DJH's industrial railway workshop (or Dave's ad hoc bodging)

[David Hall]

Just to prove I'm not completely idle......

Courtesy of Mr Shaw of this parish, this week a few new wagons landed in the industrial bodging workshop. Lovely models, but rather pristine.

This weekend I have taken the time to grab a few hours to do some initial work with weathering powders. Very basic but a start. It just takes the plastic toy-like edge of them.

Lots still to do, they are obviously very 'uniform' at present, but it's a start. I'm quite pleased with the initial work and gives something to build on.

Dave

 

[David Hall]

A mineral train is slowly starting to emerge from the workshop. A motley collection of wagons for the (yet to be decided) quarry traffic for the eventual layout.

To add to this, I have a couple of 12t vans to serve the intended agricultural supplies/fertiliser depot (or something like that), and a match truck, but that's the lot. Plenty enough for the diorama though!

 

[David Hall]

Haven't updated this for a while (mainly as I haven't done anything for months. However I have had a flurry of activity this week.

I wanted to do some further experimenting with weathering. The idea being to have some very heavily mineral wagons reflecting condition right at the end of their working life in the early 70s, having been sold on by BR.

I selected a few to test some different approaches. Some false starts and 'almost disasters' but I have at least done something.

See below. Very much work in progress. I know this kind of grot and neglect will not appeal to many (or any!) others, but I just wanted to post to act as a spur for myself to continue. I'm learning on the job, and realise it pales into insignificance compared to much of the work on WT, but we all have to start somewhere after all. I working on the basis that nothing is irretrievable, and in the worse case scenario I could always strip them back to bare plastic and start again. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that though.

A picture paints a thousand words. But also shows things warts and all. This is not finescale modelling, but he ho, I'm having fun.


Dave

PS - ignore the vastly overscale Diego Maradona in the background if you've spied it (reflecting my other interest!).

 

[David Hall]

After a little more work last night. Again warts and all.

On the 5 plank wagon nearest the camera - the top left of the body, this is my attempt to replicate an area of peeled paint. Just to make things a little different between each wagon. I'm undecided if it works yet. I'll sit on it for a few days.

 

[David Hall]

And a second...

 

[Joe's Garage]

Hi Dave
Very nice collection of wagons which reflect the era that you are interested in. Do you have any pictures of the locos...?

Also nice to see you are active, keep going as I can see some lovely diorama coming. I still only have one O gauge wagon but as I said before on my return in March from Spain I will look seriously look at what I am going to do with the varied collection I have accumulated.

Keep posting as it helps focussing on your modelling.

As an aside Amstel beer is very nice!

All the best

Julian

 

[David Hall]

Thank you so much for showing some interest Julian, it's very kind.

It is also very encouraging for me to keep going when my self confidence is low. As we have discussed, the ability to focus is all to often lacking in my approach to the hobby. I've recently decided that I will aim to do 'something' modelling related on 3 or 4 days a week. Even if it's only 10 mins or so. It keeps the momentum going. Little tasks this week have included fixing a longstanding broken axel box on a wagon, repairing half a dozen three-link couplings, and doing some weathering of stock. Not much in the grand scheme of things but still more than the entire preceding three months!

I'll post some photos of locos in due course. There are two RtR offerings and two kit built locos. All currently in the paint and/or weathering workshop. I also have a loco on long term loan from my uncle. An ex-GWR one at that... too big for this diorama but perfect for the forum!

One wagon and one loco is a start. It's all I had for a couple of years. It's the joy of the larger scales. As you know from your G1 sojourn ! A small layout only needs a couple of locos and a dozen wagons. As a maximum. For this diorama, I am limiting it to around 10/12 wagons and the two smallest locos. Even that is a little overkill. The rest of my stock - the other two locos and about another 10/12 wagons - are being stored for a rainy day. To be honest, I think I have enough stock now to satisfy my needs and wants.

I'm hoping to do an inglenook shunting layout, but only after I've finished this diorama. I'm being strict with myself, and starting any other projects, buying any other stock, or stockpiling any kits, until I've finished the current projects.

So the upshot? I need to pull my finger out and get this diorama finished!

Thanks again for your reply and encouragement.

Dave

PS - Amstel beer is my favourite, consumption of which is possibly the reason for my inertia and lack of modelling progress!

 

[David Hall]

The inspiration for much of this comes from Paul Bartletts website. It's a wonderful resource for photos. It is so valuable, particularly for someone like me who is interested in more niche subjects. His photos of internal user wagons in the 1970s help justify the somewhat tenuous backstory to my modelling of wagons at the end of (or even beyond) their working lives in this period.

It's an eclectic approach but there is some evidence out there to support it. See this kind of gallery as an example: https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/internal06xxxxwr?fpciidx=57. It's this type of thing I'm aiming to achieve. Some way to go, but it's providing a lot of fun along the way.

Another real life example can be seen below too...