view of the fact that I don't possess a class 22 then a class 33, Hymek, 07 and 05 will have to suffice for now.

I dare say my co-conspiritor will add to this for the blue era.

These two have been successfully tested on the layout and, once one point motor is repositioned the wiring can be completed.

009 Coaches from Ratio 00 gauge sides.

 Awhile ago, Brian Guilmant gave me some painted Ratio coach sides that had been prepared for 009 use.

Over the last few days I have scratchbuilt the chassis and ends for the four coaches.There are two four compartment  and two five compartment coaches.

Once the main shell was built, seating was cut to fill all the compartments. One of the 4 compartment coaches is First class with maroon seating others have green seating except one of the 5 compartments having the centre compartment as first class in maroon.

The bogies are a selection of types which I aquired from the 009 Sociey S/H Sales a while back. Couplings are again an assortment of whitemetal and plastic as supplied by Woodworm2014 on ebay.

Just the roofs and underframes to do and they are just about finished-plus some lead!

4mm China Clay Wagon Tarpaulins.

 The China Clay wagons I bought are a bit of a mixture. Two well weathered brown, one slightly weathered brown and a pristine grey one. Two also came with hoods which are wrong for my timescale.

So, what to do about tarpaulins? I looked around and tried some tissue paper- too thin. Then I found some Superquick paving sheets. The reverse side is light grey so cut a few bits to size, scrunched them up and folded to fit a wooden former I had made.

Once the glue securing the corners had dried I gave each one a thin coating of Mod Podge. Again when dry, a mix of acrylic blue and grey was partially mixed giving a streaked look when painted. Probably the colour is too bright but Tarps weathered in different ways due to age etc. Cork coloured cotton was wrapped around each tarp and secured where necessary with superglue.

 The results to my mind is quite pleasing and a fair replica of a sheeted china clay wagon.

St Mewan shunters truck.

Probably total overkill but as I had a spare transfer for the Toad, I thought it would be a good idea to add to the Hornby shunters truck. Together with whitemetal shunter figure it will be a useful addition to St Mewan. As an aside, St Mewan has been accepted as a micro layout on the Facebook group.

Tram layout Cody Street- another video!

Practising still- hopefully once the pandemonium is over I can learn how to edit.

3mm BR&CW Type 3- it begins!

 These are a couple of type 3's from Lenny Applegreen.

Excellent mouldings and very crisp!

These two will accompany the Bruce Smetham version I already have.

Several locos are on the stocks to complete for use on East Boldre, I already have a Thumper and various Bullied coaches plus many suitable wagons.

So, must find the drive bogies and pluck up the courage to complete the type 3's.

Still, one thing is that I have the complete decal set from Railtec to number both.

Cody Street Tram video- something new!

Only a short video but it's a start. If this is successful there are more!