Helston Revisited

[Gilbert]

47 minutes ago, Andy Keane said:

I put it on with microsol and the flood is their micro flat. Of course the photo makes it looks much worse than in real life.

Andy

Would the varnish stiffen and seal the decal rather than soften it?

 

 

 

 

 

[Andy Keane]

Indeed - but I floated it into microsol and it did not soften much at all. I am using A4 sheets of laser print waterslide and the base transfer material is a bit thick I suspect - but it is quite robust. I guess if I got some custom made transfers from one of the specialists maybe it would work better but would probably break up in use - such is life.

[Andy Keane]

A bit of fettling with wire wool, some touch up and more matt varnish and I think the gates will do:

If you look at a very shallow angle and catch the light right you can still see the transfer but I cannot help that:

The long fence belongs to the adjacent properties so I have just gone for faded creosoted wood on that.

Edited July 5 by Andy Keane

[Andy Keane]

This weekend I have built three of the Masokits telegraph poles up. I have added brass bottoms to them, matching brass tubes sunk into the layout so they are sturdily held but simply removable. Fiddly to build but better than moulded plastic ones I think. The farthest one just fits under my eves. They are sized to take seven lines: a common earth on the top(1), a general purpose phone circuit(2), an ETS(2), the distant signal warning lamp repeater(1) and the shunting horn line(1):

Insulators on cross-beams like this are now a thing of the past for operational poles of course, but near where I live three poles still have them though with no wires attached.

Edited July 7 by Andy Keane

[Graham T]

Those look really good Andy, will have to remember them for when I finally get to that stage of my next layout.

[Andy Keane]

17 minutes ago, Graham T said:

Those look really good Andy, will have to remember them for when I finally get to that stage of my next layout.

The masokits chap is really old-school. No interactive web site, no email - you write a letter to him enclosing a cheque and them some weeks later the kit arrives in the post, nicely wrapped in a small parcel with clear instructions.

[Andy Keane]

This is the three rail metal fence that sits on top of the long wall. It is not yet pushed home so it is a few mm too tall at present. This is because it needs to be painted first. So should I go for dark stone posts and light stone rails or perhaps black posts and leave the rails as bare steel? Maybe @Miss Prism could advise?

[Harlequin]

6 minutes ago, Andy Keane said:

This is the three rail metal fence that sits on top of the long wall. It is not yet pushed home so it is a few mm too tall at present. This is because it needs to be painted first. So should I go for dark stone posts and light stone rails or perhaps black posts and leave the rails as bare steel? Maybe @Miss Prism could advise?

The structure colours book says:

Quote

Iron fencing (spear fencing): where members of the public were likely to come into contact with it, this was painted with black varnish; otherwise it was tarred. However, in the earlier part of the period covered by the Paint Committee minutes [1912-1947], this fencing was sometimes painted in No.2.

 

[Andy Keane]

Phil

Thanks for this. My worry is this is not spear fencing and it was not in a public area. And just down the page when talking about concrete post platform fences it says "a top rail of round section metal which was usually painted with black varnish. However some rails were of polished steel." Not sure this kind of metal post and rail fence is actually covered by the book at all. Though rule 628 says iron fencing on approach roads must be preserved with tar if not in areas where the public will come into contact. So I am rather of the view that it should be a dull black all over.

Andy

Edited July 8 by Andy Keane

[Harlequin]

20 minutes ago, Andy Keane said:

Phil

Thanks for this. My worry is this is not spear fencing and it was not in a public area. And just down the page when talking about concrete post platform fences it says "a top rail of round section metal which was usually painted with black varnish. However some rails were of polished steel." Not sure this kind of metal post and rail fence is actually covered by the book at all. Though rule 628 says iron fencing on approach roads must be preserved with tar if not in areas where the public will come into contact. So I am rather of the view that it should be a dull black all over.

Andy

Yes, I agree. Dull black all over, nothing fancy.

