allegheny1600
Western Thunderer
Incroyable, Mon Sewer!
Simply incroyable!
J'aime beaucoup
Simply incroyable!
J'aime beaucoup
Cessy-en-Bois: Une petite gare de triage
- Thread starter chrisb
- Start date
chrisb
Western Thunderer
Many thanks for the kind comments and likes.
A lot of detail work on the area surrounding the mess room is almost complete and nearly ready to be photographed but, in the meantime, a Citroen 'Tube' from Wiking, heavily dented, scratched and generally rusted up:
I used AK Interactive Worn Effects over a base of AK Interactive Rust Effect Colours - the top coat is Tamiya Gray Green (XF-76).
A lot of detail work on the area surrounding the mess room is almost complete and nearly ready to be photographed but, in the meantime, a Citroen 'Tube' from Wiking, heavily dented, scratched and generally rusted up:
I used AK Interactive Worn Effects over a base of AK Interactive Rust Effect Colours - the top coat is Tamiya Gray Green (XF-76).
oldravendale
Western Thunderer
chrisb
Western Thunderer
chrisb
Western Thunderer
Gates for the yard:
The posts are made from blue f0am and the gates themselves from styrene sheet and odd bits of fine wire. Painted red then weathered with AK Interactive Rust Streaks and Vallejo German Camouflage Black (applied with a small piece of sponge.)
The metal SNCF logo was taken from an etched kit and the metal supporting frame was made using Albion Alloys' Connecto system - great stuff!
The posts are made from blue f0am and the gates themselves from styrene sheet and odd bits of fine wire. Painted red then weathered with AK Interactive Rust Streaks and Vallejo German Camouflage Black (applied with a small piece of sponge.)
The metal SNCF logo was taken from an etched kit and the metal supporting frame was made using Albion Alloys' Connecto system - great stuff!
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Looks like it has been stretched!
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Great bit of scratch building, very effective.
chrisb
Western Thunderer
Despite working consistently on the layout for the last several months, it's hard to avoid the impression that progress is sporadic. Case in point the area encompassing the weighbridge and the mess room...
There are a lot of individual components involved (buildings, railings, cobbled yard, manhole covers, asphalt road, "low relief" Renault, trees, bushes, concrete wall panels and posts, gates, SNCF logo sign, yard lamp, buffer stop, rusty Citroen van, bollards, various detailing items such as the wheelie bin) that don't take that long to make individually but often sit unannounced and unnoticed until all of the related components have been completed.
The yard lamps are a good example. I made them some time ago from odds and ends in my usual bodging fashion since I couldn't find anything available commercially that suited my needs:
While the double lamp won't be installed for a while (it's too close to the front of the layout and too easily subject to damage at present), with all of the other components for the yard area completed, I've spent a very enjoyable afternoon putting the single yard lamp and all of the other related components in place.
Hopefully the following photographs are self explanatory (especially the cut down Renault), the only item that perhaps isn't is the cobbled yard which was made from a piece of 5mm thick blue foam (suitably sanded to shape and embossed using a piece of square styrene rod the end of which I'd attacked with a file to create a simple embossing tool) and then painted with Tamiya acrylics:
So here it all is:
There are a lot of individual components involved (buildings, railings, cobbled yard, manhole covers, asphalt road, "low relief" Renault, trees, bushes, concrete wall panels and posts, gates, SNCF logo sign, yard lamp, buffer stop, rusty Citroen van, bollards, various detailing items such as the wheelie bin) that don't take that long to make individually but often sit unannounced and unnoticed until all of the related components have been completed.
The yard lamps are a good example. I made them some time ago from odds and ends in my usual bodging fashion since I couldn't find anything available commercially that suited my needs:
While the double lamp won't be installed for a while (it's too close to the front of the layout and too easily subject to damage at present), with all of the other components for the yard area completed, I've spent a very enjoyable afternoon putting the single yard lamp and all of the other related components in place.
