Growing Whittingly

Extending an existing layout that wasn't designed to be extended isn't easy, especially when it is a portable layout and it is fully scenic. So, I have been thinking about how best to do this for some time, but eventually it is time to take the plunge. It starts with removal of the existing low-height backscene. While this was screwed in place from the rear, the scenery had stuck to the backscene in places, and with trees and structures in the way it needed careful separation. 

The new 5mm ply backscene is longer, higher, and intended to be semi-structural in keeping the extended layout straight. That means it drops down to meet the cross-members of the extension, but, it had to sit onto the original board as the original backscene had. 

The new cross-member was attached to the end of the layout to support the deck extension, but being 44x12mm and the deck being 5mm ply, but the existing board being 55mm deep, a spacer was needed. Strips of the old 6mm MDF backscene were perfect, hence the blue. I also remembered to drill holes through the ends for wiring to be extended. 

The extension deck was then fitted with the outer cross-member from 44x24mm timber and another strip of MDF. The cross-members are also screwed to the backscene, and later, to the fascia, keeping the extension rigid. A similar process was followed for the right-hand end. 

Like the backscene board, the front facia is used to keep the board straight, and is cut from 5mm ply but with the top edge profiled to the shape of the scenery. I also cut an opening for a control panel, which was difficult to find space for without the extension. A second piece of ply was cut with a slightly smaller hole to fit behind the opening, this provides something to mount the recessed panel to as well as strengthening the fascia around the opening once glued in place.

A detail shot of the right-hand end shows the control panel opening in the fascia, the end panel fitted with 12x12mm strip wood to join in to the backscene, bracing around the top of the backscene board and end board, and the opening for the tracks. 

A view from the underside shows how the extensions have been added to the original board, and how the fascia (right) joins all together with spacer blocks to the original board's front piece (which is recessed). You can also see the cut-outs for magnets to be fitted below the track. 

The lighting pelmet is simply two pieces of ply at right angles, with timber bracing and strips at the end. The ends sit on the end board top-edge brace, which holds the end board, backscene board, and front "wing" piece together. A small piece of wood attached to this provides a mount for the lighting pelmet, with a captive nut a finger-tight bolt at each end is all that's needed to hold it in place. 

Note there are two bolt holes, allowing the pelmet to be fixed overhanging the front of the layout by a couple of inches to improve lighting at the front of the layout. Alternatively, it can be fixed further in to save width. 

So the small diorama now sits within a larger, "cameo" style baseboard. With an extra 6" at the left end and 8" at the right (the extra makes space for the control panel) it has grown from 2' 6" to about 3' 8" long - almost 50% bigger!

Next, I need to build a fiddle yard. And work out how I will add a backscene. 

Bexhill Exhibition with Hexworthy

Yesterday I took Hexworthy to the Bexhill model railway exhibition. I was assisted by "local" Stephen Fulljames of Light Railway Stores, who brought a rake of the LRS exclusive GWR wagons by Rapido. Since the other end of the line to Hexworthy meets the GWR at Buckfastleigh, these seemed quite appropriate. 

The layout performed well and Stephen got the hang of operations quickly, which gave me time to check out the rest of the show. It was good to see a heavy narrow-gauge bias in the layouts! I didn't pick up a program so I don't have names. There were a couple of nice O16.5 layouts. 

And a a slate quarry in O14. The shed doors open, wagon turntables rotate, and the wagons are hauled in and out.

A busy and highly detailed On30 logging layout, with some characterful stock.

And a 009 layout featuring a zoo... with a private siding!

Yes, that is a zebra in the "cattle van"!

There were also some nice standard gauge layouts.

Power lines and builders' bags

Back at the Salisbury exhibition I came across a trader with some interesting 3D printed detail kits - 12A Models. I picked up a kit for a widely seen feature (in the countryside) that is rarely modelled - a pole-mounted electricity supply transformer. I thought it would look at home on Hexworthy.

The parts on a sprue give the impression they are injection moulded, but they are 3D printed, I think with a filament printer as the parts show lines. The material also proved tricky to glue, the pole halves seemed to go together with plastic solvent but other parts didn't, and even superglue seemed to struggle to grab it but worked eventually.

I thought it odd that there are four insulators, and four connections on the transformer. A google image search confirmed that 3-phase 11kV supply lines have, er, 3 wires... although the transformer outputs appear to have four outputs (3 phase plus neutral I guess). 

So I cut back the insulators to three, and on the other side of the transformer added three inlet connections. I drilled a hole, put in a short length of 1mm wire, and glued on a small spring from a Microtrains coupling as an insulator. Not that the coils showed once painted!

The transformer was then connected to the insulators with fine wire, soft steel wire sold for tree making seemed to have the right weight and be flexible but hold its shape. Gluing these in place was fiddly! These connections would lead to the 3-wire transmission pole route where the cables are overground, but this will be at the back of the layout, plus there are pole mounted transformers where input and output cables go underground. I could have added cables running down the pole, let's say they are on the back! I did add paperclip wire into the legs to help secure it.

Back to google images to help with painting. I started with grey automotive acrylic primer, which happened to be perfect for the transformer and the cross bars. The poles were painted mid brown and dry-brushed grey, and a little green. The insulators were picked out in a dark red-brown, and the wires in grey-black. 

The transformer was installed at the back of the layout, having punched a couple of holes in the scenery surface so the wire tails I added push into the polystyrene, and secured with a little matt modge podge. It's the sort of background detail that doesn't stand out or even get noticed by most, but helps make the scene feel right. 

I also got these builders' bulk bags from 12A Models, another feature of modern scenes. These are finely printed in resin, those corner hoops are very delicate. I simply sprayed them with white automotive acrylic primer, dusted with a little grey and beige weathering powder, and set some granite chippings ballast (the same as used for the track) in the top with a little matt modge podge. A few were then placed in the yard. 

I also added some to the permanent way train, including a couple with sand. 

Hexworthy will be at the Bexhill model railway exhibition this Saturday, 8th August - do say hello if you are there.