Shades of grey

I thought I'd better paint the boards before progressing further. It would be easier before there is (more) track and scenery added, and as it's best done outside, before the weather turns!

Loctern and Hexworthy were painted with a grey primer from Wilkinsons that proved to have a suitably dark shade and nice finish. However, that was oil based meaning it took ages to dry and brushes were a paint to wash - anyway, Wilkos is long gone. I got a water-based grey primer from B&Q which allowed me to get a couple of coats on and the boards back indoors before the moody skies looked too serious. 

Sadly, this paint turned out to be paler than expected, and much lighter than the grey I previously used - as compared below. The aim is for a neutral grey which won't distract from the scene, and I wasn't convinced the light grey would do that. It also had a chalky finish, I mean it is meant to be an undercoat, but clearly I would need a top coat.

So back to B&Q and I picked up "Princeton", a dark grey that proved to be a close match to the other layouts. It's also water-based so dried quickly, and being quite gloopy care was needed to avoid runs - there are a few, but not in obvious places. Note the card used to protect the existing scenery.

With the paint dry the latches and sockets were refitted and the pelmet and fiddle yard reassembled. It looks a lot more presentable on the outside now.

Rapido arrives in 009

Last week I completed another circuit of the sun, and was rewarded with gifts, including this lovely Kerr Stuart Sirdar by Rapido.

It is truly small but delightfully detailed. I picked the yellow not just because it is attractive, but it reminded me of the Minitrains Bagnall which was my first ready-to-run 009 model. The Rapido model is a brighter shade - it looks more yellow in the photograph, which is odd as it looks more orange in reality - although I expect it will tone down with a oily-cloth finish weathering. I'm pleased to say it runs as well as it looks too.

I also got a couple of the new Rapido wagons. I have plenty of kit-built wagons, but I couldn't resist some with witty liveries! They could work well in Loctern's shunting challenge, although I'd need to change the couplings. There's also another Peco Glyn Valley coach which will complete a short rake for Hexworthy. 

There was also a loco kit - more on that another day. I have to say that Rapido's arrival in 009 looks to be excellent, and will complement the products of Peco, Kato, Heljan and Bachmann. 

Whittlingly fiddle-yard baseboard

The next job was to add a short baseboard for a fiddle yard. In this case, the fiddle yard will have two entry tracks as it completes the run-round loop, but doesn't need to be long as trains will be a couple of 6-wheel coaches or 3-4 wagons and a tank loco. 

I didn't take many construction photos, but the sides and top were marked out and cut from the same 5mm ply as the main board, and cross-beams cut from timber. Before assembly, I remembered to set up the alignment to the main board, which used a couple of "bullet" type dowels - I had these and the catches in stock left over from a batch I bought for Hexworthy. It is easiest to clamp the ends together, then drill pilot holes through both from the back of one end - hence doing this before assembling the board. The holes were then drilled out to 7.5mm and the bullet and corresponding socket were tapped into place. 

The board is approximately 2' long by 1' wide and simply consists of a cross-beam at each end and one in the middle, with ply providing longitudinal support front and rear, and finishing off the ends.

Up top, the ends are profiled to support a shelf - on Hexworthy a shelf has proved useful for spare stock and tools. The rear panel has a cut-out to clear the turntable, and the deck has some cut-outs - hopefully, the reason for these will become clear later.

The upper deck curve was marked out with a "compass" made from a stick with a screw for a pivot and a hole for a pencil, it's 21" long. To get the deck height correct, the fixed part has 3 layers of 5mm ply (lower deck, spacer, top deck) - it seems that 44mm timber + (3x5mm) = 58mm, the 5mm ply is actually about 4.7mm! The turn-table deck sits on spacers of thinner (4mm ish) ply so it is slightly lower, this is for a cunning plan (we will see). I then marked out lines perpendicular to the curve for the track centres - there will be three tracks, but the outer two will be quite tightly curved. 

The turntable was then strengthened with some small strip wood and fixed with a 6mm bolt, a block of wood under the deck provides support to the pivot and depth to hold the bolt vertical. A strip of ply provides a lip and neatens the front of the shelf too. So far, it's looking pretty neat. 

Finally, the over-centre catches were added to hold the boards together. This was tricky as the 44x19mm timber forming the ends of the boards already has screws into it from the front and rear and deck ply panels, leaving little space for the screws holding the catch!

While it looks a small, simple board, getting the levels right while thinking about how the turntable needs to work made it quite a head-scratcher to make. I've come to the conclusion that "fiddle yards" are so-called because they are fiddly to make - or is that just me?