The Chronicles of Canary Sidings - the Tale of an Untidy Workbench

[Herb Garden]

They say the definition of insanity is repeating an activity and expecting different results....

So after some more practice runs with the lining pens the results are as follows:


Yep awful.... Whatever I seem to try I find it very hard to manipulate the pen on the loco even though on the flat it's really easy...

So after a month of doing nothing but practice this I'm changing tack. Don't get me wrong I could keep practicing but what I want to do is finish these locos then I can run them and enjoy them rather than them perpetually waiting to get lined out.

To that end I have ordered some more lining transfer sheets from fox .... Watch this space

 

[adrian]

They say the definition of insanity is repeating an activity and expecting different results....

So after some more practice runs with the lining pens the results are as follows:

I can understand the frustration - especially when your practice efforts worked so well.

Is it how you are holding the loco when lining? I've seen others use a loco cradle whilst lining so that the loco is sunk in the cradle and the lining is done on a flat surface as to where they are resting their hand.

 

[Herb Garden]

I can understand the frustration - especially when your practice efforts worked so well.

Is it how you are holding the loco when lining? I've seen others use a loco cradle whilst lining so that the loco is sunk in the cradle and the lining is done on a flat surface as to where they are resting their hand.

I know what you mean.... Yes that probably would help... What would also help is my hand not shaking with the stress that I only have one shot at this and the paint coming out of the pen consistently.

So my though it's.... It's like airbrushing... I understand the quality of results that can be achieved but I really don't find the experience of using the dam thing enjoyable so why not use a method you do enjoy after all it is a hobby

 

[AJC]

So my though it's.... It's like airbrushing... I understand the quality of results that can be achieved but I really don't find the experience of using the dam thing enjoyable so why not use a method you do enjoy after all it is a hobby

I have a lot of sympathy with this view (which explains my response to DCC in particular - working in education I have enough of buggy, underdeveloped systems meant to make life easier and full of functionality I don’t really need at work*). Of course, conquering such aversions can be fun, and satisfying, but I have to be in the mood.

Adam

* I know it doesn’t have to be like that, and others’ mileage varies, but any amount of electronic mucking about is too much at the end of a long day.

 

[Herb Garden]

So you may not even be able to see this but I've put the black edge lining on the cab panels on 74... Just a white line on top of this to go



After a month of practicing with a pen I've got more progress done in 20 mins

 

[Richard Gawler]

I cannot help admiring those opened cab window frames

 

[Herb Garden]

I cannot help admiring those opened cab window frames

Thanks!

They were a pain to do but I love them too. Really gives 74 a lived in look

 

[Herb Garden]

Yeah I do not think I'm going back to lining pens.....

 

[Herb Garden]

So some steps forward and some back.

Having achieved successful results with transfers and been able to get the look I wanted without swearing thought it would be plain sailing.

Then the new transfers arrived and I realised that the original ones I had been using were much thinner than what is usually available. Luckily the wonderful people at Fox Transfers have been very helpful and we are working towards getting some finer lines printed to match what I've allready used.



That does mean a delay so 74 & 151 will go back on the shelf for a bit until the new transfers arrive

However I have been able to finish a whole cab side so you can marvel at the awesome Johnson experimental plum livery. That hasn't been seen for the best part of 150 years





While I wait for transfers I will get on with trackwork for skeetsmere

 

[NHY 581]

I'm really enjoying this thread. All good stuff and much inspiration gained. The layout mock ups in particular are excellent.

Rob.

 

[Herb Garden]

I'm really enjoying this thread. All good stuff and much inspiration gained. The layout mock ups in particular are excellent.

Rob.

Thanks Rob,

That means a lot coming from yourself.

Yeah I really like the layout mockups as well.

I wanted to be a theatrical set designer when I was in my teens* so you can see where I take my inspiration from.

They are really quick and fun to make, and you do get a really good idea of what the finished thing will look like. Much better than spending years (in my case ) building the thing to find it looks terrible at the end of the process.

I'm probably letting the cat out of the bag when I say that my hope is that skeetsmere will be one of many little modules connected together on a series of shelves round the office to create a railway network (basically taking inspiration from the work of Iain Rice and Peter Denny putting them in a food blender and adding an overpowering quantity of great eastern spices).

Maybe I should make a mock-up of the whole room.... But that would be silly wouldn't it.

George

*My father put a stop to that plan and told me to get a proper job. Although a mechanical engineer was still not his idea if a proper job. No pleasing some people.

