Workbench for Penwithick

[Rods of Revolution]

Hi all, I thought I'd start a workbench here to document various progress with regards to rolling stock and buildings for my layout Penwithick. If you haven't guess already it's set in Cornwall and will be based in the early 80s to the early 90s. The clay facility is a modern one, so rather than one of the pretty stone built ones you often see this will be a large pre-fab concrete and corrugated metal one. It's N scale if you couldn't tell by the Rapidos!

Here is my class 08, it will perform the majority of shunting moves. As you can probably see it is weathered, I based the weathering upon a couple of machines that ECC own, though I am assuming that ECC are leasing my 08 from BR.

 

[Neil]

Well I needed the rapido couplings to identify the models as n gauge. I'm interested in the quality of the 3-D printing as the majority of the examples I've seen on RMweb and the narrow gauge forum seem a bit grainy.

 

[Rods of Revolution]

Hi Neil,

The material I use is called "White Detail" at Shapeways who do my printing, this material is not the cheapest one so I find better suited price-wise to n scale. You get some lines from the printing but the material soft and sands down really easily. The cheaper "White, Strong and Flexible" is better price-wise for OO/H0 but is much more difficult to sand down and is more "grainy" than "liney".

Regards,

Jack

 

[Dan Randall]

I can't get excited about N as a rule (I thought it was way too small when I modelled in 4mm and now I do 7mm), but I'm most impressed with your custom made wagons and your weathering techniques Jack. 

Like Neil, I would have thought the models were a larger scale, if the couplings hadn't given the game away!  I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work soon and am especially interested in the 3D printing side of things. 


Regards

Dan

 

[D1054]

Hello Jack,

That looks remarkably like a Bowaters Clayliner TTA (Dig TT039 / 71), and very nice in N Gauge too!  And the 08 looks great too!

I'm wrestling with the etches for an O gauge version right now, but things are progressing nicely......

 

[Rods of Revolution]

Yes, it is a model of a Bowaters TTA, once the lease expired they were leased by ECC. They never wore ECC decals though; They were painted blue(which soon went brown!) with STS decals. I look forward to seeing O gauge version!

Dan, in the future I will post some pictures of my other 3D Printed stock, PRAs, Tullis Russell covered hoppers and also a clay Polybulk.

Regards,

Jack

 

[iploffy]

I dabbled in N gauge when my eye sight was better and had quite a few engines including the Graham Farish 08 never really got on with it as it would not run smoothly, wait for Roberto to see your thread he is well into his N gauge

Ian

 

[Rods of Revolution]

Ian, was it the old Farish 08 with the inside frames? If it was then you'll be very impressed by the running of the new Farish 08, it has a beautiful little chassis and runs like a dream! The old Poole built models just don't compare with the new China built stuff, seems like as well oppressing people under a fist of communism they also make very good railway models.

Thanks for the compliments CME! I plan to have a couple of 37s; 37207 "William Cookworthy" and 37671 "Tre Pol and Pen". Just need a thing called money  ;D

I will draw up a track plan in a bit; I have in fact laid all the track, set it in plaster and built the main dries so photos will follow at some point!

Over on RMWeb people have been suggesting D&Gs for couplings, they look good but I wonder how tricky they are to calibrate?

The B & H layout you speak of sounds interesting; it is a great line for photography! If I was to make a model I'd have to include the section at Crofton with the canal "reflecting pool".

Kindest Regards,

Jack

 

[Rods of Revolution]

Pretty much self-explanatory;

 

[lancer1027]

Welcome Jack,  Nice few pics of the 08 and the clay wagons I am also building some clay wagons , also in o gauge although mine are UCV 5 plank opens. I hope to to put some more pics of progress on my workbench soon.
I will be watching your postings with interest

Rob :wave:

 

[Phill Dyson]

Hi Jack  :wave:

Could I ask how you go about weathering your stock such as that wonderful 08 in such a small scale  ? 8) 8) 8) 8) 

Cheers Phill

 

[Jordan]

Could I ask how you go about weathering your stock such as that wonderful 08 in such a small scale  ? 8) 8) 8) 8) 

With a good Electron Microscope, probably....

I jest - as a previous dabbler in N scale I must say I did find weathering a bit easier in N as you need less paint, and can cover a relatively 'large' area on a model quicker, obviously as it's smaller.
British N has made great strides in recent years - it certainly does need the couplers to distinguish it from OO, in photos anyway! If it'd been as good 10 years ago I would've probably stuck with the scale, but the contrast with US N at the time was too great. After doing O scale for a few years, HO seems tiny enough - personally I couldn't go back to N scale now.
Doesn't stop me admiring work like this though! For those of us who weren't paying attention at the back, though, what is "3D Printing"..?? And would it work/be cost effective in O scale?