Hopefully the following photographs are self explanatory (especially the cut down Renault), the only item that perhaps isn't is the cobbled yard which was made from a piece of 5mm thick blue foam (suitably sanded to shape and embossed using a piece of square styrene rod the end of which I'd attacked with a file to create a simple embossing tool) and then painted with Tamiya acrylics:
So here it all is:
Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
C'est bon!
It certainly captures the Gallic atmosphere.
All too true, hours are often spent on the details which makes the scene.
And I thought you were going to have both halves as if it had just been driven through a large circular saw Laurel and Hardy style!
It certainly captures the Gallic atmosphere.
All too true, hours are often spent on the details which makes the scene.
And I thought you were going to have both halves as if it had just been driven through a large circular saw Laurel and Hardy style!
chrisb
Western Thunderer
Many thanks for all the comments and likes.
So, deep breath...
I can't deny that the announcement received on Saturday that Cessy-en-Bois was no longer a contender in the Challenge prompted a complete and immediate loss of mojo followed by a long night of reflection during which I decided to revisit my original motivation for the project starting with the initial entry form, moving onto the status report and finally reviewing all of the posts I'd made here and on l'autre side.
As I did so I came to realise that I have long and most wanted a shunting puzzle layout and that it wasn't the Challenge deadline that was spurring me on, it was and is the desire to have a completed shunting puzzle layout that I can take pride in, enjoy and tinker with over time.
And what hit me like a brick wall was the realisation that I now felt free of both the time pressure and the constraints (meaning the necessary elements for the layout to be considered a Cameo) imposed by the requirements of the Challenge.
But on the flip side, I don't want to start to drift and never finish. I want to be able to pursue all of my other interests and activities that have been on hold over the last several months without that sense of reproach that unfinished projects seem to emanate. You may know what I mean!
So, I reassessed the amount of work left to complete the layout according to the original plan and I spent a lot of time assessing what features I might want to add/modify/remove, if any.
Here's what I came up with...
With the area around the mess room and weighbridge complete, the following tasks remain:
As to any modifications, I really would like to improve the design for the traverser. The original plan specified a simple, manually operated sliding tray that would have been quick and easy to build (I already have the slider mechanism) but I would really like to build an Arduino controlled turntable having been motivated by this over on l'autre side. And maybe with some low relief buildings to create something a little less functional and a bit more interesting - a form of cameo within a cameo perhaps?
And I have some inklings for other changes I'd like to make but need more time to consider these further.
So, suddenly, by changing my focus slightly, I'd managed to turn my complete lack of mojo on Saturday into feeling fully motivated again on Sunday and eagerly looking forward to the next steps.
As to those next steps, my primary focus will be to complete the outstanding tasks by the end of April, with the exception of the storage sidings. They aren't needed for a fully functional Inglenook - the scenic section is all I need to be able to run the shunting puzzle. I can add the storage sidings later and with them the added operational interest they'll bring. I had always committed to completing the layout in April and I've always worked in deadline driven fields and have taken pride in meeting my deadlines - so I don't want to let myself down now by failing to meet that commitment, even if it's no longer important.
Then I will take a break (coincidentally or perhaps providentially some friends have proposed a trip to the Yorkshire Dales in early May) to ponder the development of the storage sidings.
But...for me the Challenge has ended. The spell has been broken and I just don't find a do-over of the Challenge next year at all appealing and I'm out of contention for this year. So it makes sense to discontinue this thread as a Challenge entry and I've asked the WT admins (thank you Adrian!) to move the thread to the Layout Progress forum where I will continue to document the completion and any further development of the layout.
So, it's not Adieu! but Au Revoir!
So, deep breath...
I can't deny that the announcement received on Saturday that Cessy-en-Bois was no longer a contender in the Challenge prompted a complete and immediate loss of mojo followed by a long night of reflection during which I decided to revisit my original motivation for the project starting with the initial entry form, moving onto the status report and finally reviewing all of the posts I'd made here and on l'autre side.
