Last Chance Saloon

It sounds far more dramatic than it probably is...

Adopting the fortnightly posting approach has been a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, I can get a good few weeks worth of updates finished up in one sitting, on the other hand progress can sometimes happen in leaps and bounds quicker than posts can keep track of them! 

So here we are, with one week to go till the contest deadline, a quick rapid fire of a select few construction milestones for the challenge layout. It's scary just how quickly the deadline has come around!

There was a very brief glimpse of an Airfix Matador kit a few weeks back, assembled and then cut at a jaunty angle. It works better than anticipated as a nice view block on the 'road to nowhere', making the scene feel deeper than it really is at this track level view (Remember, this is an Ikea Mosslanda layout, it's only 9cm deep!)

The yard gates are lightly bashed ScaleModelScenery platform fences, whilst the Pre-Worboys road signs help to set the scene firmly in the 1950s. I'm not quite sure why the postbox keeps glowing a luminous red in every photograph I take of it. It is painted a dull matt red, honest!

The layout has also come to life with the addition of figures, all coming from the Monty's Models range. I was asked why I was using white metal figures when high detailed 3D printed options, like those from Modelu, are now available. The answer? This is the one manufacturer I know who produces the stereotypical vicar in a panama hat! That said, the sharpness of the moulding on the station staff figure is incredible.

The conductor figure is part of a set with a bus driver, and due to the coach being one of the old Egger Bahn HOe stable, both his shoes and hat needed A LOT of filing down to fit. He's ended up wearing more of a flat cap than a peaked cap. A bit of a happy accident really, as this pose was very much inspired by a photo in K.E.Hartley & Paul Ingham book on the Sand Hutton Light Railway. It's quite a good match.

And finally, one of those jobs I'd been putting off for far too long - finishing some wagons for the layout. From right to left we have: A Corris brake (running as a boxvan), a tarpaulin covered wagon (A 'how to' is probably on the cards for next year), a coal wagon, a wagon full of timber and finally, the classic wagon load of milk churns and sacks from the Wills range.

For something different I tried weathering these using the range of washes from the Citadel Miniatures range. The results are... mixed. It goes on well enough, but it seems to 'pool' on any model I've applied it too., like it's a thicker mixture than the normal watered down acrylics. I've tried shaking and stirring the pot before application but the result is always the same. A little disappointing. 

And that's a wrap (For now!) Next time the layout graces this blog will be the 'grand reveal' of a terrible punchline...

Trees

Scenically, progress is coming along in leaps and bounds now with the Cartel Challenge layout, a lot of this stemming from having gotten the first stages of ballasting down. 

Posting the above quick photo update over on the Facebook group resulted in a couple of queries as to how I had created low relief trees for the backscene, so as a handy source to redirect people to in the future, what follows is a 'how to' as to the method I use.

You will need:

• A few dried out old twigs
• Black (Or dark green) thin card
• Woodland Scenics dark and light course foliage
• A razor saw
• A hot glue gun (or PVA alternative)

Start out with the twigs, most importantly making sure that they have been left for a few days (Preferably a week) to dry out. How big these twigs need to be is very much dependent on what scale you're modelling in, in this case each on being roughly between a quarter and a third of an inch diameter to give a nicely sized trunk for a OO scale tree. The above cutting mat is A4 sized if that helps with getting a sense of scale. An effort was also made to obtain twigs with varying amounts of knots in them to add some variety.

Next, take one of the 'trunks' and cut it to the desired length for your tree, in my case I only show the main trunk as far as the lower branches so anywhere from 1-1.5inch is enough. Do make sure to make the length slightly longer than needed to help with the next step. Then use the razor saw to cut the trunk in half lengthwise. Hey presto! Two trunks!

Moving onto the foliage (Excuse the mucky fingernail!) Start by making a rough guide out of thin card to the shape of the topography you want. Have a look at photographs of trees to get some suggestions, but if you're still struggling to get something that looks 'right' a not quite figure eight shape like the one above is a pretty safe bet. Cutting the trunk slightly longer than needed helps with attaching it to the card base, this will end up being covered.

Handy tip: Make the card shape slightly smaller overall than the intended finished size, this will very quickly be bulked out.

And finally, some greenery! Nothing too special here as it's simply Woodland Scenics light and dark coarse foliage scraps stuck down with a hot glue gun. Something PVA based would probably be preferable to many I suppose, but speed was certainly of the essence here! As a rough guide, from the bottom up to the top quarter of the base was given a layer of the darker green, lighter green being added on smaller clumps on top till it looked right. This is definitely a good time to go looking at old episodes of Bob Ross's "The Joy of Painting" when it comes to use of light and dark.

And hopefully, if you've been following along, you should have a tree like the one above that looks quite passable for a tree in the height of summer! Of course this is only really a basic attempt, scatter products could easily be used to model a tree in the seasonal change from summer to autumn. Certainly something that could be fun to play around with.

And as a child of the 90s I can only sign off this post in the manner of Neil Buchanan's 'Art Attack'.

"Try it yourself! Low relief model railway trees, and I'll see you next time! Ta-ra!"