 

[Rods of Revolution]

Hi :wave:

Prototypical ops for the 37's then with 'runround' outside of the works boundary so trains are set back after the trip loco has worked to and then 'runround' etc. then? :scratch:   I like that

Are you making your own track or using proprietary?

CME :wave:

Thanks all for the compliments!

I am aiming for a St Austell "Ponts Mill"; Trains from St Blazey were tripped to Ponts Mill in reverse. Hence the need for the Air piped brakevan. Normally it was a Class 08 but I don't see any reason it couldn't be a Class 37 from time to time as they were used on propelling moves often, not on the mainline but on branches. I have some pictures in a book of a 37 propelling Tigers on the Cabris Branch.

http://britishrailphotosbymichaelmcnicholas.fotopic.net/p48281515.html

Trackwork is Peco code 75, as it's buried in plaster I thought I'd be wasting money by putting anything else in. Plus the possibility for disaster when pouring the plaster was high!

Phill, I will do a step by step next time I do some weathering as this is probably the best way to explain. Primarily I use an airbrush on top of a wash and some dry brushing; I find that starting with a wash gives you shading in cracks and gaps, then the dry brushing highlights the edges and finally the airbrush tends to bring the layers together and make them look more natural. I always try to avoid brush marks (or finger prints ) and when applying washes I always draw the brush from top to bottom, so any streaking is top to bottom as per the prototype not side to side(unless it's a really really fast train  ). Best thing is to do a little at a time and when you think "just a bit more" STOP! Because that bit more normally ends up as too much. Also always try to weather from a photograph, A) because it'll always look more real as each loco type or wagon will have unique weathering patterns and B) so when someone says "That is far too dirty" or "They never looked like that" you can pull out a picture and show them otherwise.

Jordan, using less paint is a bonus but any errors are double the size (scale-wise) in N than in OO! So often a blemish I'd leave on one of my H0 models I'd feel the need to correct on an N scale one.

Kindest Regards,

Jack

 

[Phill Dyson]

Thanks Jack  , I will look forward to the step by step. I didn't realise it was possible to weather so well in N 

Phill  :wave:

 

[Rods of Revolution]

Sorry for the slow reply, been exhibiting my friends layout Ulvik (set in Norway in 60s/70s) in the show at Leamington. Very good show by the way!

I didn't use a plastciser but it seems to be solid, I have chiseled away areas to accept the buildings and through all the hammering no cracks have appeared and it seems to be attached to the base board rather permanently( I hope  ).

The compressor and brush I use are AB602, ?100 for both the brush and compressor. "Cheap as chips..." as that orange bloke off the tele says 

http://www.anticsonline.co.uk/532_1.html

I see some people spraying with ?200 brushes and get some pretty crap results, I think results are based far more on who is behind the brush. I'm saying this as I have often seen people told you need this ?150 Badger brush and this ?300 compressor or you won't get good results. In my opinion it just isn't true and it puts people off giving it a go which is a shame because airbrushing is not that difficult to do once you have practiced a bit.

Kindest Regards,

Jack

 

[Jordan]

I see some people spraying with ?200 brushes and get some pretty crap results, I think results are based far more on who is behind the brush.

Couldn't agree more, Jack. Technique, practice and cleanliness are everything when it comes to airbrushing. I use a ?25 airbrush off an Ebay shop ("Everything Airbrush") and a Workshop Compressor from Aldi of all places (approx ?70 IIRC) which admitedly, wouldn't be much good to use in the house... :-[

 

[Pugsley]

a Workshop Compressor from Aldi of all places (approx ?70 IIRC) which admitedly, wouldn't be much good to use in the house... :-[

Don't you believe it!  I run my airbrush off a SIP workshop compressor in the house, it's a bit loud (95db according to the label on it) but OK for the length of time that I normally use it.

I also have a very tolerant missus....

 

[Rods of Revolution]

My mate has an ancient compressor from the 70s and the thing vibrates so much you have to follow it around the room whilst spraying 

Regards,

Jack

 

[Jordan]

I also have a very tolerant missus....

Ah, well... therein lies the difference....

*thinks* "Lucky S*d" :vista:

 

[iploffy]

My mate has an ancient compressor from the 70s and the thing vibrates so much you have to follow it around the room whilst spraying 

Regards,

Jack

Sounds a bit like my car tyre pump

Ian