My layout Dunbracken has featured on RMweb and NGRM during it's build, I took it to it's first exhibiton at Tonbridge on the 14th feb this year, and will be taking it to ExpoNG later this year too (where it's likely to be up for sale to help me get SWMBO's permission to build a bigger one!)
The setting is a harbour on a branch of a common carrier line (heavy inspiration from Irish lines) in the Scottish Higlands. The majority of the baseboard is made from foamboard (apart from the original ironing board).
The idea for a Scottish 009 layout has long been in my head, and thanks to Ted Polet's articles in the News i was very easily swayed and began planning a layout when still living at home. This layout was a U shape and ran around our cellar, unfortunately whilst i was away at uni my family moved house and the new place didn't have a space big enough to erect the whole layout... That one sat in storage, then i moved out of home and wanted to start again, so an ironing board was chosen as the basis for the new layout after seeing Briding Noora at ExpoNG a few years back.
I'll leave explanations at that for now, here's some pics... :)
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before the old mineral chute got painted...
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This last shot has been requested to go in a gallery in Model Rail at some point, and i've also had a provisional invite to write an article for Hornby Magazine :)
Here are the two threads of the layout's construction in case anyone is interested....
RMweb: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12098
NGRM online: http://ngrm-online.com/forum/index.php?topic=13.0
Tom
It is looking wonderful
The waves lapping on the beach are the best I have seen in a model. 10 out of 10 (1 for the photography!)
best
JdF
That's really a superb bit of building! If my layout has half as much atmosphere as that I'll be happy!
All the best
J
I've not checked into the forum for a while and missed your comments. Thanks very much both of you, much appreciated :)
I'm hoping to make a couple of minor improvements before Dunbracken's trip to EXPOng at Swanley (where i'm selling it to fund a bigger layout). Hopefully improving the waves as they've now lost their colour a bit, and building them up a little more. Also improving the running which plagued it at Tonbridge, will require some tinkering to find the problem, and finally getting two of my Backwoods kits finished.
has the guys have already said great modelling , only thing thats missing for one of your cameos are the crew havering/hovering around the local , para handy, macphail, dougie, sunny jim and hurricane jack , or have i missed them . chust perfect ..
interested to know what lighting and how it was used and the technique you used for the waves .cheers john .
Hi John,
Thanks for the comments. I'm trying to summon up the energy to build the crew of the Vital Spark myself from Miliput to match the figures from the TV series...
The waves are made using Woodland Scenics 'water effects' which is poured over a base of WS 'realistic water', it's nothing sceintific, just a line of PVA like stuff drawn across the harbour, then shaped with glue spatula and cocktail sticks to smooth it in and create the curved esge of the wave.
Lighting wise... it's a combination of 5x
re the lights , are they the tiny ones with halogen bulbs ? , do langley models not do figures of a nautical nature , thinking for quickness .
chust perfect cheers john .
Hi John,
They are the small halogen angle poised ones with a G-clamp like arrangement attached to it. I just clamp them on to the top of the backscene (hidden by a pelmet).
I've looked at the Langley figures, but reckon with a few bits of surgery (head transplants) from various Dart Castings figures i'll have a reasonable approximation of the crew sorted in time for ExpoNG.
Cheers,
Tom.
Hiya, Dart Castings do some nice ones too, dockside figures and sailors that is...
Cheers ASK, i'll take a look. There's a thread somewhere on RMweb where some of us worked out exactly which figures to chop to make the crew of the Vital Spark, but i'll be looking for some more general nautical folk too! :)
Langley actually do some quite good crew. Please be aware that these halogen spots can suddenly explode. That is why I now use strips. I still find bits of glass on CG.
John
Thanks John, I hadn't realised that these were the exploding variety... I'll probably not change them now though as ExpoNG will be the last exhibition for Dunbracken before I replace it.
I'll keep an eye out for the Langley crew next time I go to the model shop... ;)
i've probably missed the obvious , what are the dimensions of Dunbracken ? . where is the farthest it has travelled ?, has it ever travelled north of the border . re the lights i get the feeling that those particular lights are the making of that ' atmosphere ' . anyway it's chust perfect as they say in french equitorial glasgow ..
cheers john .
Hi Clanky,
So far it's only been to Tonbridge exhibition twice, once as a work in progress in 2008:
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And in 2009 when it was finished.
As for size, well, it's an ironing board, so it's roughly 4'x1'.
