If I Could Turn Back Time

Happy Easter!

If I could turn back time... then I would not paint my crane yellow. That task wasted a couple of days.

The crane is finished.

Isn't that crane the same colour as before? No the luffing jib is yellow. Our eyes are attracted to bright colours. There is a reason why the golden arches are yellow with a red background. The first coat of paint for the crane indicated that being all over yellow would be too eye catching. I want people to look at the layout, not just the crane.

There is a lot of art and design that goes into model railways, whether we realise it or not. How many times have we moved things about so that they look good? We position our buildings, our vehicles, our figures so that they look just right.

If you look at the image for long enough, you'll see what I mean. The viewer of the model railway will notice that there is a bright yellow jib which would look better in grey. I really couldn't agree more. However, model railways always involve compromise. Therefore, as I don't want to keep rebuilding the crane, part of it is yellow so that the operators notice it and don't knock it over.

Another task finished yesterday was the barge. It is hard to see in the image above and in its spot on the layout, you need to look down on it as well. The next task is working on the interior of the station building.

Until next time.

Somethings Aren't Meant to be Yellow

I gave the crane the first coat of yellow yesterday. I really wish that I hadn't. I'm not going to put a picture up as that would be the picture that's shown on other blogs as a preview.

I spent time working on the barge this evening. It to is a bit bright. I based the colour scheme on a sort of local barge company. It's almost finished.

Until next time.

Crane Update

The jib has been glued together. The tape is making sure that it all holds together while the glue dries. New posts were also added. I think that I'm meant to put some wire around these for a fence.

Now for a few coats of yellow paint.

Fixing the Crane

Look back through some of the images and you'll see the dock side crane with a skewer sticking through it.

After many visits to the floor the jib was a little busted.

My original plan was to replace the whole thing. There were a few other bits which had broken away as well.

I like Dapol kits but sometimes they need a lot of work. I had bought a new kit but as the packet says, the moulds are over fifty years old, which means that some parts aren't as good as they should be. This kit had bits that hadn't formed properly. I know that you could send them back but that would take a while.

A good inspection revealed that with a bit of glue, most of the crane is retainable. A couple of posts need to be replaced, a wheel needs to be added (this was one of the bits not right in the original kit), and the jib needs to be replaced. It could do with a good dusting and a coat of paint. A quick look on that magical search engine reveals that the most popular colour is grey or rust. This one will be yellow! Hopefully it will be more visible to those about to reach arms over it.

I made a start to the repairs.

Here's the added wheel and a bit of glue. The tape was needed to hold it in place while the glue dried. I also drilled out the holes where the jib needs to fit.

Tomorrow's effort will be trying to straighten the jib parts and replacing a couple of the poles.

Another task completed today was the addition of a life preserving ring on the pontoon. This was a Kibri bit from the marina kit. Bits were painted white and it has been glued to a toothpick which was painted white. I drilled a hole to fit in the pontoon to give the toothpick some stability and glued it in place.

I had to move the seat on the left.

Until next time.

Something To Sit On

I've been painting benches.

For the platform, I have used Tamiya's Racing Green. For the ferry pontoon, I have used brown and black. The benches were made by Peco. I had some red ones which I painted brown and black and some green ones which I painted... well, green. Was it worth it? Yes because it took away the plastic look of the benches.

I think that I need to put a pole on the pontoon with a life preserver ring, just incase one of my little people ends up in the drink.

I painted the crane as well using Model Masters Gunmetal. I have finally made the jump to acrylic paints and I wish that I had done this earlier. It was very nice paint to airbrush with.

I little bit of glue later and it's on the wharf ready to load some of those dodgy looking barrels onto a waiting boat.

That's three things off the list and another added.

Also on the list is the interior of the station building. I reckon that this cardboard interior might help. It only does the main passageway but it could make a good template to work from.

Until next time.

Ladders

A couple of years ago I found a bag of ladders at my local hobby shop. It's produced by a US company. I has so far provided me with the stairs from the marina platform to the marina and down to the pontoon for the ferry. I may not need to buy a ladder again.

These steel looking ladders were perfect for sticking on the side of the wharf. There are six of them along the wharf side.

I've started a few other jobs too.

The benches for the ferry pontoon have been given a coat of paint and I've carried on some more work on the barge. 

Until next time.

Small Crane

It took about ten minutes to build but about twenty minutes to find where I had stashed it before hand. I did find some other bits that I'll need later. Here's the crane waiting for a drier day so that I can use the airbrush as it is still in its shiny plastic. I am not complaining about the rain - I'm enjoying it.

I started on the ladders tonight too.

Until next time.

The Big Push

Yesterday, I painted the oars for the rowboats. Today I glued them on. That job has been waiting to be done for over twelve months.

A couple of folks have mentioned that the blog isn't updated as often as it once was. That because progress hasn't been as quick as it once was. It's not that I'm forgetting my fifteen minute philosophy, it's that the extension (for want of a better word) has been taking up some of that time.

The layout is about to celebrate its second year of existence. It really should be completed by now.

It's time for a big push - to defeat distraction and apathy and drive home to victorious completion. 

I like lists and I reckon that this one might see me through to the end. In no specific order:

1. Add water.
2. Build the big crane for the wharf. (The one that is there has hit the ground once too many times.)
3. Build a little crane for the other end of the wharf.
4. Ladders on the wharves for boat folk to climb out.
5. Glue down the jetties.
6. Add swans.
7. Put a couple of benches on the pontoon for ferry passengers.
8. Finish the barge. 
9. Kit bash the tugboat into a cargo boat. (This one may need to be last.)
10. A tucker bag for the swagman.
11. Install campfire including LED for swagman.
12. Interior of the station building.
13. Lights and signs for the platform.
14. Platform furniture.
15. Hedge for the platform.
16. Hook up lights.
17. Glue down the final population.

I don't like to run to deadlines but I hope to get it sorted by the 24th April which will be the second anniversary of the start of this blog. That's seven and a half weeks away.

Until next time.