The image above shows progress on the embankment section. I can’t claim any expertise in modelling nature as it’s not something I’ve come across much before however a while spent looking at local plant life for the “what” and Gordon Gravetts book on the subject for the “how” has produced something I’m quite happy with although I am undecided if the nettles are a bit bright. I drew a quick fencemade from sleepers and Tim kindly laser cut it for me for the top of the bank. I guess it does mean that Brettell road will be set in early October mind you. If you haven’t got Gordon’s book yet then its well worth finding a copy.
I’ve made a start on some wagons. From the left are a Cambrian 5 plank open for which I found you need to remove a bit of material from the base of the w-irons for P4 wheels. Then there’s a Ratio Van and open (I’ve never built Ratio kits before) The open is really too old but I have a plan for an off scene steelworks (sort of Round Oaks ish ) so I will use this as an internal user. Followed next is a Parkside 7 plank open, simplicity itself and a Bachmann RTR van- this was supposed to be a quick win picked up from the bargain bin at Modellers Mecca but conversion to p4 was a bit more than just sticking wheels in with material needing to be removed and new brakes added from MJT. Right at the end is a Peco wonderful wagon tank. Quite advanced for their time with working buffers and springing. In reality the springing is a bit too hard to be of any real effect so I will fit some Bill Bedford sprung W-irons.
Finally back to where it all started , the GBL Jinty. The body has been detailed with bits from the Brassmasters kit, some parts from Markits (and London Road Models as well as some home brew parts such as lamp irons from brass strip. I haven’t done any work under the footplate yet as I need to look at the High Level chassis next.
New(ish) technology or modelling witchcraft?
New technology, there are those who embrace it or those who reject it or seeing it as cheating in some way. It’s not a new phenomena or even restricted to railway modelling, I remember such discussions when digital illustration started to appear. With a hobby of course it’s up to you how you pursue it. Do you want the end result to be the best it can be or do you enjoy the route to the end result more? No one is ‘right’ in such circumstances but if someone choses to embrace new technology is it fair to accuse them of cheating in some way?
The finescale end of the hobby has always had a reputation for valuing the journey over the destination and for a long time detailed or converted RTR was frowned on as not proper modelling by those who scratchbuild stuff when in many cases the RTR looked much more like it was supposed to than the scratchbuilt stuff anyway. In reality though the finescalers have usually been the ones to embrace new technology and ideas first and the current crop of high quality RTR is largely down to people wanting something better. You hear it all the time, we’ve never had it so good and it’s probably true but things don’t get better if people just accept what they are given – they have to ‘want’ better too. It’s probably worth at this point mentioning that we never had it so good 20 years ago and we will probably still be saying it 20 years from now. Does anyone really believe that the current crop of RTR is the best we are ever to see?
So to the point – Laser cut buildings. Already people are saying that its cheating, that you just push a button and a building pops out of a machine but in reality it’s just a very very clever scalpel and while I believe the end result is better is it any easier or quicker?
What you see above is a simple canal bridge drawing for Brettell Road. Its drawn in illustrator and while I have used some time-saving tricks like custom brushes for the arch and a custom fill for the brick pattern it seemed to take a lot longer than just getting a sheet of brick plasticard and cutting it out. The thing is though I could convert the pattern to lines (expand appearance for those interested) and then tweak it. For example I could easily recreate the half width header near the corners in an English Bond wall while doing so with plasticard would have been a massive faff. In fact I wonder if anyone has even bothered, I know I didn’t think it worth the effort!
Above is the actual wall loosely positioned on its canal bed and towpath. The top row are routed and cut by Tim.
However laser cut can be a bit clinical. For the towpath I wanted a cobbled section but also a dirt section to – the finished cut was attacked with files and sandpaper to roughen it up. Going back to the point of New technology and illustration, I always thought, if Michelangelo or Leonardo Da Vinci had Photoshop would they have used it? Id bet that they would!
Transit, nearly there
Well thats another transit van nearly done. Just need to add a tax disk and wing mirrors.
Some more wagons
Despite not really getting caught up in the rush for the latest thing when it comes to RTR I do find that the new wagon announcements have an effect on what I’m up to. It’s because most of the new stuff actually isn’t. It’s been available before as a kit and if it suits what I’m doing there’s a good chance there’s an example or two in either my unbuilt kit pile or half started in a box somewhere. I’ve had to admit I’ve never really understood the clamour for new stuff we already have especially if the example is something simple like a 4 wheel open wagon. I mean you will see comments on forums that it’s the greatest thing ever, that someone has wanted one of these for years etc etc. I just think they can’t have wanted one that badly or they would have built the kit! Don’t dare suggest it though as such people seem to rejoice in explaining that they are so inept that they can’t stick 2 sides and 2 ends to a floor, or even better puff their chest out with pride when they tell you they have never even tried! And yet after all this time waiting they will absolutely buy 3 dozen of them just on a written specification, yeah right!
