Kohlenbach Brücke Werks update…
My little flight of fancy, the European factory has been gathering the proverbial dust for a few weeks and so this weekend I determined to spend a little time with it and move things gently forward…
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| Sleepers and rails painted, track ballasted yet still so many raw elements. I can ‘see’ some aspects of the completed composition but others will make themselves known as the work progresses. |
De-camping to the front room with good light and space to strip back and remove the lid, the first step was, as always to paint the sleepers. A very short mention of craft - this is done with a make shift palette and some Humbrol enamels, and I wouldn’t use 110 in the mix usually, but I wanted a warmth in some of the shades. 98 and 64 are my go to shades here. The act then, putting on some music and beginning with a brush in hand, it’s a wonderfully mindful way to give your head some space to work through things without distraction. I soon notice my breath slowing without any deliberate breathing exercises, I have space to notice the birds singing outside as my brain consciously only considers what colour to mix for the ‘next’ sleeper.
After dinner I used Humbrol 62 and 33 to paint the rail sides, varying the tone from dark in the sidings to lighter on the more regularly trafficked lines. 62, leather, is a great shade for this…
Given 24 hours and Sunday morning, the house quiet before anyone else gets up and I’m enjoying first sun and tinkering with ballast shades. I’ve got a bag of ‘buff’ that I used on Creech Bottom and East Works, as well as Kirsten Torfwerk and Creech Barn - but it’s interesting, it just doesn’t sit right in the wider gauge. Plain grey worked, as always, but what about a mix?
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| Ballast - all Woodland Scenics fine. L-R grey, buff with a touch of grey, buff. |
I wasn’t convinced so in practice most of the layout ended up grey. There will be plenty of overgrowth and grass hiding things anyway but I did add a little buff to one batch and used this in a few places (evident in the first photo) yet this jars a little in the flesh so will need carefully toning down when I add the roadways and concrete hard standing in the next ‘working’ session.
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I would like to object to the pipeline routing under the track in the first photo. In fact, it certainly wouldn't have been solved that way. If the lowest point of the route had to be under the track (which I reasonably doubt), it would have to be as accessible as possible; that is, it would probably be in a culvert so that the track didn't have to be lifted for each pipe replacement/repair. And the lowest point of the route would surely suffer the most failures due to the accumulation of medium that would be stalled at that point every time the pumps were switched off and the pumping stopped. For the reasons given, it is almost certain that the pipelines would be routed over the track by air.
ReplyDeleteDisclaimer: I spent most of my working career (36 years) in the paper and chemical industry.
Point taken but think if this not as a realistic model of a chemical factory and more a Tintin esque cartoon sketch of an Eastern European industry of indiscriminate identity- it’s all a bit of fun. Twenty odd years ago I worked for a few years in a chemical plant and the sights and sounds of chemical pipe gantries and steam mains…
DeleteWell... yes. I think I got it. I must admit I'm only now beginning to understand why you call some of your pictures "caricatures".
DeleteBTW, in the Czech modellers' community such discussions keep coming back periodically: Should we depict reality accurately or approximately or rather (many would say "only") provide the watching audience the impression "what-if"? Opinions vary, and probably rightly so. Practicing this hobby, someone is seriously working, someone else is playing, and there is a wide range of various approaches in between. After all, even playing, when done properly, can be quite a strenuous activity.
Very nice track James. I am impressed with the color and texture of the ties. Did you do anything special to create the grain of the wood ties?
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom, I enjoyed painting them, again it’s a very mindful process. The wood grain is all Peco, code 75.
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