Rails Round The Rectory

I'm one of those odd people who doesn't see indoor modelling as a Winter activity, but one for the Summer nights. So with the clocks changing and a long weekend I've made another effort to restart progress on the Cadeby inspired micro layout.

I'm a big fan of both the Petite Properties kits and the Redutex self-adhesive textures sheets. In fact, I've had some of both in store for a long time so I decided it was time to actually do some modelling.

I still haven't got the hang of getting the quite thick Redutex to go round corners. I've also been experimenting with a combination of "watercolour pens" from Arteza and gouache colours to build up texture.

Talking of texture, having finally got hold of a Gorden Gravett's book on modelling broadleaf leaves I thought I would have another go at trees, since they were a big feature of the garden at Cadeby. This was really nothing more than a 3D doodle, made from twisted wire, acrylic gesso, and artificial hair. Still a work in progress, but it is amazing how many deficiencies a photo reveals.

Having said which I still think it is better than my attempt at a tree on Apa Valley using a commercial armature and rubberised horsehair., despite the best efforts of my workshop assistant to get in the way.

Incidentally, that is a Tim Horn display stand on view, the start of the shed containing Teddy's 4mm layout and a corner of the baseboard.

A story for another day is about how I very nearly made a very silly mistake with the wiring....

The Joys of Spring

Spring,  whether meteorological or astronomical, is upon us. This was abundantly clear during the weekend's trip back from Shropshire to the Fens, as we passed through Rutland.

At least The Beast from the East 2.0 wasn't as bad as the original one when I was one of the few lucky people who eventually managed to fly back from Schipol to the UK. With the new season, I've said arrivederci to Milan, and my weekly commute now takes me to Eindhoven. Travelling on the double-decker trains the view is actually, and perhaps not at all surprisingly, not that unfamiliar compared to home.

So I'm still not getting much time at home, and what free time I have is focussed on the vegetable plot. Even Teddy is yet to turn a wheel this year, although hand traming has been much in evidence with the ELR earning its keep on agricultural services.

Still, with the lighter nights, a week working from home, and prompting from a number of recent articles I'm beginning to consider what modelling I might get down to, given a fair wind. Another factor in this is finally being able to reach the baseboards intended for TAoC. They seem to have stood up to storage in the shed better than expected, and a rearrangement of the home office means I might even be able to find a semi permanent location for the scenic boards at least.

Chris Ford has, of course, beaten me to it when it comes to completing a  version of TAoC. Dare I say I've actually found that quite useful because I now feel a bit freer to interpret it slightly differently now he has proved a more or less authentic version is possible. Given the number of brand new OO gauge locos that have accumulated in my desk draw whilst the boards are in storage I've also decided not to build this version in EM. What I still haven't quite decided is whether it will be based on the Tanat Valley or if I'll use updated versions of the structures originally suggested by Roy Link.

Meanwhile, I'm doing some sporadic work on the Cadeby cameo, with work focussing on tree building.