MickRalph Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I am looking forward to seeing this at Lenham, as Eymoutiers is not far from where we have a second home. We had a lovely trip from there last year along the valley of the Vienne behind the preserved loco 140 c 38. However, it is the wrong gauge, as my interest is in the metre gauge Tramways of the Correze.  Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Hi Stephen I shall look forward to seeing this at Lenham in a couple of weeks. Thanks for keeping us all in the picture. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 Mick - I don't have that exact loco but I have a few steamers I can run to try and get near to the experience. Â Really looking forward to the show! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who came along and said hello today. It was a great experience taking the layout down to Lenham. Â I think the best compliment was from the two children watching the layout later in the afternoon. When asked if they wanted to look elsewhere they stayed put. Â I will post pictures and video over the coming days but r was an excellent show and I enjoyed seeing other peoples layouts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted January 31, 2016 Author Share Posted January 31, 2016 After the show I have taken some time away from modelling but I have been busy updating my youtube channel 3 times in two weeks so give that a look if you have the time (there is a thread on the French part of the forum). In the run up to the SNCFS Rendezvous I did not have the time to keep this thread updated so this is a larger update than most but not without reason. A lot of those finishing touches really make the layout come to life have been completed so here we go:  A few shots below are of the general ambience of the  You will have noticed that there are a lot of extra little details such as cars, trees and figures added to the layout including some passengers waiting for their trains  On this image you can see the ticket machines and a family of three waiting for their train as well as the bike shelter alongside the station building.  The builders merchant (old good shed) has also had a large amount of extra items added around it including a lorry picking up items.  By the pedestrian stairs over next to the old tram station I also included a cameo type scene where a lone construction worker is working hard to replace the railings on the stairs (I could not fathom out how to best model the railings going up the stairs so I concocted this scene as a get out!).  One thing that I had also mentioned earlier was the installation of lighting to the buildings. This is using the excellent Tomytec system which is simple and very effective. I switched the lights off so that you could get a feel for how effective it can be:  Finally, this is where it all got out of hand, I decided that after installing the lights that the interiors needed some little extra details. While they won't be readily visible I wanted anyone who was looking hard to see that it was not simply foam board of cardboard inside the buildings. As such I installed the scale scenes interiors which was very quick and simple to do. I also had a desk from a Noch Sexy Scenes (a gift from many years ago) set which was installed as well.   Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted June 8, 2016 Author Share Posted June 8, 2016 I have managed to do a bit of work on the layout today. I have got some of the finishing touches added to the camp site module and am now only in need of trees to finish it off. The lake module requires some more foliage and another layer of woodland scenic water to go on. I have also started building up the ground on the two other corner modules. There is a long Way to go on these but I am hopeful that they will start shaping up in the coming weeks info can find the time to keep this going. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted August 21, 2016 Author Share Posted August 21, 2016 Once again it has been a while since I have posted on here with an update. Progress since last time has been fairly substantial and, once again, it is not without good reason. Last week I had the editor of Continental Modeller visit to take photographs of the layout. This has given me another good reason to push on with some of the other modules to give us more to photograph.  The major progress has been on the layout which is geographically to the west of the station but currently sits on the right hand side of my layout. The last picture in my previous post was pretty much as it was until about two weeks ago. Then I pushed hard to get the module ready for the CM visit.   The bridge was never going to be amazing as I needed something that was curved and could accommodate the Kato track. As such I used Das Clay over foam board. It was scribed to give the appearance of brick work and sprayed grey. It still needs railings and some finessing but I am pleased I have stopped procrastinating and actually done it. On the top of the tunnel is a larger house surrounded by trees (all from 4D Model Shop). I really like their trees but they do not work well for forested areas so these will be replaced with something more suitable to giving heavier and denser coverage.   The eagle eyed amongst you will notice I have got a new Autorail (thanks to Ian P's eBay auction). This is a later liveried example of the ABJ4 which even has the shed allocation of Limoges. Added to that it has DCC sound which makes it the 4th loco in the fleet to be up to that standard. It goes better with the earliest era I have decided to operate which is from about 1975. As such the older livery (which has the cream roof) will be sold on eBay shortly (contact me for details).   A few extra details were added to this module including street lights, road signs and the markings for the crossing by the station. Some of the road vehicles have been changed around a bit including the Renault H van which was replaced by a DHL delivery van.   The lake and camping modules have also been brought to a conclusion. The lake has been populated with bathers at the man made beach as well as a few more road vehicles (the Harrington Cavalier moved from the main module to this one to cover the join between the modules).   The camp site which is on the next module around has also been finished with plenty of trees, tents and a few campers. The forest behind on both of the modules features a mix of Woodland Scenics trees and some cheaper Chinese trees which full up the foliage quite nicely.    The fact that three more modules are looking a lot smarter is really a huge boost. I can now take photographs from different angles and get the scenery in the distance working well for how the layout looks. I like this shot (although I know it shows the edge of the main base board) as it is almost as if it was taken from the top of the tunnel portal.   There is still plenty to do and one module needs a lot of work to get it done. Luckily though this is not as far away as I had originally anticipated so a few evenings a week and I hope to have this final module done in some way shape or form. Here is a shot of the other side of the tunnel which is not as well done as the rest but still shows the potential for a variety of shots to be done in a small space.  Thanks for reading.  EDIT - Sadly I am not really getting on with the way this forum does photos any more which means there are a few extras below for some reason. I have tried to work out how to remove them without removing them from the text of this post but to no avail. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanStock Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Stephen, that is coming on very well indeed. Certainly very recognisable. Â Hope you enjoyed the photo-shoot. From my experience, the lights make a huge difference - and then there's the anxiety about what the camera will see that you didn't!!! Â Small suggestion if I might - painting the rail sides makes a surprising amount of difference. Â Regards, Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 Thanks Ian for your kind words. I did originally spray all the track brown then clean the railhead off which gave it a nice grimy appearance. However I had reliability issues so I decided to abandon that idea as I went on. I do think you are right and will get to doing that at some point but I have a long list of things I need to do (don't we all). Â Stephen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 I am looking forward to seeing this at Lenham, as Eymoutiers is not far from where we have a second home. We had a lovely trip from there last year along the valley of the Vienne behind the preserved loco 140 c 38. However, it is the wrong gauge, as my interest is in the metre gauge Tramways of the Correze.  Mick Hi Mick I only just spotted this post. Are you actively modelling the TC? It's always fascinated me Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 Evening all  Just some shameless self promotion. My layout is in the January 2017 edition of Continental Modeller. They have done a great job in putting together the article.  I shall be uploading a video to my YouTube channel shortly to show off the layout a bit more. Sadly the layout is currently packed away following a house move. To add to this frustration it was damaged during the house move which is annoying.  This will probably be my last post before Christmas and the new year so I just wanted to wish you all a happy Christmas and a great new year.  Stephen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Claude_Dreyfus Posted December 21, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 21, 2016 I'll have to keep an eye out for the Jan CM then... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor quinn Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Picked up January CM this week - excellent article. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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