Great Chesterford Junction Part Two

G`day Folks,
Well I`ve been out of action for a little bit.......seemed to have picked up a cold from somewhere, so at first sign of symtoms, I went off for a Covid test and fortunately returned a negative result........no consolation though......I still don`t feel 100%.
Anyway......it`s a temporary annoyance.
I wandered out to the shed today to have a crack at some more scenery. A couple of the guys on my YouTube channel asked whether the method I use for making bushes could be applied to making trees.? So today I`ve had a go at it using two slightly different methods and the results are fair. I will keep working through the methods though and see if I can improve on them before putting it out there for all and sundry.
I have made four so far and installed them on my railway.
Two drop down from the back scene on the left whereupon we come to a hedge / come heavy undergrowth and then there are two more to the right of the hedge.





We now get a bit closer to the action.........the trees are made from hemp rope and polyfibre with the usual flocking etc. over the top





The PVA is still drying out but you can see we can get a simulated root system showing as well.





A better view of the root system





And a train to give it some scale





You can also see the PVA drying on some weeds too.









So after four trees, I think I know which method is better, but I still need to make a couple more to make sure the first few were not a fluke. When the glue dries I will do a close up inspection and take it from there.

Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
I completed the basics on the last little section of scenery for LB today.
Once again, it is a removable section, that in this case, will expose a panel which is also removable and handy for access to the track underneath.
The grass needs some serious toning work to match it`s background and the edges near the track and the tunnel on the left need weeds and grass etc. to blend it all together.









Initial thoughts are towards placing some bushes near the area where the retaining wall ends, which should help blur the line between scenery and background.





Maybe even some trees.???.......anyway it will all fall into place once I make a start on it.....




Gormo

 

G`day Jim,
The controller that struggles is a home made job and just does not have enough grunt for the job.
The loco works fine on my commercial controllers.
Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
I have been away for a short while and have now returned to the big smoke to get on with it again.
The open road has an attraction for me and it won`t be long before we`re off again. The sense of freedom one gets from leaving the city and life`s problems behind is addictive .
In spite of all that, work on the railway continues.
It`s all about adding greenery at the moment. The section to the left of the station has had hedges and bushes added but still needs more work along that bottom front edge.




A tree was also added this afternoon.









And after watching Escape To The Country last night, I decided to add some patches of Daffodils.












I noticed that the Daffodils had dark green stems ( obvious for some ) and thought I could replicate that by first painting the grass Forest Green and then adding PVA to the tips followed by my Yellow flocking flowers scattered on through a sifter. The sifter only allows small particles to pass through.





More as it happens
Gormo

 

Gormo

 

Hopefully that will be soon Keith,
It`s only in recent weeks that we have had the confidence to take on a trip interstate here. For a good chunk of the year borders have been closed, only to open and then quickly shut again due to an outbreak.
We have to make judgement calls in regards to our personal health and safety, regardless of the situation being so called "Safe" or not.
My Son asked me today whether I would consider flying interstate, to which I replied " No ". Passengers are back to normal seating arrangements apparently, but as far as I`m concerned, it`s too early to risk it. So our long distance travels will be in a car, which for us, Covid wise, is safer at this stage.
Our accommodation bookings also allow reasonably late cancellations with full refunds, so in combination with traveling by car, we have more control over our situation
If the brown stuff hits the fan during our journey, we can always turn around and go home.
I do sincerely hope that you folks over there in the UK get on top of the situation as soon as possible and return to some form of normality.
You are all in our thoughts, as the UK is almost like a second home to Julie and myself.
Gormo
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Maybe Chris....
Or maybe I`ve just been around so long that it`s inevitable......
Gormo

 

G`day Pete,
I agree with you..........this is no time for experiments.....that suggests a rather unscientific approach to the problem and if the experiment goes wrong, you`ve got a super spreader event.
Governments need to be guided by the medical experts and the science
Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
Well we now have one lift off building completed.
Originally the building had been in my parts bin as a broken kit set aside from years ago.
It had been built ( not very well ) before by me for my first big venture into model railways.
The chimney had disappeared, so a replacement was used from that model railway magazine that was out some years back that promised you could build a model railway from the parts supplied with each edition of the magazine. In Australia that would have worked out to about 800 bucks at the time, for a basic circle of track and some buildings and coaches. I wonder why nobody actually built one...????...

So this is basically what I started with.........had to clean off all the brown glue to get a good fit..........some sanding required as well.





And now, after a bit of work, it looks like this.......it`s no great shakes as a kit, but it will have to be handled for the rest of it`s life, so I don`t want anything too special.









I now need to create probably a gravel area around it to give it an exact position in this location and make it look like it`s bedded into the ground.





And a more distant view to show how it sits in it`s location.




I still have a windmill and a station building to put together, but I need another cheap plastic kit for up the other end of the layout. Same purpose, so the contenders at the moment are Dapol and Wills. The Wills kit I have seen has a farm building and some out buildings, which I think will suit the site, however the Dapol is another thatched cottage, which is just a bit too chocolate box like.........so I think Wills will win for this stage of the build.
Gormo

 

........well Richard, I`ve seen people use cotton wool.........and I`m not a big fan.....
I think the best option is to assume the weather is warm enough to not need a fire going..........must think of the environment too.....no pollution via smoke particles.
Gormo

 

Ah yes Chris....
I`ll pass it on to the Greens......good idea..............
Gormo