Thursday 28 November 2013

New Additions

I've finally managed to pick up a couple of 14XXs off ebay, one GWR Airfix and one BR still in a GMR box.

Both are destined to have Mainly Trains detailing kits applied to them, and one at least will end up on a Comet EM gauge chassis. The other might end up being retained in OO form at least until Apa Valley ends up in the bin an Llanrahaiadr Mochnant rises from the ashes.



In shots like this the photographic backscene actually works

Until then I've been getting a few jobs done post Warley. I've changed the line of the wooden fencing so it doesn't obscure the signal box in photos and made a start on adding foliage to the trees at each end. The stove pipe on the signal box is now a more realistic height and the area where the rodding comes out of the frame room has been tided up. I still need to leave a saucer of milk out for the cat though.

The layout in its entirety 

6 comments:

  1. Hi James,

    I did wonder if a 14XX chassis kit was on your shopping list last weekend whilst you were at Warley and before I forget thanks for posting those photos of the show.

    The main photo of the layout has a lovely dreamy atmosphere which makes you feel you are way off the beaten track.

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    1. It was...and then I walked straight past the Comet stand and forgot all about it. I'm toying with the possibility of using the High Level kit for the second one.

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    2. I have no personal experience of the High level kits but they do look very good and if you want detail such as inside motion then that is the option to take. Personally I prefer simplicity and question adding masses of detail that can't be seen unless you pick the model up.

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    3. Geoff. Personally I don't see much value in the inside motion given where I am on the skills map, but I have heard good things about them. I'm definitely going down the Comet route for the first one though.

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    4. I think it's a very wise decision to use a Comet chassis the first time out James. You are probably aware that I am a huge fan of their products and an extremely happy customer. Using an etched chassis on the Airfix / Dapol / Hornby 14XX brings huge benefits both in appearance and performance. One modification I would recommend doing is to model the boiler correctly by removing the skirt below it and making it completely round so daylight can be seen beneath it. Iain Rice and Rod Neep wrote two articles in MRJ No's. 1 & 2 which are essential reading for anyone contemplating a model of the loco.

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    5. I'll get hold of replacement copies of those MRJs if I can. My priority on the loco front is to get the pannier converted to EM before Xmas to give me the impetus to start on trackwork. Not that there is any hurry there because whilst with Richard's help I'm close to a definitive plan in terms of the overall layout and the signalling there's something not quite right with the geometry that I haven't yet put my finger on.

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