As I did so I came to realise that I have long and most wanted a shunting puzzle layout and that it wasn't the Challenge deadline that was spurring me on, it was and is the desire to have a completed shunting puzzle layout that I can take pride in, enjoy and tinker with over time.
And what hit me like a brick wall was the realisation that I now felt free of both the time pressure and the constraints (meaning the necessary elements for the layout to be considered a Cameo) imposed by the requirements of the Challenge.
But on the flip side, I don't want to start to drift and never finish. I want to be able to pursue all of my other interests and activities that have been on hold over the last several months without that sense of reproach that unfinished projects seem to emanate. You may know what I mean!
So, I reassessed the amount of work left to complete the layout according to the original plan and I spent a lot of time assessing what features I might want to add/modify/remove, if any.
Here's what I came up with...
With the area around the mess room and weighbridge complete, the following tasks remain:
- Complete the scenic strip along the front of the layout
- Complete the goods shed and surrounding area (which is relatively small given most of the available space will be occupied by the large shed building)
- Weather the stock and fine tune the couplings
- Add a clear perspex front screen/layout name sign (already made)/translate Arduino menu options into French (currently all in English)
- Complete the storage sidings and traverser
As to any modifications, I really would like to improve the design for the traverser. The original plan specified a simple, manually operated sliding tray that would have been quick and easy to build (I already have the slider mechanism) but I would really like to build an Arduino controlled turntable having been motivated by this over on l'autre side. And maybe with some low relief buildings to create something a little less functional and a bit more interesting - a form of cameo within a cameo perhaps?
And I have some inklings for other changes I'd like to make but need more time to consider these further.
So, suddenly, by changing my focus slightly, I'd managed to turn my complete lack of mojo on Saturday into feeling fully motivated again on Sunday and eagerly looking forward to the next steps.
As to those next steps, my primary focus will be to complete the outstanding tasks by the end of April, with the exception of the storage sidings. They aren't needed for a fully functional Inglenook - the scenic section is all I need to be able to run the shunting puzzle. I can add the storage sidings later and with them the added operational interest they'll bring. I had always committed to completing the layout in April and I've always worked in deadline driven fields and have taken pride in meeting my deadlines - so I don't want to let myself down now by failing to meet that commitment, even if it's no longer important.
Then I will take a break (coincidentally or perhaps providentially some friends have proposed a trip to the Yorkshire Dales in early May) to ponder the development of the storage sidings.
But...for me the Challenge has ended. The spell has been broken and I just don't find a do-over of the Challenge next year at all appealing and I'm out of contention for this year. So it makes sense to discontinue this thread as a Challenge entry and I've asked the WT admins (thank you Adrian!) to move the thread to the Layout Progress forum where I will continue to document the completion and any further development of the layout.
So, it's not Adieu! but Au Revoir!
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Really glad you're continuing with this, I've been avidly following your posts and the different methods (from mine) you use. Always enjoy what you post.
I must admit though that I couldn't really get a view of how finished the layout was from your posts (many other cameo threads are the same). Perhaps the competition organisers were looking for overall views of entries showing the level of completion of a statement saying it was just about complete. I'm sure it's very difficult to judge completeness remotely.
I'd certainly welcome seeing photos of the whole. I do think you have created something different and to a very high standard of modelling and observation. I'm also convinced that, when complete, you'd give the other entries very stiff competition.
Your layout isn't the location, era or scale I model but it would certainly be in my shortlist. I'd certainly like to see it at a show.
I must admit though that I couldn't really get a view of how finished the layout was from your posts (many other cameo threads are the same). Perhaps the competition organisers were looking for overall views of entries showing the level of completion of a statement saying it was just about complete. I'm sure it's very difficult to judge completeness remotely.
I'd certainly welcome seeing photos of the whole. I do think you have created something different and to a very high standard of modelling and observation. I'm also convinced that, when complete, you'd give the other entries very stiff competition.
Your layout isn't the location, era or scale I model but it would certainly be in my shortlist. I'd certainly like to see it at a show.
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