Getting back to the point, this time it’s Bachmanns tube wagon which so far does look nice. If starting from scratch I’d probably buy a couple but I’ve had the Parkside kits half done for many years. Having said that I would be surprised if Bachmann manage to match Parkside’s lovely thin sides.
Here is one of them after changing the w-irons for Bill Bedford ones, adding brakes from MSE and a few bits of wire for linkages and safety loops.
Above is a Bachmann VGA also done with Bill Bedford w-irons. The original axle boxes look nothing like those on a VGA so it’s worth changing them for slightly cut down hooded roller bearings, again from MSE. the break gear is from microstrip and wire but you can’t see the wire when the wagon is the right way up. The end steps are from DEMU member Martyn Normanton. I thought they were a bit too long so moved the top fold along by 1mm to reduce the height. Martyn also does steps for BAA and BBAs.
One little tool I’ve had for years but never really used is this, which is like a temperature controlled hot glue gun designed for sticking etched details to plastic. It’s kind of like a soldering iron for plastic because if you get it wrong you can over heat the part and the glue breaks down and just rubs off. More faff than using superglue but the joint appears to be stronger.
A glipse of the future provided by memories of the past.
When I was a kid, standing at New Street I only had a little brownie camera that took 110 film (remember that?) and couldn’t really take a decent picture of anything, not that I could afford film anyway so while I was there at the location and period I am modelling I never took any pictures of my own. It’s somewhat taken for granted these days that we can just have access to images of whatever we want due to the internet and sites like Flickr but unless people were there at the time to take the images and today give up their time to upload them for no reward we would really struggle to get even basic info on our chosen subjects. It is these unsung contributors that play a vital role in our hobby and its worth now and then taking a moment to stop and appreciate the efforts they go to.
Recently I found a video I hadn’t seen before that featured New Street, just a few months after the period I intend to model from Brian Hancock. His Youtube channel is well worth checking out and with his kind permission I can share with you his video.
This look back at the past is a prediction of my future. It is scenes like these that I am ultimately trying to recreate.
Theres a bit of Marston Green before and Reading after but these are still well worth watching, so if you have a spare 25 minutes – make your self comfortable and enjoy.
Some thoughts on the video
The first thing that stands out (because it’s the first train) is how un-colourful freightliner trains were in the 80’s with mostly white, blue and red boxes. The class 31 apparently rescuing a failed 47 (2.46) seems to be putting in a good performance.
The New Street stuff starts at 3mins 33 seconds and its interesting to note the lack of uniform rakes of coaches, there’s a set of nearly all Mk1s in blue and grey at 7min 50 though. Also worth noting is that none of this set is running on B1 bogies. In fact there’s an awful lot of Mk1s throughout the film.
The Class 158 test bed, class 154 puts in an appearance just before 12 minutes as does the yellow 312, albeit in the background. Is also worth noting the high number of light engine moves the highlight of which is a lash up of a class 56 and 2 class 58s in the 14th minute. I have no idea what the markings on the side of the DMU seen at 14.40 are but its worth noting that these 4 car 115/116 hybrids were common place at the time.
Theres an awful lot of platform enders throughout the film and this reaches a peak in the 15th minute as a class 45 generates much interest – I must remember to add the various bags they seem to leave lying arround to the model! At 18 minutes there’s one of the Express Parcels liveried 128 DPU’s which is causing much frustration on one of the Model Railway forums at the moment due to the new model apparently being in the wrong colour. The last train seen at New Street is a bit of an oddity with a class 31 hauling a rake of what seems to be mostly first class air cons. Perhaps an excuse to use up some of those cheap Airfix Mk2 FO’s that we all seem to pick up as the years go by. It would certainly give the exhibition critics something to get excited about.
Theres a few highlights in the Reading bit too with 50027 (Lion) making a nice getaway, a class 56 storming through the station and one of the class 210 DEMUs.
Thanks to Brian for uploading it but as mentioned before thanks to anyone who uploads videos and pictures, the hobby would be all the worse without your efforts.
