'1943, Somewhere in England', N scale Monster Layout


The platform top was glued on oversize. A steel rule was then layed flat against the brick work, and the top of the platform scored, leaving a slight overhang on the edge.

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This just needs a light rub down to key the surface, then it can be painted.

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Here's what I've been tinkering with over the last few days; the foot bridge for the platforms. Scratch built from styrene ranging from 0.5 to 2mm thick. Corrugated styrene was used to represent the steps.

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A quick check made sure it was going to clear the trains, then a few areas were filled, rubbed down, and then it was painted. The main deck is going to be painted to represent wooden planks. It will then need a little rust here and there, plus soot from the passing trains.

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As mentioned previously, the conveyor assembly of the clay works needed some in-filling to give a surface to glue to so it could be attached to the other part of the structure. Both pieces were blocked in with balsa wood. This was then trimmed and sanded flush, then stained to match the rest of the structure.

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Here's the two parts joined, and you can see the stained balsa in the gap between the two sections.

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Where the conveyor meets the tall section of the building, it is too wide for the main tower to fit flush. I cut some 1/16 ply to fill this gap which then allowed the cream tower to be glued in place as can be seen in the second picture.

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Since the last picture was taken, the rest of the track has been ballasted. After a particularly hard few days remodelling the garden, I took an easy day and started working on the Catalina Search and Rescue aircraft for the airfield section. Pictures of that in the next couple of days. However, the layout build is going on hold for a couple of months while I push on with the garden and try to get the work complete before the really bad weather arrives. I've been doing the garden re-model since June, and really need to get it out of the way now. As soon as there is more to report on the layout, I'll be straight back to the build thread.
 
Here's the Catalina pictures promised a few days ago. The small windows in the fuselage sides have been fitted, along with some 2mm styrene blocks in the bottom of the hull. These provide a hard point for the drive wire that will push the Catalina in and out of the hangar.

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The wing halves were joined, and the floats assembled and fitted.

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A block of 2mm styrene was added to the bottom of the cockpit floor for mounting the new nose wheel assembly.

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The fuselage was held together with elastic bands while solvent glue was run around the joints.

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Engines were trimmed and fitted into the cowlings which were then attached to the wing.

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The tailplane halves were glued and held in place with bluetack. Another lump of blue tack was attached to the bottom of the fuselage to hold it level until all the glue dried.

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Because the model will move, the plastic landing gear wasn't considered strong enough, so the parts were replaced with brass wire. The bracing struts were bent into a V shape, and a blob of solder added into the corner of the V. This was then filed down and drilled for the main leg.

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The main landing gear dry assembled.

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To avoid melting the solder, the landing gear parts were joined with cyano before being glued into the fuselage.

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The nose wheel was also replaced. The leg was cut away and the wheel drilled for the new brass axle.

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This was fitted to the fuselage with another brass rod sticking forwards from the aircraft as a tow bar. A towing vehicle will be connected to this wire so the vehicle and plane move together out of the hangar.

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The build was put on hold at the end of October. There's a strong chance the rest of the layout will be cancelled due to my customers changing circumstances. I'll know more in the new year.
 
Yes, it's a real shame. We'll see what happens in the new year. If the project is shut down, I do fancy a small layout for myself on a similar theme and time frame ( though set in the USA ). I've been doing track plans using SCARM ( downloaded from this forum ), but I've found it so easy to design track plans, I now have dozens of potential layouts, and choosing one to build is going to be hard! When I do start, there will be a build thread.
 
update please

Any info on your progress?

As we have discussed previously your work is inspirational to all n scaler's

cmaceeepc
 
Yes, there is news. The Station section will be finished in the next couple of weeks, then the build will go on hold again for a few months. There is then a plan to possibly complete the airfield section too, but modify the design to have the two main lines curve around to the right from the airfield, and run down the back of the station section back to the other end.

So while the layout will be much smaller, at least both main lines will be useable, plus the branch down to the yard and quay.
 
I've got a new business project to work on now, a 1943 Ford GPW 1/4 ton truck, more commonly known as the Jeep. It needs a lot of work to bring it back to life, and as I strip it down, it's taking over more and more of the workshop!

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The railway has however, started moving again slowly. The country station section is being completed, and there may be a layout redesign coming, we'll have to wait and see. But for now, some pictures from a couple of days ago, splashing some colour around the hills. The paint is all household emulsion, green, brown, black and grey, painted on and blended together after first wetting out the plaster with water to help the paint flow and blend. Bushes, hedges and other undergrowth is still to be added to bring some life to the rocky scene.

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