Well, there has been a lull in the modeling here this week. Primarily down to things being up in the air over Ralex. Without a genuine deadline I just don't have any drive to actually get on and get the layout 1/2 finished even. I'm also not too sure about the look of my insta bush. more on this later.
'Hmm, OK, it looks worse in real life'
Followers of the scale will have noticed an increasing outpouring of 3d CAD models in the last few months, including a first steam loco top for the scale. I have a wide range of thoughts about this, mostly conflicting between my inner finescaler and his merrily bodging outer sibling. I must commend those working in this new medium for having a go at a wide range of topics, and I will be extremely interested in seeing them in the flesh to make a judgement on the printing process. I'll freely admit to a pang of jealousy as I do feel somewhat left behind, being the Luddite that I am. If this had been round 20 years ago We would have been running with this hard and fast I would imagine, sort of along the lines of a mad arms race with who could build what. It was bad enough back in those heady days when the weapons of necessity were paper, plasticard and superglue ( oh hang on, they still are to some extent).
One thought that I did have is that while its nice to get a 1 piece top (and for the majority of us that would do), It might be interesting to investigate the use of metal etching to form the thinner bits like cabs and grills etc. This is along the lines of mixed media kits that are starting to appear in the UK at the moment. Maybe this is a better way forward in the short term until the printing process matures, or the prices for some items come down? Bing the short pockets type I would still 'shell' out for a loco top at those prices, but the wagons seem a bit steep to my mere scientist wage. Maybe I should have been a plumber,. The hours would have been better....
Right, the sun is out for the first time in 2 weeks (I keep forgetting that Schloss Dandruf is 'technically' on the west coast), so there is plenty of gardening to do. Then its off to get some more Scenic textures flock and have a go at the rest of the bush line once it starts raining.
A collection of bush tram/ logging photos.
I've found this collection very interesting as i know the area quite well having fished the lower Pelorus river quite often when I was in Nelson.
Time to come up with something clever to make vast tracts of the NZ bush.
Mr Bond had previously had a go with expanding foam, but I figured I could do better. armed with a can of gorilla expanding foam, after a couple of goes it all sort of came together.
'Ahh, they are everywhere....run for your lives!'
After beating them off with a paint brush loaded with dark green paint, its starting to look better. There are some bits that I can't reach with the brush, and I'll have to sort out how to do that.
Next step will be to use different coloured flocks to represent different trees. I'll also add some larger trees and tree ferns.
I also had a go at the log camp scene but ran out of foam. I also discovered that its not a great smear type filler as it goes to a horrible glue, but keeps expanding. Good and bad points, but it is easy to sort out with a knife.
And last week, someone asked how the layout was going to fit into the wider scheme of minimodules.
Here is the start of the second module.The NZR station will sit on this edge on a curve, with the start of the bush tram at the back and the siding off to the sawmill offstage at the right.
Well, after last weeks rush of blood to the modeling regions, the pace has somewhat slowed this week.
I've done a bit more work on the second scene. Mostly just sculpting the creek bed and part of the hill. Oh and adding the back scene for this side of the layout.
I still have to cut the exit hole in the left hand back scene, but I have yet to sort out just where it will be. I will need to mock up a workers camp and a log hauler here, as well as some loading skids.
I also added a bit more paint to the 1st scene with the undercoat for the cliff face. A bit of green was added to the none grey bits. I then added the track and loco for a quick photo or 2.
Its starting to look a bit better. Hopefully I'll get some more done this weekend, which given that it is the lady of the houses' birthday, may not happen.
Seeing as I am on leave this week (school holidays and my daughters ballet exams converging creating a need for Dad to become primary caregiver for a few hours a day), I made an effort to take an evening jaunt up to the wilds of Stokes Valley to see Cabbage. Now, I know the warnings about entering "Snake Gully" after dark, but I thought this to be a mission of great import.
The reason was brass, or rather, our scales love/hate relationship with it. To sum it up everyone loves the idea of it, but hardly anyone seems to want it when its available. Its something Andrew Wells found when he started with his Fm/Da/Dc kits and Cabbage is finding it now with his UK/IA/IB wagons (and a little birdie tells me the OM and ZH arent too far away either).
So why the Apathy?
I think it comes down 2 things:
- REASON 1: Difficulty of working in brass
Lets face it, working in Plasticard or White Metal is easy; break out a knife, some files and slop some glue around and youre pretty much good to go. But this brass stuff? Cripes! Doesnt respond to a scalpel, needs a hacksaw to cut, takes an age to file and to join it together, apparently I have to learn to "Solder" (Or as the Yanks say, "Sodor")! Surely that will involve needing a soldering iron the size of a babies arm....and flux! Nasty stuff.....can eat through your best trousers quick as look at them, not to mention skin! Best wear asbestos gloves; actually, best wear a full flame retardant suit, those irons get hot!