Building the platform canopies
I know it sounds a bit odd as the station was under a giant slab of concrete but New Street did have canopies in the traditional sense, although typically utilitarian. The ones furthest from the front of the layout are the easiest by the virtue that they are straight so that seemed like the logical place to start.
Above shows the top side (that you wont be able to see) but demonstrates the construction which is standard 6mm foamboard. The outer edges are 30 thou plasticard scored at 30mm intervals to represent panels. The reason for the 2 rows per side of foamboard is its easy to drill a 3mm hole through the inner one and pop an LED through (I use cheap strings of Christmas tree lights to save a lot of soldering).
This is the underside. The ribs are just evergreen board and batten sheets, the whole lot was sprayed black and then sanded to get back to the black and white pattern. The cutouts are for pillars and structures on the platform which will need to support the shopping center above. By using foamboard you can position it on the platform and then press down to get an imprint of where the holes need to be. Below is the finished result which I feel captures the feel of the place before its facelift in the early 1990’s.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Given the recent appearance of some of my images in a recent magazine, which were a bit of an embarrassment if I am honest, it might seem strange that I want to touch on the subject of photography but never the less…
My first job was as an illustrator. Illustration is a very proactive thing to do, you have complete control over the end result. My second job was as a photo finisher. Photography is a very reactive thing to do as you have to make the best of what is in front of you. Finishing even more so as you have to make the best of what someone else thought was the best they could do. I am no photographer I can assure you but given that I have finished literally hundreds of thousands of images that are taken by professional photographers I do at least know the theory.
Owning an expensive camera will most likely make your pictures better but it will not make you a photographer, just as owning a pencil will not make you an illustrator but there are a few things that you can do that will help you when taking pictures of models. Photography of models kind of crosses the boundary of the 2 disciplines as you have control over the subject and the camera. Lets start with what not to do.
The above image has several areas that are open to improvement. It’s too saturated, and its over sharpened, it looks too Photoshopped. Also it has too much magenta in it, the wall is a grey/blue in reality not purple. The loco is framed too high and there is a horrible tangent between the roof of the loco and the building behind it.
Finishing
First things first, All images NEED to be finished, what the camera gives you will never be the best it can be. Theres a lot of ways to finish an image in Photoshop but most of them are quick wins and actually go some way to destroying the image. Things like auto levels, brightness/contrast, sharpening, hue/saturation all do the job but badly. The truth is you only need to learn how to use curves as this will do all of those things with far more control and less damage. Basically curves is a line between black and white that can be bent. The other methods are more like a slider on a scale. In curves your white point will be top right, your black point bottom left. Once these are set they will not change so no matter how much you play with the curves your blacks will always be black and your whites will always be white. You can choose to lighten the image in a particular tonal area, such as towards the dark end to bring up the detail in an underframe and it wont effect the highlights. Moving the brightness up moves the whole image and you gain detail in the darks but lose detail in the lights. You can also select channels and adjust them in the same way, focusing on a particular colour in a particular tonal range. Making the curve into an S shape will adjust the contrast again without losing the blacks and whites. It’s very powerful and once learnt (aside from the camera doing something odd) it’s all you really need to know.
Sharpening
Sharpening is best avoided – get the image sharply focussed before you take it not after. However there is a way to improve a slightly soft image without it looking too Photoshopped. Using the sharpen tools in a colour image will sharpen the colours too, this is not what you want to do so the trick is to hop into LAB colour mode (which is immensely powerful but a lot of work to get your head round) select the lightness channel and only sharpen that. Result – a sharper image without affecting the colour
Composition
Having worked with an awful lot of professional photographers composition is not something they are all that sophisticated in, usually because it’s not something they have a lot of control over. Many will use the rules of thirds and that’s about it. (the focus of the picture should be 1/3rd of the way into the image). However illustrators are quite sophisticated in this regard as they do have the control they need. Ideas like leaders, lines of action etc are quite normal and can make an illustration almost move. You will be guided through the image exactly as the illustrator wanted you to be and will not even know that you are doing it. Good Illustrators and designers are some of the most manipulative people you will come across in terms of making you do what they want. With a model its more still life than anything, you set the scene and its worth thinking about how everything interacts to get the result you want. In the image above the loco is too high in the frame. If it were lower it would have more mass to it and would convince the viewer that its heavy.
