Who am I kidding, building these structures is just delaying the unavoidable track ballasting, guess I'd better start soon, maybe tomorrow, or next week, it'll kill a few cold dark Winter hours I'm sure.
Cheers !
Monday, September 18, 2017
Col. ~ The Water's Arrived !
"Col. The water tower is finished !" There was much rejoicing in Boxer Bay, another important structure is now complete (at least for now). A very nice resin kit by Skytrex (originally by NMB models I believe). It looks very impressive and definitely demonstrates the awesome size of O scale structures. I'm happy that I didn't try to jam in more track then I'd originally wanted to ! With the position of the loco shed and tower, it frames the view of passing trains through the station nicely.
Who am I kidding, building these structures is just delaying the unavoidable track ballasting, guess I'd better start soon, maybe tomorrow, or next week, it'll kill a few cold dark Winter hours I'm sure.
Cheers !
Love this vantage point !
Who am I kidding, building these structures is just delaying the unavoidable track ballasting, guess I'd better start soon, maybe tomorrow, or next week, it'll kill a few cold dark Winter hours I'm sure.
Cheers !
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Beautiful Shed !
With Summer almost over, and not many updates posted, thought it was time for a report on the projects the B.B.R. has been working on.
I really wanted to do a little work on making the layout look like a railway, instead of the "Pink Foam Railway". Before I ballast the track though, I decided it was a good idea to build and install my platforms in the station area, that way the ballast won't get in the way when it came time to install them. They are by no means finished, with details like lamps, bench seats, and weathering to do, but the basic platforms are in. More on those later.
I thought it had been long enough without a major structure on the layout too, so I got to work on a pretty nice laser cut kit by LCUT, fairly inexpensive at £36.99. Their Small Loco Shed seemed just right for my Col. Stephens line, and a good fit for my small station at Boxer Bay Jct. Overall I was very happy with the kit, everything fit pretty good, and was easy to build with simple wood glue. Instructions could have been better - what else is new ! Painting and weathering was easy, with chalk powders giving the final touch.
I'm still learning and think my weathering is getting better, but I also build within my limits, so I maintain a consistent level throughout my modelling. Here is a few photos of how the scene now looks, starting to look more like a Railway. Hope Everyone has a Great Time @ Telford Guildex :)) All for now !
I really wanted to do a little work on making the layout look like a railway, instead of the "Pink Foam Railway". Before I ballast the track though, I decided it was a good idea to build and install my platforms in the station area, that way the ballast won't get in the way when it came time to install them. They are by no means finished, with details like lamps, bench seats, and weathering to do, but the basic platforms are in. More on those later.
I thought it had been long enough without a major structure on the layout too, so I got to work on a pretty nice laser cut kit by LCUT, fairly inexpensive at £36.99. Their Small Loco Shed seemed just right for my Col. Stephens line, and a good fit for my small station at Boxer Bay Jct. Overall I was very happy with the kit, everything fit pretty good, and was easy to build with simple wood glue. Instructions could have been better - what else is new ! Painting and weathering was easy, with chalk powders giving the final touch.
I'm still learning and think my weathering is getting better, but I also build within my limits, so I maintain a consistent level throughout my modelling. Here is a few photos of how the scene now looks, starting to look more like a Railway. Hope Everyone has a Great Time @ Telford Guildex :)) All for now !
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Summer Update - Trackwork
Hello everyone,
Where have I been ? It's been a little while since the last update on the BBR. Well nicer weather, busy with work, garden etc... have left limited time for the railway. However I've managed to get a couple things done lately, including painting the rails / track. This was done with a spray can, I know I took the easy way out ! But I will go back and brush paint in some effects in certain areas like the loco shed to add a bit of variety in rail colours, and I'll weather the sleepers in due course. What a difference it makes once you paint the rails, night and day !
I've also managed to install my first buffer stop, not exactly as exciting as a new loco, but in O scale even a buffer stop looks impressive, at least to me ! This one is built and modified from the Peco rail type, I used a wood beam instead of the supplied rail one, and installed a lantern taken from the original Peco beam.
The next step will be continuing with weathering the track, and then comes the fantastic, joyful task of ballasting. The Colonel is busy recruiting inmates at the local prison, and looking for volunteers to get this stage of development moving forward 😊
Where have I been ? It's been a little while since the last update on the BBR. Well nicer weather, busy with work, garden etc... have left limited time for the railway. However I've managed to get a couple things done lately, including painting the rails / track. This was done with a spray can, I know I took the easy way out ! But I will go back and brush paint in some effects in certain areas like the loco shed to add a bit of variety in rail colours, and I'll weather the sleepers in due course. What a difference it makes once you paint the rails, night and day !
I've also managed to install my first buffer stop, not exactly as exciting as a new loco, but in O scale even a buffer stop looks impressive, at least to me ! This one is built and modified from the Peco rail type, I used a wood beam instead of the supplied rail one, and installed a lantern taken from the original Peco beam.
The next step will be continuing with weathering the track, and then comes the fantastic, joyful task of ballasting. The Colonel is busy recruiting inmates at the local prison, and looking for volunteers to get this stage of development moving forward 😊
Saturday, April 8, 2017
First Structure - A Fun side project
I was looking for any excuse to delay painting the rails and ballasting the track, and I found it ! A very inexpensive and fun side project, a weight bridge structure kit from Lcut. Kit # B 70-14, cost is only £10, or $12 USD. The kit is laser cut and is very high quality, everything fit together perfectly and the whole thing was built, painted and weathered in about 2 hours. I chose to prime it with Humbrol acrylic, then brush paint it with Tamiya acrylics and used chalk powders for weathering. The model takes up about 114 x 132mm, including the base. Photos show a little gap between building and base, that will disappear when building is glued to the base. I hope to improve my painting skills in this area but I think it turned out pretty good. Now sadly onto the ballasting :(
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Running a few Trains ~ Finally !
Finally, had a little spare time to run some trains ! Needed to test out all the wiring to make sure they're no problems with the control panels or anything else. It all checks out, so now onto ballasting & weathering the trackside. I hope to start a major structure very soon as well !
Thursday, March 23, 2017
A Recent Acquisition
The Col. was able to acquire a "new" piece of equipment for the B.B.R., an Ex Midland Railway 1F 1377 class 0-6-0T. Our locomotive Superintendent had a quick look over and gave the thumbs up, despite some history of the loco wanting to only run in reverse ! Here She is being lined up for the official photograph, awaiting re-lettering & numbering.
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