REALITY CHECK! Sure, all of those may be slightly true if you are panel beating in 9mm (and I have, trust me), but this is Nz120 we are talking about. Most of what you'll see will be etched kits in brass so thin it can be sent through the post in envelopes. Assembly will mostly consist of folds, and the only cutting you'll need to do can be achieved with scissors or a sharp scalpel cutting onto a piece of wood. Cleaning up is the domain of needle files, so no big hassle there, cos youve already got some of those, havent you! I read once that a good brass kit is as easy as folding up a card model, and if it has tabs and slots (most do), then you can even hold it together with a decent glue, meaning you dont even have to go close to a soldering iron.....
- REASON 2: Irrational Fear of Soldering
Once youve experienced soldering, you will never go back, trust me. And again, because we are working in Nz120 you can consign those foot long soldering behemoths to the back of the cupboard, as all you'll need is a small 12v iron you can grab from Tricky Dickies. And flux! No longer the evils of "Duzall" that would eat through a perfectly good workbench in an afternoon....we've now got the joys of things like Phosphoric Acid that, although not quite in the "swig straight from the bottle to relieve halistosis" stakes, is fairly benign stuff. I'm told even Coca Cola will do the same job at a pinch.
So the whole thing is pretty simple really......hold the bits together, slap some flux around then touch the iron with some solder on it to the joint, everything goes fizz and ....presto. Solid as, and all in a few seconds. Dont like it? More flux, more iron to melt the solder and reposition....sounds easy and it is.
To learn how easy soldering is, Find someone else who can solder......having someone guiding your initial attempts is the best way to start. However, if you live out in Upper Golfballawao and the nearest soldering expert is at the local garage 150 miles away, leap in and have a go! Really, what have you got to lose? Apart from burning the house down of course....
Anyway, thats the end of todays sermon......to end up a bit of show and tell. I filmed Cabbage putting together one of his UK kits from scratch to being ready to have a blob of glue or solder to hold it together to show the process, and from go to woe it was about 15 minutes (with a break while we tried to find another camera after the first card got full). BTW, his workbench is off the family room and Marissa and Jo were watching "Distraction"....hence the background noise. Oh, and the second camera seems louder and...well, different. You have been warned.
Well, this will put the cat amongst the pigeons (or among those with large layouts).
(posted on the NZ railchat group, but from what I've heard its true)
Dear Railway
Enthusiasts This is a preamble broadcast update to all on my RailEx
address book, relating to The Lower Hutt City Council formally cancelling
the availability of The Lower Hutt Town hall for our upcoming exhibition.
This follows their evaluation of a recent earthquake assessment
report. This does NOT affect the neighbouring Horticultural Hall
which we have generally used in tandem to host the RailEx when in Lower
Hutt. The RailEx committee had been aware of the report and had
made enquiries that indicated any impact would not likely affect this
years show, and I had indicated this understood status in
communications over the last month. However, yesterday we received formal
notified that the Town Hall was to be closed for use, effective
immediately. A meeting of the RailEx committee this evening has resolved
to proceed with RailEx 2012 using the reduced footprint of only the
Horticultural Hall. Advertising had just started with billboards being
erected this week/weekend and newspaper advertising committed for next
weeks print schedule This will necessitate a reduction in the number of
exhibitors and the available space for others. For those who have been involved with the lead up to this
years show, please expect a more specific notification of how this
situation may affect your exhibits Cheers Peter Clapcott Secretary RailEx2012
Still not sure where this leaves the MMW/NZ120 modular group, but I'd imaging in a slightly better position than those with a layout the size of a small south pacific nation.
This was going to be a morning post but it seems that daylight savings has finally caught up with me.
I received in the post yesterday some more rail joiners and so this week I'll make a start on the track work.
Given the burst of layout building this last week, I've also been thinking about layout choices in general. I'm a great fan of large 'trains lost in the scenery' type layouts. However my experiences with my bush tram layout (which I must give a name) have got me wondering 'have I missed something?
If I had worked on smaller layouts I may well have got a wider variety of modeling done. primarily at the moment I do rolling stock and track. I'm at a bit of a loss on how to proceed into buildings and ground cover. The bush tram has been a bit of fresh air as I'm just firing on and solving problems as they occur. Maybe its because I feel I don't have quite so much emotionally invested in it if things don't quite go to plan. Contrast this with Paekakariki, a mammoth undertaking. Modeling a well known spot has a certain level of expectation that you are going to get things correct. I'm also not 100% confident about my track making skills at the moment either. Will the track last 10 years or so? will it last if I ballast it tomorrow. i its ballasted how easy will it be to repair? All wee things that hover at the back of my mind. With the bush tram I'm not overly worried about any of this.
Also, as a question, how many of us are off to Railex, and how many modules will we have?
