Wealden Railway Group Show 2024

Of course this was the first time I'd loaded Hexworthy into the car, and indeed I'd changed cars since I started building it back in 2017, so I was glad it fitted - it was a bit tight! The exhibition was relatively local so getting there was easy, and unloading and set-up was stress free even though I was on my own at that point. It all went together well and everything worked too. There were a few minor snags - dodgy couplings despite the testing (and one that fell off), a loco that didn't want to run then did, and a short that couldn't be traced then went away as mysteriously as it came!

The layout got a lot of complimentary comments, the playground attracted a lot of attention, and people seemed to like the details and the smooth, slow running. A big thanks to fellow Sussex Downs group member Edward Mallory for helping out, he did a good job of operating and with practice we both got better at finding the uncoupling magnet first time. With his help we got packed up in 20 minutes. 

It was nice to see this new German HO layout by Simon Hargraves, compact and simple it is nicely finished and with some unusual (to British eyes) stock. 

Svanda, the Norwegian HO layout by Nigel Hill and Chris Ford doesn't seem to get out as often as it should. An unusual subject, attractive scene, and nice smooth running. 

Ferness (1:32, 16.5mm gauge) is another Scottish estate-railway style layout by Ian Roberts, compact despite the large scale which allows lots of detail. 

Shellsea Harbour (OO) by Giles Barnabe is one of those layouts I think I'd like to build. Attractively set with scratch-built buildings, an interesting track plan despite being compact and without loop, and some quirky light-railway style trains. 

More photos of the layouts can be found here. 

Readying ready to run - part 3

It was time to bite the bullet, take a brave pill, and weather a whole batch of not exactly cheap Bachmann ready to run locos. The techniques are the same as described in the last post - water soluble oils and a faint misting of black from above and brown from below using the airbrush - the aim being for a clean but working preserved loco finish. 

I must confess this was done a couple of weeks ago and the locos have sat around, doing test runs on the layout to check couplings etc., and now I see these photos seem to show a little dust picked up by the camera which I'd not noticed! 

Dorothea has been kept largely clean but the motion is oily and the smokebox dulled. The crew are by Model-U and were rather tricky to get stuck in place in the cab! All these Bachmann locos come with etched name and works plates which have been stuck in place with matt Modge Podge. 

I've just noticed the mould line on the cylinder, must be less visible to the eye, but it's not easy to deal with without needing to match paint colour so I'll have to ignore it. 

The black wash toned down the brass dome and copper pipes nicely, as well as the prominent motion. The Model-U crew must be posed for the FR Ladies as the chap this side is in a driving pose, fortunately it's not too obvious and his hand rests on the bunker rather than the cab-side. The bunker had a sliver of sponge foam inserted topped with crushed coal. 

The other crew member leans both hands nicely on the cab side, which is slightly worrying if he's meant to be driving! The prominent injector pipework looks much better for the black wash. 

Linda shows a little dirt on her buffer beam as well as a dulled smokebox and oily motion, but the paintwork still shines. 

The Model-U "open cab" crew fit nicely, the driver the correct side this time and does appear to be in control, and I've posed the fireman in the tender because it looks interesting and allows the best view of the cab detail (and firebox glow). I couldn't see if the moulded coal load could be removed (and didn't fancy taking it apart to find out), so it's coaled up like it's about to haul the Flying Scotsman up the East Coast Main Line. 

The Double Fairlie got a little grime around the frame below the cab, the bank of whistles and the area behind the dome got the oily wash treatment, and the top of the boiler shows slight evidence of soot (black spray). A Model-U crew was the only way to go with this tight cab and even they don't seem keen to be inside it! The driver is reaching for the regulator, sadly his arm is about a scale 6" too short to reach but no-one can see that!

The fireman is looking a bit confused, perhaps he lost his shovel. In this case I found the coal loads could be popped out of the bunkers, which are of course only as deep as the tank tops, but at least the coal didn't have to be piled quite so high. The real coal makes a big difference here as it does with Linda, plastic coal just doesn't pass. 

These locos don't show obvious signs of weathering, and probably at a glance they don't look weathered just as a preserved loco looks clean. However, the subtle changes make a difference and they seem more natural and at home on the layout. 

All locos ready, all stock tested, hopefully all ready for Hexworthy's first exhibition tomorrow. There were a few last minute jobs, I'll update on those next week...

Readying ready to run - Part 2

I've collected several ready-to-run locos since they have started to become available in 009 and Hexworthy is an ideal place to run them. However, as with the Peco coaches, there is something about a pristine RTR loco that jars in a layout setting. They are just too clean. Now I don't want to model heavily weathered almost derelict locos, I'm modelling a preserved railway setting so locos would be kept clean, but even so a working loco will not be box-fresh pristine as soot settles from above, paint dulls due to heat, oil builds up on and near moving parts, and brake and track dirt is thrown up from below.

So here's my attempt at making Exe look used but clean. If you can't tell much difference from a fresh model, that's kind of the point, but subtle differences are there.

