Chuffnell Regis

[MrWolf]

Yours already has the louvre ventilators in the gable ends, so I wouldn't expect to see both.

The Wills'kit I used for a basis had name boards moulded onto the gables, so I sawed the whole thing off and made new gables out of shiplap boarding.

[Graham T]

Good point - like the mortar, I'll leave it well alone.  Thanks.

[Graham T]

The signal box is now all done.  I don't think there's anything more that needs doing to it (although I'm sure I have made all sorts of goofs and left things out).

 

 

And here it is in its new home - albeit not fixed down.  That won't happen until the scenery is done in that area too.

 

[Graham T]

A couple of shots to end the day, taken while I was building a stretch of fencing.  Which looks a bit better than the fencing in this shot of the river...

 

This first layout malarkey is a bit of a learning curve, isn't it?

 

 

[Neal Ball]

Excellent work Graham.

 

8 hours ago, Graham T said:

The signal box is now all done.  I don't think there's anything more that needs doing to it (although I'm sure I have made all sorts of goofs and left things out).

 

 

And here it is in its new home - albeit not fixed down.  That won't happen until the scenery is done in that area too.

 

 

The signal box looks great and very much at home in that location. Plus the boarded walk-way makes a big difference.

 

7 hours ago, Graham T said:

A couple of shots to end the day, taken while I was building a stretch of fencing.  Which looks a bit better than the fencing in this shot of the river...

 

This first layout malarkey is a bit of a learning curve, isn't it?

 

 

 

I cant believe this is your first layout. These scenes really do look the part.

[Graham T]

Buenos dias Senor Neal, and muchos gracias (von Wien)!

[Gopher]

10 hours ago, Graham T said:

This first layout malarkey is a bit of a learning curve, isn't it?

The layout looks great Graham.  Brilliant for your first layout. Well Done.  

 

If it is any consolation  - you never stop learning, -  and if like me you forget what you have already learnt.    I think the trick is to probably build a new layout every year - thus keeping your skills and knowledge up to date.   I was surprised how rusty I was, (in particular on electrics and track laying) - when I started building my new layout.  A gap of 15 years gave my mind plenty of time to b***** off.  I find the same when I play guitar.  Except "finger memory" tends help me find the right notes/chords.   

 

So is time for Chufnell Regis mark 2  ?

 

Clive

Edited April 11, 2022 by Gopher

[Neal Ball]

29 minutes ago, Graham T said:

Buenos dias Senor Neal, and muchos gracias (von Wien)!

 

Thats possibly as far as my Spanish goes... apart from asking for a Beer of course!

 

7 minutes ago, Gopher said:

The layout looks great Graham.  Brilliant for your first layout. Well Done.  

 

If it is any consolation  - you never stop learning, -  .......   

 

So is time for Chufnell Regis mark 2  ?

 

Clive

 

Every day is a school day!

 

Chufnell Mk2 - I don't think so.... thats a long way off surely... Graham hasn't started operating it properly yet 🙂 Only then do you realise the areas  you might do differently.

[longchap]

20 minutes ago, Gopher said:

The layout looks great Graham.  Brilliant for your first layout. Well Done.  

 

If it is any consolation  - you never stop learning, -  and if like me you forget what you have already learnt. I think the trick is to probably build a new layout every year - thus keeping your skills and knowledge up to date.   I was surprised how rusty I was, (in particular on electrics and track laying) - when I started building my new layout.  A gap of 15 years gave my mind plenty of time to b***** off.  I find the same when I play guitar.  Except "finger memory" tends help me find the right notes/chords.   

 

So is time for Chufnell Regis mark 2  ?

 

Clive

 

I concur, including playing guitar. My first layout was 40 plus years ago, while my current is my first ‘fine scale’ attempt and I am constantly learning.

 

There are parts of some recent builds which I need to revisit, particularly the engine shed brick quoins, i.e. the four corners, where filling the brickwork and carving the brick corners correctly is a must, as laser cut mdf brick quoins require much more attention than I first understood!

9 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

Every day is a school day!

 

Chufnell Mk2 - I don't think so.... thats a long way off surely... Graham hasn't started operating it properly yet 🙂 Only then do you realise the areas  you might do differently.

 

The constant learning and research is all part of the hobby and helps your modelmaking to improve and brings confidence in your abilities.

 

You should feel proud of this first layout Graham. Enjoy and improve it and discover train formations, movement logistics and timetable running! Plenty to do and learn before a new layout becomes necessary.

 

Best,  

 

Bill

 

[MrWolf]

3 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Excellent work Graham.

