More life for Hexworthy

I mentioned that I'd been adding more details to Hexworthy as one of the multiple tasks I was working on ahead of its first show last weekend, but I'd not managed to keep on top of blogging. As well as painting passengers and loco crew, more people, animals, and some details were prepared for the layout. 

On the top row are Bachmann trackworkers, given to me by my son when we dismantled his train set. I've touched up the paint in places and given them a shadow wash. The rest of the figures and animals are from the Finescale Figures batch I got in a sale a while back (it may have been a closing down sale as the website has gone!). They're 3D printed and appear to be scans of real people (probably not the animals though they are well proportioned), maybe not quite as crisp as Model-U figures but very good. You can see I got carried away with the animals, and even got a Dobby (if you know you know). All painted with enamels, with the aid of Google images to help with the animals. 

So, starting at the left hand end we have a group of (presumably volunteer) trackworkers in conversation. The compressor, welding kit and generator are by Westhill Wagon Works. There's also a robin on the wall, a squirrel on top of the container, and a (HO scale Faller) photographer in the distance behind the gate. 

Under the station canopy we have a lady checking her phone, and a cat (Monty's models) curled up by a bin (Layouts 4 U). The birds on the canopy have a special role. Lining the end of a carriage roof up with the blue tit puts the coupling over the magnet for Greenwich or modified Peco couplings, the same against the robin puts the coupling over the magnet for Microtrains couplings. This is a real help when uncoupling locos while operating from the fiddle yard end. 

Over by the café a young man seems to be in conversation with his Dalmatian while his partner checks in her handbag, there's another bin, and a long-haired lady tells her partner to hurry up with his coffee. There's a bottle of coke/beer on the table and crates of bottles left outside the café (Faller). Out of shot, the other table has a tray of bottles and an ash tray.

There's a bottle on the bar of the ice cream stall too, an upturned crate serves as a step. I've added a bin too. 

A solitary figure waits thoughtfully at the end of the platform with his dog. 

Another trackworker waits by the ground-frame. His pose seemed just right, once I'd cut away the "rock" his foot was resting on.

At the edge of the woods a pair of pheasants lurk in the undergrowth. 

The other side of the tracks a badger explores the field.

Dobby lurks near the playground. The discarded pallet used as a step/duckboard for the caravan is an experiment, I've not stuck it in place yet. It may be a bit large but I quite like the effect. Let me know what you think!

It's a lot of fun adding detail though it does take a lot of work, it feels like I've been painting figures and details for months! I reckon there's 35 figures on the layout, and that's without carriage passengers or loco crews. Hopefully viewers will enjoy finding them.