Having had issues with enamel-based washes starting to lift the lining on Nesta (fortunately recovered) and not having good results with dilute acrylics I was looking for a new solution. I've a couple of Vallejo ready-to-use washes which work well, but having seen the results of someone using water-soluble oil paints I thought I'd try them. The paints are found in art shops. A little paint is dissolved in water and used as a wash, the concentration can be varied as can how much is applied, but it can also be removed with a damp brush, cotton bud or kitchen towel while damp meaning it is very controllable. I've used a dirty brown mix on underframes and buffer beams, and black in spots where soot/oil might accumulate (like between boiler and side tanks), over brass and copper (it tones them down nicely) and on the motion too. 

With my recent increase in confidence with the airbrush I took the brave decision to use it for weathering locos. As with the coaches I've used a mid brown misted very lightly over frames and buffer beams, and black misted very lightly over the cab roof, smokebox, footplate, and a little over the boiler and tank tops. This is done by winding in the "end stop" at the tail of the airbrush (it probably has a proper name) until the needle stops opening with just a faint mist emerging, this means I can spray without risking a wobbly finger causing an unexpected splurge of paint. Better to spend time building up a level of weathering than accidentally overdoing it. The down-side is such a small nozzle opening can block up so every so often the stop is unwound, the needle opened fully and paint sprayed until it is flowing easily again, before winding the stop back in. 

I've also painted another batch of people, including crew figures from Faller, Dapol, and Model-U. There are also some "civilians" at the back which I will come back to later. 

So here's Exe from another angle. I may have overdone the track dirt up the rear, but the sides remain clean. The motion and pipework are toned down and look oily, while the cab roof, tank top and footplate are a more matt, sooty finish. The boiler top is a little sooty too. Hopefully a superficially clean but used look. A Dapol figure stands in the cab, getting him in was like getting a ship in a bottle! I figured one was enough, and still allows some of the interior detail to be seen. Finally, the bunkers have been filled with crushed coal. 

The Kato Prince comes with "brass" knobs to fit to the sand pots and tender, these are on a sprue "tool" which is cut off the main sprue and used to place the knob in the hole before being twisted off. Spares are provided which is useful as I broke one in the wrong place, but it is the work of a few minutes to fit them. I also glued a strip of microstrip to the vertical support for the slide bars, as the flat metal looked a bit too flat.

The can is tiny. Fortunately, it is easy to unclip (removing the blower pipe first helps), but even using Faller HO figures they needed their feet and heads filing down until they fitted under the (overscale thickness) roof. Of course, once in there they can hardly be seen, but nor can the basic interior. I installed a figure in the tender too, as often seen on the prototype! The plastic addition to the slide bar support was painted with gunmetal metalcote, as were some details under the cab. 

Again, the weathering aim is clean but used. A hint of the dark wash around the whistles, dome, and tank filler plus a misting of airbrushed "soot" makes the top of the tank look like it betrays a hard day's work, but not neglect. Real coal was added over the moulded plastic load. I've also fitted staples to the Peco coupling droppers for magnetic uncoupling. 

Next time, the rest of the RTR loco fleet...

Hexworthy prepares for its first show

Hexworthy will be on show at the Wealden Railway Group exhibition in Steyning in 10 days time. Do say hello if you are able to get there. 

I've been working hard to get the layout ready for this it's first exhibition. I've been preparing a few more details to add and stock to run, and expect to be doing some test running this weekend. Hopefully all will be ready and working on the day! Here's a taster of how it might look...

Car unwash

I've acquired a couple of road vehicles for Hexworthy, a ubiquitous Transit van and a Land Rover Defender. Both are nicely detailed models by Oxford Diecast, with interiors, UK number plates, and rubber tyres, but they are rather too shiny and clean...

So I disassembled them, which is easy as they are simply screwed together (I've drilled out many rivets under toy Hotwheels cars for my Son to customise!). Removing the wheels, glazing, and interior allows weathering as follows:

• Rubbed down the paintwork with very fine emery and a fibreglass pencil to tone down the shine
• Cut off the mounting screw mounts under the Land Rover, as its high ground clearance made them visible
• The Transit van got dry-brushed rust (enamel) paint around the wheel arches, sills, gutter, and some panel edges - not too much, just a hint suggesting a long life
• Plastic bumpers were painted, almost black on the Land Rover and dark grey on the Transit van
• Window recesses were touched in with black paint where not already painted black
• A dark brown wash was applied and partially rubbed off, filling panel gaps and toning down the paint slightly. A black wash was applied to the wheels. I've started using Vallejo washes, they're convenient and work well
• A muddy brown was then airbrushed along the sills and around the wheel-arches, and up the rear of the vehicles from below, plus a little on the tyres
• Finally, the bodies got a spray of Testors Dullcote (with headlights masked) before being re-assembled

The Transit van is on 1989 plates so I gave it heavier weathering with touches of rust showing through, and faded bumpers (the black plastics of vehicles of that era seemed to fade to grey very quickly). I also painted the interior a darker shade of mid-grey as it seemed a bit pale. It is lacking wing mirrors which I may have a go at making, but they would be rather delicate. 