 

 

The signal box looks great and very much at home in that location. Plus the boarded walk-way makes a big difference.

 

 

I cant believe this is your first layout. These scenes really do look the part.

 

I'll second that, especially as you have built just about everything yourself, it's not only come along very quickly, but also very realistically too.

That signal box is an excellent job and you should be proud of your efforts.

The way the landscape is shaped and coloured beyond the bridge and it just disappears seamlessly into the backscene is really impressive to me.

[Graham T]

1 hour ago, Gopher said:

The layout looks great Graham.  Brilliant for your first layout. Well Done.  

 

If it is any consolation  - you never stop learning, -  and if like me you forget what you have already learnt.    I think the trick is to probably build a new layout every year - thus keeping your skills and knowledge up to date.   I was surprised how rusty I was, (in particular on electrics and track laying) - when I started building my new layout.  A gap of 15 years gave my mind plenty of time to b***** off.  I find the same when I play guitar.  Except "finger memory" tends help me find the right notes/chords.   

 

So is time for Chufnell Regis mark 2  ?

 

Clive

 

Couldn't agree more about the learning Clive - and indeed the forgetting lessons already "learnt"!  That's partly why I started this thread, in an effort to record what has worked - and what hasn't...  Like you, electrics and track laying are the bits I find most troublesome, and they are probably what is going to push me towards CR Mk II.  More of that anon!

 

1 hour ago, Neal Ball said:

 

Thats possibly as far as my Spanish goes... apart from asking for a Beer of course!

 

 

Every day is a school day!

 

Chufnell Mk2 - I don't think so.... thats a long way off surely... Graham hasn't started operating it properly yet 🙂 Only then do you realise the areas  you might do differently.

 

Thirty years in the Navy means that, if nothing else, I can order beer in a wide range of languages 🙂

 

As previously alluded to, CR Mk II might be closer than you think.  As you say Neal, I haven't really operated the layout yet - but part of the reason for that is my shoddy trackwork; and the snakes' wedding of wiring hiding under the (gently undulating) baseboards.  And since, like a certain Mr O Wilde, I can resist anything except temptation, I'm getting more and more drawn towards reverting the spare room to its real purpose, and shifting Chuffnell Regis to the far end of the open plan living room.  Because if I relocate my home office, I would open up a new space, allowing me a 16 x 5 foot L-shape, plus a 6 foot fiddle yard on the end of that.

 

So, after a few visits to the profanity bank, I managed to bludgeon my iMac into running Parallels (having failed to get VMWare and Wine to play nicely with Mac OSX), and so am now running Anyrail...

 

1 hour ago, longchap said:

 

I concur, including playing guitar. My first layout was 40 plus years ago, while my current is my first ‘fine scale’ attempt and I am constantly learning.

 

There are parts of some recent builds which I need to revisit, particularly the engine shed brick quoins, i.e. the four corners, where filling the brickwork and carving the brick corners correctly is a must, as laser cut mdf brick quoins require much more attention than I first understood!

 

The constant learning and research is all part of the hobby and helps your modelmaking to improve and brings confidence in your abilities.

 

You should feel proud of this first layout Graham. Enjoy and improve it and discover train formations, movement logistics and timetable running! Plenty to do and learn before a new layout becomes necessary.

 

Best,  

 

Bill

 

 

Absolutely, the research and learning new skills is a big part of the enjoyment for me.  I know a new layout isn't necessary, but when do we ever let things like necessity get in the way?!

 

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

 

I'll second that, especially as you have built just about everything yourself, it's not only come along very quickly, but also very realistically too.

That signal box is an excellent job and you should be proud of your efforts.

The way the landscape is shaped and coloured beyond the bridge and it just disappears seamlessly into the backscene is really impressive to me.

 

You're partly to blame for the thoughts about CR Mk II you know, Mr W!  When I look at the space I could use for a new layout, I am of course tempted to cram in a much more complex station.  But then I looked again at your overall shots of Aston, and was once more taken by the openness of the landscape you've created there.  So, my thinking - such as it is - is moving along the lines of a very similar track plan to Chuffnell Regis as modelled now (although possibly without the bay platform), but making everything longer.  I'd probably use most, if not all, of the existing buildings, and then go for a wider river with a more substantial bridge.  I'd like there to be more open countryside on both sides of the river, and by making the platform and sidings longer I'd be able to run slightly more prototypical length trains.

 

Anyway, I'll keep dreaming 🙂

Edited April 11, 2022 by Graham T
wissing mords

[Graham T]

Sandy the signalman, a lovely 3D print from Modelu butchered by my ham-fisted painting.  Hopefully I will get better at figure painting with practice.  Anyway, he will look ok from NVD!