 

[Miss Prism]

I've no idea what the colour should be, and I'm trying to think of places where those railings might be, but I also feel it was probably black. I can't find any quayside bollards at Fishguard. This is somewhere at Plymouth, but very modern of course:

 

[Gilbert]

I think black based on the comments made plus it gives a nice contrast with other lighter colours around it.

You may also want to consider if the black colour might scale to a dark grey when viewed on the layout?

Chris H

[Andy Keane]

7 hours ago, Miss Prism said:

I've no idea what the colour should be, and I'm trying to think of places where those railings might be, but I also feel it was probably black. I can't find any quayside bollards at Fishguard. This is somewhere at Plymouth, but very modern of course:

 

Yes this is the sort of look I am aiming at. And its a key point that the bottom rail of these three rail fences is always very close to the ground - I guess to stop small animals or children falling through.

[Tim Dubya]

I always remember the spear point railings around what was left of the GWR yards in Radstock being "painted" in a tar like substance, same as the buffer stops.  It was dry to the touch, so probably original or  very old.  

 

[Andy Keane]

19 minutes ago, Tim Dubya said:

I always remember the spear point railings around what was left of the GWR yards in Radstock being "painted" in a tar like substance, same as the buffer stops.  It was dry to the touch, so probably original or  very old.  

 

Thanks for this. I think we are agreed this is what I need to replicate. The question now is what shade of dark grey through black and how matt to make it.

[magmouse]

1 hour ago, Andy Keane said:

The question now is what shade of dark grey through black and how matt to make it.

Assuming you are going to paint it off the layout, I would use a barbecue spray paint, which tend to be off-black and Matt, followed by some grey leathering powders to give some slight variation and tone down the black a bit further.

 

Nick.

[St Enodoc]

7 minutes ago, magmouse said:

Assuming you are going to paint it off the layout, I would use a barbecue spray paint, which tend to be off-black and Matt, followed by some grey leathering powders to give some slight variation and tone down the black a bit further.

 

Nick.

You used to be able to buy (about 60 years ago) something called Stove Black, which was probably the brush-on equivalent.

[Andy Keane]

I have just primed with Q8 rattle etch primer. I will then use my trusty airbrush, multiple coats to get some variation. Maybe some rust as well.

Edited July 9 by Andy Keane

[Andy Keane]

This is Railmatch weathered black followed by a dusting of their frame dirt. What do people think as a base colour to add powders onto? Should it be a bit blacker? maybe not evenly so?

Edited July 9 by Andy Keane

[Gilbert]

Nicely done - I would put it in place and leave it there for a day or two......then decide next steps.....FWIW it looks a little pale in the photo but on the layout may look different?

Chris

[Andy Keane]

Just now, Gilbert said:

Nicely done - I would put it in place and leave it there for a day or two......then decide next steps.....FWIW it looks a little pale in the photo but on the layout may look different?

Chris

Yes, good idea. I will let it dry off hard and then try it in situ. Being brass posts I don’t want to handle them for a while or it will all rub off, despite the etch primer.

[Tim Dubya]

1 hour ago, Andy Keane said:

Being brass posts I don’t want to handle them for a while or it will all rub off, despite the etch primer.

 

Have you tried matt varnish to prevent that, or doesn't that work either?  

[Harlequin]

2 hours ago, Andy Keane said:

This is Railmatch weathered black followed by a dusting of their frame dirt. What do people think as a base colour to add powders onto? Should it be a bit blacker? maybe not evenly so?

Doesn't look very black...

 

[chuffinghell]

3 hours ago, Andy Keane said:

Yes, good idea. I will let it dry off hard and then try it in situ. Being brass posts I don’t want to handle them for a while or it will all rub off, despite the etch primer.

this doesn’t always work but what I’ve done before is clean the brass with isopropyl, apply a blackening solution and paint on top of that 

[St Enodoc]

7 hours ago, Andy Keane said:

This is Railmatch weathered black followed by a dusting of their frame dirt. What do people think as a base colour to add powders onto? Should it be a bit blacker? maybe not evenly so?

 

5 hours ago, Harlequin said:

Doesn't look very black...

 

I, too, think it should be a bit (lot?) blacker.