The Land Rover is on 2012 plates so much newer, consequently I was much lighter on the weathering. There is still a light wash to bring out the panel gap shadows and mud behind the wheel-arches as befits a vehicle that is presumably used on country lanes a lot. The black wash on the wheels has filled the "blind" holes in the alloys, improving their looks.

I'm very pleased with the results, they've lost the deep glossy finish and look more realistic, with signs of real-world use and different ageing. 

Hexworthy dry-run

Ahead of its first exhibition next month I thought I should do a dry-run of setting up the layout in its exhibition format. You may remember the exhibition fiddle-yard, which was fitted to the layout for testing. 

Although only completed a few months ago, I found several issues, including the track being completely dead - traced to a loose wire. Also the rails didn't line up well with the station board, maybe I didn't do a good job first time but a soldering iron soon fixed that. More seriously, the "latch-release" lever didn't release the alignment latches effectively making the traverser difficult to use smoothly, and the far end latch didn't always engage. Investigation revealed that the dowel across the board rotated by the lever was starting to split, while the dowel that ran along the board to release the far latch didn't slide smoothly. 

I found some 10mm dowel so used this to replace the rotating shaft across the board, this should be have much more torsional strength. The operating lever was beefed up too. The latch release lever for the near latch was re-fixed, and the connection to the second dowel made with a screw through a slotted hole rather than a bent paperclip. 

The dowel operating the far latch was removed and the holes opened up more so it moved smoothly. As well as the improved connection to the lever, a spring was added to pull the release away from the latch when the handle is released, ensuring the latch is free to engage. Hopefully these changes will make the mechanism robust enough to work through exhibitions. 

I also brought the supporting legs in from the garage, having dusted off the spiders, their webs and nests. These were made for Awngate and haven't been used for several years, they consist of a pair of folding trestles and a pair of L-section beams that span between them, bolted in place. The front beam is inverted with a flat top, the lip of the rear beam prevents the layout slipping off rearward. The assembly is sturdy and still seems to do its job well enough, although the beams are just 4' long, but Hexworthy is 4' 6" plus the fiddle yard - close to 7' in total. As the boards are rigidly joined the overhangs either end aren't really an issue, but I could make some longer beams provided they still fit in the car. 

The trestles are 2' wide, the layout sits with its front to the edge of the trestles. I have a longer drape that could cover the end of the trestle better, it's held with drawing pins and trapped in place by the layout. This set-up doesn't take long nor take up a lot of space in the car, and as seen it can serve different layouts. The height is about 3' 8", with track level at 4' for this layout. 

Readying ready to run

I've a lot of small tasks ongoing in parallel at the moment, mostly preparing stock for Hexworthy in preparation for its first exhibition next month. The first to be finished was a small but important task, making ready-to-run coaches actually ready to run. Lovely though the Peco coaches are, they have a bit of a plasticky look (particularly the roofs) and are too clean even for a preserved railway.

The three Lynton and Barnstaple coaches had a number of little jobs done:

• The white plastic roofs were airbrushed with off-white acrylic, as much as anything to reduce the plasticky sheen and to take the edge off the starkness
• They then had a fine mist of black splattered over the top to represent soot, as with the Ashover coaches
• The lamp tops were then picked out in matt black (well, very dark grey), the little covers next to them were left white
• The plastic moulded hand-rail had the edge picked out in black, which from most angles makes it look much more like a handrail than a white ridge
• The steps, lamp brackets, and handrails on the coach ends were also picked out in matt dark grey/black, I also painted the buffer beams black
• The grey/black thinned slightly was also run along the footboards and underframes to soften them and make them matt
• A mid-brown acrylic was then airbrushed lightly over the footboards and underframes, allowing a little to mist onto the lower sides and ends. 

The airbrushing was done very lightly, using the end-stop to limit paint flow, aiming for a very subtle weathering from track dirt and loco soot, but otherwise leaving the coaches clean as though regularly washed. I guess it reflects my increasing confidence with the airbrush. 

I've also been painting passengers, a mix of Faller and the 3D printed Finescale Figures (the legless ones). These used acrylics, some were a bit shiny so I added a coat of Humbrol Matcote - which left them more shiny. Am I doing something wrong? Fortunately I had some Vallejo matt acrylic varnish, a couple of coats of which worked. 

Passengers fitted to the L&B coaches, and also the WHR coach built a little while back. A couple of people per compartment works well, so 5-6 per coach is sufficient to give the impression of a partially occupied train. 

The passengers are just visible through the windows, and the subtle weathering to roofs and underframes is effective at removing the plastickyness. 

The four-wheelers  got the same treatment. I didn't like the white roof on the brake so it was sprayed with grey primer, and the lamp-top painted black along with the steps on the ends. As with the L&B coaches a light airbrushing of soot from above and track dirt from below gives the impression of use, a few minutes work makes a big difference. I've not yet fitted passengers, although the small windows means it probably isn't essential.