 

[James Spooner]

Thanks Rob,

That means a lot coming from yourself.

Yeah I really like the layout mockups as well.

I wanted to be a theatrical set designer when I was in my teens* so you can see where I take my inspiration from.

They are really quick and fun to make, and you do get a really good idea of what the finished thing will look like. Much better than spending years (in my case ) building the thing to find it looks terrible at the end of the process.

I'm probably letting the cat out of the bag when I say that my hope is that skeetsmere will be one of many little modules connected together on a series of shelves round the office to create a railway network (basically taking inspiration from the work of Iain Rice and Peter Denny putting them in a food blender and adding an overpowering quantity of great eastern spices).

Maybe I should make a mock-up of the whole room.... But that would be silly wouldn't it.

George

*My father put a stop to that plan and told me to get a proper job. Although a mechanical engineer was still not his idea if a proper job. No pleasing some people.

I do like your dream of having a series of interlinked cameos. It reminds me a bit of an EM layout featured a year or so ago in the railway modeller. I think it was the East Derbyshire Mineral Railway or something similar, where the creator put together a series of scenes on his fictitious railway. It was very tasty!

Nigel

 

[Herb Garden]

I do like your dream of having a series of interlinked cameos. It reminds me a bit of an EM layout featured a year or so ago in the railway modeller. I think it was the East Derbyshire Mineral Railway or something similar, where the creator put together a series of scenes on his fictitious railway. It was very tasty!

Nigel

Yeah I think I remember that as well.
Given the room I'm working in with various obstacles breaking up the space and not allowing a continuous run, the multiple cameo setup feels a fun way to go.

Our recent trip has inspired me with the idea of being able to send trains to and from different locations and operators. Even if the scale of operations isn't quite the same

 

[James Spooner]

Yeah I think I remember that as well.
Given the room I'm working in with various obstacles breaking up the space and not allowing a continuous run, the multiple cameo setup feels a fun way to go.

Our recent trip has inspired me with the idea of being able to send trains to and from different locations and operators. Even if the scale of operations isn't quite the same

Yes, Buckingham in particular was a great example of that. To think that in a morning we only got through about a dozen out of one hundred moves!

 

[Herb Garden]

Yes, Buckingham in particular was a great example of that. To think that in a morning we only got through about a dozen out of one hundred moves!

Well we were only trainee signalmen after all!

 

[Herb Garden]

Well it's going to get a bit tracktastic for a bit but it's nice to have the soldering iron out again



It's definitely V day

 

[Herb Garden]

Sleeping has commenced

The plan is to make functional copper clad trackwork. In its early years the MSLR covered Thier trackwork in ballast right up to the railhead so no point fiddling round with chairs and decorative stuff

 

[Herb Garden]

So I've run out of copperclad.... Halfway through the job typical!

So whilst I go on the EMGS stores and do some shopping I thought you might be interested in another part of the project that has been developing in the background.

The baseboards.... Or rather as I like to refer to them the layout chassis


So I've suffered from heavy baseboards in the past so this time have designed a monocoque chassis out of thin lightweight ply.

The plan is to get a local contact to CNC rout the parts for assembly around foam scenic pieces

Well that's the plan in any case let's see how it goes

 

[James Spooner]

So I've run out of copperclad.... Halfway through the job typical!

So whilst I go on the EMGS stores and do some shopping I thought you might be interested in another part of the project that has been developing in the background.

The baseboards.... Or rather as I like to refer to them the layout chassis

View attachment 201716
So I've suffered from heavy baseboards in the past so this time have designed a monocoque chassis out of thin lightweight ply.

The plan is to get a local contact to CNC rout the parts for assembly around foam scenic pieces

Well that's the plan in any case let's see how it goes

I was at the Portsmouth show yesterday and bought two packs of copperclad (one for points and one for gluing to the inside of frames to provide pick up fixings) and they were £33.50 a pack. I gulped hard and paid up but copperclad doesn’t seem to be a cheap option any more.

I like your baseboard design and will watch with interest as it’s not an area I feel very confident about.

Nigel

 

[Herb Garden]

I was at the Portsmouth show yesterday and bought two packs of copperclad (one for points and one for gluing to the inside of frames to provide pick up fixings) and they were £33.50 a pack. I gulped hard and paid up but copperclad doesn’t seem to be a cheap option any more.

I like your baseboard design and will watch with interest as it’s not an area I feel very confident about.

Nigel

33quid a pack! I think you were ripped off there... Look at EMGS stores or wizard both cheaper