Tangents
Tangents are a big problem in illustration and to be avoided at all costs. They are a big problem in model photography too but not a lot of people understand them. Referring back to the image of the 31 there is a horrible tangent where the line of the roof between the loco and the building meet. Simply put a tangent is where 2 lines of different things in the image meet. Things like a buffer appearing to join with a signal are common and are things that professionals will look to avoid. It’s what makes the difference between a professional image and one that isn’t. If I had moved the camera down a bit you wouldn’t see the roof of the building, moved it up and the roof would have been distinct so as it is its in just the right place to spoil the image.
Light and doing it badly
Light is where you can really make a difference and a lot of images are lit with little or no thought. (its worth mentioning at this stage that if you want to Photoshop a real sky onto an image of a model its a good idea to make sure they are both lit from the same direction!) This is one area where you can transform an image easily and the best way to do this is to do it deliberately badly.
Here we have a fairly typical model image – lit from the direction of the camera but slightly off set. In the real world light is not always where you would like it to be so its worth experimenting with it as a less ideal image can have a better impact
The same image lit from above (where the flood light would be) looks much more interesting even though much of the detail is lost. This sort of image would probably be a reject if taken in the real world but as a model its a bit different or unusual.
Black and White
Theres a right way and a very wrong way to turn a colour image black and white.
This is the wrong way but its the easiest – convert the image to greyscale. The problem is that the definition between colours is lost. I know that sounds odd in a black and white image but certain colours while very different are also similar in tone. Rail blue and Warning Panel Yellow are a good example and will appear very similar when converted to greyscale.
This is the right way and its back to using the Lightness channel in LAB mode. Theres much more definition and tonal variety.
The Photoshop argument
People are either indifferent or heavily against deliberate Photoshopping. Things like adding smoke etc really don’t bother me as the whole process of model railways is trying to fool the viewer into thinking, just for a second, that the object they are looking at is not a foot long piece of plastic but a 100+ tonnes of locomotive. Obviously using Photoshop to fix a bad model is somewhat different. It’s funny how those most vocal against the use of Photoshop usually are the first to defend using the wrong gauge or unrealistic couplings.
Of course if you are going to add a photoshop sky make sure it’s lit from the same direction as the model and if you are going to add a thick exhaust smoke to your steam locos, don’t forget to add it to their shadows too!
Next time you take a model picture think about composition, look out for things like tangents and ask yourself, Can I make this more interesting?
28th April 2013
I few new things to look at this time. I have made a start on the wagons section and added more pictures to the coaches section.
I have also been working on a pair of blue and grey HST power cars, you can see more pictures of one of them in the Locomotives section.
Some more thoughts on puddles.
Thanks to everyone who commented on the last entry about the weather. I have been looking at puddles (ok that sounds REALLY weird I grant you) and have done some more experimentation on a scrap bit of card (sprayed to look like tarmac).
There’s 3 rows here, on the left just Klear and in the center and on the right I sprayed a very light coat of black first (the Klear was applied with my airbrush in all cases)
The pre darkened areas look much more like the real thing I think.
still counting!
The thing I have found building something large and repetative is to celebrate the little milestones rather than just focus purely on the final destination. I also find its good to look back now and then too, so with that in mind…
Back in July last year I was here with my platforms. 
Today I am here. The milestone is that all the pillars on the nearest board are done. In fact there is only the large walls halfway along the ramps that display the timetables, some iron work on the platforms and people (more thought on those in a future update) to do and the platfroms on this board can be considered finished. 
Next stage is to finish the pillars and final structures on the next board and once the ironwork and people are done thoughts can turn to the ceilings.
I must admit I wanted to be here earlier than now but got distracted. Once the ceilings are in and the lighting is working I feel the model will really start to feel like the real place.
17th March 2013
Just a small update this time. Aside from the picture above there are new images on the class 81 and Mk3 coaches pages. Click on stock to view them.
22nd December 2012
Hi All
Just a quick update this time to notify you that I have changed the structure of the ‘Goodies’ page so that you can ask questions if you want to. Subscribers will be notified when anything new is added as they are for the news page as well as the workbench page.
Welcome to my Workbench
Hi Everyone and welcome to the workbench section of my site.
Here you will be able to see what I am up to as well as ask questions or leave comments.
So getting stuck in curretly I am looking at Mark 3 coaches, starting with…
… the Lima TRUB (Trailer Resturant Unclassified Buffet). For my era and location a TRUB isnt all that useful, most HSTs turning up at New Street were the cross country type which featured TF, TRSB, 4x TS and a TGS. The essential difference between what you see above and the coach I need is that TRSB’s (Trailer Resturant Second Buffet) have 4 large windows not 3. Hornby have just done a new Mk3 Buffet with 4 large windows but sadly thats not right either being a RFM (Resturant First Modular).