The last exhibition it will be going to is ExpoNG later this year, after which I will be replacing it with a bigger layout i'm developing. Hoping to sell it on to raise funds for plywood :)
Trackplan for the bigger layout looks set to be either this:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__CxMZUKuT0U/SKnJnwOTFxI/AAAAAAAAADM/rgolZcJNVLU/s1600-h/scan0001.jpg
or this:
http://bp3.blogger.com/__CxMZUKuT0U/SHETfE9UZiI/AAAAAAAAADE/kLZHHuEv8Hs/s1600-h/trackplan+labelled.jpg
I will start the baseboards for Port na Cailliche this summer and hopefully work on it over the winter. Dunbracken was only ever intended as a test bed for that layout as i'd never actually built a layout on my won before, let alone finish one! ;)
Well Tom, your work is first class whether this is a first time or not. I expect the big layout to be world beating! ::)
best
John
agree with john re the bigger layout , chust perfect
cheers john
Quote from: pilotfriend on June 10, 2009, 09:08
Well Tom, your work is first class whether this is a first time or not. I expect the big layout to be world beating! ::)
best
John
Quote from: clanky on June 11, 2009, 18:26
agree with john re the bigger layout , chust perfect
cheers john
You're both very kind! I have learnt a lot since starting Dunbracken, but I look at bits of it now and think 'I could do better'. Especially the foamboard fascias which have a couple of small knocks to them now.
I've just returned from a holiday in Scotland and have some more ideas for the 'big' layout. I'll post some pics on it soon once I get going with the baseboards. Dunbracken was built in a rush, and i'm looking forward to being able to savour the building of a layout a bit more, and take my time with things more than before!! ;)
I took Dunbracken out in the evening sun tonight and gave it a bit of TLC for the first time in ages. I repaired the damage caused to the chimney of the inn by SWMBO's exercise ball... Planted the new Scots Pine trees from SiST, and added some more height to the waves in the harbour.
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The rather naff old Heki Scots Pines that were used at the last minute for the Tonbridge exhibition.
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The new trees now planted (plus a dollop of wood glue)
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Another view of the SiST trees
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Repairs now carried out on the Inn, i've only just noticed that the chimney stacks never got weathered...
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The waves in the harbour now raised slightly to give more definition and better shape.
Then I posed some of the stock on the layout too.
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Uist
tom , Dunbracken looks even better in daylight , must admit that i was a bit worried about your keeping to scale , looking at picture 3 for instance , i thought your sleepers looked totally out of scale , ;) anyway chust perfect cheers , para handy and crew :laugh:..
Thanks clanky! I was going to try and hide the fence, but that one slipped through :P
Right Tom
Couple of points to bear in mind for the next project.
Backdrop
The colour rendering between the model and the background is poor. You need to colour adjust the background against samples of tree colours and grass of the model. The backdrop has too much in the near distance of high detail which detracts from the modelled vegetation. It is always better to restrict backdrops to middle and far distance.
When doing the graphics, distance should be shown by less detail. Use layers in Photoshop and the 'median' facility which remove sharp detail. A large close in tree in the backdrop will never look right. Your distance images need to have less saturation too.
Best to have trees right up to the backdrop and close together. This stops shadows on the backdrop which destroys the illusion.
stonework
There is still some way to go there, both for buildings and the harbour wall. Your carving attempt looks just like that. Better to use either Wills sheets or bits that an outfit like Townstreet will supply. I still think that Townstreet's stonework is unbeatable. More work on detail painting of stone would be good too.
Apart from being daft enough to build a layout on an ironing board (and you know what I think of that and pizzas), those are the only things I can really fault.
very best
JdF
Thanks for your comments John, the handcarving was something that seemed like a good idea at the time, but next time I'll be using Slaters sheets. Partly for my sanity, and partly to achieve a more realistic appearance.
Re. The backscene, it was done in a rush and hence bought pre printed so not ideal for the job. I've got plenty of images that I'm going to compile into a backscene hopefully more akin to what you have achieved on CG. These will be take. Specifically for the purpose, and the transition will be much better. Doing that was a big learning curve. I've learnt a lot building this layout, but now I see things I could improve upon.
I guess that's all part of the fun ;)
We all - potentially - have varying abilities. I'm sure that many modellers would be very pleased to have achieved the level you have with Dunbracken, particulary when juggling work, family and other calls upon our time. Well done, I hope that I can reach this standard.
You are quite right Binley but having seen what Tom is capable of, he has no excuses except learning curve. I suspect he will become one of the top 009 modellers (if he is not already there).