 

 

Normal Viewing Distance...

[aardvark]

Don't be so hard on yourself. Your handiwork is a lot better than anything that I'm likely to produce.

 

Do you use any sort of magnification?

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by aardvark
corrected auto-correcto

[Graham T]

4 minutes ago, aardvark said:

Don't be so hard on yourself. Your handiwork is a lot better than anything that is be likely to produce.

 

Do you use any sort of magnification?

 

I wear a pair of reading glasses, and use a spotlight.  My eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be!

[BroadLeaves]

You're being far too hard on yourself. My first thought when seeing that was "Wow! That's some excellent painting!".

Very crisp lines whenever the colour changes. The tie in particular is very nicely done indeed.

[Graham T]

Thank you both.

 

Like his painter, he looks better from a distance!

 

[John Besley]

That's a great picture with the hills rolling into the distance 👍

[Neal Ball]

I am concerned that he has got a brew on the go.... between trains he would be

• Cutting hair
• Tending his vegetable patch (behind the box)
• Moaning about the railway / the trains / management
• Polishing the levers etc.

I'm taking my inspiration from the BBC comedy "Oh Dr Beeching" of course.

 

You have painted him very well Graham. Incidentally, I use an illuminated lamp / magnifier when I am painting anything like that. Similar to this: https://www.manomano.co.uk/p/magnifier-flexible-professional-office-5x-magnifier-usb-led-3-colors-illuminated-magnifier-lamp-magnifier-reading-magnifier-soldering-rework-mohoo-18563755

 

That was just a Google search, no idea what its like.... although mine has a fluorescent lamp, so LED would be better.

 

Anyway, Sandy is very good.

[Gopher]

21 hours ago, Graham T said:

Sandy the signalman, a lovely 3D print from Modelu butchered by my ham-fisted painting.  Hopefully I will get better at figure painting with practice.  Anyway, he will look ok from NVD!

 

 

Normal Viewing Distance...

Well painted Graham.  I slop a sepia wash over the figures which if diluted properly highlights the detail, and tones down the colours without looking like the figure has not washed for the past year.  I admire people who can add  face detail to 1/76th figures.  

[Graham T]

8 hours ago, John Besley said:

That's a great picture with the hills rolling into the distance 👍

 

Thanks John.  I'm itching to get the scenery done around the signal box and PW hut now, but need to build the cottages first I think.

[Graham T]

2 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

I am concerned that he has got a brew on the go.... between trains he would be

• Cutting hair
• Tending his vegetable patch (behind the box)
• Moaning about the railway / the trains / management
• Polishing the levers etc.

I'm taking my inspiration from the BBC comedy "Oh Dr Beeching" of course.

 

You have painted him very well Graham. Incidentally, I use an illuminated lamp / magnifier when I am painting anything like that. Similar to this: https://www.manomano.co.uk/p/magnifier-flexible-professional-office-5x-magnifier-usb-led-3-colors-illuminated-magnifier-lamp-magnifier-reading-magnifier-soldering-rework-mohoo-18563755

 

That was just a Google search, no idea what its like.... although mine has a fluorescent lamp, so LED would be better.

 

Anyway, Sandy is very good.

 

Apart from light and magnification, having a comfortable position really helps too, with some way of steadying your hands.  I tend to paint very wobbly lines otherwise!

[Graham T]

21 minutes ago, Gopher said:

Well painted Graham.  I slop a sepia wash over the figures which if diluted properly highlights the detail, and tones down the colours without looking like the figure has not washed for the past year.  I admire people who can add  face detail to 1/76th figures.  

 

Very good point about the wash Clive.  I usually do this, but forgot with Sandy for some reason.  I might retrieve him and add a wash, or perhaps I'll just let him enjoy his wet of tea...

[clachnaharry]

Try to put a pair of eyes on him with a pencil,or fine pen. You will be amazed at the difference these tiny dots will make in bringing the figure to life. I paint hundreds of wargaming figures and it's the single most transformative that you can do in any scale.

[Graham T]

Thanks, I might give that a try - need to make sure the hands are rock-steady first I think...

[Neal Ball]

3 minutes ago, clachnaharry said:

Try to put a pair of eyes on him with a pencil,or fine pen. You will be amazed at the difference these tiny dots will make in bringing the figure to life. I paint hundreds of wargaming figures and it's the single most transformative that you can do in any scale.

 

I try a cocktail stick for something like that.

 

I do like the idea of a sepia wash as suggested further up the trail.