LUMSDONIA ¦Layout and Website

My A3 cutting sheet is the prime candidate, but is alas to short! Need to find some polyethylene (visqueen) sheet, then I can maybe back peel it off. Or coat the sheet in talc (like flower) so it does not stick well when I roll it.

 

Thanks Andy, the blue one has one, but the two blues are nearly the same. I was going for open cockpit on the girl, but it doesn't really work. I will pick a new colour for the spray decks when I have a go at painting the buoyancy aids on!

 

Painted the spray decks and buoyancy aids and added ropes.

I also experimented with water resin, using a test piece with different materials at the sides and half of each waxed. Also tried some dyes in two area's. Yes I know there are lots of bubbles, that was because the resin reacts with the unsealed extruded polystyrene, as I wanted to see the dyes effect (need to use more!), I did not
paint the bed. But all surfaces including the waxed ones caused the resin to wick up the sides, something I hate to see on layouts.

Does anyone know how to treat the side walls to stop the water resin creeping up them?

 

Probably not relevant on this forum (not many beginners), but just for laughs, I have added a page about Layout construction to my website today. Comments always welcome.

 

I decided as I was to have a canal, then I should have some canal boats! Decided on some pleasure boats and found some OO scale from Craftline Models. Simple chunks of balsa and a shiny printed sheet for the sides. Never twigged until they arrived that they are Broad beam and not Narrow boats!
Never one to be the same as others, I found some real pics and photo-shopped them to fit.
Note the name of the Holiday cruise company!

 

O.K. Time for a weekly sit-rep!
The stone bridge has been lurching forward over the last few weeks, I transferred the semi dry, texture rolled clay, via a sheet of grease proof paper, but its still a bit wonky! By filing back a recess were the corner stones go, I then laid strips of clay around the curves. No go, mostly fell off! So I got my trowel out and did a job of plastering with my herculite! I over egged it a bit (on purpose) to allow filing back to shape once dry. I then had to saw grouves to make the pointing. Next was to sort out the wonky lines and a few rips near the top. Filled with clay and effectively re scratched about half the brickwork pointing! Hence it has taken a long time.
I have bought a Faller Car System Starter pack. I am no where near ready to use it, but decided to purchase one for investigation. The main reason is that I wanted to lay the wire in the roads now and not have to attack the mature modules to retrofit it in a few years time.
I bought some alternative flexi magnet tape to try, it seems to work and I have already started cogitating idea's for cheap home made points and stop coils! (but that needs to wait, way to much on my plate to start investigating those idea's)
This means I have the Faller wire and could groove the bridge deck and glue it onto the bridge. I can now surface the deck and add the parapet inner wall surface and add coping stones.
For the Canal, I wanted a stone edging along the sides as it passes under the bridge, so I made the parts for a master with my silicon gun method, then assembled them and made a full master cast with 2 part silicon. It worked out great and by only half filling, I think I can cast all the coping stones for the bridge with it!
The cable stay bridge has stalled, as tying off all the wires is mind numbing! I will get them all done gradually in small doses (each end has two screws and a spring to be incorporated and tied off with great accuracy for the correct tension!)

 

Having just watched Luke Towen's latest video ............I am giving up modelling and forums and taking up GOLF!

 

I have always been enamoured about model pictures that make you question if it is real or a model. That was the first time I have ever done the same double take and wondered if model/real, but for a moving scene video! It really caught me off guard and blew my mind!

The inner sides of the stone bridge are now on, the slow process of adding the coping stones and cutting all the mortar lines has started. I think I have a design for how to mount the steel bridges (bearing points), so need to cast some more as I need a few doubles.

I have added a few more pages to the website. The obvious one missing, was a page to show off the Windmill project! So I have added a DIORAMA page to the Gallery. I have also started down the long road of creating the "Lumsdonia Story", in essence, a background explanation and some anecdotal tales and some spoof advertising. My first foray is a stab at TOURISM, an excuse to showcase some of the detail. I have also caught up with my personal web links crib database and transcribed nearly 50 new links into the LINKS website page, including three new sections!
I dislike having a sub menu under MY LAYOUT for the GALLERY! It makes it hard to select the the sideways list item. Do you agree? Should I change it so there is only a single simple drop down?

 

I am afraid it may be a long wait! Neither the pubs, nor the brewery is built yet! You will have to just enjoy the landscape views and bring your own 6 pack for the moment.
I got an immediate booking on another forum, for two weeks in June, when the video of the Windmill aired!

 

So after cracking the process of transferring the clay to final position using greased proof paper, the build progressed. I still had to do a lot of remedial work to basically hand trowel the corner stones in place later on and re scribe all the mortar lines then add the inner walls, coping stones and road surface. I used a base coat of cream for the mortar and a couple of colours for the dry brushing (probably about 5-6) and voila, worthy of a video!

Three Bridge Valley Stone Bridge build Video

Watch to the very end!

 

I might have to give you that one Keith!
To be honest, leaving the rolled form on greaseproof paper overnight and allowing the skin to harden, was the key, man handling it onto the PVA covered wood was not fraught with the previous thumb prints and stretching. But i will give you that rolling it for the correct thickness on greaseproof paper certainly did not stick, although it did get damp and i had to move it to other dry area's to continue rolling. Aluminium foil, talc, cling film and kitchen surface all stick!

 

So like Toto, there has been a bit of an upheaval in the train room! I have little room left, between a wall of boxes with my stock/stash, 12ft of module 1/2 boards down another wall and my extensive workbench, it only leaves one wall to erect the third module. It current consists of a 3x6ft bench with my spray cabinet on it. They will go, a new home next to the workbench has been found for the spray booth and the space will become the build and erect are for module 3. I have had to have a reshuffle of boxes and their content to condense the clutter into more economical packing (read tidy up). More to do and some wood to buy, but the frame needs to be build soon, as the 3 bridges are getting close to complete and i need to place them, to arrange the correct fixings in the bridges.