24hr challenge

[tat2drod]

So, modelling will be curtailed today due to the other half coming back earlier than expected (this in turn being due to the fact that he got a lift partway down, thereby avoiding the chaos around Amsterdam CS due to the accident yesterday).

As such, this last lot of photos show where I've gotten to. Have I kept to the timetable? No. I was regularly distracted on Friday and didn't get anywhere near enough done. Saturday was similar but I got more done then. I've had two visits to the hobby shop as well.

However, the whole point of me going public with this (and being brave enough to, given the standard of modelling around here) was to force me to actually get something done. Whilst what I've got here is a bog-standard display unit and is in no way fine-scale (or even brute-scale, cough), it is for me a small achievement in that I've actually got something! (The OO layout has been going for years and is nowhere near complete.)

And so, to the last set of photos.

[tat2drod]

Chapel on hill (I do have a front for this, it's just not brickpapered yet) and the experimental diesel (thanks to a brilliant idea from Ted).

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From the side...

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The other side...

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Ground level view...

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Previous view with the background painted over...

[tat2drod]

So that's that then. What do I do next? More trees! Many more trees - at the back and the lhs. Tidy up the paint job; apply various colour washes to tone it all down; do something with the pond; get the chapel properly set up as it's looking a bit ragged at the moment.

Would I do this again? Probably not in this form. I may take a week to do it and set up 4 hrs a day - assuming I'm daft enough to parade myself in front of this esteemed public again :-)

[invercloy]

Glad to see someone else doing a challenge layout.  It's amazing what you can get done in a small space in a short period of time, isn't it?

A friend and I did a challenge for 24 hours to get him a micro layout built to run his WW1 stock on.  We used foam board for the baseboard and just bits and bobs from the local hobby shop or my collection of bits and bobs.


IMG_0708 by andyhpr, on Flickr


IMG_0710 by andyhpr, on Flickr


IMG_0717 by andyhpr, on Flickr


IMG_0723 by andyhpr, on Flickr

It took us 13 hours to get to the point in the images above, but it's sat since then.

What do you do next? I'd suggest using it as much as you can, keep your enthusiasm up and gradually add more to it, more bushes, more trees, maybe a building or two...

[Isaac W]

For a WW1 era layout I wouldn't have many trees, certainly trees with branches and leaves :'(, as any artillery fire would have removed them leaving just stumps, of varying heights :-\. Also the end wall of the building would be scared by shell and small arms fire as the Allies would have built an observation post in the building which would allow them to observe the German trenches and beyond, so the Germans would have attacked the remaining wall. Much the same as the Allies would do to any building/wall behind the German trenches allowing the Germans to overlook the their own trench systems. >:(

[invercloy]

Some confusion there I think, Isaac.

I never said Rod should make a ww1 layout, I merely posted photos of my friend's layout to show he's not alone in doing time based challenges to build a layout.

As for the other comments, it's not my layout and was built in 13 hours.

Back to Rod's layout.

[tat2drod]

Glad to see someone else doing a challenge layout.  It's amazing what you can get done in a small space in a short period of time, isn't it?

...

What do you do next? I'd suggest using it as much as you can, keep your enthusiasm up and gradually add more to it, more bushes, more trees, maybe a building or two...

Yeah... whilst it's not as far along as I'd've liked, it's not bad, for me.

The other half arrived back yesterday and I'd moved this downstairs to the spare room where it can be seen immediately the stairs are ascended. The conversation went something like this:

F: (sees layout): Uh-oh!
R: See... I made that this weekend.
F: . . . Made? You made that this weekend?
R: Yup.
F: Wow. You're obviously more creative when I'm not here than when I am.
<both look at layout, I explain some more stuff that should be done>
R: And if you've got a photo of your (deceased) sister, I can sort out the chapel, build some rolling stock and use that as decoration and give it to the brother-in-law as a sort of memorial layout(*).
F: And what about me?
R: Er, what?
F: Can't I have one?

Looks like I've got my work cut out!

(*) Remember back on day one I said it'd be given away if it all worked out?

[Sven]

Well done, interesting initiative. I timed the four windows I was making two days ago and it took me 3 hours, so i wouldn't get that far in a 24 hour challenge. I came to the conclusion that I rather take more time to make something that I like then to just have something finished. I think it's more a matter of daily dedication and not watching TV with the wife. That's probably why she says that you are not as creative with her around. She should be happy about that, actually!

[tat2drod]

So, after having found a new job and worked my way into it, been on holiday and generally run around, I've gotten this to a sort of finished state.



The chapel is a G-scale Pola item found by the other half in the model shop in Aachen when I asked him to look for a model chapel. It looks good in real life (photo quality is not good but it's not the best camera in the world, sorry).



The hut is a <cough>and<cough> years old kit, probably Airfix. I'm not sure if I made it or my father did. Anyway, it's been in the buildings box for many years and it just sort of looked right.



This is to give an idea of scale. The truck is a Langley Models Festiniog 3-ton brass etch kit (first one I've ever made!)



The "bridge" is made up of pieces of plastic girder that I purchased in the craft shop, just over the border here in Belgium. They were spayed with a fixative and then sprayed brown (acrylic) and then filed and glued. The camera shows up the imperfections but it's not supposed to be pristine anyway.



The if-it's-brown-cube-shaped-and-has-cow-catchers-it-must-be-a-tram loco is built to a scale of 1:the-boyfriend-likes-it-so-it-must-be-right. It's only my second attempt at hacking something together (and it shows but I'm still learning) and it sits on top of a Minitrix tank loco. It still needs a bit of tidying up (in the same way that the Forth Rail bridge just needs a lick of paint) but...



...I fitted it and later added some supports which means it doesn't quite fit properly any more. Needs a bit of filing.



The lake's done the standard way by painting it and then layering it with varnish. The varnish bubbled so I lifted it and tried again. The next lot bubbled even more. (And it was all going so well in the early layers; no bubbles, no nothing.) I probably was a bit heavy handed whilst applying it. Ah well, my excuse is that there are a lot of fish in this lake and they blow lots of bubbles.

I was wondering about a ground level, wooden platform and a fishing rod and some figures but after talking to he-who-must-be-obeyed, we decided that this was minimal and that that's better seeing as how it symbolically represents his recently departed sister.

I still have some tidying up to do and it's not brilliantly made (I'm still learning the art of scratchbuilding - the OO layout has lots of kits and the rolling stock is all RTR - it looks a lot better), but I'm still a beginner at this and I need to practice a bit more. I'll get there eventually. In the meantime, I'd like to thank the forum for its indulgence and I now return you to your regularly scheduled level of modeling.

Hmmm.... wonder if I can make a copy of Nixnie...

[tedp]

 ;D  it's looking more like a 6 month challenge, but if you had to find a new job and get used to it you are excused!

The pond looks like it's full of frogs not fish. Not too bad I'd say. And there are tantalising glimpses of a 00 layout behind...

[tat2drod]

Given that the idea was to get something knocked out in a short period of time, I've definitely skimped on time spent on some things. Ok, lots of things. I reckon it's come out at about 40 hrs total. Definitely not exhibition standard but that wasn't the point. I should be able to tidy it up and get it looking reasonable shortly. I may even have another go at the tram loco. I was disappointed at the way the pond ended up as it started off so well but it's the first time I've tried that as well. On the other hand, the trees came out better than I had expected. Swings and roundabouts.

As for the OO layout, that's up to about 7 years and counting now and it's probably about 40% finished. Long way to go...