JdF
Quote from: binleywoods on August 31, 2009, 15:51
We all - potentially - have varying abilities. I'm sure that many modellers would be very pleased to have achieved the level you have with Dunbracken, particulary when juggling work, family and other calls upon our time. Well done, I hope that I can reach this standard.
Binley, thanks for your comments, it has been difficult, I don't have children to use as an excuse, but I've been studying part time for a civil engineering qualification, that has been a big drain on time. However, that's done now so this winter i'll hopefully be able to crack on with the new layout a bit more quickly than this one ;)
Quote from: pilotfriend on August 31, 2009, 18:18
You are quite right Binley but having seen what Tom is capable of, he has no excuses except learning curve. I suspect he will become one of the top 009 modellers (if he is not already there).
JdF
John,
Your comments are very kind, but i'm not sure if I can live up to them... :-[
As you've said learning curve is an issue, i'm very pleased with this for my first attempt, hopefully the future will allow me to experiment with many other methods to improve things. The one bit I do struggle with is reliability of operation, but this I think is improving and, again, will hopefully be better on the next layout.
Quote from: invercloy on August 31, 2009, 12:45
Thanks for your comments John, the handcarving was something that seemed like a good idea at the time, but next time I'll be using Slaters sheets. Partly for my sanity, and partly to achieve a more realistic appearance.
<snipped>
I can imagine that getting the Slaters sheet to go around the bends may drive you round the bend! :laugh:
As a suggestion it might be worth trying to use some sort of mould pressed into the 'wet' clay. I'm sure such things are available commercially (probably from the States), as I have read about the technique being used to create cobbled surfaces. Equally, such a mould could be made from latex rubber or RTV silicone rubber using one of the Wills stone sheet as a master. As the rubber would be flexible it should be capable of doing the curves in both directions.
Quote from: JulienW on September 01, 2009, 17:47
As a suggestion it might be worth trying to use some sort of mould pressed into the 'wet' clay. I'm sure such things are available commercially (probably from the States), as I have read about the technique being used to create cobbled surfaces. Equally, such a mould could be made from latex rubber or RTV silicone rubber using one of the Wills stone sheet as a master. As the rubber would be flexible it should be capable of doing the curves in both directions.
Thanks for this Julien, it's just made me find the Bragdon Enterprises site whilst doing a search on such things... http://www.bragdonent.com/
They produce moulds for retaining walls, this one looks quite suitable: http://www.bragdonent.com/smpic/73s.jpg
There are also some fantastic rock moulds http://www.bragdonent.com/smpic/11s.jpg, i'll be purchasing several for my next layout! 8)
Quote from: JulienW on September 01, 2009, 17:47
As a suggestion it might be worth trying to use some sort of mould pressed into the 'wet' clay. I'm sure such things are available commercially (probably from the States), as I have read about the technique being used to create cobbled surfaces. Equally, such a mould could be made from latex rubber or RTV silicone rubber using one of the Wills stone sheet as a master. As the rubber would be flexible it should be capable of doing the curves in both directions.
Something along these lines are described in "Model Buildings Masterclass" by Roy Porter (my copy probably bought "remaindered", but available at a ridiculous price on Amazon at the moment).
He shows plasticine rolled onto Lego base plates with a wall built around it, stones or bricks embossed into the plasicine with a variety of shapes stuck to the ends of skewers (toothpicks in 009?) and then cast in plaster. He make one-offs: he says 3 or 4 castings from one plasticine master, if done with care. Perhaps a more robust mould could be made using silicone rubber off the plaster casts.
It looks rather complicated and beyond me!
I have tried "Das" modelling clay, poked and prodded with toothpicks, knife blades and an old toothbrush. It makes quite good rounded, weathered stone, but my "blasted" or quarried stone did not look good. The stuff is too doughy and squidges/splodges out when I made impressions on it unless I timed it just right, i.e. just before it set.
There is a Dutch modeller who makes all his stone walls from builder's plasterboard with one layer of paper peeled off and each stone individually carved in the surface!
Quote from: GraemeD on September 01, 2009, 21:40
There is a Dutch modeller who makes all his stone walls from builder's plasterboard with one layer of paper peeled off and each stone individually carved in the surface!
I've seen something similar on RMweb using foamboard with the top layer if card peeled off, then the foam scribed.
The bragdon moulds look very tempting though 8) no doubt they'll come in useful on subsequent layouts.
Quote from: invercloy on September 01, 2009, 22:24
The bragdon moulds look very tempting though 8) no doubt they'll come in useful on subsequent layouts.
Thanks for the link!
Just had a look at the range myself - I feel a bookmarking coming on!
Indeed, very handy.