Killashandra - Irish Nn3

[VonRyan]

So I'm actually doing stuff for once.

With the arrival of a well-received care-package, containing the start of the layout, work started immediately.
I even managed to get a train running (albeit just a test with a Z-scale engine).

What stared as this:


...was quickly assessed to see what will need to be done to make it more appropriate as a slice of Ireland in the 1940s-50s

So within a half hour, the first small hill got shaped and glued down:


Then a second:


So with my having added two hills, and having kept one, the hill count is at three thus far.

I then decided that to better see where contours will need to be smoothed out, I painted it with a base coat of Duncan "Medium Brown".

Which brings us to this:



I also shot a test video at one point:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=748041408560785

The engine is a Marklin 2-6-0 from a set I was given as payment to install decoders in 30 locomotives.
Sadly the drivers are too large for the engine to be of any use for me to convert it into something more Irish looking.
I'm currently working on acquiring a Marklin 0-6-0 for that very reason. I plan to make it into a Baldwin-ish looking engine. Really I should be shooting for a 2-6-2, but an 0-6-0 will have to suffice.


The main references for this project are two short youtube videos and a Flickr album I found through searching google.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/sets/72157627623204943/

I plan to really push the bar with this. I want to go all out on the scenery to try and capture the look of rural Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s when many of the remaining narrow gauge lines closed up shop.


-Cody F.

[Chris333]

You don't waste any time!

Wonder if these wagons could be used for coal cars:
http://www.zen98812.zen.co.uk/stock.html

Also the way those locos have squarish side tanks. Maybe you could hide a Power Max chassis under there without noticing is a 0-4-0.

[DKS]

Maybe you could hide a Power Max chassis under there without noticing is a 0-4-0.

Just add a dummy wheelset and you've got an 0-6-0.

[garethashenden]

Those bridges shouldn't be wood, stone arches are probably more appropriate. The Ratio viaduct kit comes to mind.

When you visit the Model Railway Club in a few weeks make sure you visit the library. It's quite a large collection, should be something useful there. Also, bring your friends and park them in front of the club bar...

[VonRyan]

Those bridges shouldn't be wood, stone arches are probably more appropriate. The Ratio viaduct kit comes to mind.

When you visit the Model Railway Club in a few weeks make sure you visit the library. It's quite a large collection, should be something useful there. Also, bring your friends and park them in front of the club bar...

I was thinking about that. The bridges were already installed when I received the layout, so I wasn't in a rush to replace them just yet.
I'll certainly have to check out the library. No sense in wasting such a great opportunity.

You don't waste any time!

Wonder if these wagons could be used for coal cars:
http://www.zen98812.zen.co.uk/stock.html

Also the way those locos have squarish side tanks. Maybe you could hide a Power Max chassis under there without noticing is a 0-4-0.

Leave it to me to forget the Peco wagons.
Someone offered to sell me a bunch of them a couple years back, and I should have taken the offer. But of course, that was when I was always broke.

I thought about the Power Max chassis, but I can get a Märklin 0-6-0 for $50, and the Power Max chassis costs $100. Plus I can rework the Märklin shell rather than having to build one from scratch.


I finally caught another break from work and college, so today's will be some more land forming.

-Cody F.

[Chris333]

Power max might be twice as much, but the Marklins run 4 times as fast 

[VonRyan]

Power max might be twice as much, but the Marklins run 4 times as fast 

True. The only reason I could get my 2-6-0 to run at a fairly consistent slow speed after giving it fresh oil is more than likely because it has larger gears.

Well, there is always remotoring.

Where did you get the two white gears for the Märklin chassis you remotored?


-Cody F.

[Chris333]

written on the bags:

[VonRyan]

 

I would look past that.

Man am I dumb sometimes (ok... Most of the time).

I have no idea what the shaft diameter is of the motor I have, since I got it off of eBay.
Oddly enough, the listing said it was good for 12v, at least the title said it. I do plan on running with more than 9v, so I hopefully won't incur any problems.

Looks like I've found my next purchase (after a Märklin 0-6-0).


-Cody F.

[VonRyan]

Still on the hunt for a Märklin 0-6-0. Seems whenever I'm hunting for something, all the affordable ones are gone.
Especially since my hours at work have been cut in half, so I'm down to only 8hrs a week.
Even at $8.25, union dues are killer.

I need to check the LHS for some paint for the track. I'm hoping there is at least one rattle can of Floquil tie brown left.

Tonight I plan to work on the center hill. At least getting the hunk of foam cut out and doing some trimming.
I also might mix up a batch of hydrocal to start smoothing some of the contours.


-Cody F.

[VonRyan]

So now I've got foam dust all over the studio.

For the center hill rather than use the extendable box-cutter type knife, I dug up an old Stanley "Surform" out of the basement and gave it a whirl.

Worked excellently.
A little too excellently on the side where I plan to have the dirt lane cross over the tracks.

So as of now I need to sleep on the decision of whether or not to cut part of the center hill off and try again, or keep it as is and build it up with other stuff later.
Either way, the major hill is basically done. Just one more corner hill to do and then it'll be time for smoothing the contours out with hydrocal.

Speaking of which... Is it ok to use hydrocal for smoothing land contours, or is there something else that may yield better results with less of a mess?
I've never used anything to smooth land contours before, except for once on a tiny hill on my old HCD layout when I used spackle, which I had also been using to do roads.

Anyhow, tomorrow I'll get the obligatory dose of iPhone progress photos posted.
Until then,
-Cody Fisher

[packers#1]

Sculptamold would probably be less messy; it's kinda like papier mache (sp?) It's much easier to control and can be tinted beforehand; plus it dries fairly quickly so building layers wouldn't take much time at all

[Chris333]

Yeah I use sculptamold too, with an old butter knife.

[DKS]

Sculptamold would probably be less messy; it's kinda like papier mache (sp?) It's much easier to control and can be tinted beforehand; plus it dries fairly quickly so building layers wouldn't take much time at all

Yeah I use sculptamold too, with an old butter knife.

+1 for Sculptamold. Plus, you can lay it on thick and it hardly shrinks. To accelerate drying, place a fan nearby.

[VonRyan]

Home Depot didn't have sculptamold, Joann Fabrics (and Crafts) didn't have it.
a search of both Michaels and AC Moore's websites didn't provide any help.
I decided to trawl through Michaels site, and they do sell something called FastMâché, made by a company called Actíva.

I got out of my dentist's office too late to make a run to the LHS, so painting the track will also have to wait till tomorrow.

I'll get the progress photos up in an hour.


-Cody Fisher