The idea was to use etched window frames from Shawplan and some drilling and filing to make the changes.
Above – after the work. By being careful I only need to respray the grey area, saving the white lines so that they match with the rest of the train. The red stripe scrapes off which is handy but remember to give the coach a quick spray with matt varnish before you mask it or the red stripe and those all important white lines will be pulled away buy the masking tape. The Resturant-Buffet 125 wording was also removed as it looked a bit too soft.
On the subject of Mk3 coaches I have also been busy on a test model for the loco hauled variety.
This uses the ancient Jouef model as it features the correct roof and bogies for a Mk3a. The moulded on paint lines were removed and the coach resprayed into InterCity livery. Some ETH gear was knocked up from microstrip and wire and the end ladders are some N gauge white metal signal ladders with some rungs removed.
P4 wheels dont quite fit into the bogies as supplied due to a thick rectangular block moulded where the bearings are. Also Joeuf used an odd sized axle. However the remedy is simple – the moulded block is easily filed down and the moulding for the axle length opened up using ‘Eds Tool’ – basically a double ended 26mm long drill bit that you pop into the bogie and twist to cut the bearing holes deeper.
29th October 2012
Hi All. Another update with another ‘tribute’ model
86261 Driver John Axon GC. To see why Driver Axon was awarded the George Cross, click here.
There are a few new pictures to see this time. Look for the class 31 and HST galleries. I have also uploaded a new page for my model of a class 122 bubblecar. Finally I have been working on a little something for no other reason than why not? It doesnt fit with my layout plans at all but I always found the prototype quite a curious little vehicle.
Theres a little more about it in the other stock section.
7th August 2012
Time for another update. You will find new pictures in the other stock, class 45, 50, 81, 85, 120, 128 and class 304 sections.
Of special mention is my model of 50031 – Hood. I modelled this locomotive as my own little tribute to those lost when HMS Hood was sunk by Bismark in World War 2.
To read more about HMS hood click here
Finally for this update I have started a new page detailing the platform details that are under the roof. You can find it in the layout – buildings section
16th June 2012
Above is my version of Google earth. This shows the full staion area (withoutmost of the buildings)
There are new pictures for you on the class 47, 50, 85, 86, HST and other stock pages, Enjoy!
23rd May 2012
The arrival of Bachmann’s rather nice Class 85 means that I have now completed the locomotive classes I need for New Street. Plenty of individual locos still to do of course. Head over to Locomotives to see more of my 2 85’s as well as new images in classes 31, 58 and the HST galleries.
For those who like a spot of reading I have 2 articles in this months crop of magazines. A short one on modelling Transit vans appears in Rail Express and a longer on on how I built my signal box appears in Model Railway Journal.
16th May 2012
Hi everyone. Updated a couple of galleries (class 45, 50 and 150) with new images plus added a special little project to the other stock section.
5th May 2012
Hi Everyone. Appologies for the extraordinarily long wait for an update but as you can see there have been big changes and I hope its been worth it! Welcome to a completely revised site with better navigation, more slickness and most importantly bigger pictures. Theres loads of changes and plenty of new stuff to look at so why not get a coffee and a bicky and have a look round?
30th May 2011
This weekend we had the first test session with Tim’s Storage Yard and Phil Eames’s 4mm P4 Calcutta Sidings 2. This is the actual fiddle yard that New Street will use (although it will be extended) Calcutta Sidings 2 measures in at 52′ by 17′. Set up in North Elmham Primary school.
Video ©Tim Horn
22nd March 2011
This update sees additions to the HST gallery (click the picture), class 58 and 86 locomotives as well as class 101, 108, 128 and 310. Go to stock in the header menu to see the pictures.
11th March 2011
A few things this time starting with a new section for odd-ball vehicles like the Reliance Mercury tug shown above.
Stock wise I have new pictures for class 31, 47, 50, 56 and 86 along with classes 120 and 310. Follow the stock link at the top of the page.
24th October 2008
Time for another update. The main layout made its Public debut at Scaleforum 2008. I would like to thank all those who helped out or stopped by for a chat, an excellent weekend was had! The below picture is © Tim Horn and a few more pictures can be seen on the shows page.
3rd September 2008
Been busy over the summer, Along with Phil, Simon and Tim (thanks chaps!) building 3 more boards for the layout. This means that all the boards for the Station are now complete. This area totals 22 feet in length and will most likely end up being around a third of the total scenic section of the layout