Ballasting and browning

Its been a busy few days in the garage which has seen the last plaster work and the start of colour.

The most important bit of plastering is the 'ballasting' of the track. I have a theory that most narrow gauge track was poorly laid and then hardly maintained, so nicely manicured ballast is fine for the L&B or the 1880s Festiniog but the Isle of Stoner not so much.

In the story of IoSR the layout represents the recently reopened branch line, mud and cinders ballast is still mostly the line's standard. 

I trowel some filler onto the track and then level it out using a wet paint brush. I try to make sure that the running surfaces are as clear as possible but it isn't always possible. Once it is set but not hard I use a small screwdriver to scrape the rail clear and run a track rubber over the top.

I also added a final layer of filler to bed the 6.5mm gauge track in.

I also spent a happy hour or so running a black Sharpie over the greenhouse metalwork and it looks better for it.

Once it was all set I started to colour in the white bits. Very satisfying too. I use B&Q tester pots of emulsion to cover the basics and then acrylics to add detail. There will then be weathering powder to finish. A way off yet.

This will be my first large areas covered with static grass. I've been collecting a variety of colours and lengths since I bought the applicator.

Wagons roll...!

I've been a busy little bee in the last week or so as I'm on leave and staying at home.

First thing I did was to paint and then weather the 009 Society kits.

I'm pleased with these and they run very freely too.

Next job was to add a filler piece behind the coupling on the new(ish) NP Bagnall. Previously the cab overhung the coupler preventing coupling loops hooking on.

Lurking in my drawer of unbuilt kits had been a Narrow Planet 6point5 Ruston Proctor kit. I decided that it was time to build it despite having no layout at the moment. 

It went together very easily and I'm pleased with the result. 

I also made an open coach by shortening a PQR kit by one seating bay and sticking it on a Busch chassis. The hand brake handle is a spare TR brake van casting.

It looks rather good after painting, the only slight disappointment being with the rather lumpy chassis. I'm sure this can be cured but without a layout it doesn't matter for now.

I have been working on the main layout, having reached the point where ballasting is unavoidable. By way of an experiment I've used ballast and chinchilla dust to ballast the beach siding. 

The main line has been done using my usual filler technique. 

All that remains to do now is to clean this section up and carefully do the points. There is also the final section to ballast in Parrot Inn cutting. 

Back on the beach

First of all, I'm sorry to say that some of the scum that lurk on the internet have done their best to spoil this little corner of the electronic world, however thanks to the ever vigilant Mick T, I have (hopefully) eradicated their droppings.

 

 

Any old how, back to the train set. I've made a concerted effort to get the scenery to the point where I can start adding colour and thence be able to play trains again. I'm not quite at that point but certainly getting there, all the major earthworks, including the beach are at the filler covering stage.

 

The beach in former stage, it slopes down hill quite a bit which isn't obvious from the pic

I decided that a derelict farm building might be nice

The derelict is made from wall sections chopped about and the chimney breast from a Ratio kit

The beach plastered

An additional glass house built from a kit

And in place with the other one

I built the pair of 009 Society kits which I bought at the AGM, they went together very well and have built into a very nice couple of trucks