Blackhall Sidings

[Steve Bennett]

I like it Simon, the new building fits very well.
See you tomorrow maybe

[chuck in the nek]

New shed with extension roof,gives scene a bit of the pleasant ramshackle air of "once there were better days but now we just make do...!"

From my, amateur and unrequested, perspective..You NOW have what you were looking for. And it looks Great!!!

Regards, Chuck

[demaine22]

Thanks both,

New shed with extension roof,gives scene a bit of the pleasant ramshackle air of "once there were better days but now we just make do...!"

From my, amateur and unrequested, perspective..You NOW have what you were looking for. And it looks Great!!!

Regards, Chuck

Cheers Chuck, it's just the kind of effect I wanted, without going overboard.

See you tomorrow maybe

Ah sorry Steve, won't be there tomorrow, I'm sure you'll be hearing from me soon

[demaine22]

Finally, after its purchase from MOMING 2011...introducing No.1



Very pleased with this!
Doing more work on another shed this week, trying out some different techniques...more soon

[Steve Bennett]

#1 is looking good Simon, a bit better maintained than some of your loco's by the look of it
I am joking

[demaine22]

a bit better maintained than some of your loco's by the look of it

I'd say so Steve...although those bits on the side were left by the previous owner

As mentioned earlier...new shed trials:


I am going to colour this similarly to stone used in the local area here, and make a slate roof using card I think.

[Simon Andrews]

Looks good so far

Simon.

[Steve Bennett]

Looking very good Simon, for some reason it doesnt look so small in stone, when compared to the wood version.
For the stone colour, I would suggest keeping it quite light, to match the surroundings, which will help it blend in.

[Glen A]

Gnice stone work!!!

[demaine22]

Thanks chaps

I hope to get some more construction work done today, and maybe even apply some colour

[skylon]

Look forward to seeing the next stage of the building. Simple but effective!

[demaine22]

Hi chaps,

I have started to add colour to the building, I under-coated with grey enamel, and then whilst still wet I dabbed on some white paint. This created quite a nice variety in tone and I moved on to applying a couple of 'buff' colours. These are matt but were still wet when I took the photos. The recesses will be filled next then coloured appropriately, looking at the use of only two colours on the stones, I have some ideas for more tonal variety. Here in my work building, we have buff stones in variations ranging from brown to grey, red and yellow so I think some acrylic washes etc will be called for in the future.



I also cut a window out at the back, I felt it made the rear of the structure look a little more interesting.

Moving on to the roof, I'm not sure how to best pursue tiling the roof, I wanted flat grey tiles to contrast with the textured stone work, does anyone have a favourite technique they could recommend, I was cutting individual tiles last night and realised after about 50 that I have cut them far too small...

[Steve Bennett]

Coming on nicely Simon.
Depending on what you are going to use to fill the mortar lines, you may not need much more colour on there. Think I might be tempted to add a dark wash before grouting to give a bit more depth to the stones.

As for slates/roof tiles, there are many ways to do it.
Here are a couple of examples that I remember from the archives:-

http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?p=12737#12737
http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?p=12061#12061

Hope there might be something useful there for you.

[demaine22]

Very helpful, thanks Steve.

I was going to try and use a light filler for mortar, taking a leaf from PeterH's book here: http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=8493

[Steve Bennett]

I was going to try and use a light filler for mortar,

I thought that might be the plan, in which case you might want to add a bit more colour before grouting. If you look at Peters pictures, note the difference between the first one before grouting and the last one. You will see how much colour is lost during the grout process. It tends to leave a slight residue on the surface, which is great for dulling and blending everything together, but also reduces the tonal range.
Probably best to try a test piece first, before trying on the building

[demaine22]

Last night saw some busy activity on the layout, I was getting a little fed up with focussing on the building, and although it is important I felt maybe I needed to focus my attention else-where for a change.



Here the coal pile has been chipped away with a hammer and screw driver, it took mere moments and soon the debris was all hoovered up.



How nice and neat that looks. And that was to be the end of it...but then out of my eye I noticed some recent purchases for playing with..and though I tried to resist...I couldn't help myself.



Looks like a small bush and a broken branch landed there too...

Anyway, I spread the grass beyond the right end on the layout and slowly blended it with the rest of it moving slowly towards the wooded area – I think with the excellent variation already left by Simon helped the fibres blend with the other vegetation quite well.

I intend to go back to the section between the siding and leave a little more junk and bits there, possibly give it a little mow to add a little more variety.

Whilst I was spreading all this grass around, I also washed the ballast down with Dark Umber, as I wanted a bit of definition between the track bed and the gravel platform and path areas.

Now if you ignore the levitating junk where the shed should be...the fully altered scene looks quite pleasent.

[Gerry Bullock]

I like it Simon, you've stamped your mark on the layout.

[Steve Bennett]

OOOH, I really like that Simon, the grass works very well and with the original planting still showing through, it really creates a lot of depth.
I always thought the original scenery on this layout was outstanding, but you have taken it to another level.
A timely reminder for me too, I need to go on ebay and find a cheap electric tea strainer, sorry, static grass applicator

[demaine22]

I like it Simon, you've stamped your mark on the layout.

Thanks very much Gerry, I'll admit I was a little worried about doing it, but I am happy with the progress so far!

A timely reminder for me too, I need to go on ebay and find a cheap electric tea strainer, sorry, static grass applicator

Actually..this was applied using a puffer bottle and a balloon...

Thanks both for your kind comments.

[chris69]

Looks fantastic,love it
thanks
Chris

[Glen A]

Gnice work!

[Steve Bennett]

Actually..this was applied using a puffer bottle and a balloon...

Last time I tried a balloon, I ended up with more grass on the balloon than the layout
I certainly didnt get results anywhere near as good as yours.

[Simon Andrews]

Nice work Simon. I am impressed that you achieved that finish with a puffer bottle and a balloon

Simon.

[DCRfan]

A balloon Sorry I must have been sleeping in class How does that work

[Simon Andrews]

The balloon is used as a source of static to make the grass fibres stand up.

Simon.