Friday Update: Seventeen Three Twenty-three…

A week focused on layout building here but one marred with long Covid symptoms on top of my mild virus. The brain fog has been so bad that I’ve struggled to reply to customers or even write material for the blog both for which I’m sorry if it’s impacted you directly…

Before we get onto Bishopsbourne it’s worth mentioning I had a delivery of custom parts from Steve - and most exciting the Planet Industrials ‘Victory’ GWR riveted tank overlays. These were drawn up a few months ago but have taken some time to get here for various reasons but now they have they prove to fit perfectly. My only slight concern is the definition of the rivets, I will ask Steve to look at options for improving that on the production batch. These will be offered as a component rather than conversion kit as the modeller will need to source a replacement dome and safety valve and removing these from the models cast metal boiler will require major surgery. Sign up to the Planet Industrials newsletter if you haven’t already if you’re interested in a release date and availability when the time comes!

Bishopsbourne has been the sole focus of my commission work really this week, in an effort to get it completed before Easter so my customer can collect it. Last week you saw it in raw scenic form, so things have progressed quickly with a targeted and considered approach to ensure there is always something to work on whilst another element is drying. Most important has been the music selection and one of the forgotten greats of the 1990s, the Charlatans wonderful indie soulful ‘Us and Us Only’ has been on the stereo along with Gaz Coombe’s latest solo effort too…

I hope I’ve got the following photos in order, if I have them show progress from track painted, ballasted and scenic scatter applied, through various layers of static grass and undergrowth, painting of the structures, planting of trees and finally construction and test fitting of the lid and lighting.

 

It can be difficult to to judge colour without decent light, so partly this is a journey into trust as I rely on the knowledge of previous work to choreograph elements of the landscape. The backscene has been muted with white primer again to dull it down and provide some separation between foreground and background.

 

Interestingly a path appeared in the cutting, unplanned but it felt right. Simply pinching out the static grass with a pair of tweezers, and because the foundation of the scenic work is ground foam you don’t get a bare baseboard but a nicely worn path.

Mocked up with the lid, the LED lighting just held in place with clamps, proves the balance on colour and wir(nrhe back-scene has worked beautifully. The GWR auto-train is out of place, yes, but shows the platform road to be ‘just right’ (it’s the same length as my customers Boche Buster gun and small diesel).

 

One element I want to rework slightly is the platform surface which I think could stand being a touch darker, so a wash of a warm dark grey will be applied before this is bedded in properly to the layout. There are also small touches like some point rodding and clutter around the grounded van and ground frame, both of which need some finishing paintwork too. Hopefully these small touches will really pull the finished result together, along with the painting and completion of the lid and addition of short fiddle sticks.

In the parcel from Steve were also a pair of custom etched works plates, different scales, very different prototypes. I drew these up from photos and dimensions provided and they’ve come out beautifully. The nickel silver ones are 16mm/ft scale for the SAR class 91 diesel, customised with the real works number ‘stamped’ in as part of the etch artwork.

The brass are 4mm/ft for a Horny (ex Dapol) Pug. If you have a project you think I can help with, be it design, illustration, weathering through to complete project realisation like Bishopsbourne above I take on all types of railway related commissions. Get in touch for a no obligation fixed price proposal using the form in the menu here, or via Facebook or the forums.

If you’ve got this far I hope you’ve enjoyed a cup of your chosen hot beverage, the weekend is nearly here and in the UK Mother’s Day beckons. Despite family commitments I will strive to find some time to get lost in a book at least, I hope you all have a good weekend. Until next time more soon…

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